Maple Balsamic Chicken

I clipped this out of a magazine so long ago, that I don't remember if it was Southern Living or Better Homes and Garden.  Anyway, it's great and every time I make it, I think that we should have company because it's so tasty!

Maple Balsamic Chicken

(4 to 6 Servings)

8 skinned and boned chicken thighs
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp paprika
3/4 tsp dried thyme
1 tbsp olive oil
1 (14  1/2 oz) can chicken broth
1/3 c. maple syrup
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp ground red pepper
3 tbsp peanut butter

Sprinkle chicken evenly with salt, paprika, and thyme.
Cook chicken in hot oil in large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat 2 minutes on each side or until golden brown.  Stir in chicken broth and next 4 ingredients and bring to a boil.  Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer 15 minutes.  Remove chicken to a serving platter, and keep war,.  Reserve liquid in skillet.
Whisk peanut butter into reserved liquid, and boil over medium-high heat, uncovered, 5-10 minutes or until sauce is thickened.  Spoon sauce evenly over chicken.
I serve mine over a bed of brown rice and it soaks up all the yummy sauce.

Rice Pudding

Rice Pudding reminds me of my grandmother and now my daughter wants it whenever she needs comfort food.  I think this makes a great family tradition and how perfect for a gluten free dessert!
This is also a great way to use up that "almost out of date" milk.

Rice Pudding

2 cups cooked rice
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups milk
1 tsp. vanilla

Beat eggs and add the rest of the ingredients.  Pour into a greased pan and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.  Dot with butter.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 - 45 minutes or until knife comes out clean in the middle.   Serve warm or cold.

Tilapia Veracruz

This recipe originally called for orange roughy, but I always have tilapia on hand.  We prefer the taste and the price!

Tilapia Veracruz

2 tsp. olive oil
1 cup sliced onion
2 cloves garlic  (you know by now that I NEVER put garlic in anything!)
1 cup sliced yellow, red or green pepper
1 (14 1/2 oz) can Mexican style stewed tomatoes with jalapeno (if I don't have this kind, I use regular stewed tomatoes and add seasonings of my choice and lots of times I use Italian seasoning in this Mexican dish)
4 - 4 oz fish fillets - orange roughy, tilapia or any other white fish
dash of ground red pepper
dash of paprika

Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat.  Add onions and garlic; saute about 7 minutes or until tender.  Add bell pepper and tomatoes; cook over medium high heat for 3 minutes.  Add fish, sprinkle with paprika and red pepper.  Cover, reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes.
Turn fish over and simmer an additional 5 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork.  Transfer fish to a plate to keep warm.  Cook reserved sauce over medium high heat and cook 3 minutes or until thickened.  Spoon sauce over fish. 
We like to serve this over gluten free pasta and top with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.
This says it is 4 servings, but men will want 2 pieces of fish!

German Potato Salad

8 to 10 medium new potatoes
Pinch salt
1/4 medium onion, finely chopeed
1 tbsp. bacon drippings
1 tbsp. corn starch
1 cup vinegar
1/2 cup water
3/4 cup sugar
8 pieces crisp bacon- crumbled
Chopped parsley for garnish - (I used green onions from mustard sauce recipe)

Boil unpeeled potatoes in enough water to cover.  Add salt.  Cook until almost done, then let potatoes cool and cut into thin slices.  Mix potatoes and onions. 
To make sauce:  Warm the drippings and add cornstarch stirring constantly.  Mix well vinegar, water and sugar.  Add to drippings and cornstarch.  Stir until it thickens. (If this doesn't thicken, then make a paste with a little water and another tbsp of cornstarch, then pour into mixture).  I have found that cornstarch thickens a little differently from flour and I have to tweek the thickening process.
Pour sauce over potatoes and onions.  Refrigerate for at least 12 hours.  Warm slightly before serving.  Add bacon curmbles and mix well.  Garnish with parsley or green onion. 

This is great cold for leftovers!

Pork Tenderloin with Mustard Sauce

I had a party on Saturday night and I don't think anyone knew that they were eating a gluten free meal!  Well... I did make 2 huge pans of homemade rolls that WERE NOT gluten free.  It was torture to make the dough, watch it rise, roll out those ball of goodness and then watch them brown to perfection in the oven.  However, it did make me feel good to watch all those folks gobble them up!!  So, for the rest of the meal, I had this wonderful pork tenderloin, German potato salad and someone brought a yummy salad.  I turned on the chocolate fountain and had lots of wonderful things to dip in it.  A great night!


Pork Tenderloin with Mustard Sauce

1/4 cup soy sauce (make sure it's gfree)
1/4 cup bourbon ( I looked online and it said that Member's Mark was gfree)
2 tbsp. brown sugar
3 pounds pork tenderloin

1 tbsp. dry mustard
1 1/4 tsp. vinegar
1/3 cup sour cream
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 tbsp. chopped green onions
salt to taste

Combine first three ingredients (soy, bourbon, brown sugar) for marinade mixture.  Marinate pork for several hours, turning occasionally.  I marinated mine overnight.  Remove pork from the marinade, roast in a preheated oven at 325 degrees for 45 mins to 1 hours, basting frequently.

Mustard Sauce:  Dissolve mustard in vinegar and mix with sour cream and mayonnaise.  Fold in green onions and salt.  I made this the day ahead.

Let meat stand a few minutes, carve into medallions, serve with mustard sauce. 

One thing great about this recipe is that it is hard to mess up-- which is always a good thing when company is coming!!

Crockpot French Dip Sandwiches

We had this a few nights ago.  It's super easy and we all love it!



Crockpot French Dip Sandwiches

1 (3 to 4 pound) boneless chuck roast, trimmed
1/2 cup soy sauce -of course make  sure it is gfree!
1 can beef broth - gfree
1 bay leaf
3 to 4 peppercorns
1 tsp dried rosemary, crushed
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp garlic powder - I never put garlic in anything I cook because of a bad reaction to it!
1 large onion thinly sliced
I served mine on Udi's hamburger buns and then French bread for the non gluten folks

Place roast and onions in crockpot.  Combine the rest of the ingredients (of course, not the rolls) and pour over the roast.  Add water until the roast is almost covered.  Cook covered on low for 7 hours or until very tender.  Remove roast and shred with a fork. (Reserve onions and broth.)  We make our sandwiches with a little horseradish and mayo mix, then meat and onions.  Use little bowls of the juice on the side for dipping.

A Cold and Lemon Bars

Yesterday, I had a rotten cold and everything I tried to eat tasted awful.  About 3:00 in the afternoon, all of a sudden, I had a craving for lemon bars.  Random craving.  I made some and that is what has sustained me for the last 24 hours.  A cold CAN have a silver lining!!

Lemon Bars

Make 1 cup of baking mix. I used:
1/2 cup white rice flour
1/4 cup sweet rice flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
Add:
1/2 tsp xanthum gum
1/4 cup powdered sugar
Stir to combine dry ingredients.

Then add:
1 stick butter (1/2 cup)
Cut this into small pieces and then use a pastry blender, food processor, or plain old fork to blend this until mealy.  Stir in 2 tablespoons of water to make a dough.
Pat out crust into a 9 inch square pan that has been sprayed with Pam.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 mins.  Crust will not be brown.

Filling:
2 eggs, slightly beaten
2 TBS. lemon juice
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup sugar
2 TBS. white rice flour

Mix filling and pour over baked crust.  Bake at 350 degrees for 25- 30  minutes or until slightly brown.  When cool, sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Caramel Ice Cream Dessert

This is a dessert from my childhood that I have changed into a wonderful gluten free treat!  When I was a kid, my mom kept this in the big outside freezer and I can't tell you know many knives we broke trying to have a piece without waiting for it to soften.  This tastes like pralines and cream ice cream, only better!

Caramel Ice Cream Dessert

Mix together:
1 cup rice flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1 tsp. xantham gum

Add:
2 sticks melted butter
1 cup chopped pecans

Spread on a cookie sheet like a giant cookie and bake for 15 mins at 400 degrees or until browned. Crumble while hot, then cool.

You will also need:
1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream
1 jar caramel sauce - about 20 oz. - watch label for ingredients

Sprinkle 1/2 or the crumbles on the bottom of a 13 x 9 pan.  Then drizzle 1/2 jar of the caramel sauce over crumbles.  Then add all of the ice cream (I slice it when it is a little soft and then smooth it into an even layer).  Then sprinkle the other 1/2 of the crumbs and top with the rest of the caramel sauce.  Freeze overnight before serving. 

Hot Summer Night Spinich Salad

I really do cook all kinds of wonderful things and since I began this blogging process, it seems like I have just cooked on a whim every night.  The night before I started blogging, I cooked for my friend, Val.  She is a great woman that is battling breast cancer and has a nasty case of Celiac.  I am very careful in my kitchen and before I cooked for her, I washed all the pots and pans again, even after they had gone through the dishwasher.  I made homemade Mac and Cheese, German potato salad, and a wonderful Apricot Lemon cake.  Those recipes will come later!  And trust me, you won't know that you eating gluten free food!


So, it's 100 degrees in Arkansas and we tonight are having a salad supper!

Spinach Salad

4 slices crisp bacon, drained
1 Tbsp. bacon drippings
4 Tbsp. olive or veg oil
3 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
1 lb. raw spinach, washed and well drained
6 green onions, sliced
2 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and sliced
Freshly ground black pepper
Salt to taste

Fry and crumble the bacon, drain on paper towels.  In a small bowl, combine bacon drippings, oil and wine vinegar.  Mix well and set aside.  Place spinach, eggs, onion and bacon in salad bow.  Add seasonngs. Toss gently with dressing.
Serves 4-6

Clean out Fridge Food!

I have been so busy today that I just grabbed a package of chicken breasts out of the freezer and decided what to do with them at the last minute.  When I opened the package, the breasts were huge!  So, I sprinkled them with a little Cavendar's and sea salt and browned them in a little olive oil for about 5 mins on each side.  Then I cut up a few potatoes, found 1/2 an onion in the vegetable drawer and cut that up.  Then sprinkled on some baby carrots that were a little past their prime.  I added about a cup of gluten free chicken stock, sprinkled more Cavendar's and sea salt on vegetables, covered the skillet and cooked for about 45 mins or until the chicken was done and the veggies were tender. This was another night of making it up as I go along and it turned out great!  The family approved!

Stovetop Chicken and Vegs

Leftover Chicken and Veg Dish

 After dinner,I took the leftover chicken and vegs, sliced them, then cooked some Sam Mills Pasta d'oro corn pasta.  It calls these Lasagne Corte - whatever, they are like egg noodles and very tasty!  They don't get soggy even after reheating. Mixed this all together and added about 1 or 2 tablespoons of milk and warmed all together.  This made a yummy lunch the next few days.  My teenage daughter has a friend that is gluten free and she loved this leftover dish!

I think I have it figured out!

I have lived the gluten free life for two years and think I finally have it figured out! I won't bore you with the long story of my illness and how I came to live the gluten free life. All glutards have a story, usually a looong one with lots of disturbing and gross details. I have always loved to cook and my fellow gf'ers always want my recipes, so I thought that maybe I could help a newby or two or spice up an old gf'ers life by sharing what I cook and what we eat in our house.

Have you ever wondered what all the gluten free hype is about? What I understand in my very non-scientific brain, is that our wheat is genetically different than it was even 40 years ago. It's stickier and that sticky stuff sits in our gut and for some of us, it causes a problem.  So many people have told me how their lives have been changed by going gluten free. They have told me about osteoporisis, fibromyalgia, arthritis, thyroid disorders, osteoporisis, nasal stuffiness, brain fog, all kinds of gastrointestional issues, swollen stomach, and even unruly children that have been turned around eating this way. 
I promise it's not hard and it doesn't have to be expensive!

So, I will share with you what we are eating and the recipes that I use. Sometimes I use recipes that are originally gluten free and sometimes I use my 35 year old red and white plaid Betty Crocker cookbook recipes and change them up.

Gluten Freedom to you and yours!

Lisa