Chicken Lettuce Wraps {Crockpot Recipe}

As you have probably gathered from reading my blog, we love Asian food. We often say to each other that we could live on Asian, Mexican, and Italian food…but mostly Asian. Bryan said the other day, I could eat Chinese food for breakfast lunch and dinner…I have and it was awesome. I lived in China for a little while in 2003, while I was a Program Liaison between two colleges/universities – one located in Worcester, MA where I was employed and our partner Beijing Geely University located in the Changping District.

My time spent there was right in the middle of the SARS epidemic so traveling outside of Beijing was out of the question. I did however get to spend quite a bit of time doing the “tourist” thing by visiting places such as The Great Wall (twice) (Bādálǐng), The Forbidden City (Zǐjin chéng), Tiananmen Square (Tiān’ānmén), The Summer Palace (Yíhé Yuán), Mausoleum of Mao Zedong (Máo Zhǔxí Jìniàntáng), Ming Dynasty Tombs (Míng shísān líng), Temple of Heaven (Tiāntán), Temple of Confucius, and many more.

While I didn’t get to travel much, I ate some of the most amazing food. Most of my meals in the beginning of my stay were supplied by the on campus dining rooms – all of which were really great. We (my Chinese colleagues and I) would venture out to local restaurants to try some more delicious and local dishes. My breakfast usually consisted of the following: fresh made wonton soup or red bean porridge , scallion pancake (cōng yóu bǐng) (I am working on a gluten-free recipe for these, stay tuned), fresh hot soy milk ( dòunǎi) which has a slightly sweet flavor to it. Lunch was a number of different options (sadly most of which I can’t remember their name): kung pao chicken (gōng bǎo jī dīng), egg flower soup (dàn huā tāng), the most delicious spicy cucumbers, steamed dumplings (xiǎo ​lóng ​bāo) – either veggie or meat filled, and for the occasional dessert some Mantou (mán ​tou) which is steamed bun that is served either steamed or deep-fried with condensed milk. For dinner my favorite dish was Peking Duck (Běi​jīng ​kǎo​yā), Hot Pot (shuàn ​guō ​zi) was another favorite of mine, although they tended to order mutton (yáng ​ròu) I opted for the chicken (jī​ ròu​) and Sichuan Dry-Fried Green Beans with some ground pork.

So I have lived solely on Chinese food and would do it again in a heart beat. Thankfully Bryan loves the same styles of food that I do. Many of our meals are Asian and Mexican inspired dishes. We venture out but always come back to our love of Asian food.

Below is a recipe that is inspired by the P.F. Chang’s Gluten Free Lettuce Wraps – it is not a copycat recipe like my Beef a la Sichuan is but just inspired by it. We were at P.F. Chang’s last night to celebrate Bryan’s birthday (a little early, but we wanted to go before school started up for the both of us again). Since I was making lettuce wraps tonight we opted for our other favorite appetizer, their Shanghai Cucumbers.

Chicken Lettuce Wraps {Crockpot Recipe}

3 large chicken breasts* – diced into small pieces

3 large celery stalks – diced into 1/4 inch cubes

8 oz baby bella mushrooms – diced into 1/4 inch cubes

1 8oz can water chestnuts – chopped (divided)

1 8oz can bamboo shoots – chopped

3 cloves garlic – finely chopped

1/2 inch piece ginger – peeled and grated (I use a microplane)

1 tbs brown sugar

1/2 tsp chili garlic paste

1 tbs sesame oil

1/2 cup gluten-free soy sauce (I use San-J low sodium if you have it)

2 tbs hoisin sauce (I use the Dynasty brand)

1. Prepare all of the ingredients according to the above directions.
2. In a crockpot (mine is 7qts…you can use a smaller size too) add the Hoisin Sauce, Soy Sauce, Sesame Oil, Brown Sugar, Garlic Paste, Ginger, Garlic, Bamboo Shoots, 1/2 of the Water Chestnuts, Celery, and Mushrooms.
3. Mix together.
4. Add the chopped chicken and mix until evenly coated.
5. Cover the crockpot and turn it on low.
6. Cook for 5 1/2 hours.
7. Stir about half way through to incorporate everything and break up some of the larger pieces of chicken.
8. Add the remaining water chestnuts, mix well, cover, and cook for an additional 1/2 hour.
9. To serve: Peel the leaves off of a head of iceberg lettuce, butter/boston lettuce, or use romaine hearts. Scoop about 1/4 -1/2 cup into each leave, “roll up” and enjoy. You can top these with shredded carrots, bean sprouts, and chopped peanuts. We’ll be serving ours with a side of steamed edamame.

Notes: Many recipes out there call for ground chicken, which is completely acceptable, however I wanted a more hearty version so I choose to use chicken breasts and dice them instead.

You can also add all the water chestnuts at once, they will retain their crunch, but I wanted a bit more crunch so I added half of the can in the beginning and half towards the end.

Vegetarian version – instead of chicken increase the amount of mushrooms and celery, add zucchini, yellow summer squash, baby bok choy, etc.

Non-Onion Free version – replace the celery with 1/2 cup 1/4 inch diced white onion.

Hope you enjoy this crockpot dish – I dished out a little bit to take a photo and then I couldn’t put it back sooo I ate it…its delicious!

(The chopsticks in the photo were sent to me from a dear friend, Shiho whose family runs one of my favorite little sushi places, Ocean Sushi in Monterey and Pacific Grove, CA. If you are in the area stop on by – they have gluten-free soy sauce!! Thanks Shiho, these get quite a bit of use!)

The Gluten-Free Asian Kitchen {Review}

If you follow Creative Cooking Gluten Free on Facebook or Twitter you have probably seen my recent posts about receiving a review copy of Laura B. Russell’s cookbook The Gluten-Free Asian Kitchen.  When I first received the book in the mail, I don’t think I put it down for about thirty minutes (okay it was probably longer than that). It is simply beautiful.  Bryan’s first response was “the cover looks so good I could eat it”. Thankfully Bryan loves Asian food as much as I do.  The majority of the food we eat is Asian inspired.

I was more than excited to receive this cookbook.  If you read through my recipes or take a look at my “pantry” page you have probably noticed the large selection of Asian inspired dishes and ingredients.  Since I can remember I have had a deep fondness of Asian foods and their cultures.  My mom used to tell me that while she was pregnant with me she craved Chinese food all the time.  That statement there could probably be the root of my love of Asian food, however it grew even more when I had the opportunity to live in China for a little while in 2003 (yes right in the middle of SARS).

While living there I had some pretty interesting foods but also some of the most delicious food I have ever tasted.  People used to make fun of me saying I could live off of Chinese food and eat it for every meal, well I had the opportunity to do so and I have to say I would do it again.  My breakfast usually consisted of the following: fresh made wonton soup or red bean porridge , scallion pancake (cōng yóu bǐng), fresh hot soy milk ( dòunǎi) which has a slightly sweet flavor to it.  Lunch was a number of different options (sadly most of which I can’t remember their name): kung pao chicken (gōng bǎo jī dīng), egg flower soup (dàn huā tāng), the most delicious spicy cucumbers, steamed dumplings (xiǎo ​lóng ​bāo) – either veggie or meat filled, and for the occasional dessert some Mantou (mán ​tou)  which is steamed bun that is served either steamed or deep-fried with condensed milk. For dinner my favorite dish was Peking Duck (Běi​jīng ​kǎo​yā), Hot Pot (shuàn ​guō ​zi) was another favorite of mine, although they tended to order mutton (yáng ​ròu) I opted for the chicken (jī​ ròu​) and Sichuan Dry-Fried Green Beans with some ground pork.

As I’m looking and every recipe and every picture in The Gluten-Free Asian Kitchen I am taken back to my time in China.  All of my wonderful memories came rushing back, not just about food but all the places I had the opportunity to visit, the amazing friends that I made, and the beauty of the country.  As I mentioned above I was there during SARS so I was unable to travel very far. I was fortunate enough to visit, The Great Wall (twice) (Bādálǐng), The Forbidden City (Zǐjin chéng), Tiananmen Square (Tiān’ānmén), The Summer Palace (Yíhé Yuán), Mausoleum of Mao Zedong (Máo Zhǔxí Jìniàntáng), Ming Dynasty Tombs (Míng shísān líng), Temple of Heaven (Tiāntán), Temple of Confucius, and many more. The best part about it was I was there pretty much by myself.  Not many people were out visiting and there were definitely not tourists around. You can view some of my photographs from China on my Flickr Page (this was pre-digital so I have a ton to scan still)

Sorry for being side tracked on memories of China, I just couldn’t help it.  Now back to the book. After I looked (drooled) over the recipes and photos I handed the cookbook to Bryan and asked what he wanted me to make first.  With out much hesitation he asked for the recipe on the cover: Gingery Pork Pot Stickers with the Soy Vinegar Dipping Sauce.  Thankfully I had enough of the flours the recipe called for to make them. You can get the recipe by ordering The Gluten-Free Asian Kitchen on my Amazon Store! (This is still available for pre-order, release date is August 23rd! so order now for only $14.50)

Over all the recipe its self is pretty simple with simple ingredients that most of us (especially if you are gluten-free) already have in your pantry.  The only two items I needed to pick up were the pork and the green onions.  We don’t normally cook with any form of onion in our house because of Bryan’s allergy, but we decided to give these a try to see how he felt (he felt fine after eating them, woo hooo). I read the instructions a few times because I didn’t want to screw anything up…I had my heart set on these dumplings and probably would have shed a few tears had they gone wrong.  Due to the heat and humidity I had a bit of a hard time “rolling” out the dough, but I just made it work.  We ended up with a few less dumplings than the recipe yield but we devoured them all regardless.

It is amazing what a huge flavor impact just a few ingredients can have.  I had a little bit of the sausage mixture left over so I added it to a skillet, cooked it up and then tossed it with my spicy green beans as a side dish.  I’m not joking when I say I almost cried when I first tasted them.  Between the dumplings and the green beans/sausage it brought me right back to China.  I was in love with this cookbook when it arrived and after tasting this first recipe I am even more in love with it.  Laura did an amazing job with this recipe and the whole cookbook.  My next recipe to try is her Kung Pao chicken.

We plan to make these again but I have to order some flours first.  However, when I do make them I will be making a triple batch and freeze the majority of them.  That way we have them for a quick dinner and something that Bryan can just make while he is home for lunch and I am at school.

Seeing as this is the recipe Bryan choose I asked him what he thought of it (I usually do this anyway but he still can’t stop talking about them) and his response was “these are fucking delicious – anything more would just take away from its deliciousness”.  Now who said you can’t have gluten-free Asian food and it taste like the real thing?

Laura,  I know we’ve been chatting back and forth and I have said this a million times to you but thank you for creating such a beautiful cookbook with amazing recipes that take me back in time.  The recipe that we tried truly made me feel like I was back in China with my friends at a dumpling restaurant or on campus at the dining hall.  You also made my non-gluten-free boyfriend one happy person.  We are both looking forward to trying more of your recipes.

Please visit Laura’s website at: http://www.laurabrussell.com/ You can also find her on Facebook and Twitter

Also, Are you in the Portland area? Laura will be doing a  book signing for “The Gluten-Free Asian Kitchen” at Crave Bake Shop on Wednesday, September 7th in the evening. Lots of treats involved!

Chicken Cordon Bleu

First before I get started on the recipe portion of this post, I want to say sorry for not being very active lately.  School started on March 8th and I’ve been consumed by it.  This is my first trimester and I am taking all academic courses (no actually culinary courses until the Fall).  What some might thing isn’t a big deal, taking Biology, Public Speaking, Leadership and Menu Planning and Cost Control really is to me.  For starters, I haven’t taken Biology in at least 14 years, I’ve never taken any of the other courses and I truly hate public speaking.  I’ve been out of college for about six years now so jumping back into this with both feet has been at times a little overwhelming for me.  It’s also been a little challenging for Bryan and I…we’ve kind of grown used to me being home all day, taking care of the house, making at least two meals a day etc. Now I am up at 4:00 am, getting the bus at 4:50 to Providence, walk three blocks to the Downcity Campus, wait about 30 minutes to get the shuttle to the Harborside Campus (where the culinary arts program is) and then starting class at 7:00.  Thankfully though I am done with classes by 11:15 M-Th and have Fridays off.  Now you are probably wondering why I get up at 4 and take the bus to school.  Several reasons.  One I don’t drive, two if I did we only have one car and with gas prices being as they are…it is more economical for Bryan to be taking the car to class than me driving to and from Providence each day.  Plus with my student ID, the bus is free anywhere in the lovely state of Rhode Island.  Honestly, I don’t mind the early mornings at all.  I thought I would but being done at 11:15, coming home, studying/doing homework making dinner and actually having time to relaxing with Bryan for a bit before I crash around 9:30-10:00 is worth it.  If my classes were in the afternoons I wouldn’t be home until about 8 or 9 at night.  Plus this is my dream and I would do just about anything to make it happen.  So you can think I’m crazy, that is just fine but I choose not to focus on the “oh my goodness you get up at 4 am, that is just crazy” comments, and push on towards my goal.

Speaking of my goal – after planning out my next few trimesters, which will mostly be culinary labs (yay!) and two more academic courses I will have my Associates Degree next summer!!  Next winter I need to apply for the BA in Culinary Nutrition, which I have been told is really hard to get into, so I am doing my best, studying hard and trying to get all A’s. I put a lot of pressure on myself for several reasons, I want this so badly.  As I said above, I’ve been out of school for a while now so none of this is fresh in my mind, and also I am at least 11 years older than the majority of these students.  Seriously I feel old, have little to nothing in common with them, but I’m doing my best.  Thankfully though most of them think I’m about 17 years old and when they hear me say 29 they laugh and don’t believe me…well its true I am, just don’t look at all the gray hairs coming in (and yes they are there, I promise you, lots of them!)

So again, I am sorry for my absence but please be patient as I get used to this new schedule and figure out a balance of home life, school/work and my blog.  I have a lot of respect for those other bloggers who blog everyday, some times several times a day and have jobs and families – you are all rock stars!

Now on to the recipe!

We saw some commercial the other day, I think it may have been for subway- anyway they were advertising a chicken cordon bleu sandwich and Bryan made one of those “mmmmmmm” sounds.  To me having a sandwich like that from subway just sounded nasty.  The “mmmmmmmm” sound wasn’t really for the sandwich its self but the idea of chicken cordon bleu.  I tend to associate those with weddings or banquets of some sort so I never really thought of trying out a gluten-free version of one.  Apparently Bryan really likes them so I said we could either buy you some frozen ones or I can attempt to make some – he obviously chose me making one instead.  I did a bit of researching online to see what was actually in the breading of it, I knew that it was chicken, Swiss cheese, ham and breading but wanted to get the flavoring right.  Honestly this is a really simple meal to make, I based mine off of a Tyler Florence recipe found on Food Network and we really enjoyed it…well mostly, Bryan isn’t so much a fan of the Thyme so I think next time I might leave it out completely or add a different kind of seasoning.

Chicken Cordon Bleu

• 4 double chicken breasts (about 7-ounces each), skinless and boneless
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 8 thin slices deli ham
• 16 thin slices  Swiss cheese
• 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
• 1/4 cup Gluten Free All Purpose Flour (I used Jeanne’s of Art of Gluten Free Baking mix-see below for recipe)
• 1 cup gluten-free bread crumbs or gluten-free rice crumbs (I used Orgran’s Rice Crumbs)
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lay the chicken between 2 pieces of plastic wrap. Using the flat side of a meat mallet, gently pound the chicken to 1/4-inch thickness (FYI a small fry pan or empty wine bottle work just fine, if you are like me and don’t own a meat mallet). Take care not to pound too hard because the meat may tear or create holes. Lay 2 slices of cheese on each breast, followed by 2 slices of ham, and 2 more of cheese; leaving a 1/2-inch margin on all sides to help seal the roll. Tuck in the sides of the breast and roll up tight like a jellyroll. Squeeze the log gently to seal.

Season the gluten-free all purpose flour with salt and pepper; spread out on waxed paper or in a flat dish. Mix the Gluten-free breadcrumbs or rice crumbs with thyme, kosher salt, pepper, and oil. The oil will help the crust brown. Beat together the eggs and water, the mixture should be fluid. Lightly dust the chicken with flour, then dip in the egg mixture. Gently coat in the crumb mixture.  Carefully transfer the roulades to a shallow baking dish (I used my Le Creuset because, I love them and they are the easiest baking dishes to clean up!) and bake for 20 minutes until browned and cooked through. Cut into pinwheels before serving.

Here is Jeanne’s All Purpose Flour Recipe:

Jeanne’s Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour Mix (mix together and store in fridge):
1 1/4 C (170 g) brown rice flour
1 1/4 C (205 g) white rice flour
1 C (120 g) tapioca flour
1 C (165 g) sweet rice flour (also known as Mochiko)
2 scant tsp. xanthan gum
(you can also use the gluten-free flour mixture (not baking mix) of your choice–just be sure it contains xanthan gum. Or, you can add 1/4 tsp. xanthan gum per cup of gluten-free flour. If you use bean flour, it will add a bean taste to the cookies)

Hope you enjoy this recipe, its simple, flavorful and most ingredients you probably already have at home.  We served ours with some garlic broccoli and a side salad.

I have more catching up to do – product reviews and a giveaway I promise it will happen soon!  Please stay tuned.

Chicken Parmesan

One of my favorite dishes when I was younger was Chicken Parmesan. I love the crunch chicken but yet still tender and juicy inside with some bubbly mozzarella cheese on the top.  It is a very simple dish, however I never make it.  I don’t know if it was because I feared how it would actually come out with using gluten-free flour instead.  It has just been one of those dishes that kind of made me nervous to “re-create”. While flipping through my favorite cooking magazine (Everyday Food by Martha Stewart) I saw a recipe for chicken parm and asked Bryan if he likes it.  When he said yes I figure, why not give it a shot and see how it comes out.

I opened up my flour cabinet (yes I have a small pantry with all of my gluten-free flours stored in my favorite containers by Snapware) and looked around to see what I had left (I’m running extremely low or I’m completely out of the majority of my flours) and saw that I had some Bob’s Red Mill All Purpose GF Flour, Gluten Free Bisquick and also some Orgran Rice Crumbs.  I decided to use a mixture of the Bisquick and Rice Crumbs and see how that would turn out, and if we didn’t like it I would try another combination the next time around.  We both really liked it – which I was surprised because I kind of just threw this recipe together quickly one night. The recipe is very simple and quick, you can feel free to change the measurements of the seasoning and cheese to your taste level.

Chicken Parmesan

1/4 Cup Gluten Free Bisquick (You could also sub in your favorite GF All Purpose Flour mix)

1/8 Cup Rice Crumbs (You could also sub in GF Bread Crumbs)

1/8 Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese

1/4 Teaspoon Salt

1/4 Teaspoon Italian Seasoning

2 Medium Chicken Breasts – pounded to 1/4 inch thickness

1 Egg – beaten with 1 Tablespoon of water

Cooked Gluten Free Pasta – We use Sam Mill’s GF Corn Penne Pasta (It is our favorite GF pasta that we’ve tried)

1/2-1 Cup Pasta Sauce (You can make your own or used a jarred sauce)

1/3 Cup of Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

Directions:

In a shallow baking dish beat one egg with 1 tablespoon of water, set aside.

In a second shallow baking dish mix the Bisquick, Rice Crumbs, Cheese, Salt and Italian Seasoning – mix well, set aside.

Between two pieces of plasticwrap or parchment paper pound the chicken until it is about 1/4 inch thick (for even and quick cooking).

Dredge each piece of chicken in the Bisquick/Rice Crumb mixture, shake off any excess and then in the egg mixture.  Again shake off any excess and then dredge it back in the Bisquick/Rice Crumb mixture.  Set aside.

In a medium skillet add one tablespoon of oil and heat over medium heat.  Once oil is hot enough (I always test by running cold water over my hand and then flicking a little in the pan, if it sizzles then I know my meat will sizzle – this is by no means scientific but it works well for me).  Add the two pieces of chicken breast.  Cook for 2-3 minutes on each side, until lightly golden brown and juices run clear.

If you do not have pans that can go into the oven, place the pieces of chicken either on a baking sheet or baking dish for this next step.

Turn your oven to broil and top each piece of chicken with half of the mozzarella cheese.  Place the chicken under the broiler just until the cheese starts to bubble and turn lightly golden brown.

Serve atop your favorite gluten-free pasta and top with your favorite sauce.

Wendy’s Spicy Chicken Sandwich-Gluten Free

(sorry the pic isn’t so great, I rushed because I really want to try this, its been over 2 years since I had one)

We don’t eat fast food much.  If we do, we either go to Subway so Bryan can get a sandwich and I get a salad or we go to Wendy’s because they fry their french fries in a separate fryer and I can get a bun-less cheeseburger and Bryan can get his favorite spicy chicken sandwich.  That sandwich used to be my favorite also before I found I had Celiac Disease.  Every time he gets one I ask “can I just smell it” – you laugh but I seriously do this quite often with some of his “regular” food.

Lately I’ve been on a kick of making things at home instead of going out and buying them.  For example in my last post I shared recipes from homemade beef jerky and granola bars.  I can’t go out and get a Wendy’s spicy chicken sandwich but I sure as heck can make it at home.  Making things at home also lets you control the ingredients you use.  Not saying that this sandwich is super healthy by any means, don’t get me wrong.  I mentioned to Bryan the other day that I could try to recreate that sandwich for him, but would have to do it gluten-free so I can enjoy it too…he said sure.  So I looked online for some ideas of what is actually in the sandwich and then went to work on creating a recipe for it.  I have to say it came out pretty darn awesome!  We both really liked it.  I served mine between two pieces of romaine lettuce and Bryan had his on a “regular” bun.  The spicy flavor in mine was much more pronounced without having all that bread in the way.

Gluten-Free Spicy Chicken Sandwich (Wendy’s)

1/4 Cup Frank’s Red Hot Sauce

1/2 Cup Water

1/2 Cup Gluten-Free Bisquick

1 1/2 Teaspoons Sea Salt

2 Teaspoons Cayenne Pepper

1/8 Teaspoon Fine Ground Pepper

1/4 Teaspoon Paprika

1/4 Teaspoon Garlic Powder

2 Chicken Breasts – pounded until about 3/8 inch thick

4 Pieces of Romain Lettuce

1/4 Teaspoon Mayonnaise (optional)

2 Tomato Slices (optional)

Mix together the Gluten-Free Bisquick, Salt, Cayenne Pepper, Pepper, Paprika and Garlic Powder in a large bowl.

In a separate bowl mix together Frank’s Red Hot Sauce and water.

In a large high-sided sauté pan heat 1/2 cup – 1 cup of canola oil (should come up about 1/2 inch the side of the pan depending on the size of your pan) on medium heat.  You could also use a deep fryer but I didn’t want to deal with all of that.

Take one chicken breast at a time and dredge it in the GF Bisquick mixture, then coat it in the hot sauce/water mixture and then again in the Bisquick mixture.

Cook chicken for about 4-5 minutes on each side until they are golden brown and no longer pink in the center (I cut mine just to make sure).

Remove from the oil and drain on paper towels to remove any excess oil.  Serve on lettuce or a bun and top with mayonnaise (optional), tomato (optional) and an additional piece of lettuce.  Enjoy!!

The Bisquick worked perfect for this recipe.  It was nice and crunchy and the chicken was juicy, and just the right amount of spice.  Oh how I have missed this sandwich, but now I can make it at home!

 

 

Weekly Menu Planning

I’m determined to get back into planning out a weekly menu and base our grocery shopping on that menu.  I hope that this will save us money but also the frustration of what to eat each night.  This week is a very Asian inspired week as you’ll see below.  I really miss my favorite little Chinese restaurant in Monterey, Full Moon.  They were so great to me, I would bring them a bottle of gluten-free soy sauce and they would make my food with that. We have both been craving Chinese food lately and Bryan could go out and get some but I can’t so I figured I would make a few Asian inspired recipes this week that will hopefully hit the spot.

When planning weekly menus I usually look at my cookbooks, blogs etc and search for dishes that are tasty, easy and that the ingredients can be used in more than one dish during the week.  This weeks menu inspiration comes from: Artisanal Gluten-Free Cooking, Everyday Food-Fresh Flavor Fast and a few recipes I found online.

November 29-December 5

Monday

Grilled Steaks, mashed sweet potatoes and corn (these were our last steaks from Omaha Steaks -a gift from Bry’s parents)

Tuesday

P.F. Chang’s inspired Beef A La Sichuan (Bryan’s favorite dish to order there, even off of the gluten-free menu)

Wednesday

Asian Inspired Noodle Bowl (Artisanal Gluten-Free Cooking pg. 30)

Thursday

Beef Stir Fry (Everyday Food Fresh Flavor Fast pg. 190)

Friday

Penne A La Broccoli (Light dish with red pepper flakes from DrWeil.com)

Saturday

General Chang’s Chicken (Artisanal Gluten-Free Cooking pg. 163) I’ll be making this for my birthday dinner along with some cupcakes, or maybe even a cheesecake…I have yet to decided which one I really want.

Sunday

Not 100% sure what to make just yet for sunday, maybe some beef stew or pot roast.

If you haven’t picked up a copy of the Artisanal Gluten-Free Cooking cookbook by Kelli and Peter Bronski you really should – this cookbook is fantastic.  I’ve made several of their recipes and have enjoyed every one of them.

What are you cooking this week?

POM Wonderful Dinner Party (Recap)

About a month ago I entered a contest to host a POM Wonderful dinner party.  POM would pick 100 people to host a dinner party inspired by, Pomegranates (of course).  I entered at first because Bryan and I love pomegranates, and I really wanted to try to incorporate them into some recipes other than just drinking the juice and eating the seeds.  To my surprise I got an e-mail back saying I was one of the 100 picked and I would be receiving two cases of pomegranates and some goodie bags for my guests.  After getting this e-mail I had about 9 million thoughts running through my head of what to make, how many people to invite and oh I can’t forget the decorations! After sitting back and relaxing for a little bit I decided that simple was the best way to go.

Bryan and I will hopefully be in New Jersey for Thanksgiving this year and my dad, stepmom and stepsister will all be in upstate New York, so I figured we would do a pre-Thanksgiving inspired dinner together yesterday, just the five of us. Keeping with the Thanksgiving theme our menu was as follows:

Starter:

Salad with Pomegranate Seeds and a Pomegranate Balsamic Dressing

Main:

Roasted Chicken with Pomegranate Glaze

Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Garlic Green Beans

Pomegranate-Cranberry Sauce

Biscuits

Drink:

Hard Pomegranate – Apple Cider

Dessert:

Brownie Cupcakes topped Pomegranate Cream Cheese Frosting

Pomegranate Sorbet

Over all our dinner was great- with a few minor setbacks of having a small kitchen, sink and not being happy with my frosting!  It was nice to have my family here for a relaxing afternoon filled with football and a very tasty dinner (If I do say so myself).  Our decorations were simple – some small pumpkins in the center and on each plate was a pomegranate and an instruction card on “how to open a pomegranate”. Most of the recipes used were ones that we make often, simple yet very tasty and all 100% Gluten Free! Below are some of the recipes with photos.  (I must note that I got caught up in feeding everyone that I forgot to take a few photos, such as the roasted chicken when it came out of the oven-sorry!)

Salad with Pomegranate-Balsamic Dressing

(We usually have mixed greens and what ever else we can throw into the salad, it is completely up to you)

One -two large romaine lettuce heads, chopped (Or mixed greens)

1/2 cup sliced carrots

1/2 cucumber sliced

1/2 cup cherry tomatoes (optional)

1/4 cup pomegranate seeds

Pomegranate-Balsamic Dressing

Salt and Pepper

1/2 cup of good olive oil

1/4 cup pomegranate juice

1/8-1/4 cup balsamic dressing

Add all ingredients to a covered jar or salad dressing mixer.  Shake well and enjoy (you can adjust the measurements to your flavor liking)

Roast Chicken with Pomegranate Glaze

1 Whole Chicken (about 9 pounds)

1/4 cup room temp butter

1 1/2 tablespoons of Seasoning of your choice – I use a mixture of rosemary, thyme, oregano and sage.

Salt and Pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a small bowl mix the softened butter and herbs until well combined. Set aside

Make sure the giblets and neck are removed from the chicken cavity.  Rinse the chicken and pat dry with paper towels.  Season with salt and pepper – also season the cavity. Place your chicken in the roasting pan and gently lift the skin using your fingers – be sure not to tear any of it.  Once the skin  has been lifted, take  half of the butter and herb mixture and spread evenly under the skin.  Take the remaining butter and herb mixture and do the same over the top of the chicken.  Place chicken in oven.  About thirty minutes into cooking add about 1 cup of chicken stock to the bottom of the roasting pan and baste the chicken.  Continue to baste the chicken every 30 minutes.  (please be sure to check the size of your chicken to determine how long it should roast for).  For a 9 pound chicken, cook for 2 – 2 1/2 hours.

During the last thirty minutes of the chicken brush it with the pomegranate glaze (see recipe below) every ten minutes, do this again when your chicken has been removed from the oven. This sauce can also be drizzled over the meat on your plate (which I did)

Pomegranate Glaze

(Very concentrated flavor, and very good)

1 cup POM Wonderful Pomegranate Juice

In a small sauce pan heat the pomegranate juice over medium heat.  Simmer until juice has reduced about half, about 10-12 minutes.

Mashed Sweet Potatoes

(We love mashed sweet potatoes, especially with the cinnamon added.  We tend to eat more sweet potatoes than regular ones)

1 – 1 1/2 pounds of sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped

1/2  - 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon butter

1/4 cup soy milk

salt and pepper to taste

In a medium sauce pan add sweet potatoes and cover with water.  Boil for ten minutes or until the potatoes are fork tender.  Drain well.  Either by using a potato masher or using a stand mixer add your potatoes to a large bowl (or bowl of a stand mixer), add butter and soy milk and begin mashing (or whisking), until smooth.  Season with cinnamon and mix again until well blended.  Season with salt and pepper.

Garlic Green Beans

(one of our favorite side dishes, quick, easy and very flavorful.  This replaces the green bean casserole on our table)

1-2 pounds of fresh green beans

3 large cloves of garlic finely chopped

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

Salt and pepper

Lightly steam the green beans until bright green yet still crispy.  Drain well.  In a medium-large pan melt butter and olive oil over medium heat.  Add garlic and stir in the green beans.  Toss the green beans so they are all coated in the garlic and butter/oil sauce.  Season with salt and pepper.

Pomegranate-Cranberry Sauce

(I usually make this a day in advance)

1 Bag (12 oz) fresh cranberries

1 cup pomegranate juice

1/2 cup sugar – you can use either with sugar or packed brown sugar (I used the brown sugar this time)

1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)

salt and pepper

1/2 cup pomegranate seeds

In a medium saucepan – over medium/high heat add the pomegranate juice and sugar. Bring to a boil.  Add the fresh cranberries, once the berries start to pop open reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally.  Cook until most of the cranberries have burst open and the sauce has thickened a bit, about 10 minutes.  Remove from heat and add in the pomegranate seeds.  Cool  to room temp before serving (or if you are making this in advance like I do (I think it tastes better the next day) cool completely and transfer to an air tight container.

Biscuits

I used the recipe on the back of the Betty Crocker Gluten Free Bisquick box.

2 cups Gluten Free Bisquick mix

1/3 cup shortening

2/3 cup milk (I use soy)

3 eggs

Heat oven to 400 degrees

Cut shortening into mix, using fork, until particles are size of small peas.  Stir in remaining ingredients until soft dough forms.  Drop by spoonfulls onto un-greased cookie sheet. Bake for 13-16 minutes or until golden brown.  Makes 10 biscuits.

Hard Pomegranate-Apple Cider

(We used a local hard apple cider from Newport Vineyards, which is right down the road from us)

Serves four

3 parts hard apple cider

1 part pomegranate juice

In wine glasses (or any fun glasses you might have) add three parts hard apple cider and one part pomegranate juice and stir lightly.  Serve chilled.

Brownie Cupcakes with Pomegranate Cream Cheese Frosting

12 Brownie Cupcakes (I used the Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Brownie Mix and made them in a cupcake pan – you can use which ever brand you like).  Make these the night before so they can cool and that is one less thing to bake the day of.

Pomegranate Cream Cheese Frosting

(sadly below isn’t the recipe that I used, I made my own but it didn’t have much pomegranate flavor so I suggest using this one instead)

8 oz cream cheese softened (room temp)

4 oz butter softened

3 oz of pomegranate juice (juice from 3-4 large POM Wonderful Pomegranates,* or 1-1/2 cups POM Wonderful 100% Pomegranate Juice)

14 oz Powdered sugar

1 cup arils from 1 large POM Wonderful

Prepare fresh pomegranate juice*, score 1-2 fresh pomegranates and place in a bowl of water, break open the pomegranates under water to free the arils (seed sacs), the arils will sink to the bottom of the bowl and the membrane will float to the top, sieve and put the arils in a separate bowl. Reserve 1 cup of the arils from fruit and set aside, (refrigerate or freeze remaining arils for another use), reduce the pomegranate juice, over low heat, down to 3 fl. oz., Allow to cool, place butter into electric mixer bowl with paddle attachment and cream on medium-high speed for 1 minute, add the cream cheese and continue to mix for 2 more minutes, turn the speed down to low and slowly add in the powdered sugar and the pomegranate juice reduction, mix until the sugar is fully combined, remove icing from the mixer and place into a piping bag with a round or star tip.

Pomegranate Sorbet

(I have never made sorbet before so I asked my stepmom to use her ice cream maker so I could attempt making pomegranate sorbet.  I found the following recipe online at Saveur and it is very flavorful and refreshing!)

1/2 cup sugar

3 cups pomegranate juice

1 Cup water

Place sugar, 1 cup water, and pomegranate juice in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil over low heat, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature. Refrigerate until well chilled. Process in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions. Serve garnished with pomegranate seeds. (This article was first published in Saveur in Issue #9)

 

Our table setting

Our POM Wonderful inspired meal

To make our Hard Apple-Pomegranate Cider we used a local hard cider from Newport Vineyards (It’s the best we’ve had)

A light refreshment – Hard Apple-Pomegranate Cider

“How To Open A Pomegranate”

A simple yet flavor packed and refreshing dessert – Pomegranate Sorbet

Each guest got a POM Swag-Bag which included a POM bracelet, POM recipe cards, POM pamphlet, a free coupon for a bottle of POM wonderful juice and an awesome reusable POM wonderful tote.  They also got to take home a few pomegranates.

 

PJ’s Organics and a Giveaway!

This contest Is now closed! Thank you to all who entered, see below for winners!!

About a week ago I posted a review on PJ’s Organics Gluten Free products and how much Bryan and I enjoyed them.  They offer four great gluten-free options: Gluten Free Beef Enchilada, Gluten Free Chicken Enchilada, Traditional Taquitos and Deluxe Taquitos.

GIVEAWAY!!

The extremely generous people over at PJ’s Organics have kindly offered to give THREE (3) of my readers five (5) free product coupons to be used on any PJ’s Organics products.

AND in addition to the five (5) free product coupons each winner will also receive an iPod Shuffle (winners will get to pick their color choice: gleaming silver, blue, green, orange, or pink)!!

Giveaway Rules

To be entered for a chance to win one of these three (3) amazing prizes please follow the rules below by Monday November 8th by 11:59 PM:

1) (Required) “Like” PJ’s Organics on Facebook – come back here and leave a comment below that you did so (if your Facebook name/account is different from the name you use below, please specify your Facebook user name – Thank you!).

2) For an optional second entry- Read my review and look at the products above and leave a comment below letting me know which one you would like to try most and why.

Three (3) winners will be chosen by using Random.Org and notified by e-mail on Tuesday November 9th.  All winners will have 48 hours to respond with their contact information and color choice of the iPod Shuffle, if winners do not respond within 48 hours a new winner will be chosen by using Random.Org.  All prizes will be mailed directly from PJ’s Organics within four weeks.

Like PJ’s Organics Facebook Page and spread the word!  Visit their website to find out where you can buy these great PJ’s Organics products.

(This contest is only open to those who are living in the U.S.A.)

 

Our 3 lucky winners are…

1. Sharon J

2. Kristina S.

3. Valerie

Congratulations Sharon, Kristina and Valerie!!

(Winners were chosen using Random.org – Winners were notified by e-mail this morning and winners have 48 hours to respond with their contact information and color choice for their iPod Shuffle to creativecookinggf(at)gmail(dot)com (creativecooking@gmail.com).  If winners do not respond within that time another winner will be chosen using Random.org)

Thank you to all who entered!!  Check back later this week for another great give away.

PJ’s Organics – Gluten Free Enchiladas & Taquitos

One thing we really seem to lack around us is Mexican food!  I was beyond spoiled living in California and I have to say that even though I love the Mexican food in Monterey the Mexican food in Ventura was still better.  One day we decided to try an “Authentic Mexican Cantina” near here and I posted about this before – bottom line, it’s not good at all, so we make tacos at home now, and by no means are they authentic but they are at least tasty!

A few weeks ago, I was contacted by PJ’s Organics and was asked if I would be interested in trying and reviewing their new gluten-free products.  I didn’t even have to think twice about that, my answer was yes!  I was sent samples of their four gluten-free products: Gluten Free Chicken Enchilada, Gluten Free Steak Enchilada, Traditional Taquito and Deluxe Taquitos.  Bryan and I were both excited to try PJ’s Organics products – even though he isn’t gluten-free, he is my taste testing companion – I think its great that I get to do this, but I love getting his non-gluten free opinion on these products.  If he says its good, then you know it must be really good!

So first up we really wanted to try the Enchiladas which come with black beans and brown rice.   We decided to make them both, and cut the Enchiladas in half and each try them both.  Let’s start with how Bryan felt about them “You can’t even tell these are gluten-free!” and I think that sums it up pretty well, they were delicious for frozen meals.  The perfect serving size, the meat in side wasn’t just mush either, there were actually chunks of meat.  These were very filling, I don’t think either of us even finished the rice and beans.  We would defiantly buy the Enchiladas again – if you can find them around you, give them a try!

Next up we had the Traditional and Deluxe Taquitos.  Again, we tried them both together and out of the two I have to say my favorite was the Deluxe Taquitos…they have chicken, corn, red bell peppers along with rice and cheese.  Both were a bit dry, but that was easily solved with a little bit of salsa and sour cream.  Again, there were actually chunks of meat and decent flavor – the enchiladas had a bit more than these did but they were still pretty tasty. The Taquitos were a very good size too – so about two or three of them are great for a snack after school.

These products defiantly fixed our need for some tasty Mexican Food – and yes they are frozen meals, but they did the job just fine! Click here for places to buy PJ’s Organics – They have a whole ton of gluten containing products and the gluten-free products listed above!

Thank you to the very kind people of PJ’s Organics for letting me taste your wonderful products.  Great job on making them taste fantastic and even those with out Celiac Disease or Gluten Intolerance will enjoy them!

Chicken Tenders (W/ Betty Crocker GF Bisquick)

I’ve heard some mixed reviews over Betty Crocker’s Gluten Free Bisquick mix and have been on the look out for it since it hit the stores.  However, I’m not exactly sure if it is the state of Rhode Island or just the part we live in that seems to have extremely limited gluten-free options.  I’m not just talking about restaurants either…our grocery stores are weird.  At the main chain stores (Shaws, Stop & Shop) they see to not carry the Betty Crocker mixes, or if they do it is very hit or miss. Then you go to Ocean State Job Lot (which is kind of a last chance type of store) and they have the largest selection of Bob’s Red Mill products I’ve ever seen in a store – its HUGE!! (I know I just said this place is kind of like a last chance store, but the expiration dates on the packages are for 2011 and so on!!!) and they also carry my favorite gluten-free pasta for cheap (I think I’ll do a give away soon of that pasta – so stay tuned).

In Portsmouth we have four grocery stores, the two I mentioned above; Shaws and Stop & Shop, and we also have a local store called Clements which carries a bit more gluten-free (or as they call it “natural”) foods and then there is The Green Grocer.  The Green Grocer has the largest selection of gluten-free products in the area however they are so expensive I can’t bring myself to shop there…more than Whole Foods!  With having no job and Bryan being in school full-time, it just isn’t realistic.  It drives me crazy how expensive some of these gluten-free products are.  I do my best to make things at home, but right now what I really want is some bread…a nice loaf of bread! The recipe I had used in the past just keeps failing on my and I don’t own a bread machine so I have been searching for a gluten-free bread recipe that doesn’t require a bread machine (If anyone has one please o please pass it along).

A few weeks ago my dad came down for the day to hang out with Bryan and I and we went to Clements to pick up a few things for lunch.  While there I finally found the Betty Crocker Gluten-Free Bisquick mix!  I picked it up and then put it right back down.  Here’s why:  It is right next to the regular Bisquick mixes which are about double in size – this box is all of 16oz and cost more than double the regular mix.  I always do this in grocery stores, I find something GF and get all excited then debate over it for a few minutes and it drives Bryan crazy so he usually just throws in the our basket which is exactly what happened with the Bisquick mix.  I have put off trying this for a few weeks because I was annoyed to spend that much money on something that I feared I would only get one maybe two uses out of (depending on the recipe).  I gave in tonight and used it to make the “Ultimate Chicken Fingers” recipe that is on the box.  Overall the recipe turned out great and I would make it again for sure.  Even Bryan really liked it. I think next time I will try a different recipe, maybe the pizza crust or even the biscuits…hmmmm

Betty Crocker’s Ultimate Chicken Fingers (W/ Gluten-Free Bisquick)

3/4 cup Bisquick Gluten Free mix

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp salt or garlic salt (I did 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder)

3 boneless skinless chicken breasts (1 lb, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch strips)

2 eggs, slightly beaten

3 tbsp butter or margarine, melted (I used some olive oil)

Heat oven to 450 degrees.  Line cookie sheet with foil; spray with cooking spray (I used parchment paper with no spray)

Stir Bisquick mix, cheese, paprika, salt and garlic in shallow baking dish.  Dip chicken strips into eggs then Bisquick mixture; repeat dipping in eggs and Bisquick mixture.  Place chicken on cookie sheet. Drizzle butter over chicken (Or olive oil).

Bake 12-14 minutes turning after 6 minutes, until no longer pink in center

These chicken tenders came out moist and crispy.  We served them with some home-made sweet potato fries and dipped them in honey (kind of like McDonald’s – but WAY better)

Sweet Potato Fries

1-2 lbs of sweet potatoes

1/2 tspn salt (Kosher)

1/2 tspn Hungarian paprika

12 tspn ground cinnamon

1/4 cup olive oil

1/8 tspn black pepper (optional)

Peel sweet potatoes and cut off the pointy ends (the pointy ends burn quicker when they are baking and the burnt parts don’t taste very well).  Slice potatoes in 1/2 inch strips so your pieces are as close to even as possible.

In a zip lock bag combine the salt, paprika, cinnamon, oil and pepper (if you choose to add it), mix at the bottom of the bag then add the potato sticks.  Mix well so each piece is evenly coated with the mixture.

Bake in a single layer (this should take up on complete large baking sheet) on a baking sheet that has been lined with either parchment paper or a silpat. Bake for 30 minutes (or until there is a light crisp to the fries) turning twice (after ten minutes and then again after twenty minutes).

Sautéed Chicken in Mustard- Cream Sauce

I find it rather interesting that there are so many recipes out there that are naturally gluten-free but don’t carry the title.  My big thing when I was diagnosed in 2008 was determination to take these everyday recipes that you find in your cookbooks and cooking magazines and recreate them to be gluten-free, however with many of them there is no need because they already are gluten-free!  I don’t know about you, but I find that to be rather exciting.

I love the Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food Magazines – I have about thirty of them (wish I had more!).  This is my go to magazine for recipe ideas – even before searching online I check these.  These magazines are jam-packed with great recipes that are not only easy to make but always turn out and taste fantastic.  These recipes are usually very easy to adapt if they do contain gluten and also easy to make other substitutions. For example for many of the recipes you can use chicken instead of shrimp (which you will see later this week) or vise versa.  I do the same thing with cookbooks as I do with cooking magazines; when I get them I go through the entire thing and put little tabs next to each recipe I want to try.

I’ve made this particular recipe a few times and have greatly enjoyed it each time.  Tonight I thought I would make it for Bryan seeing as he loves Dijon mustard.  While we were grocery shopping this weekend he really wanted to buy some peas – mind you I HATE peas, I always have since I was a little girl (I think I get this from my Aunt Sue).  I love green beans, snap peas edamame etc. but HATE peas.  However, I love Bryan enough to not only buy them but also give them a try, and yes, I sand by my previous hatred towards them.

Sautéed Chicken In Mustard-Cream Sauce – Martha Stewart Everyday Food Magazine Issue #3 page 58

(Serves 4 Prep Time: 20 minutes Total Time: 20 minutes)

1. Sprinkle 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 6 ounces each) – (I used two large chicken breast and butterflied them in half) with 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper.  In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium-high heat.  Add chicken; saute until cooked through, 10-12 minutes, turning once.  Transfer to a plate; keep warm.

2. Pour 1/4 cup dry white wine or chicken broth into hot skillet; cook, stirring, until reduced by half, about 1 minute. Whisk in 1/2 cup heavy cream, 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard, and 1 teaspoon dried tarragon (or 1 tablespoon chopped fresh).  Cook, whisking until thickened, about 2 minutes. 

3. Pour any accumulated chicken juices into sauce.  Right before serving, drizzle the cream sauce over the chicken.

Great Combination: This classic French combination of ingredients also makes an excellent sauce for fish, such as seared salmon and trout.

I served our chicken with mustard-cream sauce with sautéed mushrooms, peas and mixed greens with a light balsamic dressing.

Betty Crocker – Asian Chicken Helper Gluten Free (Review)

I have always been a big fan of Betty Crocker, especially the cake mixes.  I think my oldest cookbook and the first one I bought myself is my Betty Crocker cookbook.  I still use it and adapt recipes to become gluten free.  I don’t really recall buying the Betty Crocker hamburger helpers or anything really even when I was eating gluten, however I have to say I was pleasantly surprised with the Asian Chicken Helper – Chicken Fried Rice GLUTEN FREE! Both Bryan and I were impressed with the flavor and consistency of it.  We found this at our local grocery store a few weeks ago and it was on sale so we decided to give it a shot – and we both decided tonight that we would buy it again.  I’ll also have to keep an eye out for any others that might be gluten-free to try.  The season packet that comes with it has a great flavor to it and it was almost gravy like which we both really enjoyed.

This made a great week night meal – done in about twenty minutes and requires very minimum ingredients and if you would like you could even add some additional frozen veggies to the mix (add a cup of whatever veggie you might like – thawed, 5 minutes before the end of simmer time):

What you need:

1 lb uncooked boneless skinless chicken breast

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 2/3 cups HOT water (not boiling)

2 eggs

1- Cu the chicken into 1/2 inch pieces.  Heat 1 tablespoon oil in 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat.  Add chicken; cook about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until outsides turn white.  In a small bowl, lightly beat eggs and set aside).

2 – Stir in HOT water, seasoning mix and uncooked rice.  Heat to boiling, stirring occasionally.

3 – Reduce heat.  Cover; simmer about 20 minutes, stirring once, until rice is tender and liquid is mostly absorbed. If not absorbed, increase heat to medium and cook uncovered 2 minutes longer until absorbed.

4 – Increase heat to medium. Push rice and chicken to side of skillet.  Heat 1 tablespoon oil in other side of skillet.  Add lightly beaten eggs and scramble eggs in oil until cooked; remove from heat.  Stir eggs into rice and chicken.  Refrigerate leftovers (if you have any).

P.F. Chang’s: A Gluten-Free Experience (Review)

When P.F. Chang’s first released their Gluten-Free menu it was a bit limited, but who was about to complain – those suffering from Celiac Disease actually had options!  I got all excited the first time I went, I could actually look at an entrée instead of a salad with oil and vinegar dressing. If you know me at all I love food but my all time weakness is Chinese food!  I love it so much that when I moved back to the U.S. from living in China one of my first meals was, that’s right…Chinese food!! Now their menu has about 28 items!!! These items range from appetizers, main dishes, sides and even dessert.  And the verity of options is outstanding, chicken, vegetarian, beef, seafood…a little bit of everything.

I think of all the foods that I have had to “give up” Chinese food is the hardest.  Don’t get me wrong being Italian I love my bread products, I’m a carb girl but in my mind Chinese food-to get those deep, authentic flavors are much harder than Italian food. I try making a few dishes but nothing seems to compare to living in China or even going out to a local Chinese restaurant.  When living in Monterey I found the best family run Chinese restaurant named Full Moon.  These ladies became part of my extended family, I literally at there at least once a week and when they found out I had Celiac they said if I bring in my own soy sauce they cook all my food with that and even go to the extent of making sure the pans they use for my food are cleaned first.  Oh how I miss those wonderful ladies.

Now that I don’t live there and can’t eat at Full Moon whenever I want the next best thing is P.F. Chang’s but sadly they are about 25 minutes away from us.  I know it’s not really that far and maybe its a good thing that they are in Providence and not in Portsmouth that way we don’t eat there too much.  Bryan and I love P.F. Chang’s gluten-free menu…he even orders off of it so we can share the dishes…now that is true love.  Plus he says you can’t even taste the difference from the regular options. When we go we normally get the same three things (our favorites):

Gluten Free Shanghai Cucumbers (for our appetizer) - “Sliced, cold cucumbers sprinkled in gluten-free soy sauce and sesame seeds.”

We loved these and get a large order every time.  These are cool, crisp and very refreshing.  The sauce tastes like a mixture of gluten-free soy sauce, sesame oil, rice vinegar and of course has some black and white sesame seeds on them…so good, give them a try next time!

Gluten Free Beef A La Sichuan (Bryan’s favorite) – “Crispy beef strips with julienne celery and carrots. Our spiciest beef dish.”

Yummmy! Since they added this to their gluten-free menu Bryan orders it every time.  It has such a great flavor and the perfect amount of spice which goes great with the cool crisp julienne celery and carrots.

Gluten Free Chang’s Spicy Chicken (My favorite) – “Lightly dusted and stir-fried in a sweet Sichuan sauce.  Our version of General Tso’s and always a favorite.”

Normally we order this but like I said above I mixed it up a bit.  It is really hard for me to order something else know that this dish is so good.  I love the spice in the Chang’s Spicy Chicken.  The chicken is very tender and very lightly coated.  I have never been disappointed with this choice.

(Sorry there is no picture for my favorite dish…but next time for sure!)

But this time around I decided to mix it up a bit and order a different chicken dish (Bryan was not about to give up that Sichuan Beef).  So I ordered the following dish.

Gluten Free Ginger Chicken With Broccoli – “Served Cantonese style on a bed of fresh steamed broccoli.”

Wow…I was impressed with the flavors of this one.  The chicken is beyond tender and good-sized pieces, surrounded by steamed and still lightly crunchy broccoli florets.  The ginger definitely stands out in this dish and we both said it would make a great sauce over other steamed veggies for a vegetarian dish.  And I have to say my favorite part of the dish was the sauce and broccoli.

They also offer you two different options for rice, either steamed white rice or brown rice.  I know brown rice is great and supposed to be better for you, however I personally feel that Asian food in general should be enjoyed with some white rice, so I always order that with my meal.

If you have a P. F. Chang’s near you go and try it out and check out their gluten-free menu!!

Getting Setteled with some Spicy Orange Chicken

Well we are here….finally!  At some points I wasn’t sure if it was ever really going to happen.  I move out of my apartment in Monterey on June 1st, moved in with some great friends, flew to New Jersey on July 9th and we moved into our condo in Rhode Island on July 31st.  I have been living out of suitcases for two months and was beyond ready to be here and unpack.  The move went very smoothly thanks to all of the help that we had! The unpacking wasn’t so bad either.  It was so much fun combining our things and styles, finding places for everything and getting to hang our artwork up (we are both Photographers).  My favorite part of our new place is the built-in bookshelves that house our camera collection. See Photos at the end of this post

We are starting to find our way around Portsmouth, Newport and Bristol.  We live between two vineyards (that we hope to try really soon).  One a mile East and one a mile South of our condo!  Today we visited the farmer’s market that is held at one of the vineyards every Saturday.  It’s a bit small compared to the one in Monterey but it’s awesome!  I found a few stands that had some gluten-free items, not many but it’s a start at least.  We even found a stand that had fresh edamame right on the stalk/branch still!!

Sadly though I haven’t had a chance to do too much baking/cooking but I’m getting there.  I need to find a job still so much of my free time has been spent searching for a job in this not so great economy!  I’m very used to working in higher education but at this point I will take any job that comes my way, including working at a grocery store, bookstore etc…you name it and I’ll pretty much do it as long as we have money coming in.  This whole gluten-free lifestyle, food, flours etc. are just so expensive.  So once I get a job and have some money coming in I’ll be able to stock up on all my gluten-free flours but until them I am searching for recipes to make with the little that I have. Growing up money was tight very often so my mom was great at making meals that would go the distance and either last a while or you could make those leftovers into a completely different meal.

My first big meal was my grandmother’s gravy and meatballs, which I froze a good amount of it for later use and we ate that for about three nights in a row!  We stocked up on gluten-free sandwich meat, chicken breast, hot Italian sausage and a few other things at B.J.’s.  Of course we had Bryan’s favorite – Sweet and Spicy Chicken one night too.  Yesterday I realized I had about a half a cup of brown rice flour left so I decided to make Bryan a little treat, some yummy gluten-free brownies.  I was getting a bit frustrated today because every time I thought of a recipe to make tonight for dinner or something to bake I was short by either one or two (simple) ingredients.  I’m not used to not having certain things in my house anymore, like yeast, rice vinegar, ginger, vanilla extract etc…really simple things but we just haven’t had a chance to buy them just yet.  So we broke down today and picked them up.  I’m very excited to be able to make some bread next week!!

Tonight I decided to make another meal that is great to freeze, has lots of flavor and makes great leftovers.  Spicy Orange Chicken Stir-fry from Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food Magazine (Issue #50, March 2008 pages 80-81).  My only suggestion would to be use a little less orange juice than it calls for, but that is just me…

Spicy Orange Chicken Stir-fry

1/3 Cup Cornstarch

2 Cups Orange Juice (see above…I would use about 1 1/2 cups instead)

1/2 Cup Gluten-Free Soy Sauce (recipe calls for regular)

1/2 Cup Rice Vinegar

1/4 Cup Honey

4 Garlic Cloves, Minced

1 to 2 Teaspoons Red-Pepper Flakes (I used 2)

Coarse Salt

1 Tablespoon Vegetable Oil

3 Pounds Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts, Cut Crosswise  into 1/2 Inch-Wide Strips

1 Head Broccoli, Cut Into Florets, Stalks Peeled and Thinly Sliced

1 Pound Carrots (about 5), Peeled and Thinly Sliced on the Diagonal

Cooked Rice for serving

• Place cornstarch in a medium bowl.  Gradually whisk in orange juice until smooth.  Whisk in soy sauce, vinegar, honey, garlic and red-pepper flakes; season with salt. Set mixture aside.
• In a 5-quart nonstick Dutch oven or pot, heat oil over medium-high heat.  Working in batches, cook chicken on the one side until slightly browned, 2 to 4 minutes; transfer to a plate, and set aside (chicken will cook more later).
• Add broccoli, carrots, and 1/2 cup water to pot.  Cook, partially covered, until water has evaporated and broccoli is bright green, 3 minutes.  Add reserved chicken and cornstarch mixture; bring to a boil.  Cook until chicken is opaque throughout and sauce has thickened, 2 to 3 minutes.  Serve stir-fry over rice.

Additional Suggestions:

Add any of the following vegetables: edamame, snap peas, cauliflower

To Freeze:

Prepare through step 3, omitting rice; cool to room temperature.  Freeze 1 1/2 cup servings in airtight containers.

To Cook From Frozen:

Run container(s) under hot water to release frozen stir-fry.  Place in a medium saucepan with 1/2 cup water per serving.  Cover and heat over medium high, stirring occasionally, until heated through, 10 to 12 minutes.

To see more photos of our place please check out my Flickr Page: Mia Cara Photography

Thai Chicken and Noodle Salad

Things are a bit crazy right now with getting ready to move.  Bryan will be starting law school this fall in Rhode Island, so in July I will be moving back east to be with him.  I’ll be flying to New Jersey (where he is currently living) for a about two – three weeks and then we’ll be heading up to Rhode Island together (into a place we have yet to find!).  I have no job lined up either and I have my fingers (and toes) crossed that the search will be a bit easier once I’m actually there and can see what is around us.

I will not being bringing any of my furniture with me, just packing up some boxes to ship across the country. I”ll be selling all the big things (or I hope to see them anyway!!).  The most important things for me to ship are my kitchen things: my pans, knives and of course my awesome KitchenAid! The trick is to try and figure out how to ship that and my wine and wine rack.  Hmmmm lots of bubble wrap?

With all of that going on and trying to save money and have enough to ship all the boxes, money is umm a bit tight right about now.  This week I have been trying to make meals that either make good left overs or use ingredients that can be used in several meals.  So far this week it was ground beef tacos made with the Trader Joe’s GF taco seasoning (I don’t follow the directions on the back and add tomato paste…I like the spice in it) which last night turned in to nachos.  Tonight will be the Thai Chicken and Noodle Salad.  The extra chicken will be used either in a grilled chicken salad or something of the sort.  I also have lined up some ham steak with a baked potato which will then be made into a ham and cheese frittata - YUMMM

One of my favorite magazines and websites is Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food Magazine.  I just packed all mine up to ship next week so I’ve been searching online for recipes to adapt and came across this one that sounded and looked really good…and it tasted great!!  Very light, full of flavor and refreshing.  This would be a great meal on a hot summer night.  Sadly this isn’t a great dish for Bryan because of the onions but I’m sure I can make it with out it and it taste just fine. I made a few alterations to the original recipe (my alterations are in red) to make this gluten free.

Thai Chicken and Noodle Salad

Serves 4

• 1 1/4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, thinly sliced crosswise
• Spicy Asian Dressing -see below
• Coarse salt
• 3 1/2 ounces Chinese rice noodles, broken in half if long (I used the thick rice noodles instead of the thing ones, I think it worked well)
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, such as safflower (I used coconut oil – tasted great!!)
• 2 carrots, sliced into ribbons with a vegetable peeler
• 1 English cucumber, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise
• 1/4 cup fresh basil, torn
• Bean sprouts, chopped peanuts, fresh mint leaves, red-pepper flakes, and sliced scallion greens, for garnish (optional)

1. Place chicken and half of dressing in a resealable plastic bag (reserve remaining dressing). Marinate at room temperature for 30 minutes (or refrigerate overnight).
2. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook noodles until tender. Drain, and rinse under cold water to stop the cooking. Transfer to a platter.
3. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high. Working in batches, cook chicken (do not crowd skillet) until cooked through, 1 to 2 minutes; transfer to platter on top of noodles.
4. Top with carrots, cucumber, and basil. Drizzle with reserved dressing, and sprinkle with garnishes, if desired.

Spicy Asian Dressing

• 4 thinly sliced scallion whites
• 2 minced garlic cloves
• 1/2 cup soy sauce (gluten free soy sauce)
• 1/2 cup rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons light-brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
• 1/2 teaspoon anchovy paste (or 1 minced canned anchovy) – (I didn’t have either so I left it out)
• 1/2 teaspoon red-pepper flakes

This is my second attempt at using my coconut oil in a recipe but I have one more to attempt this weekend so keep checking back.

A new take on chicken tenders and fries

A few weeks ago I filled out a form on Tropical Traditions website to be considered to review their coconut oil.  Not thinking that me and my little blog would get picked but I did! Yesterday I received my Coconut Oil in the mail and instantly began to think “what should I make first?”, “should I use one of their recipes or try and create my own?”, “what does it smell like?”, “will it have a strong coconut flavor?”.  Needless to say my brain was on 20 question mode, but I had a photo assignment last night and couldn’t experiment right away, so I did it tonight.  I was nervous and excited to experiment and swore that if my first try came out bad I wouldn’t blog about it.  Thankfully it came out pretty tasty!

I’ve read so many great things about coconut oil, both for cooking/baking but also the health benefits of it.  Below are a few interesting facts that I have found in my research:

• Coconut oil is very heat stable so it makes an excellent cooking and frying oil. It has a smoke point of about 360°F (180°C)

• The oil is also used to give movie theater popcorn in the United States its distinctive flavor
• Made from fresh coconuts, not dried copra
• Has a fresh coconut fragrance
• Apart from coconut oil, the only other source of lauric acid found in such high concentrations is in mother’s milk
  

I had been curious about coconut oil for a while now and been wanting to try it out for myself so I am very thankful to Tropical Traditions for sending me this amazing sample to experiment with and write about.

So back to my 20 questions:

“what should I make first?” – I decided to try and make a play on chicken nuggets and fries.  Instead I made coconut flour dusted chicken tenders and sweet potato fries.  They were fried in a little bit of coconut oil (recipe below).  It was very very tasty.  The chicken came out fantastic!!  So juicy and tender with a hint of coconut flavor (just a hint).  The fries came out great too, however I think I prefer my fries baked instead of fried.

“should I use one of their recipes or try and create my own?” – I went with making my own recipe this time, but Tropical Traditions has tons of great looking recipes that I look forward to trying!

“what does it smell like?”- It definitely smells like coconut but in a good way (not like suntan lotion).

“will it have a strong coconut flavor?” – A slight coconut flavor is there but its not over powering or anything like that.  I rather enjoyed it.

Chicken Tenders and Fries

1/4 cup of coconut flour

1/4 cup tapioca flour

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1/2 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper

1 medium to large sweet potato – cut into “fries”

2 boneless/skinless chicken breast – cut into 1/2 inch strips

coconut oil – enough to lightly fry the fries and chicken – about 1/4 -1/2 cup

In a medium bowl mix the coconut flour, tapioca flour, salt and pepper until combined.  Dredge the sweet potato fries in the flour and shake of any excess flour before adding to the oil.  One the fries are finished cooking cool them on a wire rack.  Lightly sprinkle with salt (if you desire).  Next, add the chicken to the same flour mixture, coat lightly and shake of any excess flour before adding to the oil.  Fry for 2-3 minutes on each side until fully cooked. I dipped my chicken in a little bit of honey….oooh so good!!

Seeing as I was given this very generous sample to try I have decided that for the next month before packing everything up to ship across the country I will make one coconut oil recipe a week, so please stay tuned for more recipes and reviews. Now…what to make next, hmmmmm  Maybe I’ll try baking something next.

Please check out this video from Tropical Traditions about their Coconut Oil:

Sweet Baby Ray’s (review)

Back East we have “cook outs” where you cook outside on a grill, usually some steaks, BBQ chicken, veggies etc.  However, when I moved to California people call cook outs BBQ’s, which I found a little confusing.  I was invited to my first BBQ thinking “oh, nice we are going to have some BBQ pork or chicken”.  No, there was NO BBQ sauce to be found anywhere.  Cooking on a grill (or as they call it here, a BBQ) was what they were talking about all along.  Needless to say I was a bit disappointing and still haven’t gotten over the difference from one coast to another.  In my mind to have a BBQ – you must have BBQ sauce!! (I know I’m not alone on this, but people here think I’m crazy)

Since moving here and being to many BBQ’s with out BBQ sauce I realized a few months ago, that I haven’t had BBQ sauce in years!!  Bryan is always raving about this one brand, his all time favorite to be exact - Sweet Baby Ray’s.  I said well if its gluten free, lets try it. I read the back of the package and I didn’t see anything containing gluten/wheat so I went online and sure enough its gluten free!! Its a good thing that it is, because I don’t think he can live with out it, and he is very excited that I can eat it.  Here is what it says on their website:

Allergen

Is the product gluten-free?

All products except for the meatballs with sauce are gluten free.  Always read labels closely for ingredients before consuming.

This stuff is AMAZING.  Such a great flavor, not too over powering but the perfect balance of tangy sweetness.  Its thick and has a little bit of a kick to it.  I’ve only tried the original one but they have several other flavors: Honey, Hickory & Brown Sugar, Ray’s Hot ‘N Spicy and Sweet Vidalia Onion. Probably one of the best sauces I have had.  You can pretty much find this everywhere so if you haven’t tried it yet you should.  It’s almost summer time lots of grills will be heating up waiting for some BBQ chicken!! I don’t we’ll ever have another kind of BBQ sauce in our house.

I don’t own a grill right now (and hopefully we’ll be able to get one when we move to Rhode Island) so tonight I’m baking some chicken drumsticks that have been brushed with Sweet Baby Ray’s and when they are just about finished I’ll pop them under the broiler for just a little bit to get that char on them.  Then of course I’ll be dipping the meat in the sauce Tonight’s meal will be some steamed broccoli, Sweet Baby Rays Chicken and a tomato and cucumber salad.  Light and tasty.

Boneless Buffalo Chicken Tenders

One of my favorite “bar” foods is Buffalo Wings…love love love them, especially boneless ones, but 9 times out of 10 they are coated with flour or fried in the same oil that other battered things are fried in, so I never get to eat them. Today after talking with Bryan, who had them for lunch today I figured I would try and make some myself…it couldn’t be that hard, right? – Thanks Bryan for the inspiration!!

Wicked easy to make and extremely tasty! Served them tonight with some baked sweet potato fries.

Boneless Buffalo Chicken Tenders

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in to 1/2 strips

1/4 cup potato starch

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 cup canola oil

1/2 cup Franks Hot Sauce

1/3 cup butter

1 teaspoon lemon juice

In a large skillet, heat the oil (do not let it get too hot and smoke). In a small pan melt oil and add hot sauce and lemon juice, keep on low heat. In a medium bowl mix the potato starch, salt and garlic powder until well combined. Dredge the chicken strips in the potato starch. Shake off any excess starch and cook chicken in the oil for about 2-3 minutes per side, until lightly golden brown.

When chicken is completely cooked through, add to pan with butter and hot sauce, stir and coat evenly. Serve immediately.

Any extras would be great cut up and put in a salad!

Hearty Chicken Soup

Cold season has hit!  Thankfully its just a cold and not the flu.  So the past few days have been spent drinking many cups of tea with honey and eating plenty of soup.  I’m not good at being sick…I have a hard time taking it easy and resting.  I always feel like I need to be doing something, and that usually means cooking/baking.  So the other day I had made a potato and corn chowder  but when I’m sick I want a clear broth…so tonight I made a hearty chicken soup.

Hearty Chicken Soup

1 tablespoon grapeseed oil

1 large shallot (or onion, I didn’t have an onion so I used shallot)

3 celery stalks, diced

2 large carrots, diced

3 medium potatoes, diced

1 cup each firmly packed green and red chard roughly chopped

2 cloves of garlic, finely minced

1 table spoon dried oregano

1 table spoon rosemary chopped

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

4 cups gluten free chicken broth

1 cup water

1-2 boneless skinless chicken breasts diced

salt and pepper to taste (shouldn’t need to much with the chicken stock)

*try to dice the veggies all about the same time for even cooking.  I tend to dice mine bigger but I like the chunkiness of the soup.  I also don’t peel my potatoes first, I like to leave the skin on, it adds a slightly different texture to the soup.

In a large pot heat one table spoon of grapeseed oil over medium heat.  Add shallot and cook for two minutes.  Add the celery and carrots and cook for an additional five minutes until softened.  Add potatoes, garlic, rosemary, oregano, and red pepper flakes.  turn heat to medium high and add one cup of water and four cups of chicken stock.  Bring to a boil for 5-10 minutes, add chicken and stir.  Once chicken has cooked through add the green and red chard, stir well.  Reduce heat to a simmer and continue to cook for an additional 10-15 minutes.  Enjoy with a little grated Parmesan cheese on top.

Sweet and Spicy Chicken

I’m going to give P.F Chang’s a run for their money with this chicken. (ok maybe only in my mind). I love P.F.’s Spicy Chicken but this one I made tonight has got a good kick of heat to it.

Last week at the Farmer’s market I found some Thai Chili’s and have been trying to think of ideas of what to make with them. I plan to make some pad thai with tofu later this week. I wanted to create something by playing with the spice and contrasting it with sweet. And out came my Sweet and Spicy Chicken

Sweet and Spicy Chicken (*Edited on 1/13/10)

2 chicken breast – boneless, skinless

1/4 cup corn starch

4 tablespoon veggie oil

Salt and Pepper *

Sauce:

1/2 cup honey (You can also use Agave instead of honey, or half honey and half agave)

3-4 Thai Chili peppers finely chopped (keep seeds in for even more heat…adjust the amount of peppers depending on your spice level) *Dried or fresh chili peppers work well in this recipe

2 Tablespoons of Water

2 Tablespoons of Olive or Canola Oil.

Mix honey, Thai chili peppers, and water. Set aside.  Right before adding to the pan heat in the microwave for 30 seconds and mix well. This helps it “loosen” up a bit and makes it easier to pour into the pan or wok

Cut up chicken in bit size pieces. In a medium bowl add the corn starch, salt, pepper  and chicken. Coat well and shake off any excess corn starch. In a large skillet or wok heat 1 tablespoons of oil, add half the chicken and brown on both sides, about 5 minutes total. Place chicken on a paper towel lined plate. Repeat with second half of chicken and additional tablespoon of oil.

In the same skillet add the honey – chili mixture and bring to a boil for two-four minutes until the sauce reduces, thickens slightly and turns a nice caramel color. Add chicken back to the pan and coat well. Simmer for an additional 2-3 minutes.

Serve over white or brown rice. Its a bit sweet with a nice spicy finish.

For a vegan option, used firm tofu that has been drained and 1/2 cup of agave nectar in placement of chicken and honey.

We love this recipe.