Galumpki (That's Polish for Cabbage Roll)

My Ukrainian grandmother made the most delicious galumpkis. I can remember how excited my brother, sister and I would get when we would find out that Gram had brought us a batch. Ohhh and I can still remember how the smell would fill our nostrils the moment we walked through her door. Grandmas' houses always smell like good food, don't they? I did my best to watch my Gram make her famous galumpkis and learn from her. I know I can never quite match the flavor of hers, so I don't try. She gave me a base to build on and I've learned to make them my own, to suit the tastes of my husband and myself. Gram didn't have a recipe written down, as is the case with most good dishes that have been handed down through the generations. This is my best attempt at what my grandmother taught me during the short time I lived with her.

This recipe makes roughly 10 rolls. Double all quantities for a larger batch.
Ingredients
1 lb ground meat (my grandmother used 2 lbs - one lb each of ground beef and ground pork)
1 cup cooked rice (white is what Gram used, but brown rice will work too)
1 egg (optional)
1 head of cabbage
1 green bell pepper
1 can tomato soup (some recipes use tomato paste instead)
Garlic powder to taste
Onion powder to taste
Salt & pepper to taste

Directions
Remove the core from the cabbage and boil the entire head of cabbage until the outer leaves start to become transparent. Set aside and allow to cool. In a large bowl combine ground meat, rice, egg, salt, pepper, garlic, onion powder, and 1-2 tablespoons of tomato soup. Carefully pull apart cabbage leaves keeping the entire leaf intact. Stop when the leaves are too wrinkled and firm to peel off. Cut remaining head (inner core) into 1/4 and save for cooking. Cut the top off the bell pepper and scoop out the seeds. Fill with meat and rice mixture and place in the center of a baking pan, crock pot or pressure cooker. Form a meatball-size portion of meat and rice into a log shape and place on the leaf near the core end of the leaf. Fold core end of the leaf over the meat mixture and roll about half way up the leaf. Fold in the sides and continue rolling until you get to the end of the leaf. Place in pan (or whatever device you are using) around the stuffed pepper. Cover with remaining tomato soup (or paste) and 1 can of water (can substitute stock). You can add garlic, onion, salt and pepper to the tomato mixture as well if you choose. Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes. If you're using a pressure cooker this process takes about 20-30 minutes. Cook on low 4-6 hours in a crock pot.

If you prefer spicier food add some cayenne or red pepper flake to your meat mixture. I have also had success adding spice mixes like Tony Chachere's.

Corn Pasta Update

I had originally posted a  review of this pasta on July 5 and referred to it in the Great Noodle Debate. Although I still stand behind my statements, I have found one drawback to this particular pasta. It's texture changes when it's cold. I have cooked this pasta, stored it in the refrigerator, and reheated it with no problem. It will return to the proper texture when it's warmed thoroughly, but it becomes firmer and a little gritty when it's cold. This isn't a huge problem if you're planning on eating it warm, but it can cause a big issue if you're wanting a cold pasta salad. I made that mistake recently and ruined a big bowl of shrimp. The pasta was hard and chewy making the salad extremely unappetizing. Learn from my mistake and chose an alternative pasta for your cold pasta dishes.

TUESDAY'S TIP: Allergy Recall Alerts

Did you know that you can get alerts from the Food and Drug Administration about recalls? You can sign up from their Email Updates page. Simply enter your email address in and choose how often you want updates (immediately, daily, or weekly). The service is free! How better to stay up-to-date on food recalls? Find out what foods have been compromised either by bacteria or contamination from allergens.

Sanissimo Corn Crackers

My husband found these Sanissimo Salmas crackers at the grocery store and I was intrigued. These are thin, crispy corn crackers that actually are quite good. If you're expecting a saltine or butter cracker you'll be a bit disappointed. These crackers do not pretend to be anything other than what they are... corn. They have the flavor of a tortilla chip, but the texture of a water cracker. They have a hint of salt, and go well with savory items like tuna salad, chicken salad, pico, cheese, guacamole, hummus, etc... I like that they come wrapped in individual packets. You can grab a pack and stick it in your lunch or bag and off you go! There are 3 crackers to a packet and 8 packets in a box. They were a little pricier than normal crackers. I believe I paid around $4 for these, but I've enjoyed them and plan on taking some with me on my up-coming vacation! The Sanissimo website has information about their products, but good luck unless you can read Spanish. Google Chrome gave me the option to translate it, but a lot of the information did not translate because it was in the form of images, not text.

A Look at the Week 8/5-8/11

Here's a look at what's coming up this week:

*It seems I over-scheduled last week. Corn Cracker review has been bumped to this week. 

Recipes for:

• Galumpki (Polish cabbage rolls)
• Chicken Enchiladas with Salsa Verde

Plus:

• Corn Cracker Review
• Corn Pasta Update

And as always:

• Tuesday's Tip
• Friendly Fridays

Drunken Chicken Recipe

From Balanced Platter

This recipe has a lot of ingredients, but sounds awesome! The original site has some great information about the benefits of garlic. Check it out!


Ingredients:
¼ lb Organic Bacon (nitrite free), cut into ½ inch pieces (such as Applegate Farms)
3 lb bone-in, skin-on organic chicken pieces
1 tsp salt, or more to taste
½ tsp pepper, or more to taste
1 tablespoon: olive oil
1: large organic yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 pound: organic carrots, sliced diagonally in 1 inch pieces
8 ounces: artichoke hearts, in water, drained
½ cup: fresh organic mushrooms, left whole (I used Baby Bella’s)
1 ½ cup: dry white wine 
(I used an organic white from Napa, however, you can use a 12 oz bottle of gluten free beer instead of the wine – lends an awesome flavor if you are not sensitive to yeast)
½ lb organic fingerling potatoes, halved OR Sweet Potatoes cut into 2 inch cubes
1 ¼ cups: gluten-free organic chicken stock, or homemade bone broth
2 teaspoons: fresh rosemary, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons: fresh basil, coarsely chopped
1: bay leaf
10: cloves organic garlic, thinly sliced
1/3 cup: green onions, sliced white and green parts
3 cups: brown rice or quinoa, cooked

FRIENDLY FRIDAYS: Joe's Crab Shack

I've been a fan of Joe's since my first visit back around 2001 in Austin, TX. Obviously, if you have a seafood allergy, this is not the place for you, but Joe's has a great line of steampots and other tasty dishes. So, how does this establishment stack up for those of us avoiding wheat/gluten? Surprisingly well. As with most restaurants (especially chains) their food is all prepared in one common kitchen, and they do have a statement possible contamination from other food products. You can download a PDF version of their menus including their gluten free menu and nutritional information from their website under "Menu" (duh).

The good news? All of their Steampots and Buckets of Crab are gluten free. They mention the simply steamed and garlic herb versions in the individual descriptions, but list all the seasonings on the gluten free menu. I would ask a manager before choosing a different seasoning. I was able to find out from a forum on Celiac.com that Old Bay Seasoning is gluten free. I was also able to dig up a post on myglutenfreenj.com that actually has an email from Joe's Crab Shack stating what items were gluten free.

Obviously steer clear of their fried menu items as they're battered and therefore have wheat, but honestly, their gluten free options are also their healthier options anyway. 

Keep in mind that they do serve and prepare a lot of items with butter, so if you're allergic to dairy be sure to talk to your server about your options.

Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Giveaway - WINNER

AND THE WINNER IS......

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

I will be contacting you to get your shipping information shortly. Once I get that information I will forward it to Bob's Red Mill, and your package will be shipped directly from them!

Thank you all for participating! It's been fun!

[All entrants were assigned numbers as they were received and the winner was chosen at random using random.org's "True Random Number Generator."]

Breakfast Skillet Recipe

From FAAN

Sorry... no image of the actual recipe available. 

Ingredients

1/2 lb. bacon

6 cups packaged frozen cubed potatoes*

1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped

1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped

1/2 cup onion, chopped

salt and pepper

Oral Immunotherapy & Egg Allergies

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease released an article on the 18th summarizing a recent study on the effect of oral immunotherapy in children and adolescents with severe egg allergies. There were only 55 children in the study, which is a rather small sample size. The control group consisted of 15 children who were given a placebo (cornstarch) and the other 40 children were given increasingly larger doses of egg white powder over a period of 2 years. They were tested at 10 months, 22 months, and 24 months. At 10 months 55% of the children in the test group passed an egg challenge test. At 22 months they retested the children who passed the first challenge. 75% of those children had no reaction to eating egg. The children were then taken off the therapy entirely for 2 months and tested again. Eleven children passed the third challenge and continued to have no reaction a year later. So what does this all mean? Roughly 25% of the test subjects given the therapy had lasting effects. This study does indicate that oral immunotherapy could be a possible treatment for some people with egg allergies, but seeing as how their sample size was small and the odds are 3 to 1 that it won't work, I hope this means they will continue to test and perfect their methods.
You can read the full article here: NIAID Article July 18, 2012