Chicken and Biscuits

Sorry for my New Year's hiatus. To make up for being AWOL thus far in 2013, I'm posting a recipe. Everyone likes those, so we're cool, right?

Lately my wonderful husband has gotten into cooking chickens in our 1970 crock pot (you know, the avocado green one?) He's even been making bone broth with the chicken carcasses. Seriously, guys, want to win big points with the wife/girlfriend? Make bone broth.

I'm really digging crock pot chicken; it's so juicy and moist. Here's the technique we've been using: chop some onions into 1/4 inch chunks and throw into the bottom of the crock pot, stuff some fresh herbs into the chicken cavity (rosemary and thyme are nice) and sprinkle the skin with salt and pepper, place on top of the onions and cook on low for about 3.5- 4 hours, depending on the size of the bird.

Hubby cooked a chicken the other night and I thought it would be fun to make chicken pot pie, but then decided I didn't want to mess with making a crust, so chicken and biscuits was my lazier alternative. I adapted the biscuit recipe from the cobbler topping in this recipe.
Husband just declared, while eating some leftovers tonight, that it was one of his favorite dishes ever.


Chicken and Biscuits (serves 4-6)

Preheat oven to 400º

Biscuits:

1/4 cup coconut flour
2 TB blanched almond flour
1/4 tsp. baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 egg, beaten
2 TB softened butter
3 TB cream
(optional- cracked pepper, fresh rosemary, fresh thyme)

Mix all ingredients well and let sit for a couple of minutes to allow the flour to absorb the liquid.


Chicken/veggie mixture:

1 1/2 cups mirepoix (equal amounts of diced carrots, onions and celery)
1/2 cup diced mushrooms (I prefer cremini/baby bella)
2 cups diced or shredded chicken meat
3/4 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup cream
2 tsp. tapioca starch
1/4-1/2 tsp. fresh thyme (I didn't really measure it).
salt and pepper to taste
oil/grease/butter for sauteing


Saute the mirepoix and mushrooms in the oil/grease/butter until softened.
Add the broth, cream, and seasonings and whisk the tapioca starch into the mixture while continuing to cook over medium heat until it begins to thicken. After it slightly thickens, add the chicken and transfer to the casserole dish (I used a 10.5 inch oval dish).

Divide the biscuit dough into 6 discs, place atop the chicken mixture and bake at 400º for 10-12 minutes, or until the biscuits are cooked through and slightly golden.




Enjoy!

-Erin

Christmas Cookie Roundup

It's practically Christmas Eve! I wish I had done this blog much earlier but, oh well. Better late than never, right? So, what do you do when you haven't got it together to blog something original? You re-blog other people's awesome food posts, of course.

I've had a bit of a Christmas cookie fixation lately. I love the smell of baking cookies. So cozy and cheery. I'll probably only end up making one kind this year, but if I was having a big gathering, all of these are cookies that I would want to bake.


So, here is my Christmas Cookie Roundup:


I love nutty cookies like pecan sandies and Mexican wedding cookies. Check out these low carb, grain-free pecan crescents from All Day I Dream About Food.

I haven't had sugar cookies in a really long time. They hold a special place in my heart, as my mom used to bake them at Christmas and Valentine's Day. She had all sorts of fun cookie cutters. I don't even own any (that has to change!) These almond flour sugar cookies from The Urban Poser look yummy!

Maybe you've never had pizzelles. If you like anise, then you'll probably love these delicate and pretty anise flavored cookies from Kate's Healthy Cupboard.

When I was little, my paternal grandmother always made raspberry coconut bars at Christmas. The closest grain-free recipe I've been able to find are these raspberry streusel bars from Elana's Pantry. I'd probably omit the walnuts in the topping to make them more like grandma's. And I'd use butter.

And last, but not least, are butter tarts. Butter tarts aren't well known in the U.S. but all my Canadian readers will know what I'm talking about! They're buttery, flaky little tarts filled with a gooey mix of raisins and/or currants, brown sugar, butter and often ground nuts. A little like pecan pie but more buttery and definitely less icky sweet. The same grandma who made the raspberry bars made butter tarts (that side of the family is from Ontario).

I like that this recipe from Special Diet Creations uses coconut palm sugar in place of brown sugar. Plus, she's Canadian, so she knows what a butter tart is and what it should taste like.

I hope you all have a yummy and merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

xo
-Erin

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is possibly my favorite holiday because it revolves around food, and also because I have great people to spend it with. As most of my family live in other states, we always go over to some friends' house (my mom, who lives here in Nashville, goes there too) and we have a small crowd and amazing food. It's always relaxing and fun, for which I'm truly thankful.


I thought I'd give a quick rundown of my Thanksgiving feast plans. Some of the food is Primal/Paleo and some is just gluten free, as it's a cooperative effort with a number of us doing cooking duties.

-The Bird:
My hubby is always in charge of the turkey and he always does a great job (seriously, the man can roast a bird!)

For the perfect turkey, we brine it and roast it upside-down so the juices flow into the breast. This really helps the white meat to be moist. We'll probably use Martha Stewart's turkey roasting recipe this year. We've used it before and it's simple and amazing.

-The stuffing:
While my mom is going to make traditional gluten-free stuffing, I'm also going to make this parsnip and mushroom grain-free roasted veggie stuffing (mine won't be low fat, though). I may add some wild rice cooked in chicken broth to jazz it up even more.

-The other sides:
I'm a cranberry sauce nut, so I get to make it every year. I follow the basic recipe of cranberries, water and sugar (using organic sugar) that's found on every bag of fresh cranberries, but I like to add chopped dried Turkish apricots, just a little squeeze of orange and a bit of cinnamon. The apricots nicely balance the acidity and add an unexpected touch. I've made low sugar cranberry sauce, but something about the lack of sugar seems to amplify the acidity and it ends up hurting my teeth, so sugar it is...


We're also having:
-roasted brussels sprouts that my mom will make
-blanched haricot verts with lemon zest and parmesan (so good- I need to get my friend's recipe!)
-mashed potatoes (I like the real deal on Thanksgiving. No mashed cauliflower!)
-sweet potato pecan casserole (my friend's recipe- no marshmallows or orange juice involved.)

-The desserts:
My friend is making gluten-free pumpkin pie (if I was making it, I'd do a coconut flour crust).

I'm making my apple spice cake, which I'll serve with fresh whipped local grass-fed cream. So much better than regular heavy whipping cream!
I always make whipped cream with NuNaturals Stevia NoCarbs Blend and no one knows it's sugar-free. Seriously, that stuff is good and not icky. I also use it in the apple cake, so at least one of the desserts won't be high in sugar/carbs.

I hope you all have a wonderful and delicious Thanksgiving feast! Happy Thanksgiving!!

-Erin

Apple Spice Cake

Don't you just love autumn? I sure do- it's my favorite season! I'm so glad to be rid of the oppressive heat of summer (and the mosquitoes and chiggers!) and I love the way the light shifts, lending the sky a beautiful clarity.

Right now I'm seeing an explosion of pumpkin recipes across the internet, but let's take a moment to focus on another seasonal produce treat: apples. Growing up in Michigan, one of the top apple producing states, I always think "apples" when I think "autumn". Apple cider, apple spice donuts and the smell of fresh apples at roadside farm stands.

I don't really get to indulge my apple obsession here in the South and many of the varieties I love like Northern Spy, Winesap, Cortland and even decent MacIntoshes are harder to find or unavailable down here, so when I noticed a "free apples" sign on a neighbor's apple tree, I was so excited! Of course I picked a bunch and I knew I had to come up with some kind of apple cake recipe.

This is really just a variation on my original vanilla cake recipe, but the flavor is very different and even the crumb texture seems a bit different (maybe because of the spices?) It makes a lovely breakfast treat or, with the addition of some fresh whipped cream, a homey dessert. It would also be fantastic with pears or even a combo of apples and pears. I can see making this at Thanksgiving.

Apple Spice Cake

Preheat oven to 350º

2 medium apples, peeled and sliced (I prefer softer baking varieties)
4 large eggs
3/4 cup + 2 TB coconut milk (canned)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup palm sugar (or other sugar)
1/2 cup blanched almond flour
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/4 teaspoon unrefined sea salt
Scant 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon cardamom
1/4 teaspoon clove powder

Stevia (I like NuNaturals NoCarbs Blend) to further sweeten- judge by tasting the batter. I always make sure the batter is slightly sweeter than I want the final product to be. Some of the sweetness bakes out.

Note on sweetener amount: you can further reduce the sugar and use more stevia, but I recommend using at least a little of some type of real sugar, since sugar contributes to a good crumb texture.

1. Sauté sliced apples (preferably in butter) until softened and set aside. This step isn't vital, but sautéing the apples gives them a nice flavor and texture, so I don't recommend skipping it.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, coconut milk and vanilla extract.
3. In another bowl, combine almond flour, coconut flour, sugar, salt, spices and baking soda.
4. Mix dry ingredients into wet with a whisk or mixer and mix well. Add stevia to taste.

Pour batter into well greased 9 inch round pan or 8x8 square pan and arrange the apple slices on top and slightly press them into the batter to make sure the edges are flush with the batter. This prevents the apple slices from curling. Sprinkle with cinnamon.

Bake for 28-30 minutes and enjoy the heavenly scent that fills your kitchen.
Allow to cool for an hour.


Enjoy!

-Erin