Best Marinated Flank Steak (or flat iron steak)

This recipe is so simple that it's hard to believe how good it is, but it's my new favorite way to prepare beef before grilling it.  I found the recipe here, but I modified it to use fish sauce instead of oyster sauce, to which I may be allergic.  You might be worried that the beef will end up tasting fishy, but it really doesn't.  Somehow the fish sauce, combined with the other ingredients, just gives it a great depth of "umami" flavor.  And in addition to loving the taste, I love the word "umami," don't you?

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 lb. flank steak or flat iron steak
• 1/4 cup fish sauce.  Buy one that is labeled gluten-free, like the Thai Kitchen brand.
• 2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
• 1 tsp. minced garlic
• 1 tsp. grainy mustard or Dijon mustard
• black pepper -- to sprinkle on before grillin

Instructions:

Cut any excess fat or silver skin off of the steak.  Whisk together the fish sauce, balsamic vinegar, garlic, and mustard in a small bowl.  Place the steak in a gallon-size Zip-loc bag and pour the marinate into the bag.  Seal the bag and massage the marinade into the steak.  Place the steak in the refrigerator and marinate for at least 4 hours, but up to overnight.  Remove the steak from the bag and sprinkle it with black pepper.  Grill until medium done.  Let the steak rest 10 minutes before slicing it thinly against the grain.

Egg-free Pizza with Homemade Sauce

I already have a recipe for pizza on this blog.  However, I posted that recipe before Sabrina's egg allergy was diagnosed, and before I realized that the citric acid in store-bought tomato sauce comes from corn.  Since then I've started making pizza using the same Bob's Red Mill gluten-free pizza mix, but without egg.  I've also developed my own homemade pizza sauce using a can of tomato paste, since tomato paste is one of the few canned tomato products that usually does not contain citric acid.  The great thing is that my family likes the homemade sauce even better!  An additional bonus is that, for the cost of one small can of tomato paste, I can make enough sauce for two pizzas.  One bag of the Bob's Red Mill pizza mix makes enough dough for two pizzas, so the whole meal ends up being pretty economical.  In the summer when I grow basil outside, I can even throw on some fresh basil for practically free.  :)

One last note is that so far I have only made pizza on a metal pizza pan, so my instructions are for that kind of pan.  The main thing I've learned is that the pan has to be on the bottom oven rack for the crust to bake completely and get crispy.  Maybe someday I'll get a pizza stone and then work on instructions for baking a pizza on that.

Egg-free Pizza with Homemade Sauce
(1 pizza feeds 2 adults, or 2 adults and a couple small children, if the adults are willing to share)

Ingredients:

• half the bag (8 oz.) of Bob's Red Mill gluten-free pizza mix
• 1 tsp. of yeast from the enclosed yeast packet
• 3/4 cup water, warmed in the microwave to 105 degrees
• instead of an egg:  1 1/2 Tbsp. flax seed meal mixed with 3 Tbsp. hot water
• 1/2 tsp. white sugar
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 can Lindsay Naturals sliced black olives.  (I just discovered that some of the cans of sliced olives at Whole Foods are also safe since they contain just olives, water, and salt.)
• Hormel Natural Choice original uncured pepperoni
• 2 oz. aged extra-sharp Cheddar cheese, grated by hand (not pre-grated)
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, grated by hand (not pre-grated)

Ingredients for the sauce:
(This makes enough for 2 pizzas.  On one pizza I use half, which is 6 oz. or 3/4 cup, and I freeze the rest for another time.)

• 1 6-ounce can of tomato paste
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 3/4 cup water
• 3/4 tsp. dried oregano
• 3/4 tsp. dried basil
• 1/2 tsp. white sugar
• 1/2 tsp. sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. onion powder
• 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/8 tsp. ground black pepper 

Instructions:

Heat 3/4 cup water in the microwave until it reaches 105 degrees.  (This takes about 45 seconds in my microwave.  The water is hot enough to help activate the yeast but isn't so hot as to kill it.)  Mix the yeast into the water and let it sit.  In a separate small bowl heat 3 Tbsp. of water and 1 1/2 Tbsp. flax seed meal, and stir.  After letting the yeast water and flax seed water sit for a couple of minutes, transfer them to a mixing bowl.  Add the white sugar and olive oil and mix on low until combined.  Then add the flour and mix on medium speed for 1 minute.  Cover the bowl with saran wrap and set aside for 30 minutes for the dough to rise.

Move the oven rack to the bottom position and preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  Pour 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil onto a metal pizza pan and spread around using a paper towel, OR spray the pan with an olive oil spray.   Place the dough onto the pan and use a spatula to spread it until it is a 12-inch diameter circle.  Bake the crust for 10 minutes on the lowest oven rack.  Add the sauce, cheese, and toppings.  Then return the pan to the lowest oven rack for about 10 more minutes.  Remove the pan from the oven when the cheese is melted and golden.  (If you add more cheese, you might need to cook the pizza longer once the toppings have been added.  You might need to place the pizza on the lower-middle rack so that the crust doesn't burn before the cheese is melted.)  Let the pizza cool for about 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

Zucchini Apple Muffins

Here is my latest muffin recipe!  Since it's now summer and zucchini is inexpensive and plentiful, I thought I would come up with another way to use it in muffins.  The grated zucchini and apple keep these muffins nice and moist.     

Recently I have discovered another method that helps cut down on preparation time when making baked goods:  weighing flour using a kitchen scale.  I had read that one cup of white flour is 125 grams.  After measuring and weighing the Bob's Red Mill gluten free flour, I confirmed that one cup of it also is equal to 125 grams.  So if you have a kitchen scale, I highly recommend weighing the flour instead of trying to scoop it out of the bag.  Weighing the flour is more accurate and takes less time, too!  (One caveat is that other gluten-free flours do not weigh the same amount, so be sure to measure other flours using measuring cups or according to the recipe.) 

Zucchini Apple Muffins
makes 6 muffins

Ingredients:

• 3 Tbsp. rice milk
• 1 Tbsp. ground flax seed meal
• 1 small zucchini
• 1 small apple
• 1 cup + 2 Tbsp. Bob's Red Mill gluten-free flour
• 1/4 tsp. sea salt
• 3/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1/4 cup white granulated sugar 
• 3 Tbsp. canola oil
• 1/2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
• 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.

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Grease the muffin tin with canola oil.  Mix the rice milk and flax seed meal in a cup, heat it in the microwave until hot, and stir.

Peel the skin off the zucchini and apple.  Grate the zucchini, pack it firmly into a 1/2 cup measuring cup, and pour the grated zucchini into a small bowl.  Then grate the apple, pack it firmly into the 1/2 cup measuring cup, and transfer it to the bowl with the zucchini.  Be sure to firmly pack as much zucchini and apple into the measuring cup as you can.

In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, sea salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  In a different bowl, mix the flax and milk mixture, white sugar, canola oil, cider vinegar, and vanilla extract.  Stir the grated zucchini and apple into the liquid ingredients.  Then pour the wet ingredients into the bowl containing the dry ingredients.  Stir until completely combined.

Pour the batter into the muffin tin using a level 1/3 cup of batter per muffin.  Bake for about 17 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.  Loosen the sides of the muffins with a knife or thin spatula to help the muffins come out of the tin.