Hot Artichoke Dip

Here is another post without a picture, but the good news is that I got a new camera for Christmas! I made this artichoke dip for New Year's Eve, before I had figured out how to use the new camera. However, I've been working on understanding the camera settings, so my next post should appear with a photo. I like this artichoke dip because it's served warm, which is what you want in the winter in New England. In addition, baking the chopped artichokes really enhances their flavor. The dip has a bit of Parmesan and Cheddar cheese, but since these are hard cheeses with little or no lactose, they seem to be okay for our family.

I started with this recipe for artichoke dip, but I modified it to make a smaller portion and to leave out the jalapenos. If you would prefer a spicier dip, just refer to the original recipe.

Hot Artichoke Dip
serves 2 to 3 adults

Ingredients:

• 1 9-ounce box of frozen artichokes
  
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (from a block, not pre-grated)
  
• 1/4 cup Hellmann's Real mayonnaise
• 1 tsp. lemon juice
• 1/4 tsp. sea salt
  
• 1/4 tsp. minced garlic
• dash of cayenne pepper
• 1/4 cup shredded extra-sharp Cheddar cheese (from a block, not pre-shredded)
  

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Since most frozen artichoke hearts are coated in citric acid, thoroughly rinse the artichokes. Defrost them in the microwave until they are room-temperature.

While the artichokes are defrosting, grate the Parmesan cheese using a zester or the smallest holes on a grater. Measure 1/4 cup, not packed, and pour the cheese into a small bowl. Add to the bowl the mayonnaise, lemon juice, sea salt, minced garlic, and cayenne pepper. Stir to combine.

After the artichokes have defrosted, rinse them again thoroughly. Coarsely chop them in a food chopper or with a knife. Transfer the chopped artichokes to the small bowl and stir again to combine. Pour the dip into a small 1/2-quart baking dish that has been greased with canola oil. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until hot.

Preheat the broiler. Grate the Cheddar cheese and sprinkle it on top of the dip. Place the dish under the broiler for 1 to 2 minutes, until the cheese is melted, golden brown, and bubbly. Serve the dip with potato chips. Two brands of potato chips that are gluten-free and corn-free are Natural Lays and Utz.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes

I meant to post this recipe in December, but December was more than a little busy. It was a month when I needed easy recipes that would taste good and feed my family, without taking much time to prepare. Since it was getting colder outside, I was also craving foods that are cooked in the oven. Roasted sweet potatoes fit the bill. I started with a Cook's Illustrated recipe from Fall Entertaining 2011, but I tweaked the cooking method so that the sweet potatoes would turn a nice roasted brown color. I would have a picture for you, but my camera died at the beginning of December. So instead, you can look at pictures on this recipe of similar roasted sweet potatoes. I have not yet tried their recommendation of topping the sweet potatoes with pecans, goat cheese, and celery, but it looks quite tasty.

You can double this recipe and the sweet potato rounds will all still fit on one baking sheet. If you like a bit more kick to your sweet potatoes, you could try sprinkling some spices or cayenne pepper onto the potatoes before roasting.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes
serves 2 adults and 2 small children, or about 3 adults

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 lb. sweet potatoes (about 3 medium or 2 large)
• 1 Tbsp. canola oil
• 1/2 tsp. sea salt

Instructions:

Peel the sweet potatoes and cut them into 1-inch rounds. (If in doubt, err on the thicker side for the rounds. If they are less than 1 inch thick, they get too cooked and mushy inside.) Transfer the sweet potato rounds to a medium bowl. Toss them with the canola oil and sea salt. Place the rounds in one layer on a baking sheet. **If your baking sheet is not non-stick, you might want to coat it lightly with 1 tablespoon of canola oil.

Then put the sheet in an unheated oven on the lower-middle rack. Turn the heat to 425 degrees and set the timer for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, if the bottom of the rounds are not quite browned enough for your taste, put them back in for 5 more minutes. Then flip the rounds over and return the baking sheet to the oven for 10 more minutes. Remove the sheet from the oven and let the sweet potato rounds sit on the sheet for 5 minutes. Transfer to a dish and serve immediately.

Shepherd's Pie

This is Michael's new favorite dinner. He says that the leftovers are even better than when it's right out of the oven. What I like about this dish is that it uses vegetables that I usually have on hand. I also like the fact that you can make it two ways: you can simmer the meat and vegetables either in chicken broth or in red wine. Michael and I can't decide which version we like better, so I'm including the amounts for both in the ingredient list.

As you can see from my delay in posting, this has been a busy month. The girls kept us busy with a piano recital, school choral concert, and ballet recital. In addition, I had to write an 8-page paper for the class I took this fall, and of course there was the Christmas shopping that needed to get done. The one thing that didn't happen was a Christmas card and picture. We'll see if I'm able to get it done in the new year. If not, I'm taking this as my opportunity to wish you a very merry Christmas!

Shepherd's Pie
serves 4 adults

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2 to 3 stalks of celery (about 1 cup when chopped)
• 1 large onion
• 2 to 3 carrots (about 1 cup when chopped)
• 1/2 tsp. minced garlic
• 1 lb. ground beef. I recommend using either 80% or 85% meat.
• 1/2 tsp. dried rosemary
• 1 tsp. dried parsley
• 1/4 tsp. dried thyme
• 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp sea salt (if using chicken broth) OR 1 tsp. sea salt (if using wine and water)
• 1 cup of Imagine organic chicken broth OR 1/2 cup red wine and 1/2 cup water. (I use an inexpensive jug of Carlo Rossi Burgundy.)
• 1 Tbsp. tomato paste. Try to find one that does not contain citric acid.
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1 Tbsp. kosher salt (for the water)
• 1 1/2 lb. Russet potatoes
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1/4 tsp. minced garlic
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper
• 1/2 tsp. sea salt
• 2 Tbsp. chicken broth OR potato water

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place a large pan over medium heat and add the olive oil. Chop the celery, onion, and carrots. Add the vegetables to the pan and saute until softened.

While the vegetables are sauteing, peel the potatoes and cut them into 1 to 1 1/2-inch cubes. Place the potato cubes in a medium pot and fill the pot with water until it covers the potatoes by about an inch. Stir the kosher salt into the water, and place the pot over high heat. (Then add the minced garlic to the olive oil to let the olive absorb the garlic flavor.) Bring the water to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-high and cook the potatoes for 10 to 15 minutes, until they are tender and offer no resistance to a knife. When the potatoes are done cooking, transfer them to a colander to drain for 2 minutes. If you are using the wine and water, reserve 2 Tbsp. of the potato water before pouring the rest away. Pour the potatoes back into the empty pot. Add the olive oil and minced garlic to the pot and mash with a potato masher. Add the pepper, sea salt, and the chicken broth or potato water. Stir to combine.

Returning to the vegetables, when they have become soft, add the garlic and stir for 30 seconds. Then transfer the vegetables to a plate. Increase the heat to medium-high. And the ground beef and cook, stirring frequently, until the meat has browned. Drain the fat from the pan. Then add to the pan the sauteed vegetables, rosemary, parsley, thyme, pepper, and salt. Stir to combine. Whisk together the chicken broth (OR wine and water) and the tomato paste. Pour the liquid into the pan with the beef and vegetables. Stir and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Then reduce the heat, cover the pan, and let simmer for 10 minutes.

Stir in the peas and pour the entire beef mixture into an 8x8 Pyrex pan (or other 2-quart baking dish) that has been lightly greased with olive oil. Spread the mashed potatoes over the top of the beef mixture. Make sure that the potatoes cover the entire top, all the way to the edges. Place the dish in the oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the ground beef mixture is bubbling and the potatoes are golden brown. Let cool 10 to 15 minutes before serving.

Chocolate Chip Pecan Pie

Another favorite food I remember from growing up is chocolate pie. For my birthday I used to frequently request chocolate chess pie, and in recent years I've asked my mom to make chocolate pecan pie when I visit for Thanksgiving or Christmas. This Thanksgiving we stayed in New Hampshire, but I still got a craving for chocolate pecan pie. I wanted it enough that I decided to make it myself, but I needed to figure out how to make it dairy-free. That way I could eat as large a piece as I wanted without any ill effects. I found the following recipe for rich chocolate pecan pie, which was already dairy-free and just needed a little modification to make it wheat-free and corn-free as well. I took the pie to our pot-luck Thanksgiving dinner with friends, and I think it was a success since there was only one small piece left to take back home.

I recommend toasting the pecans in the oven because it really enhances the pecan flavor, but you don't have to. If you do, you need to let the pecans cool before mixing them together with the chocolate chips. I failed to think of that the first time I made the pie, and you can imagine what happened to the chocolate chips when they touched the hot pecans. Fortunately, it still tasted great, even if it didn't look quite the same.

Chocolate Chip Pecan Pie
makes 1 9-inch pie

Ingredients for the pie crust:

• Go to this recipe for strawberry rhubarb pie for the ingredients and instructions on how to make the crust.
  

Ingredients for the pie filling:

• 8 ounces (about 2 cups) of raw chopped pecans or pecan quarters. Make sure that the ingredient list just says pecans. Some brands coat their pecans in corn oil.
  
• 1 cup dairy-free semi-sweet chocolate chips. I recommend Ghirardelli, Trader Joe's, or Enjoy Life brand.
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup granulated white sugar
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup brown rice syrup. I used Lundberg Sweet Dreams organic brown rice syrup.
  
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract. Use Trader Joe's alcohol-free vanilla extract or another vanilla extract that does not have corn syrup and is preferably alcohol-free, since the alcohol could be derived from corn. Recently I have been using Rodelle Vanilla Flavor alcohol free all natural extract, which I found at Stop and Shop.
• 1/4 tsp. sea salt

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a baking sheet with canola oil. Place the pecans in a single layer on the sheet and put in the preheated oven for 4 to 5 minutes, until the pecans are fragrant. Watch the pecans carefully while they are in the oven so that they don't get scorched. Transfer the pecans to a plate and set them aside to cool.

Increase the oven temperature to 375 degrees. Make the crust following the instructions given here. Make the filling by whisking together the eggs, white sugar, light brown sugar, brown rice syrup, vanilla extract, and sea salt. If your brown rice syrup is cold, it's much easier to work with if you warm it up slightly in the microwave before trying to mix it with the other ingredients. (This is also something I learned the hard way.)

When the pecans have cooled to room temperature, mix them together with the chocolate chips. Spread the pecans and chocolate chips evenly over the bottom of the pie crust. Then pour the filling over the top of the of the pecans and chocolate chips. Cover the edge of the crust with aluminum foil. Place in the oven and bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for 20 more minutes, until the crust is browned and the top of the filling is set.

Let the pie cool for at least 30 minutes before serving. The original recipe suggests making a caramel sauce to go with the pie. I haven't tried making the sauce yet, but it looks like it would be really tasty.