Happy Valentine's Day

Every Saturday morning, I do household chores, like stripping and remaking the bed and vacuuming the carpets.  Most days I put music on, but today I was trying to figure out what to do for dinner, so I had on the Food Network.  They did not let me down!

There was this recipe on "The Best Thing I Ever Made" called Pollo Cuidad with Pickled Tomato Salsa.  I made it - it was complex, but amazing!  Cooking the dressing for the salsa was such a unique blend of spices - very aromatic.

I decided to keep going with the theme and made a Tres Leches Cake with a Caramel Buttercream Frosting for Dessert.  This cake is amazing because it is so moist and gooey.

Instead of sharing my own recipes today, I wanted to demonstrate that you can take any recipe you want to make and with a few minor changes, you can make it gluten free.  Do not get discouraged.  With a little practice, making the substitutions becomes second nature.

So, as my Valentine's gift to you, I'm giving you two amazing recipes instead of one.  Three really if you count the Tomato Salsa. 

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Pollo Ciudad with Pickled Tomato Salsa
The recipe can be found here  http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/pollo-ciudad-with-pickled-tomato-salsa-recipe.html

The modifications I made were that I didn't strain the mushroom and cilantro gravy that goes over the chicken.  I like it chunky.

I also made sure to use Heinz Brand, corn based, Distilled White Vinegar for the salsa.

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Layered Tres Leches Cake
The cake recipe can be found at  http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/tres-leche-cake-recipe.html.

The modifications I made here were that I used Pamela's Gluten Free Pancake Mix instead of cake flour.  Another good option to substitute is Betty Crocker's Gluten Free Yellow Cake Mix.

I also chose to make my own frosting, rather than use the one in the recipe.  I'm a sucker for caramel anything, so I made a caramel buttercream frosting.  It goes well with the Tres Leche.  Think Dulce de Leche but in cake form.

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Caramel Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients:

1 stick butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup heavy cream
1 vanilla bean, split
3 1⁄2 cups sifted powdered sugar

Directions:

In a small saucepan, mix the heavy cream and vanilla bean seeds and skin.  Bring to a simmer to allow the vanilla flavor to marry with the cream.

In a large saucepan, melt 1/2 of the butter and add brown sugar. Bring this mixture to a boil, stirring frequently. Boil and stir for 1 minute until thickened.

Remove from heat and pour cream through a strainer into the butter and sugar mixture. Beat with wire whisk until smooth.

Next add the rest of the butter, folding it in to help give a thicker consistency.  Sprinkle in powdered sugar until the frosting is of your desired spreading consistency.

The frosting will thicken as it cools, so let it cool for a bit and then spread it over your cake.