My go to Thai dish

I always forget how much I love eating when I am back in the states. Don't get me wrong I love eating in Europe too, or France more specifically. But there are many items you simply just can't find over there. Take gf thai kitchen microwavable meals, or even chips and salsa, and of course my go to peanut sauce. San-J company makes an amazing peanut sauce that goes on to make an even better stir fry when paired with oh so creamy and delicious coconut milk. This winning combination has been tried by many of my friends and after the first bite each one of them was hooked.

-1 can coconut milk
-1 jar San-J peanut sauce (found at most grocery stores in Canada and America)
-1 lb chicken, cut into small chunks
-1 bell pepper, cut into pieces (any size, your preference)
-1 onion, chopped
-Mushrooms, cut into pieces (your choice on the quantity)
-1 head broccoli, cut into pieces
-any other veggie you feel like throwing in there, sometimes I use celery, fresh tomotaos, carrots, zucchini, really anything I have in the kitchen at the time.

Add about 1-2 T olive oil to a deep frying pan or wok. Saute chicken for 3-5 minutes. Then add in chopped veggies and more olive oil if needed, saute for another 3-5 minutes. Then add in cocoonut milk and peanut sauce. I personally add the whole jar, but it is up to you. Simmer for 15-20 minutes. Serve over your favorite kind of rice. Enjoy this simple meal!

Valentine's Day Soufflés!

Well It appears I have not written for a seriously long time, well a bit over two months to be exact. AND trust me I can explain. The past two months were very busy due to my nannying job, which took up all my evenings, therefore I was not to be found in the kitchen! Instead you could find FP cooking away in the kitchen when I arrived home. Quite a bit of a reversed role from last year! However, the mother of the children needed a full time live in nanny, and for obvious reasons, I was not able to fulfill that. So I was the temp nanny until the other one arrived, which was about a week ago. So, as of now, I have been back in the kitchen cooking up a storm and it could not feel better. I also think that FP is a bit relieved that his job as head chef has been demoted to sous chef!

With that being said I have tried to create some dishes this week that I have been wanting to create for some time. Valentines day was on Sunday and let me be the first to say it is not my favorite holiday. As a child I hated it in fact. I remember many occasions at school where all my friends or all the girls in the school, except me, were running around with balloons, flowers, candies, and all sorts of crazy pink stuff. I can't recall really having a valentine, other than the occasional kid in your class that professes your love to you, but you on the other hand have no interest in this child what so ever! Last year FP was at a game, so there was nothing special done, and this year it was going to be the same. BUT the roomies went out to eat, so I figured ok I should probably make something nice, and let's be honest it felt so good to be back in the kitchen that I had to go all out. So by now you are probably wondering what exactly did I make, well the answer is spring rolls with handmade peanut sauce, szechwan shrimp, and the dessert....duh duhhhh duhhhhh....mint chocolate soufflés!

I had been wanting to make soufflés for quite some time and well what better place to create this masterpiece than int he land of soufflés! I had originally meant to make dark chocolate soufflés, but due to the fact that it was sunday, the store was quite limited in its items. And from my past experience as a server at a delicious restaurant called the sawyer house, I knew you could really put any flavor at all into your soufflés So I found some dark mint chocolate (the lindt kind) and decided to go with it! After doing some research I found the perfect recipe for soufflés and did not change a thing, which is usually very unlike me. SO I do have to give huge credit to the person who created that recipe and all the awesome pictures to follow. Trust me, follow this, and soufflé making is a piece of cake. Ok enough about the soufflés, really I could go on all day about how delicious they are, but I won't bore you with that! Let me just get into all the wonderful recipes, which are PERFECT for a romantic dinner.

Spring Rolls

-Vietnamese rice paper for spring rolls
-carrot cut into matchsticks
-cucumber cut into matchsticks
-1-2 cups cooked rice noodles
-Ripe avocado cut into slices
-Yellow pepper cut into matchsticks
-Basil leaves
-Mint leaves
-Cilantro leaves
-Pan filled with boiling water

Dip rice paper rolls into hot water, turning onto each side, for 10-15 seconds, or until you feel the paper start to soften. Place onto clean, dry cutting board. Place ingredients in the middle, you place all ingredients together(a touch of rice noodles, 1 matchstick of a carrot, 1 basil leaf, etc,) or just a couple things, or whatever you feel like! Then roll the long side onto the ingredients, then roll in the two short sides, and finally finish by rolling up onto the last long side. This sounds confusing, so please watch a video online if you are confused. Eat plain or serve with an Asian sauce. I prefer mine with either sweet chili sauce or peanut sauce.

Peanut Dipping Sauce
Adapted from thai.about.com

1 cup fresh-tasting dry roasted peanuts, unsalted
1/3 cup water
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. gf soy sauce
2 tsp. sesame oil
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 Tbsp. fish sauce (If vegetarian, use vegetarian fish sauce or regular soy sauce)
1/2 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper, OR 1 tsp. Thai chili sauce (more or less to taste)

Place all ingredients into blender or food processor. Blend until smooth. Add more water to create a runnier sauce.


Szechwan Shrimp
Adapted from allrecipes

8 tablespoons water
4 tablespoons ketchup
2 tablespoon soy sauce
3 teaspoons cornstarch
2 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
2 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup sliced green onions
4 cloves garlic, minced
12 ounces cooked shrimp, tails removed
1 head of broccoli chopped
1 bell pepper chopped
1 onion chopped

In a bowl, stir together water, ketchup, soy sauce, cornstarch, honey, crushed red pepper, and ground ginger. Set aside. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in green onions and garlic; cook 30 seconds. In another skillet cook onions, broccoli, and pepper in 1 T olive oil. Stir in to garlic skillet shrimp, and toss to coat with oil. Stir in sauce. Cook and stir until sauce is bubbly and thickened. Once sauce has thickened, pour shrimp mixture onto the veggies and serve with rice.


Mint Chocolate Soufflés
awesome website for recipes as well, and thank you to whoever did this recipe and all the pictures!!!

²Also, I used lint dark mint chocolate, instead of dark chocolate
²Use gf baking soda for cream of tartar

http://www.cookingforengineers.com/recipe/160/Dark-Chocolate-Souffle

Creme Anglaise
The perfect topping for your soufflé!

http://www.cuisine.com.au/recipe/Vanilla-anglaise

Chinese Takeout please!

So FP and I started talking about what to make for dinner while we were on a walk with Smiley. We deliberated over jambalaya, spring rolls, pork chops, when we finally decided we wanted something Asian. We both remembered that there was some left over fresh ginger in the fridge from the other day when I made Indian food and we hadn't had pork in a while..... ginger pork it is!
I had never made ginger pork before, but I had a fairly good idea of what the recipe might include. I have been acquiring my normal stocked pantry over the past months, so I was quite confident I had everything necessary at home, except pork of course. Last year FP was quite adamant that I had way too many spices on hand. This year, I have been more secretive in my spice acquirement. About every week I bring home a new spice. He really hasn't seemed to notice that the spice rack has grown from 5 spices to about 12 in the past month!

We casually browsed the grocery store for our supplies, which was a nice change from our normal fast past ``family`` grocery time. During our browsing we actually discovered that the store had both maple syrup and peanut butter! Clearly the three of them had not looked hard enough the times before when they stated to me that there was no absolutely no peanut butter or syrup to be found in this town! Sometimes you just have to browse the aisles and look in the exotic imported food section, that is the key! After spending way too much time in the grocery store and also realizing smiley was still in the car (whoops!), we trucked our supplies home.

Last year I cooked quite a bit alone in the kitchen, but this year has been different. FP and I cook a lot together, which I don't mind at all. He takes directions very well and doesn't argue you with my messy ways haha. So after googling a couple recipes and gettin the main idea of what is in ginger pork, I came up with a recipe. FP helped me carry it out along with some homemade fried rice. The ginger pork was amazing and full of ginger! My mom would have loved that FP insisted I use all the ginger we had left, which I thought was way too much! But it came out tangy, zesty, and perfect. In fact I was tempted to put it in take out boxes and write Chinese all over the sides just to feel like I was eating Chinese take out again! But trust me after making this, you won't miss it.

Ginger Pork

-1lb pork (I used chops, but I think loin may be better) cubed or cut into strips
-1/2 cup gf flour blend, I used arrowhead
-1-2 T olive oil
-1/2 cup chicken broth
-1/2 cup water (or 1 cup water w/ half a gf chicken bouillon cube)
-2 T soy sauce
-2 T rice vinegar
-2 green onions chopped
-1/2 cup broccoli
-1 clove garlic minced
-1-2 tsp. white sugar
-fresh grated ginger
-touch of cayenne pepper

Place cubed pork into bag of flour and coat evenly. Add olive oil to skillet. Brown pork over med. high heat in skillet. Remove and set aside. Combine broth, water, vinegar, soy sauce and cayenne. Bring to a boil. Add in green onions, garlic, sugar, broccoli, ginger, and pork. Simmer for 15 min or until pork is tender.


Fried Rice

-4 cups cooked rice
-2-3 T butter
-2 eggs
-1-2 tsp garlic powder
-1 small glove garlic minced
-1-2 T soy sauce
-2 green onions chopped
-1 carrot chopped into small pieces
-1 tomato chopped
-pepper to taste

Add a T of butter to skillet. Saute carrots in butter for 3-5 min. Then add in green onions, garlic, and more butter if needed. Saute for another 2 min. Add eggs and tomato and stir to combine eggs with onions, tomatoes, and carrots. Once egg is almost cooked, add rice. Add rice, 1 T. butter, and soy sauce. Fry at low-med. heat for 5-7 min. Add garlic powder and pepper while frying. Taste after 5 min and add more soy sauce if needed.

Sesame Chicken

The other day I passed by a Chinese Restaurant in Slovenia and I thought to myself just how much I really do miss Chinese food. Sure a good stir fry scratches that itch for a salty soy sauce craving, but it only fixes it temporarily. I miss quality Chinese dinners full of stir fried rice, sesame chicken, shrimp lo mein, and even a scoop full of Mongolian beef to finish it off. But not all is lost! About a month ago I came across a recipe on allrecipes.com, which for the record is one of my favorite sites, and a recipe for sesame chicken jumped out at me. I realized that hey, it really isn't that hard to make this dish and it is easily made gluten free thanks to GF soy sauce!!! I have now made this dish twice and each time it gets better and better. Pair it with some stir fried rice and you wouldn't even know it wasn't take out Chinese from your old favorite spot around the corner!

Sesame Chicken

Marinade

~2 tbs white rice flour
~2 tbs cornstarch
~1/4 tsp GF baking soda
~1/4 tsp GF baking powder
~2 tbs GF soy sauce
~3 tbs water
~1 tsp vegetable oil
~1 dash sesame oil
~1 lb skinless, boneless chicken breast, cubed

Sauce

~1 cup chicken broth
~1/4 cup white sugar
~1-2 tbs rice vinegar
~2 tbs GF soy sauce
~2 tbs sesame oil
~1 tsp GF chili paste
~1 clove garlic, minced
~1/4 cup cornstarch
~1/2 cup water
~2 tbs sesame seeds, added at the end

Mix marinade ingredients together. Then stir in chicken, coating completely, and place in fridge. After 30min., remove chicken from fridge. Heat 2tsp. olive oil in skillet and fry chicken until cooked. While chicken is cooking, heat sauce in wok or skillet. Bring chicken broth, sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, chili paste, and garlic to a boil. Mix cornstarch with water and stir until smooth. Stir the cornstarch water mixture into boiling sauce. Simmer sauce until clear, about 2-3 minutes, and then reduce heat until chicken is done. Pour 2 tbs of sesame seeds into sauce and pour sauce over chicken. You may find that you have more sauce than chicken, that is why it is important not to put the chicken into the sauce, but pour it over the chicken so you have the perfect amount. I have tweaked this recipe quite a bit. You may find it too sweet, so only add part of the sugar and then sample the sauce. Or you may like the zang of vinegar, in that case, add a bit more vinegar. Add or take out little amounts until you find the perfect sauce for you! Serve over plain rice or fried rice, complete with chop sticks.

Just a couple more uses for Soy Sauce

This week has been full of snow and pretty chilly. I have been on an Asian kick after I created the most delicious GF sesame chicken ever, which will be posted soon. So I have been playing around with Soy Sauce attempting to use it for something other than our occasional stir fry and when I take it for our trips to the sushi restaurant in Austria. On Tuesday it was quite chilly here and I was thinking about how much I enjoy a good miso soup. Well thanks to my current condition, I unfortunately am very wary about miso soup. I can make it GF, but eating it out at a restaurant is pretty sketchy. Mostly because the staff at sushi restaurants can't explain to you what miso they are using and if they are using the barley infused miso....well I am pretty sure you have a good idea what will happen. I have made this mistake twice now and have greatly paid for it. Normally in an ambiguous gluten free situation, I just simply do not eat that food. I say to myself is it really worth it that you eat that item and it may be full of gluten? I simply just say no. However, I have a huge weak spot for that delicious salty brothy flavor of a mouth-watering miso soup before a huge meal of sushi. So on those two occasions, I have simply convinced myself that there is no way they can put barley in my miso soup, well I was clearly wrong both times! Therefore, I have stopped eating miso soup and miss it like crazy. Regrettably, I have not been motivated to test my Japanese cooking techniques and create a wondrous soup, I simply just have no desire to work with the tofu that is required for what I believe a proper miso soup. Now that brings me to my fulfilling Japanese soup I created the other day. I first thought about the things I love the most about miso soup, the broth, the salty flavor, the onions, etc. and then I came up with this creation. So for all you miso soup loving Celiacs, this may just curb your cravings.

Japanese Soup

~1 egg
~1 egg white
~1 tbs. white wine, I just used some random Italian white wine I had in the fridge
~1/2 tsp. sugar
~2-3 cups GF veggie broth
~1 cup mushrooms chopped
~3 green onions chopped, someitmes called scallions
~1/2 lb chicken chopped into cubes
~2 tbs GF soy sauce
~1 packet vermicelli rice noodles

Bring broth, wine, soy sauce, and sugar to a boil in a wok, or soup pot. While waiting for that to boil, combine 1 egg and 1 egg white together in bowl. Once soup boils, reduce heat slightly to a simmer, add chicken and rice noodles. Add as many noodles as you want to be in your soup. Add less if you want a broth based soup or more if you want barely any broth. If you do want more broth in your soup, add less noodles than you think, as they will expand and absorb quite a bit of the liquid. Then add in the egg mixture, but do not stir it in. Add mushrooms and green onions(scallions). Finally after 3-5 minutes stir egg mixture in soup with a knife. The chicken should be cooked now, make sure by fishing a piece out and checking that the inside is no longer pink. Then spoon soup into bowls and enjoy!

My second concoction was made for dinner after eating this soup for lunch. I was planning on making citrus chicken with risotto and then I thought well why not just add some soy sauce to zest it up a bit! So thus came my Asian influenced citrus chicken. It is a very simple and healthy meal that is actually one of my best tasting meals yet. So if you feel like you need to use up some soy sauce in the fridge, just pair up these two recipes for a day of Asian flare.

Asian Citrus Chicken

~1 cup risotto (uncooked)
~1 lb raw chicken breasts
~4 cups GF veggie broth
~juice from one orange
~1 med. yellow onion, chopped
~2 cloves garlic, minced
~5 basil leaves, torn
~salt and pepper
~1 tbs soy sauce
~1-2 tsp. lemon zest

Sauce

~juice of one orange
~juice from half a lemon
~2 tsp. potato starch or cornstarch( I used potato) mixed in 1 tbs. water
~touch of salt

Drizzle olive oil in skillet and heat to medium high. Season chicken with salt and pepper and cook 3 minutes on each side. Remove chicken from pan. In same pan add a touch more olive oil and sauté onions for 2-3 minutes, then add in minced garlic. Sauté for 1-2 more minutes seasoning with a touch of salt and pepper. Then add in half of the broth, soy sauce, juice, and rice. Bring to a boil, then reduce and simmer covered. Check the mixture every 3-5 minutes, when broth mixture starts to become absorbed in rice, stir in more broth. Once liquid is beginning to absorb into rice, add in lemon zest and torn basil leaves. After 10 minutes, add back in breasts of chicken. Cook chicken in rice for about 10 more minutes or until rice is completely cooked. Keep stirring in liquid even when chicken is added back in. I check risotto by every so often eating a couple pieces of the rice. Just remember risotto takes time and if it does not seem done, just stir in more liquid. The trick is to stir in liquid frequently and do not let risotto dry out. You should be left with a creamy rice mixture at the end. To make the sauce heat a smaller skillet or wok and add juices and salt to the pan. Bring to a boil and stir in starch mixture. Boil on high continuously stirring until sauce is reduced, then bring heat to low and keep warm until chicken and rice is done. Then plate the rice and chicken and drizzle a touch of sauce over chicken. And voila, you have put your soy sauce to good use!

Thought you were done eating Chinese food forever?? Well think again!

Personally, I find that I have a huge taste for ethnic foods. I used to eat Chinese food quite often growing up, from take out, to the grocery store selection, to the Chinese Buffets, and even the occasional sit down meal. I even used to walk with a couple friends in high school down get some Chinese food for lunch from a nearby hot spot. Upon being diagnosed, it registered in my mind that I would never be able to have some of my favorite Chinese Foods ever again in my life! Well this fact wasn't dominating my mind as much as the thoughts about ALL of the foods I could never again it. It wasn't until I was watching Sex in The City that it really hit me. For those of you who have seen this movie, you know what I am talking about. There is a scene in which Carry is at Miranda's house and they are sharing a special moment on New Years Eve eating delicious Chinese food. I kid you not; I stared at that scene with anger, pity, sadness, jealousy, hatred, and about a million other terrible feelings. As I drove home from that wonderful movie, I started bawling and continued to bawl the whole entire way home because I knew I could never eat Chinese Food again in my life. I had a huge talk with myself that night about how things potentially could be worse and finally over some time have come to terms with a lot of things in this challenging situation, I realized that there is hope for us Celiacs! There is a wonderful invention called....Gluten Free Soy Sauce!!! And let me be the first to say that you will never know the difference. So don't fret because all Chinese Food is not lost, the only thing that is lost is possibly the fact that you may not be able to enjoy your favorite Chinese Food at the local Golden Gate restaurant anymore, but that doesn't mean you can't replicate the majority of that experience at home!!!

Growing up I was not a huge fan of stir fry, but in the recent years have come to love that dish. It wasn't until I was over here in Italy that I really started experimenting with this dish. I have now found the ideal stir fry recipe through trial and error and the help of my boyfriend. I do have to give him credit for part of this dish, as he made the initial sauce; I just jazzed it up a bit in the end. So I hope that all of you enjoy this very easy, quick, and most importantly absolutely delicious recipe! Light some candles to set the ambiance, make a pot of tea, perhaps wear your Chinese slippers purchased in China Town, and then sit down to some relaxing authentic stir fry.


Chinese Stir Fry

~1 yellow bell pepper chopped
~1 cup mushrooms chopped
~1/2 cup snow peas broken in half
~1/2 cup bean sprouts
~1 small yellow onion chopped
~1/2 cup broccoli chopped
~1lb chicken sliced into small pieces or beef
~olive oil
~2 cloves garlic

Sauté chicken or beef until cooked and remove from skillet or wok. Add olive oil to pan and sauté onion for 1-2 minutes. Then add in garlic, bell pepper, snow peas, and broccoli. Cook for 4 more minutes and then add mushrooms and bean sprouts. Then stir in soy sauce, honey, and ginger until completely mixed. Add chicken and cook for 2-3 more minutes until veggies are cooked, but still crunchy and chicken is heated through. Serve immediately over a bed of rice or cooked vermicelli noodles.

Sauce

~1/3 cup GF soy sauce
~2-3 tbs honey
~1-2 teaspoons fresh ginger grated(add more if you love the taste of ginger)

~Optional: hot pepper flakes or GF spicy Thai chili sauce to taste

*Note: Sometimes I will add more sauce if there isn't enough for me to pour over my rice. Feel free to add more or less depending on how much you like sauce. Also you may want to alter the sauce slightly adding more honey if you like a sweeter sauce, less soy sauce, etc. It is all up to you, honestly each time I make this I never measure it out and every time it tastes different, but that is what I like about it.

Thai Town

As the weeks have past here in Italy, I have begun to realize that as much as I love a good Italian meal, you just can't have it seven days a week. So I started to wonder where I could find some other ethnic food, besides the massive amounts of risottos, raviolis, manicottis, etc. Looking through the grocery store in Italy, I realized that Italians really don't even eat anything else besides Italian. I have yet to see any other food places besides Italian cafe's, Italian trattoria's, Italian restaurants, Gelato shops, etc. Italians do have some of the best food in the world, but really how do they eat it 7 days a week and 365 days a year? Well I guess when you grandma and mother both are Mama Mia's, then there really isn't much to complain about is there?! So my quest for ethnic food began about a month ago. I searched high and low in all the nearby Italian grocery stores before the light bulb finally went off. Italians may only eat Italian food, but Austrians eat everything! So I drove out to the store in Austria and was delighted when I found an ethnic food section full of Indian sauces, Thai curries, rice noodles, tacos, and the list goes on and on. I decided my first creation would be something Thai, as I miss that food more than anything. I ate Thai almost every week this summer because it is very Celiac friendly. I was more than overjoyed that I could sit down in a restaurant and eat most of the same dishes as my neighbor. So standing there in the store I decided I would get a green curry paste, that of course I made sure was GF, some bamboo shoots, coconut milk and some red curry paste for later. My inspiration for this first dish comes from the Thai restaurant that I frequented every week in Alaska. They make a mean green curry chicken there and I miss it like crazy. I have made this dish three times now and after playing around with the amount of curry versus chicken broth I think I have it mastered.

Green Curry Chicken

~1 can regular or light coconut milk
~2-3 teaspoons green curry paste GF
~1/2-1 cup bamboo shoots
~1 lb chicken, chopped or Shrimp, cleaned and de-veined(uncooked)
~1/4-1/2 cup chicken or veggie broth GF
~3-5 fresh basil leaves
~Fish Sauce GF (optional)
~1-2 tablespoons olive oil
~dash of sesame oil

In a large saucepan add olive oil and cook chicken until it is almost done. Remove chicken from the saucepan and place aside. Add the curry and the sesame oil to medium heat and stir constantly. Add in a touch of coconut milk until it thickens a bit, and then dump the rest of the coconut milk in the saucepan. Bring to a boil and add in chicken broth (only 1/4 cup to start), return chicken and add bamboo shoots and simmer for 5-10 minutes. At this point you can also add fish sauce. I have yet to add fish sauce to my concoction over here, as I am still a little weary that the one I bought isn't gluten free. So I have omitted the fish sauce and believe that the chicken broth gives it the necessary salty taste and that you really don't even need the fish sauce. You can also taste the sauce at this point to see that it is spicy enough for you, if not add more curry. If it isn't salty enough, add more broth. Once the dish is almost done tear the basil leaves and add them to the sauce, simmering for a couple more minutes. I personally like to serve this over basmati rice.

Now if you are using shrimp, do not add the shrimp until you have made the sauce and placed the bamboo shoots in it, as the shrimp only takes about 4-5 minutes to cook. Once the sauce has simmered for 5 minutes, add the shrimp and cook until pink all the way through. If you are using cooked shrimp, cook them for about 3 minutes in the sauce to reheat them. The sauce will not be thick, and you do not want to reduce it. It is meant to be thin and delicious so that it is a soupy mix when poured over rice.

My next recipe is inspired by the restaurant Ginger located in downtown Anchorage. If you are a huge Thai fan, you absolutely must go and try their red curry beef! It is the best I have ever tasted, and as with the green curry, I miss it dearly. However, I was able to concoct something that I believe is very comparable.

Red Curry Beef

~1 lb stir fry beef or strips, cut them into thin strips
~2-3 teaspoons red curry paste GF
~button mushrooms, chopped
~1 can coconut milk
~1/2 -1 cup spring onions thinly chopped
~Dash sesame oil

Cook the beef in a saucepan until almost done. Remove from the pan and remove excess grease. Add the sesame oil and curry paste and stir continually while adding in a couple tablespoons coconut milk. Once this mixture becomes slightly thickened, add more coconut milk, thickening each time until the whole can is added. The sauce at this point does not have to be completely thickened. Add mushrooms and chicken back to sauce and heat over a higher heat than that of the green curry chicken. Cook for 5-7 minutes or until sauce is reduced and thick. Spoon red curry beef over basmati rice and top off with uncooked chopped spring onions.

*Note: These two recipes are basic Thai recipes that can be changed in many ways. Feel free to substitute or even add in different vegetables. I, myself find that I enjoy less veggies in my Thai food and leave the excess amount of veggies for stir fry nights. However, everyone has a different palate and therefore adapt these recipes to your own palate; they are merely just a foundation meant to be tweaked and finessed. Enjoy!

Croatia: A Safe Haven for Celiacs!

I just got back from a nice 4 day vacation in Croatia with my boyfriend, who had a couple days off from his rigorous hockey schedule. We stayed in a little town called Rovinj, which was built to resemble the city of Venice and let me tell you it does! It was amazing, complete with tiny little streets zig zagging all over the old city. At first I was very nervous that I would get glutenated while on this vacation, as I wasn't sure they would understand me with the language barrier. But I was completely wrong! Celiacs pack your bags for Croatia!! I spent the 4 days eating homemade risottos, fresh Istrian(Croatian) ham, delicious cheeses, and seafood to die for! I never went hungry and in fact left every meal absolutely stuffed. I had no problem explaining my Celiac situation. I printed off a card from the Croatian Celiac website that explained would I could and could not eat in Croatian. I simply just handed every waiter the card and they would promptly take it back to the chef to make sure the food I chose was safe, if it wasn't safe they changed it so that my choice was gluten free. The last day I actually forgot my card once and explained in English what I could and could not have. It was no problem at all because we found that everywhere we went in the Istria area of Croatia, they all spoke English. Now that brings me to my next recipe revolved around fish.

I actually tried this dish here in Italia with some minor adjustments to the original dish. Normally I use salmon, preferably silver, but as I have discussed before you have to get creative with your ingredients in this country! So I ambled down to the fish market one morning last week and looked at the array of freshly caught fish placed before me. I found a pink looking fillet that resembled that of a small salmon. I of course forgot to look up the word for salmon in Italian before going to the market, so pointed and asked salmon??? to the owner and he replied to me in incredibly fast Italian something I couldn't make out. So I just said Si! Due per favore!! Well upon inspecting my purchase once I arrived home, I realized I had purchased two lovely looking trout's. Now I am by no means an expert in trout, salmon maybe, but definitely not trout. So I figured the fish were some kind of rainbow trout, but would work just fine. I went a little easier on the sauce and the whole dish turned out great!


Asian infused Salmon

~2 8-10 oz salmon or trout fillets if you can't find a very fresh salmon fillet
~4 tablespoons olive oil
~6 tablespoons rice vinegar
~3-4 tablespoons GF soy sauce, less is better as some GF soy sauces are very salty, if possible used reduce sodium, then use 4 tablespoons.
~Juice from 1 orange or 2-3 tablespoons orange juice(not concentrate)
~grated fresh ginger, about 1-2 teaspoons depending on your taste preference, ground ginger can also be used as a substitute
~GF Asian/Thai spicy Chili Sauce or red pepper flakes, 1-2 teaspoons depending on how spicy you want this dish to be!

Combine all ingredients in a marinating dish. Add fish, the skin can be left on or removed, and refrigerate for 30-40 minutes allowing fish to marinate. Once marinated, heat skillet to medium heat adding 1-2 tablespoons olive oil. Once oil becomes heated, drop fillets into the skillet skin side down if it was not removed. Cook for 4 minutes and then flip to other side, if skin was on gently take a spatula and remove skin from fillet. It should be easily pulled off. Cook for another 4 minutes on this side. Depending on how you like your fish cooked, I prefer medium, you can cook a little longer or remove after the 8 minutes. Sometimes the cooking time will vary depending on the thickness of the fillet. Then remove cooked fillets to plate and cover with foil. Add the marinade to hot skillet and cook at a very high heat allowing it to boil. Once it boils stir constantly until sauce reduces and becomes thick. Once it becomes thickened remove the skillet from heat. Plate fish and pour sauce over. I like to serve this dish with basmati rice and sautéed bak choy. However, you can use whatever vegetable you like. I have also used asparagus and broccoli. I like to sauté the veggies in a skillet with a little garlic, salt, pepper, and sesame oil. Also, depending on how much you like a good sauce, you may want to make more marinade, which will result in more sauce. Depending on the size of the fillets, I often times will make more of the marinade so that I have a good amount of sauce to drizzle over my rice, fish, and veggies. It is up to you! Make every recipe cater to your preferences!