Chicken & Rice Pilaf

Rice: Staple of Gluten Free homes! At least at the beginning. I've tried to cut back on the amount of rice we eat and go for other better for you grains (Quinoa, anyone?), but sometimes the comfort of rice is welcome. This rice is just plain comfort food.

Chicken & Rice Pilaf

Ingredients:

Chicken breasts, pounded flat (depending on size of breasts and how many you are feeding, 2-4
Olive Oil
Seasoned Salt

2 TBSP butter
1/3 chopped onion
1/3 chopped celery
1 cup uncooked rice
2 cups chicken broth (I like using bouillon and water for my broth)
1/4 tsp salt (use only if your broth isn't salty. My bouillon is plenty salty)
chopped parsley

Melt butter over medium heat and cook onion and celery until tender. Add rice and cook about 5 minutes stirring frequently. Add broth and salt (if using), and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and let simmer 20 minutes.

While rice is steaming, heat olive oil in pan. Sprinkle chicken with seasoned salt (just a light dusting). Cook chicken about 5 minutes on each side until cooked through.

Stir rice and transfer to a casserole dish. Slice chicken into strips and lay on top of rice. Sprinkle with chopped parsley.

Hawaiian Haystacks

The first time I was introduced to Hawaiian Haystacks, I thought they were SO WEIRD. Turned out they are SO YUM! My kids love, love, LOVE them and request that I make Haystacks for dinner at least once a week. I went to a church function recently where Haystacks were served (perfect buffet style meal). I prepared and brought my own Gluten Free Sauce to share with another Gluten Free friend. It seems everyone has their own preferred toppings for Haystacks, but this is how we do it at our house....

Chicken Hawaiian Haystack Sauce

Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter
1 chicken breast (about a 1/2 pound) cubed
3 TBSP brown rice flour
1/4 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup hot water
2 bouillon cubes
1 cup heavy cream or half & half
1 TBSP Sherry cooking wine (optional)
Freshly ground pepper

Melt butter in a saucepan and sauté chicken until cooked through, breaking up chicken cubes to more a shred if desired. Dissolve bouillon cubes in the water to make a broth. Combine rice flour, xanthan gum, salt, and cream. Gradually whisk in cream, sherry, and chicken broth to chicken and butter mixture, whisking constantly until thickened. Sprinkle with ground pepper.

Serve over rice with desired Hawaiian Haystack toppings. We top with pinapple tidbits, black olives, green onions, slivered almonds, celery, cheese, and coconut. Our gluten eaters finish theirs off with chinese noodles.

PIZZA

Gluten Free life is just not complete until you've found a good Pizza recipe. I've been trying to perfect one for years and I think I'm almost there. I hope you enjoy this as much as we do! This is a modified version of two different recipes found at King Arthur Flour and GlutenFreeGobsmacked.com

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup Gluten Free Flours
2 TBSP powdered milk
1 tsp baking powder
¾ tsp salt
1 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp each: garlic powder, fennel seed, and dried basil
1 TBSP sugar or honey
1 TBSP yeast
1 cup warm water
2 TBSP olive oil (for dough)
2 TBSP olive oil (for pan)

1. Mix together GF Flours, powdered milk, baking powder, salt, xanthan gum, garlic, fennel, and basil.

2. In a separate bowl, combine warm water, 2 TBSP olive oil, sugar, and yeast. Add ¼ cup of the mixture from step 1 to the yeast mixture. Stir together and set aside for 5-10 minutes until yeast mixture has risen well.

3. Using a stand or hand mixer, combine wet and dry mixtures on medium speed for 4-6 minutes.

4. Line pizza pan with parchment paper or generously grease. Drizzle at least 2 TBSP olive oil into center of pan.

5. Scrape the pizza dough (This won’t have the consistency of dough! It will be batter like) onto the olive oil pool on the pan. With wet hands, squish the dough out evenly onto the surface of the pizza pan.

6. Bake crust at 425°F for about 20 minutes until golden brown. Remove from parchment paper if desired, but not necessary.

7. Top with your favorite pizza toppings and bake an additional 5-8 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Sourdough Biscuits

My 1st grader went on a field trip today to 'Pioneer School.' They are spending the day having school in a one room school house. Yesterday, a counselor at the school helped the kids make sourdough biscuits and homemade butter to take with them today. Of course, made with wheat flour, so Sidney asked me to make her some sourdough biscuits to take with her. Luckily, I already had some sourdough starter 'started'. If you've never made starter, you should. It's easy (and wierdly fun to 'feed' and 'grow' your own little pet) and is a great and versatile ingredient. There are different kinds of starters. I'm still learning. This one is made with whole milk, yeast, rice flour, and water. It can be made yeast and milk free, though. I will do a separate post about how to start your starter. Today, here's how I made sourdough biscuits. Moist, flakey, and melt-in-your mouth yumminess!


Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup Gluten Free Flour (I used Brown Rice)
8 TBSP unsalted butter, diced
2 TBSP sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp xanthan gum
1cup freshly fed sourdough starter
1/2 cup milk at room temparature

Combine Flour, Sugar, Baking Soda, Salt, & Xanthan gum in a mixing bowl. Cut in butter with pastry cutter (or knives). Add starter and mix. Add milk slowly---just until you've made a soft, but not sticky dough. You may not use all of the milk.

Using a 12 hole muffin tin, divide the dough equally into the tin. Flatten the dough a bit to fit flatly in the hole. Let sit, covered, for about 10 minutes. Preheat Oven to 425 during this time. Bake for about 12 minutes or until lightly browned.

Best Yet Brownies

Seriously. I went looking for a new brownie recipe last week and stumbled across one from Gluten Free Goddess. These days it seems that following a recipe exactly is not something I am capable of, so I changed it up and made it my own. My chef friend tells me that once you've changed a couple of things (ingredient, amounts, etc) that it is now your own recipe. So here you go, my Best Yet Brownies. I can't call them Best Ever...because who knows what I'll come up with next time!

2 Eggs
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
5 TBSP cocoa
3/4 cup brown rice flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract
1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 and grease or line with parchment paper a 8x8 baking dish.

Beat eggs on medium high until frothy (about 3 minutes). Add brown sugar, butter, and cocoa. Beat until smooth, about 1 minute.

Mix dry ingredients together and add to egg mixture. Add vanilla and almond extracts and mix well. Pour batter into baking dish and shake to spread evenly. Sprinkle chocolate chips on top and press them down a little into the batter with the bottom of a glass or measuring cup.

Bake 30-35 minutes. These are yummy warm, but even better cold (in my opinion). They are certainly easier to slice cold.

**For a much lower fat version with added nutrients, try substituting pumpkin puree for the butter. This will produce a more cake-like texture instead of a fudge-like texture. The above picture was taken of a brownie made using the pumpkin.

**If you are a seasoned gluten-free baker, you are probably used to very thick brownie batter. This will not be that way! This will be a nice thin batter (like regular old cake batter).

Shrimp Tacos

These are a big favorite at our house. My 8-year-old son asks for shrimp tacos for dinner at least once a week. There would be a picture, but it disappears too quickly for any picture snapping.

2 lbs shrimp (peeled, deveined, no tails...all that jazz)
6 garlic cloves
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp salt
2 TBSP olive oil
Juice of one lime

Combine all ingredients except oil and lime in a bowl and let sit in the fridge for 15-30 minute (or if you're like me and don't think about dinner until last minute, you can skip this step).

In a large skillet over medium heat, heat oil. Add shrimp and cook until shrimp are cooked through, 5-8 minutes. Remove pan from heat and squeeze lime juice over the shrimp and toss.

Serve shrimp in a warm corn tortilla with whatever toppings you like: Shredded cabbage, Salsa, Guacamole, Shredded Cheese, Sour Cream, etc. My sister likes hers with a fresh mango salsa.

Or if you don't care for Shrimp, like my 6-year-old....ask for a Shrimp Taco with "Guacamole and Cheese....no Shrimp." Hmmm....

Sandwich Bread

Soft, Moist, and Delicious!!

1 cup plus 2 TBSP Brown Rice Flour
1 1/2 cups Starch (potato, tapioca, corn, or any combo)
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
4 tsp dry active yeast
1 3/4 tsp xanthan gum
2 TBSP ground flax seed (optional)
1 large egg
1 TBSP honey
2 TBSP olive oil or soft butter OR substitute canned pumpkin for one of the TBSP
3/4 cup small curd cottage cheese
3/4 cup warm (not hot) water

Lightly grease a loaf pan.

Combine dry ingredients in mixing bowl. Make a 'well' in the middle and add wet ingredients. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Scrape the bread batter into prepared pan. Press down and smooth the top with a wet spatula.

Set the pan in a warm location (I like a warm oven) for about 30 minutes, letting the bread rise no higher than the top of the loaf pan.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Cover loosely with foil to prevent over-browning. Continue to bake 20 more minutes (50 minutes total baking time).

Makes a delicious hot ham and cheese toasted sandwich!

Italian Beans & Sausage

Ingredients:
2 TBSP oil (I prefer grapeseed oil)
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1/2 pound smoked turkey sausage, sliced and quartered
2 drops hot sauce
1 tsp salt
15 oz can small diced tomatoes
2- 15 oz cans great northern beans (drained, but not rinsed)
1 cup water
1 tsp fresh parsley, chopped
Cooked Rice

In a 3 quart or larger pot, heat oil. Cook garlic, onion, celery, and sausage until veggies are tender. Stir in tomatoes, hot sauce, salt, beans, water, and parsley. Bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes. Serve over rice.

Fresh Avocado Salad

Maybe you don't love avocado like I do... But if you do, you're starting to get hungry right now... Sliced Cucumbers, quartered tomatoes, diced avocado all mixed up with salt, pepper, and some light italian dressing.... Salad of yumminess.