Lemon Garlic Chicken over Cauliflower Mash
Grilled
Lemon Garlic Chicken Breast
over Roasted Garlic Cauliflower Mash
Facebook is not all time-wasting games,
people-sharing-more-stuff-than-we-really-wanted-to-know...it
can be a really useful tool. Seriously...
I believe one of my Paleo Diet friends posted the
low-carb Lemon Garlic Shrimp over
Cauliflower Mash recipe
from Nancy at
SheCooksHeCleans.net. Like a good
husband, I asked Peggy to Pin it for me so I could
make it for her. The ironic thing...it's just the
opposite in our house...I cook and Peg
cleans...just the way I like it.
I did make the shrimp & cauliflower and we both
loved it! We had tried mashed cauliflower in the
past, but we weren't impressed [at least with that
particular recipe]. This recipe on the other
hand...is a keeper!
In my adaptation of Nancy's recipe, I am simply
replacing the shrimp with chicken and removing the
lemon juice and red pepper flakes from the sauce.
Actually the chicken you see was actually grilled the
night before. Peggy is not a fan of reheated meat,
but she had no problems cleaning her lunch plate.
If you like garlic, you're going to love this dish!
It calls for fourteen to sixteen cloves. You'll need
a way to peel them quickly; watch this video, it
really works: http://vimeo.com/29605182
Oh yeah, word of caution, don't plan on going out
after eating this, you're a walking Garlic Weapon of
Mass Destruction. This gives a whole new meaning to
"chemical weapon".
Ingredients
Marinade:
Zest of 1 lemon
2 cloves garlic, minced
3-4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 pound (3 or 4) chicken breasts
Cauliflower Mash:
1 head of cauliflower, cut into even medium to large sized florets
6-8 cloves garlic, peeled
Extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Butter
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
Half and half or cream / Milk or broth, optional use if needed to correct consistency
Lemon Garlic Chicken:
Marinated Chicken (from above)
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 slices bacon
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup white wine, or gluten-free chicken broth
1/2 sweet onion, minced
Pinch or two of dried oregano
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons fresh oregano, chopped
Directions
1. Mix all the ingredients of marinade in a bowl large enough for all the chicken pieces. Place chicken in the bowl and make sure each one gets well coated. Cover and place in refrigerator for 1 - 4 hours.
2. Preheat oven to 400 and fire up your favorite grill (gas or charcoal). Place cauliflower and garlic cloves in foiled shallow pan [sided cookie sheet or jelly roll pan]. Drizzle enough olive oil to coat the pan/foil and the vegetables. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover loosely with foil and roast for 15 min. Remove foil and carefully stir vegetables so they don't stick and so they brown evenly. Uncover and roast for another 15 – 20 minutes or until cauliflower and garlic are soft and lightly browned. Remove from oven.
3. As the cauliflower is roasting, get your grill grates cleaned and prepped. I like to heat my gas grill to about 500-600° to carbonize anything that might be sticking on the grates. Brush the grates with a grill brush to remove any carbonized food particles then clean with several layers of paper towel that was liberally coated with vegetable oil. This clean the grates, but it also creates a non-stick surface. Close grill cover and allow internal temp to rise back up to 500+
4. Place chicken breasts on the grill. Grill until meat is firm and juices run clear (or internal temperature reaches 165°). Remove from grill, cover allow to rest and keep warm.
5. Place cauliflower & garlic with a couple tablespoons of butter in a food processor and puree. Add parmesan cheese and mix well. The cauliflower should be a mashed potato or grits consistency (fairly thick, not runny). Add a touch cream or broth if it's too thick. Place in a heat-proof bowl and keep warm.
6. In a sauté pan, cook the bacon until crisp. Remove bacon set aside on paper towels. When cool, chop into small pieces. Set aside.
7. Add two tablespoons of butter to the bacon drippings and melt on medium heat. Add onion and cook until softened. Add minced garlic, and oregano – sauté for a minute. Stir in wine/broth. Cook until liquid is reduced by half (only a few minutes). Salt & pepper to taste.
Note: I also had left over bacon, so I did not have bacon drippings to help create a sauce. So, in order to re-heat the chicken and make a sauce, in a pan melt 2 tablespoons of butter, a splash of olive oil and sauté some minced onion and garlic. After onions soften, add some gluten-free chicken stock (1/4 - 1/2 cup?). Cover just the chicken with a small cover and allowed the sauce to reduce & slightly thicken. Near the end of cooking, add some dried oregano. If I had some white wine, I would've used that instead of chicken stock.
8. Slice chicken and place over mashed cauliflower, spoon sauce over the top. Garnish with chopped bacon.
Until the next good eats - cook well and be well.
Lemon and Herb Roasted Chicken
This was part of a very
fallish Saturday night dinner. What you don't see is
the roasted squash.
In the 20 years that Peg and I have been married,
we've never roasted a chicken. We've done turkeys
countless times, but not chickens. Why? Don't know.
99% of our chicken comes in the form of
boneless-skinless breasts...it's quick, it's easy,
it's versatile. Well, things have changed.
Some days it's like Iron Chef Kitchen Stadium
around our house - I never know what is going to
turn up. Friday night I helped put away groceries
and came across a whole chicken.
Me: "A whole chicken?!"
Peg: "Yeah, I think we need to roast a chicken to go
along with that squash."
Me: "Are you going to make Beer Can Chicken?"
Peg: "I would but we don't have any gluten-free beer
in cans".
Now I'm sure we could've worked out the logistics of
making a gluten-free beer can chicken if we put our
minds to it, but we had a zillion other things to do
around the house on Saturday. As I was recovering
from my yard raking & mowing induced myocardial
infarction, I decided to consult one of my friends about a
roasted chicken recipe. It didn't take long before
he suggested a recipe from Tyler Florence of
Food Network fame.
I decided on Tyler's recipe because 1) there is only
a handful of ingredients 2) there is only a handful
of steps 3) it was going to taste great! I don't like
following recipes in the first place, and it's even
worse when it's long and drawn out...and often times
organized weirdly...and often times makes me swear at
it [maybe I'm the one that's organized weirdly, but
that's whole 'nother post...].
Some people like gourmet-type foods with an
ingredient list as long as your arm and a set of
directions that is as thick as War and Peace. I have neither
the patience nor the time for that! I'm a simple
guy, that likes simple, but great tasting
gluten-free food. Tyler's recipe is a perfect
example of how you can take simple ingredients and
make amazing food! Yes, "the whole is greater than
the sum of its parts".
This recipe is a keeper. In our house we call it
"Company Food" [food we'd serve to guests].
Ingredients:
1 whole chicken (organic, free-range if you like)
1 lemon, quartered
1 head of garlic, halved
1/4 bunch of fresh rosemary, thyme and parsley,
roughly chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/2 pounds of red potatoes (all about the same
size)
Salt & Pepper
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400
Tyler's recipe [and many others] calls for rinsing
the chicken, however the USDA suggests that rinsing
can spread bacteria thus
increasing cross contamination risks. When cooked
properly (internal temp >165) any bacteria on
the chicken will be destroyed.
Season the cavity with salt & pepper - after
removing the bag of "goodies" found inside.
Stuff the herbs, garlic & lemon inside the
cavity.
Tie the legs together and place into roasting pan. I
used our dutch oven, it was a snug fit so I didn't
tie the legs.
Season outside liberally with salt & pepper and
drizzle the olive oil over the entire chicken.
Toss in the potatoes around the chicken.
Roast for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Remember to baste the
chicken with the drippings every 20 minutes.
Check internal temp by inserting an instant read
thermometer into thickest part of of thigh - it
should read 165 degrees.
Remove from pan and let rest for 10 minutes before
carving.
Enjoy!
Note: We saved the pan drippings, added the carcass
(and the head of garlic) back to the dutch oven and
covered it with tap water. Let this come to a boil
for 10-15 minutes and strained the liquid gold into a
large bowl or measuring cup. After cooling, place in
fridge. The fat will rise to the top to be skimmed
off later. This will be the base for some killer
chicken soup!
Until the next good eats...
Al
Pesto Tomato Grilled Cheese Sandwich
Don't get me wrong, I really like leftovers for lunch, and have them quite often, but sometimes it's nice to make something fresh.
Since we had a couple of tomatoes from the farmers market just begging to be used, we decided to turn our Pesto Grilled Cheese Sandwich into a Pesto Tomato Grilled Cheese Sandwich.
I best get back to the vacation fun of cleaning the garage...
Pesto Tomato Grilled Cheese Sandwich
Ingredients:
2 slices of GF Bread (Udi's is shown here)
Basil Pesto (homemade is best, but Classico Basil Pesto shown here)
2 slices of Provolone cheese
1 slice of tomato
Olive Oil
Directions:
Heat pan or griddle to medium heat.
Drizzle olive oil on one side of each slice of bread. This side will be placed directly on the heat.
Spread pesto on the non-oiled side of each slice.
Lay down one slice of cheese on top of pesto
Lay down the tomato slice.
Lay down the last slice of cheese. This encases the tomato in an envelope of cheese.
Cover with remaining slice of bread. Remember Pesto side toward the cheese/oiled side on top.
Place sandwich on pan and cover. Covering will help the cheese melt.
Check after 1 - 2 minutes - make sure it's not burning. Flip when GBD (golden, brown & delicious)
Do the same to the next side.
I'll let you decide how best to slice your sandwich. Personally, I think diagonal cuts taste far better. :-)
Since GF bread slices tend to be smaller, I made 2 sandwiches.
Until the next good eats...
Al
Cold Pasta Salad
For those of us without kids, we are going to squeeze every last bit out of summer before it slinks into fall.
Summer time = cookouts and family gatherings
Cookouts and family gatherings = cold pasta salads!
Any cookout worth its salt has a cold pasta salad present. Years ago, a relative of Peg's brought this [non-gluten-free] pasta salad to a summer family event. Peg said that I'd really like it - it was tangy, zesty and a bit spicy. Yup - sounds like right up my alley, but I couldn't touch it.
Until today...we made this salad for our group's annual cookout! Nothing is off-limits at this cookout!
Gluten?!? We don't need no stinkin' gluten!
Jovial Foods was kind enough to send us some samples of their pasta [my sole intent was making a rightous cold pasta salad]. I think we accomplished that mission!
Salad Ingredients:
1 lb Jovial Gluten-Free Penne Rigate Pasta.
1 Small Onion
1 Green Pepper
1 Yellow Pepper
1 Small Zuchinni
½ lb of Mozzerella cheese (cubed)
½ lb of Hormel Pepperoni Slices (chopped)
¼ lb Hillshire Farms Hard Salami Slices – chopped.
3 Stalks Celery (sliced)
3 Fresh tomatoes (sliced or chunked)
1 can pitted black olives (sliced)
Dressing Ingredients:
1 ½ teaspoon salt
¾ teaspoon white pepper
½ cup of canola oil
¼ cup of olive oil
½ cup Heinz White Vinegar
2 ½ teaspoon Penzey's Orgeno
½ teaspoon Penzey's Pizza Seasoning
¼ teaspoon Penzey's Garlic Powder
Mix dressing ingredients, veggies & meat chill for at least 2 hours. Do not mix in cheese.
Make gluten-free pasta several hours before eating. Allow to cool (room temp).
Mix pasta, dressing with veggies and meat, and cheese together. Chill until needed.
Product notes:
Gluten-free pastas have a tendancy to harden when cold. Jovial's Penne has a much better texture [softer] when chilled overnight.
Jovial's GF products are certified by the Gluten-Free Certification Organization.
Vegetable Beef End of Summer Soup
Ingredients:
1 - 2 pounds stew meat
1 - 2 tablespoons olive oil
1 32 oz carton GF beef stock [Kitchen Basics]
1 48 oz bottle V8 Juice
2 - 3 cups cubed fresh rutabagas
2 - 3 cups sliced fresh carrots
2 - 3 cups chopped fresh green beans
1 medium onion chopped
2 cups chopped zucchini
2 ears cooked fresh corn cut off the cob
3/4 cups of frozen peas
3 cups chopped cabbage
2 chopped Roma tomatoes
1 Bay leaf
Salt & Pepper to taste
optional: 1 packet of HerbOx beef bouillon
optional: 1 small 5.5oz can of tomato juice
Directions:
Add olive oil to your soup pot or dutch oven and brown stew meat.
Add beef stock and V8 juice to pot and stir.
Add carrots and rutabagas. Let simmer for 10 minutes.
Add all the rest of the veggies and bay leaf.
Stir and simmer covered pot for about 3 hrs.
Rinse the bottle of V8 and add water to pot [about 1-2 cups].
Peg Notes:
The amounts of veggies can be adjusted to your tastes. I added the additional HerbOx and tomato juice because I felt there was more veggies than liquid. I didn't want to loose flavor as I added liquid, so I used the HerbOx
Minestrone Soup
This recipe is adapted from Living Without Summer 2005 issue.
It's one of our favorites and gets rave reviews from all who've tried - gluten-free or otherwise.
We save it for the fall/winter when it's cold and yucky on the outside and warm and yummy on the inside.
Ingredients
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
2 cloves minced garlic
1 large onion - diced
2 medium carrots - sliced
2 stalks celery - sliced
1 medium potato - diced
1 15oz can diced tomatoes
1 small zuchinni
1 tspn oregano
2 tspn salt
4 cups GF chicken broth (we used Swansen Natural Goodness)
1 cup fresh or frozen corn
1 cup fresh or frozen green bean (1 1/2" pieces)
1 15oz can kidney beans - drained & rinsed
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil (optional) or 2 cubes of frozen homemade basil pesto (See Al Notes)
Parmesan cheese (optional)
Add olive oil, butter & garlic to a large soup pot over medium heat. Saute until onion is transparent and soft.
Add celery, carrots, potato. Saute for another 5 minutes.
Add tomatoes, oregano, salt and chicken broth.
Bring soup up to a simmer. Cover and cook for 15-30 minutes. Veggies should be tender.
Add the corn, green beans, kidney beans, zuchinni and simmer for another 15-30 minutes.
Stir in fresh basil or add frozen pesto cubes and allow to melt.
Serve hot and don't eat too much. You could also top with fresh grated Parmesan cheese.
Al Notes
Since we made a double batch, we use both kidney beans and black beans.
In the summer I will make fresh basil pesto. This is usually a Saturday project for me. We have a little farmers market downtown and I'll get several bunches. I'll whiz up a batch and pour it in ice cube trays and freeze it. After about a month of pesto making, we'll have several freezer bags full of pesto cubes we can use for a whole bunch of things...like this soup!
Chicken & Wild Rice Blend with Veggies
The Wild Rice Blend is from Lundberg and has become one of my recent favorite meals. It simple to do, but it takes time for the rice to cook. However it gives you time to do the veggies.
The recipe for this on the bag.
Ingredients
1/2 cup of chopped celery
1 cup of sliced mushrooms
1 small onion
1/4 cup red bell pepper
1/4 cup carrot
1 (or more) cloves of garlic
2 tbs butter or Extra Virgin Olive Oil (I used EVOO).
2-3 tbs of GF soy sauce (GF Teriyaki sauce is used in the original recipe, but we don't like teriyaki sauce)
1 cup of Wild Blend
2 cups of water or GF chicken broth (Kitchen Basics, Progresso, Campbell's)
1 tbs butter (optional - you could use EVOO too)
Salt & Pepper to taste. Just know how salty the broth is before you season.
Directions
Combine rice, liquid & butter/EVOO in pot with tight lid
Bring to boil. Stir once then cover.
Reduce to simmer and cook 50 minutes.
Remove from heat and let stand while covered for 10 minutes.
While rice is cooking prep the veggies. Use you imagination - use colorful veggies!
In a pan, add butter/oil & garlic over medium heat for 2 minutes.
Add onion, celery & carrots and stir. Sauté for 3-4 minutes
Add red bell pepper. Sauté for a couple more minutes.
Add mushrooms & stir.
Add GF teriyaki or soy.
Reduce heat and stir occasionally.
Remove from heat when veggies are tender.
Once the Wild Blend is done, fold in veggie mixture.