Chicken Picatta

Again I did some searching for Chicken Picatta recipes.  The chicken is usually dredged in flour but seeing as this is GF I decided to use sweet white rice flour.  I followed a standard Picatta recipe with the oil, butter, lemon and capers and this is what I came up with:

Chicken Picatta:

Salt and Pepper

2 Chicken Breasts - butterflied

1 Cup Sweet White Rice Flour

5 Tbls Butter

4 Tbls Olive Oil

1/4 Cup Lemon Juice (Fresh)

1/2 Cup Chicken Stock

1/4 Cup of Capers rinsed and drained

1/4 Cup Fresh Parsley chopped

Season the chicken breast with salt and pepper then dredge in the rice flour.  Shake off any access flour.  In a large skillet heat 2 tbls of butter and 3 tbls of oil, when it starts to bubble/sizzle add one of the chicken breasts.  Cook for three minutes on each side.  The chicken should have a nice golden brown color.  Remove chicken and keep warm on a plate.  Add an additional 2 tbls butter and one tbls of oil, repeat the same process with the chicken.  Once chicken is done keep it warm on a plate with the other chicken breast.  In the pan add the lemon juice, chicken stock and capers, whisk well and bring to a boil.  Add the chicken breasts and any juices from the plate.  Simmer for five - seven minutes.  Remove chicken again and place on a serving platter.  Add the remaining butter to the pan and whisk well.  Pour the sauce over the chicken and top with parsley.

Serve with green beans, roasted potatoes or mashed potatoes.

Frittata

Today I made my first frittata. I looked in my Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking cook book to get the basic idea of how to make a frittata and just ran with it. I looked to see what I had, pancetta, fresh spinach, baby potatoes, onion, garlic and rosemary and just used all of it. I have to say it came out pretty darn good.

I like many other cooks don't always measure. I learned that from my grandmother. It was always a pinch of this, a dash of that. Many times I find it hard to actually follow a recipe, I tend to read them, get the basic idea and adapt them. So if these amounts are not accurate, I'm sorry.

Frittata

1 package of diced pancetta

1 small onion diced

1 1/2 cups firmly packed fresh spinach leaves chopped

4 small potatoes - cubed

1/4 cup olive oil

6 eggs

two cloves of garlic minced

2 sprigs of rosemary chopped

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 tsp pepper

1/2 cup parmsean cheese

Turn oven to 350 degrees

In a small skillet sautee the pancetta until lightly browned. With a slotted spoon transfer the pancetta to a plate lined with paper towels. In the same pan sautee the onions until lightly browned (3-5 minutes). In a 10 inch sautee pan add the oil and cubed potatoes. Cook until softened and browned, about 8-10 minutes. Once the potatoes are fork tender, add the onions and pancetta to them, keep on low heat. Sautee the spinach and garlic in the pan you used for the onions and pancetta. Add to the potatoes

While the potatoes cook beat the eggs, rosemary and cream in a medium bowl. After the spinach and garlic has been added to the potatoes, add in the beaten egg mixture. Cook over low heat until eggs have set and the top is still loose.

Sprinkle with cheese and put in the pre-heated oven for 15 minutes until set and lightly browned on top. Take out of oven, cool for a few minutes. Loosen the frittata by running a rubber spatula around the edges of the pan. Transfer to a plate and slice like you would a pie to serve.

Donuts - Gluten Free

I have a love for Dunkin Donuts,  Not just their coffee but their donuts are great (well so aren't N&J's for all you people in Oxford).  I miss Dunkin's and we don't have any out here in California.  So when I go home for Christmas, its one of the first things I want.  To the point I know just where they are at Logan Airport.  Sick huh?  They now sell the coffee in bags out here at some places but its not the same.  So when I make it home I stock up by buying  a few bags to bring with me.   Since finding out about having celiac disease they donuts are out of the question now.

I was talking to my boyfriend this morning about running out of coffee and how I wish I could have a donut.  He lives in the land of Dunkin's, aka the East Coast.  So I went on a search today to find a recipe to try out.  I read a few of them and decided I would try one found on a blog called Four Chickens.

Not thinking I had all the different flours to make the mixture I emailed Jeanne to see if another option would work and she responded right away.  It would work, however I ended up having all the right flours so I followed her recipe.  So I set off to make donuts and let me tell you, they are AMAZING!!  You can't even tell they are Gluten Free.

I don't have cookie cutters or a candy thermometer so I improvised.  I used a drinking glass for the large circles and a top of a water bottle for the holes.  I heated the oil and just tested it with the first donut.

Please check out her website and recipes.  Thanks again Jeanne!!

NY Times -8/14/09

There was a great article in the New York Times:  Patient Money - The Expense of Eating With Celiac Diseas

When you have a sec, check it out.