Brownies a'la Reese's, Peanuts and Krispies!

I got this recipe idea from Taste of Home and tweaked it to suit my gluten free diet. The original recipe used a brownie from the box and Betty Crocker, Pamela's and others have those readily available. I still prefer my brownies from scratch.

Can I just say...oh my!!! This is one that is definitely best served COLD!

Brownie base:
2 cubes of butter (1 cup)
1/3 cup cocoa
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1-1/4 cup Pamela's Gluten Free Flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
14 Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, cut up
1/2 to 3/4 cup salted peanuts
Cream the butter, cocoa and sugar (I usually soften the butter just a bit in the microwave). Add eggs one at a time, beating slightly after each addition. Add flour. Mix until just moistened. If you over mix the GF flour it doesn't work as well. Pour into a 9x13 (or a little larger if you prefer a thinner brownie) and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 25 minutes. Open the oven door and sprinkle the cut up Reese's and peanuts on top of the brownies and continue baking for 5 or 6 more minutes. Cool completely.

Topping
While this is cooling, melt together:
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1-1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1 T butter

Add: 1-1/2 cups of crisp rice cereal (I used EnviroKidz Organic Koala Crisp Cereal, but you could use the new GF Rice Crispies too) to the chocolate/peanut butter cream. Pour over cooled brownies. Sprinkle coarse sea salt over the top. Place in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. I found they were better if it was even longer. Cut them up and give them away before you eat too many!!!

Coconut-Pecan Chicken with Red Pepper Mango Salsa

This was such a yummy dinner! I think I need to improve on my presentation and photographs. But, right now I feel lucky to even put this on this blog! Try it maybe with some coconut rice or something. I was going for a pina colada feel with the coconut, pineapple, mango and banana bread!

2 chicken breasts, sliced into strips

1/2 cup (or more) shredded unsweetened coconut

1/2 cup pecan pieces

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 egg with 1 tsp water, beaten

3 T canola oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a food processor, blend the coconut, salt, and the pecans together. Place in a shallow bowl. Beat the egg and water together and place in a shallow bowl.  Dip the chicken strips in the egg and coat with the coconut pecan. Heat the oil in a frying pan. Place coated chicken strips in the frying pan, brown on both sides and transfer to a glass baking dish and to the oven for approximately 12 minutes.

 1-1/2 cup chopped mango (fresh, frozen, or canned)
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
1/3 cup chopped red onion
2 T chopped cilantro (fresh)
1 T vinegar (rice vinegar or apple cider vinegar)
1 T honey
1 T lime
1/2 tsp salt

Combine and serve over chicken.

I paired this with fresh pineapple and some banana bread that I had in the freezer.  A couple of other notes:  1) the unsweetened coconut was hard to find. There's plenty of sweetened coconut around. You have to look in the specialty isles.  2) If you don't want to make your own salsa, Costco sells a mango salsa that I think I actually liked better than this one.

Chorizo-Pepper-Potato Frittata

Hahaha! Say that one ten times! 

I tried this recipe from Rachel Ray's magazine and the family decided it needed some changes even though it was VERY good.  I've altered the recipe a little bit.  It also seemed to be lacking a sauce. We thought of three: 1) ketchup, 2) Harry & David's Pepper & Onion Relish (any of their varieties), or 3) Harry & David's Mango Chutney Relish. For calories sake, I would also decrease the amount of whole eggs and substitute more egg whites. I also didn't have a red pepper and used a yellow pepper instead. LOVED the taste, but it would be fun to use a mix of green, red and yellow peppers for color and a little more variety in taste. Just saying. I loved the chorizo, but you could use almost any sausage, bacon, etc. We also added fresh tomatoes to the salad greens - more flavor with them! 

1/4 cup olive oil (or less)

1/2 lb Chorizo

1/2 red onion, cut into small cubes

Salt and Pepper

1 red bell pepper cut into small cubes (yellow, or green, or all of them)

3 Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into small cubes

6 large eggs, beaten (or 4 eggs and 4 egg whites)

1/4 pound mozzarella cheese, low fat, shredded

2 tsp balsamic vinegar

1 T olive oil

4 oz mixed greens

2 tomatoes

Preheat the oven to 375. In a medium ovenproof skillet (I used a cast iron skillet), heat 2 tsp olive oil over medium heat. Add the chorizo and cook until browned. Transfer the chorizo to another bowl. Add the onion to the skillet and cook until softened. Add the pepper and cook until crisp-tender. Add this to the chorizo bowl. Add 2 tsp (or more) back to the skillet and add the potatoes. Season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring often, until golden brown and semi-soft. Stir in the chorizo mixture, eggs and 2/3rds of the cheese. Give it a couple of minutes to set the bottom and then transfer the pan to the oven and bake until the center is set, about 8 minutes. Switch the broiler on and top the frittata with remaining cheese and broil until melted. Let it set for about 5 minutes or more so you don't completely blister your mouth when you bite into it! 

Either top with some kind of sauce as I stated above, or add more cheese than indicated.

Combine the olive oil and balsamic vinegar (you might also add a little shaved garlic, salt and pepper for more flavor) and toss with the greens. I served the fresh tomatoes on the side.

Lemon Chicken

Here's the recipe I made for dinner last night. It was SO YUMMY!!!
Footnotes as to what I would do differently to follow:

1 cup lemon curd
1/3 cup rice vinegar
1/2 tsp salt (I left this out of the curd mixture)
Vegetable oil, for deep-frying
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces (you could use firm tofu)
1 large red bell pepper, cut into matchsticks
2 bunches scallions, cut into 2-inch pieces

Batter:

1 cup water

3/4 cup GF flour (I used Pamela's)

2 T GF flour

1/2 cup cornstarch

1 T baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In medium bowl, whisk together the lemon curd and vinegar and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk together water, 3/4 cup flour, cornstarch, baking powder and 1/4 tsp salt. In another bowl, toss chicken pieces with 2 T flour and 1/4 tsp salt. Coat the chicken in the batter and deep-fry in about 2-inches of heated oil for approximately 5 minutes, or until golden brown. (I ended up just dumping the chicken into the batter and mixing it around and then pulling out each piece with tongs and placing it into the oil. It took about 3 batches and I had to turn the pieces over midway through the cooking process.) After the chicken is cooked, add the pepper and scallions to the oil and fry until crisp-tender. Add the veggies to the curd sauce. Arrange the chicken on a platter and pour the lemon sauce over the chicken.  Serve with rice and maybe a side of sugar snap peas sauteed in butter and garlic!

Okay, now, what I would do differently. I  would GRILL the chicken and veggies. I didn't really like the veggies deep-fried. I would prefer them roasted.  I also thought the deep-frying added WAY to many calories and grease to the dish. For a healthier version - go for the grill. Another thing you could do is just dust the chicken in cornstarch and fry it. That would eliminate a few more calories with the batter and still give you the crispy texture.

New Grains

Macey's in Utah have started carrying a brand line called New Grains. My FAVORITE product is the Granny B's sugar cookie imitation!!!  SO GOOD! They also have breads, mixes, and other cookies.  You need to try these! Here is the website. Check it out!

http://newgrainsglutenfreebakery.com/