I'm back and I brought Stuffing!

Over the summer I had a few health concerns that got me researching ways to feel better naturally.  In everything I read, going gluten free, seemed to be the best, and easiest way to go.  So, I dove in head first and went with it.  It took a little getting used to, especially since I love to bake, bread, cookies, muffins, cakes, whatever...  But, I'm finding some fantastic gluten free options that I will be sharing!

With Thanksgiving and Christmas rapidly approaching, I decided I better get moving and find some delicious ways for me to enjoy the holidays without making my family think they are missing out on the traditional dishes.  Today I'm excited to share the stuffing/dressing recipe that I've come up with.  We love it!  It is a cornbread based stuffing, filled with flavor and perfectly moist!

First you need to bake up some cornbread.  This one is my favorite! 

Gluten-Free Cornbread

4 tbsp butter, melted and cooled
2 large eggs
1/4 cup honey
1 3/4 cups sour cream
2 cups coarse yellow cornmeal
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 can of corn, drained

preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter a 9 inch square baking dish, and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the butter, eggs, honey, and sour cream.  When it is well combined, stir in the remaining ingredients, blending well after each addition.

Pour the mixture into the baking dish and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Once the cornbread is done. remove it from the pan and place on a wire rack to cool. 

When it has cooled, cut it into 1/2 inch cubes.  Place on a baking sheet and return it to the oven, to toast the bread cubes and dry out a little.

While the cornbread is toasting gather the remaining ingredients

Holiday Cornbread Stuffing
4 tbsp butter
1 medium to large onion, diced
3 stalks of celery, sliced
2 granny smith apples, peeled, cored and diced
Salt and Black Pepper to taste
1-2 tbsp poultry seasoning
1 tbsp dried parsley
1 recipe prepared cornbread, cubed and toasted in oven
3 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup milk
2 cups of chicken stock, or homemade chicken stock

In a medium saucepan over medium low heat, melt the butter, add the onion, celery, apples, salt, pepper, poultry seasoning, and parsley and cook, covered until everything has softened, about 10 minutes. Set aside to cool, about 10-15 minutes.

Grease a 9x13 baking pan with butter. Set it aside.

Place the cubed, toasted cornbread in a large bowl, and stir in the cooled onion mixture. 

Combine the eggs and milk in a small bowl and whisk to combine.  Whisk in the chicken stock and pour the mixture over the cornbread mixture.  Pour into prepared dish and smooth the top.  Cover with foil and bake for 35-40 minutes at 375 degrees Fahrenheit, or until the egg is set, uncover and bake an additional 7-10 minutes until the stuffing is nicely browned.  Serve warm.

Chocolate Dipped Marshmallow Eggs

Easter is my second favorite holiday.  It has a lot to do with the promise of spring after a long cold winter.  Being able to wear sundresses, and sandals again.  And of course the candy, Easter candy is, well, YUM!  I remember making marshmallow eggs as far back as I can actually remember.  It is one  tradition that I had to carry on with my own family.  It is sticky, and really messy, but oh so worth it.

How to Create the Molds
Fill 3 9x13 pans with an inch and a half to two inches of flour.  Level it off with a knife, chopstick, spatula, or even a drinking straw.  Take an egg, real or plastic and press it into the flour to make indentations.  You'll get about 12 per pan.  Be careful to not bump the pans and loosen the molds.  Set them aside until they are needed later.

Marshmallow Eggs
2 Envelopes of Unflavored Gelatin (Knox Gelatin)
1/2 cup Cold Water
3/4 cup Hot Water
1 cup Corn Syrup, divided
2 cups Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla

Mix together the unflavored gelatin and cold water until gelatin has dissolved.  Let it stand for 5 minutes.

In a large heavy saucepan combine the hot water, 1/2 cup corn syrup, and sugar.  Bring to a rolling boil.  Cook until it reaches soft ball stage using water test method. Remove pan from the heat and add the remaining corn syrup and gelatin/water mixture.  Pour into a stand mixer or using a hand mixer beat on high for 10 minutes (it must be 10 minutes!  Trust me on this one.  It will not set up correctly if you don't beat it for the full 10 minutes.  And you'll end up with marshmallow sludge).  Stir in the vanilla.

Pour into prepared molds. Makes about 36 marshmallow eggs.  Let them sit overnight to fully set, then tap the excess flour off (and trim some of the excess off, I use scissors or kitchen shears for this part, super fast and easy and a bit more control) and dip into melted chocolate.  Place them on wax paper or parchment paper until chocolate has set. You can also decorate them using sprinkles (applied before the chocolate has set) or colored chocolate piped on using cake decorating bags.  Enjoy, and hope that there are some left to stick in the Easter baskets.

Happy Birthday to the Hubs and a Delicious Yellow Cake

I love birthdays! I love spoiling the person celebrating their special day with their favorite foods.  It is the one way I can always guarantee they'll get something they love ;)  Today we celebrated the hubs.  He always requests normal food, nothing too out there, but when it comes to his cakes, he loves to test my creativity.  In the past he's asked for a cake that looks like a hamburger, bratwurst and fries, a BBQ grill loaded with burgers and more, and a bucket of popcorn.  This year I didn't expect anything other than a challenge.  He came to me a few weeks ago and requested a "narwhal" cake.  I found it perfectly fitting. We've developed a slight obsession with narwhals at our house.

The morning began with omelets. bacon, and cake batter pancakes.

The completed narwhal cake.  He LOVED it!  I enlisted his help this year to be my soux chef/designer... I know, making him work on his own cake wasn't ideal, but he's an awesome sculptor.  He took care of the tail, horn, and narwhal head, sculpting them out of rice krispie treats, while I conquered the rest, then I stuck them all onto the cake and frosted away.

After dinner we invited some friends and family to join us for cake and ice cream.  Luckily they all came so we don't have to eat the whole cake :)

Happy Birthday Hubs!  I'm so glad you are mine forever!  Hope your day was just what you wanted!

The actual cake was delicious!  My new favorite! 

Classic Yellow Cake
Makes 2 8-9 inch rounds or 1 9x13

12 tbsp butter
1 3/4 cups sugar
3/4 tsp salt
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp vanilla extract
4 large eggs, plus 2 egg yolks
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups milk, buttermilk, or yogurt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, salt, baking powder, and vanilla until fluffy and light.  At least 5 minutes.

Add the eggs to the butter mixture one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Slowly blend one third of the flour into the creamed mixture, then half the milk, another third of the flour, the remaining milk, and the remaining flour.  Be sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl occasionally throughout this process.

Pour the batter into greased and floured pans.  Bake 23-26 minutes (for 8 inch pans), 25-30 minutes (for 9 inch pans), or 35 minutes for a 9x13 pan.  Remove cakes from the oven, cool in the pans for about 10 minutes, then turn onto a cooling rack and cool completely before frosting.

Chicken Piccata

I love lemons! I love chicken! I love capers! So it seems only fitting that Chicken Piccata would be one of my absolute favorite meals of all time and the perfect meal to celebrate with the Hubs tonight. He proposed 10 years ago today. It really is a great story...

We were living in California and my family is all in Utah. We had driven all night to get into town early enough to get some things done. We were only in town for a weekend after all. My mom suggested we meet my dad for lunch near the job site he was at. So, we headed out... I hadn't showered that day, I was wearing my "comfy, traveling clothes" and just felt icky. I also had a headache from not enough sleep. I unwillingly joined in the fun. During lunch the Hubs, stammering over his words, asked my dad if he could marry me. I had no idea he was going to ask him then, especially while I was sitting there with them... Really took me by surprise. Of course my dad said yes... I think he was just waiting to get rid of me ;). We finished lunch and went back to my parents house so I could shower and nap... or so I thought.

Immediately after arriving at my parents house the Hubs asked me to go for a ride with him. He wanted to take a drive on the mountain. Well, he is a California boy, not used to February in Utah. There was snow, lots of snow... We borrowed my dad's truck (we'd need the 4 wheel drive) and my mom threw a couple Tylenol at me, told me to suck it up and go along. Realizing I didn't have a choice, I reluctantly got into the truck. As we were leaving my mom told the Hubs, "DO NOT GO OFF OF THE ROAD. YOU WILL GET STUCK!"

After driving for less than 5 miles, Hubs decided to pull off the road.... (HA HA HA... didn't listen to his future Mother in Law) and we were stuck. I sat in the truck and watched as he got the shovel, and tried to dig us out. To be honest, I was laughing to myself. About 15 minutes had passed and we were still stuck, so Hubs decided he wanted to take a picture of the two of us to remember this predicament. He set up the tripod and got the camera ready. Just as the camera was ready to click, he dropped to one knee and pulled out a ring box. I was shocked! And he caught it on film for us to remember always... Hubs, exhausted and sweaty, and myself feeling pretty grungy. But we will never forget this proposal! Of course I said yes :) And here we are 10 years later, still happy together and better people... Quite a few pounds lighter as well :). (The picture will be after the recipe :))


Now on to the recipe

Chicken Piccata
serves 4
4 chicken cutlets, or 2 chicken breasts pounded thin and cut in half.
1/4 cup flour
salt and pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
3/4 cup chicken broth, divided
1 tbsp garlic, minced
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp capers, drained
2 tbsp butter
fresh lemon slices

Combine the flour, salt and pepper.  Lightly coat each piece with the seasoned flour and set aside.  Heat oil in a saute pan over med-high heat.

Cook the chicken 2-3 min non one side, flip over and cook for 1-2 min with pan covered.  Transfer to a warm plate and drain any excess oil from pan.

De glaze pan with 1/4 cup chicken broth and add minced garlic.  Cook until garlic is slightly browned and liquid is mostly gone, about 2 min.

Add broth, lemon juice, capers, and butter.  Stir until butter is melted, and add lemon slices.

Return the chicken to the pan, and turn once covering in sauce.

Drizzle sauce over the chicken and serve with angel hair pasta.

Thanks for sticking it out with me Hubs!  Glad you liked your "Anniversary" dinner :)