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Jar of dulce de leche

One ingredient caramel sauce

Jar of dulce de lecheI was on TV this morning, and I have to tell you, I sure did feel special. I cooked until 1 am last night and packed everything up and at 6:00 this morning I was on my way to the TV station.

I was going to make my 5 minute sauce, but I didn’t have a hot plate. I also didn’t have a lot of food laying around that I could whip up into something fabulous. But, I was itching to try something I have seen on the internet. And, the possibility of exploding food is always exciting. So this, is mostly a guide and a reference point for when I post me crepe recipe tomorrow, you can know (and maybe already have made) this amazing filling.

This is a great way to experiment using an ingredient that you probably only have around because you were making some retro cake or Alton Brown’s Stovetop Mac & Cheese.

Now, go boil some water and make some of the most delicious caramel sauce you have ever had. And watch the video of me explaining it on TV.

One ingredient caramel sauce
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Recipe Type: Dessert
Prep time: 23 mins
Cook time: 3 hours
Total time: 3 hours 23 mins
Serves: 8
The easiest caramel sauce (Dulche de Leche) that you will ever make.
Ingredients
  • 1 14oz can of sweetened condensed milk (Eagle Brand is gluten free)
Instructions
  1. In a large pot, bring enough water to cover the can to a boil.
  2. Shake the can well.
  3. Carefully submerge it in the water using tongs.
  4. Check back regularly to make sure there is enough water to cover the can. If water level is getting low, just add more water.
  5. Once you have boiled for 3 hours, turn off the heat and leave the can in the water.
  6. Let the can cool in the water.
  7. When you open the can, you will have delicious caramel sauce.
Notes

If you let the water level get lower than the can, you run the risk of the can exploding. So keep an eye on the pot.

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Spaetzle with Lentils

Spaetzle mit Linsen

Spaetzle and lentils in a white bowlI have been fascinated by spaetzle since my mom made with with a nifty device perched on a pot of boiling water. If you have never had spaetzle, you are living a life of deprivation. They are what I might consider a perfect food. Tender, noodly, carby goodness. And they go with everything. You can eat them with cheese (Kasespaetzle). You can eat them with schnitzle. You can eat them with a brat. Or, you can eat them all alone, pan fried with some herbs and salt.

Today, as this is a meatless Monday post, I am eating my spaetzle with lentils. Red lentils to be exact. Most of the recipes I saw on the internet called for brown lentils – but I think brown lentils are ugly. And, in my kitchen are red lentils.  This dinner includes the use of one of the few processed foods that I keep around – bouillon. You can use bouillon cubes or stock, but your water needs to be seasoned, or the lentils will taste flat.

Spaetzle with Linsen
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Recipe Type: Entree
Prep time: 20 mins
Cook time: 20 mins
Total time: 40 mins
Serves: 2
Gluten free German dumplings with a lentil stew and crispy shallots, sage and brown butter.
Ingredients
  • 1 cup gluten free flour blend
  • 1/2 teaspoon xantham gum (if not in your mix)
  • 3 eggs
  • 1/8 cup milk
  • 1 cup red lentils
  • 2 cups stock or water and a bouillon cube
  • 1 tablespoon sage
  • 2 shallots
  • 4 tablespoons butter
  • Salt & Pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. Whisk flour and xantham gum together.
  2. Make a well in the flour and crack eggs into it.
  3. Pour in milk and mix.
  4. Cover and put in the fridge for an hour or overnight.
  5. When it is time to cook, cook the lentils in the stock as directed on the package. It should be thick, but still liquid. The lentils should have started to break down but should not be completely disintegrated.
  6. Now, if you don’t have a spaetzle maker use a colander and a spatula to push the batter through the holes into a pot of boiling water. Boil the dumplings in batches.
  7. Once the spaetzle is cooked, fry the sage and shallots in the butter.
  8. Remove the sage and shallots from the frying pan and drain the butter.
  9. Sautee the spaetzle in the greased frying pan.
  10. Top with cooked lentils, a drizzle of the browned butter and fried sage and crispy shallots.
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1.2.4

This actually made 3 servings for me, but I eat small, measured portions.

Meatless Monday: Onion Gallette

Let me qualify this recipe by saying that I really hate food that comes in packages, already mixed up. But, when you are sick, you just need easy. So, I cheated. I used a mix. I have a cold and I didn’t want to slave away over the stove. I wanted to assemble and toss in the oven. This recipe is the result of one of those I have nothing to eat but lots of food moments.

I am calling this a gallette because it sounds fancy. It could have been a flat bread, a pizza or a tart. By calling it a gallette, I elevated it into more than a 5 minute sick meal. It became French.

Caramelized Onion & Ricotta Gallette

[box]I find that my pantry tends to have some items that many people don’t keep around – I caramelize onions in large batches and keep them in the fridge, I happened to have made ricotta last week with my mom and I have some decent size herb plants that I picked up last weekend. But, let this recipe serve as an inspiration to you, let it be an outline for how to throw together an easy dinner.[/box]

  • 1 package Chebe Pizza Crust
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 T olive oil
  • 1/8-1/4 cup water
  • 1/2 cup ricotta
  • 1 cup caramelized onions
  • 1 T chopped fresh sage
  • 2-3 sprigs fresh thyme
  • 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella

Preheat the oven to 400. Mix eggs, Chebe mix and oil. Add water until the dough comes together into a ball. The dough will stand up to rolling and will no longer be crumbly. I used 1/8 cup. Roll the dough out on a greased baking sheet into 1/4″ thick sheet and a round-ish shape. Perfection is unnecessary, that is where this recipe gets its charm.

Spread the ricotta in a nice thick layer, leaving about 2-inches around the edge. Next, spread a nice thick layer of caramelized onions. Sprinkle with the mozzarella and herbs. To finish, fold up the edges so that they overlap the filling.

Bake 20-30 minutes. The crust doesn’t get too golden looking, so when the cheese looks good and done the crust is probably done too.

bean salad in a mason jar

Three bean salad

bean salad in a mason jarBean salad is my go-to dish when I am out of other delicious things for lunch. You know, like leftovers. The bean salads that I make are usually random mixes of the beans in my cabinet and the first spices that I grab. This salad was no different.

I discovered, on a whim that I quite like fennel and rosemary. I only have fennel on hand because my mom always had fennel. I really had no idea what to do with it. But inspiration hit and I made this delicious bean salad.

Three Bean Salad with Fennel & Rosemary

  • 1 can black beans
  • 1 can chickpeas
  • 1 can butter beans
  • 1 tablespoon dried or fresh rosemary
  • 1-2 teaspoons fennel
  • 6 small sweet peppers
  • 1 shallot
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1/2 cup white wine vinegar
  • Salt & pepper to taste

Chop up peppers and shallot. Drain beans and rinse. Combine with peppers and shallot. Whisk together olive oil, vinegar & seasonings. Pour over beans, peppers & shallot. Refridgerate over night so that flavors develop.

This recipe keeps for about a week and makes a great lunch or side for a spring/summer dinner.

Sloppy Janes

Sloppy Janes - A vegetarian Sloppy Joe
Sloppy joes have been a part of my life since I was a little kid. Mom would make them for an easy dinner when our schedules got crazy as kids. She started making them with ground turkey when we decided as a family that we shouldn’t eat so much red meat. When I told her I was going to make Sloppy Joes with lentils, she thought I was crazy – there was some audible skepticism in her voice when I talked to her this afternoon. Now, I dare her to make these and see how right I was.

Some googling showed me that this is not an original idea – but lacking a car to go grocery shopping, I used ingredients that I have talked Paul into keeping in his kitchen. These make use of some pre-made rubs & sauces, but the end result is delicious.

I served them on Against The Grain’s gluten free pumpernickel buns.

Sloppy Janes

  • 1 c Lentils
  • 4 c water
  • 2 T steak seasoning/barbecue rub (I used the steak house rub from Williams Sonoma)
  • 4T tomato paste (buy this in a tube – that way you won’t waste half a can when you make this)
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced (or 1 1/2t minced garlic from a jar)
  • 1 c Sweet Baby Rays Barbecue sauce
  • 1 1/2 c water
  • 2 T olive oil

Cook the lentils in 4 c of the water until al dente (they don’t have to be all the way cooked). Drain and set aside. Put olive oil in a dutch oven or sauce pan. Saute onions, garlic & rub until onions are translucent and fragrant. Add tomato paste & 1 1/2 cups water and the barbecue sauce to the onions & garlic. Cook sauce on medium heat until it begins to thicken (about 15 mins). Add lentils and cook until the lentils are cooked through and the sauce is the desired consistency. If it is too thick, you can always add a little water.