Butternut Chili - Spicy 'n Sweet

One of my favorite chili recipes- with

butternut squash. Sweet and spicy.

New Year's Day is almost upon us. Rather than wax nostalgic and dreamy about the bumpy (and enlightening) year I've had, I'd rather post a simple recipe I know you'll love. Making a pot of bean soup or chili to welcome in a freshly minted year is a tradition as old as the hills. From Italian Pasta Fagioli to homestyle southern Hoppin' John, beans somehow acquired the favorable reputation of attracting good luck.

Why? I haven't a clue.

But I do know this. Beans paired with cubes of winter squash make for one sweet and tasty chili. That, Dear Reader, you can take to the bank.

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Vegan Banana Bundt Cake

A tasty dairy-free gluten-free banana cake.

Vegan (egg-free) baking is a mega-challenge at high altitude. Throw gluten-free and dairy-free into the equation (not to mention, soy-free, Darling- I can't even rely on tofu yogurt!) and trust me, it can be a major pain in the proverbial butt. I've dumped two previous egg-free incarnations of this recipe lickety-split into the trash. Today, however, I tweaked again. And guess what? We have a winner.

So- this one's for all you lovely celiacs, gluten-free vegans, multi-allergic sweethearts and autism spectrum angels out there (neurodiversity rocks, after all).

Big banana kisses xoxo!

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Gluten-Free Cornbread with Green Chiles + Cinnamon

Tender moist gluten-free cornbread you can bake in a skillet or a cake pan.

One of the first recipe conversions I attempted in my brand spanking new gluten-free life (begun six short years ago, December 19th, 2001) was my tired-and-true favorite cornbread recipe. Lucky for me, it converted to gluten-free rather easily. As a tender, fragile newbie to life sans gluten it gave me hope. The will to live. After all, when your beloved world of cooking, baking- and eating- is flipped upside down, a modest success in the kitchen can perk up your day. Maybe even, your week.

So when I recently discovered I needed to give up dairy and eggs as well, I flipped through recipes once again and decided to reprise my skillet cornbread- this time as an egg-free vegan version. And wouldn't you know it?

It worked.

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Chicken Tropicale

Festive and flavorful chicken and pineapple.

Any night's a party when you cook up this Caribbean-inspired chicken recipe. Tip: Using your slow cooker frees you up in the kitchen- not to mention utilizing your Crock Pot makes energy efficient sense year round.

Steve's been doing all the cooking of late. I know you know why, Babycakes. You're probably sick to death of hearing about it.

But do you also know how ridiculous it is to wield a sharp knife and balance on crutches and pass the balsamic vinegar in a kitchen built (obviously) for one person who (also obviously) never cooked? All the bumping-bums while making sure your left foot is touching the floor at precisely (doctor's orders) no more than 25% of your total body weight- which, truth be told, Dear Reader, has blossomed by six- er- seven and a half pounds since you've been lounging in bed every morning past 10 o'clock, eating cinnamon-laced wedges of grilled cornbread and deep bowls of crunchy maple buckwheat flakes as you cruise your e-mail?

That's right. I'm talkin' ridiculous.

So we've been eating a lot of familiar recipes and not experimenting much. Experimentation needs elbow room. And stamina. Both seem to be in rather short supply here. Which led me to remember this terrific recipe from before my no-chicken, no coconut days. It disappeared from the blog for awhile (don't ask!). So I thought it might be time to bring it back.

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Nirvana Bars- Chocolate & Coconut Bliss

This recipe is a family favorite- my chocolate-coconut cookie bar recipe. Simple to make. Sweet and gooey and bliss inducing. And most important? You can offer them at any gathering without a gluten-free apology. (Would that be, Don't ask, don't tell?) Bummed about the dairy in it? My son Alex has created his own casein-free version using condensed coconut milk. See his dairy-free recipe here.

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Makrout

Makrout is an Algerian specialty and is the signature cookie for all Algerian celebrations.It is made out of semolina, butter and filled with either ground almonds or dates. It is shaped into diamonds, then fried and immersed in orange blossom flavored honey...........heavenly good!!

These cookies are simple to make, however the key to have a good Makrout is to start with the right semolina: it has to be medium coarse.

Here is the recipe:

Dough:

3 cups Medium coarse semolina.
1 cup melted butter.
1/2 to 1 cup orange blosom water.
1/4 tsp salt.

Filling:

1+1/2 cups ground blanched almonds.
1/2 cup granulated sugar.
Orange blossom water.

Vegetable oil for frying.
Honey and orange blossom water.

Preparation:

Mix the semolina, the salt and the butter. Rubb the mixture well then add the orange blossom water until you form a dough. Don't make the dough too soft otherwise you'll have difficulties when shaping the cookies. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let it rest for 1/2 hour to an hour.
Meanwhile, make the filling: mix the almonds and the sugar then gradually add the orange blossom water until you form a firm paste. Set aside.

To make the cookies, take a portion of the dough, shape it into a rectangle and in the middle put a log of the filling. Close it into a log. Cut into diamonds and set aside.

Heat the oil to a medium heat (about 350). Fry the cookies until golden brown. Drain on a paper towel.

Heat the honey with a little bit of orange blossom water and immerse the cookies in it. Let drain the excess honey.

Every time you want to serve these cookies, repeat immersing them in honey.

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Gluten-Free Maple Meatloaf

My gluten-free maple meatloaf is homespun comfort food.

I have some good news. I mean, besides this delicious gluten-free meatloaf recipe. After eight long weeks of no funny business, yours in gluten-and-casein-free bliss is humming to the Stereo MC's and shuffling around our one room casita with a walker. Yup. I was officially sprung from wheelchair status today! Progress with a long o.

High-fiiiive me.

I'm one happy crone tonight. So I'm keeping this short and sweet. Here it is. It snowed today. There's a crackling fire in the kiva. A glass of wine awaits- not to mention- one of our favorite comfort food suppers. A slice of my favorite meatloaf and a generous scoop of warm Champagne Vinegar Potato Salad.

Life is good.

Have a safe and tasty weekend!

And be good to your bones.

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The Best Cheesy Uncheese Sauce

A dairy-free cheesy sauce you will love.

I've been playing around with this vegan cheesy sauce recipe for ages- trying to get it just right. And guess what? I think I got it.

Don't worry. This won't hurt a bit. Promise.

In fact, you might even thank me. Especially if you're cooking for a groovy dairy-free girlfriend. Or a hunky casein allergic BF. A cute as a button autistic angel. And let's not ignore the teeming hoards of the lactose intolerant. One just might show up for dinner one day. Hungry. You never know.

And how about those vegans? They're sprouting up everywhere, for goddess sake. What will you do? What will you feed them- besides chopped salad? Carrot sticks?

Kumquats?

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Gluten-Free Latkes and Cinnamon Applesauce

A stack of crispy, lacy latkes

Have you made latkes lately? Latkes are fried potato pancakes made with fresh grated potatoes. Though latkes come in all shapes and sizes (via personal preference) I make my latkes thin and lacy, fried to a crispy golden brown. Oy, these are good! Maybe Mel Gibson wouldn't be such a nudnik, if he tasted these. Although if he did, he'd probably ask for ketchup.

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My son is a very picky eater but he loooooooooooves these beignets. They are so light and airy.The key is to make the dough a little wet, it is sticky and messy but the result is so good!

Ingredients:

500 grams All Purpose flour.

1 tablespoons Granulated sugar.

2 eggs.

1+1/2 teaspoons salt.

3 teaspoons yeast.

4 tablespoons powdered milk (dry milk).

3 tablespoons vegetable oil.

Warm water.

Coating: 1 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Preparation:

Prepare a frying pan and fill it halfway with vegetable oil.
In a bowl, put the flour, dry milk, sugar, salt and yeast. Mix until well combined. Add the eggs and the oil. Add the warm water until you get a thin, very sticky dough. Work the dough for about 5 minutes (you can use a mixer) then cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and place it in a warm place to proof. from 1 1/2 to 2 hours. The dough should double in size. Whenever I'm working with yeast dough, I put them in the microwave or on top of the fridge to proof because the temperature in these particular places is slightly warmer than the room temperature.
Flour you working surface generously. With oiled hands cut out small balls of the dough and arrange them on the floured surface. One by one, flatten the balls to form a circle about 2 to 2 1/2 inches. Let the doughnuts proof for 30 minutes. Meanwhile heat the oil to 375.Fry the doughnuts until golden brown and drain on a paper towel.
Mix the sugar with the cinnamon and roll the doughnuts while they are warm in this mixture. You can also fill the doughnuts with your favorite jam.

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