Savory Polenta Rounds - Easter or Anytime Appetizers!

I almost titled this post “polenta and probability”, but had a change of heart at the last moment. As you know, I’m a homeschooling mom, and I recently taught my son the joys of probability. Now, now ... no groaning. Math is your friend, your compadre, your kemosabe. I’m pushing it, aren’t I?I don't think I'd have to push these appetizers onto anybody. They are soooo goooood! I love appetizers. There’s something wonderful about sampling finger food, no matter if it’s a tried and true thing like shrimp cocktail or something more intricate like phyllo tartlets. Appetizers can take the place of a meal, too; and because you're nibbling here and there, you can enjoy some guilty pleasure by sampling bits of this and that without overloading your plate or your metabolism.

Today’s recipe at It’s All Gouda is a scrumptious, savory polenta appetizer that can be prepared in so many varieties -- it’s hard to pin down all the combinations that you can create. I started with 3 different cheeses and 3 different meats, which gave me 9 different meat/cheese pair combinations to make. Go ahead ... make a probability tree ... you’ll come up with 9 pairs as well.Anyway, with Easter around the corner, I thought I’d have a go at preparing some gluten free finger foods. I’ve always hosted an Easter brunch at my house; however, this year will be the first time it will purposefully include some gluten free offerings. I’d recently received a glorious package of goat cheese from Ile de France, and thought I’d revise an appetizer that I’d made for years that includes goat cheese and onions. These are really, really easy to make, but they do take time. It would be fun to make these delightful rounds with your kids, or with your guests for that matter, as everyone can design their own.Helloooo, beautiful! Basically, these gorgeous, circular beauties bites consist of a firm polenta base, topped with the most amazing, crispy fried onions, your choice of cheese, your choice of meat, and then drizzled with gorgeous chive oil. In the past, I’d made these using either thick pita bread or pizza dough, and they turn out wonderful that way, too. They are soft, chewy, crispy, creamy, salty, and mmm, mmm, good!

You start by making a basic, seasoned polenta, and spread it out on a sheet pan to cool and firm up.When cool, cut into small rounds using a glass or cookie cutter. Then either pop under the broiler or pan sauté to produce a golden crust. Set aside.

Meanwhile, slice an onion into very thin, half rounds. Sprinkle with some sea salt. Sauté in olive oil and butter until just starting to caramelize. Then turn the heat up, and fry until crispy. NOTE: These are addicting. Make extra. Trust me. You’ll be nibbling on these as you cook. It’s not possible to ignore them.

Next, prepare your protein. I used prosciutto, which didn’t need any prep work other than to open the package. I also microwaved some thin bacon until crisp, and very quickly seasoned and fried some super thin strips of steak on top of the stove. You could, of course, use left over grilled steak, sliced ultra thin.Now, set out your cheeses. I used my lovely goat cheese from Ile de France, some creamy brie, and a lovely, crumbled gorgonzola. Feta would be wonderful here, too, but I didn’t use Feta this time. If I had, that would increase my probability to 12 pairings. Ahem.You could also just serve a vegetarian version of just cheese and onions. That changes our probability options as well!

Time to assemble your rounds. Heat the oven to 375. Line a baking sheet with foil, and place all your golden polenta rounds on the foil. Top each round with one type of cheese (don’t combine the cheeses). Then put some of the crispy onions on top of the cheese. Pop in the oven for about 10 minutes. Remove, and top each round with your choice of meat (don’t combine them). Drizzle with a chive oil made from pureeing chives in olive oil. It’s amazing.Garnish with chopped tomatoes and serve warm.

These lovely savory polenta rounds are gluten free, all the way. Take care, though, as not all corn meal products are gluten free, and not all gluten free eaters can eat corn. We have no problem with corn. My youngest appetizer eater, the gluten free girl, gobbled these up like there was no tomorrow.They will find their way onto my Easter buffet. What’s your favorite appetizer?

C.A.M.P. - Chicken Artichoke Mushroom Piccata!

Have you ever kind of thrown together a dish at the last minute and ended up being *wow'd* by the results? Well, that exactly what happened to me with this lovely little dish I refer to as C.A.M.P.! I literally stumbled upon this goody and it's safe to say that it is now one of my most favorite chicken dishes of all time. If you are a fan of anything piccata, you’ll be lovin this, too.An added bonus is that this version is gluten free! Now I know that most piccata recipes call for flouring the meat, but trust me, you won’t miss it! *The trick here is to use thin sliced chicken breasts. By that I mean slicing your chicken breasts horizontally so you have two, thin, equal sized pieces per breast half. You could, of course, use chicken cutlets or tenders instead, or simply slice your chicken breasts into thin medallions. The choice is yours. One note: I’m cooking for a family of five, and like most family cooks, I grab and improvise as I go along. I encourage you to do the same. Experiment! Have fun! If you get stuck or need some advice, feel free to email me and I’ll help you out! Let’s go C.A.M.P.ing!You will need:
2 tablespoons Olive Oil
2 tablespoons butter
*Thin sliced chicken breasts, seasoned with salt and pepper, enough for 5 servings (see above)
8 oz sliced fresh mushrooms
1 cup quartered baby artichoke hearts (I used the jarred ones)
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon capers
½ cup white wine
½ cup chicken broth
Juice from ½ a lemon
Herbs/Spices - your favorite (I used thyme, pepper, a shake of a seasoning blend)
1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with a little bit of water to make a slurry
ParsleyIn a large skillet, heat the butter and oil over med high heat. When the butter starts sizzling, add the chicken taking care not to crowd the pan. Better to prepare the chicken in two batches than to overcrowd the pan. Saute until lightly golden, flip and sauté the second side until lightly golden. This takes just a couple minutes per side. Remove from the skillet, and keep warm. In the same skillet, add the sliced mushroom to the remaining butter/olive oil. Saute quickly over med/high heat until golden, takes less than 5 minutes. Remove and place with the chicken. Add the artichokes and quickly sauté them until warmed through, about 3 minutes. Remove the artichokes and place them with the chicken and mushrooms. Add the additional 2 tablespoons of butter to the pan. When it is melted, add the wine, broth, and lemon juice, and stir to combine scraping up any fond on the bottom of the pan. Wisk in the cornstarch slurry, and bring to a low simmer. Stir in the capers. Return the chicken, mushrooms, and artichokes back to the pan and gently combine. Done!I served this with a simple rice pilaf and some fruit. YUM!Just look at how yummy it is! Now this is my idea of C.A.M.P.! Would you like to go C.A.M.P.ing with me?

Mon Petite Chou ... My Little Cabbage ...Cabbage Roll Soup that is!

Do you ever equate a certain food to your friends? Years ago, one of the first friends that hubbyman and I made upon moving to Oregon was a lovely couple who had moved here from Poland. Their vibrant verbal exchanges with each other always entertained me, especially when they would slip very naturally into their native language. Growing up around Italians, I was used to being in the company of others whose first language was not English, so even though I didn’t speak Polish, I could follow their conversations based on years of experience. In addition to speaking Polish, my friends were also fluent in French, Russian, German, and English. Oh, how I wish I had learned multiple languages growing up! Anyway, it always cracked me up that one of the terms of endearment that they had for each other was, “Mon Petite Chou”, which is French for My Little Cabbage! To this day, whenever I eat cabbage, which is fairly often, I almost always have a heart warming moment thinking of our old friends!

Today’s recipe will warm not only your heart, but will also warm your insides on these lingering cool days. I love, love, love old world cabbage rolls, but rarely make them. So when it came time to prepare this week’s soup, and I saw the lonely cabbage sitting in my fridge, I thought why not make cabbage roll soup!

Now, let me point out that the version that I make of this soup is not a quick soup. It takes about 2 ½ hours from start to finish, including prep time. Like many good homemade soup recipes, this one tastes better if you let it simmer for a while to develop flavors. It also tastes even better the next day. You could eliminate the long simmering process, but I’d advise against it. Just as a slow braising yields a tender roast, slow simmering the ground beef in this recipe will gift you with an amazing texture and awesome flavor.Just look at the meat! Alton Brown could probably explain how the meat benefits from the long cooking, just suffice it to say that the longer cooking time works here. This yummy bowl of goodness is low in fat and gluten free, too. If you like nostalgic style soups, this baby is for you! Let’s begin.

Cabbage Roll Soup (Makes 10 servings)

1 ½ lbs leanest ground beef
½ onion – chopped
1 garlic clove – minced
Generous dash of Montreal Steak Seasoning
1 teaspoon of dried Thyme
2 teaspoon dried Basil
2 teaspoon dried Oregano
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Parsley
2 14 oz cans chopped tomatoes
1 small can tomato paste
2 14 oz cans tomato sauce
6 oz white wine
2 14 oz cans beef broth (or homemade equivalent)
3 14 oz cans chicken broth (or homemade equivalent)
2 cups water
2 cups cooked rice (I used basmati, but any cooked rice will work)
About 4 cups cabbage – sliced into short shreds (about 1 small cabbage. I used Napa this time, but any green cabbage will work)
Salt to taste
Fresh ground pepper – to taste
Grated Pecorino cheese (or Parma would work fine)In a large dutch oven, brown the ground beef over med high heat. Drain the beef in a colander, and rinse with super hot water to remove any residual fat. Don’t skip this step, as you really want to keep this lean. Put the meat back into the dutch oven, add the onions and garlic, and stir over medium high heat for about a minute. All at once, add the Mont. Seasoning, herbs, tomatoes, tomato paste, and tomato sauce. Bring to a low boil, then add the wine and ½ of the broths and ½ the water. Bring to a low boil again, cover, turn the heat to low, and simmer for 2 hours, stirring occasionally. Your patience will be rewarded. After 2 hours, stir in the remaining broths and water, plus the rice and cabbage. Cover and simmer for another 15-20 minutes. Let each person season their own bowl with salt, pepper, and cheese, if desired.Mmmmm ... yummy! Come on over; I'll warm up a bowl for you. I ate mine with these darling mini crackers that fit perfectly on the spoon. This would also be great with garlic toast as well as just plain old thick slices of bread. Any and all of Marjie's breads would be great here! Especially that Homestead bread she makes that always makes me want to reach through the computer screen and snatch a slice or two!

So, what do you think of cabbage? What's your favorite variety? How about cabbage rolls? Do you have a favorite family recipe using cabbage that you want to share?

Leapin’ Leprechauns! – Corned Beef Hash and Eggs with Mustardy Hollandaise

How was your St. Paddy’s Day? Did any little leprechauns lead you to lovely pots of gleaming gold? Today’s recipe will lead you to a pot, well a pan actually, worth its taste in gold. How does homemade corned beef hash served up with heavenly fried eggs drizzled with a golden mustardy hollandaise sound? Not quite sure? No problemo! Let me show you what I have in mind.

If you are like me, you may have some extra corned beef hanging about in your fridge. Not only did I have some left over meat from St. Paddy’s Day, but I also was in possession of a few boiled potatoes from the same meal waiting to be used up. What to do, what to do? A lovely hash sounded in order. Plus, I had just read about a mustardy hollandaise that I wanted to try, which meant that since I’d have the eggs out anyway for the sauce, I might as well fry one up, too! (Picture me wiggling my eye brows up and down!) I have such a *thing* for eggs. If I were ever stranded on an island in the middle of no where and was allowed to bring a food with me, those lovely orbs would be my first choice. ANYWAY ... back to reality ...This hash was a snap to fix. Because the potatoes were already boiled, you do have to take a bit of care when frying them that you don’t squash them. I prepared this in my handy dandy cast iron skillet, which provided great even heat and allowed the potatoes to turn a lovely golden shade in no time at all. Let’s get crackin. (Get it? Crackin? Eggs? I know. Don’t quit my day job.)

Corned Beef Hash: Serves Two

About 1 tablespoon butter
About 1 tablespoon olive oil
About 2 tablespoons diced onion
About 2 tablespoons diced green pepper
About 2 tablespoons diced red pepper
About 2 cups of leftover cubed cooked red potatoes
About 1 cup of leftover cubed cooked corned beef

Melt the butter into the olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. When sizzling, add the onion and peppers, and sauté for about a minute or so. Add the potatoes, turn heat down to medium and let sizzle for about 3-4 minutes. When they start to look golden, add the corned beef. Stir/fold gently with a large spoon for about another 5 minutes. Done. Because the corned beef is so highly seasoned and since the potatoes were cooked with the corned beef, I didn’t add a single spice to this.

Meanwhile, in another pan, prepare your egg. I fried mine over medium, but any style, even scrambled, would work great. Need some help in learning how to fry an egg? No worries. Here’s one of many fool proof methods for preparing fried eggs. This will produce an egg where the white is cooked, and the yolk is runny. Melt a little butter or olive oil in a non stick skillet over medium heat. When almost sizzling, crack an egg into the pan. It should sizzle right up. Lift the pan off the burner, and very gently shake the pan. Hold this position for about 30 seconds to one minute. Then put the pan back on the burner, and using a spatula, slip the spatula under the egg and gently invert the egg back into the skillet. You can tip the skillet a bit if that helps. Set the pan back on the burner and turn off the heat. Let sit for about 30 seconds, and then using the spatula, invert again.Remove from the pan and serve immediately. I like to sprinkle a little bit of seasoned salt on mine just before serving.

For the hollandaise, simply make a basic hollandaise and just before completing, stir in a generous teaspoon of Dijon mustard. I actually prefer a spicy brown mustard and so that’s what I used. If you don’t have a recipe for hollandaise, there are multiple recipes on the internet for instructing how to make this delicious sauce. Don’t be intimidated. It’s not hard at all, and the results are wonderful. It reheats well, too.Leapin’ Leprechauns! This dish was utterly delightful! I know that I emitted multiple yummy noises as I savored bite after bite. Just look at these eggs!The yolks are perfect here, and don’t you just love their deep orange color? Now I know that some folks prefer their yolks cooked hard. Again, no worries. Any type of egg would work here. You could even scramble one into the hash if you’d like! Homemade corned beef hash is just soooo amazing. It’s a thrifty way of using up leftovers, and by no means does it appear to be a “left over” dish. The mustardy sauce was simply supreme, and elevated this dish from yum to WOW!This was a great way to use up leftovers from St. Paddy’s day, and definitely put a spring in my step. Did you have any leftover corned beef? What are you making with it? Oh, and like most recipes here at It's All Gouda, this is gluten free, all the way, baby! Happy (almost) Spring!

Home On The Range – Bodacious Bison Burgers

Did you ever see the movie Jurassic Park? Do you remember the scene where the power in the park has just gone out, and the children are stuck out in the park in the jeep, its dark and rainy outside, and the young boy notices that the surface of a glass of water in the jeep keeps rippling every couple of seconds? It’s a great scene that foreshadows the arrival of a sharp toothed, hungry dinosaur with a bad attitude. Even before they could see the belligerent beast, the earth shook with each step announcing its arrival.

Well, the first time I ever saw a Bison (aka Buffalo) up close, I was sitting in the passenger seat in our car at Yellowstone National Park, and the surface of my beverage rippled just as the one in the movie had. Unlike the movie, however, it announced the arrival of a small herd of amazing bison who were preparing to cross the road. We sat in awe as the majestic, four-hoofed group of horned creatures passed right next to us. And I mean right. next. to. us. With each step they took, our little car shook and shivered as they made their way first next to and then in front of our car. And while I was, quite honestly, a tad intimidated by a) their massive size, and b) their close proximity to my personal space, I have to admit that I was mesmerized by these creatures that used to roam free in the millions. There’s something very special about American Bison, and I’ll always treasure my up close and personal moment.In my quest for healthy meals, I recently read about the nutritional value of buffalo meat. Low in fat and high in protein, buffalo meat is becoming less of an afterthought in meat food groups. After beefing up on preparation techniques, I thought I’d have a go at preparing a bodacious bison burger.Most of the recipes I read called for the addition of fat because the buffalo meat is so lean. However, the thought of mixing in a quantity of ground beef and even oil! didn’t appeal to me. Instead, for moisture, I mixed shredded mozzarella cheese right into the raw meat, and topped the cooked burgers with sautéed onions, mushrooms, and warm bbq sauce. A fresh, creamy coleslaw on the side rounded out the meal nicely.

1 lb ground buffalo
¾ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Montreal Steak Seasoning
1 onion – sautéed
2 cups sliced mushrooms – sautéed
Good quality bbq sauce
Toasted buns

Separate the buffalo and cheese into 5 equal sized portions, sprinkle with Montreal Steak Seasoning, and mix one portion of each and shape into a patty. Repeat with all portions. The mixture will look funny because there is so very little fat to hold it together. Unlike beef patties, your hands will feel wet not greasy after shaping the burgers. Don’t worry if the cheese sticks out all over the place like a porcupine; that’s a good thing.

Also, unlike beef burgers, you want to cook your buffalo burgers low and slow no matter if you grill them, pan fry them, or broil them. They take longer to cook, and there is virtually no fat left in the pan afterward. The cheese sticking out of the burgers ends up browning up so wonderfully and adds that lovely flavor that only crisped cheese can provide.

The bodacious bison burgers were really good! Why the descriptor word 'bodacious', you ask? Well, these babies hardly shrink at all. They pretty much retain both height and width when you cook them, so you don’t need as much meat as you do when preparing beef burgers. Take a good look at the interior of this burger.
You can see that they are not juicy by any means, but they aren’t dry either. My oldest daughter really liked hers, plain of course, and she’s not a big meat eater so that’s saying something. The onions and mushrooms served as a great compliment.These burgers made themselves right at home on my range. Have you ever cooked buffalo? What did you think? I’d love to try this lean meat again. Do you have any recipes to share?