Chicken Pot Pie (GF)

Probably if you eat gluten, you are sick of all these gluten free recipes.  Sorry not sorry. Ha.  My next one will be less specific to the GF population.  This recipe is the last one I had marked to make from the Hiebert's GF cookbook I got at the Amish store.  So even though it's very (very) similar to the Chicken and Biscuits that I posted last week, I wanted to just finish up this cookbook.  So I made these pretty close together, when normally I would have waited like a month or something.

Even when I was eating gluten, I wouldn't make my own pie crust, because I wasn't good at rolling it out.  Or mixing it either.  But prepared GF pie crusts are few and far between.  And also I thought...well, I'll just try it.  And if it is a fail, I will just put biscuits on top like last week haha.

Chicken Pot Pie (GF)
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped carrots
½ cup chopped red pepper
¼ cup melted butter
½ cup rice flour
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup milk or cream (I use Lactaid milk when recipes call for milk)
2 tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
4 cups chopped cooked chicken
Pastry Dough:
1 ¼ cups brown rice flour
1 cup tapioca starch
½ tbsp sugar
½ tsp baking soda
2 tsp xanthan gum
½ tsp salt
¾ cup shortening
¼ cup milk

Preheat oven to 400.  Saute vegetables in butter for 10 minutes. 

Add rice flour to vegetables and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. 

Add broth and milk to vegetables, stirring constantly until thick and bubbly.  Stir in salt and pepper. 

Add chicken, stirring well. 

Scrape mixture into greased 9x13 baking dish.

For pastry, sift together dry ingredients into bowl.  Add shortening and mix until texture of bread crumbs.  Add milk gradually, testing texture.  Dough should pull together into a nice ball (add more milk if necessary).  Chill for 1 hour if dough is too soft to handle.  Roll dough out into 9x13 rectangle on plastic wrap or pastry mat.  Lifting corners of plastic wrap or pastry mat, invert dough onto chicken mixture in prepared dish.  Cut several slits into top of dough.

Bake 40 minutes, checking after 20 minutes.  Cover with foil if browning too quickly.

So at first glance, it's browner than I would like it to be.  But then I thought maybe it's the brown rice flour...browning?  I don't know.  It didn't taste over-done.  Here's how it looked on our plates (ignore my probiotic in the corner haha):

Usually I prefer a top and bottom crust on my pot pie, but in this case I think it would have been too much.  The crust was kind of thick, so one was enough.  Also this crust has shortening, which many people think is evil.  I think it's ok sometimes but you shouldn't eat it every day.  Everything in moderation.  Including moderation..........just kidding.  The younger kids did not enjoy this crust, but Steve, Sam and I all liked it.  And 2 of the people had seconds.  I took a serving to work the next day for lunch, and it wasn't quite as good the second day (the crust, I mean...the filling was still great).

So, we'll have this again.  The crust wasn't the easiest thing to roll out, but I have had things go far worse than this. 

And...another cookbook for the archives :)  I always like when I finish one.

Mulligatawny Soup

This soup.  I have never made a recipe like this before.  The picture was a bit off-putting, due to the color.  But looking at the ingredients list, I thought, well, I like all those things.  So probably I'll like them together.  I bet.  It's from the cookbook that we got as a Christmas gift from a friend, the one without any allergens

so that was another reason I wanted to try it.  This was my first time cooking with coconut oil (I have made one dessert with it before but that's all), so I wasn't sure how it would behave, and it was a little weird (you'll see) but it all turned out fine.  Also, according to the cookbook author, this was the soup that Seinfeld really wanted and that the Soup Nazi wouldn't give him.  I can believe it.  This really came out so so good, and I was shocked.  I wish their was Smell-a-blogging because then you could smell how amazing this was.  My picture isn't as pretty as theirs and doesn't really do it justice, either, but here it is:

Mulligatawny Soup
2 tbsp olive oil
½ cup coconut oil
1 tbsp tomato paste
2 tbsp GF flour
1 yellow onion, diced
2 carrots, thinly sliced
4 celery stalks, thinly sliced
1 lg pear, diced
2 cups chopped cooked turkey or chicken
¼ cup curry powder
2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
1 ½ cups long grain white rice
8 cups chicken or turkey broth
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk/cream, plus more for serving
kosher salt
fresh parsley & pomegranate seeds for serving, (Optional)

In a large heavy pot, heat the olive oil and coconut oil over medium heat.  Add the tomato paste and flour and stir until smooth.  Cook for 2 minutes. (this looked too lumpy to me, but I proceeded)

Stir the onion into the mixture, then add the carrots and celery and cook for 3-4 minutes.  Add the pear and cook for 2-3 minutes more. (again, the tomato paste seemed too clumpy, like it never incorporated...but I kept going)

Add the turkey/chicken, curry powder, and thyme, and cook, stirring, for about 2 minutes.  (it kind of incorporated at this point...so that was good)

Add the rice and broth and stir well. 

Bring to a light boil, then cover the pot.  Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes. 

Stir in the coconut cream/milk. 

Season with salt and serve hot, with an extra dollop of coconut cream, parsley, and pomegranate seeds if desired (I didn't haha...).

Ok so I didn't use the pomegranate seeds, because they seemed an expensive addition when I knew the kids (and possibly the husband) wouldn't eat them.  So I left them out.  It does make the soup look a bit monochromatic without it, so I can see why they'd want to add them in.  Also a note about unsweetened coconut cream: I couldn't find it.  I went to 2 different stores, and at the second one, I decided to buy unsweetened coconut milk and try to make it work.  Then I got home and googled, and guess what?  They are used interchangeably.  Helpful information.  So there is a thing called "cream of coconut" which you do not want because that is a dessert thing and super sweet.  But I bought the right thing after all.

Ok so you should try this soup.  It sounds like a lot of curry powder.  And, it is.  But it's not too much when you're eating the soup.  It's so so so good.  I'm sure you could tweak it if you don't want to spend money on coconut oil and coconut milk. But if you are dairy free, it's worth it.  It's creamy like a chowder, without the dairy. 

We had this with sliced toasted buttered GF bread that I had bought that morning from my favorite GF bakery lady.  Our friend who gave us the cookbook ate this with us, and he recommended we try it with flatbread next time, because the other times he's had a meal like this, it's always served with flatbread.  There is a flatbread recipe in this cookbook too :), so that's what I'll do next time.

Chicken and Biscuits (GF)

This is kind of like a pot-pie filling with a biscuit topping.  Very yummy.  This has a from-scratch biscuit topping, but you could use a mix, or I bet you could even use the Pillsbury biscuits in a can, but cut them into fourths and sprinkle them over the top.  Of course don't do that if you don't eat gluten hahaha but if you just like the sound of this recipe and you eat gluten, that's a good option, and it would make the prep time quicker, too.  This is from the Hiebert's GF cookbook that I got at the Amish country store last year.

Chicken and Biscuits (GF)
1 ¼ cups peas
1 ¼ cups diced carrots
1 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup melted butter
4 cups chopped cooked chicken
½ cup GF flour mix
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup milk
2 tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
Biscuits:
2 cups GF flour mix
1 tsp xanthan gum (if GF mix doesn't have)
4 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
½ tsp cream of tartar
½ cup cold butter
¾ cup milk (may need more)

Steam peas and carrots just until tender; drain, if necessary.  Meanwhile, saute onion in butter for 10 minutes.  Add 1/2 cup flour, stirring constantly with whisk.  Combine broth and milk.  Gradually stir into butter mixture, stirring constantly til thickened.  Add salt and pepper.  Stir in chicken and vegetables.

Put into greased 9x13 pan.

For biscuits, stir together dry ingredients.  Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly.  Add milk and stir until batter forms (batter will be very sticky). 

Dab biscuit batter over the top of the chicken mixture

and bake at 350 for 30 minutes until golden brown.

So so good.  But I knew I would like it because this is pretty much my favorite kind of food to eat.  A couple notes: obviously you can buy a bag of frozen peas and carrots and throw those in instead of dicing carrots etc.  That's what I did; 5 minutes in the microwave and they were done.  I also had to use a lot more milk than the 3/4 cup it said, but that may have been based on the flour blend I used (I used Bob's Red Mill in the blue bag).  This cookbook has their own flour blend that they recommend, but I can't make every single flour blend that every GF cookbook tells me to, or I'd be here all day.  I've had very good luck with every recipe in this cookbook using the BRM blue bag blend.

We had 2 extra kids here last night.  Everybody liked the filling; a couple kids left the biscuit behind, but that's ok.  Nathan had seconds, which is almost unheard of.  So, I guess you could say it's a good recipe (pretend I said that in my Kip voice [from Napoleon Dynamite]).  We'll definitely be having this one again.  I might use GF Bisquick, because I always have a lot of that, because I order it on Amazon's "subscribe and save" and I keep forgetting to go on there and tell them to skip this month's delivery haha.

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies (GF)

That is a long name for a cookie.  Let's call them WCMNC for this post, ok?  It will save me time typing, and save you time reading (I try to provide a diverse range of services here at New Recipe Night).

Back in my gluten-eating days, WCMNC was one of my top 2 favorite cookies (the other one being oatmeal raisin).  My favorite WCMNC were the ones you can get at Subway to go with your sandwich for $0.99.  I liked how greasy they were; you would put them on a napkin while you ate your sandwich, and then when you picked it up to eat it, there was a grease ring on your Subway napkin.  And the cookie was amazing.  Even when I was eating gluten, I tried a few times to find a WCMNC recipe that tasted like Subway's, and I made a few that were fine, but not like I wanted them to be.  I had a friend who was trying to help me find the perfect recipe, but we never could. 

So, fast forward to now, where I have this ATK cookbook (How Can It Be Gluten Free Vol 2), and this recipe is in it.  I tried it with a certain level of skpeticism, because it seems statistically unlikely that if I couldn't find a regular recipe that I liked for these cookies, that I would find a GF recipe that I liked.  But, my friends, this is it.  And there are 2 possible reasons. #1: the recipe really is fabulous and Subway wants me to start making them for their GF customers to have with their "Chop Salad" (the GF thing you can get there, provided you are careful about toppings and sauces) OR #2: my tastebuds don't remember the real thing and 3 years ago I wouldn't have been excited about this recipe but now I am.  So which is it?  Read on to see....

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies (GF)
1 ¾ cups ATK All Purpose GF Flour Blend
1 tsp baking soda
¾ tsp xanthan gum
½ tsp salt
8 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled
¾ cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup white sugar
1 egg
2 tbsp milk
1 tbsp vanilla extract
¾ cup white chocolate chips
½ cup macadamia nuts, chopped

Whisk flour blend, baking soda, xanthan gum, and salt together in bowl. 

In large bowl, whisk melted butter, brown sugar, and white sugar together until no lumps remain.  Whisk in egg, milk, and vanilla until very smooth.  Stir in flour mixture with rubber spatula until dough is completely homogenous (I used my kitchen aid for all this, and it was totally fine). 

Fold in white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts.  Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let dough rest for 30 minutes (dough will be sticky and soft).

Adjust oven rack to  middle position and heat oven to 350.  Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper (I really used this, and the bonus is you don't have to wash the pan after...plus with sticky dough it usually is a smart move).  Working with about 1 1/2 tbsp of dough at a time, use 2 soup spoons to portion out dough and space 2 inches apart on prepared sheets.

Bake cookies, 1 sheet at a time, until golden brown and edges have begun to set but centers are still soft, about 12-14 minutes, rotating sheet halfway through baking (I usually don't bother rotating the pans, but I did this time because I wanted these to be perfect ha).

Let cookies cool on sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack.  Serve warm or at room temperature.  Can be stored in airtight container for up to 1 day)(so yeah that's not very long...but it doesn't make that many so I don't think it'd be hard to eat them all, especially if you bring them somewhere).

So you probably noticed the first ingredient is the ATK GF flour blend.  And they say if you don't use it, you won't like the results.  But, they are not the boss of you, so you can try another blend if you have it already on hand (I do have the recipe for their blend on this blog, too, if you search up at the top for "ATK" you should easily find it.  I also did not use unsalted butter, because I just have regular butter.  But it was fine.

My husband is used to me saying, loudly, while he eats something "CAN YOU EVEN TELL IT'S GLUTEN FREE?? NO, YOU CAN'T."  And so I can't all the way trust his opinion on my GF baking anymore hahahaha PLUS I'm sure I've altered his taste buds over these last 2+ years, too.  So the best barometer is to take them somewhere and just see what happens.  So I took them to home fellowship last night (that's CC code for "small group").  My GF friend knew about these, because I texted her ahead of time.  And maybe I mentioned it to Becky, whose house we meet at, but I can't remember.  But that's definitely all.  And they were flying off the plate.  And so of course, as I see people happily munching, I had to say, loudly, "YOU CAN'T EVEN TELL THESE ARE GF CAN YOU????"  And everyone agreed that you couldn't.  And kept on eating (which they wouldn't have done if they didn't like them...maybe a couple people would but not everybody). 

To summarize, these were amazing and I'm so glad I found the recipe for them.  Even though macadamia nuts are expensive, I'm going to buy them again and make these again. 

Peanut Butter Squares

Nathan made these yesterday for home fellowship, and I only helped a couple of times in the middle (I'll tell you when).  These are no-bake, and they were very fast and easy to make.  And, they all got eaten at home fellowship, which means everybody liked them.  This recipe is from America's Best Recipes: Comfort Food (my Christmas cookbook from my mom).

Peanut Butter Squares

4 cups powdered sugar
1 2/3 cups crushed graham crackers or graham cracker crumbs
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup butter, melted
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips, melted

Stir together first 4 ingredients in a medium bowl (will be very thick...we added the powdered sugar last, and after the second cup of powdered sugar, I had to take over stirring).  Firmly press mixture into an ungreased 9x13 pan.

Spread melted chocolate evenly over cookie layer (this was the other part I had to help with, because it was a pretty thin layer).

Let stand at room temperature 2 hours before cutting into bars.

So, next time I will use the kitchen aid to mix the peanut butter layer.  But you should feel my right arm bicep right now, because it got quite a work out.  Easy, and from what I hear, yummy, so we'll have them again.

I did have some GF graham cracker crumbs, but I decided not to try it (this time) because of the texture.  The ones I have are more like wet sand, and I wasn't sure how the texture would be, especially because these weren't going to be baked.  Maybe I'll experiment with a half batch next time.

Slow-Cooked Pork Roast Dinner

So I guess "crock pot" is a name brand, and Rival owns it.  So you can't just throw it around if you are a cookbook.  You have to use code names such as "slow cooker."  So, this is a crock pot recipe, but you didn't hear that from me.

I like to throw things in the crock pot in the morning while the kids are doing school, especially if I have appointments in the afternoon.  Then I just come home from the appointment or whatever and plop the food on the plates.  Which it pretty much seems like "plopping" with crock pot food, because it mostly never looks good, even though it tastes yummy and is very easy.  I also liked this recipe because you don't have to brown the meat or anything.  I like recipes that you just throw in ingredients and go about your day, without having to like wash a skillet after while you're trying to help a kid with long division.  This one is from Simple & Delicious.

Slow-Cooked Pork Roast Dinner
1 cup hot water
¼ cup sugar
3 tbsp cider vinegar
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp ketchup
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
¼ tsp garlic powder
¼ tsp chili powder
1 large onion, halved and sliced
2 ½ lb pork loin roast, halved
4 med potatoes (about 2 lbs), peeled and cut into 1-in pieces
1 pkg (16 oz) frozen sliced carrots, thawed
2 tbsp cornstarch
2 tbsp cold water

Whisk the first 9 ingredients til blended.  Place onion in 5-qt slow cooker.  Place roast, potatoes, and carrots over onion.  Add sauce mixture.  Cook, covered, on low 6-8 hours or until pork and potatoes are tender.

Remove roast and vegetables from slow cooker.  Transfer juices to a small saucepan.  Skim what fat you can.  Bring to a boil.  In a small dish, mix cornstarch and cold water; stir into cooking juices.  Return to a boil; cook and stir 1-2 minutes or until thickened.  Serve with roast and vegetables.

I ran out of time so I didn't thicken the juices, just spooned them over the meat.  Still good.  Also, if you use GF soy sauce (I use Bragg's Liquid Aminos), then this is a gluten free, dairy free meal, without even having to think about it.  Which is awesome.

BBQ Chicken Cornbread Skillet

You must have seen those videos on facebook, where they show you step by step how to make a recipe.  I usually watch them.  And I think "that is way too much work," or "yuck," or, sometimes, "Mmmmm that looks yummy."  So this recipe was one of those.  It's from delish.com. If you watch the video you get a good idea of the effort and ingredients involved, and if you want to bother or not.  Then you click on the link and you can get the complete recipe.  That's what I did, and I'm sure you could easily go to delish.com and find the video if you're interested.   This is the second time I've made this. The first time my parents were eating with us, so I omitted the red onion, because they hate onions (of any color; they don't discriminate).  For tonight, I did use the onion, and it was very yummy.  This is also an easy recipe to modify if you are (or are feeding those who are) gluten free, because it starts with a boxed cornbread mix, which you can get GF or regular.  I bought a GF box the first time, but tonight I used a GF recipe that I really like that I've used in the past.  If you are making it GF, just double check that your BBQ sauce is GF...I use Sweet Baby Ray's, and it is.

BBQ Chicken Cornbread Skillet
1 box corn muffin mix
½ cup corn kernels
1 red onion, thinly sliced
salt & pepper to taste
2 cups rotisserie chicken, shredded
1 1/3 cup BBQ sauce, divided
1 lime, juiced
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
¼ cup chopped scallions

Prepared cornbread mix by package directions, adding corn kernels.  Pour into greased Dutch oven and bake by pkg directions until done.

Meanwhile, saute the onions over medium heat.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Add chicken, 1 cup bbq sauce, and the lime juice and heat over medium-low heat til warmed through. 

Remove dutch oven from oven and poke holes over surface of the cornbread.  Brush remaining bbq sauce over top of the cornbread.  Cover evenly with chicken mixture.  Sprinkle chicken with cheese.  Cover and bake at 400 for 15 minutes.  Remove cover and bake 5 minutes longer or until cheese is melted and slightly browned.  Top with scallions before serving.

As you can see, I left a little corner with no cheese, for my cheese hater.  And I also forgot to buy scallions, or I would have used them.  The color and crunch would have been nice, but not necessary.  If you are lactose intolerant, the Kraft shredded Mexican cheese pictured is lactose free (it says it right on the back of the bag).  Cabot block cheeses have a lot of lactose free ones too.  It's getting easier, my food intolerant friends!

This picture doesn't look like something delish.com would feature, but it does give you a better idea of what the layers look like:

Very yummy, and obviously we'll have it again, since this is the second time we've had it ;)

Oatmeal Carmelitas

Doesn't that sound fancy??  Maybe it's Mexican or something.  This is what I made for home fellowship last night.  I did not put the pecans in, even though I love pecans, because then not everybody would have liked them.  Next time I am definitely putting them in, and then it will practically be a granola bar and I can eat them any time of day.  This is from the cookbook my mom gave me for Christmas, America's Best Recipes: Comfort Food.

Oatmeal Carmelitas
2 cups flour (I used Bob's Red Mill GF baking flour in the blue bag)
2 cups quick oats
1 ½ cups brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
1 cup butter, melted
2 cups chocolate chips
½ cup chopped toasted pecans, (optional)
1 14 oz pkg caramels, unwrapped
1/3 cup half-and-half

Preheat oven to 350. 

Stir together first 5 ingredients in large bowl.  Add butter, stirring until mixture is crumbly.  Set aside half of the mixture.  Press remaining half of mixture into greased 9x13 pan.  Sprinkle evenly with chocolate chips and pecans (if using).

Microwave caramels and half-and-half in a microwave safe bowl at 50% power for 3 minutes.  Stir and microwave at 50% power 1-3 more minutes or until mixture is smooth.  Let stand 1 minute.  Pour evenly over chocolate morsels.  Sprinkle with reserved crumb mixture.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until light golden brown.  Cool completely in pan on wire rack before cutting into bars.

In the baking aisle near the chocolate chips, they have these caramel morsels in an 11 oz light brown bag...they are the shape of chocolate chips, but it's the same caramel that comes wrapped in those insanely frustrating little plastic cubes.  I actually planned to make this on Friday because I knew Barbie would be here and she could unwrap the cubes while I made the rest of the recipe hahaha.  But then I saw these and thought I would try them.  I used the morsels just like the recipe says to use the caramels, and they worked fine.  And it was way faster.

Some people thought these were too sweet.  I actually did think that, and didn't finish mine...and I had one for breakfast too and thought the same thing.  But other people didn't feel that way and happily ate their whole portion.  I think adding the pecans will cut some of that sweetness.  And, I will cut them smaller next time.  A very yummy recipe that I will for sure make again.

Meatloaf Stew

Have you guys ever had Dinty Moore beef stew when you're camping?  I hate camping, but I do love to open 2 big cans of Dinty Moore and dump them into our cast iron pot and cook it over an open fire.  Sometimes I add that "just-add-water" biscuit mix and put it over the top and it's one pot full of yummy beef stew and biscuits.  Dinty Moore is gluten free.  Obviously the biscuits aren't.  This past summer I just pulled my portion out before I added the biscuit batter on top.  It's one of the few good things about camping.  It looks gross though.  Sometimes I buy a can and bring it to work if we have no leftovers I can bring for my lunch.  I call it "dog food" because that's what it looks like.  When I was growing up, we used to give our dogs canned dog food and it kinda looks like that (DM smells better though)...it loses some of it's charm when you warm it up in a hospital cafeteria microwave versus over a camp fire.  So the whole time I made this recipe, I was thinking, this does not look good.  But it smelled good right along.  And tasted pretty good too.  I took lots of pictures of this one so you can see what I mean.  This is from the GF Hiebert's Amish cookbook.

Meatloaf Stew
¼ cup water
6 potatoes, peeled and cut into bite-size pieces
6 carrots, peeled and cut into bite-size pieces
salt and pepper
1 egg
1/3 cup ketchup
2 tsp bouillon powder
1/3 cup finely chopped onion (or 1/2 tsp onion powder)
¼ tsp thyme
¼ cup water
1/3 cup GF bread crumbs
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
1 ½ lbs ground beef (or mixture of ground beef & ground turkey)

Pour first 1/4 cup of water into crock pot.  Add potatoes and carrots; sprinkle with salt and pepper. 

Combine the rest of the ingredients in a bowl and mix well.

Spread over potatoes and carrots.

Cook on low for 8-10 hours or on high for 4-5 hours.

Then I chunked it up with a serving spoon to get the finished product:

Doesn't that look awful?? And nobody wanted to eat it...we had 5 kids here, and all of them were like...um, I'm not hungry.  But I gave everyone just a small portion, and 3 of them went back for more.  It did taste very good, and it smelled great in the kitchen all day.  I'm keeping the recipe, because it tasted good.  I meant to have this with biscuits but I ran out of time.  Next time I will....