White Bean and Ham Soup

Most of the time, I'm not thinking of dinner a day in advance.  To prepare dry beans, this is necessary because they need to soak over night before cooking, unless they are lima beans.  Whether large or small, lima beans are able to cook down in only 3-4 hours when other beans require 8-10. This soup is so basic, you'll just about fall over from the flavor. The recipe here is the absolute beginning that can be dressed up as you wish.

Ingredients:

Leftover Ham Bone with some meat still attached
1 bag of small Lima Beans
6-8 Cups Water
2 tsp. Salt
2 tsp. Pepper
2 tsp. Onion Powder
1 C. sliced carrots (optional)

Place all ingredients in a covered pot over medium heat (a crock pot could also be used on high).  Cook for 3-4 hours until beans are tender.  Remove bone.  Break up pieces of ham if necessary.  Serve with or without bread or crackers.  Serves 8 -- sometimes with leftovers.

Cinammon Chicken

Cinammon and Chicken?!  I know.  Curiosity was the reason I dug in to this dish served at the Huntsman Hotel located inside the This is the Place Heritage Park in Salt Lake City, Utah.  It was so delicious, I just had to find a way to recreate it at home.

Ingredients:

4 lbs. skinless, bone-in chicken
1 Tbsp of oil (for browning chicken)
1 large can tomato sauce
water
2 tsp salt
2 tsp onion powder
2 tsp garlic powder
3 Tbsp cinammon

Be sure to use bone-in chicken, the sauce does not reach the same depth of flavor without them.  Brown the chicken first on medium heat (about ten minutes) sprinkling with half of the salt.  Pour tomato sauce over the chicken and 1/3 can of water.  Add spices, stirring gently around the meat.  Keep heat on medium.  Simmer for 45 minutes until chicken is cooked thoroughly.  This dish serves 8 and would probably be phenomenal with carmelized onions and garlic pureed into the sauce.

Serve with white rice and your favorite steamed veggies.

Rebecca's Potato Salad

This recipe is an adaptation from my mom's potato salad.  She always used hard boiled eggs and, well, it's a little embarrassing to say the reasons why I can't eat them, but the substitution of bacon definately made up for it.  She also used a Ranch Salad Dressing seasoning packet to season hers.  However, this is not an option for our gluten-free family.  This recipe is a favorite all around!

The Basics

5lbs of potatoes
1/2 C. minced dill pickles
24 oz. bacon

The Dressing

1/4 C. Parmesian Cheese
1 C. heavy cream
1/4 C. spicy brown mustard
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. pepper
2 tsp. powdered garlic
1 TBSP. dehydrated onion (ground)
2 tsp. dried Italian seasoning

Before I get started on instructions, I should warn you that I have always "eyeballed" the seasonings this recipe and seasoned by taste after that.  Frustrating to recreate, I know, but not impossible.  My mom made hers with large, wooden spoon dollops of miracle whip instead of cream (the cream supports the flavors better in my book).   So, don't be afraid to use your tongue and adjust what's missing for you!

First, boil potatoes (skin on) until fork tender...stick a fork in it!  (Some of my family like this salad "mashed potato" style...this means over-boiling the potatoes a bit.)  While potatoes are cooking, prepare the bacon.  This can be done 6 minutes at a time by laying strips across a long plate and setting in the microwave or in a frying pan -- either way, keep the bacon strips seperated from each other for better crispness.  Allow them to cool, then chop into "crumbs."  If you are using whole pickles, chop these while at it.  You can also mix all of the dressing ingrediants in a bowl so the flavors have some time to infuse into the cream.   After the potatoes are ready, cool them in a cold water bath, peel, and cut into bite sized pieces.  Place in a large mixing bowl and stir in the cream.  (You may have to use clean hands for this.)  Serve warm or keep refridgerated until ready.

James' Triple Chocolate Birthday Cake

When we were married, we had three different types of cake: chocolate chocolate chip for James, carrot for me, and white for everyone who couldn't handle flavor...all smothered in cream cheese frosting.  Six years later, I'm still chopping up chocolate chips when I forget to buy (or can't find) minis because the regular-sized ones fall to the bottom before they bake.

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

6 Tbsp. Butter (do not substitute with Margarine or you will regret it)
4 Tbsp. cocoa powder
1 cup powdered sugar
2 Tbsp. milk

Soften butter to room temperature.  Blend together until smooth.

Double Chocolate Cake from Scratch

2 Tbsp. (rounded) shortening
2 eggs
2 C. sugar
2 C. hot water
2 tsp. baking soda
1 C. cocoa powder
2 C. flour
1 C. chocolate chips, coarsely chopped

Add all ingredients to a bowl, mix well.  Bake at 350'F for 35 minutes (or until cake tests done).

Saucy Chicken from Karen's Cafe

This isn't the first recipe I've "copied" by using my tongue and I'm sure it won't be the last.  James and I went to a Christmas Eve Cocktail party nearly starving and found ourselves walking up 25th Street from Union Station in search of good food.  Our favorite place is closed on Monday nights, so we ducked into the first place that didn't have "coffee" in the title.  Karen's Cafe is a delicious little spot featuring country music, good ole home cookin', and the coolest iron sculptured cowboys salt and pepper holders.  (Wish I'd carried my camera.) 

Ingredients

Karen's Sauce

Vegetable oil
3 cloves garlic, smashed and diced
1 Walla Walla onion, sliced in rings
1 Green Bell pepper, chopped in chunks
1/2 pint sliced mushrooms
1 can Stewed, Diced tomatoes
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup ketchup
1/2 tsp salt
pinch of pepper

Heat to medium a large frying pan, drizzle some oil and add garlic and onions.  Cook until onions are clear.  Add the rest of the ingredients.  Simmer to allow flavors to blend.  Then begin the chicken.

2 lbs. Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast
Salt
Olive oil

Spray cast iron skillet with oil.  (Use the grooved side to sear lines into meat.)  Heat on medium high until skillet is fully heated, lay breasts on skillet.  Cook 5-7 minutes on both sides (or until cooked through).  Serve chicken with a heaping ladel full of sauce.  Enjoy!

When I was recreating this recipe, I missed out on the ketchup and the flavor wasn't quite there.  I've never added ketchup to ANYTHING, but it's amazing what it does to both thicken the sauce and clinch the distinctive flavor on your tongue. 

p.s...leftovers make for an AWESOME Saucy Chicken Pizza

Gluten free flour for baking

When I bake, I do it in double batches.  One gluten-free, the other regular.  It's expensive to feed a family of seven on pasta or baked goods that are gluten-free.  You can save money by grinding your own brown rice flour using an electric flour mill, by mixing your own baking flour, and baking your own goodies.  Here is my recipe and a few things I've learned using it.

GF Flour Ingredients:
(all available through Blue Chip Group)

1 lb. brown rice flour
1 lb. potato starch
4 TBSP. xanthum gum

1) GF flour LOVES fruit acid.  The baked good that turn out with the best texture are those that include some fruit and/or their juices.  Although I haven't checked it out under a microscope, I believe the rice grain is softened more completely by the fruit acid than anything else.  Even rice flour milled to the finest texture has some tell-tale grit to it unless fruit is added.

2) Xanthum gum needs to be just right.  (That's 1 TBSP per 1 Cup of flour.)  Too much xanthum gum makes batter too thick and gummy textured.  Too little, and your batter will not hold together.

3) If at first you don't succeed... it's okay.  Even though it feels like an expensive mistake or a terrible waste.  GF baking will not have the same feel as what you're used to, but getting it right so you can enjoy a blueberry muffin in the morning or cupcakes on your birthday is worth it.

4)  Waxed paper is your friend.  Anything that needs to be formed first (from pie crust to scones) can be shaped using waxed paper.  A lite coating of canola oil helps. 

5)  GF flour should be stored in an air-tight container and kept in a cool dry place.  It does NOT have the shelf life of wheat flours.  So, investing in a 50 lb. bucket is a bad idea unless you open a GF bakery.  (The three pound mix above lasts a full month during the busy holiday baking season.)

6)  Have fun!  Changing the food you eat can feel devastating at first.  So many people will ask you -- Can you eat anything?!  The answer is YES, YOU CAN.  It will take some getting used to, but having your body running at full steam ahead and healthy is totally worth all of the labels you will read and careful preparations you will make.

Pumpkin White Chocolate Chip Cookies

This cookie has become a holiday favorite.  Oh, let's be serious!  It's a year-round yummy!  I stock up on canned pumpkin just because our family loves it so much.  The version I'm posting is gluten-free.  For a "normal" cookie, just use regular baking flour in exchange.

GF Flour Ingredients:
(all available through Blue Chip Group)

1 lb. brown rice flour
1 lb. tapioca starch
1 lb. potato starch
6 TBSP. xanthum gum

Cookie Ingredients:


1/2 C. shortening
1½ C. sugar
1 C. prepared pumkin (canned or cooked/mashed)
1 egg
1½  tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. nutmeg
½ tsp. ginger
2½ C. GF baking flour
1 tsp. Rumford baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/2 Bag White Chocolate Chips

Cream shortening, sugar, egg, and pumpkin.  Add dry ingredients.  Stir with a wooden spoon until combined.  Add Chips.  Drop by teaspoonsful on cookie sheet.  Bake at 375'F for 10 minutes.