Asian Box Restaurant

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AsianBox

As I walked into Asian Box in Mountain View’s quaint downtown, I knew I was in for a delicious lunch just from eyeing the line of people waiting to place their order. I picked this specific restaurant because it is a 100% gluten free establishment and I just couldn’t wait to try it out.

My family and I sat in the back where it was quieter so I could be a people watcher and mainly wait for the rush to die down. Plus, it gave me a few minutes to look over Asian Box’s order form and to start thinking about what kind of box I wanted to get for the kids and I.

The kids ended up getting a Kids Box with Lemongrass marinated Pork and Caramel Sauce. According to the very delightful and very gracious restaurant Manager, Michelle, “Asian Box’s Caramel Sauce is their version of Teriyaki sauce.” And from tasting it I will say, it is way tastier than traditional teriyaki any day in my opinion!

For my meal I ordered a box with Brown Rice, Caramelized Lime Basil Shrimp, fresh bean sprouts, pickled vegetables, crispy shallots, chopped peanuts and fresh herbs topped with Peanut Sauce which is a creamy blend with lime & coconut.

Yep, I was in heaven when my food was ready! I tasted cilantro and mint — and just savored every bite. The food is a cross between Vietnamese and Thai and it is sooooo delicious!

My kids and I enjoyed our meal tremendously because Asian Box has high quality, fresh, authentic food and best of all it is gluten free. If you want to have a great authentic experience you need to try Asian Box. And for an added convenience you can even order your meal online at: https://asianbox.wufoo.com/forms/asian-box-order-ahead/

Visit Downtown Mountain View’s Asian Box and give Michelle and her staff your order — you will be so glad you did.

http://www.asianbox.com/

142 Castro St.
Mountain View, Ca 94041
Phone (650) 584-3947
Fax (650) 963-9328

Chipotle Mexican Grill

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Chipotle

Today we had lunch at Chipotle Mexican Grill at N. Capital Road in San Jose, CA. It was a wonderful lunch. The server changed her gloves when we said we were gluten intolerant which was really awesome customer service! The staff were really accommodating and attentive to our needs… A+ in my book!

I had their soft corn tacos filled with their braised carnitas… The order came with 3 tacos, but I gave 1 to my daughter. Oh my goodness two were so filling! And probably because it was filled not only with pork but also with salsa, rice, pinto beans, cheese, sour cream, avocado and shredded romaine lettuce…. My mother had the same but as a salad.

All the veggies are fresh and they use meat from animals (whenever possible) raised without antibiotics or added hormones – “food with integrity.”

The food was tasty, fresh and delicious! I will definitely be coming here again!

Find a location near you: http://www.chipotle.com/en-us/find/find.aspx

Giorgio’s Italian Restaurant Review

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Collage

My mom, the kids and I decided we would go to the mall for back to school shopping. After running from this store to that store everyone was hungry. AND everyone knows that shopping makes you ravenous, LOL. Ok, not really, but since it was past noon we were definitely ready for lunch. We left the mall and headed to Giorgio’s Italian Food & Pizzeria in Milpitas.

It is a casual Italian joint wherethey serve pizza, pasta & other Italian comfort foods. And best yet, gluten free items as well!! Since their gluten free pizzas are only 10″ pies, we ordered two. One was a Pesto with Ricotta Cheese and the other topped with Italian Sausage, Pepperoni and Mushrooms.

And of course we had to get a side of gluten free Rotelli Pasta with Alfredo sauce. The 5 of us devoured almost both pizzas except for a couple of slices and pretty much half the pasta was gone. We had the leftovers boxed up to take home for later enjoyment. The pizza crust was so good we had to ask the waiter for the brand name. He informed us it was from the Venice Bakery. Mental note — will need to order some pizza crusts from there!

I love Alfredo Sauce — it is one of my food pleasures. The Alfredo sauce at Giorgio’s was one of the best I have tasted in a long time. It was flavorful, creamy and garlicky! A nice surprise.

If you are ever in the Bay Area and find yourself in Milpitas, head over to Giorgio’s Italian Food & Pizzeria located on E Calaveras Blvd.

http://www.fjlmountainview.com/gif-mi.html

Giorgio’s Milpitas
643 E. Calaveras Blvd., Milpitas, CA 95035
Phone: 408.942.1292

Fried Pork

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Originally written on June 25, 2014

We bought pork in bulk at Costco and put large sections of the pork in freezer Ziploc Bags for easy access and then froze in our deep freezer. I pulled a frozen bag out this evening and sliced the chunk of meat into 6 thick slices. Breaded the slices and fried them up in coconut oil.

FriedPork

Fried Pork and Mashed Potatoes 

Ingredients:
Pork
Hodgson Mill, Inc. Gluten Free Seasoned Coating Mix(breading)
eggs
Oil – I used Nutiva Organic Coconut Oil

Melt coconut oil in a deep skillet until it comes about 1-inch up the side of the pan.

Take out two shallow dishes like pie dishes – In one dish beat eggs. The other fill with GF Seasoned Coating Mix.

Coat pork in egg mixture, transfer to other plate and dredge through coating mix until coated. Fry pork until golden, about 6-7 minutes per side. Transfer to a paper towel to drain. (Keep pork chops in a warm oven if cooking all at once is not possible.)

Turkey Meat Loaf

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Originally written on June 29, 2014

So tonight I decided to make an american classic — Meat Loaf… something I don’t make very often at all… but when I do, I always have to have 2 helpings! I am paring it with a side of rice and fresh zucchini.

Meatloaf

Meat Loaf

Ingredients

1 pound ground beef, ground turkey or a mixture of both (here I have used ground turkey)
1-1/4 teaspoons himalayan salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cracked pepper
1/2 cup chopped onion – fresh or dried
1 egg
8 ounces canned Italian Stewed tomatoes with juice
1/2 cup gluten free oats
2 large carrots, shredded

Topping:
Gluten Free BBQ sauce – I used Kinders BBQ Mild BBQ Sauce

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Mix all meatloaf ingredients well and place in a baking dish. Shape into a loaf.

Bake for 1 hour.

Adapted from http://www.foodnetwork.com/chefs/paula-deen.html

BBQ Swai fish

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Originally written on June 30, 2014

My children really love eating fish and often request it for dinner. My husband has a Traeger Pellet Grills and does a wonderful job smoking the fish for 30 minutes to defrost the fish and then BBQs the fish for another 30 minutes and what we have is a delicious, fork tender fish dinner.

Fish

BBQ Swai fish with Risotto and fresh Corn

Ingredients:

• 5 Swai Fillets (Swai is a white-flesh fish (typically available in fillet form) with a sweet mild, taste and light flaky texture)
• 6 Garlic Cloves, minced
* 1/4 cup Kinders BBQ‘s Brown Sugar Barbecue Rub.

Leave fish frozen — coat with garlic and BBQ Rub. Smoke for 30 minutes to defrost. Then BBQ at 300º for 30 minutes. The BBQ temp will fluctuate over the 30 minutes.

Creamy Parmesan Risotto

I used Lundberg Family Farms brand Creamy Parmesan Risotto for our rice tonight.

Cooking Instructions

In a heavy 2 qt. saucepan, sauté rice in ½ Tbsp. olive oil over medium heat for 2 minutes. Add 2½ cups water and contents of seasoning pouch. Stir well and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer, cook uncovered for 20 minutes stirring occasionally until rice is tender. Garnish with grated Parmesan cheese is desired. Serve piping hot.

I used 4 corn ears that I used my Corn Cob Stripper to take the kernels off the ear. I seasoned the corn with garlic and spices with a pat of butter.

Pork Kabobs with a Spicy Peach BBQ Sauce

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Originally written on July 1, 2014

Although I normally reserve pork shoulder for low and slow cooking preparations, it’s also fantastic grilled.

Pork-a-bob

10 Servings:

Pork Kabobs

1 small red onion, roughly chopped
2 Tbsp Sesame Oil
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
3 tablespoons of fish sauce
2 tablespoons apple juice
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 garlic cloves, minced
freshly ground pepper
3 pound pork shoulder roast, cut into 1½ inch cubes
1/2 cup peach preserve

Spicy Peach BBQ Sauce

2/3 cup peach preserves
½ red onion
2 tablespoons melted butter
1/2 tsp sriracha (or more depending on how spicy you want the sauce)
½ cup coconut oil, melted
2 tablespoon tomato paste
1-½ tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 teaspoons fish sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon minced ginger
Freshly ground black pepper

Here’s how to make the pork kabobs:

First, make the marinade for the kabobs by pureeing together the onions, sesame oil, coconut oil, fish sauce, apple juice, tomato paste, garlic, peach preserve and freshly ground black pepper in a high speed blender or food processor until smooth.

Grab your pork shoulder and cut it into uniform 1½-inch cubes.

Place the cubes in a large storage container and pour the marinade over the pork.

Make sure the pork is well-coated before covering the container and storing it in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

BBQ Sauce

Toss the peach preserve, onion, sriracha sauce, coconut oil, tomato paste, rice wine vinegar, fish sauce, garlic, ginger, and a few grinds of freshly ground black pepper into a high speed blender or food processor.

Pour the sauce into a saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat.

Lower the temperature to medium low and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes or until slightly thickened. The sauce will keep in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

Last step: grilling the skewers!

Heat the grill to medium high.

Thread five to six pieces of pork on each skewer.

Grill the skewers for about 10 minutes… …until cooked through.…turning every couple of minutes and lathering in the Peach BBQ Sauce.

Rest the pork for 5 minutes before digging in.

adapted from http://nomnompaleo.com/

Tempura Fish and Veggies

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Originally written on July 5, 2014

AGH! My 3 year old turned the Garage Refrigerator to 0 without my knowledge until this morning. All the frozen fish in the freezer was thawed and the 15 lb pork shoulder was sitting in the fridge now needs to be cooked. I am now wishing I didn’t wait so long to chop the pork up into 3 lb bags for the deep freezer… but unfortunately we are now cooking the pork on the Traeger Grill.

Smoking it first and then slow cooking it. So the pork will be cooked in 12 hrs. And for the fish — I decided to make a tempura batter and fried it and some veggies up.

Tempura

Tempura Fish and Veggies

Tempura Batter:
1/4 cup Corn or Potato Starch
1/4 Cup Glutinous Rice Flour
1/2 Cup Rice Flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
1 cup iced water

mix all together.

Unagi Sauce
1/4 cup Gluten Free Soy Sauce
1 cup brown sugar
1 Cup Marin or Marsala Wine

place all ingredients in a sauce pan and bring to a boil… continuously stirring so as to not burn. Let cool and place in container and place in refrigerator.

BBQ Pork Shoulder

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Originally written on July 6, 2014

pork

BBQ Pork Shoulder

So my husband took the 15 pounds of pork shoulder off the Traeger Pellet Grills this morning after cooking all night. I then cut it up and placed sections into Ziploc Freezer bags for later use. I did save a slab for making Taco Salad with Shredded Pork tonight, though… MMMmmmm, can’t wait!

Thick-Crust Gluten Free Pizza Dough

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Originally written July 7, 2014

So I made a homemade cheese pizza right down to the dough…. It had a good flavor but was a little crumbly. I may add an extra egg next time to help with moisture.

PizzaCrust

Thick-Crust Gluten Free Pizza Dough

Ingredients
STARTER
1 1/2 cups (210 g) Gluten Free Flour
1 teaspoon (3 g) instant yeast
2 teaspoons (8 g) sugar
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (7 ounces, by weight) warm water (about 95°F)

DOUGH
2 cups (280 g) Gluten Free Flour , plus more for sprinkling
1-1/3 teaspoons (4 g) instant yeast
2 teaspoons (12 g) kosher salt
1 tablespoon (14 g) extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup (2 ounces, by weight) water, at room temperature
1-2 eggs

Starter

Directions
To make the starter, place all the starter ingredients in a medium-size bowl, and whisk until well combined. The mixture will be thick and shapeless. Cover and set the bowl aside in a warm, draft-free location to rise until doubled (about and hour maybe two).

Once the starter has finished rising, make the dough. Place the flour and yeast the bowl of your stand mixer, and use a handheld whisk to combine well. Add the salt, and whisk to combine. Add the olive oil, water, and risen starter to the bowl, and mix on low speed with the dough hook until combined. Raise the mixer speed to medium and knead for about 5 minutes. The dough will begin as a rough ball and become very sticky, but should be smooth and somewhat stretchy. Spray a silicone spatula lightly with cooking oil spray, and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl or proofing bucket large enough for the dough to rise to double its size and cover. Place the covered dough to rise in a warm, draft-free environment to allow it to rise to double its size (about 1 hour).

Place a pizza stone (or overturned rimmed metal baking sheet) on the bottom rack of your oven and preheat the oven to 400°F. On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough until smooth.

Shape dough into a 12″ round pizza.

Bake for about 5-10 minutes, or until the crust begins to puff and brown. Remove it from the oven. Top your pizza with your desired toppings, then place the pizza again back on the pizza stone. Bake until the crust is browned and your toppings are cooked as desired (about 7-10 minutes, but time will vary depending upon toppings and taste). Allow the pizza to set for a few minutes before slicing and serving.

adapted from: http://glutenfreeonashoestring.com/