Cinnamon Apple Tacos

 Cinnamon Apple Tacos

Quick & easy - for when you don't have time to make a full apple pie crust.

Apple season is approaching and this recipe is great for when you just don't have time to make a pie crust or you just want to try something different with apples.  You can use your favorite apples, but Granny Smith apples are the traditional apple pie apples because they are tart & firm.  I use gala apples. 

Filling

1 Tbsp Butter
1 Tbsp Corn starch
2 Apples peeled & diced
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup vanilla sugar
1/2 cup water


To make the filling, heat the butter over medium heat & add the diced apples.  Cook for a few minutes until apples begin to get soft.  Then add the sugar, cinnamon, corn starch, and water. 
Cook until the syrup is thick and bubbly.  Then spoon the cinnamon apples into prepared taco shells.  

I use Ceylon cinnamon, but any ground cinnamon will do.  I also use vanilla sugar.  I'm not sure this is sold in stores, but I make my own with super easy this recipe.  The better the ingredients you use, the better your results will be.

Taco Shell

Vegetable oil (enough to cover about a 1/4 inch of a pan)
About 8 small corn tortillas
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon


To prepare the taco shells, heat some vegetable oil in a sauce pan over medium high heat.  In a bowl, mix the sugar & cinnamon & set aside.

Once the oil is heated, fold the tortilla shell so only half of the shell in in the oil by holding the other half with metal tongs.  Be very careful.  The oil is really hot & may splash.  

Fry until golden brown and puffy.  Then flip it over & fry the other side until even.  Carefully shake off excess oil and sprinkle it with the sugar & cinnamon mixture.  Rest it between the cups of an upside down cupcake pan to hold its shape until cooled & ready to use.  Repeat for as many apple tacos as you would like.

Makes about 8 cinnamon apple tacos.

Gluuteny Pizza Crust Mix

Gluuteny Pizza Crust Mix

For my birthday this year, a couple of the guys at work bought me some gluten free items.  One was Gluuteny's Pizza Crust mix.  I finally got a chance to try it.

First I must mention that not only is it gluten free, but it is dairy & egg free also.  The pizza crust I make from scratch usually has both.

The package says the only thing you need is 1 1/2 cups of lukewarm water.  Sounds simple.

The instructions say to beat all the ingredients together, roll it on a pizza pan, add the toppings and bake.  That's not usually how I make my crusts.  I like doughy crusts.  I don't like flat cardboard or flatbread crusts that gluten free pizzas are usually associated with.

To make a doughy crust, I usually proof my yeast, let my dough rise in a ball, punch it down, shape it in the pan, let it rise again, prebake the crust, then add toppings & bake again.  But okay, I'll follow the directions on the package, even though I'm not good at following directions.

The package contains a white powered mix & a package of Red Star Active Dry Yeast.  That's a good yeast.  I'd use that in my own pizza crust.  Pretty pleased there.

I was going to use a pizza stone to cook my pizza.  After mixing in the yeast package, adding 1 1/2 cups of warm water to the mix, it seemed to runny for the pizza stone.  I questioned the amount of water added.  It looked way too runny.  But okay, I'm following the directions.

I oiled my large cast iron pan with my favorite olive oil, Oilio.  I love supporting local companies & they are Pittsburgh based.  The Olive farm is in Greece, but they are based here in Pittsburgh.

I preheated the oven to 450 -a bit hotter than I would normally.

I slopped the dough into the oiled pan.  I spread it around.  At this point, it seemed to flow better than my homemade crust.  I added sauce, cheese, pepperoni, mushrooms, and more cheese.

When the oven was heated, I put the pie in the oven & hoped for the best.  I set the timer for 18 mins, waited & pulled out a surprizingly doughy pizza from the oven.

It was pretty darn good.  It was doughy.  It didn't fall apart.  It held its shape.  And it tasted delicious.  Thanks guys for the pizza!  If you get a chance, try Gluuteny's Pizza Crust mix!

Gluuteny Backery
1923 Murray Ave
Pittsburgh, PA 15217
www.gluuteny.com

The Yard

The Yard

The market Square location is a gastropub bar atmosphere with gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches.  For a $1 upgrade, you can get them gluten free.  The sandwiches come with fries & tomato soup.  Since they don't have a dedicated fryer, you'll need to sub out the fries for something.  I also so not like tomato soup and needed to sub out the soup for the soup of the day.  It was a turkey and noodle soup, but they add the noodles at the end so they served it without them, making it gluten free.

The grilled cheese sandwiches are pretty pricey to start with, and after subbing out both sides, it was even more expensive, but it's been a while since I've had a grilled cheese sandwich that I didn't make myself, so it was worth it.

The soup was pretty good.  It had potatoes, ground turkey, and carrots.  The broth was made from a thicker stock, but not creamy.  My other side was a fruit cup.  It was pretty average with just watermelon, cantaloupe, and honey dew.  Both sides cam in a neat little stainless steel cup.

The sandwich I got was called shrooms.  It had mushrooms, onions, fresh mozzarella cheese and lettuce, all which were extremely tasty.  The onions were sauteed.  The mushrooms were juicy.  The cheese was melty.  The bread was a whole grain gluten free bread of a good quality.  The sandwich was big, and after eating the soup & fruit cup, I had to take half home.  It was still good later for a snack. 

The waitress was extremely knowledgeable about the gluten free options and very considerate about my food sensitivity.  On the items she was unsure about, the soup, she asked the kitchen & returned with a prompt reply. Everything turned out pretty good for this adventure.

They also have a Shadyside location, but I went to the Market Square location.

http://www.theyardpgh.com/
100 5th Ave
Pittsburgh PA 15222
412.291.8182

Paris 66

Paris 66

6018 Penn Circle South
Pittsburgh, PA 15206
 

Paris 66 is a family owned French restaurant in East Liberty.  It’s dinning room is decorated with French posters and pictures.  The space is cute.

The menu has plenty of gluten free items.  Just ask.  Most of the items can be modified to be gluten free, just ask the knowledgeable waiter.  He told me only things with puff pastries, pastas, and the frog legs were not gluten free.  I was slightly disappointed about the frog legs, but there were plenty of other things to eat.

First they bring out some sort of Brussels sprout cream to clear your pallet.  It was different.  Then they bring out buckwheat crepes with butter.  They were alright, if you like buckwheat or are really hungry.

I ordered the cauliflower soup.  It was pretty good.  I felt it needed a bit of salt added, which when I added it really brought the cauliflower flavor out.  It was creamy and white.  It was just a puree without any chunks of cauliflower in it, which I would have preferred, but didn’t mind.

Then I ordered the raspberry duck with the potato gratin.

The potato gratin was a square layered with potatoes and cheese.  It was moderately warm and probably premade and reheated when I ordered it.  It was ok, but not spectacular. They substituted the tomatoes for me for mixed vegetables.  That was nice.  They had a seasoning on them that I'm not entirely sure I liked, but they were crisp and fresh, and that's what matters.

What was spectacular, was the duck.  It was tender, juicy, and crispy on the outside just like it should be.  The sauce wasn’t overly sweet. It was delicious. There are a few more things I’d like to try on this menu, so I guess I’ll just have to come back.