Being a northerner with not a speck of Italian heritage, my experience with corn grits has been pretty limited. Growing up, it (sadly) just wasn’t a food that was on my radar.

Since becoming gluten-free, however, that’s all changed. Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free Corn Grits/Polenta has become my new best friend. My dear wife makes wonderful pizza crusts with it, and I’ve served it as both a cheesy side dish and as a pasta-replacement topped with pork ragú. This year for Thanksgiving, I wanted to try a polenta dressing in place of my usual cornbread recipe.

6 cups chicken broth
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 cups coarse-ground grits
16 ounces cheddar cheese, grated
1/2 cup milk
6 large eggs, beaten
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion,chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
4 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped
1 medium bell pepper, chopped
8 ounces Andouille sausage, chopped
1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning
1-2 tablespoons Louisiana-style hot sauce

Preheat your oven to 350°F and grease up a 4-quart Dutch oven.

In a large saucepan, bring the broth, salt, pepper, and Cajun seasoning to a boil. Whisk in the grits. Bring to a low boil, whisking frequently, then reduce the heat to low and simmer until the grits are thick, about 15-20 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.

While the grits are cooking, heat the olive oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, celery, bell pepper, and garlic and saute until the onion softens (about 5 minutes). Add the Andouille and cook until it is heated through and starts to give off some oil (about another 5 minutes). Remove the pan from the heat and let cool.

In a small bowl, whisk the eggs and milk together. In a large bowl, pour in the polenta and then stir in both the cheese and sausage mixture. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt, pepper, and hot sauce.

Gradually stir the egg mixture into the polenta, mixing until everything is combined. Pour the works into the Dutch oven.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the center is set and the edges are a bit brown.

The Verdict: 4.5 out of 5 stars
While this was way too spicy for my relatives, my dear wife and I loved it – rich, creamy, crunchy, and spicy. I still miss my Mom’s gluteny stuffing, but this got me through Thanksgiving without feeling too deprived.

The Nutrition:
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha….

Sometimes you need a little help. We had a friend visiting from out-of-town and I wanted to put together a nice meal on the Big Green Egg. We also had a lot of other things that we wanted to do, but was really feeling short on time.  Lucky for me, I hit these two two saviors while I was digging through our pantry.

SAN-J makes a lot of gluten-free sauces, but they are hard to find in our local grocery stores. Fortunately, I’d run into a bunch of them at an Asian market and grabbed a few to try.

Peanut Noodles
3/4 pound dried spaghetti (use corn or rice noodles to make it gluten-free)
1 (10-ounce) bottle SAN-J Gluten Free Thai Peanut Sauce
4 green onions, thinly sliced
1 red bell pepper, cut into 1/8-inch-thick strips

Cook the pasta according to the direction on the package until al dente (if you are going to let this sit in the fridge, shorten the cooking time for a little firmer pasta). Drain into a colander and rinse with cold water.

Dump the pasta and veggies into a lidded container and pour about 2/3 cup of the peanut sauce over them.  Put the lid on and toss to combine. Store in the fridge until just before dinner, then remove and let warm up a bit before serving. Add more sauce and maybe a squirt of sriracha before serving if needed.

Sweet & Tangy Thighs
8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 (10-ounce) bottle SAN-J Gluten Free Sweet & Tangy Glaze
4 flat, wooden skewers

Put the chicken in a zip-top bag and pour on enough of the glaze to cover them (about 2/3 cup). Toss to coat. Squeeze the air out of the bag, seal it, and put it in the fridge to marinate for at least 2 hours. Put the skewers in a pan of water to soak.

Set your grill up for a direct cook over high (450°F) heat.

Thread the thighs onto the skewers (about 3 on each). Grill chicken about 10 minutes per side or until the internal temp hits at least 180°F. I like my thighs a little more done, so I went another 10 minutes until the meat started to get a good crispy char on it and the internal temp was 200°F.

Remove the skewers from the grill and let rest 10 minutes before serving over the noodles.

The Verdict: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Where these as good as my usual Teriyaki Kabobs and Peanut Noodles? I didn’t think so, but the meal met with rave reviews (although that may have been the Cucumber Margaritas talking), so who am I to argue?

The thighs were indeed sweet and tangy with a good mix of savory umami and bright fruit flavors. The noodles were rich and peanutty and had a nice crunch from the veggies. I would have added a bit more garlic to the chicken and a little lime juice to lighten up the noodles,  but that’s more niggling than complaining. In the end, the trade off in taste was minor for the ease of putting this meal together.

My dear wife just came back from her brother’s with two feed sacks full of golden corn goodness. No recipe needed – I just tossed it right on the grill with some brats to make one of my favorite summer meals.

This was the first chance I’ve had to try new Udi’s Gluten-Free Buns and they were outstanding. GF baked goods tend to be crumbly, and almost always end up falling apart after a few bites. The Udi’s buns not only tasted great, but held together to the end even after being toasted for a bit on the grill.

I saw this wonderful Lemon Garlic Chicken with Goat Cheese recipe over at She Cooks He Cleans and I knew I had to give it a try. I’m not generally a fan of “fusion” cooking – no sushi tacos here – but this blending of a classic chicken dish with some Moroccan cooking techniques really piqued my interest.

After a recent trip to our local Greek market, I had some excellent domestic feta and green olives stuffed with garlic in the fridge. I wanted to incorporate them into this dish and push it a just little further east along the Mediterranean.

You could certainly make this dish in a Dutch oven, but I’ve got this rockin’ red Emile Henry tagine, so of course I used that.

Here’s my adaptation:

12 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1/4 cup olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon (about 3 tablespoons)
3 tablespoon fresh herbs, chopped fine (I used thyme, oregano, and rosemary. Some mint or cilantro would work well too.)
2 teaspoons kosher or sea salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon Hungarian paprika
6 ounces feta, crumbled, plus more for serving
1 lemon, cut into 8 slices lengthwise
1 large yellow onion, sliced
1 (14.5-ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained
1/2 pound green olives stuffed with garlic (or 1/2 pound green olives and 6 cloves of garlic)
1/4 cup dried apricots
1/4 cup dried cherries
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes

Preheat your oven to 350°F.

Over medium heat on stove top, heat olive oil in the tagine (or a Dutch oven). Add the onion and cook until it has softened and started to brown a bit (about 5 minutes).

Add the cumin, turmeric, paprika, and salt. Stir and cook until fragrant (about 2 minutes). Add lemon juice and stir to deglaze the pan. Arrange the lemon wedges in the pan. Cover with the garbanzo beans, chicken thighs, herbs, olives, fruit, and tomatoes. Top with feta.

Put the cover on the tagine and move to the oven. Cook for 60 minutes. Remove the lid and check for doneness. The tagine braises the food, so the pan juices should be bubbling and the meat should be very tender. This batch wasn’t quite done at an hour, so I rearranged the thighs so they were covered in the juices, put the lid back on, and let it cook for another 30 minutes.

When done, carefully remove the tagine from the oven.

Tagine safety note: Take the lid off the tangine before removing it, as steam can spit out from under the lid (palm blister). Put the lid on a heat-proof surface and cover with a pot holder to remind you that it is still very hot (finger blister).

Serve straight from the pan with more feta to crumble over top.

The Verdict: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Amazing mix of flavors – rich chicken bathed in creamy golden juices set off by the salty olives and tangy lemon. I continue to be amazed at how the tagine concentrates flavors.

So what’s with the 3.5 stars? I over-crowded the tagine with too many chicken thighs, so the dish steamed more than braised and I didn’t get the browning I wanted. Eight thighs next time. Also, I really don’t think the fruit brought anything to the party. It distracted from the nice mix of traditional herbs and Moroccan spices. I might add a little more heat to the dish with some black pepper and/or Aleppo pepper.

Many thanks to She Cooks He Cleans for their great recipe.

Pulled Pork Shortcut (April 16, 2010) – a year ago I was trying to figure out exactly how I was going to get 8 pork butts cooked for an upcoming graduation party. This first attempt wasn’t bad, but I eventually went with a hotter & faster cooking method that let me get all the cooking done in one weekend.

Gluten-Free Egg Rolls (April 12, 2009) – two years ago my dear wife helped me make up these treats. They were tasty, but a bit putzy and didn’t freeze well. I’d like to try them again, but fry them this time and then freeze off the extras.

Bacon – Buckboard and Canadian-style (April 15, 2008) – three years ago I took my first shot at curing my own bacon. It was such a hit that nowadays I regularly make 15 pound batches and freeze it off for later.

I have been in love with this recipe ever since I spotted it over at Noble Pig. I would really like a decent Reuben sandwich, but with the whole Celiacs thing I’ve yet to find a gluten-free bread that really holds up to grilling. That’s the joy of this dip – it’s everything I love about a good Reuben, just in a dip form.

1/2 pound corned beef, diced
1 (8-ounce)package cream cheese, softened
1 cup shredded Swiss cheese
1 1/4 cup sauerkraut, drained well.
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon ketchup
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon caraway seed
1 Against the Grain Gluten-Free baguette, sliced into rounds and toasted

Pre-heat oven to 350°F.

Combine the corned beef, cream cheese, 1 cup of the sauerkraut, sour cream, ketchup, and mustard in a medium bowl.  Spoon 1/2 the mixture into a 1-quart baking dish. Top with half of the Swiss cheese. Spoon in the rest of the mixture, and top with the rest of the Swiss cheese, the remaining 1/4 cup of sauerkraut, and the caraway seeds.

Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, until brown and bubbly.

The Verdict: 5 out of 5 stars
Boy, am I glad the nephews didn’t care for my corned beef . The leftovers made this a wonderfully rich and ever so naughty dip. Plan on sharing this one as the two of us couldn’t eat more than a couple of rounds worth before being stuffed. The next time I make this it’ll be for a holiday party where I can share the love.

I love enchiladas, but never seem to have the time or (truth be told) patience to make them. While this casserole version isn’t authentic, it is a great bit of gluten-free comfort food. Braising the thighs in the slow cooker makes them incredibly tender and tasty while reducing the hands-on time. This is adapted from a Kill the Gluten recipe.

1 (14.5-ounce) can of gluten-free cream of chicken soup (Health Valley)
3-4 teaspoons of gluten free flour (Pamela’s Baking mix)
8 ounces sour cream
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 (16-ounce) jar salsa verde (Trader Joe’s)
1 (4-ounce) can green chiles
1 jalapeño pepper, diced
4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
2 cups cheddar cheese, grated
8 corn tortillas
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 cup water

Put the chicken thighs in the crock pot with the salt, chili powder, garlic powder, cumin, and water and simmer on low until they are falling apart done (about 4 hours). You could even do this the day ahead if you wanted.

Pre-heat your oven to 350F.

In a small saucepan, bring the soup to a boil of medium-high heat.  Gradually add the flour and whisk until desired thickness (it will thicken more after cooling). Remove from heat and let cool.

In a large bowl, combine soup, sour cream, salsa, green chiles, jalapeño, garlic, and onion. Stir to combine.

Spread a small amount of the sauce in a 9×13 baking pan. Layer on half of the tortillas, half the chicken, a little more sauce, and half the cheese. Then layer on the remaining tortillas, sauce, chicken, and cheese.

Bake for 30-45 minutes, or until the dish is bubbly and cheese has started to brown. Let rest 10 minutes before serving.

The Verdict: 4 out of 5 stars
When the weather calls for tasty, rich, and filling comfort food, this casserole fits the bill. The chicken was very tender and the chilies gave it just the right amount of warm, green heat.

There is a line where rich and filling becomes thick and gloppy. This dish (thankfully) sits just on the right side of said line, but it could use a little help. Next time I might try crisping the tortillas up a bit first and adding some more veggies like bell peppers or green onions.

We usually try to get away to someplace warm every year for my birthday. Mostly because the middle of February is a great time to try and dodge cabin fever, but also because I have this idea that if I’m out of the country on my birthday it doesn’t really count. But this year we decided just to lay low.

I thought that meant a nice, quiet weekend lounging around the house, but my dear wife surprised me with a last-minute getaway in a cozy cabin on Lake Superior. She’s the BEST!

No Egging, but we did pack the fixins for my favorite breakfast in the whole wide world – biscuits and gravy.

6 gluten-free biscuits
1 pound pork breakfast sausage
2 cups whole milk
1/4 cup gluten-free flour (I like Pamela’s Amazing Bread Mix or Gluten-Free Pantry Country French Bread Mix)
1 teaspoon hot sauce (Suck Creek WFR Hot Sauce in this case)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Brown the sausage in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Do not drain.  Add the flour and cook over low heat for 5 minutes until it forms a roux and begins to brown.

Remove pan from heat and stir in the milk a little at a time. Scape the bottom to get up any brown bits. Return to medium-high heat and stir occasionally until gravy comes to a simmer and starts to thicken, about 10 minutes. Add the hot sauce, salt, and black pepper and stir to combine. Remove from heat and ladle over warm biscuits.

We ended up getting caught on the wrong side of the blizzard that swept through on Presidents’ Day and had to stay over, snuggled in front of the fire, for another day. Darn it !

Most of the time my Celiacs isn’t a huge deal. While I don’t eat a lot of processed carbs anymore, when I do there are a lot of GF options out there both in grocery stores and restaurants. I am also lucky to have a very supportive wife and family who really work at making things I can eat and avoiding cross-contamination, so I have (mostly) been able to live around my allergy.

But there are some foods I miss so badly that being allergic to gluten just plain sucks.

Pizza is one of those foods.

Yes, there are GF pizza crusts out there – but most of them are tiny and the crust is either mealy or tough, and they’re always outrageously priced.  What I crave is a decent-sized crust that you can load up with sauce and goodies and it still hits that magic point where it is both crisp and chewy at the same time.

Finally, Against the Grain’s “no apologies” gluten free pizza crust to the rescue.

Whole Foods has just started to carry these in our area. They’re 12-inch, hand-crafted, gluten-free crusts with three cheeses baked into the dough.

I pre-baked this crust for 5 minutes at 350°F, then added sauce, pepperoni, sweet Italian sausage, tons of mozzarella cheese, and a scattering of green olives and mushrooms and baked it for 20 more minutes until it was brown and crispy.

The Verdict: 4.5 out of 5 stars
It tastes like pizza! The crust crisped up nicely, but didn’t crumble or fall apart. Even when the bottom got a little too dark, it was still just a bit chewy. It’s also got a great, rich taste. At $8, it’s not exactly cheap, but that’s the only thing I have against this crust.

Next time I would just let it thaw on the counter and skip pre-baking it, which ended up over-cooking the crust a bit. Other than that, it was as good as any delivery pizza I’ve ever had.

This was our New Year’s Eve dessert – kind of a lighter, more complex take on a pecan pie. Adapted from a recipe by AP Food editor J.M. Hirsch to be gluten-free.

Crust
1 1/4 cups gluten-free graham cracker crumbs
5 tablespoons butter, melted
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of salt

Filling
2/3 cup honey
7 tablespoons butter
5 tablespoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
7 tablespoons heavy cream
2 eggs
Zest of 1/2 orange (about 1 tablespoon)
1 1/2 cup lightly toasted cashew nuts

Heat the oven to 350°F. Coat a 9-inch tart or spring form pan with cooking spray. Prepare the crust by combining the graham cracker crumbs, butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt in a food processor and pulsing until the butter is worked into the graham cracker crumbs and the mixture resembles wet sand. Transfer to the prepared pan.

Use the bottom of a glass to press the crumb mixture into the pan and spread and even layer across the bottom and up the about an inch. Set aside.

Spread the cashews in a even layer on a baking pan. Bake for 10-12 minutes at 350°F until fragrant and lightly toasted. Remove from oven and let cool.

In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, combine the honey, butter, sugar, and salt. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly until the sugar is dissolved. Remove the pan from heat and set aside to cool for five minutes.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the cream, eggs, and orange zest.  Whisk in the warm honey mixture. Stir in the cashews and then transfer the mixture to the tart pan.

Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until the filling has set and turned golden brown. Let cool before serving.

The Verdict: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Incredible – very rich and sweet. It went great with the champagne. My only issue is that it may have been a little too sweet. Maybe next time I back off the honey a touch and add just a tiny amount of rosemary.

If I ever need to come up with a death row last meal request, this is it.

In my pre-gluten free days I used to make this at least twice a month. Since the Celiacs, I’ve tried a version over GF waffles that I call Country Eggs Benedict. Tasty, but not the real deal, so I kind of gave up making it altogether.

But prompted by my success with making gluten-free biscuits and Nobel Pig’s great sausage gravy post, I decided to try whipping up a batch of honest-to-god-clog-your-arteries-and-put-a-smile-on-your-face biscuits and gravy.

Ingredients
1 pound pork breakfast sausage (Jimmy Dean’s in the case)
2 cups whole milk
1/4 cup gluten-free flour (I like Pamela’s Amazing Bread Mix or Gluten-Free Pantry Country French Bread Mix)
3 tablespoon pancetta, diced
1 tablespoon bacon grease
1 teaspoon dried sage
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Directions
Melt the bacon grease in a  large skillet. Add the sausage and pancetta and cook until the sausage is uniformly brown and the pancetta is a little crispy. Do not drain. Add the sage, red pepper, salt, and black pepper and stir to combine. Add the flour and cook over low heat for 5 minutes until it forms a roux and begins to brown.

Remove pan from heat and stir in milk a little at a time. Scape the bottom to get up any brown bits. Return to medium-high heat and stir occasionally until gravy comes to a simmer and starts to thicken, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and ladle over warm biscuits.

The Verdict: 5 out of 5 stars
Man, they were good! The pancetta added some crispy bits and porky goodness, while the bacon fat added a smoky richness. The red pepper and a shot of hot sauce warmed up the gravy, and the soft biscuits did a fine job of soaking up all that wonderfulness. Perfect. They could strap me in ol’ sparky tomorrow and I’d be a happy man.

General Mills is jumping on the gluten-free bandwagon by adding gluten-free Bisquick to its product lineup. I’m very excited about this for two big reasons:

• While it’s not a new and innovative product (there are lots of GF baking mixes available), it is a General Mills product which means it’s going to be available everywhere. Even my Mom in small-town Iowa can buy it at her local Hy-Vee.
• It’s Bisquick, and while it’s not a one-for-one replacement for the original, it does mean that there’s about a gajillion recipes out there that can now readily be made gluten free.

The first thing I wanted to try making with the GF Bisquick is my favorite recipe that I used to make with the original Bisquick - biscuits. I even broke out Grandma R’s dough blender to do the job.

2 cups Bisquick Gluten-Free mix
1/3 cup butter
2/3 cup milk
3 eggs

Heat oven to 400°F. In a medium bowl, combine Bisquick mix and butter.  Cut in the butter, using pastry blender or fork, until mixture looks like coarse crumbs. Stir in the milk and eggs until a soft dough forms.

Drop dough by spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 13 to 15 minutes or until light golden brown.

I served these right out of the oven, topped with butter and honey

The Verdict: 4 out of 5 stars
Fair warning – I am not a baker, that’s my dear wife’s specialty. Even so, the biscuits turned out crispy on the outside and fairly tender on the inside. The dough was heavy and the biscuits ended up being a little dense. They weren’t the flaky bits of perfection that my grandmother used to make, but they were as good as any box mix biscuit I’ve ever made. Taste wise, I couldn’t tell they were gluten free, and that’s a huge plus.

Today is National Celiac Awareness Day. Celiacs is an autoimmune digestive disease that is triggered by eating the protein called gluten, which is found in wheat, barley and rye. Gluten damages the small intestine and, if left untreated, can develop into osteoporosis, thyroid disease, and cancer.

I have Celiacs and have been gluten free for over a year now. It hasn’t been easy, but I feel a ton better.

Hats off to Noble Pig for their Mixed Berry Pretzel Icebox Dessert! I had all but forgotten this childhood treat until I spotted the recipe on their blog. I sent it to my dear wife and she made a gluten-free version for us.

The original recipe makes a 9×13 pan. This version is downsized to an 8×8 pan, perfect for a smaller dinner party or as a “just us” dessert for the week.  She made half the crust, but the full cream cheese topping as listed (because who can ever get enough cream cheese goodness?!).  She also used just one box of jello and half of the fruit (about two cups total, it doesn’t have to be exact).

Crust

1 cup finely crushed pretzels (used Glutino)
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
6 tablespoons butter, melted

Filling

8 ounces cream cheese
3/4 cup sugar
7 ounces plain thick Greek yogurt (regular yogurt will be too thin)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 (3 ounce) packages strawberry gelatin
8 ounces frozen sweetened sliced strawberries, thawed
1 cup fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Grease an 8×8 baking pan. Finely crush the pretzels in a food processor. Add the sugar and melted butter and pulse until combined.

Press the pretzel mixture into the baking dish. Bake for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven to a cooling rack.

While the crust is cooling, use a stand mixer on medium speed to beat the cream cheese and sugar together until well blended. Fold in the yogurt and vanilla. Spread the filling over the cooled pretzel crust. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours.

In a large bowl, dissolve the gelatin in 1 cup of boiling water. Let the mixture cool until it begins to get syrupy, about 15 minutes. Stir in the fruit and pour over cream cheese filling. Chill for at least 2 hours before serving. We made this the day before and let it set up overnight.

We served this last weekend and everyone wanted the recipe. Thanks Noble Pig!

I’m the only gluten-free member of my clan. For family gatherings (like this upcoming 4th of July weekend), my dear wife makes this pie so we can all have dessert and I won’t feel left out. Ain’t she the best?

This is adapted from Penzeys One, Volume 3, Issue 6, 2009.

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, melted
2 eggs
1  1/3 cup sugar
1  1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup flour (we used Pamela’s Ultimate Baking & Pancake Mix)
2 cup milk
3 cup shredded coconut (we like natural, unsweetened)

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a large bowl, combine all of the ingredients and mix well. Pour into an ungreased 9-inch pie plate (this dessert doesn’t need a pie crust- it makes it’s own) and bake at 350°F until browned, about 35-45 minutes.

Let cool before slicing. Run a thin knife around the rim of the pie plate before cutting.

Have a fun 4th!