SS&GF: Simply Sugar and Gluten Free

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Today I’m thrilled to share this comforting dish and guest post from my dear friend, Alta, from Tasty Eats at Home. Alta and I live pretty close together and I’ve had the opportunity to eat her food. It’s beyond good! Enjoy this post and make sure to stop by her blog. It’s a favorite of mine.

Hello! I am honored to be sharing here at Simply Sugar and Gluten-Free while the Green family spends quality time with their new little bundle of joy. They need all of the time together that they can get (and all the sleep they can manage to squeeze in!).

Today I’ll be sharing a one-pot meal that just reminds me so much of Amy’s style of cooking – fresh, full of flavor, and not overly complicated. It’s one of those recipes that take a bit of time from start to finish, but much of that time isn’t spent actively cooking, and it all takes place in a single pot, so it’s pretty fuss-free. But even more than that, it’s a rustic, comforting dish that warms your heart and your belly.

I am no expert on Basque cuisine. I understand that it’s deep in French and Spanish influence, with lots of Mediterranean flavors, often including tomatoes, peppers, and seafood. But what I picked up on was that the traditional Basque cuisine was humble “country” food, prepared with fresh, local ingredients, and without a lot of fancy flair. I can imagine a pot of this chicken basquaise simmering away in a kitchen somewhere near the coast of Spain in a modest country home, tucked away from the hustle and bustle, filling the house with the warm perfume of herbs and chicken. It definitely filled my house with lovely aromas, and was at home in our kitchen as it might be in Spain or France.

This dish does call for a few specialty ingredients – Spanish chorizo (which is a cured sausage, not the fresh, crumbly Mexican chorizo) and sherry vinegar – but they’re relatively easy to find in well-stocked groceries or specialty shops. If you must, you could potentially substitute pancetta for the chorizo, and red wine vinegar for the sherry vinegar, although I haven’t tried it myself. I imagine the flavors would still be lovely either way. I do think it’s worth the effort to seek out the chorizo and sherry vinegar, however. The sherry vinegar is a particularly lovely ingredient, and it lasts a long time in your pantry. I’ve used it in a lot of braised dishes and it really brightens the flavor.

These one-pot meals need to make a more regular appearance in all of our kitchens, mine included. Sometimes, it’s nice to simplify, and there’s just something about a dish such as this that becomes more than the sum of its parts – when flavors mingle, get a chance to know one another, and really marry. Dishes like this are the soul of a kitchen. It’s time to allow that soul to shine!

Alta Mantsch is the author of Tasty Eats At Home, a food blog dedicated to tasty gluten and dairy-free recipes, foods, and living, and is a Community Leader at the Udi’s Gluten Free Living Community Forum.