Swing Eats

Cauliflower deserved to be dressed up a bit, made into a fritter, with other tasty ingredients that compliment this white variety of a cabbage.  This flavor combo is perfect for cauliflower.  This recipe turned out light and fresh, as much as a fritter can get.  I pan-fried them in a minimal amount of avocado oil in a few batches.  Avocado oil has a high smoke point and is heart-healthy.  For a more time efficient cooking method, it may be easier and quicker to bake them in an oven; try 375F for 20 minutes, flipping halfway in between.  I'll have to try that next time.  They freeze easily and can be garnished to make pretty and extra tasty. Cauliflower Fritters With Cheese, Jalapeño And Cilantro (Gluten-Free) Ingredients: Cauliflower Florets, 500 g (about 3/4 head) Garlic Cloves, 2-3 (blanched and minced) Sweet Onion, 40 g (about 1/4) Jalapeño, 50 g (about 1 large, diced fine with seeds and ribs removed) Cilantro, 20 g (about 1/2 bunch, c...

Rosettes have been all a flutter in social media for the past year.  It's a great trend; I love them.  I decided to give these apple roses a try.  Super easy.   Here's an example video .  Instead of using apricot preserves, I went with cinnamon sugar.  Unfortunately for those of us who can't do gluten, puff pastry is not an option.  As there's no gluten-free puff pastry on the market.  I hope to change that one day!  If you can find a roll-out, ready to bake gluten-free dough - use it!  Otherwise, here's a simple recipe to whip up. Apple Roses (gluten-free) Ingredients: Apples, 2-3 of your choice Lemon, 1,juiced Sweet Rice Flour, 125 g Almond Flour, 50 g Oat Flour, 50 g Salt, pinch Baking Powder, 5 g / 1 teaspoon Butter, 50 g melted Egg, 1 large scrambled Cinnamon sugar for dusting Directions: Preheat oven to 350F. Prep the apples:  In a large microwave-safe bowl, mix the lemon juice with th...

Peanut butter & jelly makes me feel like a kid.  Why not make PB&J sandwich cookies?  They’re easy to make, transport, and eat.  The simplicity of these peanut butter cookies are what make them so irresistible.  This recipe I made extra peanut-buttery by adding in processed roasted peanuts rather than any type of flour.  I also minimized the sugar in the recipe, just to add the necessary sweetness for the cookie. PB&J Sandwich Cookies Ingredients: ½ cup Roasted Peanuts (75 g) 1/4 cup Sugar, white granulated (55 g) 1/4 cup Light Brown Sugar (55 g) 1 whole large Egg 1 white only large Egg 1 cup Creamy Peanut Butter (265 g) (1/4 teaspoon if using unsalted roasted peanuts) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- about ½ cup Sugar, white granulated for dusting and pressing ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------...

Onigirazu.  O-ni-gi-ra-zu. It's fun to say, right?  What is it? It's a Japanese rice sandwich. Perfect for any picnic, or as a portable snack.  And even better - it's gluten-free and everyone will love them.  No need for a fancy sushi mold or bamboo mat, just hand-folding this assembly will make a beautiful onigirazu.  However, do use a short grain/sushi/sweet rice variety as it's sticky and will hold it all together.  It can be white, brown, or a mix.  Another trick it to have all your ingredients tailored (cut) and mis-en-place (ready to go, in order).  See the picture in the upper left hand corner. This is so easy, fun, and quick to make.  Let your creativity go wild!  Maybe all veggies with some tofu or tempeh?  Or a tunafish sandwich style?  Or a bagel style with smoked salmon, cream cheese, green onions?  Or more of a traditional American sandwich style?  Go for it. The two "sandwich" varieties I went wit...

*(Sorry about the formatting, as Google Blogger is not cooperating with my format changes.) While working at Fundació Alicia in Spain, one of our last duties as an intern was to make a dish that is typical of where we live — that was an intimidating task considering that two of the staff were elBulli chefs. My Italian roommate and fellow intern, Michela, wanted to do a trial run of her dish, gnocchi, at the apartment. Again, we cooked side-by-side, as I made the gluten-free version of her gnocchi.  These pillows of deliciousness are worth the time and work, as well as the sauce. She taught me that gnocchi is a very basic ratio: 1 kilogram of potatoes to 100 grams of flour to 1 egg with a generous pinch of salt. While working at a restaurant in Bologna, she made 10 kilogram batches of gnocchi on a regular basis. (That is 22 pounds: a lot of gnocchi.) The secret to perfect gnocchi, she confided, was that half the potatoes should be starchy (russets/Idaho) and...

Watermelon seems like the perfect way to cool off on a hot summer day. We I went to Greece, the locals preferred to eat it with feta cheese. They thought the saltiness of the feta brought out the sweet flavor of the watermelon. It does. I decided to take it up a couple of more levels with mint, a drizzle of olive oil, and a sprinkling of sea salt. Try it. You may like it, too. Ingredients: Watermelon Feta Fresh Mint Leaves Olive Oil Salt to taste Directions: Cut the watermelon into large dice cubes, removing inedible seeds. Crumble feta on top. Cut the mint into very thin strips, sprinkle on top. Drizzle a small amount of extra virgin olive oil on top. Follow with a light sprinkling of sea salt on top. Enjoy! A little taste of summer.... -Erin Swing Swing Eats This is part of  Food Network's Summer Soiree . Check out   The FN Dish . The summer produce we're focusing on here is watermelon. On twitter, we're tagging   #SummerSoiree . Here are other delicio...

Turnips.  The enigmatic root vegetable.  Deceivingly peppery with a pretty fuchsia exterior and a perfectly white interior.  Typically for root vegetables, I either roast them or mash them.  Look at this picture, root vegetables appear imperfectly beautiful.  I thought celery root would make for a good flavor pairing with the turnips, given its intense celeriac character.  Keeping it simple with rustic, with a dash of nutmeg, garlic, and white pepper for a hint of fall.  Here's the final product which I find rustic and comforting. Mashed Turnips with Celery Root Ingredients: turnips: 2, peeled and cut into uniform medium cubes celery root: 1, peeled and cut into uniform small cubes butter: 4 tablespoons salt, white pepper, nutmeg, granulated garlic to taste milk or half and half: about 1/2 cup Directions: In a large pan, bring salted water to a boil.  Add in the celery root first (takes longer to cook, and that's why we want to cut ...