FoodFash

Adventure Begins in the Kitchen

Homemade Chipotle Ketchup

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Homemade Chipotle Ketchup

There is no shortage of housemade ketchup in Austin.  So much so, that I’ve not only developed a taste for the condiment, but the desire to make my own has crept upon me as well.

Boiling Homemade Ketchup

And since I still had leftover chipotle peppers in the freezer {from salsa making} and I still can’t get enough of that smoky spice, I decided chipotle ketchup was the way to go.

Homemade Ketchup & Fries

I was surprised how much the ketchup lightened after a few seconds in the Blendtec.  But after the initial confusion of red turned orange, I fell in love with my housemade ketchup.  I jarred some up for a friend’s party this weekend and added ketchup to my unpublished list of store-bought things I plan to home-make from now on.

Curly fry recipe coming soon.

Recipe adapted from Epicurious.

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Shepherd’s Pie

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Shepherd's Pie 2

Resisting the most adorable casserole dish in the world, I could not.  I scooped it up without concern that I rarely make casseroles.  I’d figure something out, right? Pinterest would certainly guide me in the right direction.

Chopped Veggies

While I didn’t find the recipe on Pinterest, it did spark a memory of Shepherd’s Pie. I’d often seen it on menus, but couldn’t recall if Shepherd’s Pie was something I had ever actually tried.  I sifted through recipes and came to the conclusion that anything topped with mashed potatoes was worth giving a shot.

Shepherd's Pie Stuffing

I settled on Alton Brown’s Shepherd’s Pie recipe.  Partly because I trust Alton Brown, but mostly because I was excited about cooking with ground lamb.

Shepherd's Pie

I swapped out {more than} a handful of ingredients to make this dish void of dairy and gluten.  There were initial nerves about how mashed potatoes with coconut milk and oil would taste.  But after whipping them up and sampling the meat/veggie mix, I knew I was 25 baking minutes away from the coziest of meals in the coziest of casserole dishes.

A modified version of Alton Brown’s recipe is below:

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Easy Peasy Chicken Snack

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Healthy Snack

There are only so many walnuts and pistachios I can snack on throughout the day before I become oh so bored.  But then I went tubing last weekend and had the fear of not only being bored, but starving.  So I picked up some boneless, skinless breasts and created a rapid snack that I could take with me on the river.

Chicken Seasoning

I’m really loving the spices and freeze-dried veggies/herbs I picked up at a spice shop while in Milwaukee and thought they’d work well with what I was trying to accomplish.  The Caribbean Calypso Seasoning is so vibrant and perfect for seafood and poultry. Perfect.  And the freeze-dried scallions are more addictive than you could ever imagine.  They’re like the way healthy version of french fried onions.

Seasoned Chicken

I boiled the chicken, cut it into cubes, sprinkled liberally with both seasonings, and packed away in to-go containers.  This snack was filling with a flavor that kept my attention.

A Spiralized Meal

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Spiraled Zucchini Casserole

I’ve been admiring others’ perfect veggie noodles/spirals a lot lately.  Like a lot, a lot. Enough to order another gadget that will undoubtedly crowd my cabinets to the point of kitchen avalanche.

Spiralizer

But after my first spiralizing experience, I have a feeling that this tool will be used often enough to stay front and center.  It may even find a permanent place next to the Blendtec that’s used almost daily.  Seriously.

Roasted Veggies

It is unlikely that I’ll go all out with recipes like the one pictured in this post {Inspiralized’s Baked Zucchini Pasta with Pancetta, Olives and Broccoli} on the regular. But I would like to have a stock of simple zucchini noodle {or other vegetable noodle} dishes that I rotate throughout the week.

Sauteed Pancetta

But if you’re looking for a gluten-free, dairy-free comfort food casserole, this recipe {using coconut oil in place of olive oil and macadamia nut ricotta in place of milk ricotta} is the way to go.  Topped with an egg, I bet it would become an extra delicious breakfast dish as well.