Boneless Buffalo Chicken Tenders

One of my favorite "bar" foods is Buffalo Wings...love love love them, especially boneless ones, but 9 times out of 10 they are coated with flour or fried in the same oil that other battered things are fried in, so I never get to eat them. Today after talking with Bryan, who had them for lunch today I figured I would try and make some myself...it couldn't be that hard, right? - Thanks Bryan for the inspiration!!

Wicked easy to make and extremely tasty! Served them tonight with some baked sweet potato fries.

Boneless Buffalo Chicken Tenders

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in to 1/2 strips

1/4 cup potato starch

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 cup canola oil

1/2 cup Franks Hot Sauce

1/3 cup butter

1 teaspoon lemon juice

In a large skillet, heat the oil (do not let it get too hot and smoke). In a small pan melt oil and add hot sauce and lemon juice, keep on low heat. In a medium bowl mix the potato starch, salt and garlic powder until well combined. Dredge the chicken strips in the potato starch. Shake off any excess starch and cook chicken in the oil for about 2-3 minutes per side, until lightly golden brown.

When chicken is completely cooked through, add to pan with butter and hot sauce, stir and coat evenly. Serve immediately.

Any extras would be great cut up and put in a salad!

Pumpkin Seeds

I've carved two of my three pumpkins for the season. When carving the second one I thought I should save the seeds and roast them...something I've never done before. I had no clue what I was doing but I guessed and they came out pretty darn good I must say. A tasty little snack!

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

When cleaning out the pulp and seeds from your pumpkin before carving it separate the seeds from the pulp.  I think the best way to do this is to run them under cold water and discard the pulp.  On a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, lightly oil the seeds and sprinkle with kosher salt.  Roast in a pre-heated oven set at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.  About half way through mix the seeds around so they don't over cook on one side.  Cool and enjoy.  Store in an airtight container.

Below are some pictures of the pumpkins so far...only one more to carve and not sure what it will be just yet...

Pumpkin Cheesecake Cupcakes

Cheese cake is so good, but the idea of a whole cheese cake is to tempting for one person. I would be tempted to eat the WHOLE thing! A while ago I made some crust-less cheesecake cupcakes and they turned out pretty good so I thought, why not make cheesecake cupcakes again, but with pumpkin and gingersnap crust. Talk about the perfect little fall treat. These would be great for Thanksgiving instead of the typical Pumpkin Pie. Little individual cheesecakes for everyone, especially the kids.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Cupcakes

2 cups of gluten free gingersnap crumbs (I use Trader Joe's)

6 tablespoons melted butter

3 tablespoons brown sugar

3 8oz packages of cream cheese - softened

1 cup sugar

1 15oz can of pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie mix)

1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

1/4 teaspoon of salt

2 teaspoons vanilla

4 eggs at room temperature

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line your cupcake tins with paper liners. I only have one regular cupcake tin and an mini cupcake tin, so I used both.

Crust:

Crumble the ginger snaps either in a plastic ziplock back with a rolling pin or in a food processor. Melt the butter in the microwave. Add the brown sugar and butter to the crumbled ginger snaps in a medium bowl and mix until all crumbs are moist.

Scoop about one table spoon into the bottom of each cupcake liner and press down (I used the bottom of one of my spice jars...it fits perfectly for the regular tins, for the mini tin I used the back of my coffee scoop).

Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes, let cool in pan on wire rack.





Filling:

In a stand mixer, cream the sugar and cream cheese together until smooth, add the pumpkin puree, vanilla, pumpkin spice and salt. Mix well. Add one egg at a time. Continue to mix until the mixture is completely combined and smooth.



Scoop the mixture into the prepared cupcake liners. I used the same coffee scoop that I used to press the crust into the bottom to do this. It was the perfect size - three scoops for the regular tin and 1 1/2 - 2 for the mini ones.



For the regular tins bake for 40 minutes, rotating 180 degrees half way through. For the mini tins bake for 30 minutes, rotating 180 degrees half way through.Cool in the pan on a wire rack until completely cooled, cover and refrigerate for at least six hours.



Top with whipped cream, caramel sauce or candied pecans if you wish. I hope you enjoy these tasty little treats!

Green Bean Salad w/ Lemon Rosemary Mini-Muffins

I'm trying to eat a little healthier.  Trying to be good about not eating rice or potatoes with every meal.  Cutting back on some of the more starchy foods and eating more fruits, vegetables and nuts in my diet.  I even bought a few bags of nuts and some dried fruit to make my own trail mix instead of going for the sweets when I want to much on something.  My weakness is peanut butter cups and snickers...and this time of year with Halloween right around the corner they are on sale, I'm fighting the urge to buy some.

I've been on a salad kick this past week, I can't seem to get enough of them.  I had a nice hearty salad for dinner last night and another one for lunch today and why stop here....I had one again tonight for dinner!  No lettuce in this one though, just some veggies and cheese.

Green Bean Salad

1 pound of green beans

5 mushroom caps (white button, crimini, what ever you have on hand) sliced

1/4 cup pine nuts, lightly toasted

1/3 cup of grape tomatoes, cut in half

1/2 inch of goat cheese log, crumbled

1/4 cup olive oil

1/8 cup balsamic vinegar

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

1 garlic clove minced

Boil green beans and mushrooms until tender, about 4-5 minutes in lightly salted water.  While the green beans are cooking, slice the tomatoes and crumble the goat cheese.  Toast the pine nuts in a small sautee pan, until they are lightly browned and fragrant. When green beans and mushrooms are done, drain and run under cold water

In a medium bowl whisk together the oil, vinegar, garlic, salt and pepper until well combined.  Add the green beans, mushrooms, tomatoes and pine nuts.  Mix well and top with crumbled goat cheese.

I served these along side Elana's Pantry's Lemon Rosemary Mini-Muffins!  Such a great combination.  These little muffins are awesome, give them a try some time.

Gluten Free Bagels

Last year for my birthday my sister gave me a subscription to Living Without Magazine. They have some great recipes in there and lots of articles and resources. However the October/November issue this year had a recipe called "Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Best Bagels", of course I was dying to make these. I love Bagels, bread, pasta...carbs you name it, I love them!! And I kow they aren't really dairy free when you put cream cheese on top but I'm only Gluten Free so its ok ;) The Tofuti Cream "Cheese" is really good too for all of you how are Dairy Free!!

These came out great!! Oh man, its like a real bagel, not as fluffy but still amazing. I did some salt, garlic and then some plain ones. I thought I would mix it up a bit.

The whole process was really really easy, don't be intimidated by the ingredients especially in the flour mixture. Its well worth it! I will be making these again. The recipe says that you can freeze these, and I'm sure I'll be doing that and NOT eating all 8 bagels right now, even though they are that good.

Gluten Free, Dairy Free - Best Bagel

Makes 8

3 cups gluten-free Multi-Grain Flour Blend - See below
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons flax meal
1½ teaspoons egg replacer
1 tablespoon xanthan gum
1 tablespoon yeast
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon cider vinegar
1¼ cups warm water
1 teaspoon sugar
Brown rice flour, for rolling bagels
Cornmeal, for dusting pan

1. Line a baking pan or cookie sheet with parchment paper and sprinkle it with cornmeal. Put some brown rice flour on a second baking pan or cookie sheet.


2. Put Multi-Grain Flour Blend, salt, flax meal, egg replacer, xanthan gum and yeast into a mixing bowl and whisk together.


3. In a separate bowl, whisk together honey, oil, cider vinegar, and 1  cup warm water.


4. Using the paddle attachment of the mixer, slowly incorporate the liquid mixture into dry ingredients. Add more warm water, if necessary, to create a smooth consistency. Mixture should be quite thick. Beat on medium-high speed for 3 minutes.


5. To shape the bagels, use a large spoon to scoop out the batter. Drop a spoonful on to the baking pan or cookie sheet sprinkled with the flour. Lightly roll dough in the flour to coat it and then shape into a ball. Flatten the ball slightly and using your index finger, create a hole in the center, large enough not to close during rising and baking. Repeat until all the dough is used.


6. Place each bagel on the baking pan sprinkled with cornmeal. Lightly cover bagels with an oiled piece of plastic wrap and place pan in a warm place for bagels to rise, about 20 to 30 minutes.


7. When bagels have risen, bring a skillet of water to boil. Add 1 teaspoon sugar to the water. (Sugar helps create a shiny crust.) Preheat oven to 375 degrees.


8. Drop a few bagels into the boiling water. Simmer for 30 seconds, turn over and cook for another 30 seconds. Using a slotted spoon, remove bagels, drain away excess water and put bagels back on same baking pan. Once all bagels are boiled, bake them for 25 minutes in preheated oven. Cool on a rack

You’ll love the taste of these flavorful bagels. And they freeze well.




Multi-Grain Flour Blend
MAKES 9 CUPS

1¼ cups garfava flour
1¾ cups super-fine brown rice flour
2 cups potato starch or arrowroot flour or chestnut flour
2 cups cornstarch or potato starch
1 cup tapioca starch/ flour
1 cup sorghum flour or amaranth flour

Mix all ingredients together. Store in a tightly covered container in the refrigerator until used.

Zucchini Bread

Last week there was a party at work and someone had made zucchini bread. It looked and smelled so good but sadly I couldn't taste it. I've been looking for fall recipes that include pumpkin, apples, breads, muffins, pies etc. I want warm, tasty comfort fall treats. I plan to make a pumpkin cheesecake soon, but I really wanted to make a bread or muffin this time to have an alternate thing to eat for breakfast.

So I did some searching online today for zucchini bread. I came across this recipe. I didn't follow it exactly (go figure!). Below is my adaptation

Gluten Free Zucchini Bread with walnuts


Moist Ingredients:
1 cup diced zucchini (washed but not peeled)
2 egg
1⁄2 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon gluten-free vanilla

Dry Ingredients:
1⁄2 cup white rice flour
1⁄2 cup sweet rice flour
1⁄4 cup corn starch
2 Tablespoons tapioca starch
1⁄2 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 cup sugar
3⁄4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup chopped walnuts*
Zest from one small lemon*

Glaze Ingredients:
1 Tablespoon powdered sugar
1⁄2 teaspoon lemon juice

Instructions

Combine moist ingredients and mix well. Set aside.

Combine the dry ingredients by mixing together well in a large bowl.

Add moist ingredient mix to dry ingredient mix. Stir until blended well. Grease a loaf pan and put mixture in pan. Bake 1 hour at 325 °. Check center for doneness with a toothpick. Remove from oven and let cool for a few minutes. Prepare glaze, which should be runny. Remove bread from pan and drizzle with glaze. Let cool.

*The original recipe says combine moist ingredients in a blender and mix until it resembles a milkshake. I don’t own a blender so I finely chopped the zucchini. The original recipe also did not call for any chopped nuts or lemon zest.

Apple Pie

Today is almost the perfect Fall day....almost. If only my leaves would change colors... The wind is blowing, its nice and chilly, I bought a perfect little pumpkin and made my first gluten free apple pie!! I usually LOVE and only make apple crisps but I didn't have any gluten free oats so I thought I would try my hand a a pie.

I found the recipe below online and made a few adjustments when making it. My adjustments will be marked with an *

Awesome Gluten Free Apple Pie with Crumble Topping

Pastry Crust Makes Two Crusts

• 1 1/2 cups gluten-free flour (Bob's Red Mills All Purpose Gluten Free Flour, Avail at Kroger & online)


• 1/3 cup cornstarch


• 1/2 cup sugar


• 1 teaspoon xanthan gum (Bob's Red Mills)


• 8 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces


• 1 large egg


• 1 tablespoon gluten-free vanilla extract (Available online at the Gluten Free Pantry)

Apple Filling

• 7 medium apples, peeled, cored and very thinly sliced. Use mildly sweet to tart very crisp apple (such as Granny Smith, Braeburn, Cortlands)


• 1/2 cup sugar


• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon


• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg


• 1/4 teaspoon salt

*I used 4 medium/large Granny Smith Apples*

Crumble Topping

• 3/4 cup light brown suga


• 3/4 cup gluten-free flour (See above)


• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg


• 1/3 cup butter, chilled & cut into small piece

*I used 1/2 cup brown sugar and 1/2 cup gluten free flour and cut the butter and nutmeg down a bit also*

Directions

1. ***Pastry Crust Instructions***.


2. In a mixing bowl stir together the flour, xanthan gum and cornstarch.


3. Then add the sugar, butter, egg and vanilla and mix until combined.


4. Remove dough from bowl and knead and fold on a surface dusted with GF flour until well well combined.


5. Divide into two pieces and wrap in plastic wrap, place one in the refrigerator to chill and place the other in the freezer for later use.


6. --Go ahead and make Apple Filling while the Pastry Crust is chilling.


7. After approx 20 minutes, remove dough from refrigerator and roll into a ball.


8. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out on a lightly GF floured surface until it is the thickness of a normal pie crust.


9. Place crust in a 9 inch glass pie dish that is lightly sprayed with non stick spray.


10. Using a fork poke a bunch of holes in the sides and bottom of the crust.


11. ***Apple Filling Instructions***.


12. In a large bowl mix apples, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.


13. Set aside and let the juices mix.


14. ***Crumble Topping Instructions***.


15. In small bowl mix together brown sugar, GF flour and nutmeg.


16. Next mix in the chilled butter and cut it in with a fork or other tool until you have a course crumbly mixture.


17. ***Assembling your Pie***.


18. Preheat oven to 400°F.


19. Spoon apples into your pie crust, mounding in the middle and pouring the sugary juices over top. (*I didn't use all the liquid, about half and it came out a bit soupy*)


20. Sprinkle your Crumble Topping all over the top (use it all).


21. Use tin foil to cover edges of crust as it will burn easily.


22. Bake for approximately 35 minutes, topping will be lightly browned and filling will be bubbly.


23. Let cool for at least an hour before serving.

The perfect desert for a tasty fall dinner (boneless pork chops, with fresh chunky apple sauce and mashed potatoes-yummmm)