Sunday, February 11, 2007

My favorite meal in this whole wide world - now GF


Oh, I am so full.

There is one meal in this beautiful world that I will eat until I nearly explode, and when I know I am going to eat it, I make sure to wear elastic-waisted pants. Up until today, I hadn't made it because of the imagined difficulty in having it taste as good in a gluten-free version as it does "normal." It turns out that I did exactly right, you can't taste much of a difference, and I just made a huge pig of myself.

The meal is bread and potato dumplings, pork roast, and sauerkraut - but I skipped the kraut tonight and made kale with leeks and garlic.

I love it when I can revisit a favorite meal in my new lifestyle.

I was born on my parents' first wedding anniversary. For as long as I can remember, my birthday was celebrated "on the day" and then they did their own thing either the weekend before or the weekend after. My day was all about my favorite meal; one year only did I request something else - stuffed pork chops.

And yes, I am primarily German, with some Polish and Bohemian for good measure.

I'm not sure which relative the dumpling recipe comes from, but I think it's my grandma on my dad's side.

Bread and Potato Dumplings - the GF version

6 large potatoes
1 1/2 cups GF bread, dried and cubed
1/4 cup potato starch
1 cup white rice flour
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup butter

Wash and peel the potatoes. Shred them either on a grater or in a food processor with the shredder blade (God bless Kitchenaid - I used to do this by hand. Being the klutz that I am, I usually included some skin in the potatoes). Put the shredded potatoes in a sieve; press the spuds against the sides of the sieve with a spoon until most of the liquid drains out. Dump into a bowl.

Add the cubed bread, potato starch, rice flour, and salt. Combine with your hands like you would meatloaf.

Form into 2" balls and drop into wide-mouthed pot of boiling salted water. Boil for 20 minutes. Don't crowd them in the pot or they will stick together.

Melt the butter in your preferred way; use to drizzle over the dumplings at service.

The Pork Roast

Pork roast cut of your choice
Sea salt
Fresh ground pepper

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Liberally salt and pepper the roast, place in a roasting pan, and cover with foil. Bake at 375 for 45 minutes, then adjust the oven to 425 and bake an additional 30 minutes (or until internal temperature of the roast reaches 180 degrees).

Kale with Leeks and Garlic

2 leeks
1 bunch kale
4 cloves garlic
2 tbsp olive oil

Heat a large skillet; when hot, add the olive oil and garlic. Chop the dark green stuff off the leeks; slice the bulbs in half and then slice into "rings." Rinse well, drain, and add to the skillet. Saute on low heat. Wash and dry the kale; slice into 1/2" strips. Once the leeks have softened, add the kale, toss to coat with the oil, cover and remove from the heat. Allow the kale to wilt for 10 minutes before serving.

3 comments:

Lynn Barry said...

I am a pork roast lover too...these dumplings sound yummy. I see you are using up your greens. Good job! Thanks, my friend! Good EATS!

Allie said...

Oh. My. Gosh... That recipe looks amazing. I'm going to the store and getting the ingredients I don't already have in my possession & making that tomorrow!

Thanks!

I was just doing some gluten free blog surfing & found you - love the name of your site. I have a cat, Bella, she is the queen of my home, she pretty much dominates us. ;)

Mike Eberhart said...

That sounds like a perfectly spectacular feast! Great job with the cooking Sheri, and the pictures make everything look oh so wonderful.