Primal Pizza

One of the things that I cannot live without on this gluten-free journey is pizza!  Though there are a lot of gluten-free crust mixes out there made with a rice flour mixture, but my favorite is still "Primal Pizza"--a recipe that I found on http://www.marksdailyapple.com/.  It is made with almond flour, which makes it extremely healthy!  I have made some minor changes to the recipe, which I will tell you about, and according to my husband, have "perfected" it.  Yippee!
As for the toppings I used this time...
I just got creative with stuff I had on hand, and it was surprisingly delicious!

Primal Pizza, Chipolte style!

Crust:

2 Cups Almond Meal/Flour **See NOTE

2 Eggs

2 Tsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 Tsp salt

Toppings:

• Muir Glen Pizza Sauce (can't find this at Crest, so I just load up when I go to Target. Have I mentioned how much I LOVE this sauce?)
• Shredded Mexican Cheese mix
• 1 lb. Chipotle Ground Beef --recipe at bottom of page 
• Chopped Onions

Instructions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

2. Mix all crust ingredients in a large mixing bowl. This should give you a ball of “dough”. If your dough is too “mushy” (like mine was), continue to add almond flour until you get a good consistency.

3. Make a pizza sheet or baking tray non-stick. This is VERY important if you want your pizza slices to come off in one piece.

4. Press your dough on the sheet nice and even about 1/4 inch in the middle and 1/2 inch at the edges.

5. Put crust in the oven for 15 minutes. It should look slightly golden brown when you take it out.

6.  Load up your pre-baked crust with toppings, then pop it back into the oven until crust is golden brown, and cheese has melted--about 14-15 minutes.

My notes on the crust:


--I have added different things to the crust mixture every time I've made it for additional flavor. I've tried basil, parmesean cheese, and ground flax seed. All have been yummy! The flax seed added some nice "grain-ish" flavor, not to mention health benefits!
--spread out the crust mixture with a rubber spatula--you may even need to grease it. The "dough" is super sticky, and has to be spread like frosting on the pizza pan. Make it as THIN as possible.


Chipotle Ground Beef:


1. Brown ground beef, and drain if needed (if using http://www.plumrichbeef.com/, you won't need to)
2. Add to browned beef:
1 t. garlic powder
1 T. chili powder
1/2 T. cumin
2T. Chipole Chilis in Abodo sauce (JUST the sauce)
2 t. salt (you may want to add more later to the meat per your taste)
1/3 C. water

Simmer until water has evaporated, about 10 minutes. This allows the beef to really absorb the flavor of the spices.



**Note: Almond Flour
Yes, you can buy it at Akins or Whole Foods, but it's usually cheaper to make it. Just buy some BLANCHED (Blanched= no skin) slivered almonds, (If you're local, I buy mine at Crest. They have the biggest packages and the best prices) and grind them as fine as possible in a food processor, or better yet, a "Bullet" or coffee grinder. Be careful, because if you grind them too long, they are no longer dry, but begin turning into almond butter! (Humm...maybe I should post my recipe for that?) After grinding, sift out the bigger pieces by rubbing them through a collander. And voila', almond flour! For more almond flour recipes, check out http://www.elanaspantry.com/.

Brazilian Recipe #2

A few nights ago, I tried the second Brazilian recipe that I took from http://www.brazilianrecipes.org/.  This looked similar to what I ordered at Cafe Do Brazil, and I was hoping to duplicate it!  It was very similar, but needs some tweaking for next time.   The sauce/soup was REALLY thin , and just soaked into the rice instead of sitting on top.  Tasted good, but texture was less than desireable.  Next time, I will add less water, and simmer UNcovered to reduce down.  In fact, I might even use chicken stock rather than water for a richer flavor.  Ok, not might.  WILL!!
Sorry I didn't include a picture this time, I totally forgot!


Bacalhau a Baiana

Ingredients:



* 450g/1lb Salted Cod (salt fish) pre-soaked overnight (I used shrimp, and it was fab)

* 3 tbsp Vegetable Oil

* 1 Onion, grated

* 1 Garlic Clove, crushed

* 1 Red Capsicum (sweet Pepper) deseeded and chopped

* 1 Green Capsicum (sweet Pepper) deseeded and chopped

* 3 Tomatoes, finely chopped

* 240ml/8fl.oz. Hot Water (I thought this was too much, will take it down to 1/4 c. next time, and will add more if needed)

* Salt and Black Pepper

* 1 tbsp Dende (palm) Oil (I used olive oil because they didn't have palm oil at Crest.  Surely it wouldn't make a difference...)

* 240ml/8fl.oz. Thick Coconut Milk

* 100g/4oz Spring Onions, chopped (both white and green parts)



Preparation:



1. Drain the fish and remove any skin and bones. Pat dry with kitchen paper and cut it into 5cm/2-inch pieces.

2. Heat the oil in a saucepan add the onion, garlic, and peppers and sauté for 5 minutes until softened.

3. Add the tomatoes, fish, and hot water, cover and simmer for 20 minutes, or until the fish flakes easily. (Note: I think I will simmer UNcovered to reduce down and intensify flavors)

4. Season to taste with pepper and stir in the dende oil, coconut milk and the spring onions. Heat through gently without allowing the mixture to boil. Serve hot.

Camarao ao Catupiry

I promised some Braziilian Recipes, so here is the first one.  If only I could pronounce it...  We all liked this a lot, the flavors were simple but melded together nicely.  My only complaint is that the cream cheese curdled.  It didn't do this at Cafe Do Brazil, and I'm wondering if they cooked the sauce on the stovetop, then poured it over the cream-cheese coated dish rather that cooking it all together in the oven.  Next time, I'll try that method, and let you know how it went.  Because it curdled, it lost the creaminess that I remembered in the restaurant dish.
For this one, I made the sauce and put it on top of a chicken breast rather than using shrimp.  It was great, and we realized that it could be a very versitile sauce.  So, for dinner the following evening, I placed the leftover sauce on top of an egg omlette.  Oh my goodness...I think it was better than on the chicken!  Haha!
Enjoy, and stay tuned for Brazilian Recipe #2!

Camarão ao Catupiry



Ingredients:

2 lbs of fresh shrimp (medium or small size) (Didn't use the shrimp, but put finished sauce on a chicken breat)

1 Catupiry cheese or 1 lb of Philly

1 can of hearts of palm, thinly sliced into rounds

4 large, juicy tomatoes

1 onion, finely chopped

1/2 cup milk

2 tbsp of finely chopped parsley

2 tbsp of finely chopped green onions

1 tbsp of corn starch

salt and pepper

10-15 whole peppercorns (you can leave these out if you don’t want people biting into them)

Parmesan cheese to sprinkle

lime juice



Methods:



Preheat oven to 450° F. Spread cheese over bottom and sides of 13 x 9 pyrex. Peel, devein and wash shrimp, sprinkle with lime juice and salt. Leave in refrigerator until ready to use. Chop tomatoes into big chunks and puree in blender. Saute onion in olive oil until limp, add shrimp, cover and bring to a simmer. Add tomatoes, parsley, green onions and whole peppercorns. Simmer for fifteen minutes. Dissolve corn starch in milk. Add hearts of palm and milk to shrimp, stir for a couple of minutes and remove from heat. Add salt and pepper to taste (remember the cheese is salty!). Pour shrimp mixture into pyrex. Sprinkle top with parmesan cheese. Bake until cheese is melted (about 15 minutes). Serve from pyrex. Serve with Brazilian style white rice.

Southwest Chipotle Burgers

We love burgers at our house, but since we eat them without a bun, I am always trying to ideas to jazz them up a bit.  A few nights ago, I decided to look South of the border for my inspiration!  I love the flavor of Chipotle Chilis in Abodo Sauce, so I grabbed a can last time I went to the store to use in the burgers.  If you've never eaten a fried egg on top of a burger, than this is the perfect time for you to give it a try.  So good!  Here's the recipe.
(Dear Amy S., I need help with my pictures xoxo)

Southwest Chipotle Burgers

1 lb. grass-fed ground beef (http://www.plumrichbeef.com/)
1/2 cup chopped onion
Chipotle Chilis in Abodo Sauce, chopped, along with just a little of the sauce--to taste (I cut up about 4 of the chilis, and the burgers were fairly spicy.  I didn't put these in the kids burgers)
2 t. ground cumin
2 t. dried cilantro leaves
1/2 t. salt

Fried eggs, 1 per burger
Guacamole'

Mix first 6 ingredients together well--hands work best!  Divide into 4 parts for 1/4 lb. patties.

Heat skillet with a little olive oil just to keep burgers from sticking.  Cook burgers just until juices run clear, flipping halfway through.  If you're using PlumRich Longhorn Beef like I did, I cooked them for about 6 minutes per side.

Top burger with a fried egg, and a sprinkle of cheese.  Serve with guacamole' on the side.