No pictures today, but I made a side dish that was requested I make again. SO I am recording what it was, so I'll know what to do.

It was a Mexican inspired dirty rice (to go with the simple but juicy rotisserie chicken Mac made for us).

The chicken we used was a 5.5 pound monster, with lots of fat. I save that fat, and minced up the skin from the neck and little bits if meat I was able to carve off, as well as the gizzards, heart and liver that were inside the bird. I threw those in a hot pan with a little salt and let them cook and render.

I also roasted a nice Pablano pepper (my favorite) on the grill then skinned, seeded and diced that, as well as shucking and cutting the kernels off a single fresh ear of corn.

When the chicken bits were cooked, I added black pepper and a pinch of chili powder. I also added a cup of jasmine rice, then stirred in the corn and peppers. I added enough water to cover all the ingredients more than 1/4 inch. I let this simmer until the rice was cooked.

I took about 2 tablespoons of cilantro from the bunch, stems and all. I trimmed the bottom of the stems and discarded that before finely mincing the stems and stirring them into the rice. I added another good pinch of salt and the juice from a half of a big juicy lime (If all you can find are small ones, use 1 whole lime). Then I minced up the cilantro leaves and garnished with those.


I was told I need to make this again.

Dumplings for my dumpling

I must record this so I don't forget how to make it again come next fall!

Not too long ago, we discovered America's Test Kitchen's recipe for chicken and dumplings. And, there was much rejoicing.

Now with the whole having to be gluten free, we weren't sure if we'd ever experience that kind of joy again.
But with yesterday being slightly cool (unseasonable even) it made me think of chicken swimming in a light cream sauce, majestic dumplings floating along the surface.... I had to go for it.

Ingredients

1 whole chicken, cut up, with both wings and one breast removed
splash of olive oil
2 carrots, cut into discs
2 small onions roughly diced
2 cloves of garlic roughly minced
1/4 dry vermouth
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon Better Than Bullion chicken base
1 tablespoon minced Italian Parsley
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
salt and pepper

Dumplings

1 cup rice flour
1 cup Red's All Purpose gluten free flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 Tablespoon reserved chicken fat
Almost 1 cup milk

!Do not mix the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients for the dumplings until you are ready to drop them in the pot.!

Put a little oil in your dutch oven and let it get hot. Salt and pepper chicken, then set in hot oil on medium high heat. Allow to cook on both sides for several minutes or until chicken no longer sticks to the pan. Remove and set aside. Pour fat from pan into a measuring cup and reserve for later.

Add a little more oil to pan and cook onions. Add salt pepper, and thyme. Add carrots and allow to sweat until softened. Deglaze pan with vermouth, scraping up an bit stuck to the bottom of the pan. Add enough water to just cover chicken, adding chicken base to the pan. Add garlic. Mix cornstarch with a little water to make a slurry. Nestle chicken without the other boneless chicken breast back in the pan and bring to a boil. Add cornstarch slurry once you have a boil, to thicken your gravy. Reduce to simmer and allow to cook for at least an hour.

Remove chicken from pan. Use two forks to remove meat from the bones and to shred the chicken. Discard bones and return chicken to pot. Add reserved chicken breast to pan and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove and roughly chop breast into cubes before returning to pot.

Taste for seasoning, adding salt as needed. Stir cream and parsley into stew.


For the Dumplings -

Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl

Pour enough milk into measuring cup until you have 1 cup  total of liquid with the reserved chicken fat and oil (If your chicken fat seems to be a lot, you want roughly 3 Tablespoons of fat here. Pour off any excess, or add canola oil if needing a little more). Warm your liquid in the microwave, about 1 minute.

Mix liquid into dry ingredients, gently and quickly stirring to incorporate. Do not over work. Make sure your stew is bubbling at a light simmer, and scoop spoonfuls of dumpling mixture onto a spoon. Pack together lightly with your hand, forming into a ball before dropping onto bubbling surface of the stew.

Cover tightly and let simmer for 10 to 12 minutes, turning dumplings once.

Ladle into bowls, making sure each one has at least two dumplings. Garnish with more minced parsley, if desired.

Let the rejoicing commence.

This post has no pictures - eggplant parmesan

So last night I was craving Italian food. Something like lasagna, with cheese and sauce and YUM. "No problem" I thought. "Something parm style". I hit the store and decided I was not going to pay more than five dollars for a meat that would be indistinguishable after being pounded thin and fried before getting covered in sauce, I choose eggplant. Healthy alternative and I bought two for $1.29 total. SCORE!

Once back at home, I discovered I only needed one, which I sliced into quarter inch thick discs, and submerged them in salted water for a couple hours to remove some bitterness. I rinsed them because I wasn't sure if I needed to or not, and better safe than sorry.

Now, I thought the flour was very important. I like the crunch I get from rice flour, but not really the consistency. So I made a mix, three teaspoons of rice flour to two teaspoons of Bob's Red Mill gluten free flour, seasoned with salt. I pressed the eggplant discs into the flour and made sure they were dusted well before dipping them into two whisked raw eggs. Then they went back into the flour mixture, making sure both sides were well coated, before they went into a hot skillet with canola oil. I fried them until golden brown on each side, then set them aside on brown paper bag to drain, as I had to do them in batches.

Then I layered them into an ungreased glass baking dish, topped with shredded mozzarella  and our favorite gluten free jarred spaghetti sauce (we like Classico Tomato and Basil) and more mozzarella cheese. Bake until hot and cheese melts.


I have to say, I was very pleased with how this came out. The eggplant had a wonderful crispness and I would serve this to non-gluten free folks, it was so good. I did not feel cheated or as though I were missing anything with this dish!

So, after seeing these mayonnaise commercials talking about Parmesan encrusted chicken, I decided to experiment and see what I could so with a gluten free version. (Now remember, in my house we have no dairy issues, only wheat and gluten. If you also have dairy issues, make your own adjustments.) First I started with some drumsticks. I put on some salt, pepper, paprika and onion and garlic powders.

The rest of the spice mixture I threw into a few tablespoons of mayonnaise.

I made sure to slather the mayonnaise on all sides, coating well.

Then I dredged the drumsticks through some freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

They went into a lightly greased baking dish.
And were baked at 350 degrees for an hour.

But I didn't think they were quite done, so they stayed in at 400 degrees for about another half hour or so.

Family liked them. Said they were different but not too much so. A nice change. I served them with some rice I made with a handful of finely shredded kale, a chopped onion and a carrot and a clove of garlic I ran over the microplane.

So, I make Gordon Ramsay's shepherds pie a lot around here. The last time I made it, it made me start to think and I got creative. One thing with being gluten free, you do start to miss some things, like lasagna.

Which made my wheels start turning.

In place of mashed potatoes, I could use these!

So then I boiled then browned up some sweet Italian sausage and a little onion.

Then I mixed some ground beef and ground pork, with some salt, pepper, thyme, Parmesean cheese and an egg. (I used a pound of each kind of meat, but only used about half of it, so adjust as needed?)

Then I browned those bad boys up in a big skillet.

I sliced the sausage and put them along with the meat balls and onion into my favorite oval casserole dish.
Which I then covered liberally with grated mozzarella cheese.

Then I found a gluten free spaghetti sauce we llike and dumped that over the whole mess.

Meanwhile, in other parts of the kitchen, I had a pot of grits simmering. I added some romano and Parmesean cheeses to this as well as a liberal pinch of salt.

I spread the grits/polenta (they are the same thing) over the top of the casserole, and sprinkled with yet more romano and Parmesean cheeses.

I slapped the whole thing into the oven at 400 degree for about fifteen minutes until the top started to brown nicely.

I did let it rest for a good ten minutes before spooning into it.
It was very pretty
In a lasagna-y sort of way
It was consumed with great relish, some even taking seconds. (And, I wasn't the one going for seconds)
It was a little watery at the bottom, so I think I might put some rice noodles in the bottom next time to absorb that, and I think I might go with either sausage or meatballs but not both, and maybe put in some nice mushrooms or something.