Gluten Free Orange Chicken

Sometimes you just crave certain food. Chinese food is one of those foods that my hubby craves. Since almost everything in Chinese food is covered with soy sauce (which is not gluten free) it is almost impossible to indulge in that craving.I have made GF Orange chicken before and he loves it. I have also used the same recipe and changed out the protein, instead of using chicken beef works just as well.

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Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds chicken breast cut into bite size pieces
• 1/3 C white sugar
• 1/3 C rice wine vinegar
• 2 tbsp frozen orange juice concentrate
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp Tamari
• 1/4 C cornstarch
• 2 tsp orange zest
• 3 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
• 1 1/2 tbsp minced garlic
• C oil for frying

Directions

1. Lay the chicken out in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with paper towels. Allow to dry in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. In a small bowl, mix together the sugar, rice vinegar, orange juice concentrate, salt and tamari. Set aside
2. .Heat oil in a wok over medium-high heat. Toss dried chicken in cornstarch to coat. Fry in the hot oil in small batches until crispy and golden brown; set aside.
3. Drain all of the oil from the wok except about 1 tablespoon.Add orange zest, ginger and garlic to the remaining oil, and cook briefly until fragrant. Add the soy sauce mixture to the wok, bring to a boil, and cook until thick and syrupy, about 5 minutes. Add chicken, and heat through.

I like to serve this with rice and either steamed broccoli or stir-fried broccoli.

Bon Appetit.

Gluten Free Spaghetti Sauce with Meatballs.

"When the moon hits you eye like a big pizza pie, that's amore.." I recently had a Lady and the Tramp moment with my puppies. I fed them 1 large noodle and they each gobbled a side until, viola! They kissed. It's the little silly things that make you smile in life. For my puppy love I had to go back to the Lady and the Tramp dinner classic. Spaghetti and meatballs (gluten free of course).

When making this your entire house will smell of delicious Italian flavors and the neighbors will come knocking to see where the yummy smells are coming from.

Ingredients:

Sauce:

• 1 C chopped onion
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 C olive oil
• 2 (28 ounce) cans whole peeled tomatoes
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp white sugar
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
• 3/4 tsp dried basil
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/2 C good red wine (I used Graveyard Wnineries Cabernet Sauvignon. They are a local winery where I live and amazingly tasty)

Meatballs:

1 lb of ground beef (I used 85/15 beef from Trader Joes)

1/2 lb of ground pork ( I had some left over sweet Italian sausage so I just took of the casing and used those)

1 C of fresh GF bread crumbs **

1 tbsp of dried parsley (fresh if you got it but dried is great too)

1 tbsp of Parmesan cheese

1/4 tsp of ground pepper

1/4 tsp of garlic powder

*** I keep a loaf of Kinnikinnick Gluten free tapioca bread in my freezer. I pulled out 3 pieces, put in the microwave for 1 minute, and then threw it in the food processor . Viola fresh gluten free breadcrumbs.***

Directions:

• In a large bowl, combine ground beef, pork, bread crumbs, parsley, Parmesan, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, garlic powder and beaten egg. Mix well and form into 12 balls. Store, covered, in refrigerator until needed.
• In a large saucepan over medium heat, saute onion and garlic in olive oil until onion is translucent. Stir in tomatoes, salt, sugar and bay leaf. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer 90 minutes. Stir in tomato paste, basil, 1/2 teaspoon pepper and meatballs and simmer 30 minutes more. Serve.

Here is the link for Graveyard Winery in case you would like to try amazing wine.

• http://www.graveyardvineyards.com/cab-sav.html

Bon Appetit.

Gluten Free Chicken Fingers/ Fried Chicken

I grew up picnicing with my family on the weekends. My mom and grandma would pack up my brother and I and head off for our day adventure to a park, museum, or zoo. My mother would also always bring our own food because we were thrifty and because my mom is a great cook and baker.

I figure it is time for my husband and I to start our own tradition but meld some of my old memories with our new experiences. For our first picnic outing I decided to tackle fried chicken.

When I went to the store I accidentally grabbed chicken tenders so this is the gluten free attempt at chicken fingers (AKA fried chicken).

Ingredients:

2 C buttermilk (****you can use fresh but I found this powdered buttermilk in the baking isle of my grocery store that worked great.)

• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• chicken (I used chicken tenders and there were about 15 pieces)
• 2 C Bobs all-purpose GF flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 5 cups vegetable oil for frying
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• *** as I stated I used a powdered buttermilk that you only add water too to get the 2 C that you need. I figure who really keeps fresh buttermilk on hand all the time unless you make fresh butter like I occasionally like to do)
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• 1. Whisk together buttermilk, mustard, salt and pepper, and cayenne in a bowl, and pour into a resealable plastic bag. Add the chicken pieces, coat with the marinade, squeeze out excess air, and seal the bag. Marinate in the refrigerator anywhere from 2 to 8 hours (I had mine marinate for about 3 hours).
  2. When you are ready to cook the chicken, combine the GF flour, baking powder, garlic powder, and onion powder in the other plastic bag. Shake to mix thoroughly. Transfer one marinated chicken piece at a time into the dry ingredient bag, and shake well to ensure complete coverage. After all chicken pieces are coated, repeat the process by dipping them in the buttermilk marinade and shaking in the dry coating again.
  3. Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat, making sure not to burn the oil. When oil is hot, fry chicken in batches until golden brown and juices run clear, turning chicken to brown evenly.
  
  
  
  
  Bon Appetit

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