Category Archives: GLUTEN FREE RECIPES

SAUTÉED CHICKEN WITH GRUYÈRE CHEESE, MUSHROOMS, AND WHITE WINE

This is yet another chicken recipe that is quick and easy to prepare, making it a perfect dinner entrée after a hectic work or play day. And of course, it’s delicious. (Like I would post anything but a delicious recipe!)

But this is one of those recipes that works best when all the chopping, slicing, mincing, and assembling has been done in advance. In other words, get your act together and have all your ingredients prepped and in place before you start sautéing the chicken. (Hey, why not? You have to do it anyway. So why not get it over with before you actually fire up the burners and curse yourself for not heeding my warning to begin with?) Anyway……

The bones of this recipe come from the Food.com web site. And while I’m giving that site credit, I would like to get on my high horse (with a little help from a tall self-righteous attitude), and say what I really think about all the cooking sites out there in internet land. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU! (Bet you didn’t see that one coming, did you?) There isn’t a recipe under the sun that can’t be found either by title or ingredient combination. There isn’t a cooking technique, gadget, or unique ingredient that can’t be ordered on-line and delivered directly to your home. There isn’t an excuse in the world for someone to rely on fast food or packaged, processed products to feed their family when every resource imaginable to provide a healthy and delicious meal is at their fingertips! (That’s the high horse part in case you were wondering!)

So to all of those wonderful sites out in internet land that provide great recipes, cooking techniques, and commentary on every aspect related to culinary endeavor, I salute you. And to the Food network (I’m now back on my high horse again), please bring back more love (good cooks/chefs and their sterling recipes) and less war (cupcake, chopped, etc). I personally want recipes, not entertainment. If I wanted to occupy my time watching and listening to suspense, drama, and a staged production, I would watch the news and read every word written about the candidates and their race to be in next years’ presidential election!

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, halved lengthwise, then cut in two (8 pieces in all)
kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
nutmeg
3 T. butter
8 medium sized button mushrooms, halved and thinly sliced
2 small or 1 large shallot, finely minced
½ c. dry white wine (I use Pinot Grigio)
½ c. heavy cream
¾ c. finely grated Gruyère cheese (you can use plain Swiss cheese, but a premium Swiss cheese is best)
dash paprika

Season one side of each piece of chicken with salt, pepper, and a light sprinkling of nutmeg. Melt the butter in a large, covered fry pan over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and sauté until both sides are slightly browned and the chicken is cooked through. (Do not overcook the chicken.) Remove from pan, tent with aluminum foil, and set aside. Add the mushrooms and shallot to the pan, reduce the heat, and sauté until the mushrooms are starting to brown and the shallot pieces have all but disappeared from sight. Stir in the white wine and simmer until the wine has all but evaporated. Whisk in the cream, Gruyère cheese, and the paprika. Cook for one minute. Adjust seasoning. Stir in the reserved chicken along with any pan juices; remove from heat, cover, and let sit for about 3 minutes.

Great served over mashed potatoes with a side green veggie or a nice crisp green salad. And of course, some more of that wonderful Pinot Grigio you used in the dish itself!

BRUTTI MA BUONI (UGLY BUT GOOD) ITALIAN HAZELNUT COOKIES

SPINACH AND MUSHROOM WILD RICE PILAF

ASIAN CHICKEN NOODLE BOWL

FRIED MARINATED TOFU WITH GREEN ONIONS AND SESAME SEEDS

So I know what you are thinking. Where in the world has Patti been that she hasn’t written a post in almost a month? First of all – sorry about that, but Mr. C. and I have been on the road with our ginormous 19 foot trailer taking in the sites and visiting family from here to Colorado and back. Touring with a trailer is a lovely way to experience our country and believe me, our country is worth seeing. For example, staying in a fairly primitive campground at the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park in Colorado, with snow still on the ground and deer grazing around the trailer is a fantastic experience. Never heard of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park? Well neither had we until I discovered it on line while I was planning our itinerary. Now I can hardly wait to return. Just for grins, visit the park’s website at www.nps.gov/blca/index.htm. I’m sure you will instantly become as fascinated with this amazing and little known area of Colorado as we were.

And speaking of amazing areas that are not as well known as say Yellowstone and coincidentally not as far away, Steens Mountain and the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in SE Oregon are tops on our list of places to be visited with regularity. But enough with the travel guide prose. Let’s get on with the dish of the day.

This marinated tofu dish is absolutely delicious and ever so “in”. With all the press about eating organic, sustainable, local, slow, vegan, vegetarian, etc. etc., this dish comes as close to “realistic” healthy food as I can muster. And I do try to cook healthy, really I do. So give this fried tofu recipe a try. Mr. C tells me for him this tofu dish is analogous with “crack” (crack-cocaine), not that he has ever tried crack you understand, but you get the gist. He LOVES it.

¼ c. soy sauce
¼ c. rice wine vinegar
1 T. chili-garlic sauce or Sambal Oelek and 1 small clove finely minced garlic
1 tsp. sesame oil
pinch kosher salt
1 lb. firm tofu
3 T. corn or peanut oil
¼ c. cornstarch or more + 1 tsp., divided
¼ c. thinly sliced green onions
1 tsp. sesame seeds

Combine the soy sauce, vinegar, chili-garlic sauce, sesame oil, and salt in a small container. Remove the tofu from the container and press gently between several sheets of paper towel to remove some of the liquid. Cut into 12 same size pieces and add to the marinade. Let tofu marinate for about 2 hours. When ready to fry add oil to medium sized frying pan and hot over medium high heat. When oil is hot, take each piece of tofu out of the marinade (reserving marinade), blot on a paper towel, dip in the ¼ cup cornstarch (or more as needed) and place in hot oil. Fry the pieces until they are crispy brown on both sides.

Meanwhile pour the remaining marinade and 1 teaspoon of cornstarch into a small pan. Whisking the entire time, bring the mixture to a boil and stir until thickened. Remove from heat.

When tofu is crisp and golden brown, remove to a serving plate. Pour sauce over the tofu and sprinkle with green onions and sesame seeds. Serve immediately.

Please note: Play around with the sauce. If you are a ginger lover, add some ginger. I know I am going to the next time I make this dish.

ITALIAN CASSEROLE WITH SAUSAGE, MUSHROOMS, AND SOUR CREAM

I believe I have told you numerous times that I am lazy. Some people don’t think of me as lazy, but I’ve just got them fooled. For example, take this fake lasagna recipe. It looks and tastes like I have been slaving away in the kitchen for hours. Anyone who has ever prepared true lasagna knows that it takes hours to prepare. There’s the meat sauce, then the cheeses, then those darling lasagna noodles. And if you are really into a truly decadent lasagna, not only is there a red sauce, there’s a béchamel sauce. Now granted, none of these sauces are difficult to assemble. But add up all the time it takes to prepare each step, and you are talking about an all afternoon project. And granted, sometimes I make an honest to goodness, over the top lasagna. But for those times when I don’t want to spend 4 hours playing in the kitchen but still want a rich, creamy and luscious casserole, I make my dear buddy Margo’s recipe. And all kidding aside, it is one of the tastiest Italian casseroles you will ever meet. The sauce and the cheeses work together to cover the egg noodles in a gooey dressing that just melts in your mouth. Serve this with a Caesar salad, a warm crusty baguette or my Soft Breadsticks, and a bottle of your favorite rich red wine, and I promise you all thoughts of lasagna noodles will evaporate as fast as cookies in an office break room! Thanks again Margo for this wonderful recipe.

1 T. extra virgin olive oil
1 lb. bulk Italian Sausage (or half ground beef and half Italian sausage)
10-12 medium mushrooms, sliced
2 clove garlic, minced
1 jar (or 2 ½ c.) marinara sauce (I use Paul Newman’s Marinara Sauce – I told you I was lazy!)
8-oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1 pint sour cream (2 cups)
½ c. grated Parmesan cheese
8 green onions, chopped
1 lb. grated Mozzarella cheese
12-oz. (4 c. uncooked) thick egg noodles, cooked al dente (I use Country Pasta – Homemade Style Egg Pasta I buy in the 64-oz. package from Costco) OR rice pasta for a wonderful GF casserole
2 T. minced fresh parsley

Heat olive oil in a large fry pan. Add the sausage and sauté until very brown, breaking up the pieces as it cooks. Add the mushrooms and cook until tender. Add the garlic and cook for about a minute or until the garlic releases its aroma. Pour in the marinara sauce and let gently burble for about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside. Meanwhile combine the room temperature cream cheese, sour cream, Parmesan, green onions, and mozzarella cheese. Lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking dish. Scoop about a half cup of the marinara sauce mixture into the bottom of the pan. Layer with half of the cooked noodles, half of the marinara sauce, and half of the cream cheese mixture. Repeat. Bake uncovered for 30-40 minutes in a pre-heated 350 degree oven. Let sit for 10 minutes before serving. Sprinkle with fresh parsley.

(As you can see from the picture, there is no fresh parsley sprinkled on top. Oh I had the parsley all chopped and happily residing in my refrigerator. But in all my last minute frantic efforts to get the meal out for yesterday’s pre JazzVox concert lunch, the parsley was forgotten. Of course the lack of a parsley garnish didn’t stop anyone from eating the casserole, but I sure felt like a dummy when I realized what I had done. Not the first time I have left off that final touch, and considering that I am only getting older and less likely to remember even the most mundane of tasks, I’m sure it won’t be the last. I could mention the salad I forgot to serve for our New Year’s Eve late night buffet, but why bother you with even more evidence that I’m not playing with my full set of Cutco knives, circa 1964, any longer!)

SPICY CHICKEN CHOW MEIN WITH SOFT NOODLES

Mr. C and I recently attended a birthday party for our good friend Dave. Dave (I never use last names, but he knows who he is) was turning 60. Poor old guy! And among the guests were our good friends Larry and Clay.

Clay and I started talking about food, (what a surprise!) and he asked me if I had a good chow mein recipe. (He and Larry love to go out for Chinese food, but sometimes they just want to stay home, but still be able to enjoy one of their favorites.) I told Clay my cooking repertoire was sorely lacking in the Asian food department. But I told him I would look into chow mein and see what I could find.

Turns out recipes on the internet for chow mein are as abundant as recipes for spaghetti and meatballs. And since I have been concentrating lately on Italian cuisine, I thought I would try a recipe for chow mein from a chef who has some Italian ancestry. (Why a chef with Italian heritage you ask? All I can say is that it made sense at the time! Maybe it was the noodle part.) Anyway, I made a few changes to Guy Fieri’s recipe for Hong Kong Style Noodles with Chicken. And because Mr. C and I enjoyed it so much, I decided to post the recipe right in the middle of my series on Italian cuisine. (Again, it must be the noodle part. That’s the only thing that makes even a semblance of sense to me!) But regardless, this is truly a wonderful recipe and I wanted to share it with you as soon as possible.

To my thinking, the chili garlic sauce in the marinade gives the chicken just the right amount of spiciness. Enough to get your attention, but not enough to beat up your taste buds. (I don’t really appreciate having my mouth set on fire, but if you do, by all means add more chili sauce or even some crushed red pepper flakes.)

If you are a true devotee of Chinese food, you know that some chow mein recipes have a high fat content. I have reduced the amount of fat in this recipe to the lowest amount I feel is reasonable. Another thing you should know is that the “planned-overs” were just as good as the chow mein fresh off the flame. (You just can’t ask for more than that!)

So next time you get a hankering for a relatively simple to prepare, economical, and tasty alternative to going out for “the real thing”, give this recipe a try. 个饱 Gè bǎo

6 T. soy sauce, divided (low sodium is fine, as is Tamari or GF Tamari)
2 T. minced fresh ginger
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 T. chili garlic sauce (use less if you don’t like spicy chow mein)
4 T. cornstarch, divided
2 skinless boneless chicken breasts, cut 1/4-inch slices (or pork, shrimp, or beef)
3 T. vegetable oil, divided
3 T. hoisin sauce
1 tsp. sesame oil
1 1/2 c. chicken stock
1 small carrot cut into 1/4-inch sticks
2 stalks celery, cut into ½-inch bias-cut chunks
½ medium sized onion, sliced 1/8-inch
1 red pepper cut into 1/4-inch strips
2 c. sliced mushrooms (I like part button and part shiitake)
4 oz. snow peas, 1/2-inch bias cut strips
8 oz. mung bean sprouts
8-10 ounces chow mein noodles, cooked al dente (follow instructions on the package)
1/2 c. bias cut green onions, garnish

In a re-sealable plastic bag add 3 tablespoons of the soy sauce, ginger, garlic, chili garlic paste, and 2 tablespoons of the cornstarch; mush together thoroughly. Add the chicken and marinate for 90 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk together the hoisin sauce, sesame oil, chicken stock, remaining 2 tablespoons of cornstarch, and the remaining 3 tablespoons of soy sauce in a medium sized bowl. Set aside.

In a large sauté pan or wok (I use a very large non-stick pan because less oil is required), heat 2 tablespoons of the vegetable oil to almost the smoking point and add chicken, separating each piece after you get all of the chicken in the pan. Cook chicken until just browned on both sides. (Do not overcook.) Remove to a small bowl and set aside.

In the same pan, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon vegetable oil and add the carrot and celery. Sauté for 2 minutes then add the onion, red pepper, and mushrooms and sauté for 2 more minutes. Finally add the snow peas, and bean sprouts. Stir in the chicken broth mixture and let burble until sauce thickens. Stir in the cooked chicken and cooked noodles. Adjust seasoning. Serve immediately sprinkled with green onions.

Note: If you prefer rice to noodles, just prepare the sauce and serve over steamed rice. For gluten free – use GF Tamari and serve over steamed rice.

PHO (VIETNAMESE RICE NOODLE SOUP)

As some of you know, homemade soup is one of my top 10 favorite foods. And pho (pronounced more like fuh than foe) is one of my favorite soups. (And, its gluten free!)

I almost always order it when I go to a Thai or pan Asian restaurant because I so love the broth. And to actually make the broth the way they do in these really good restaurants takes hours and hours, and even then some days it’s just better than others! So when I discovered this recipe, and for the love of all things noodle I can’t remember where or when, or even how much I mangled the original recipe, I was delighted. So as far as I’m concerned, this broth is pretty darn acceptable for not starting with bones and cooking then for hours and hours, etc. etc. And the rest of the soup is a snap. You just add cooked rice noodles to your hot broth and a few uncooked ingredients (well except for the fried tofu, which is totally optional but absolutely divine) and sit back and think pleasant thoughts. Pretend you are sitting on the veranda of a fabulous water front café at Halong Bay (Bay of descending dragons) watching the sun sparkle on the water as you eat your big old bowl of pho. Just thinking about warm beaches and shimmering water in Vietnam makes me want to hop on a jet. But unfortunately the only hopping I should be doing right now is in the kitchen. I still have more food preparation to do today for the pre-concert JazzVox dinner here tomorrow night! Yikes! If you’ll excuse me, my Italian Cream Cake is calling to me that it is feeling a little naked. Cream cheese frosting sprinkled with toasted coconut and pecans coming right up!

6 c. water
1-2 tsp. beef base
1 T. won ton instant soup mix (You can purchase won ton instant soup mix (like Dragonfly brand) at any decent Asian food store)
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
1 T. finely diced fresh ginger
2-3 oz. pho noodles (rice)
1/3 block firm or extra-firm tofu, opt.** (see recipe and preparation instructions below)
¼ lb. very thinly sliced beef*
½-1 jalapeno, seeded, deveined and thinly sliced
1 c. fresh bean sprouts
1 T. chopped fresh cilantro or parsley
several Thai basil leaves
4 green onions, thinly sliced on the diagonal
½ fresh lime, cut into 4 wedges
Sriracha sauce
hoisin sauce

Combine water, beef stock, won ton soup mix, onion, and ginger in a medium sauce pan. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat, and simmer for about 20 minutes. Meanwhile soak the noodles in water for 15 minutes. Bring a pot of water to a boil. When the broth is ready, remove the noodles from the soaking water and cook for about 3-4 minutes in the boiling water. When done, place the noodles in the bottom of two large soup bowls. Add the tofu, raw meat, jalapeno, bean sprouts, and cilantro. Fill the bowls with stock, and garnish with basil leaves, green onions, and 2 lime wedges each. Pass Sriracha and hoisin sauce as “do it yourself” garnishes. (Instead of beef, you can add pre-cooked shrimp, chicken, or pork.)

*To thinly slice beef, place beef in the freezer just until it starts to get hard. Using a very sharp thin bladed knife cut slices as thin as possible against the grain of the meat.

**Optional fried tofu recipe: Slice drained tofu into 1/4-inch slices and coat with 1 tablespoon cornstarch. Combine 1 tablespoon sesame oil with 1 teaspoon chili oil in a medium frying pan. Bring oil to medium heat and fry the tofu until both sides are a nice golden brown. Remove from pan and drain on a paper towel. When cool cut into bite size pieces.

FLOURLESS ORANGE CHOCOLATE CAKE (GÂTEAU AU CHOCOLAT)

As promised, this is another one of my favorite gluten free recipes. I make this cake every time I want an easy and absolutely decadent dessert. And I have yet to make it without someone (usually one of the guys) following me around like a puppy begging for more. They’ll usually even clean the bottom of the pan and the cake plate for me just to be able to scrape off the last few morsels. (I love it when someone else does the cleanup.) So if you want an easy and gluten free dessert, give this little darling a try. You will not be disappointed.

Speaking of disappointed, I know there are those of you out there that begin or end each day by reading my blog. (Don’t be ashamed, we all have our guilty little secrets.) So it is with mixed feelings that I tell you that this is the time of year I begin enjoying outdoor adventures and travel time with Mr. C. (Mixed feelings because I love to travel and spend quality time with Mr. C. and family, and I love to write on a daily basis. Sometimes they are just mutually exclusive.)

In other words, during late spring, summer and early fall, I won’t be writing up sparkling introductions and fantastic recipes for your edification as frequently as I have been these past 4 months. But don’t panic! Sit down, take a deep breath and get yourself under control! (And by-the-way, the old paper bag trick to stop simple hyperventilation actually does work!) Instead of almost daily, I will be posting entries when time and WiFi permit. (Sometimes we take our trailer way off grid. And when we go to Italy this fall, you can bet your best bottle of Chianti that I won’t be thinking about the blog at all!)

But come late fall and winter, when you too are back from vacations and have more time to read and digest (literally and figuratively) more recipes, we will once again begin our daily double routine. Me behind the computer, you in front!

But for now, I wish each and every one of you a happy late spring and a fantastic summer. And special thanks for taking the time to read my blog. I love writing it and hope it brings you cooking inspiration and every once in awhile a little chuckle to brighten your day. Now, where did I leave the keys to the trailer?

1 lb. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 c. butter
¼ c. + 2 tsp. Cointreau or other orange flavored liqueur
1 tsp. vanilla
7 lg. eggs, room temperature
1 c. sugar
1 pint whipping cream
¼ c. powdered sugar
zest of 1 orange

Combine chocolate chips and butter in a heavy saucepan and heat until chocolate melted. Remove from heat and add the ¼ cup Cointreau and vanilla. Set aside and cool to lukewarm. Using an electric mixer, beat eggs and sugar together for about 6 minutes or until mixture is thick and pale yellow. Ribbons should form when beaters are lifted. Slowly pour the melted chocolate mixture into the beaten eggs and pour into a buttered 9-inch spring-form pan that has been fitted with an aluminum foil leakage guard bottom. (I usually cut a circle of aluminum foil about an inch in circumference larger than my pan. Then I place the pan on the foil and fold the foil up the sides to prevent batter leakage. As further protection from run away melted butter escaping to the floor of my oven, I place the whole thing on a rimmed baking sheet.) Place in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for about 40 minutes (don’t use convection if at all possible) or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with moist crumbs attached. Cool for 5 minutes. Gently press down edges of cake with your fingers. Cool completely in pan. Then, run knife down edges to loosen cake. Remove sides of pan and set cake, bottom of pan and all, on cake plate. When ready to serve, whip cream to stiff peaks. Whip in powdered sugar and remaining 2 teaspoons of Cointreau. Dollop whipped cream on each thin slice serving and sprinkle with a tad bit of orange zest.

SAVORY POLENTA

So, this lady walks into a restaurant one evening, sits down in a booth and she and her husband order drinks while they peruse the menu. (This was quite a few years ago when the lady was not nearly as sophisticated or food savvy as she is today.) So on the menu, appearing with the entrée she had chosen, was this item calling itself polenta. No explanation as to what polenta was! Just polenta! (Like from birth everyone should know about polenta?!) Well this poor woman had no idea what she was ordering and too embarrassed to ask the waiter. (Did I mention this was quite some time ago?)

When her dinner arrived, she was quite taken aback by what appeared to be a square of semi-baked cornbread. But being the adventurous type, she cut off a small piece and popped it into her mouth. Well this woman had been making and eating cornbread for years. But this yellow stuff on her plate was so lacking in flavor and had such a strange consistency that she didn’t finish her serving or even try polenta again for years. All she could hope for was that polenta would go the way of those red pickled crab apple slices that used to “grace” every restaurant plate in America!

But then one magical day polenta was on the menu at one of her favorite Italian restaurants. She was mystified. “What in the name of coarse ground cornmeal had polenta to do with such a prestigious world cuisine?” But being a little older and a little bolder (notice wiser was not mentioned) she got an earful when she asked that very same question of her waiter. Because, began the waiter in his best professorial voice, “please allow me to quote from an article I just read on the Life in Italy website”. And I quote, “It often happens that a nation of people will identify themselves as a distinct culture by their traditional foods. For Italians, it always seems both pasta and pizza are the cornerstones of what makes Italian food “Italian”. However, there is a staple food of Northern Italy that does not get the recognition, but certainly makes up the third aspect of the Italian food trinity: Humble, yet versatile and satisfying polenta. Italian cuisine has been characterized by being the food of the peasant and just as poor Southern Italians worked the fields with their bellies full of pasta, Northern Italians subsisted on little more than polenta for centuries. In this way, polenta is truly an Italian national dish, and may have a history much more ancient than either pizza or pasta.”

So knowing that the chef in this restaurant would never steer her wrong, she once again ordered an entrée that included polenta. But this time, the experience was far different. The creamy, savory, and buttery polenta was served as a base for her entrée meat which lay gently nestled on top. She had discovered heaven that evening in the form of an Italian classic. (Had she realized polenta was Italian to begin with, she might have given it a second try much sooner!) But she had thought, incorrectly of course, that polenta was just a new creation some famous chef had invented and every restaurant from Denny’s to Rosellini’s Four-10 now wanted to feature. (She has since learned that when it comes to food, there is truly nothing new under the sun!) So from that wonderful evening at one of her favorite Italian restaurants, she has truly come to love this humble Italian peasant food. And this recipe from Alton Brown is her favorite. Buon Appetito!

2 T. olive oil
3/4 c. finely chopped red onion
1 tsp. kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 qt. chicken stock
1 c. coarse ground cornmeal
3 T. butter
2-oz. finely grated Parmesan (about ½ cup packed) + extra for serving at the table (some people, like Mr. C. for example, enjoy a little polenta with their Parmesan!)

In a large, oven-proof covered saucepan heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, salt, and pepper; sauté until the onion begins to turn translucent, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Reduce the heat and add the garlic. Sauté until the garlic releases its aroma, about 1 minute. Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat a bit and gradually whisk in the cornmeal. Cover the pan and bake in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 30 to 35 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes to prevent lumps. Once the polenta is creamy, remove from the oven and add the butter and Parmesan. Adjust seasoning and serve immediately. Or, if you prefer, pour into a 9×13-inch pan lined with parchment paper. Cool to room temperature, then refrigerate. When ready to serve, cut into squares, rounds, or triangles, brush with olive oil and sauté in a non-stick pan. (Great way to serve leftovers too!) Polenta is gluten free and can be prepared with vegetable stock for a vegetarian side dish.

CHEZ CARR CUISINE

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