Don't judge the recipe by its looks

I'll be the first to admit, this photo looks absolutely awful. The slop in the pan looks like something that would come from a little plastic tray with a peel-back cover. All I can say is, don't judge a recipe by its photo.

This is a creation of my daughter's, a bold effort to make something tasty and gluten free. She succeeded with flying colors. This pan-prepared variation of an Asian style crock pot recipe is delightful served over brown rice (I confess to using the brown rice in the box).


Sweet & Spicy Chicken

2 lbs chicken thigh strips (found these in the frozen chicken section at Wal Mart)
3 T minced garlic, from a jar is fine
3 T minced dried onion bits
1 c sweet/sour sauce (jar)
3/4 c BBQ sauce (Head Country is the sauce of choice)

Pan fry chicken pieces-parts until done, drain & set aside.

In the same pan, combine remaining ingredients and simmer until mixture begins to thicken.

Return chicken to sauce, simmer 15 minutes, stirring frequently so sauce doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan. If sauce is too thick add a couple of T water to thin. If sauce is too thin, thicken with 1-2 T cornstarch mixed in a little cold water, add to sauce, and return to simmer.

Serve hot over steamed brown rice.

Absolutely delicious!

Basic Flour Recipe

The one thing I can't live without is flour! It's the glue that holds country food together. That was punny, huh?

My first gluten-free outing took me to the mass-market store of all mass-market stores: Wal*Mart. It's not my favorite place to shop, but living in a small Western Oklahoma town gives me limited options. If United doesn't have it, I go to Wal*Mart or drive 45 minutes to OKC.

Wally stocks a small offering of gluten free products, so my shopping cart was filled with the likes of Bob's Red Mill sweet sorghum flour, oat flour, almond meal, brown rice flour, potato starch, xanthan gum, and some Gluten Free Pantry ready-made bread mixes. I also picked up some Bob's biscuit mix as well as pancake mix.

My first experiment was with Bob's biscuit mix. The ingredient list included garbanzo bean flour. This is the only product I've used with bean flour, and I believe it will be the last. The biscuits were plain nasty.

Next up, an experiment with mixing my own. In my first batch of all purpose flour, I used the sorghum. The freshly opened package had the aroma of flour that had been lost in the back of the cupboard for months on end.... spoiled. Well, being a newbie to all this, who was I to say that sorghum didn't naturally smell rancid??

Following my favorite biscuit recipe, I made some fresh hockey pucks that tasted somewhat like, oh, rancid sorghum flour. Those went in the dust bin.

Some weeks later I decided to try again. I bypassed sorghum and opted for a blend of oat and brown rice flour. This time I was happy to find my creation made crisp, fluffy biscuits, similar in texture to Bisquick biscuits.

Along with the bicsuits, I tried my newly created flour in a pan of sausage gravy. I was afraid it might not thicken up like regular wheat-flour gravy, but the surprising results was a nice, thick, gluten-free pan of sausage gravy.

I think I'll be able to live with this!

Here's my basic flour recipe:
1/2 part oat flour
1/2 part brown rice flour
1 part potato starch
1/3 part almond meal

I measure these into a zipper bag, seal, and mix well.

To every 1 cup of flour mixture in your recipe, add 3/4 tsp. xanthan gum.

Now, let's make some biscuits!

Gluten Free Biscuits

2 cups all purpose GF flour (above)
1-1/2 tsp xanthan gum
mix well

1-1/2 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp cornstarch
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp soda
3/4 tsp salt
mix all dry ingredients well

Cut in 1/2 stick real butter, softened, until mixture makes small crumbs (don't be shy - stick your hands in there!)

Mix in 3/4 cup cold buttermilk

Once everything is well mixed and forms a soft ball, I either turn and knead several times in the bowl, or I stick let the mixer knead it on low speed for a couple of minutes.

Butter your hands, pinch off a dough ball, roll and flatten in your palms, and place on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake at 450 degrees until nice 'n' brown. Serve with plenty of butter and local honey.

The Black Line

This is the thick black line that separates my gluten-full past from my gluten-free future. I've made the decision to avoid gluten whenever possible. We'll see what happens....

Sweet and Spicy Pickles

My mother got this super easy recipe from a friend who got it from ???

Ingredients:

Gallon jar whole dill pickles (not kosher, not sliced)
4# bag sugar
Bottle Louisiana hot sauce

Drain pickles and slice. Mine are usually 3/4 to 1-1/2 inches wide.

Pour about a cup of sugar in the bottom of the empty pickle jar. Add several good dollops of hot sauce.

Add a layer of pickles.

Cover pickles with about a cup of sugar and several good dollops of hot sauce.

Add another layer of pickles, sugar, and hot sauce.

You get the idea.

Continue until all pickles have been packed in layers of sugar and hot sauce, topping the jar with sugar and hot sauce. My final quantities are 3/4 of the bag of sugar and about half the hot sauce. Add more or less depending on your level of bravery.

I add back any juice that accumulated in the bottom of the bowl. Return lid to jar - securely!

Find a couple of bored kids. Sit them about six feet apart on the kitchen floor, front porch, driveway, paved road, or wherever there's enough room on a hard surface. Have the kids roll the jar of pickles back & forth between themselves until the ingredients are well mixed.

If bored kids are not readily available, roll the jar across the counter top from hand to hand.

Put the jar in a corner.

Tomorrow, turn the jar over so it's standing on its lid.

The day after, turn the jar back up.

The next day, turn the jar back on its lid.

The day after that.... you get the picture.

Do this for two weeks.

I usually last about 5 days before I have to get into the pickles. Of course, they have to be sampled for correct hotness and sweetness. Add additional hot or sweet if necessary.

Refrigerate once they're to your liking.

Enjoy!

Homemade Pork Sausage, first try

I couldn't resist experimenting with ground pork, considering it's only fifty cents a pound!

INGREDIENTS

• 2 pounds ground pork
• 2 teaspoons ground sage
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon brown sugar

Mix it all up (get your hands in there and really work it!).
Scoop out 1/4 c. at a time, shape into patties. Place on cookie sheet covered in waxed paper.
Flash freeze; transfer to freezer bag for storage in freezer.To cook: fry over medium heat, turning often, until brown and center is no longer pink.

My take: a decent recipe but something was missing. It's more firm than store bought sausage, but noted that no fat cooked out of the patties. I have a bag full of sausage patties, so it'll be a while before I can tweak it and try again.

Farm Girl Pot Luck

I was too lazy to photograph this side dish as it took shape. The finished product was the result of "Hmmmm, maybe I'll add some of this...." Everyone liked it; there were no leftovers.

The original intent was to saute onions to have with some eye of round steak. I thought fried taters would work well with the steak, but then decided to to put the onions in with the potatoes rather than use as topping on the steak. Next came the can of corn that was sitting open on the stove; daughter decided she wanted corn in her ramen that she'd had for lunch, and 9/10ths of the can was left. Here we go:

4 medium potatoes, peeled & sliced
2 medium onion, peeled & sliced
1 can corn, drained
extra virgin olive oil

Heat EVOO in cast iron skillet over med-high heat until very hot.
Add 2 sliced potatoes, season with seasoned salt and pepper, fry until browned and soft.
Remove from pan, add the remaining 2 potatoes. Replenish EVOO as needed.
When potatoes are starting to brown, add onions. Cook until potatoes are brown and onions are tender.
Add corn, saute a few minutes more until corn is hot and a few kernels are scorched. Season to taste.

Remove to serving bowl. Serve with your favorite cut of meat.

Country Quesadillas (Not a GF Recipe)

Quesadillas! The family loves them! Quick & Simple, nutritious with the right ingredients. Today we used:

1 onion, sliced
1 yellow bell pepper, sliced
packaged fajita chicken strips
pepper jack cheese
tortillas
olive oil spray
grapeseed oil

Heat grapeseed oil over medium heat. Use just enough to coat your ingredients, maybe 2 T.
Add the sliced onion and pepper.
Saute until done. I prefer browned, with the onions starting to caramelize.
While the veggies are cooking, it's time to steep some tea.
And it's time to decide what to serve on the side. I had some beans in the freezer (remember that muffin cup trick?) so I put a few servings in the double boiler to thaw and heat.
Once veggies are cooked to your liking, toss in a few handfuls of prepared fajita chicken. Of late, we use TJ Farms. Now that the filling is ready, it's time to prep the tortilla. Lightly spray one side and place on hot griddle for just a few minutes until hot and beginning to brown. Spray top side and flip.

Spread flling on half of tortilla and sprinkle with cheese. How much cheese you use is up to you. Keep in mind its calorie-full unless you use the fat free kind.When the underside is browned to your liking, fold in half. Serve hot with beans and a tall glass of iced tea.
Enjoy!!