Ogunquit, Maine

Last week we went with Michael's parents to Ogunquit, Maine for the Memorial Day weekend. We rented a three-bedroom house and had a great time exploring Ogunquit and playing at the beach. We also enjoyed our visit to York Wild Kingdom, which is a combination zoo and amusement park. Sabrina especially liked the paddle-boat ride, and Naomi loved riding on a pony. I think I remember reading that they have picnic grounds, so next time we could bring food for a picnic lunch.

On our first night in Ogunquit we went to the Post Road Tavern. We went there in part because the restaurant had advertised that it had some gluten-free options, but the real draw was the Strongbow cider they had on tap. Michael really likes Strongbow, and we don't often find it where we live, especially not draught. Once we got there we discovered that the restaurant was also very kid-friendly. They provided Sabrina and Naomi with games, coloring and activity books, and crayons. The restaurant ended up not having many corn-free options for Michael, but he was happy with the steak and asparagus. In addition, the girls and I got to enjoy some great fish and chips with homemade tartar sauce.

Since the rental house had a grill, we decided to make use of it on our second night there. Just down the road from the house was the Village Food Market, where I purchased some meat, roasted potatoes, and the ingredients to make a spinach salad with strawberries. I could have brought all of this with us to Ogunquit, but I did enjoy my walk down to the food market and back. I also need to remember that there is a Hannaford Supermarket in York, which really isn't too far from Ogunquit. The map shows it as being off of Route 1 in York, Maine. If you take exit 7 off of I 95, then turn right to go south on Route 1 (instead of turning left to go north toward Ogunquit). The Hannaford will be on the right at the second traffic light.

On our last night in Ogunquit we went to the Blue Elephant Thai Restaurant. I was quite pleased with the restaurant: it had good food, quick service, and a nice atmosphere. I especially appreciated the quick service since the girls were hungry when we got there. We ordered some chicken satay appetizers, which were brought to the table in just a few minutes.

I'm not sure that there are many other child-friendly restaurants in Ogunquit that also have wheat-free and corn-free food for Michael. The one other possibility that I saw was Angelina's Ristorante and Wine Bar. I would like to try to go there the next time we visit Ogunquit.

Thai Curry Chicken

Michael and I really like Thai food, but unfortunately we haven't found a Thai restaurant near us that we like going to. Finally I've decided to remedy the situation by trying to learn how to make a couple of Thai dishes. The other impetus for figuring out how to cook Thai food is that it doesn't contain soy sauce. Naomi still has an allergic reaction to soy, so if I want to cook something for dinner that she can eat, I can't make Teriyaki chicken, Nagasaki beef, or the other Asian main dishes that we like.

The first recipe that I've been working on and finally gotten so that Michael and I really like it is Thai curry chicken. It has a couple of ingredients that I didn't have on hand, but I found all of them at my local supermarket. It's definitely worth taking the time to buy the special ingredients because the Thai curry chicken turns out so well.

Thai Curry Chicken
serves 4 adults

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp. red curry paste. I use Thai Kitchen brand because it's labeled gluten-free.
• 2 Tbsp. fish sauce. I use Thai Kitchen brand because it's labeled gluten-free, and at least one other brand that I looked at had an ingredient that could have come from either corn or wheat.
• 1 Tbsp. lime juice
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp. ground coriander
• 2 tsp. brown sugar
• 1 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/4 to 1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
• 1 14-ounce or 15-ounce can of coconut milk. Buy one that contains only coconut milk and water.
• 3 or 4 boneless, skinless half chicken breasts (about 1 1/2 pounds)
• 1 package of snow peas, rinsed and ends cut off. If you don't have snow peas, use 1 cup frozen baby peas, defrosted.
  
• 2 cloves garlic, minced (about 1 tsp.)
  
• optional: several green onions, chopped, for a garnish
• optional: fresh cilantro, chopped, for a garnish

Instructions:

If you would like to serve the Thai curry chicken over rice, start the rice cooking in your rice cooker.

In a medium-size bowl whisk together the red curry paste, fish sauce, lime juice, salt, coriander, brown sugar, ginger, black pepper, and coconut milk. Rinse the chicken and cut width-wise into thin strips. Rinse the snow peas and cut off the ends.

Place a large frying pan over medium-high heat and let it heat up. When the pan is hot, add 2 Tbsp. canola oil. Then add the chicken and cook, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes, until the chicken is lightly browned. Pour the chicken and its juices into a large bowl. Pour 1 more Tbsp. canola oil to the pan and then add the snow peas. Cook, stirring constantly, for a couple of minutes, until the snow peas turn a brighter green and are hot. Pour the snow peas into the bowl with the chicken.

Add the garlic to the frying pan and stir for about 30 seconds. Then pour the red curry and coconut milk mixture into the pan. Let the liquid come to a simmer and then let it continue to simmer over medium-high heat (or medium heat if it's simmering too vigorously) for about 5 minutes, until the sauce has thickened slightly.

Return the chicken and snow peas to the pan. (If you would like to use regular peas instead of snow peas, add them now.) Let the chicken and snow peas simmer in the sauce for just a couple of minutes, until they are hot again and the chicken is fully cooked. Serve over rice with a garnish of green onions and cilantro, if desired.

Below is a picture of the Thai curry chicken with baby peas and cilantro instead the snow peas.

Maple Bacon Meatloaf

I know that meatloaf isn't the most spring-like main dish, but I made it a couple of weeks ago on a colder day here in New Hampshire when eating meat loaf for dinner still seemed appropriate. Since then the weather has been so nice that I've been outside working in the yard instead of blogging about recipes. However, I am now making it a priority to post this recipe for maple bacon meatloaf so that I don't lose the little piece of paper with my ingredient list and then feel sad that I will never be able to replicate exactly what I did. You see, I have been tweaking my meatloaf recipe over the past few months, trying to make it exactly the way we like it, as well as being dairy-free. Finally I have come up with just the right combination of ingredients. In addition, I like the fact that the choice of ground meat for the meat loaf is flexible: this time I used half turkey and half beef, but you could also use all turkey, or half beef and half pork, or pre-packaged meat loaf mix. Regardless, you'll have a delicious meatloaf that tastes just as good the next day.

Maple Bacon Meatloaf
serves 6 adults

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds ground meat (turkey, pork, beef, a mix of two of those, or pre-packaged meat loaf mix)
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced (about 1 teaspoon)
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 Tbsp. dried parsley
• 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
• 1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard. I use Koop's mustard, which is labeled gluten free; however Grey Poupon is fine, too.
  
• 2 Tbsp. tomato paste. Look for a can that has just tomatoes and no citric acid.
• 1 tsp. brown sugar
  
• 1 large egg
• 1/3 cup bread crumbs. I use Gillian's Foods bread crumbs, which contain white rice flour, water, yeast, salt, and raw cane sugar. However, you can also make your own gluten-free bread crumbs with the Ener-G Tapioca bread that we use for sandwiches. Just toast 1 or 2 slices (depending on the size of the slices) and let the toast cool. Then break the toast up into small pieces and put those pieces in a food chopper to make them into bread crumbs.
  
• 4 slices of bacon. To find a corn-free bacon, look for one that has just these ingredients: pork, salt, sugar, celery powder, and spices. I recommend a bacon I find at Trader Joe's called Classic Sliced Dry Rubbed All Natural Uncured Bacon. Another corn-free bacon is Hormel Natural Choice 100% Natural Original Uncured Bacon. Be sure that the bacon you use does not have any dextrose, sodium erythorbate, sodium lactate, or lactic acid starter culture.
• 1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
• 2 Tbsp. real maple syrup

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Place a medium-size pan on medium heat. Add 1 Tbsp. of olive oil to the pan to heat up. While the oil is heating, chop the onion. Then saute the onion until softened. While the onion is sauteing, in a large bowl whisk together the egg and bread crumbs.

When the onion is softened, add the garlic and saute while stirring for 1 minute. Then add the pepper, salt, parsley, and thyme, and stir for about 30 seconds. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the 1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard, tomato paste, and brown sugar. Let the onion mixture cool for a few minutes. Then add it to the egg and breadcrumbs in the large bowl and stir so that everything is thoroughly mixed together.

Next break the ground meat into small pieces and add it to the onion, bread crumb, and egg mixture. Using your hands or a spoon, gently mix the ground meat with the rest of the ingredients. Then press the meat loaf mixture into a 9" x 5" loaf pan. Place the 4 slices of bacon length-wise across the top of the meat loaf so that they completely cover the meat loaf mixture. In a small bowl whisk together 1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard and the maple syrup. Pour this mustard and maple syrup mixture over the top of the bacon slices.

Then put the meat loaf into the oven. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, 15 minutes (depending on how hot your oven is), until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of the meat loaf registers 165 degrees.

Creamed Spinach

This picture is a bit of a teaser because I'm going to give you the recipe for only one of the foods that you see on the plate. I'm still working on the recipe for the chicken and the oven-roasted potatoes, but eventually I'll post those on the blog as well.

Last week, when I was finishing my paper instead of going to the grocery store, I ran out of vegetables in the house, except for the packages of frozen chopped spinach that I try to keep stocked in the freezer. I think frozen spinach might be the perfect back-up vegetable. This time I used it to make creamed spinach, which I like to make when I don't have much time to cook, since it only takes about 15 minutes. In addition, Michael and the girls really like it. At some point, when the girls get a bit bigger and eat more, I'll probably have to start doubling the recipe so that we all can have as much as we'd like. Right before serving I like to drizzle a little fresh lemon juice over my serving of creamed spinach, but Michael likes the way it tastes best without any lemon flavor.

Creamed Spinach
serves 2 adults (and 2 small children, if the adults are willing to share)

Ingredients:

• 1 10-ounce package of frozen chopped spinach
  
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp. Bob's Red Mill Gluten-free flour
• 1/2 cup Lactaid milk
• 1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp. sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper
• lemon juice, if preferred

Instructions:

Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a medium-size pan. Chop the onions, add them to the pan, and saute until softened. While the onions are sauteing, defrost the spinach in the microwave. Drain the excess liquid from the spinach by placing it in a colander over the sink and pressing down on the spinach with your hands.

When the onions are soft, add the garlic and stir for a minute. Add the flour and stir until fully absorbed. Add the milk, stir, and simmer until the sauce has thickened. Turn down the heat to low or medium-low, and whisk in the salt, nutmeg, and pepper. Add the spinach and cook, stirring frequently, until the spinach is hot.

Crash Hot Potatoes

This week I was finishing up the final paper for my class, so I don't have any snazzy pictures for you. You'll just have to imagine what these potatoes look like, or you can go to the original recipe for some great pictures there.

I tried this recipe for crash hot potatoes this past week, and Michael, the girls, and I all liked them. What I liked about them, besides the fact that they tasted good, was how easy they were. They're a different spin on roasted potatoes, one that doesn't involve any peeling or cutting of the potatoes. Anytime earlier in the day you can boil the potatoes in water until they are fork-tender. Then, about 30 minutes before you want to eat, you crash the potatoes on a baking sheet drizzled with olive oil, brush some olive oil over the top of the potatoes, and sprinkle the potatoes with salt, pepper, and herbs. Into the 450-degree oven they go, and 25 minutes later you have crash hot potatoes. Voila!