Orange Ginger Chicken

We found ourselves blessed with an abundance of oranges a few weeks back. I don't know if someone saw my sorbet post and thought I needed more citrus or what, but an unknown sweetheart of a person left a bag full of oranges at our door. (Thank you, if you are reading this!) We had also just received our Harry & David fruit of the month, "Royal" oranges, so I knew we needed more ways to enjoy these sweet jewels.

The Harry and David oranges came with a recipe for "Orange and Ginger Chicken," so I adapted this recipe to something a little different based on that one.

This is nothing short of delicious. Served over a bed of rice with a salad and some green beans quickly cooked with sliced almonds, this is a meal my family gobbled up with no problem.

*Make sure you prep the chicken at least a few hours in advance to sit in the marinade.

Projected prep time: 15 min; Marinate time: Few hours minimum; Projected cook time: 25-30 minutes
Marinade:
Grated zest of one large orange
1 tbsp. (loosely packed if you choose to use spoon measurement) grated ginger
2 garlic cloves, pressed
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
Dash of cayenne pepper
**
1 lb. (approximately) chicken breast tenderloins, cubed
Extra virgin olive oil
1 small white onion or about 1/2 of a medium, chopped small but not as small as diced
1 cup orange juice (I used fresh-squeezed)
1/3 cup apple juice (100%)
1 tbsp. seasoned rice vinegar (I used a regular/original flavor)
Kosher or sea salt, to taste
Black pepper, to taste

Combine marinade ingredients in bowl,

then toss with cubed chicken breast.

Let sit for at least a few hours or overnight.

Heat some olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat and add the chicken and marinade. Cook until browned  a little then remove from pan. I cooked mine pretty much all the way through before removing.

Add onions to the pan and cook until wilted.

Add juice and vinegar and cook on high for 2 or 3 minutes to reduce a little.

Add chicken back to the pan, reduce heat to low and simmer for about 10 minutes or until you know chicken is done. Like I said above, my chicken was already done, so this just flavored it.

Turn heat up again and reduce the sauce a little more, stirring to keep chicken from sticking.

Serve over rice and garnish with orange wedges and parsley.

Enjoy!

Matzoh Ball Soup

I absolutely LOVE matzoh ball soup. I've adored it since I was a child, and don't know why I don't make it more often. If you are wanting some great charoset or matzoh crackers, check out yesterday's post.

These matzoh balls, just so you know, would taste great as dumplings for chicken and dumplings. They don't taste the same as the dumplings my mom made for chicken and dumplings, but she made the dumplings into balls rather than thinner squares like some do, so this recipe is what I'd start with if I was craving that dish.

I adapted this recipe from this gluten-free matzo balls recipe a couple of years ago, and we all love it.

Projected prep time: 10 minutes; Refrigerator time: 2 hour minimum; Cook time: 20 minutes
This recipe will make approximately 18 matzoh balls
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. black pepper
1 cup almond flour
1/3 cup potato starch
1 tbsp. milled flax seed
Pinch of dried dill (tiny bit less than 1/8 tsp.)
1/4-1/2 tsp. dried parsley
1 tbsp. grapeseed oil
2 quarts chicken stock

Mix dry ingredients together, including herbs, making sure to get out any lumps in the almond flour and potato starch.

Whisk together eggs and grapeseed oil.

Add egg mixture to dry mixture, stirring together until all is incorporated very well. Cover bowl and refrigerate for at least two hours, a few hours longer is better.

Bring chicken stock to a boil.

Roll matzoh mixture into 1-inch balls.

Drop dough into boiling stock.

Cover and simmer for about 20 minutes. The matzoh balls will puff up and start to float as they cook. After they begin to cool, they will deflate but will still be delicious! Serve a few matzoh balls with the soup in each bowl.

Enjoy!

Creamy Chicken Lasagna (a.k.a. Christmas Lasagna)

I can't even begin to describe how delicious this lasagna is - you'll have to taste it for yourself if you want an accurate assessment. It's good.

I made this for my oldest daughter's birthday dinner. She wasn't sure what she wanted that night, and I'd had my mind on this dish for a while, wanting to try it out. I showed it to her, and she enthusiastically agreed that she wanted me to test it out for her birthday meal. We are all very glad I did. I will also add that the leftovers of this lasagna were just as good, if not better, than the fresh-from-the-oven servings. It also lasted several meals because it's such a rich dish.

And why post this recipe when it's so late after Christmas? Because it's so good, for any time of the year. We didn't make this for Christmas, but with the pretty red, green and white colors this lasagna produces, I'm definitely considering making it during the season. We usually have chili on Christmas Eve with a Thanksgiving-type meal on Christmas day, but this dish is so good I may very well make this our Christmas Eve dinner, or at the very least make it sometime the week before Christmas in the future.

I adapted this recipe from the one here at my dear friend Ginny's blog, Cooking with Chopin, Living with Elmo. You should check her site out - it's filled with yumminess and heartwarming stories.

Projected prep time: 45 minutes; Projected bake time: 30-45 minutes
Chicken filling:
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 large yellow onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, pressed
1 pound cooked chicken, cut in small pieces or shredded (omit if vegetarian or replace with white cannellini beans)
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. dried Italian seasoning
1 10-ounce package frozen spinach, thawed and drained

Tinkyada lasagna noodles

Cream sauce:
2 sticks unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups gluten-free flour blend (I used blend of garfava, brown rice, potato starch, tapioca starch and sorghum flours. Use what you want, just make sure it's a blend that doesn't contain xanthan gum, salt, baking powder or soda)
3 1/2 cups gluten-free chicken broth
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 cups shredded or crumbled Parmesan cheese
1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
Dash cayenne pepper
Handful chopped fresh parsley
1 4-ounce jar of diced pimentos
1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese
1 1/2 cups Monterey jack cheese

Grease 9x13 baking dish.

Prepare Tinkyada lasagna noodles according to package directions for the energy-saving method (boil for a couple of minutes and then let them sit) until they are al dente. You want them fairly firm. When they are ready, drain and rinse with cold water, then gently toss them with olive oil to prevent sticking and set aside.

While the noodles are cooking, start on your chicken filling. Heat olive oil over medium heat, add onions and cook until clear. Add pressed garlic (or minced garlic) and cook a few more minutes, without browning the garlic.

Add chicken, salt and Italian seasoning. Taste to see if more salt is needed. Mix in the spinach and cook for another 4-5 minutes, then set aside.

Now get started on the cream sauce. In large saucepan, melt butter over medium heat until bubbling. Add flour a little at a time, whisking continuously, until flour is well-incorporated and smooth with the butter.

Add the chicken broth a little at a time, quickly whisking the entire time, until smooth. It may seem to get hard and clump together at first, but if you continue to whisk and stir, it will smooth out. It's worth the little extra work. The end result will be a thicker, soup-type sauce.

Add whipping cream and one cup of Parmesan cheese. Stir in the salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper. Continue to stir until cheese is melted and incorporated into sauce. When you use the sauce, you may notice that some of the flour has settled to the bottom. Just stir it again to incorporate.

Remove from heat and add pimentos and parsley, stirring well. Add more salt and pepper to taste.

In a separate bowl, toss the mozzarella and Monterey jack cheeses together.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spread a layer of the cream sauce in the bottom of the baking dish.

Sprinkle one cup of shredded cheese mixture on top of the sauce.

Layer lasagna noodles over the cheese, then spread half of the chicken/spinach mixture on top of the noodles. Top the chicken/spinach with one cup of the shredded cheese, and then add about a third of the remaining cream sauce on top of that.

Repeat with another layer of noodles, the remaining chicken/spinach mixture, one cup of the cheese mixture and one-third of the cream sauce.

Spread the remaining noodles in a layer on top and cover with the remaining cream sauce.

Sprinkle the remaining cup of Parmesan cheese over the top.

(*If you are making this ahead of when you are serving it, you can stop at this step and refrigerate it a day before you bake it. Add 10-20 minutes to the bake time if you do this.)

Bake for 30-45 minutes until the lasagna is bubbling, then remove from oven. Let it stand for 10-15 minutes before cutting.

Enjoy every bite!

Turkey and Buffalo Andouille Gumbo

Gumbo. Is there anything more satisfying? Well, yes. There are lots of things, even other foods, but there is something about gumbo that makes me smile.

There are so many different kinds of gumbo and ingredients you can use. Chicken and sausage gumbo is one of my favorites, and it's the same recipe I use for this one. You've got seafood gumbo, you can make vegetable gumbo. My dad loves to make turkey bone gumbo. The list is nearly endless.

I like to use andouille sausage in my gumbo, but a lot of the sausage has pork in it and I'm not able to eat pork anymore. I don't know why, but it makes me sick every time I eat it. A lot of sausage also has gluten in it. I don't live in Louisiana anymore and it's a little harder to find andouille -- especially an andouille that meets all my needs -- where I live. I was overjoyed when I found gluten-free buffalo andouille in our health food store. And it's not too bad, either.

As anyone who has cooked gumbo knows, first you make a roux. You can find my gluten-free roux recipe here.

And that's where this recipe begins.

Projected prep time: Varies, won't even put one on here; Projected cook time: 2-3 hours (after making roux)
(Printable Recipe)

2 medium white onions, chopped
1 medium green bell pepper, diced
(*Obviously leave out the next two items and add desired vegetables if you're making this vegetarian)
1 lb. smoked gluten-free sausage, chopped (I prefer andouille as noted above)
2 or 3 lbs., or a little more, cooked turkey (or chicken) This was a turkey breast we froze after cooking this huge turkey. Note you can add the poultry raw and cook for a couple of hours and then remove and cut or shred into smaller pieces, but it may be tougher meat that way.
4 quarts water
1 tsp. sea salt or kosher salt, then more to taste if necessary
1/4 tsp. black pepper, then more to taste, up to 1/2 tsp.
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper, then more to taste (my husband and our youngest are really sensitive to "spicy" so I usually start with a small amount of cayenne pepper, then I douse my own bowl with it)
Dash of Tony Chachere's, to taste
Sometimes I add a little chopped parsley while it's cooking
Gumbo file, if desired, to sprinkle in individual bowls
Cooked rice, white or brown is fine. Brown is healthier, white is more traditional.
*As I note above, you can use lots of different ingredients in a gumbo. I like green bell pepper in mine, some like red. Many people put celery (this is part of the traditional "trinity" of onions, bell pepper and celery) and okra in their gumbo, but I don't care for celery in my gumbo, though I'll certainly eat it, and okra in any form makes me gag.

You can make your gumbo in a big cast iron Dutch oven or a large stock pot. If you are making your roux in the Dutch oven, you'll continue to add all the ingredients for your gumbo in the same pot. If you make your roux in a separate skillet, you'll want to have your water boiling in the stock pot before you add the roux and other ingredients to it. If you are adding it to the same pot you've been cooking your roux in, you'll want to have a kettle of water boiling to add to the roux. If you add water that's not hot to the roux, you will probably cause the roux to separate.

I'm taking you now back to the roux being ready for gumbo. You've already taken it off the heat and it's to the point where you need to quickly stop it from cooking. Add of the chopped onions and vigorously stir. Add a little more, not all, of the onions, and bell pepper. Add a little bit of your hot water, a little at a time, stirring vigorously. The roux will seize like chocolate does when you are melting it and it touches liquid, but it's okay.

The roux will seize, as explained above. It's okay.  It will also lighten in color as you add ingredients to it, as this has done. This gluten-free roux isn't as brown as I'd like it, as explained in the post with roux recipe, but it gets the job done!

Just keep stirring and adding water a little at a time until it's a consistency you can either add the rest of the liquid to if you are adding it all to the roux pot, or that you can add it to the rest of the water in the stock pot.

Some people like to cook all of their vegetables before adding to the gumbo. I prefer to add the rest of them raw. Not only is it one less step for me, I find it flavors the gumbo just fine to have it cook down in the liquid.

I took this photo right before I added the turkey.

Once all of the ingredients are added, boil for two or three hours. After it's been cooking for a couple of hours, check the flavors to make sure you don't need to season it more.

I think the camera was trying to focus on the steam!

Put a scoop of rice in your bowl ...

Add your gumbo, then sprinkle with file if you desire. I sometimes add it, sometimes don't. This photo doesn't have it.

Hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Zesty Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken

A real quick recipe for you. With my range out of commission yesterday, I had to come up with something else for supper. Crockpot or griddle. A friend had just sent me a crockpot recipe she'd enjoyed and I thought I'd give it a try. I had everything I needed on hand (I used chicken breast tenderloins). Just make sure your bbq sauce is gluten-free as well as your Worcestershire sauce.

I snapped a picture just in case I blogged it. I was debating this, but it was pretty good and one of you may find yourself in a similar situation and find this helpful. I served this with some microwave "roasted" sweet potatoes and butter on the side. Here's the recipe link: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Zesty-Slow-Cooker-Chicken-Barbecue/Detail.aspx?src=etaf

Cleansing Chicken Soup

This is the best chicken soup. Ever. My husband and children agree. I'm just going to link directly to this recipe, but I will tell you that I follow it almost exactly with the exception of the chicken feet (sorry, but gross!). I also use about half a bunch of parsley instead of a whole, and about 2 inches of ginger instead of 4. Lastly, I often use just organic chicken breasts or breasts and thighs. I realize that much of the nutrients in this soup is retrieved from cooking the bones of the entire chicken, but I have some serious issues with chicken skin and things that float in around after cooking a whole chicken. My mom always made chicken soup with a whole chicken and I was constantly picking out things that grossed me out. Don't skip out on the organic extra virgin coconut oil (it's extremely healthy) and the apple cider vinegar being raw. It really needs to be to get the best benefits.

If you're not feeling well, this is the soup for you. If you want comfort food, this is the soup for you. I like to freeze about half of it. I freeze about 1/4 of it for another meal and then I freeze the other 1/4 in individual servings to pull out and defrost when someone has a cold or flu and wants this ultimate feel-good meal.

It does take literally all day to make, so get it started on a morning you plan to be home all day. In Jordan Rubin's book Perfect Weight America (not a gf book, but a good book nevertheless), he names this soup cleansing chicken soup. That's where I got the recipe. On his Perfect Weight America site, however, he names it Cold and Flu Bustin' Spicy Chicken Soup. And there's the link for you. Hover over the soup words if you don't see it.

I like to serve it with these delicious crackers, as close to saltines as you'll find gluten-free.

Super-easy chicken cacciatore with rice

I got this recipe years ago from a little mailing that Nestle (or was it Carnation?) sent out. To think I would have thrown it out as junk mail if I hadn't had a little extra time on my hands ...

This is super-easy, very quick and tastes pretty good if you season it right. Here is the recipe, with some variations on my part:

Projected prep time: 10 min; Total cook time (including rice, see note): 25 min. (1 hr if using brown rice)
(Printable Recipe)

3 c. cooked long grain rice or brown rice
1 lb. chicken breast, cubed into bite-size pieces
1 bell pepper, cut into strips lengthwise and then cut in half
1 container refrigerated gluten-free marinara sauce, or a jar (I usually use the jar of Prego marinara b/c I always have one on hand)
(Optional: 1 can diced tomatoes, drained)
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Italian seasoning to taste, if desired
Extra virgin olive oil or grapeseed oil

While rice is cooking, saute bell peppers in large pan with oil while cubing chicken. Add chicken, salt and pepper and cook over medium heat, stirring often, until a little browned and cooked through. Add more salt and pepper to taste after chicken is cooked. Add marinara sauce (and tomatoes if you are using them) and bring to simmer. Cover and simmer at least 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add Italian seasoning to taste if desired. Stir in rice and add more salt or pepper to taste if needed. Note: If you use brown rice, it will not only taste great but be more nutritious. It takes more time, though, so you'll have to plan ahead more.

That's it! By the way, this will likely be my last post for a few days because of a very busy weekend. I plan to have something else for you on Monday. Have a great weekend!