Drunken BBQ Baked Beans

We have friends coming in town this weekend, so that means BBQ! I came up with this recipe based on the BBQ beans at Houston's restaurant and they are rich and meaty and absolutely delicious.

 

What makes these so good? BOURBON & BEER!!

INGREDIENTS

2 cups navy beans, soaked in water overnight. OR a can of white beans or pintos.

2 thick slices of bacon

1/4 pound ground pork

1 medium red onion, finely diced

3 tbs Bourbon

1 can lager beer

1/2 cup sweet BBQ sauce (We like Rufus Teagues, Honey Sweet) 

Serves 4

In a pot, cook bacon and ground pork until bacon is crisp. Remove bacon and pork and drain on a paper towel then add onions and bourbon and caramelize them on medium low heat about 40 minutes until sweet and soft.

Then add a bottle of lager beer and raise heat to medium high and simmer about 15 minutes to cook of alcohol. Add beans, pork, bacon and BBQ sauce and cook over low heat for an hour. These taste even better when cooked the day before and reheated in a low oven.

Gluten Free Mac & Cheese Bites

Ahhhhh mac & cheese, the classic comfort food. These are a rare treat, but are so easy to make and fun to eat, not to mention they're cute!

INGREDIENTS

2 Cups Gluten Free Pasta Shells

1 cup warm whole milk

2 tbs GF flour

1.5 cup shredded Organic Italian Four Cheese Blend  (I used Horizon Organics)

about 1.5 cup Ians GF panko bread crumbs

parmesean cheese for sprinkling

2 tbs melted butter, plus butter to grease the cupcake pans

Cook the noodles until al dente, about 6 minutes. 

Then in a heavy saucepan, melt 1 tbs butter and add 2 tablespoons GF flour and stir over low heat to make a pasty roux. Slowly stir in warmed milk and cheeses until melted.

Mix the noodles with the cheese sauce and salt and pepper to taste. Chopped jalapenos add a fun little kick (or bacon, because well... you know...).

In a buttered 12 cup cupcake pan, coat the bottom of each cup with panko crumbs that have been tossed in melted butter. This will make a tasty, crunchy crust once baked.

Fill the cups with the noodles and sprinkle with more buttery panko crumbs and Parmesan cheese and a sprinkling of paprika.

Pop in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes until the cups are "crispy". Serve warm with some basil or Italian parsley chiffonade.

Gluten Free Cornbread, Sausage, Fennel & Apple Dressing (Stuffing)

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

This year we are heading to a cousin's home for Thanksgiving, but just to play it safe, I've made my own dressing/stuffing that's gluten free.  I made a batch for the office pot luck and it was quite a hit, so I thought it would be nice to pass along the recipe for my fellow GF family and friends. I adapted this recipe from a Mario Battali recipe and the sweetness of the apple and anise flavor of the fennel add an interesting twist to traditional dressing. It truly is the perfect marriage of sweet and savory.

INGREDIENTS

• 4 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Salt and freshly Ground Pepper
• 1.5 pound Sweet Italian Fennel Sausage (casings removed)
• 1 Yellow Onion (diced)
• 1 rib celery
• 1 bulb Fennel (thinly sliced or diced)
• 1 cup toasted walnuts or chestnuts (roughly chopped- I omitted them the second time as I forgot to get some at the store and they really add something special.)
• 2 large Apples (grated with a cheese grater)
• 5 cups Gluten Free Corn Bread (cubed and toasted about 10 minutes in the oven at 350 degrees)
• 1/4 cup Fresh Italian Parsley (chopped)
• 1 tbs Dried Sage
• 1 tbs Onion Powder
• 1 tsp fennel pollen (you can sub toasted fennel seeds and crush them).
• 2 1/2 cups Chicken Stock
• 1/2 cup melted Butter

Serves 8

In a large saucepan, brown the sausage in the olive oil until cooked through, remove and put it on a platter. Then, saute the fennel, onion, celery and apple until softened. About 10 minutes.

Stir in the sausage, parsley and dried herbs and toss with the bread crumbs and nuts. Pour chicken stock over the dressing (or turkey stock), drizzle with melted butter and cook in a 400 degree oven about 30 minutes until golden and crunchy on top and moist on the bottom.

MAKE AHEAD: Sausage and veggies can be made two days ahead and mixed with bread and stock just before cooking. The cornbread can be made a few weeks ahead and frozen.

Brussels Sprouts Wrapped in Bacon with Figs

Today's post is all about those cute little cabbages known as Brussels Sprouts. I've always loved Brussels Sprouts (maybe because my mom is from Brussels??) Brussels Sprouts are alot like the Belgians; they're petite, firm and very versatile! The figs at the market have just been so bountiful lately, so I had to throw them in this tasty little recipe. I have been trying hard to up my cruciferous veggie intake lately as I've decided to follow a Paleo diet per my doctor's instructions. Paleo is a good diet to follow for those who like me, are gluten intolerant and have high blood sugar. It's been an adjustment, but I'm already feeling so much better after a short time of following the diet that I think the sacrifice of wheat and gluten and dairy and sugars will be worth it in the long run. So the blog may be taking on a bit of a twist with my recipes soon.
** Just a side note: some Paleo enthusiasts say bacon is not Paleo friendly, while others do? So I'm going to go with the camp that is pro bacon ;-)

 Tasty Little Nuggets!

This side dish is very simple and incredibly tasty too. I simply cut some Brussles sprouts in half, steamed them about 6 minutes, then when they'd cooled I smeared a little goat cheese on them plus a slice of fresh fig, wrapped in apple wood smoked bacon and skewered them like a kabob.

 I grilled them flipping often about 15 minutes until the bacon was crispy. They were delicious! They could also roasted in the oven on a cookie sheet at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes. They taste great re heated in the microwave too, so make a large batch for later use.

Wrapped and Ready...

I've been learning a lot about Paleo cooking from these two great blogs: Practical Paleo and Everyday Paleo

Perfect with chicken kabobs.

Another clever and tasty way to combine Brussels sprouts and bacon is to layer some sprouts which have been cut in half on a cookie sheet lined with aluminum. Sprinkle some roughly chopped garlic on them, fresh pepper and then bake some bacon on a cooling rack on top of them. The bacon fat drips over the sprouts, caramelizing them and making them super tasty. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until bacon and sprouts are crispy.

Drizzle some balsamic and squeeze some lemon and you have yourself the perfect little side dish. Perfect choux de Bruxelles!!

Smoked Tomato Caprese Salad

Before we built our pool we had a really nice raised garden, but having suffered through too many boiling hot, swampy summers, we opted for a pool so the garden had to go. I plan to build another garden soon, but in the meantime have a cute little patio garden growing and once I returned form our recent holiday, the tomatoes were ripe and sweet and ready to eat. I've posted a recipe for smoked tomatoes and Buratta cheese and thought I'd copy the same concept with my home grown tomatoes. This recipe was featured in my recent post on rosemary chicken and it's so good I thought it deserved a post of its own.

Smoking the tomatoes first makes them super juicy and bursting with rich tomato juices. We heated our Big Green Egg to about 200 over oak wood. I salted and wrapped the tomatoes in foil, drizzled a bit of oil on them and roasted them till they were just about to blister- roughly 20-30 minutes. I then let them cool to room temp, added fresh basil and some gorgeous little Mozzarella Bocconcini balls, sprinkled a little more coarse salt plus a drizzle of balsamic and olive oil and enjoyed the sweet taste of summer.