A suprise party pleaser

The Wednesday before Christmas, we decided to host dinner and a small gift exchange with some of our dearest friends.  We opted for our place since I’ve got the GF kitchen.  I appreciate when my friends try to cook for me, and I’m trying to show them that GF doesn’t have to mean boring.  Especially now that I’ve worked this out that I can have a lot of fun with food.  I’ve been discovering the joy of roast vegetables, including butternut squash, beets, onions and cauliflower.  I decided to make Chicken Florentine with roasted butternut squash.  Now, me being me, I have this perpetual fear of not having enough food.  That’s how I ended up with an 18 lbs turkey for Thanksgiving when we were just having 3 people one day and a 6 the next.  But I digress.  I started looking at the two squashes I had peeled and chopped, and started thinking “Will this be enough food?”  Bear in mind, I was already stressing as I discovered the chicken breasts weren’t thawed and I only had 11 thighs for 6 people.  So I checked the fridge for what else I had.  I put another tray in consisting of carrots and onions.  That way I was sure we would have enough food.  Hopefully.

The chicken was being stuffed with spinach, mushrooms, and bacon in a thyme sauce.  The veggies were roasted with just olive oil, salt and pepper. And everyone loved it.  The veggies were a huge hit as well as the chicken.  My recipe for roasting veggies is simple.  Heat oven 425F, put them in for at least 30 minutes, then turn the oven off and let them sit in the oven until serving.  That makes them perfectly crispy on the outside and soft and tender on the inside.  But here’s the recipe for the Chicken Florentine.  It’s from the Weight Watchers Cook it Quick, and it’s fast, GF, and extremely tasty.  This is my take on it as I hardly ever have ham in the house as called for in the original recipe.  I substitute it with portobella mushrooms, to get the same meaty texture.  Today I added the bacon as well that I had leftover from a roast chicken.  And while I suppose you could use frozen spinach, I’ve never tried.  I always use the fresh stuff.  It holds up well.

Chicken Breast Florentine

1 (10 oz) bag triple-washed spinach, rinsed (do not dry)

1-2 cloves of garlic, minced (or more if you like garlic)

Freshly ground pepper, to taste

8 oz portobella mushrooms, chopped

1/2 tsp thyme

4 tsp olive oil

4 (1/4 lbs) boneless, skinless chicken breasts


1/2 cup dry white wine (or chicken broth)

salt to taste

lemon to taste

Heat a nonstick skillet with a bit of oil.  Put the mushrooms in, salt them lightly, and let them cook for about 5 minutes.  Remove from skillet.  Add the spinach, garlic and pepper.  Cover and cook for about 2 minutes, or until the spinach wilts.  Let the mixture cool and squeeze out the excess moisture.  Add the mushrooms and a pinch of thyme in and mix.

Cut a long thin pocket into the chicken breast.  Stuff the spinach mixture into the pockets, then press the edges shut and seal closed with a toothpick.  If using boneless skinless thighs, open the thigh up, spread the mixture out, roll it up and pin with two toothpicks.

Heat the oil in the skillet, then add the chicken breasts and brown, turning once or twice.  Add the wine, salt and rest of thyme.  Recude heat to low, cover and simmer until the chicken is cooked through, about 10 minutes.  Top with any pan juices and serve.

Christmas in the kitchen

For Christmas, my new in-laws got me the rotisserie I’ve been coveting for some time.  I also got a glorious Global Santoku knife.  The rotisserie goes wonderfully with my Kitchen Aid Mixer and Cuisinart 14 cup foood processor I got as other gifts.  These are my much loved kitchen gadgets.  I know this rotisserie will be a much loved addition in my kitchen.  I know my knife has already.

Tis the season

Here we are on Christmas Eve. In the past, Christmas meant baking.  It just never seemed liked Christmas unless there was at the barest minimum a huge pile of chocolate chip cookies.  I also remember doing my mom’s black-bottom cupcakes, ginger snaps, and such.  Last year was my first stab at a Christmas cake which went over really well.  Paul loved it, as did his parents. 

This year, though, with the diagnosis of celiac’s, I hadn’t really been brave enough to start baking.  I did the initial “grilled meat and carrots” and that was about it, but I’ve been trying to get more adventurous with food.  Baking was just another one of those experiments.  Basically I went into it with the reckless abandon of “Even if it all sucks, at least I tried.”  I found a new gluten-free all;-purpose flour blend.  It’s called Bette’s Gourmet Four Flour Blend and it’s corn starch, tapioca flour, garfava flour and sorghum flour.  It’s not as “beany” as the Bob’s Red Mill.  I decided to try gingerbread cookies (rounds, not the people.  I don’t have cookie cutters) and chocolate chip cookies.  I found some Ghiradeli’s dark chocolate chips, so I didn’t have to worry about dairy.  My only concern was using the lactose free corn oil margarine.  I know corn oil tends to make baked goods soft.  But again, I just figured “Give it a stab and see what happens.”  Would I be bragging to say that the cookies turned out fabulous??  The GF gingerbread cookies were spicy and soft.  I did end up icing them with some royal icing.  The chocolate chip cookies warm tasted a bit beany, but after they cooled a bit the taste really mellowed and were really lovely.  It was so easy to forget they were gluten free.  It definitely felt like Christmas after some baked good action.

Gluten-Free Gingerbread cookies with Royal Icing.

1 stick lactose-free, corn oil margarine (room temperature)

2 1/2 c GF flour of your choice

1/2 c packed brown sugar

1/2 c unsulphured molasses

1 egg (room temperature)

1 Tbsp Apple cider vinegar

1 tsp baking powder


1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp allspice

Royal Icing (optional)

Preheat oven to 375F

In a mixing bowl (or with an electric mixer) beat the margarine until fluffy, about 30 seconds. Beat in about half the flour and all the other ingredients. Mix until thoroughly combined.  Add the remaining flour.

Drop in rounded teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheet. (I personally used parchment so they wouldn’t stick).  Bake for about 6-8 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned.  Cool on wire rack.  If you wish to ice, go on to the next step.  If not, enjoy as is.

Royal Icing

1 c powdered sugar

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

milk, orange juice or milk substitute

Mix powdered sugar and the vanilla.  Mix in liquid 1 teaspoon at a time until desired consistency is reached.  Drizzle icing onto cooled cookies.