Easter Dinner at 4703 8th Avenue !!!

Easter Chick Cupcakes

Me with the 10 Lb Loin

My Living Room Transformed to a Dining Room

Name tags on the stem onf the wine glass and a gravy boat

Octapus Cooking...

A Gluten Free Easter

So here I am in NYC, getting ready for my 12-person Dinner party “Début”, this is something I have been groomed for since I was a small child and I was extremely ready willing and able to pull this off. The one obstacle was the fact that everything had to be Gluten Free and taste so good that no one would know they were eating rice pasta or rice bread stuffing, It was a challenge I accepted fully and completely. I decided to go with a more formal menu and really challenge myself to do multiple courses and get everything on the table at the appropriate temperature with a perfect presentation and a smile on my face. I invited some of my best friends and theatre buddies, my friend Adam who is the owner of an Italian restaurant here in Manhattan (which I love because I can bring in my Pasta and he will make me Gluten Free Italian food whenever I want) and of course my roommate Liz. It was a great mix of people and I was very excited but then soon realized that I had my work cut out for me. Here is the menu I served:
Appetizers
Boupie (octopus salad)
Cheese & Olive plate
Smoked Salmon
Salmon Mouse
Caviar

Amuse Bouche
Mushroom and shallot reduction
Wrapped in a rice paper purse
Floating in a Pink Cream sauce
(Served on a Chinese Spoon)

Salad
Candied Pecan Gorgonzola Salad
With a homemade Raspberry Vinaigrette

Pasta
Pancetta Seared Scallop with a
Carbonara Sauce over rice linguine

Entrée
Soy, Maple, and Roasted Garlic
marinated Pork Loin with
Baby Portabella Mushrooms
and a thick homemade Gravy

Starch
Rice Bread Stuffing
Mashed Potatoes

Vegetable
Asparagus wrapped in Prosciutto
Glazed Carrots
Broccoli


Desert
GF “Chicks” Cupcakes with
A Homemade Butter Cream Frosting
Fresh Fruit and Cheese Plate

The cooking began on Friday night with the marinating of the 10 lb pork loin. On Saturday I was up around 10ish prepping and cooking away, my friend Stephanie came by around 12 and helped me cook, clean and prep my apartment for a large dinner party…we stopped working at 1:39AM the next day. It was all worth it, the next morning I woke up and the table was all set, most of the food was already made and just needed to be heated or cooked in the oven, it was off to a very successful start. My guest arrived to a home cooked smell wafting down the hall way and everyone was dressed in their Sunday Best!
When it came time for the meal, I said the blessing which was kind of weird for me because that is something the matriarch of the family does, but it was my apartment and my duty to say the blessing…I got choked up when I was thanking god for all his blessings and taking care of my mother, but other than that I did fine. We ate. People were complementing me left and right which was a great feeling but my favorite comment of all time was when Adam, the restaurant owner stopped eating his scallops and linguine carbonara, turned to me and said,” This is better than mine! I think this is the best I have even had, how do you make it…I want your recipe…it’s just perfect” apparently Adam NEVER compares his food to anyone’s, especially in a negative light, I was humbled and really excited. We then as a group decided that we needed to take a break after eating the Amuse Bouche, Salad, and Scallop Carbonara. 35 minutes later we all came back to the table to enjoy the main entrée. The whole meal was a huge success and I am so thankful everything went over smoothly and in a timely fashion…Oh ya and by the way, people were amazed that NOTHING in the meal contained: wheat, rye, oats, barley, or gluten of any sort, it was kind of amazing. It just goes to show you that a gluten free lifestyle can be a tasty one if you just try a little. Here are some of the Gluten Free recipes of the meal that were such a hit:

Amuse Bouche Recipe
Mushroom Purse in a Pink Sauce Filling
2 Tbsp Butter
½ cup Baby Bella’s –Diced
4 cloves of Roasted Garlic
1 Tbsp White Wine
1 tsp dried Thyme leaves

How to
In a skillet over medium heat, sauté Bella’s, garlic, wine, and butter until liquid is cooked off. Take off stove top and add thyme leaves.

Pink Sauce
1 Tbsp Butter
1 clove garlic, minced
1 Shallot- Minced
1Tbsp White Wine
½ cup Heavy Cream
1 tsp Tomato Paste

How to
In a small saucepan heat garlic, shallots, in butter until tender, not brown. Whisk in Wine, cream and tomato paste, S&P and cook until thickened.

Platting
12 Chinese Spoons: place a tablespoon of sauce in the spoon, place the mushroom purse on top of the sauce and garnish with a piece of flat leaf parsley

Raspberry Vinaigrette Recipe
1/2 c. raspberry vinegar1/4 tsp. each salt & pepper4 tsp. sugar2 garlic cloves, finely chopped (2 tsp.)2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce1 tbsp. Dijon style mustard

How To
Whisk together and serve, keeps very well in the fridge. Another awesome point is that there is no OIL so it is also lower in fat as well, and tastes So Good!

Stuffing
2 loaves of bread-broken into bite sized pieces
1 ½ sticks of butter-room temp
2 lg. Onions- diced
6 Stalks of Celery- diced
½ cup of Parsley- chopped
¼ tsp salt
Pepper to taste
3 eggs- lightly beaten
Bell (Poultry) Seasoning – about 1 Tsp. Per 16 slices of bread
Chicken broth if needed

How to

Sauté onions and celery in the butter until they are soft, take off the heat and let it cool a little. Mix together the S&P. poultry seasoning, parsley, and bread until well mixed. In a separate bowl, mix in chicken broth and eggs and mix well, add to bread mixture along with the celery and onion mixture until well blended. Cook at 350 degrees for an hour and a half to two hours, uncovered. Cook until golden brown on top.

My Cousin Michelle...

A couple of weeks ago my sister Rebecca called me up with distress in her voice, she said “Soooo ummm guess what” I replied “what” “ Michelle went to the doctors today…you know our cousin Michelle, and they told her she has Celiacs disease!” I asked if she was upset and of course she was, she actually was defiant and said that she didn’t want to comply with the new diet at all and would deal with the stomach aches and cramps as long as she could still have her Chicken Ziti Broccoli from Mikes Place, Little Debbie Zebra Cakes, Buffalo Chicken Fingers, Teriyaki Chicken, and Subs… Ya well, all of the above is not so good in the gluten department but I am here to help. I sat down with Michelle and Heidi (her mom) and both of them had a lot of questions. One thing to remember when you are living a gluten free lifestyle is that it’s not the end of the world and there are ways to make it work. A few helpful hints for Michelle and Heidi and the rest of the newly GF community:
1. Learn the “Key Word”, what’s ok to eat, and what’s bad to eat.
2. Read Every Label
3. Learn to Cook!!! It makes life easier
4. Try different products till you find one to your liking
5. Learn to open your mouth and speak up when you go out to eat…it’s ok to ask and special order, I do it all the time and people are usually accommodating.
6. Have fun with it, this is something unique about yourself, learn your body, accept it, and enjoy the new lifestyle. If you don’t embrace yourself in your new lifestyle you will have a harder time adjusting and adapting.

Now to help my cousin out a little I am going to suggest a few replacements for her favorites above.

Chicken Ziti Broccoli: I called Mikes Place and the Alfredo sauce is not Gluten Free, but you can ask them to make it without the flour. All you need to do is order the dish without the pasta and no flour in the Alfredo sauce! Then make your own pasta to mix in with the chicken & broccoli. I like the Tinkyada pasta the best.

Teriyaki Chicken: Make your won Teriyaki sauce, here is the simple recipe.

Step 1: ½ cup Wheat Free Soy Sauce (Tamari), 2 cups water, 1 tsp ground ginger, ½ tsp garlic powder, 10 Tbsp packed brown sugar, 4 Tbsp honey
Step 2: 4 Tbsp cornstarch, ¼ cup cold water

Directions: Mix everything but the cornstarch and 1/4c water in a saucepan and begin heating. Mix cornstarch and cold water in a cup and dissolve. Add to sauce in pan. Heat until sauce thickens to desired thickness. Add water to thin if you over-thick it :).

Buffalo Chicken Fingers: You can make your own Buff Daddy sauce by simply using Frank’s Hot Sauce (which is gluten free) and follow the recipe on the back or this recipe.

Step 1: ½ stick Butter, 2 cloves crushed garlic, 1 to 2 cups Franks Hot Sauce
Step 2: Chicken wings or Breasts, Buttermilk, GF Flour, Spices

Directions: You melt your butter and add your garlic, sauté until butter is melted and garlic is softer. Add in Frank’s hot sauce and mix together. You can put this over wings and bake, or cut up cooked chicken breast. You can also put it over homemade chicken fingers; here is the quick recipe for the fingers. On one plate put your GF All Purpose Flour; (I like Bob’s Red Mill or Whole Foods 365 brand). In a bowl pour some buttermilk. Mix some spices into your flour, add in a little garlic powder, onion powder, parsley, maybe a little paprika if you’re feeling spicy and of course salt & pepper. Dip the chicken in the flour mixture, Dredge in the buttermilk, back into the flour (you can dip and dredge one more time for extra crispy if you like) Fry those suckers up in some canola oil, olive oil, any oil really, once they are good and golden brown, lay them on a paper towel and pat dry. Put them on your plat, and pour over the buff daddy sauce, and enjoy! If you want blue cheese to dip them in, take some of the leftover buttermilk (non used) crush a small clove of garlic and in some blue cheese, 1 tsp of lemon juice, S&P to taste and you have your Buff Daddy’s and dipping sauce.

These are recipes and ideas that I hope will help put those wheat cravings to rest, maybe not forever but at least a day or so. Since my cousin has been diagnosed with Celiacs disease I know that it's just a matter of time till more and more people pop up in our family with this crazy disease. To help my cousin Michelle out I am going to post a new recipe every Tuesday, so keep an eye out and get ready to east some gooooood tasting stuff. Eat, Laugh, Love!!!

The Skinny on Gluten Free Recipes

Well here we are in the year 2008, most likely wanting to shape up for the rapidly approaching summer season, a wedding or 2 you may be attending, or perhaps you just want to get healthy and feel better about yourself instead of looking in the mirror everyday and saying..."Really Jess...put down the god dam fork"? I choose D. all of the above! Recently, I have decided to try and watch what I eat, loose a few "lb's"and feel better about myself. Although one would think that eating right is easy and all you really have to do is make a few adjustments, that unfourtunetly is not the case for the Gluten Free peeps out there.

Weight Watchers is what I am doing at the moment and it has been working quite well, there is no set food you have to eat, and it's a lot easier to follow then one might think. The only problem I have been having is this "Whole Grain" party train that every nutrisitionist, dietiton, doctor, and crazy health freak at the gym is pushing...not that i go to the gym LOL...Anyways a lot of reicpes talk about how whole wheat pastas, barley, oats, rye, bulger wheat bla bla bla are good for you, and I know that they are great for the gluten tolerant but for the rest of us it totally sucks! So I wanted to share a few recipes from my up and comming cookbook "Cooking Against The Grain". These recipes are easy, gluten free, healthy, and most importantly tasty! Also I have listed some great replacement for the following whole grains that may help you substitue the gluten items for non gluten items and help keep the integrity of your dish!

Whole Grain Party Substitutes

Wheat-Buck Wheat

Flour (cooking)-Use Cornsarch for a thickening agent

Flour (baking)- Bob's Redmill and Whole Foods 365 have

All purpose Baking Flour that works like a charm

Oats- Brown Rice, Flaxseed

Pasta: Brown Rice Pasta, Quinoa (great in soup)

Excerpts from my cookbook: Cooking Against The Grain

(For sale this Spring)

Breakfast: Rice Pudding
Serving Size: 4
WW Points: 5
Ingredients
2 cups of Fat Free Skim Milk
1 Tbsp Butter substitute
1 large Egg
¼ tsp of Salt
1 tsp Xanthum gum (optional)
1 ½ cups of Quick Cooking Brown Rice
1 Tbsp of Splenda
3 Tbsp of Brown Sugar Splenda
½ tsp Cinnamon
¼ tsp Nutmeg
½ cup of Almonds
¼ cup of Raisins

What to Do:
Combine milk, and salt on medium heat; bring to a simmer. In a separate bowl beat the eggs with ½ cup of milk mixture to warm up the eggs and add them into the pot on the stove cooking on low heat till a pancake like consistency occurs (7 to 8 minutes). Toss in the cinnamon, nutmeg, and sugars mixing well. Add in the brown rice and cook on low to medium heat for about 10 minutes stirring frequently. About 5 minutes into the rice cooking process, take your raisins and almonds and add them into the mix as well. Serve hot or cold…either way it’s mighty tasty! Enjoy fresh berries or fruit with the pudding for no extra point!


Lunch: Greco Chicken Salad with a Dill yogurt Dressing
Serving Size: 2
WW Points: 4
Ingredients
1/2 Fruity White Wine
¼ cup of Lemon Juice
1 tsp of Salt
1 tsp Pepper
¼ cup of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 tsp Lemon Peel
3 cloves of Crushed Garlic
1 ½ lbs. of Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast
What to do:
Mix all the ingredients in a Ziploc bag or Tupperware and marinate as little as 2 hours or overnight in the refrigerator. This is best cooked on a grill but it can be cooked in the oven as well. Once the chicken is cook, throw it over a romaine salad

Salad
Romaine Lettuce, Cucumbers, Carrots, Red Cabbage (optional)

Cucumber Dill Yogurt Dressing
Serving Size: 2
WW Points: 1
1 cup of fat free plain yogurt (Greek if possible)
1 tbsp of Scallions, finely chopped
¼ cup of cucumbers, finely chopped
¼ cup of Fresh Dill or 1 tbsp of dried dill pepper
Pinch of Salt
What to Do: Place all the ingredients except the dill into a food processor until smooth. Then add in the dill and let it stand in the fridge covered for about a half hour, enjoy over chicken.

Dinner: Cheesy Escarole Pasta
Serving Size: 4
WW Points: 9
Ingredients
1/2 lb of Pasta or 3 cups of Brown Rice
2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 oz Thinly sliced Pancetta or Bacon coarsely chopped
1 large Garlic clove, minced
1 Shallot, minced
1 pound of Escarole, cut into 1-inch strips
10 wedges of Laughing Cow Cheese
Salt & Pepper

What to Do:
Salt the water and cook the pasta till it is just about al dente. Then drain the pasta and reserve 1-½ cups of the water. Meanwhile in a large skillet heat the Olive Oil and cook the bacon on high heat until lightly brown, drain the 80% of the fat. Then add the Garlic and Shallots and cook for 1 minute or so, until the smell has taken over your kitchen. Add in the Escarole and season with salt and pepper and cook until the escarole is wilted. Add the pasta to the mixture and 1 cup of the water with it. Unwrap the laughing cow cheese and add to the skillet. Cook this over medium high heat until the cheese is melted and the sauce is thick and creamy; if it is to thick add the rest of the water to thin it out. Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately Mangia.

Hope you enjoy!!!

Eating Gluten Free isn't as bad as you think

My Name is Jessica also known as the Diva Chef GF (gluten free). I have recently started a Blog to promote the lost art of domestication along with my recipes for the gluten free people of the world. I have recently published a cookbook called “Ennnjoyyy Don’t Forget To Bend Your Elbows” Sharing my families secret recipes, along with the stories and traditions that I grew up with. I am also in the process of writing 2 more cookbooks “Dahliahdi The Cookies” (all of my families baked goods and pastry recipes) and my favorite piece of all “Cooking Against The Grain.”
Cooking Against The Grain is a collection of my favorite recipes turned gluten free. Recipes such as, Homemade Pasta and Raviolis, Fried Chicken, Pizza, Bread Crumbs, Coney Island Corndog Batter, Salad Dressings, and so much more. I’m a full-blooded Sicilian and have been recently diagnosed with Celiacs Disease. When I heard that I could never have pasta, bread, or Grandmas cookies ever again, it was the worst possible thing I had ever heard. So I took the positive initiative and attitude and started to play around with all my recipes and altering them to be gluten free. My recipes are extremely tasty and easy to follow. So if you’re new to the gluten free community or not new at all, I think you will find my recipes hopeful in that they don’t taste like cardboard, look like space food or smell of a weird egg scent, if you eat GF products you now what I mean. Check out my book, try my recipes and enjoy!

A Family That Eats Together Stays Together

"Do you wanna get married someday and have a family, with a nice house and babies? Well you have to learn how to cook and clean” and that we did. Monica and I would watch grandma cook and she would explain things to us as she was doing them. She would also tell us about how Aunty Fay and Aunty Caryn would come home after school, and peel the potatoes or get the vegetables ready for dinner. She would tell us about how it was their responsibility to do so, and we should learn from our Aunts. This was one of the first memories I have of my grandmother, and although cooking and cleaning really doesn't hold water when it comes to relationships now a days, I still like to think it does.
I am a domesticated woman because of the women and men in my life. A lot of women my age can cook a little bit but are better at ordering out or making reservations. I say to them, how are you ever going to have a family if you can't cook. They tell me that cooking, really doesn't have anything to do with a good family structure, I disagree.
I was taught to cook at a very early age, I could tell you how to make Beef Cutlets by the time I was six and just kept learning from there. When my sisters were born I tried to help cook all the time and I remember when I cooked my first big meal...The Big Bird, it was a full turkey dinner with all the fixings. I was so proud of myself and I could see my mom was just as proud. Or the time I made Chicken Parmesan and I watched my father taste it, knowing that he was, and always will be, my biggest critic. He looked at my mother and said, "she's got it, she's got the cooking gene" and then he said "good job Jootz" and we continued on with dinner as we did every night of the week.
Throughout my whole childhood and young adult life it was mandatory that I be home for dinner every night, no matter what. Of course there where times when I didn't want to or my parents let me stay at a friends house for dinner but for the most part I really enjoyed dinner with the family. We would cook dinner and eat at a table that was set by either myself or my sisters, fork on the left on top of a folded napkin, knife closest to the plate, the spoon next to it, and the glass cup to the right of the plate.
There were a few rules we had to follow; first rule was no TV on during dinner. The second was no one was to answer the phone or take phone calls during dinner, and the most important rule was to use your table manners and etiquette. We learned how to cut our meat and to chew with our mouths closed, things of that nature. Now did we follow those rules all the time, not so much but at leaste we could all laugh about it.
After dinner we had to help clean up which we hated to do, but we did. The funny part is, is that we didn't even have to wash the dishes because we had a dishwasher, which I now know is a luxury. During dinner we would be asked about our day, what we did and how we were. Now don't get the wrong idea, we where no "leave it to beaver family”, some of the best times at the table were when we were doing things we were not suppose to. The best is when my sisters or I would burp really loud and my parents would try not to laugh but they couldn't help it or when we would bring up inappropriate topics to freak my dad out at the table, and he would just look at us shake his head and try not to laugh but most of the time he had to laugh a little. Then there were times that someone’s feelings would get hurt and they would run away from the table crying or block their ears, makes noises, and yell I'm not listening bla bla bla. We had serious conversations and happy ones to.
I guess the point I am trying to make is that we were all together sharing moments as a family for as little as a half hour or as long as 2 hours, the point is dinner time was some of the best times I had growing up, and still till this day when I come home we eat together as a family at the table. A family that eats together stays together!