Sweet and Spicy Chicken Wings... or Meatballs!

This recipe was on Tereza's cooking blog and it looked so good (she has a great picture up) that I had to try it tonight. I didn't have any chicken wings so I thought I would try it with meatballs instead. They were a hit with the family (especially the boys :). I served them with a Rainbow Pasta Salad (will post that recipe later), which isn't such a hit with the boys... but they do not really like salads of any kind, so their vote doesn't count :)

Tereza has been dairy free for a while (for herself only, her husband and nine kids eat "normal"). She has recently gone gluten free as well because of various health concerns. She is very creative and has a great attitude, but I think it gets hard to always have separate food prepared for herself. You will want to check out her blog and to get ideas from her journey.

I have copied the recipe just as she had it... I did include the sesame seeds and they were very nice. The only changes I made was to add about 2 Tbsp of vinegar and I used about half as much garlic powder. I also made them in an electric fry pan so not to overheat the house when it is hot.

SWEET AND SPICY CHICKEN WINGS

Ingredients:

~ 1 bulk pack of chicken wings

~1 cup ketchup

~2tbsp honey

~1tbsp mustard (I used dried)

~1 tsp salt

~1 tsp pepper

~1tbsp garlic powder

~1/2 cup water

~sprinkle of sesame seeds (optional)

Method:

Arrange the chicken wings the wrong side down in a baking pan.

Mix together the above ingredients and pour on top of wings.

Cover with tin foil and bake in oven at 375F for about 40 minutes or until chicken is tender. Then remove the foil and broil for an additional -15 minutes or so (on low). Watch you don't burn the chicken at this point~ only "golden" them up a bit.

Serve with mashed potatoes, rice, pasta salad or chow mien. When you place the ready wings on a platter (if that's what you do~I just dish them straight to the plates..plastic ones to boot...yes we're simlifyiers:) make sure you now place your chicken the right side up. It will be nicely covered with the sauce. Enjoy!

Hamberger "Bun" Solution

Anyone who has is forced to eat gluten free, has also been forced to be creative. One area that we have had to be creative in is sandwiches. In particular: hamburgers.

Now my husband really misses having a good old hamburger... you know, light bun, grilled paddy, pickles, lettuce, tomato, mushroom, onion, relish, mustard, ketchup... the works.

We have tried baking different kinds of buns, but none have really turned out how he likes them: light. We just have to face the fact that GF breads are denser and heavier than wheat breads. So we came up with another solution...

"The Pancake Burger"

OK, don't turn me off, I am serious! My husband says this tastes almost like a McDonald's burger - and that the pancakes are about as thick as a McDonald's hamburger bun, anyways. :)

So, now when we have a BBQ, we make up a batch of these little pancakes that just fit the hamburger paddies perfectly. They are tidy and easy to hold onto and make us feel like we are eating a real hamburger again.

By the way, this recipe makes fine breakfast pancakes, too. Since I avoid yeast, I keep some of these in the freezer to toast for lunch to eat with my chicken salad or whatever. They really are a solution for a lot of problems at our house! :)

BASIC PANCAKES

1 cups brown rice flour

1/2 cup tapioca starch

2 Tbsp glutenous rice flour* or instant mashed potato flakes*, optional

pinch of xanthan gum (less than 1/8 tsp)

1/4 tsp salt

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp oil

2 eggs

1 cup water or milk

METHOD:

-Put all dry ingredients in a bowl and whisk together.

- Add the oil, eggs and water all together and whisk until smooth.

-Pour onto a hot, greased griddle in small rounds. Turn when the edges appear dry and they are browned.

*The glutenous rice flour does NOT have gluten in it... it is just ground from a sticky rice. I get it in the oriental section in my grocery store.

*Make sure that the mashed potato flakes are gluten free.

The purpose of the glutenous rice flour or the potato flakes is it makes the pancakes more moist and gives them a nicer texture.

Psyllium Husk Information

Several people have asked me about the psyllium husks that are included in by bread recipe so I want to add some information about it. First of all, I realized that I was spelling it wrong (it has a "y" not an "i").

My family doctor first told me about psyllium when I first had allergies in answer to my question of how to get enough fiber. Psyllium husks are the outer seed covering of the psyllium plant seeds. They are very high in fiber and contain a compound that when mixed with water, makes a mucilage. This mucilage is very healing to the bowel, provides a soft fiber to ease constipation (or avoid it), absorb toxins, help lower cholesterol, regulate blood sugar, and stop diarrhea.

The natural product, Metamucil which is used for relieving constipation and promoting regularity is simply Psyllium. Interestingly, Psyllium is not habit forming: meaning, your colon does not come to depend on you ingesting Psylium in order to eliminate.

You can buy Psyllium at health food stores. I get it a store called "Nutter's" in a bulk bin for a fairly reasonable price. Actually the price on the bin does not look reasonable, but Psyllium husks are so light that they do not add up fast. You can also buy it in capsules which are "easier to swallow" if taking it for your bowel health - as opposed to drinking the slimy mucilage. If you take the husks dry in capsules, you just have to drink a full glass of water and the the slimy stuff forms inside :)

Of course for baking purposes, you will want to get it bulk. If you just can not find it, you can buy the Metamucil at any drug store and just use a couple Tbsp of that in the bread - just make sure that you do not get a flavored kind... "pink lemonade rice bread" just does not sound appealing! However, if you can find it bulk, it will be less expensive.

Just google "Metamucil" or "Psyllium Husks" to get more information.

Our Favorite Rice Bread Recipe

After becoming dissatisfied with the bread recipe that we were using, my daughter, Millie, and I started experimenting with a new recipe. Millie really does most of the baking around here and her bread is consistently delicious. She has perfected recognizing the right consistency (neither too stiff or too runny). You will develop a knack for it as well. If the batter is too thick, the bread will not rise well and will be very heavy when baked (brick-like :). If the batter is too runny, it will overflow and fall in the oven and the bread will be very course and crumbly. Be patient with the bread and yourself! Once you get onto things, you will be taking delicious smelling, looking and tasting loaves from your oven... and you will hardly believe that piece of fresh bread is gluten free!

One of the keys to good texture is the psyllium husks. They are available at most health food stores. If you mix them with water, they make kind of a slimy liquid that you can drink to get great fiber that is very gentle on your bowel.

To mix this batter, I use my large Kitchen Aid mixer with the cookie paddle. Probably a hand mixer could do it, but any upright mixer would be best. Of course, you could use a wooden spoon, and I have done it like this... it is great exercise!

I find that this bread keeps good for about 3 days. It can be toasted, or warmed in the microwave after the first day to freshen it. I have adjusted the recipe to make 2 loaves. Here at home, with 9 people eating gluten free, we make a four loaf batch every other day.

RICE BREAD

2 cups tapioca starch

1 1/2 cups potato starch

3 cups brown rice flour

1 1/2 Tbsp yeast (instant or not)

1/4 cup sugar or honey

2 Tbsp psyllium husks

4 eggs

3 cups hot water

1/2 cup oil

1 1/2 tsp salt

METHOD:

-Combine the starches and flour, yeast, sugar and psyllium husks in the bowl of your mixer and mix until well blended.

-Add the eggs and hot water and blend. Beat on medium speed for about 5 min.

-Cover the bowl and let the dough rise for 10 min.

-Beat down and add the oil and salt. Beat on medium for about another 2-3 min. The dough should be a bit thicker than muffin batter.

-Grease 2 loaf pans and divide the dough between them. Sprinkle the tops of the loaves with a little warm water and smooth the dough with a spatula.

-Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Set the loaves on top of the stove to rise - about another 10 min. The dough should be just above the tops of the pans. If you let is rise too much, it will run over the edge of the pans in the oven and make a BIG, smokey mess! To avoid this, place the pans on a cookie sheet to bake.

-Put the loaves in the oven and bake for 30 min. Remove from pans and place loaves on their sides on cooling racks. Do not try to slice until the loaves are cool to the touch. This fresh bread is a favorite for our lunches! Enjoy!

VARIATIONS: Substitute 1 cups of rice flour for 1 cup of sorghum flour, or buckwheat, or teff, or millet... maybe a combo of some of these. The sorghum flour is a bit expensive, but it really gives a nice texture.

Mocha Naniamo Bars

These squares are truly an indulgence. They are also my husband's favorite. :) If the Graham Cracker crumbs are already on hand, they are actually quite easy and quick to make.

MOCHA NANIAMO BARS

Crust: Melt 2 squares of semi sweet chocolate and set aside. Cream 1/2 cup of softened butter or margarine, 2 Tbsp sugar, 1 tsp vanilla and 1 egg. Add the melted chocolate and mix well. Now stir in 2 cups GF graham cracker crumbs, and 1 cup unsweetened coconut and 1/2 cup chopped walnuts. Press into a 9" square pan. Chill. (Since we like these bitter-sweet, I use 1 square unsweetened chocolate and 1 square semi-sweet. I also omit the sugar. The walnuts are optional - just increase the coconut by the same measurement.)

Filling: Whisk 1-2 Tbsp of instant coffee with 1/4 cup milk or milk substitute. When dissolved, add 2 Tbsp of custard powder. Cream 1/4 cup butter or margarine and add the coffee mixture to it. Beat in 2 cups of icing sugar until smooth. This should be like a thick, creamy icing. Spread over base and chill about 15 min.

Glaze: Melt 4 squares or semi-sweet chocolate with 1 tbsp of butter or margarine. Add a little warm milk or milk substitute if it seems too thick to spread. Spread over the filling layer and chill until just firm. Cut into squares (makes 25) and finish chilling. (Again, to make this less sweet, I use 1/2 unsweetened chocolate for the glaze.)

You can change the flavor of these squares by adding whatever flavor you like to the filling instead of the coffee. Mint is nice. You can also leave out the coffee and just add a little vanilla.

GF Graham Cracker Crumbs

I am including this recipe to go with the last post (Danish Apple Cake) and to go with the next post (Naniamo Bars). But really, these can stand on their own. We have made them into crackers just for snacking - they are very popular with the little ones. We also use the crumbs for pie crusts and sprinkling on ice cream (although I have another favorite for that which I will post later).

You can buy GF crumbs, but they are very expensive. These are quick and easy and taste great. I like to keep some on hand in the freezer for making easy deserts! Enjoy!

GRAHAM CRACKER CRUMBS

1 1/2 cup brown rice flour (white will work fine)

1 cup tapioca starch

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp xanthan gum

1/2 cup butter or margarine

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

METHOD:

Cream the margarine, sugar and vanilla together. Mix the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl and add to the creamed mixture. Blend well. Your mix will now look like course crumbs.

For crumbs: spread the crumb mixture out on a large baking sheet (or two smaller ones) with sides. Just loosely spread them, do not pack them. Bake at 325 degrees for 15 minutes, stirring once after 7 min. Let cool and break up any chunks. Use for dessert recipes or store in the freezer.

For crackers: add about 1/4 cup cold water to the crumb mixture and mix in till blended. Spread the crumbs onto 1 large or 2 small baking sheets with sides. Get out your rolling pin and roll the crumbs to pack them very firmly. Try to make the mixture all the same thickness and pack it well. Score the crackers with a knife. I usually just cut rectangle shapes. Bake the crackers at 325 degrees for 10-15 minutes. Watch that they do not get too dark on the bottom - you may have to bake them in the top 1/4 of the oven. They should be lightly browned. Let them cool and harden and then break them apart and store in a tight container. These work great for GF S'mores. You can melt chocolate and spread it on each cracker first and then just roast marshmallows over the fire to squish in between two chocolate covered crackers :) :) Or they are just great plain as snacks for the kids.

Danish Apple Cake

Wow, I am finally back! The lengthy interruption in posting more recipes has been caused by an acute case of morning sickness :) But I am getting back to normal and am once again able to look at a recipe without gagging! YEA!

You may have noticed that I had offered a gluten free cook book for free to the first person who e-mailed me a new gluten free recipe. That sweet person was Carol: she sent in this recipe for Danish Apple Cake which our family looks forward to trying during this hot weather! Note: all the notes in italics are from me, Jenny :)

DANISH APPLE CAKE

2 cups dried crumbs (crushed GF cornflakes or GF graham cracker crumbs)

1 Tbsp. sugar

1/4 to 1/2 cup butter (could sub margarine to keep it dairy free)

2 1/2 cups tart apple sauce (crab apple sauce would be good, I think)

1 cup whipping cream (or substitute)

2 Tbsp. sugar

Red jelly or jam for decoration.

METHOD:

Brown crumbs in a skillet with the 1 Tbsp sugar and the butter. Arrange the crumb mixture and applesauce in alternate layers in a glass serving dish. Chill in refrigerator. Whip the cream with the 2 Tbsp sugar for the topping and decorate with dabs of jelly on top. (Try swirling the jelly a bit :)

For a crunchy texture, serve immediately after preparation. Advanced preparation will create a moist blend of layers. This cake looks elegant served in a crystal 1 1/2 or 2 quart bowl.

You can adjust this recipe to suit your family needs, increasing and decreasing ingredients as you like. Carol usually doubles this for her family of seven.