Gluten-Free Stuffing
Ingredients:
1 loaf gluten-free bread
3 tablespoons butter, unsalted
2 carrots, peeled and small diced
2 celery stalks, small diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, peeled and small diced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 cups gluten-free chicken broth
1 1/2 tablespoon fresh sage, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped
Directions:
Preheat oven to 325°F. Slice the bread into 1-inch cubes and spread out on a baking sheet. Place in the oven and toast for 25 minutes, flipping/tossing once during toasting.
Melt butter in a large and deep cast iron or oven-safe skillet. If you do not have a large and deep oven proof skillet, you can prep the stuffing in a skillet and transfer to a 9" x 13" baking dish before finishing off in the oven. To the butter, add carrots, celery, garlic, onion, salt, and pepper. Sauté on medium heat for 15 minutes until the onions and carrots are soft and tender. If the onions or garlic start to brown, reduce heat to medium-low.
Once the carrots are tender, add chicken broth, sage, and thyme and stir to combine. Simmer for 5 minutes. Taste, and add additional salt or pepper, if needed.
Next, add the toasted bread cubes and gently toss to combine. Transfer to the oven and bake for 25 minutes. Serve warm. Makes 6-8 servings.
Croutons & Stuffing
Gluten-Free Croutons
Special thanks to my Sister-In-Law Debi for showing Peggy how to make these for our Thanksgiving feast last year. They are great just for snacking on.
Ingredients:
1 to 1 ½ loaves of GF bread, cut or torn in desired size. For stuffing, pieces might be smaller vs larger for snacking/dipping.
GF Granulated Garlic
GF Granulated Onion
GF Ground Sage
GF Paprika (optional)
Salt
Olive Oil
Directions:
Preheat oven to 300.
Spread bread pieces on sided baking sheet. Allow to dry for at least 2 days – 3 to 4 is preferable.
Drizzle olive oil lightly over the bread and mix well.
Season to taste. Mix well after each seasoning.
Bake for 10 to 20 minutes or until GBDC (Golden, Brown, Delicious & Crunchy). Stir every 5 minutes.
Remove from oven and spread out to cool.
Note: Airbake pans won't brown as quickly. Try not to eat them all before you make your stuffing.
Tip: Instead of throwing out the heels or unused pieces of GF bread, put them in the freezer to be used later.
Gluten-Free Stuffing
Ingredients:
1 loaf gluten-free bread (or the croutons above)
3 tablespoons butter, unsalted
2 carrots, peeled and small diced
2 celery stalks, small diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, peeled and small diced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 cups gluten-free chicken broth
1 1/2 tablespoon fresh sage, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped
Directions:
Preheat oven to 325°F. Slice the bread into 1-inch cubes and spread out on a baking sheet.
Place in the oven and toast for 25 minutes, flipping/tossing once during toasting. (Skip this step If you are using the croutons you made from above recipe)
Melt butter in a large and deep cast iron or oven-safe skillet. If you do not have a large and deep oven proof skillet, you can prep the stuffing in a skillet and transfer to a 9" x 13" baking dish before finishing off in the oven. To the butter, add carrots, celery, garlic, onion, salt, and pepper. Sauté on medium heat for 15 minutes until the onions and carrots are soft and tender. If the onions or garlic start to brown, reduce heat to medium-low.
Once the carrots are tender, add chicken broth, sage, and thyme and stir to combine. Simmer for 5 minutes. Taste, and add additional salt or pepper, if needed. Next, add the toasted bread cubes/croutons and gently toss to combine. Transfer to the oven and bake for 25 minutes. Serve warm. Makes 6-8 servings.
Tomato Soup
Gluten-Free Tomato Soup
Peggy came home from work and was hungry tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. However, there was a small snag in this plan; we didn't have any tomato soup.
As many of you know, most tomato soup is not gluten-free. Since I'm not a huge fan of tomato soup, this fact was not a hardship for me when I went gluten-free.
It was late and neither one of us wanted to run down to the store to get a can. I said, "It is tomato soup, it can't be that difficult to make, I'll just make some [gluten-free of course]".
So I hop on the iPad and Peg grabs her laptop. In few minutes we a have few recipes that are quick and easy [and good and gluten-free!]. While I worked on the soup, Peg made the grilled cheese sandwiches. We make a great team!
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 medium white onion, coarsely chopped
2 cans diced tomatoes [with juice]
1 1/2 cups gluten-free chicken broth or water (Kitchen Basics, Swanson’s, Pacific, Imagine)
2 Bay leaves
1/3 cup skim milk (we didn't have any heavy cream)
Salt & fresh ground pepper
Directions:
Place medium sized pot [enough to hold all the ingredients] on medium heat. Add butter and olive oil. Add onion, season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Sauté until onion is soft and just start to caramelize [about 10 - 15 minutes].
Add tomatoes and juice to the pan and stir to crush dices of tomatoes. Add the broth [or water] and bay leaves and bring to a simmer. Simmer until tomatoes pieces begin to break down, about 10 minutes.
Remove from heat, remove bay leaves, and allow soup to cool slightly. Carefully spoon some of the soup in blender/food processor [you may have to do this in batches]. Blend until smooth. Return soup to the stove over low heat and stir in cream.
Taste for seasoning adjustments.
Even though I'm not a fan of tomato soup, I have to say, I did like it and will make this again.
If you're looking for a kicked up grilled cheese sandwich, check out our Pesto Tomato Grilled Cheese Sandwich.
Sauteed shrimp and steamed asparagus garnish the soup.
Until the next good eats - cook well and be well.
Al
Seasoned Rice with Chorizo
Seasoned Rice with Chorizo
Most meals around our house are like an episode of The Food Network's Iron Chef. We never know what we're going to have too far in-advance.
It usually starts with "You know we have ________ in the fridge yet".
However, in this case, I was digging through the freezer looking for a protein. Chicken - nah, just had it. Beef - nope, need to give it a rest. Pork chops - mmm nah-uh, just not feelin' it.
Tonight's secret ingredient is...Chorizo sausage! Allez Cuisine!
Now...what to do with it? This is what I came up with...
Ingredients:
1 cup rice (Lundberg)
2 cups of gluten-free chicken broth (Kitchen Basics, Swanson’s, Pacific, Imagine)
1 tbsp butter
1 tsp salt
Penzey's Forward seasoning
Klemment's gluten-free chorizo sausage - sliced
1 or 2 carrots, finely diced
1/2 cup diced white onion
Salt & Pepper
Granulated garlic
Olive Oil
Green Peas (frozen, but fresh if you've got 'em)
Fresh Parsley - roughly chopped
Directions:
Combine rice, broth, butter, salt and seasoning in a pot. Bring to boil and stir once. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
Add olive oil and carrots to large pan saute on med-high heat until carrots start to soften. Add a bit of water to help steam carrots.
Add onion and stir
Season with salt, pepper, granulated garlic
Add sausage to pan and stir.
Lower heat once everything is heated thru
Add rice to pan when it's finished cooking.
Mix ingredients well.
Add chopped fresh parsley right at the end.
Until the next good eats - cook well and be well.
Al
Lemon Garlic Chicken over Cauliflower Mash
Grilled Lemon Garlic Chicken Breast
over Roasted Garlic Cauliflower Mash
Facebook is not all time-wasting games, people-sharing-more-stuff-than-we-really-wanted-to-know...it can be a really useful tool. Seriously...
I believe one of my Paleo Diet friends posted the low-carb Lemon Garlic Shrimp over Cauliflower Mash recipe from Nancy at SheCooksHeCleans.net. Like a good husband, I asked Peggy to Pin it for me so I could make it for her. The ironic thing...it's just the opposite in our house...I cook and Peg cleans...just the way I like it.
I did make the shrimp & cauliflower and we both loved it! We had tried mashed cauliflower in the past, but we weren't impressed [at least with that particular recipe]. This recipe on the other hand...is a keeper!
In my adaptation of Nancy's recipe, I am simply replacing the shrimp with chicken and removing the lemon juice and red pepper flakes from the sauce. Actually the chicken you see was actually grilled the night before. Peggy is not a fan of reheated meat, but she had no problems cleaning her lunch plate.
If you like garlic, you're going to love this dish! It calls for fourteen to sixteen cloves. You'll need a way to peel them quickly; watch this video, it really works: http://vimeo.com/29605182
Oh yeah, word of caution, don't plan on going out after eating this, you're a walking Garlic Weapon of Mass Destruction. This gives a whole new meaning to "chemical weapon".
Ingredients
Marinade:
Zest of 1 lemon
2 cloves garlic, minced
3-4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 pound (3 or 4) chicken breasts
Cauliflower Mash:
1 head of cauliflower, cut into even medium to large sized florets
6-8 cloves garlic, peeled
Extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Butter
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
Half and half or cream / Milk or broth, optional use if needed to correct consistency
Lemon Garlic Chicken:
Marinated Chicken (from above)
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 slices bacon
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup white wine, or gluten-free chicken broth
1/2 sweet onion, minced
Pinch or two of dried oregano
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons fresh oregano, chopped
Directions
1. Mix all the ingredients of marinade in a bowl large enough for all the chicken pieces. Place chicken in the bowl and make sure each one gets well coated. Cover and place in refrigerator for 1 - 4 hours.
2. Preheat oven to 400 and fire up your favorite grill (gas or charcoal). Place cauliflower and garlic cloves in foiled shallow pan [sided cookie sheet or jelly roll pan]. Drizzle enough olive oil to coat the pan/foil and the vegetables. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover loosely with foil and roast for 15 min. Remove foil and carefully stir vegetables so they don't stick and so they brown evenly. Uncover and roast for another 15 – 20 minutes or until cauliflower and garlic are soft and lightly browned. Remove from oven.
3. As the cauliflower is roasting, get your grill grates cleaned and prepped. I like to heat my gas grill to about 500-600° to carbonize anything that might be sticking on the grates. Brush the grates with a grill brush to remove any carbonized food particles then clean with several layers of paper towel that was liberally coated with vegetable oil. This clean the grates, but it also creates a non-stick surface. Close grill cover and allow internal temp to rise back up to 500+
4. Place chicken breasts on the grill. Grill until meat is firm and juices run clear (or internal temperature reaches 165°). Remove from grill, cover allow to rest and keep warm.
5. Place cauliflower & garlic with a couple tablespoons of butter in a food processor and puree. Add parmesan cheese and mix well. The cauliflower should be a mashed potato or grits consistency (fairly thick, not runny). Add a touch cream or broth if it's too thick. Place in a heat-proof bowl and keep warm.
6. In a sauté pan, cook the bacon until crisp. Remove bacon set aside on paper towels. When cool, chop into small pieces. Set aside.
7. Add two tablespoons of butter to the bacon drippings and melt on medium heat. Add onion and cook until softened. Add minced garlic, and oregano – sauté for a minute. Stir in wine/broth. Cook until liquid is reduced by half (only a few minutes). Salt & pepper to taste.
Note: I also had left over bacon, so I did not have bacon drippings to help create a sauce. So, in order to re-heat the chicken and make a sauce, in a pan melt 2 tablespoons of butter, a splash of olive oil and sauté some minced onion and garlic. After onions soften, add some gluten-free chicken stock (1/4 - 1/2 cup?). Cover just the chicken with a small cover and allowed the sauce to reduce & slightly thicken. Near the end of cooking, add some dried oregano. If I had some white wine, I would've used that instead of chicken stock.
8. Slice chicken and place over mashed cauliflower, spoon sauce over the top. Garnish with chopped bacon.
Until the next good eats - cook well and be well.
Al
Slow-Cooker Chicken Cacciatore
Slow-Cooker Chicken Cacciatore
Slow-cooker to the rescue...again! It's been pretty busy around the Al & Peg House as of late. Weekends are doubly-busy, so in order to make good eats, we need some help. Whilst we're scurrying around the house, the slow-cooker is doing all the hard work.
Peg found this naturally gluten-free recipe: http://www.recipe.com/slow-cooker-chicken-cacciatore/?esrc=nwrc071212pinc
The original recipe calls for chicken drumsticks, but we used thighs instead - more meat on the thighs.
Ingredients:
2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
1 cup sliced celery
1 cup chopped carrot
2 medium onions, cut into wedges
1 green, yellow, or red sweet pepper, cut into strips
4 cloves garlic, minced
12 chicken thighs, skinned (about 3-1/2 pounds)
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup dry white wine
2 tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 14-1/2-ounce can diced tomatoes
1/3 cup tomato paste
Directions:
1. Combine mushrooms, celery, carrot, onions, sweet peppers, and garlic in a 5- or 6-quart slow cooker. Place chicken on vegetables. Combine broth, wine, tapioca, sugar, oregano, bay leaves, salt, and pepper; pour over chicken.
2. Cover; cook on low-heat setting for 6 to 7 hours or on high-heat setting for 3 to 3-1/2 hours.
3. Remove chicken; cover to keep warm. Remove and discard bay leaves. If using low-heat setting, turn to high-heat setting. Stir in undrained tomatoes and the tomato paste. Cover and cook for 15 minutes more. Serve vegetable mixture over chicken and cooked pasta or rice.
Until the next good eats...
Al & Peg
Everybody in the Pool (aka Hamburger) Soup
Have you ever run into a situation where you needed to use up all sorts of miscellaneous things in the fridge? Yeah, well, this is the result. We had a little of this - a little of that. Whatever was laying around got thrown into the pot. Bottom line, we really weren't following as recipe.
Ingredients:
1lb Hamburger
Onion
Fresh Mushrooms
1/2 cubed Rutabaga
Cabbage
Carrot
Celery
Frozen Green Beans
Frozen corn
Green Bell Pepper
Gluten-Free Beef Stock ((Kitchen Basics, Swanson’s, Pacific, Imagine). Note: Beef stocks may contain gluten. Double check the ingredients)
Gluten-Free Chicken Stock (Kitchen Basics, Swanson’s, Pacific, Imagine)
V8
Bay Leaf
Directions:
Sauté' green bell pepper & onion in a big soup pot [7 qt pictured here] for a few minutes.
Add a pinch a salt and pepper. Be careful with the salt, your stocks have have additional salt.
Add 2 lbs of hamburger to pan and brown.
Add a pinch of salt and pepper
Drain/remove excess grease.
Add chicken or beef broth - probably 2-4 cups total
Add bottle of 46oz bottle of V8
Add Bay Leaf or two
Add veggies that need longer too cook first (like rutabaga, carrots, celery, etc]- staggering them by a couple of minutes.
Taste for salt/pepper
Bring up to a boil then reduce heat to simmer
Cover pot and let simmer for 30 - 60 minutes stirring occasionally.
Check a carrot/celery/rutabaga - if it's a texture you like - dig in!
Until the next good eats...
Al
Minestrone Soup
This recipe is adapted from Living Without Summer 2005 issue.
It's one of our favorites and gets rave reviews from all who've tried - gluten-free or otherwise.
We save it for the fall/winter when it is cold and yucky on the outside and warm and yummy on the inside.
Ingredients
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
2 cloves minced garlic
1 large onion - diced
2 medium carrots - sliced
2 stalks celery - sliced
1 medium potato - diced
1 15oz can diced tomatoes
1 small zuchinni
1 tspn oregano
2 tspn salt
4 cups GF chicken broth (Kitchen Basics, Swanson’s, Pacific, Imagine)
1 cup fresh or frozen corn
1 cup fresh or frozen green bean (1 1/2" pieces)
1 15oz can kidney beans - drained & rinsed
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil (optional) or 2 cubes of frozen homemade basil pesto (See Al Notes)
Parmesan cheese (optional)
Add olive oil, butter & garlic to a large soup pot over medium heat. Saute until onion is transparent and soft.
Add celery, carrots, potato. Sauté for another 5 minutes.
Add tomatoes, oregano, salt and chicken broth.
Bring soup up to a simmer. Cover and cook for 15-30 minutes. Veggies should be tender.
Add the corn, green beans, kidney beans, zucchini and simmer for another 15-30 minutes.
Stir in fresh basil or add frozen pesto cubes and allow to melt.
Serve hot and don't eat too much. You could also top with fresh grated Parmesan cheese.
Al Notes
Since we made a double batch, we use both kidney beans and black beans.
In the summer I will make fresh basil pesto. This is usually a Saturday project for me. We have a little farmers market downtown and I'll get several bunches. I'll whiz up a batch and pour it in ice cube trays and freeze it. After about a month of pesto making, we'll have several freezer bags full of pesto cubes we can use for a whole bunch of things...like this soup!
Cashew Chicken Stir-fry
The recipe is from Taste of Home's Treasury of Christmas Recipes.
This is our favorite stir-fry recipe. The sauce has a perfect balance.
Ingredients
2 cups GF Chicken Broth (Campbell's Natural Goodness, Kitchen Basics)
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts - cut into bite sized pieces
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 cup sliced carrots
1/2 cup sliced celery
3 cups broccoli florets
1 cup Snow or Snap peas
1/4 cup GF corn starch (Argo)
3 tablespoons GF soy sauce (La Choy)
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 1/2 cups of cashews
Cooked rice (optional)
Directions
In skillet or wok, add 3 tablespoons of broth and heat.
Add chicken, stir-fry over medium heat until pink is gone (3 -5 minutes).
Remove chicken with slotted spoon and set aside.
Add garlic, carrots & celery to pan - stir-fry for 3 minutes.
Add broccoli and peas - stir-fry for 4-5 minutes - till crisp tender.
Combine corn starch, soy sauce, ginger & remaining broth and mix.
Add chicken to pan.
Add liquid to pan.
Cook and stir for several minutes - sauce will thicken.
Stir in cashews or add cashews when serving.
Al Notes:
I tend to use more chicken broth than stated. We like to have a bit more sauce.
Chicken & Wild Rice Blend with Veggies
The Wild Rice Blend is from Lundberg and has become one of my recent favorite meals. It simple to do, but it takes time for the rice to cook. However it gives you time to do the veggies.
The recipe for this on the bag.
Ingredients
1/2 cup of chopped celery
1 cup of sliced mushrooms
1 small onion
1/4 cup red bell pepper
1/4 cup carrot
1 (or more) cloves of garlic
2 tbs butter or Extra Virgin Olive Oil (I used EVOO).
2-3 tbs of GF soy sauce (GF Teriyaki sauce is used in the original recipe, but we don't like teriyaki sauce)
1 cup of Wild Blend
2 cups of water or GF chicken broth (Kitchen Basics, Swanson’s, Pacific, Imagine)
1 tbs butter (optional - you could use EVOO too)
Salt & Pepper to taste. Just know how salty the broth is before you season.
Directions
Combine rice, liquid & butter/EVOO in pot with tight lid
Bring to boil. Stir once then cover.
Reduce to simmer and cook 50 minutes.
Remove from heat and let stand while covered for 10 minutes.
While rice is cooking prep the veggies. Use you imagination - use colorful veggies!
In a pan, add butter/oil & garlic over medium heat for 2 minutes.
Add onion, celery & carrots and stir. Sauté for 3-4 minutes
Add red bell pepper. Sauté for a couple more minutes.
Add mushrooms & stir.
Add GF teriyaki or soy.
Reduce heat and stir occasionally.
Remove from heat when veggies are tender.
Once the Wild Blend is done, fold in veggie mixture.