Belgian Endive Spears with Curried Chicken

Made this tonight as a simple appetizer. It was very easy and quick. Kids loved it as well - and it is gluten-free!
Enjoy.


http://www.canadianliving.com/food/belgian_endive_spears_with_curried_chicken_salad.php

A word about Pizza

I love pizza. Since going gluten-free 20 years ago I had not had much luck with pizza. I had tried to make the crust myself which was never very good. I have used crusts from Glutino - http://www.glutino.com/our-products/frozen-meals/pizzas/premium-pizza-crusts/
which are quite good but highly caloric.

And then I found Judy G Pizzas! They are frozen pizzas which all taste delicious.
See her link:
http://www.judygfoods.com/g/Gluten-Free_Pizzas

She even makes a lactose free pizza, a completely vegetarian (no cheese) pizza and good old ham and pineapple. And for those times when you want to make your own pizza you can get the crusts on their own.

Another place to recommend in Calgary is Avatara Pizza which will make a gluten-free pizza in their oven, with their toppings, etc. Delicious! http://www.avatarapizza.com/

It is nice every once in a while to have pizza as a family!

Cranberry Almond Muffins

I made the following cranberry almond muffins today. I substituted gluten-free flour plus 2 teaspoons of xanthan gum. They turned out really well. I adapted this recipe from:
http://www.razzledazzlerecipes.com/thanksgiving/craalm.htm

2 C. flour (use GF flour mix)

2 teaspoons Xanthan Gum

1/2 C. brown sugar
1/4 C. sugar
2 t. baking powder
1 t. salt
1 1/4 C. milk
1/2 C. oil (you could sub 1/4 cup of unsweetened apple sauce for 1/4 cup of the oil)
1 egg
2 t. almond extract (I used only about 1 teaspoon of pure almond extract)
1 C. frozen cranberries, rinsed and chopped
1/3 C. slivered almonds
A little extra sugar for topping (I did not include the sugar - they are sweet enough)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 12-cup muffin pan.

Combine flour, both sugars, baking powder, xanthan gum and salt in a medium mixing bowl. Combine milk, oil, egg and almond extract in a separate mixing bowl. Add liquid ingredients to dry, stirring just until dry ingredients are moist. Stir in cranberries (cranberries don't need to be completely thawed out, just enough to be chopped).

Fill muffin cups 3/4 full with batter. (I used baking cups to make clean up easier). Sprinkle tops of muffins with a little sugar and the almonds. Bake for about 25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 5 minutes in the pan.

Makes 12 muffins.

FROM:
http://www.razzledazzlerecipes.com/thanksgiving/craalm.htm

Butter Tarts

The following recipe was given to me by my Mom. I think she got it from her Mother (or maybe my Dad's Mother). I am not entirely sure.
Since I am celiac and don't eat gluten, I make these tarts in store-bought pastry shells. So - while the filling is gluten-free, the shells are not. You can use any type of pastry to make them, and if you are looking at gluten-free pastry, Kinnik Kinnik makes a good mix. http://consumer.kinnikinnick.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/products.home/productcategoryid/5

1/2 cup of butter, melted
1 1/3 cups raisins
1/2 - 3/4 cup walnuts (sometimes I use other nuts)
2 eggs
2 cups brown sugar
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Mix this all together and put in shells. Should fill about 30 shells.
Cook at 450 for 10 minutes, then 350 for 20-25 minutes

Enjoy!

Chicken with Citrusy Rice

I was away in the mountains and did not have much stuff to cook with so I came up with the following...

What you will need:

rice (about 2 cups cooked - or more - I used leftover basmati)
4-6 pieces of chicken (I used bone-in, skin-on thighs as that is what I had - all that will vary is the cooking time)
celery or onion (about 1/2 cup chopped)
2 teaspoons grainy mustard (or dijon if you have it)
1 orange
1/4 cup of white wine
bit of butter or olive oil

Equipment
A big frying pan or Dutch oven with a lid.

What to do:

1. Put the butter or olive oil in the pan on medium/high heat. When it is melted add the celery or onion and the chicken skin side down and brown. Flip it over and brown the other side. I usually leave these about 5 minutes per side.

2. Then flip them over one more time (they will be skin side up now) and then add the white wine, put the lid on, turn down to medium or medium-low and cook until done. For the bone-in variety it took about 20 more minutes.

3. While the chicken is cooking, mix up the grainy mustard, zest of the orange and juice of the orange. Set aside

4. When the chicken is done, add the rice and mix in with all of the liquid that is in the pan. Add the orange/mustard mixture as well. Mix well, put the lid back on, then turn down to low for 5 minutes or until the rice is heated through.

5. Serve with steamed broccoli, peas (I use frozen.) and carrots.

With simple ingredients this was actually pretty good. We didn't even have any salt or pepper to add to the meal! Lots of flavour.