This was inspired by a dish that we had years and years ago in Manila at a Chinese restaurant called anise beef grizzle and egg noodles. Yes, I know it sounds gross but you had to taste it! It was amazing. I went in search of “anise beef” recipes and most of them came up that were called Pho, which is really a soup. I did find one that’s more of a stir fry dish but I lost the link since I didn’t bookmark again. But anyway, here is what was made this evening.

2 tbs. peanut oil
About 1 lb. (likely a bit more) or beef fajita meat, sliced into thin strips
4-5 cloves of garlic, finely minced
4-5 whole star anise (had pcs. which were very hard to fish out afterwards)
2 inches of ginger root, peeled and sliced thinly
1/2-2/3 c. dried mushrooms
2 1/2 c. water
1 tbs. arrowroot powder

Bring water to a boil. Add mushrooms and allow to steep until fully hydrated. Do not discard the water.

Heat peanut oil in the pan. When it’s smoking, saute half the meat until browned then set aside and brown the other half.

Saute the ginger, anise and garlic for a few seconds then add put the meat back into the pot. Add in 2 1/4 c. of water reserved from the mushrooms and rehydrated mushrooms then bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to a simmer. Allow to simmer for about 20 minutes or until the meat is tender.

Mix arrowroot powder and about 1/4 c. of the reserved liquid until fully desolved then add to simmering pan. Cook until the sauce is clear and thickened. I don’t know if you’re supposed to mix the powder in water, but that’s what cornstarch calls for so I did.

In the recipe I’d come across (and lost) there was beef broth and sherry. I have no beef broth which is why I used the water from the mushrooms to replace both. Also, there was a mention of sesame oil but I have no idea where that gets used. It is something that can be added in small amounts when you’re serving the meal, though.

Serve with rice.

(must write it down before I forget)

1/2 c. peanut butter
1/2 c. water
2 tbs. soy sauce
2 tbs. (or more!) brown sugar
2 tbs. oil
7 cloves of garlic
1/3 well-packed cup each of: basil, cilantro, mint
1 lb. chicken tenders or strips of lean chicken
1/2 c. seasoned rice vinegar
1 bell pepper, cut into strips
1 small head of broccoli, cut into florets
2 tsp. dark sesame oil
salt to taste
3/4 package of spaghetti
Honey roasted peanuts

Start the water for your pasta.

Mix the first five ingredients in a bowl as best as you can. Warm in the microwave for 30 seconds on high to help blend. Keep heating in 30 second increments as needed. Set aside.

Start cooking the pasta. Drain when done.

In a food processor, pulse garlic, basil, cilantro and mint until very, very fine mince.

In an oiled broiler-safe pan, toss chicken, garlic and herbs mixture, and vinegar. Broil about five inches from the flame, three minutes on each side. Check for doneness by cutting one of the largest pieces and making sure the juices run clear.

In a large pot—I used the one I cooked the noodles in—toss broccoli and red pepper. Add chicken and all pan drippings as well as the peanut sauce. Toss everything together. Add cooked spaghetti and toss very well to ensure everything is completely coated. Cover pan and let sit over very, very low heat for a couple of minutes just to help warm and very slightly cook the veggies.

Serve topped with honey roasted peanuts.

NOTES:
This recipe was a mash-up of a few I had come across. It came out very well this evening, but I didn’t use any crushed red pepper which most of the other recipes I read included. Also, the garlic was very “raw” tasting in this and I’m not a fan of uncooked garlic or onions. It tasted good, but it did have that bite to it so next time I’ll probably saute the garlic first and just toss it with the chicken instead of pulsing it with the herbs. Also, I would chop up the peanuts instead of serve them whole. They’re hard to eat with a fork!

1/2 c. pearl tapioca (tiny ones)

2 c. room temperature water
1/4 tsp. salt
1 can Coco Lopez cream of coconut, 8.5 oz.
1 can of water
Enough milk to make 2 1/2 c. of fluid when you combine with the cream of coconut
1/4 c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Soak the tapioca in 2 c. room temperature water overnight. Drain the water.

In a double boiler, heat the fluids until they’re no longer cold. Add salt and tapioca. Continue heating until small bubbles appear at sides of pan. Cover, turn heat to very low and cook for one hour, stirring occassionally. Check to make sure that the bottom of the pan doesn’t run out of water and the tapioca mixture doesn’t simmer or boil.

When the tapioca has cooked for an hour and reached the desired consistency, remove from heat and mix in sugar and vanilla. You can add more or less sugar to taste.

I honestly don’t know if I should qualify “meatballs” since this isn’t your usual “Swedish” meatball. The ground meat mixture was intended to become burgers but when my hubby saw it, he said “Ugh…I’m kinda tired of red meat.” He then suggested we turn them into meatballs. Since they did come out pretty tasty, I’m going to try to write it down in case we want to revisit this. Probably not soon: we have enough leftovers for at least two meals if not more.

Meatballs:

1 1/2 to 2 lbs. ground beef
1/2 c. feta cheese
1 (8 oz.) package of mushrooms
1/2 c. frozen spinach
1 egg
1/2 c. garlic pita chip crumbs
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried minced garlic
salt and pepper
1 tbs. olive oil
1 tbs. sugar (dunno why…hubby said to do it)

All above are *approximate* amounts!

Wash the mushrooms. Put the mushrooms through the food processor and mince finely but don’t turn them into a paste. Do the same for the frozen spinach; keeping it frozen kinda helps when you’re pulsing. Yes, my kids saw this happen and they still ate the food. I love them.

Put the finely minced veggies and the rest of the goods in a bowl then mix gently with your hands. Make sure it’s well-incorporated. Shape into balls about 1″ in size. I don’t know if this is necessary, but I put them in the fridge for at least 6 hours before I cooked them. This picture will give you an idea of the distribution of the feta and the spinach so you can maybe tell how much to put in.

They were fried. I didn’t add any fat at all; trust me, with this meat there was no need at all. I fried in batches, allowing the bottoms to brown before turning them. It took about 5 minutes or so on each side, maybe less on the second side. I just used tongs to get them out and put them in a warm (200F) oven to wait while the other batches were going.

Afterwards, I used the rendered fat and bits in the pan to make a gravy with flour, chicken stock (It was all I had) some milk and salt and pepper. While it did taste good, my tummy is not happy at having to digest the fat the stove and pan worked so hard to get out. I recommend working with broth and getting the fat outta there.

Serve over noodles, preferrably egg noodles but we didn’t have any.

If you think meatballs are a pain to make (I won’t be making them any time soon, I think), you can use the above to make burgers instead. We did save some of the meat mixture and do just that. NM wholeheartedly approved and ate all of his.

Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler

Originally uploaded by Phisch

May I just say, strawberry and rhubarb make quite a lovely combo of fruit and veggie (?!) in a cobbler. I used the same recipe as last time only substituted the blueberries.

The fruit was frozen and I used 16 oz. bags. I let them thaw on the counter with some sugar, about 3/4 cup of brown because I thought I’d run out of refined.

Very yummy! J likes it, too. He didn’t like the blueberry kind.

I came across this recipe on the Feingold Diet member forum and tried it this afternoon. It’s pretty yummy! There are a few versions of this recipe around apparently, but the one I used is below. I added the salt and used white chocolate chips. The kids give it a thumbs up. She noted the recipe is dangerous because it’s only five short minutes to chocolate cake.

1 Coffee mug
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour*
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons baking cocoa
1 pinch kosher salt
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)
Small splash of vanilla extract

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly. Pour in the milk and oil and mix well. Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla, and mix again. Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts. The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don’t be alarmed! Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.

*Someone mentioned they substituted 3 tbs. brown rice flour and 1 tbs tapioca starch for the wheat flour and rice milk instead of regular milk to make this a gluten-free, casein-free recipe.

From Staten Island Live.com

Whole Wheat Waffles With Strawberry and Banana Syrup
(Makes 8 waffles)

2 cups whole-wheat flour
3 tablespoons natural sugar or sugar substitute
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 cup canola oil
1 1/2 cups milk

Preheat waffle maker. Place flour, salt, baking powder, sugar and cinnamon in a bowl; stir and combine. Add canola oil, vanilla, eggs and milk.

Blend with a wire whisk until smooth.

Coat waffle grid with nonstick spray. Pour 1/2 cup batter onto the preheated waffle grid, close lid and latch.

Bake until signal indicates it’s done.

Place waffle in the center of the plate, spoon syrup around and then top with fresh berries and sliced banana.

Strawberry-Banana Syrup
(Makes 3/4-1 cup)

1/4 cup sugar or sugar substitute
1/4 cup water
8 strawberries
3 small to medium bananas

In a small saucepot, combine sugar or substitute and water. Bring to a boil, and then set aside.

Place strawberries and bananas in blender.

Pour sugar and water mixture on top and blend until smooth. Syrup can be stored for several days.

Note: I’ve not tried this yet, but it sure beats my dad’s version (”better living through modern chemistry”) that called for sugar, corn syrup, food coloring and artificial flavoring.

Bread is one of those things that’s just really hard to purchase when you have to consider a family member which chemical sensitivity like my oldest. Most bread contains some form of preservative that’s petroleum-based and if it’s not an ingredient then often times the packaging is sprayed with it. Bread simply perishes too quickly and manufacturers want a chance to make sure what you are buying is in good condition.

Maybe I should rephrase that: it’s not hard to buy but it is hard to shell out $5 for a loaf (or more).

A lot of families on the Feingold diet will purchase a bread maker because it pays for itself pretty quickly. I have one that I bought from a neighbor but it makes a small loaf and we’d need more for our carb-hungry boys. John of Lake Neuron posted about buying a new Sunbeam breadmaker that makes a 2 lb. loaf and that would do just fine for us.$60-ish at Walmart? Not bad. I think those machines used to cost a whole lot more.

However, a commenter at his blog passed along information about a book called Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. Surely, you must be joking! Is this for reals? ORLY!

Well, here’s a video for you to check out. I’m seriously considering trying the recipe in the video to see how it tastes. I just have to find out how long you keep it in the fridge before you can bake it. That, and figure out how to make room in the fridge.

I know I came across a recipe called “Ethiopian Cabbage” somewhere recently, but I can’t  place it. I know that the ingredients included tumeric and something else and that managed to stick in my brain. I happened to have a cabbage in the fridge, so I thought I’d recreate the recipe (I love tumeric, had that, too). Probably nothing like the original, but I like it anyway and it made the dog jealous.

oil for sautee
1/2 head of cabbage, sliced
1 large or two medium carrots, sliced thinly
1 onion, sliced (I didn’t have one…sad!)
1/2 tsp. tumeric
1/2 tsp. cumin (powdered)
salt & pepper
sprinkling of sesame seeds

Heat up about 1 tbs. cooking oil over medium high heat. What I had done is previously saute sliced beef sausage and used the fat that rendered from it along with some olive oil. Saute the onions until just before they’re transparent. Add the cabbage and carrots, saute for a minute. Add seasonings then saute until crisp-tender. Sprinkle on some sesame seeds.

Based on a recipe found at Allrecipes.com. I made this without testing it first so I had something to bring with me to a potluck baby shower. It was a hit! I had no leftovers so I made one for us at home and I found out why it was all gone.

4 eggs, well-beaten
1 1/3 c. white sugar
1/4 c. melted butter
2 tbs. + 1 tsp. all-purpose flour
1 1/3 c. milk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg (opt: use 1/4 tsp. nutmeg and 1/4 tsp. cinnamon)
1 nine-inch pie crust

Bake pie shell at 400 degrees F for 5 minutes. Set aside.

Combine melted butter, sugar, flour, milk, vanilla and nutmeg. Add beaten eggs and blend well. Pour into partially baked pie crust.

Bake at 325 degrees F for 45 to 55 minutes or until an inserted knife comes out clean. No not overcook. If it's slightly jiggly but the knife comes out clean, take it out. It will finish cooking while it sits outside of the oven.