Monday, September 17, 2007

Worlds Easiest Lemon Chicken

You will need:
Kosher Salt
Pepper
Bone/skin IN chicken parts
Herbs de Provence (plain dried oregano works fine too)
One Lemon (zest and juice)

preheat convection oven to 400
Arrange chicken on a roasting tray.
Zest lemon over chicken
Sprinkle liberally with salt, pepper and herbs
Pour juice from lemon in to bottom of roasting pan

Convection roast for 30 to 35 minutes, or cook in regular oven for 45-50 minutes.

Serve hot. It's juicy, easy and so yummy. This is comfort food at it's easiest and it doesn't get much more allergy friendly than this!

Saturday, August 18, 2007

Chicken Curry

Here's another dish that has three main ingredients.

I made a coconut curry.

I took 2 lbs of chicken tenders (we were having guests) and browned them lightly.

Then I mixed up:
1/3 can of coconut milk
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 tsp curry paste

And dumped it over and let it simmer for a couple of hours with a lid on askew.

10 minutes before I served it, I whisked a teaspoon of cornstarch with some coconut milk and chicken broth (about a 1/2 cup liquid in total) and dumped it in to thicken it up.

I served it over coconut rice and it was yummy!

Friday, August 10, 2007

Light Scalloped Potatoes

These are very cheesy and yummy. Since 'real' scalloped potatoes use cream, these are quite a bit lighter than what you'd eat in a restaurant, but you won't miss the cream.

The original recipe used flour, but I converted it.

1/2 onion chopped
1 tsp herbs de provence
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup milk
1 heaping teaspoon cornstarch
2 lbs yukon gold potatoes chopped small
2 tbsp butter
1/2 - 1 cup cheese of your choice. I use Trader Joe's 4 Cheese Italian.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Arrange potatoes in a roasting pan

In a small saucepan over medium heat melt butter and drop in the onion
Add herbs de provence and salt and pepper
Simmer for about 5 minutes

In a large measuring cup pour the milk and whisk in the cornstarch until it dissolves. Cornstarch dissolves into cold or room temperature liquids much more easily than into warm ones.

Pour the milk over the onions and stir frequently until it thickens.

Pour the milk/onion mixture over the potatoes and stir to combine.

cover the pan with foil and bake for 35 minutes

Remove from oven and take off foil and add cheese

Return to oven and bake for 10 more minutes

Let cool for about 15 minutes before serving.

Sunday, August 5, 2007

A Fabulous Asian Inspired Meal

I had friends over tonight and everything turned out just right.

I made:
green bean and bok choy salad with toasted almonds and a sesame dressing
ginger soy marinated flank steak
SubLime Chicken (see entry below)
Coconut rice

It was yummy. Recipes follow.

Green Bean and bok Choy Salad With Toasted Almonds and Sesame Dressing

1/2 lb greenbeans washed with the ends sliced off
1 lb bok choy diced and washed
1/3 cup slivered almonds, toasted

Dressing
1 tbsp sesame oil
3 tbsp canola oil
1 tbsp honey
1 tsp dijon mustard
2 tbsp rice vinegar
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce (any kind)

Boil water in a large pan. Boil Bok choy for approximately 5 minutes and drain, set aside.
Boil green beans in boiling salted water for 2 minutes. Drain and set aside.
Drop slivered almonds into a dry frying pan and cook over medium heat until they start to brown. Remove them from heat and keep stirring them occasionally and they will continue toasting. This way you don't end up with such a dangerously hot pan when they're finished.

Whisk together dressing ingredients.
To assemble salad, mix beans and bok choy in a large bowl. Toss with dressing. Sprinkle green beans on top and serve hot or cold.

Coconut rice:
2 cups jasmine rice
1 14 ounce can light coconut milk
1 3/4 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut

Mix rice, coconut milk and chicken broth ingredients into a large sauce pan. Bring to a boil. Keep an eye on it because it will boil over if you're not paying attention! Drop the heat down to low and cook for approximately 20 minutes, or until liquid is absorbed.

While it is cooking toast the coconut in a dry pan until it starts to brown. Remove pan from heat and continue to stir coconut occasionally for the next 5-10 minutes. Set aside.

Right before serving, mix the toasted coconut into the rice.


Ginger Soy Marinated Flank Steak

1 2 lb flank steak

In a 1 gallon ziplock bag assemble the following ingredients

2 tbsp minced ginger
2 minced cloves of garlic
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp wheat free tamari soy sauce
2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp hot sauce

Put flank steak in bag and zip it up. Mush it around in the sauce and refrigerate for at least 8 hours or overnight.

Grill on a hot grill for about 8 minutes flipping often. Let it rest about 5 minutes before cutting. Serve immediately.

Friday, August 3, 2007

SubLime Chicken

This is super easy and extremely tasty and oh SO simple. It's a quick marinade, meaning it's ready to cook after about 10 minutes. The lime juice cooks the chicken a bit so you really don't want to leave it on there more than about a half hour or so.

The combination of lime and spice really works in this.

Dump the following ingredients into a bowl or ziplock .

Zest and juice of 2 limes
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
1 tbsp Cholulla (or other hot sauce of your choice)

whisk them together until salt dissolves and dump in about a pound of chicken tenders. Grill after 10-30 minutes. It's spicy without burning your tongue.

Monday, July 9, 2007

Lime Basil Dressing

I had a beautiful bunch of basil and a hankering for potato salad today. I've made a lot of traditional potato salads lately with egg and yellow mustard, and I was in the mood for something lighter. This is what I came up with. And of course, it's gluten free!

1/2 cup fresh basil
2 cloves garlic
3 TBSP cup fresh lime juice
1/4 cup olive oil
sat and pepper to taste

Dump said ingredients in your food processor. Blend until smooth. Dump over bite sized, cooked yukon gold potatoes, or a salad of your choice.. And YUM.

This came out pretty good.

Very pleased.

Tuesday, July 3, 2007

Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

Updated on 7/3/2007

After three attempts. The first, I threw out. The second I ate and marveled at their addictive nature in spite of the gritty undertones. But this one, I think is the keeper. The brown sugar really covers the textures of the flour. I always made my version of Toll House cookies with brown sugar because I thought it lent a more butter-scotchy flavor to the dough.

So, here goes:

1 c. featherlight mix*
1/2 c Sweet Rice Flour
1/2 c. sorghum flour
1/2 tsp. xanthan gum
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

1 cup butter
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 c. brown sugar

12 oz. bag choc. chips

Preheat oven to 375. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. I find this prevents them from burning at the higher oven temp required by GF flours.

Have all ingredients at room temperature.
pre-measure flourmix, sweet rice sorghum flour and xantham gum, salt and baking soda into a small bowl and set aside.

Cream butter in eletric mixer on medium high about 30 seconds until it's mushy. Add brown sugar and beat until the color lightens and it is smooth.
Add the eggs one at a time, beating each until well incorporated and the batter is smooth.
Add vanilla
Slow mixer to low and Add dry ingredients. Mix until just incorporated.
Stir in chocolate chips and nuts by hand.

Refrigerate cookie dough for at least 1 hour prior to baking. This will help the cookies keep their shape, and they will be more chewy.

Use cookie scoop or teaspoon to drop onto cookie sheets covered with parchment paper.

Bake 9-11 minutes or until done.


*Featherlight Flour Mix (From Bette Hagman's cookbook)
white rice flour 1 cup
tapioca flour 1 cup
corn starch 1 cup
potato flour (not starch) 1 tbsp