Chicken Salad

*DO NOT USE A FOOD PROCESSOR TO CHOP THE CHICKEN
White meat from a whole roasted 5 lb chicken, cut and shredded
1/2 red onion, finely diced
5 ribs of celery, finely chopped
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 cups of red grapes, quartered or 1/4-1/2 a cup of Raisins steeped in boiling hot water and drained
1/2 cup of mayonnaise
1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard*
1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt
Black pepper to taste
add enough yogurt or sour cream to desired creaminess

Mix all ingredients together.  Let sit in the refrigerator for 4 hours before serving. Top with chopped roasted, salted almonds. I like to eat mine on sliced tart apples, leaf lettuce, or nut thins. I also like to top it with Sriracha.

Makes a good wrap with lots of lettuce, chopped almonds, Sriracha, and rice paper wrappers.

*As always, if you are gluten free, make sure your condiments are as well.  Anything made with distilled white vinegar may have gluten if the vinegar was distilled from a gluten containing grain.  When in doubt contact the company.

Chicken Curry with Rice

When I was a child this was a staple in our household. So I am partial to the way my Mom makes it vs. what you get in an Indian restaurant. That being said, I'm open to experiment.

Cook 1 cup of brown rice in 2 cups of Chicken broth.  If store bought, watch out for MSG and secret gluten.

Ingredients:

4 Tablespoons butter
2 Tablespoons oil
2 large onions diced
4 cups of finely chopped celery
1 minced jalapeno, optional if you want it mild
2 Tablespoons ground Coriander
2 Tablespoons ground Cumin
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon mustard powder (if you have it, if not don't worry)
2 teaspoons turmeric powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1 lb of boneless Chicken, or 2 lbs of thighs and drums (do not cut up)

Get all the spiced together in a small dish.  Cut the chicken against the grain, into small pieces, so it shreds when it cooks.  Start by sauteing the onion in the fat until just starting to brown.  Add the chicken or chicken pieces and cook for a few minutes.  Add in the celery and jalapeno and saute for a few more minutes.  Add spices and stir for one minute before adding in 2 cups of the broth.  Bring to a simmer and cook with the lid cocked for 20 minutes.


Juice from 1 lemon, optional, put in at the last minute for a bright, fresh, taste.
To temper the spice, top with sour cream.

Serve over rice, serves 4-6.

Chicken Salad-Salad Wraps

I love wraps! But having been gluten free for 5 years I could not use flour tortillas and hadn't come up with a good alternative. Until last year. Rice paper wraps from the asian market are great with a cold wrap.

I also love chicken salad, but since I can't eat it on bread, in a pita pocket, or in a wheat tortilla wrap, I decided to just use it like salad dressing and eat it on a bed of greens. Not a very easy lunch to-go, so here's where the rice papers come in handy, literally.

Start by making my delicious chicken salad recipe:

White meat from a whole roasted 5 lb chicken, cut and shredded
1/2 red onion, finely diced
5 ribs of celery, finely chopped
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 cups of red grapes, quartered or 1/2-1 cup of raisins soaked in boiling water
1/2 cup of mayonnaise
1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt
Black pepper to taste
add enough yogurt or sour cream to desired creaminess
1/2 cup roasted, salted almonds coarsely chopped (reserve for later)

Lettuce
Rice Paper Wrappers

Mix all ingredients together, except the walnuts. Let sit in the refrigerator for 4 hours before using. Wash and spin your lettuce leaves. Follow directions on rice paper package to saturate in water for a few seconds then shake off excess. Place on smooth surface. At the top (about 1 inch in) put about 1/2 cup chicken salad, top with a sprinkle of nuts, and lettuce leaves (as many as will fit). Roll over once, fold in sides and roll to the end of the paper. If you like it spicy, squirt some hot sauce (I like sriracha) on the chicken salad before you add the lettuce.

Chicken Stuffing (Dressing) with Gravy

Tom was so excited about this dinner he didn't hesitate to 'come and get it' when he heard the serving dishes clanking.

The hard part about dressing and gravy is that you need chicken stock, which you cannot make until the chicken is roasted and the meat is off the bones. Unfortunately the chicken is never as good as it is hot out of the oven. Day One I roasted chicken rubbed with salt, pepper, and rosemary on a bed of sweet potatoes and onions like I do, then I reserved the juices separately, and pulled the meat off the bones and began boiling stock (takes about 3-4 hours). You get 1 quart for a 3 lb chicken, luckily that is what I had because that is what I needed.

Day Two: Dressing

1 loaf of RiverSong Farm Stuffing Bread, wt. 3/4 lb, cubed and dried
1/4 cup of butter
1 large onion, diced
2 cups of chopped celery
2 cups of chicken stock
2 eggs
leftover dark chicken meat (I had 2-3 cups)

Preheat oven to 350. I dumped the dried bread cubes into a small lasagna pan and stirred the chicken pieces into it. Meanwhile I sauteed over medium high heat the onion in the butter for 5 minutes before adding the celery and sauteing another 1-2 minutes. Then I turned off the heat and added the chicken stock just till it was liquid again (because real chicken stock has gelatin which makes it gel up in the fridge. I dumped the whole skillet over the cubes and tossed. Then I beat the 2 eggs in a separate bowl, poured over the cubes and tossed again. I did not need to add herbs because they are baked into the bread. Tent with foil and bake for 45 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 15. Serve.

During that last 15 minutes make the gravy.

1/4 cup chicken fat (reserved from roasting)
1/4 cup of flour
Pan drippings + enough stock to equal 2 cups
salt and pepper to taste

In a skillet over medium high heat melt chicken fat and fry the flour for at least 1-2 minutes. You are making a roux. The longer you cook the flour in the fat, the more brown (and flavorful) it gets, but the less thickening power it will have. Using a flat wisk, slowly pour in the hot drippings and stock stirring to incorporate into flour mixture. Let the gravy boil for a couple of minutes, salt and pepper to taste.

I had enough of the sweet potatoes from the day before leftover to serve with the meal, and as a precursor Tom had sauteed mixed greens (swiss chard, cabbage leaves, kale) and I had a salad.

Serves 4-6

Sarah's Chicken Soup

This is a simple, quick recipe that incorporates the by-products from the Roast Chicken including the dark meat for a delicious re-recipe that won’t be leftovers. I’ve learned through trial and error never to salt broth or soup until it’s in my bowl. The reason for this is you could salt and salt and it will never be salty enough but you will be bloated with high blood pressure.

7 cups of Reserved Chicken Broth OR
7 cups of store bought MSG and Gluten-Free Chicken Broth

Reserved Chicken drippings
2 Tablespoons of Reserved Chicken Fat, butter or oil
1 large Sweet Potato, scrubbed and cubed
1 Large yellow or white Onion, diced
4-6 Ribs of Celery, washed and diced
4 large cloves of Garlic, minced or pressed
Dark Meat Chicken from 2 leg quarters, torn into small pieces

In a large stock pot over medium high heat sauté Sweet Potato and Onion in Chicken Fat for a few minutes. Add the celery and sauté a few more minutes. Add the Chicken drippings, Chicken Broth, Garlic, and chicken stirring to incorporate. Bring to a boil, turn down the heat, cock the lid and simmer for 20 minutes. Serve over cooked Lentils, Rice, or Noodles. My favorite rice to use is Lundberg Wild Rice Blend. Salt and Pepper to taste. I sometimes add dried basil and crushed red pepper for a more complex flavor.

Roast Chicken and Sweet Potatoes

This is one of my most loved dinners, and my signature dish. Not only is it delicious but it’s so easy. I have also been told by many people that while they don’t like Sweet Potatoes they like my Sweet Potatoes. If you are using an organic chicken you will need to make an aluminum foil tent or bake in a Dutch oven.

1 whole, raw 6 pound chicken, remove the innards and rinse.
2 or 3 medium sized Sweet Potatoes, scrubbed and wedged
1 large Onion, halved with the grain and sliced finely
Olive Oil
Sea Salt and freshly ground Black Pepper
Dried Rosemary

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a 13” by 9” glass baking dish. Create a single layer of the sweet potato wedges in the bottom of the glass dish. Sprinkle half of the sliced onions over the potatoes. Place the whole chicken breast side down directly on top of the potatoes. Place the remaining onions in the crevices and cavity of the chicken. Lightly oil the outside of the chicken, sprinkle the dried rosemary and salt and pepper on the skin of the chicken. Bake for 20 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 and roast for another 1 hour and forty minutes. Your kitchen will start to smell amazing almost immediately.

*The chicken is done when the thigh meat reaches an internal temperature of 180 degrees Fahrenheit and the juices run clear. Place the cooked chicken on a platter, and with a slotted spoon place the sweet potatoes and onions around the chicken to serve.

Drain the chicken drippings into a 2 cup glass measuring cup and refrigerate. The fat will rise to the top and congeal. You will be able to remove the fat from the top and use later on to cook with. It will give your dishes a delicious flavor and chicken fat is a mono-unsaturated fat-a healthier option to cook with. The fat-free drippings can also be used to give your dishes a rich chicken flavor. Once the meat has been removed from the bones, simmer the bones in 8 cups of water for 4 hours for broth to be used in other recipes. You can freeze all of the by-products listed above for future use.