Food ‘O the Irish Corned Beef and Cabbage
March 18th, 2010

Food ‘O the Irish Corned Beef and Cabbage

Easy boiled corned beef, cabbage and potato

There’s no better way to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day than to have a nice hearty gluten-free corned beef and cabbage dish. Trader Joe’s offered a gluten-free seasoned corned beef. Just adding in  some simple ingredients make this age old meal a cinch. (Well I didn’t really make this myself but I did eat it all after a friend slaved over it and me lucky charms scored me the simple recipe).

3-4 lbs corned beef 2 lbs red potatoes whole 1 cabbage head, trimmed and quartered

Cook the corned beef in a big stock pot with about 3 quarts of water. Cook for an hour. Place the cleaned potatoes and cabbage wedges in the pot and fill with enough water to cover it all. No other seasonings are needed since the meat is fully flavored and the cabbage has a ton of naturally great flavors. Let simmer.

Wait 4-5 hours and you’re ready to eat. The meat should be cooked through, breakable by fork and veggies soft to the touch. So tasty and I’m wondering why I don’t eat this more often. Oh yeah maybe because it takes half the day to cook. Happy St. Patty’s to all.

Ribs for SXSW Conference
March 13th, 2010

Ribs for SXSW Conference

Dry rub ribs

I’m at the South by Southwest Interactive (SXSW) Conference in Austin, Texas for the next couple days. Before coming here I thought of how I could prepare and get myself in the mood. So last week I had some amazing homemade pork ribs, with complete gluten-free seasonings and sides. Now a big slab of ribs in not my normal supermarket purchase, but it was on sale and looking really fresh. Here’s the quick recipe for the ribs with a dry rub.

Dry Rub

1/2 tblsp Cayenne pepper (depends on how much spice you like) 1/4-1/2 tblsp Paprika 2 tblsp brown sugar 1 crushed bay leaf 1 tblsp salt 1/4 tblsp lemon pepper (regular pepper is ok too) 1/4 tblsp onion powder 1/4 tblsp garlic powder

Mix all of these together. Then trim your ribs and score the flesh on the back side of the bone, this will make the devouring process easier Back to the cooking. Now rub the mix all over the ribs and place a oven rack. Place a pan of water underneath the rack to allow the ribs to steam in the oven at 375. Let this cook for about 35 mins and then turn up to heat to 400 for an extra 10 – 20 mins depending on how crispy or cooked you like your ribs.

I paired the ribs with quinoa and sauteed kale. This is a dinner that will fill you up and prepare your belly for a Texan meal.

Coconut Water for a Computer Pounding Kind of Day
March 2nd, 2010

Coconut Water for a Computer Pounding Kind of Day

It was one of those pound on the computer kind of days and I was feeling pretty sluggish. At the corner shop I picked up this can of C2O Pure Coconut Water. There’s been a huge craze for this light crisp drink. Oh and naturally gluten-free. It makes Acai seem soooo high maintenance and 2008.

C2O Coconut Water keeps me hydrated. See how happy my computer looks.

This huge can I snagged was $1.99 and a product of Thailand. I also found a similar product with a better looking can for $2.69, called Amy & Brian Coconut Juice. After some comparison of the labels and ingredients, it was clear that both must have been purchasing from the same source, since everything was the same. Naturally I bought the cheaper can.

C2O was really quenching, crisp, natural and high in potassium. There’s no extra added sugars, just pure coconut water. The claim to fame for coconut water is it’s naturally isotonic characteristic. What’s isotonic you ask? Well according to Biology-online , isotonic in terms of fluids, means that the carbohydrate and electrolyte concentration is similar to your body’s natural levels. Therefore these types of drinks are absorbed as fast, if not faster than plain water. Sport drinks, like your Gatorades, Vitamin Waters, Powerades, and Pocari Sweats (that’s one for my obscure isotonic drink buffs)  have been formulating in attempt to reach this point of perfection for years. The problem with those is the over added dyes and sugars that turn me off. I don’t like drinking neon BLUE things.

Another expensive coconut water I’ve tried is Zico. This brand comes in a little juice box and sold mainly in high end markets and natural food stores. Zico has more flavors added to the coconut water and has made the biggest presence in this market. Who doesn’t love a little overly marketed and well-branded juice box.

Try some today and let me know if you’ve tried any other good brands.