Bacon Wrapped Pork Roast and Smashed Potatoes

This dinner is honor of my son Daniel, who believes anything wrapped in bacon is go-o-od.  My son is 25 years old and a sargent in the army.  He is stationed at Fort Drum in upstate New York.  Daniel is my oldest child and my only son.  He has been in the army since he was 19 years old and has traveled all over the world.  He will be leaving soon for the Middle East for his first time.  So when he came to California in August 2009 on leave I made him this dish.  Of course he absolutely loved it.  it was slathered in garlic, one of his all time favorites, and then draped in bacon.  How could I miss?!
 
This year we were blessed with being able to see Daniel and my grandson DJ (Daniel Junior) three times.  Now that he is going to Iraq we will not be able to seem him for at least 12 months. That is going to be extremely difficult for our family.  His presence will be missed dearly.  In order to cope with my mother's absence I started finding comfort in making dishes that she had cooked for our family.  I decided that this strategy will help comfort me while my son is gone.  So as I made this dish again last night I thought of Daniel the whole time. I talked to him by phone as the pork was roasting in the oven and tried to make the aroma waft through the phone to him so that he could know that he is never far away from home.

This pork roast is tender, and so juicy.  Plus it is chock full of flavor.  It does not consume too much time to make and it looks very chic. The smashed potatoes is a simple side dish but looks very elegant, and tastes fantastic.

I season the pork roast with the adobo recipe my mother had passed on to us, which if you can guess consists of a whole lot of garlic, salt, pepper, oregano and olive oil. If you wanted an Italian flare to this adobo you could add parsley and sweet basil, rosemary, etc. I try to use fresh minced herbs whenever possible as the flavor is much more intense and savory. My mother taught me the technique of poking holes into the meat to add more of the flavor to each slice of meat. So I incorporated that technique into ths recipe as well

     Adobo Recipe

1 head garlic, finely minced

1-2 teaspoons salt

1/2 - 1 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon minced oregano

2 tablespoons oilve oil

Mix all ingredients thoroughly.

Bacon Wrapped Pork Roast

1 lb. Pork Roast

Adobo

Bacon

Poke holes into the pork roast and add a little adobo into each hole. Then give the pork roast a nice rub down with your adobo. Once it is nicely seasoned then you wrap the pork roast with slices of bacon. You can use kitchen string to tie the bacon in place or in a pinch use tooth picks. Then you place into a baking pan and sear the outside of the roast at 500 degrees for 15 minutes on each side. Once seared, reduce the heat to 325 degrees and allow the pork to roast until an inserted thermometer reads 140 degrees. Once this happens remove from the oven and tent with aluminum foil. Allow it to rest for 15 minutes and then slice. Don't forget to remove the string or tooth picks first. 

Smashed Potatoes

20 Baby Red Potatoes, cut into quarters

4 tablespoons butter, room temperature

1/4 cup milk, warmed

1/4 to 1/2 cup reserved potato liquid

salt and pepper to taste

2 teaspoons chopped fresh chives

Take the baby red potatoes and slice them into quarters. Place in a pot of boiling water and allow to boil for 15 to 20 minutes.

Drain the water reserving 1/2 cup of liquid to add back into your potatoes.  While the potatoes are still hot add in butter, and a little milk, reserved liquid, salt, pepper, and chopped chives. Smash potaotes and combine ingredients. Serve with additional chopped chives over the top for some added color and flavor.

Harvest Time Equals Baking Time With Pears and Apples

I love this time of year in Sacramento. We get tons pf produce year round but in September it is the best time for apples from Apple Hill, just above Placerville, California, and pears from Courtland, California. Although the weather here has been in the upper 90's and often times triple digits I found that I could not resist when I went to the Farmers Market this weekend. The apples and pears were abundant and all I could think of was baking with them. The aroma of cinnamon, brown sugar together with butter and pears and apples is enough to make me completely wild! I purchased so many pears and apples that I was forced to create two dishes with the majority of them. First I made pear and apple muffins for the next morning's breakfast and then I made pear and apple crisp for tonight's dessert.  Although I will say that both Michael and Autumn could not wait for breakfast the next morning to sample the muffins.  The aroma that wafted through our home was absolutely incredible!!

Gluten-Free Harvest Pear and Apple Spice Muffins

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1/2 cup butter

3 cups diced pears and apples

3 cups Amy's cake flour mix (see recipe below)

1 cup brown sugar

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon xanthan gum

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1.2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Whick together eggs, milk, and butter until blended completely.  Stir in diced fruit.  Combine remaining ingredients in separate bowl.  Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir just until blended.  Do not over mix.  Let batter sit for 20 minutes in order for the batter to soak up the pear and apple flavor.  Pour batter between 19 and 20 greased muffin cups and bake at 400 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown on top.  Serve warm with cinnamon-sugar butter.

PEAR AND APPLE CRISP

FILLING

3 pears, peeled and chopped into bit-size pieces

3 apples, peeled,and chopped into bit-size pieces

2 teaspoons cinnamon

2-3 Tablespoons lemon juice

4 Tablespoons to 1/4 c. white sugar or turbinado sugar (to taste)

2 Tablespoons to 1/8 c. brown sugar (to taste)

2 Tablespoons (more or less) GF Flour mix - depending on juiciness of the apples

CRISP TOPPING

6 Tablespoons butter, slightly softened

1/2 c. GF quick oats, roughly ground almonds, walnuts, or quinoa flakes

1/4 c. Featherlight flour mix 

2 Tablespoons white sugar (to taste)

2 Tablespoons brown sugar (to taste)

optional: ground cinnamon (1 tsp) and freshly ground nutmeg (1 tsp)

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 375*F. Peel and chop pears and apples into small pieces.  Put into a medium bowl and sprinkly with lemon juice. Mix. Add sugars, flour and cinnamon. Mix together very well. Pour into medium (for thin) or small (for deep) baking dish. Put softened butter into the same bowl where you mixed the apples. Add oats (or other option), flour and sugars and “squish” together well until crumbly. Pour and crumble over apples in baking dish evenly. Bake for 23-30 minutes. Cool slightly before serving (5-10 minutes).  Serve over all natural GF vanilla ice cream.

Amy's Gluten-Free Cake Flour

This is simply a slightly altered version of Bette Hagman's Featherlight Rice Mix-with less tapioca, to prevent a bouncy texture when baking cakes.

For 9 cups:

3 cups rice flour

3 cups cornstarch or arrowroot

2 cups potato starch

1 cup tapioca starch

3 tablespoons potato flour

Bette Hagman's Featherlight Rice Mix

1 part white rice flour (or brown)

1 part tapioca flour

1 part cornstarch

Potato flour (not starch), 1 teaspoon for each cup of other flour

For Nine Cups

3 cups white rice flour (or brown) If 3 cups tapioca flour

3 cup cornstarch

3 tablespoons potato flour

Cinnamon Sugar Butter

4 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 teasppons sugar

Julia Child's Coq au Vin

About a month ago, I had the pleasure of seeing a fantastic movie entitled "Julie and Julia".  This movie was based on the lives of JuliaChild and a blogger, Julie Powell, that took on the project of making EVERY recipe from the Julia Child's cook book, "Mastering the Art of French Cooking", 565 recipes in 365 days.  Who-o-o!  Even I need to take a day off now and again.  The movie was very witty, insightful, and for a fellow foodie, extremely inspirational.  I dare to say that it was absolutely yummy!  The two women made me proud to be a foodie, and validated my own journey with food.  Who better to understand a foodie then another foodie?  It also gave me a much better picture of who Julia Child really was and why she became such an important American icon.  She was well traveled, intelligent, charming, and oh so funny.  She had a great outlook not only on cooking but on life itself, and I admire her perserverance.  Fellow Blogger, Julie Powell was also funny and showed great perseverance as well.  I myself look at the many dishes that Julie tried to create from the cook book and would not have even bothered.  But she was on a mission.  As for aspics, enough horrible things cannot be said about them.  I am pretty confident that I would have skipped that chapter all together, but not Julie.

Growing up I remember Julia Child as this hugely tall lady who performed a cooking show on t.v.  She seemed to me to have a strangely pitched voice, but appeared to have a great sense of humor, especially in the kitchen.  I loved Dan Akeroids imitation of her on Saturday Night Live, but that was about the extent of my knowledge of Julia Child.  My mother never used cook books, and she rarely if ever watched cooking shows on t.v.  The t.v. was reserved for her novellas (soap operas), and who could teach a pro (my mom) what she needed to know about cooking Puerto Rican food anyway?

 

I must tell you that in order to view this movie, please make sure that you do it on a full tummy.  If nothing else, it is sure to make you crave French Food, or at the very least, food in general.  After viewing the movie I had this strong desire to go home immediately and start cooking and baking.  Unfortunately it was about 10:00 p.m. in the evening and it was hotter than hot here in Sacramento so this was completely out of the question.  Oh dreadt!  What to do, what to do?!  I had to wait.  Unfortunately, patience is certainly not one of my virtues.

While I admit that I knew Julia Child had wrtitten cook books, I had never seen any of them.  Nevertheless, ever since I saw the movie I have wanted to delve into Julia Child's first cook book "Mastering the Art of French Cooking", but can't seem to find a copy on the shelves at the library and I am on a waiting list and am about 100th in line for my request of said book.  My strict policy is that I never purchase a cook book unless I have viewed it from the library first or gotten personal receommendations of it from family or friends.  No sense in purchasing a cook book one will never use.  God forbid! 

The two recipes from the movie that stood out for me were:  Coq au Vin, and the other is Boeuf Burginguon.  At the time it was too hot in Sacramento to even consider making those dishes, so I decided to wait until the weather cooled off a bit.  Today is quite pleasant and I am settling in to my fall stews, soups, and roasting.  Nothing says cozy and home than the succulent aromas of a nice roast, roasting in the oven or a stew or soup simmering on the stove.  Those are the fond memories that I have of my childhood home, and I want to recreate that for my family.

As I was researching information on this dish I happened upon a bit of history on it.  I discovered that the word coq literally translated means rooster in French.  So this recipe is rooster in wine?  This dish was originally considered peasant food because the farmers would take a rooster that was too old to do much of anything else on the farm and cook it.  In the old days they would use whatever was on hand, you know the old addage of making due with what you have?  Because the rooster was old, chances are that the meat would be very tough, therefore they would cook it long and slow in wine and herbs to help make it nice and tender, not to mask its flavor.  The red wine in the recipe was used mainly to allow the acids to help break down the old meat of the rooster.  Since I couldn't find a rooster, of course I really didn't try looking, I used some organic free range chicken parts.

I must admit that 3/4 of the way through this recipe I had my doubts that this recipe was worth its lengthy and drawn out effort.  I will say that I felt great admiration for Julia Child because I knew in her day that each of the steps she requires in the recipe were an absolute must, as they did not have the advantage of frozen pearl onions (already peeled), There was no air conditioning, or microwaves, etc.  She laboriously worked at each dish she created and her only reward was her husband's fond remarks.  Making this dish helped me to feel one with Julia, even if just for a moment. 

Once we tasted that tender, succulent and heady flavor I knew it was worth every step.  From the braised onions to the sauteed mushrooms.  Fortunately I did not have to kill the rooster or even have to cut a whole chicken into parts.  The sauce was thick, and rich, and the chicken just melted in your mouth.  Even my husband who is not much of an onion person loved the braised pearl onions.  The mushrooms were absolutely perfect!  The meat, the mushrooms, the onions and the sauce just skated across the entire surface of our tongues teasing each and every taste buds and delighting them!!  The coq au vin went very nicely served over Tinkyada fettucine noodles.  Traditionally it is served over egg wide noodles and I am as of yet still on the search for the perfect tasting and textured gluten-free egg wide noodles.  I also slightly altered this recipe to make it gluten-free by using the Featherlight flour mix in place of the all purpose flour called for in the recipe.  Mixing it with the butter to make a paste worked out exquisitely.  No lumps in this sauce!  I also had the benefit of using a store bought chicken broth, rather than having had to make it from scratch.  And I would be remiss if I didn't tell you that as a Puerto Rican I had to add more garlic to this recipe, a whole lot more.  But you can be the judge of how much garlic you want to go into this dish!  As always have fun and let your creativity guide you.

Julia Child's Coq au Vin

From the kitchen of Julia Child
Servings: 4
Difficulty: Moderate
Cook Time: 30-60 min
Legendary chef Julia Child appeared on "Good Morning America" on May 11, 1995, with her Ragout of Chicken and Coq au Vin recipes.
Coq au Vin is chicken in red wine with small braised onions, mushrooms, and lardons of pork - an elaboration on the far more elementary preceding ragout, coq au vin involves more hand work since you have lardons of bacon to prepare for the special flavor they give to the sauce. Then there is the traditional garnish of small braised onions and sautéed mushrooms. This combination makes a wonderfully satisfying dish, and a fine one for company.

Ingredients
• 1/2 cup lardons (4 ounces -- 1-by-1/4-inch strips of blanched slab bacon or salt pork - see Special Note below)
• 2 1/2 to 3 pounds frying chicken parts
• 2 tbs. butter
• 1 tbs. olive oil (or good cooking oil)
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1 or 2 large cloves of garlic, pureed
• 1 imported bay leaf
• 1/4 tsp or so thyme
• 1 large ripe red unpeeled tomato, chopped, (or 1/3 cup canned Italian plum tomatoes)
• 3 cups young red wine (Zinfandel, Macon or Chianti type)
• 1 cup chicken stock (or more)
• Beurre manie, for the sauce (1 1/2 tbs. each Featherlight flour mix softened butter blended to a paste)
• Fresh parsley sprigs (or chopped parsley)
• 1/3 cup good brandy (optional)
• 12 to 16 small brown-braised white onions
• 3 cups fresh mushrooms, trimmed, quartered and sautéed

Cooking Directions

Before browning the chicken, sauté the blanched bacon or salt pork and remove to a side dish, leaving the fat in the pan. Brown the chicken in the pork fat, adding a little olive oil, if needed. Flame the chicken with the brandy, if you wish -- it does give its own special flavor, besides being fun to do. After browning the chicken, uncover pan, pour in the cognac. Flambé by igniting with a lighted match. Let flame a minute, swirling pan by its handle to burn off alcohol; extinguish with pan cover. Then proceed to simmer the chicken in the wine, stock, tomatoes and seasoning as directed in the master recipe.

While the chicken is cooking, prepare the Brown-Braised Onions and the Mushrooms.

Brown-Braised Onions:

12 to 24 small white onions, peeled (or double the amount if you want to use tiny frozen peeled raw onions)*

1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil

Salt to taste

* If neither frozen nor fresh pearl onions are available, substitute one large onion cut into 1/2-inch pieces. (Do not use jarred pearl onions, which will turn mushy and disintegrate into the sauce.)
If peeling your own pearl onions drop onions into boiling water, bring water back to the boil, and let boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and drain. Cool onions in ice water. Shave off the two ends (root and stem ends) of each onion, peel carefully, and pierce a deep cross in the root end with a small knife (to keep onions whole during cooking).

In a large frying pan over medium heat, heat the olive oil, add parboiled onions, and toss for several minutes until lightly browned (this will be a patchy brown). Add water to halfway up onions and add 1/4 to1/2 teaspoon salt. Cover pan and simmer slowly for 25 to 30 minutes or until onions are tender when pierce with a knife.

NOTE: Onions may be cooked in advance, set aside, then reheated when needed. Season to taste just before serving.

Mushrooms:
1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, washed, well dried, left whole if small, sliced or quartered if large

1 tablespoon butter

1/2 tablespoon olive oil

Prepare mushrooms. In a large frying pan over medium heat, heat butter and olive oil; when bubbling hot, toss in mushrooms and saute over high heat for 4 to 5 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from heat.

NOTE: Mushrooms may be cooked in advance, set aside, then reheated when needed. Season to taste just before serving.

Finishing the dish. Strain, degrease, and finish the sauce, also as described. Strew the braised onions and sautéed mushrooms over the chicken, baste with the sauce, and simmer a few minutes, basting, to rewarm the chicken and to blend flavors.

Special note: To blanch bacon or salt pork: When you use bacon or salt pork in cooking, you want to remove its salt as well as its smoky flavor, which would permeate the rest of the food. To do so, you blanch it -- meaning, you drop it into a saucepan of cold water to cover it by 2 to 3 inches, bring it to the boil, and simmer 5 to 8 minutes; the drain, refresh in cold water, and pat dry in paper towels.

Scalloped Potatoes

Being Celiac we have to become really creative with our dishes.  Not to mention the fact, that both my daughter and I absolutely hate monotony.  We crave variety.  So I not only work diligently on my main courses, but strive for amazing side dishes to boot.  For our needs, I must keep in mind budget friendly items, as well as being inventive, creative, while still being tasty and with a spectacular texture.  Sounds like a great deal of work, but not really.  Because I know what my family likes and I love to cook.  I also love to experiment with recipes which helps to break up the monotony.  Today I am putting a bit of a spin on an old classic and I am making it gluten-free.  Today's side dish is Scalloped Potatoes.  My family loves potatoes and they love cheese.  Combine those two together and you have a masterpiece.  This is a simple recipe that takes a few minutes to prep and then I can put it in the oven while I am helping Autumn with her home work, or prepping the rest of the meal.  We love to make this dish when we are going to a potluck, and for family dinners around Christmas or Easter.  Everyone raves about these potatoes and are so impressed with them.  If they only knew.... For those of you who make scalloped potatoes from a box mix, you will notice that it may cut your time down in half, but it also considerably cuts your nutritional value.  You increase your sodium and you are essentially eating styrafoam like potato slices.  Trust me, I know.  I used to make these very same boxed potatoes and not think twice about it.  After having to go gluten-free,  boxed potatoes and boxed rice were one of the first things on the chopping block.  But I am very glad for the change!  It is so interesting what we condition ourselves to eat.  When we made the change we opened up not only our taste buds, but our whole world to the endless possibilities and we are so grateful for the more delicious and nutritious foods that we now create.  Take the little extra time to make them from scratch and you will be well rewarded.  The texture and flavor is to die for.  The potatoes are tender, creamy, and cheesy with a hint of crispness on the edges.  And always remember that when you make a homemade dish you are the one in control of how much fat, sodium, sugar, etc. that goes into your recipe. 

For substitutions you can replace the milk in this dish with chicken broth, or vegetable stock, or any milk, butter and cheese substitute you normally use.  You can slice the potaotes by hand but I love using my handy-dandy mandoline.  On the mandoline, potato slices are sliced evenly so your potaotes cook more rapidly.  I go for the thinner slice on this recipe to cut down on the bake time.  You can heat the milk on the stove or in a glass measuring cup in your microwave.  Last but not least, leftovers of these potatoes are fantastic.  My husband and my daughter love to take them in their lunch boxes even though they receive jealous glares from those eating the same old mundane sandwich day after day.

 
Scalloped Potatoes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Ingredients:
•4 cups thinly sliced potatoes, about 6 to 8 medium potatoes
•4 tablespoons Featherlight flour mix
•1 teaspoon salt
•1/4 teaspoon freshly cracked pepper
•6 tablespoons butter
•3 cups scalded milk
•1 cup shredded cheese
Preparation:

In a buttered 2-quart baking dish, place a layer of about 1/3 of the potatoes. In a cup or small bowl, combine flour with salt and pepper. Sprinkle about half of the flour mixture over the potatoes; repeat with another layer of potatoes and the flour mixture and top with remaining potato slices. Dot with butter then pour hot milk over potatoes. Cover and bake at 375° for 45 minutes. Uncover; sprinkle cheese over the top. Return to the oven and bake, uncovered, for an additional 5 to 10 minutes, or until scalloped potatoes are tender and cheese has melted. Scalloped potatoes serves 6 to 8.

Homemade Caramel Sauce and Caramel Macchiato

My sister Joyce had made a unquestionably delectable homemade caramel sauce for our family gathering on Father's Day this year. It brought back memories of when I used to make a homemade caramel sauce way back in the 80's (right before the Fat Free era), but for the life of me I could not find my recipe. I had stopped making it long ago because I would end up eating it all myself or having to throw it all away. My two oldest children Daniel and Caitlyn were not much in to caramel at the time and the aforementioned unfortunate Fat Free craze more than likely drove me to its disposal all together.

The big hit with my family and friends was my caramel corn. My recipe while not terribly difficult was time consuming and most folks just wanted to buy it already made, or nuke in the microwave for a quick and simple version. I was fortunate enough to be granted this recipe in the early 80's while working as a preschool teacher. Our cook, Pat would make her caramel corn for us on special occasions and I adored it. It was so gooey in some places yet crunchy in others, and lets not forget that dreamy caramel flavor that was to die for. Sweet and buttery, one of my favorite flavor combinations. So I surreptitiously acquired the recipe from Pat. After a number of years it became my annual Christmas gift to my family and friends. I would actually get requests for the caramel corn throughout the year as well. Then about three years ago my hot air popper died and along with it my ambition to make carmel corn. Well, at least for the time being. We finally bought a new popcorn popper. Although my husband still contends that the old one, the one he has had since college (his glory years!!) still works fine. In my books anything that dies while you are in the middle of using it, is trash!! I need efficient appliances as my time is very limited; more so my patience!

Today I decided to trust my reliable resource, the internet for caramel sauce recipes to see if it enlightened me to my recipe of old. Haven't quite found it yet, but the family is loving the quest. The wonderful thing about homemade caramel sauce that most folks do not know is that it is relatively inexpensive to make, you can make it with simple ingredients that you may already have in your cupboard and fridge, and the taste is absolutely incredible. The first recipe is from the Food Network. This one was the first I tried and it was heavenly and only took about 15 minutes from start to finish. I got the second recipe off of "Simply Recipes". Many of the recipes that I found on my quest for the "BEST" caramel sauce required a ton of ingredients like cornstarch, corn syrup, and sweetened condensed milk to name a few. What I found was that the fewer ingredients, obviously the easier, less expensive to make and they actually tasted better. Much more clean, rich, smooth and full flavored.

Many times I do not have a recipe at hand, or I don't own the particular cookbook I need for a recipe so I will use my internet resources. While I love my internet resources I don't rely on them completely. I glean my recipes from food shows, magazines; just about anywhere I see one that catches my eye, gives me a hunger pang, and sparks my passion for cooking.

Method 1:
Carmel Sauce Ice Cream Topping
Ingredients:
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
Directions:
Put the sugar and water in a heavy saucepan over low heat.
Cover and cook for about 5 minutes, or until the sugar dissolves.
Increase the heat to medium-high and cook, stirring frequently, until the sugar turns a medium golden brown color, about 5 to 7 minutes.
Carefully and slowly add the cream and the vanilla.
Simmer until the caramel dissolves and mixes with the cream.
The sauce will be smooth and slightly thickened.

Serve warm or cool.
Add a little more cream before serving if it's too thick.
These satisfying recipes not only taste great, but are less expensive per serving. In addition most require only ingredients readily availabe at home, so you can have the toppings of your choice any time you need them.

Method 2:
Caramel Sauce Recipe

(Our family personal favorite!!)
1 cup of sugar
6 Tbsp butter
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

First, before you begin, make sure you have everything ready to go - the cream and the butter next to the pan, ready to put in. Making caramel is a fast process that cannot wait for hunting around for ingredients. If you don't work fast, the sugar will burn. Safety first - make sure there are no children under foot and you may want to wear oven mitts; the caramelized sugar will be much hotter than boiling water.
Heat sugar on moderately high heat in a heavy-bottomed 2-quart or 3-quart saucepan. As the sugar begins to melt, stir vigorously with a whisk or wooden spoon. As soon as the sugar comes to a boil, stop stirring. You can swirl the pan a bit if you want, from this point on. Note that this recipe works best if you are using a thick-bottomed pan. If you find that you end up burning some of the sugar before the rest of it is melted, the next time you attempt it, add a half cup of water to the sugar at the beginning of the process, this will help the sugar to cook more evenly, though it will take longer as the water will need to evaporate before the sugar will caramelize.
As soon as all of the sugar crystals have melted (the liquid sugar should be dark amber in color), immediately add the butter to the pan. Whisk until the butter has melted.
Once the butter has melted, take the pan off the heat. Count to three, then slowly add the cream to the pan and continue to whisk to incorporate. Note than when you add the butter and the cream, the mixture will foam up considerably. This is why you must use a pan that is at least 2-quarts (preferably 3-quarts) big. (Check here for an explanation of why adding the cream makes the mixture bubble up so much.)
Whisk until caramel sauce is smooth. Let cool in the pan for a couple minutes, then pour into a glass mason jar and let sit to cool to room temperature. (Remember to use pot holders when handling the jar filled with hot caramel sauce.) Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Warm before serving.

Makes a little over one cup of sauce. I store some in squirt bottles that I purchased at Smart and Final, for easy of pouring onto sundaes and into drinks. Bottle can be heated in a bath of hot water to loosen up the caramel a bit.

On this quest for the BEST caramel sauce you may think my family has gone caramel crazy. I would tend to agree. They can't think of enough ways to use the caramel sauce!! We have tried the old standard as a topping on an ice cream sundae, as a dip for apples (It is 1000 times better than the dipping sauce from McDonald's and much cheaper)and just dripping it into their mouths because it is that scrumptious! In the process we found some wonderful new recipes and are perfecting others. All in all, we have found a way to make something so simple and DE-lish so inexpensively. Moat recently our new favorite is our own concoction of frozen Caramel Macchiato's. We had three frozen caramel macchiato's for a fraction of the cost of one at Starbucks. FYI, macchiato means espresso topped with steamed milk in Italian.

Caramel Macchiato Recipe
From Recipezaar
If you've got an espresso/cappuccino machine you're well on your way to recreating a top-choice Starbucks coffee drink. For the caramel part, you can use any caramel sauce that you find in the grocery store near the ice cream toppings (or follow my recipes up above for some reall delicious and inexpensive caramel sauce). Pick your favorite. Just note that to make this recipe work best you'll only need 3 tablespoons of a richer caramel sauce (like the stuff Starbucks uses). For the vanilla syrup you can use the bottled syrups, such as those made by Torani, or just whip up a your own from scratch. By the way, if you want to find out just how expensive this drink can be you can pick up bottles of the authentic vanilla syrup and caramel sauce sold in Starbucks stores.

For 16 oz.
vanilla syrup
• 2 cups water
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
coffee
• 1/2 cup fresh espresso (preferably Italian roast)
• 8 ounces milk, steamed with foam
• 3-4 tablespoons caramel sauce
You can use vanilla syrup from a bottle (such as Torani) for the drink or make your own vanilla syrup. Making it yourself yields a ton, is quite simple, and is again much more budget friendly. And the uses for vanilla syrup are endless.

Vanilla Syrup Recipe:
Simply combine 2 cups water and 1 1/2 cups sugar in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes, then add 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract.
Remove from heat and cool.
Store in a squirt bottle. (I purchased mine at Smart and Final in a package of six bottles for under $10.00).
To make your coffee drink, add two tablespoon of vanilla syrup to a 16-ounce glass.
Add 1/2 cup fresh brewed espresso followed by 8 ounces of steamed milk.
Add 3 to 4 tablespoons caramel sauce to the drink.
Stir before drinking.

Now if you would like this drink frozen you just have to wait for your coffee to cool, add ice, and the rest of the ingredients to a blender. Pour into tall glasses and top with a dollop of whipped cream and pour a little caramel sauce over the top for visual appeal. It is another ambrosial concoction.

Yet to be tried is dipping marshmallows into the caramel sauce. You know the ones I am talking about on the mall that cost about $3.00 each? Or how about the waxed paper wrapped ones at See's Candy? As my mind rambles on, I am hoping that you can see that the possibilities are limitless. Let your creativity take over and enjoy the exploration. Let me know what creations you come up with.

April 17th Michael's (My husband) 42nd Birthday!!

For my husband's 42nd birthday, as always I asked what he would like for his special birthday dinner, and he surprised me with his answer. He decided that he wanted BBQ'D tri-tip steak, but not with our usual Korean marinade. He wanted a garlicky, wine, olive oil and herb vinaigrette marinade. With that he requested smashed baked potatoes with butter, and buttermilk, and steamed artichokes with garlic, lemon and butter. This is not is every day meal since he comes from a family with very high cholesterol, and he himself is constantly battling his cholesterol numbers. So we thought it would be a special treat for his birthday. The meat was oh so tender, juicy, and flavorful. The smashed baked potatoes were creamy, with a yummy potato flavor that was not washed out as if we had boiled them, and they were not as rich as one would have thought either. For dessert I had fixed him a Banana-Chocolate Custard Tart. Talk about decadence! It was a banana pie taken to the extreme. The meal was delicious and filling an dso Autumn and I could only take a bite of the Banana-Chocolate Custard Tart. Even Michael was saddened that he could not have a larger piece of his birthday dessert. To make up for it he has been able to have a nice slice of it almost every night for a week after his birthday.

Many of you know that our entire household is gluten free. While the fact remains that Michael is not Celiac or gluten intolerant, he does live in a household with two others who are (Myself and our daughter Autumn). So I always tease others and say he is a Celiac by virtue of living with two others who are. Plus, if he wants to eat, he must eat gluten-free. Michael decided early on that it was much easier for me as the chief cook and bottle washer to only have to prepare one meal for the family and on the plus side it ended up so much less expensive for us. He has even learned to cook a few gluten-free dishes as well. For the most part our cooking hasn't changed that much, aside from breads and pastas and of course baking. We do have to be hypervigilant where and with whom we eat. We have to know what is on every menu and make sure that there is not a chance of gluten in the food or in it's preparation. But all of the delicious flavors and incredible textures, with a yummy side of visual appeal are all still there.

Michael seemed to really enjoy his birthday dinner, his decadent dessert and his gifts for his new (new to him) "Spider" scooter. He got his rear view mirrors replaced and he received a cool looking helmet and a very functional scooter trunk for the back. Autumn wants him to get a new seat at least for her because she says his seats are worse than the one on her bicycle. So not as pleasurable a ride as she would like. But she never turns down a ride. Do you want to hear something funny?! Michael finally had to fill up the tank on his scooter for the first time and it cost him a whopping $2.50. Mr. Frugral was truly in heaven! All recipes can be viewed on The Gluten Free Fox search engine.