Gluten free margherita pizza

This one's one of our family's favorites. Ever since my youngest son was diagnosed with celiac disease, my family & I certainly miss delivery pizza. But when my hubby came home one day with a delicious Udi's crust from Whole Foods a couple of months ago we were smitten!

Ingredients:

-Pizza crust (Udi's is our favorite- crisp & delicious)
-Gluten free pizza sauce (Whole Foods also carries an excellent pizza sauce that's organic & gluten free)
-Shredded monterrey jack cheese ~ of course, for authentic margherita pizza, you'd use slices of mozzarella scattered around the entire pie
-sliced roma tomatoes
-basil ~ we use real basil sprigs plus basil flakes from a jar
-red pepper flakes
-goat cheese ~ optional
-ground hamburger beef for 'sausage' ~ optional

Instructions:

This one's pretty self-explanatory. Follow the instructions on the pizza crust. The Udi's instructions, for example, just have you top the pizza with all of your desired ingredients and then bake it for 6-8 minutes or so.

Note: We like to add crumbles of goat cheese. Also if you're feeling adventurous, you can crumble beef from hamburger meat in a skillet on medium/high for several minutes, stirring continuously to even out the cooking of the beef. Do this while the pizza is cooking and add to the top of the pizza when the pizza only has a couple of minutes left to cook.

Bearnaise Sauce ~ To Accompany The Real Deal Filets

When my nephew who is a law student told me that this sauce should be "illegal", I knew this should go along with my "favorites" because, truthfully, it is pretty darn good!

Serving suggestion: with the Real Deal Filet Mignon posted below.  Also great to drizzle on asparagus.

Serves: 5-8 ~ depends on how much sauce your crowd uses

Ingredients:
-3 egg yolks
-1 stick of butter, melted
-1/4 cup white wine vinegar ~ run o' the mill vinegar is also fine if you can't get your hands on the white wine vinegar
-1/4 cup wine ~ just double the vinegar if you don't want to use wine
-2 tbsp tarragon

-1 tbsp shallots

Instructions:
-Put all of the ingredients above into a saucepan on medium-high heat
-Bring to a simmer and cook until the amount is reduced by half
-Remove from heat and seat aside to cool

-In a blender on the "sauce" setting (or low-medium), blend the three egg yolks on medium WITH the mixture from above that you just set aside
-While the blender is still running, slowly add about 1/4 of the melted butter into the mixture
-When the mixture emulsifies, turn the blender up to HIGH and add the rest of the butter

~Note~ this sauce takes a long time (several minutes) of blending before it looks less runny.  And it will still look runny after you're done blending it.  But don't despair!  Just keep it warm before serving it because it will stiffen up.  For me, the stiffening up process usually takes about 20-30 minutes. I keep it warm in my Salter food warmer and stir it occasionally.

Enjoy!

~Ellenor

The Real Deal Filet Mignon

More luxurious (and expensive) than the stone ground grits for sure, this recipe is perfect for having company over or for special celebrations.  My advice is to go with the best cut of filet you can find ~ think Whole Foods or Fresh Market.  It's much more expensive than you'll find at other places, but I promise it's worth it.  It just cooks and tastes better ~ not much different than a really good steakhouse.

I like to serve this with asparagus or twice baked potatoes ~ whatever strikes your fancy!

Ingredients:

-One 6-8 ounce filet per person
-butter
-salt
-papper

Instructions:

-Preheat the oven to 375 degrees
-At least 20 minutes before you plan to start cooking the filets, take them out of the fridge. Put salt and pepper on them and let sit on the counter ~ so as not to shock the filets by bringing them from a cold temperature to the hot stove immediately!
-Butter a plan over a medium-high stove and sear the steaks for three minutes on each side
-Move the pan to the over for 6-8 minutes (for medium rare), perhaps a few minutes more depending on your oven ~ I test out how done the steaks are by pulling them out of the oven and cutting into the middle of one of them, but you can use a meat thermometer too ~ 135 to 140 degrees for medium rare
-Once they are done to your liking, remove from the oven, transfer the steaks onto a plate, and loosely cover with foil for 10 minutes. This allows the steaks to "rest" before you serve them and it really does make a difference with the way it tastes!
-Serve with bearnaise sauce on the side ~ see my next post for bearnaise recipe!

Enjoy!

~Ellenor

Slow cooked jalapeno grits with shrimp

When my husband and I moved to the South after he finished medical school for his residency, my dear mother-in-law (who grew up in Atlanta and is a Southerner through and through) told me that it was pretty much the law down here to (1) know what stone ground grits are, (2) like stone ground grits, (3) know how to COOK stone ground grits. At first I panicked, but then I kindly asked her if she knew any good recipes for grits. With a smile and a wink, she gave me the following recipe. Years later, and easily my family's favorite, this recipe is fantastic because most of the work is done while you sleep! Best yet is that my youngest usually won't touch seafood, but he'll sure eat this!

Serves: 8-10 small appetites (e.g. as a side dish), 5 big appetites (e.g. as a main dish)

Ingredients:

-1 cup of grits
-1 lb cooked and peeled shrimp
-5 cups of water
-1 cup jalapeno cheese ~ or a milder cheese if you prefer
-2 tomatoes, chopped ~ optional
-1/4 cup butter & 2 tbsp butter (for the shrimp saute ~ see below)
-2 tbsp chili powder
-1 tsp salt

Instructions:

-Put all ingredients EXCEPT the shrimp, chopped tomatoes, and 2 tbsp butter into a slowcooker on LOW for 6 hours.
-TWO hours before the 6 hours is up, saute the shrimp in a pan with 2 tbsp butter and the chopped tomatoes. Once the shrimp is tender, remove from the stove, drain any excess butter, and put shrimp into the crockpot.
-Turn the crockpot up to HIGH and cook for two more hours.
-Once the eight hours is up, stir the pot, and add shredded cheese for garnish, if desired. For us, we find the grits cheesy enough already.

Enjoy!

~Ellenor