Secret Special Sauce- Gluten Free

Back in my gluten filled days before my diagnosis I loved a certain 2 patty cheeseburger, sesame seed bun, with lettuce and secret sauce from a chain fast food restaurant. Obviously, that isn't an option anymore.......so sometimes I whip up my own sauce.

Secret Special Burger Sauce

1/2 C Mayo
2 T French Dressing
4 t Sweet pickle relish
1 T finely minced white onion
1 t white vinegar
1 t sugar

Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl. Cover and refrigerate for several hours. The longer it sits the more the flavors become friends and become amazing.

What do you like on your pizza?

    What do you want on your tombstone? Ok I probably just dated myself with that commercial reference. For those of you young enough to not remember that commercial....it was for tombstone pizza. (which is of course not gluten free, but it IS what popped into my head when I was thinking about writing the blog tonight ha)

    I made pizza tonight. I had gotten some Udi's crusts and I was wanting to try them out. They were pretty good. They held up well with all of the toppings that I like to pile on my pie. They were crispy and convenient. I'm not sure how much they cost, these were sent to me. Cost is usually a huge deciding factor for me on how often I purchase a gluten free product.

    While making my pizza tonight I got to thinking about toppings. There are zillions of toppings and combinations that people like on their pizza. I'm probably classified as pretty plain Jane. I like hamburger, onions, green peppers, pepperoni, cheese and mushrooms (so basically supreme minus the nasty black olives). I also like Hawaiian (ham and pineapple). There is a place up in the city that does gluten free pizza. They use crimini mushrooms and caramelized onions....that's pretty amazing too! Taco pizza is good, but I'm still working on the right combinations to get it perfect for my taste. What do YOU like on your pizza?

Cranberry Orange Sauce

     I believe that I fall into that category that people call Traditionalist when referring to cranberry sauce. That means that I eat the can shaped jelly stuff. I love that the ridges that the can make in the jelly show you exactly where to cut the servings. I have been perfectly happy with my can shaped cranberry stuff for YEARS. People have brought the homemade stuff to our dinners before, but I have always chosen the canned over the homemade.
     HOWEVER, I felt that since I was writing this blog, I should make an attempt at the homemade cranberry sauce. Plus, cranberries were on sale for 99 cents a bag this week. I figured that if it was an epic fail I wasn't out too much.
      I decided that it would be fun to make a sauce that had a citrus flavor to compliment the cranberries. SO I decided to use orange juice as my liquid in my recipe. I also used brown sugar instead of plain old white sugar. I was shocked that the recipe only has 3 ingredients. I found recipes that had many more ingredients, but let's not get crazy here.....I mean I eat the canned stuff after all. It doesn't have to be TOO gourmet. So I adapted this basic three ingredient recipe by changing the liquid and using brown sugar instead of white. Here is what I came up with.....

Cranberry Orange Sauce
1 Cup Orange Juice
1 Cup Brown Sugar
1 12 oz. bag of Cranberries (washed)

In a saucepan over medium heat dissolve the brown sugar in the orange juice. Stir in the cranberries. Cook until the cranberries start to pop (they start about 8 min. into cooking).  At this point you can smash some of the berries to release the juices (I used the whisk I was cooking with to smoosh). Cook for approximately 4-5 min. Remove from the heat and place in a bowl. Sauce will thicken as it cools. This can be made a few days ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator.

Combine orange juice and brown sugar in a saucepan.

Cook until cranberries start to "pop" you will hear them and visibly see their skins have a crack.

Use the whisk and smoosh some of the berries

Sauce will thicken as it cools. Store in the refrigerator.

Enjoy!!

-Jessica