Category: Gluten Free

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Fatted Potatoes (authentic Irish/Welsh recipe)

Many of the recipes I’ve made have several things in common, they taste great, but they aren’t necessarily good for you.  The next recipe, fatted potatoes, is a breakfast recipe that is prepared the night before.  Traditionally, the recipe called for the potatoes to be poached  in lard before cooking, but I like using the left over potatoes in this manner.  The recipe comes in two parts – the dinner the night before (pot roast) and the morning after (fatted potatoes).

Night Before Ingredients:
3 Lb chuck roast
2 TB olive oil
4 lb red potatoes, washed and cut into quarters
1 large leek, diced
3 large carrots, diced
1 sprig of rosemary
4 cloves of garlic minced
sea salt and pepper to taste

Like making pot roast, you will want to sear both sides of the chuck roast to seal in the juices.  Once browned, add enough water to cover the roast and let cook for about 45 minutes on medium stove top heat.  Add the vegetables and the spices and continue to cook.  If the water begins to evaporate, add some more, but no more than a 1/2 a cup at a time.  Cook until carrots are tender.  Pull the meat from the pot and half of the vegetables and serve.  The remaining veggies should be pulled and placed into a sealed container with enough of the pot roast broth to cover.  Cool overnight for the fatted potatoes.

Fatted Potato Ingredients:
Left over potatoes and carrots
1 lb of thick cut bacon
sea salt and pepper to taste

Cut up the bacon into 2 inch slices and begin cooking them in a deep fry pan or dutch oven.  While the bacon is cooking, strain the leftover vegetables so that only the vegetables are left.  Once the bacon is half cooked, add the potatoes.  Stir occassionally.  Be careful, not to break apart the potatoes too much, as it will create a mess and not be visually appealing.

Once the bacon is done and the potatoes are heated, remove from the heat and serve.  I recommend serving with biscuits or toast!

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Spitted Beef

Before people get the wrong idea, spitted beef is cooked on a spit.  Several weekends ago, the community kitchen aptly named the “Family Table” at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival, prepard a beef shoulder and slow cooked it on a spit.

The meat was so well received, we are posting the recipe here:MRF090907014

Ingredients:
Beef shoulder or large rump roast (the one we used was 14 lbs)
2 TB olive oil
sea salt
black pepper
4 cloves of garlic, minced
4 sprigs of rosemary, minced
spit or rotisserie

Cut up the beef so that its size is evenly distributed on the spit or rotisserie.  Once on the spit, blend the olive oil, minced garlic, and minced rosemary to form a rough paste.  Massage the paste liberally onto the beef.  Sprinkle salt and pepper and begin cooking in on a medium heat. If you are blessed and own an automatic or electric rotisserie, follow the directions for cooking a beef roast.  If you are cooking it over a fire, as we had, you will want to turn the beef a 1/3 to a half a turn every 15-20 minutes.

Depending on how well you would like the meat cooked will determine the length on the spit.  We cooked our 14 lbs roast for 3 hours and had a medium to medium well roast.  The ends will always be well done.

I personally like this dish served with grilled asparagus, but everyone has their own way of preparing and serving the meal.

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Spiced Turkey (not spicy)

Festive holidays bring friends and family together.   In my household, holidays also mean feasts.  Below is a recipe I used for cooking turkey.  This past weekend, we did a unique twist to the recipe and smoked the meat as well.  You can do this recipe easily in the oven, if you don’t want to smoke it, but smoking it adds to the flavor.  Below is the recipe from this weekend and I hope you enjoy it.

Ingredients:ycitriv2
1 turkey (between 13-15 lbs)
6 oranges
1/3 cup of whole cloves
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp of garam masala
3 cups of applewood chips
6 cups of water
Large cast iron pot with ring insert
fire

Process:
begin soaking the wood chips in the water overnight.  While they soak, zest two of the six oranges and reserve the zest.  Pierce the skin of the unzested oranges with the cloves.  They should look like pomanders or Christmas decorations when done.  Place in the refrigerator until the next day.

The next day, make sure the turkey is thawed and its body cavity is rinsed out and clean.  Cut the two of the four cloved oranges in half and place in to the turkey’s cavity.  All four halves should fit, if not, push them in more forcibly and sew the bird shut.

If smoking the bird, place the wet wood chips into the cast iron pot with the ring insert above the wood chips.  Before placing the bird on top of the ring, sprinkle the cinnamon and garam masala spices onto the exterior of the bird.  Lay the bird, breast side down in the pot and place the last of the oranges outside of the bird in the pot and cover.  Once covered, place the pot on direct heat.

Check every twenty minutes and add about a cup of water to the wood (do not pour it on the bird).  The water will create a steamy smoke that will help season the bird and keep it moist.  The bird should reach an internal temperature of 175 degrees. At festival, this took 3.5 hours for a 14 lb turkey.

If you choose not to smoke the bird, use the ring, to keep the bird off the direct heat of the pot.  In the oven, cook at 400 degrees until the turkey reaches 175 degrees internally.

Pull the oranges out (do not serve) and let sit the meat set for 5 minutes before carving.

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Chicken and Black Bean Stew

This past weekend, Nicholas and Raphael (two of my four assistants) and I were busily working and cooking.  We made some nice things such as beef stew, sweet & spicy squash soup, and chicken and black bean stew.

Many of those who ate wanted the recipe for their own use.  The trouble is, I made enough for 75 people and I need to break it down for a family.  Below is the recipe and I hope you enjoy it.

Ingredients:
1 chicken cut up
1 cup of chicken stock
3 TB olive oil
1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed 3 times
1 lb of carrots, cubed
1/2 lb green beans, cleaned, stemmed, and cut into 1 inch length
2 lbs of red potatoes, cubed
1 small onion or 1 leek, rough chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tsp of cumin seeds
1 tsp of chili powder (I prefer chipotle or ancho powder)
1/4 tsp of ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp of fresh ground pepper
Kosher or sea salt to taste

Remove the tips of the wings and debone the breasts and discard.   Bones should remain intact for the thighs, legs and remainder of the wings as the marrow will increase the flavor of the broth and they can be removed prior to serving.   Cut the chicken breasts up in 1 inch cubes.

In a large pot, begin heating the oil.  Once heated, add the chicken to brown slightly, stirring occasionally and add the leeks or onions and the garlic.  Continue to saute them for five minutes.  Add enough water to cover the chicken.  While continuing to stir, add the black beans and carrots.  Continue to stir and simmer for five minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the potatoes, stock, and the cumin, chili powder, cinnamon, and black pepper.  stir once to blend and cover the pot to continue to cook (about 15 minutes).  Stir and check the tenderness of the potatoes.  At this point, add the green beans and salt to the mixture and continue cooking for another 5-7 minutes.  Keep in mind, potatoes will often absorb the salt, so you should continue to taste the dish.

The  potatoes will thicken the dish turning it into a stew.  I really enjoyed serving this dish over rice.  Other items may be added to this recipe.  Stewed tomatoes may often be added giving this dish a “chili” like appearance.

Have fun trying this dish at home.  Don’t forget, copies of the cookbooks are available through various vendors and you can check them out Here.

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Ratatouille Recipe

This past weekend, Alice the Cook and her assistants were busily preparing food for the villiagers at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival.  Keep in mind, each weekend during the run, I prepare enough food to feed 85-120 people each day.  It’s very hard work.

On Saturday, we prepared Kielbasa Stew and Ratatouille.  Since Ratatouille is not in either of my cookbooks, many of my fans asked me to post it so that they can recreate it at home.  I took the recipe and recalculated it for a more personal setting.

Ratatouille is a French peasant dish that has been around since the 11th century in one form or another.  Below is a more modern interpretation of the recipe.  I hope you like it.

Ingredients:
1 medium sized onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium or large eggplant, diced
1 can stewed tomatoes
2 medium zucchini diced into large chunks
2 medium yellow squash, diced into large chunks
add herbs as desired (try basil)
olive oil (enough to sauté onion/garlic)
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Sauté the onion and garlic in the olive oil until tender.  Add the eggplant and tomatoes and bring it to simmer for 15 minutes.  Add the zucchini and yellow squash and simmer for another 10-15 minutes until the vegetables are tender and remove from the heat.   Stir in the herbs and let sit to cool a bit for 10 minutes before serving.  This will allow the herbs to add flavor to the dish.  For my recipe this past weekend, I added several button mushrooms that were diced for more flavor.

NOTE:  Avoid copper or steel pots when making this dish as the tomatoes will absorb the acids of the tomatoes.  I prefer using a well seasoned cast iron pot, but you may have other seasoned pots that you may use.

This recipe can be served over rice, pasta, or potatoes and can be served hot  or cold.  I hope you enjoy it.