Pepperoni Pinwheel Bites

My Mom used to make something her and her sister called a Not-So-Hot. Something like a Calzone, a Stromboli of sorts, depending on who you are and where you’re from. Soda/Pop/Cola kinda like that.

I didn’t have enough energy to do that, not that it was extremely time consuming, but I didn’t have a rolling pin, and it was late in the day after David had his dentist appointment. So I wanted something a little quicker to make and just as tasty.

Pepperoni Pinwheel Bites it was.

 

I already had all the ingredients I needed to make it, although they were bought for the Not-So-Hot I was going to make, but nothing would go to waste and it was sure to taste just as good.

At least I hoped it would.

I haven’t made the pinwheels since going gluten free. I haven’t found a pizza dough that I like, and haven’t been able to create a dough I liked enough either. So there I was in the frozen section of the food store and I saw the Pillsbury Gluten Free Pizza Dough.

Why not? The worst that could happen is that it tastes worse than all the other gluten free pizzas that are out there, and the best that could happen is that we enjoy it.

So the process began.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 lb Boars Head Slicing Pepperoni (From the Deli Counter. You want the large slices of Pepperoni for this, although smaller pieces would work as well.
• 1/4 lb Sliced Provolone Cheese
• 1/4 lb Sliced Mozzarella Cheese
• Pizza Dough I used Pillsbury Gluten Free Thin Crust Pizza Dough

Preheat oven to 400° and bake for 20-25 minutes until the dough is cooked thoroughly.

*If you are using this brand of dough, it suggests (for pizza) to pre bake the dough for a few minutes, then top with your toppings and bake again. I was fearful that this wouldn’t work as a one time bake, but it totally did.*

 

I mentioned I didn’t have a rolling pin, right? Well I improvised with a can of black beans that would later make the black bean brownies and got to rolling out the dough. I placed it between two layers of parchment paper, that I would later use to line a cookie sheet and bake the pinwheels on.

Once the dough was rolled out very thin, I kept it on the parchment paper and I put it back into the refrigerator for 5 minutes. All the manipulation of the dough had made it very warm and I feared it would stick and not be able to roll up.

I took the dough out and layered both cheeses, in rows, as to alternate the flavors.

Then came the layer of pepperoni to cover all of that delicious cheese. You want to make sure you get both the cheese and pepperoni to the edges of the dough.

Next was the rolling part. Although in this photo I am rolling the dough from the widest part over, I would attempt rolling in from the narrower sides, so the ends of the roll don’t lose any cheese or seem empty.

Once the roll was complete, I transferred it to a cookie sheet and put it back in the refrigerator for 10 minutes.

Then the fun part. Cutting them into pinwheels. They do get a little flat bottom on some of them, but all you have to do is reshape them into circles. Or leave them as is.

After cutting them into pinwheels, I placed them on the cookie sheet, and popped them into the oven to bake away.

After 25-30 min baking, I didn’t even have time to take a decent picture, as David was already trying to get his hands on them lol.

They looked just as good as mom’s real pinwheels!

And they tasted fantastic. No leftovers here, sadly. But that’s ok, because they were so easy to make, I’m sure they will be on the menu again very soon.

Serve with your favorite sauce, and enjoy.

#AtoZChallenge Y is for Yummy Chicken Enchiladas with green chilies and sour cream sauce

One of my favorite dishes to make recently is a version of Chicken Enchiladas with green chilies and sour cream sauce. Of course I took a traditional recipe using flour tortillas and AP flour and used Gluten Free substitutions. So for this recipe we are using Corn Tortillas and cornstarch. Where indicated you can use flour tortillas and all purpose flour. Totally up to you but let me tell you, David had never had an enchilada before this one, and he fell in love with it. After having this version, and trying a “real one” he only wants it this way.

Here’s a little YUM for today’s letter Y!

Ingredients For Enchiladas 

• 10 or 12 pack of Mission brand Super Soft Extra Thin Style or Restaurant Style, Yellow or White Corn Tortillas.
• 2 C shredded cooked chicken (I use Rotisserie Chicken from the store)
• 2 C Sargentto brand 4 cheese Mexican style shredded cheese (Measure 1 C of cheese for mixing in with the chicken and set aside)
• 3 Tbs butter
• 3 Tbs cornstarch
• 2 C of chicken broth
• 1 C sour cream
• 1 4oz can diced green chilies
• 3 Tbs Pace Medium Chunky Salsa
• 1 Tsp of black pepper
• 1 Tsp Salt

Preheat oven to 350° and grease a 9 x 13 inch baking dish.

In a skillet warm 7-8 corn tortillas until each one is soft and pliable, place on a dish and cover until ready to stuff with chicken mixture. Set aside.

In a small bowl combine shredded chicken, and 1 cup of shredded cheese, spoon mixture into each of the warmed tortilla shells and roll up. Place seam side down in pan until all of your shells are filled.

In the same skillet you warmed the tortillas up in, melt the butter and add cornstarch and coook for at least 2 minutes. Add in the chicken broth while whisking until smooth and no lumps. Heat over medium heat until the mixture starts to thicken and bubbles slightly. Stir in green chilies, salsa and then sour cream. Continue to cook over medium heat until the mixture thickens again but do not let it come to a boil.

Pour cheese mixture over enchiladas and top with remaining shredded cheese. Bake for 25 minutes until cheese is browned and bubbly.

Once removed, let cool for a few minutes before serving with your favorite guacamole. For us that would be a homemade version that David has become a pro at. Honestly I enjoy his version the best. Funny thing is before we started dating he didn’t really eat much as far as Latin inspired food was concerned, unless you talk about a trip to Taco Bell :0) Now he loves eating it and more importantly he loves cooking it and he’s really good at it too. It’s so much fun cooking together even when he smears avocado on my nose lol.

Ingredients for Guacamole

• 1 Avocado
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1 tsp fresh garlic
• 1 tsp granulated garlic
• 1 tsp Adobo seasoning
• 1 tbs chopped onion
• 1 tsp fresh ground pepper
• 1 tsp salt

 

Slice your avocado in half around the rim of the seed, remove the seed and scoop out the meat into a dish of choice.

Chop onion, grate garlic, juice lemon and set aside. Using the back of a fork mash the avocado leaving it a little chunky (or mash away depending how you like the texture) Add in the onion, garlic, garlic powder, lemon juice, Adobo, pepper and salt to taste. Mixing the least amount as possible. Refrigerate for a few minutes until ready to eat. Serve along side your favorite dish or eat it right out of the container for no reason at all except that Guacamole is delish!!.

 

I hope you get to try out our version of Chicken Enchiladas with green chilies and sour cream sauce. It’s a fan favorite around our place, and I hope one day it will be for you as well!!

Gluten free meatloaf, and stuffed sweet baby peppers. It’s what’s for dinner.

 

Or at least it WAS for dinner the other night 🙂

We’ve been cooking a lot more at Dave’s lately, and it’s been fun. A little messy, and a few mishaps, but totally fun. We like to change it up a little bit, well as much as we can, having to stick to gluten free and sometimes nut free because of his youngest son, N.

We’ve often made meatloaf, and Dave loves the way we make it. Usually stuffed with a cheesy center, but this time I went a different direction. I followed a recipe a gluten free friend had shared this time last year. I had made it before, adapting to my personal tastes and it turned out well. So the other night I went a little different as well and Dave proclaimed as we were devouring the meatloaf that “You MUST remember how you made this, the type of cheese you used and everything else. This is the BEST meatloaf I’ve ever eaten and the best you’ve ever made” We also tried a recipe my friend Kathy made on New Years Eve of stuffed sweet baby peppers that she knew I could eat. They were bite-sized little flavor bombs lol so I tried to re-create them. I admit I didn’t like the way they looked while cooking in the oven, but they tasted amazeballs.

So I proceeded to jot down my adjustments to the original recipes, which you can find here and here.

Gluten Free Meatloaf

• 1 lb 90% lean ground beef
• ½ tsps of salt
• 1 tsp Goya Adobo
• ½ tsp freshly ground cracked pepper
• 1 egg
• 1 medium Vidalia onion, minced
• 1 cup of gluten free breadcrumbs
• A little butter
• 1 tsp red chile pepper flakes or powder
• ½ tsp oregano
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup Sweet Baby Rays hickory & brown sugar bbq sauce + 1 tbs for topping.
• 1 tsp Worcestershire (The Worcestershire may contain gluten… be careful to check and omit if desired)
• 1 cup shredded Kraft Mexican blend cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded Cabbot Seriously Sharp Cheddar cheese

Mix cheeses together and set aside 1/4 of a cup for topping

1. Preheat the oven to 350
2. Heat the butter in a skillet over low/medium heat and saute onion until translucent. Set aside.
3. In a bowl, mix all the ingredients, minus the bbq sauce and cheese that is reserved for topping.
4. Form the mixture into a loaf shape and place on parchment lined baking sheet. (I don’t like using a loaf pan because depending on what grade meat you use, there can be way too much oil).
5. Place the meatloaf into the preheated oven, and for the last 10 min cover the top of meatloaf with reserved bbq sauce and cheese. Continue cooking until you reach 150 degrees on an instant read thermometer in the deepest interior of the loaf (about 50 min)

Oven times and temperatures can vary so please follow cooking instructions carefully.

 

 

Stuffed Baby Peppers

• Vegetable oil cooking spray
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
• 3/4 cup ricotta cheese
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan
• 1/2 cup frozen petite peas, thawed
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 24 (2 to 3-inch long) sweet baby pepper

1. Place an oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Spray a baking sheet with vegetable oil cooking spray and set aside.
2. In a medium skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook until translucent and soft, about 5 minutes. Set aside to cool for 10 minutes.
3. Combine the onion, cheeses, and thawed peas, and season with salt and pepper, to taste.
4. Using a paring knife, cut 1/2-inch from the stem-end of the peppers. Remove the seeds and veins. Using a small dessert spoon,(chopsticks, or seafood spoon) and fill each pepper with the mixture.
5. Place the filled peppers on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 15 to 18 minutes until the peppers begin to soften. Remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes before serving.

*Cooking tip: I didn’t have a small dessert spoon on hand only a normal dinnerware teaspoon which I found to be too big for stuffing the small peppers. Using chopsticks, or even a small seafood spoon/fork helped fill the peppers.

I admit, they don’t look all that pretty, but like I said before they sure tasted amazing. The best part was cooking together. We have fun, get on each others nerves, ok he kinda gets on mine sometimes because I’ve never had a boyfriend who wanted to cook together and as much fun as it is because we can do it together it takes some getting used to. BUT I wouldn’t change it for the world.

It’s brought us closer together and if I could impart some relationship wisdom, I suggest cooking with your significant other once in a while. Even if you have specific ways of doing things, you can learn from each other and about each other. Plus who doesn’t like getting messy in the kitchen with your man/woman? 😉