Challah Wild Mushroom + Herb Stuffing. Holla!

Thanksgiving is my favorite food holiday.  I'm sure we're all on the same page here.  Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, green beans, sweet potatoes, PIE, I mean, what's not to love?

A few years ago I stumbled upon a recipe at Once Upon A Chef for an amazing challah stuffing that blew my mind.  After trying for the past few years, I think I found my trick to make it foolproof.  Because as much as I love cooking, sometimes I am a fool.

*

It's simple, really.  You have your recipe, you find the best ingredients you can, and you make it work.  But with challah, I've gone wrong in the past by overlooking the gooey factor.  So, because challah tends toward the gooey when touched by any liquid, I've found that it benefits from a few extra days of air drying before baking.  So just buy the challah on the weekend before thanksgiving, and cut it into little pieces and lay it on trays and dry it out for 3-4 days before the big day.  On thanksgiving, bake it as instructed in the oven for some extra crunchiness.  Fool. Proof.

And so I bring you, my most favorite stuffing recipe. Get a head start on next years! (Do you know how cheap turkeys are this week?!)
CHALLAH AND WILD MUSHROOM STUFFING

* Thank you, le internet cooking princess, for the beautiful photo!

Buttermilk Fried Chicken Breast

For a make at home fried chicken, this recipe is a score.  It uses boneless skinless breasts, and its really easy. Like my trusty favorite pulled chicken sandwich recipe, you have to start earlier in the day with the prep (here it is the essential buttermilk soak, there its the dry rub), but as long as you do that, it is easily assembled after a long work day.

Probably the best part, and what makes it so crunchy and good, is the use of the pan fry then bake method.  Ready the cast iron skillet!  I tossed some green beans and onions into the oven in a separate roasting dish, so we had meat and veggies in the oven and brown rice on the stovetop, which meant a much smaller mess than usual.  I love using the oven for a weeknight dinner because nothing makes dinner taste better than knowing clean up will be easy! (I can't be the only one who feels this way.) 

Try it out and let me know what you think!  I substituted my own gluten free ingredients (bread crumbs and flour) and the recipe came out great.  If you don't like spicy stuff, just omit the hot sauce and cayenne pepper.

Ingredients

• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/4 cup hot pepper sauce
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
• 1 cup dry bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons onion powder
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, mix the buttermilk and hot pepper sauce. Place chicken in the mixture to coat. Cover, and marinate in the refrigerator 8 hours or overnight.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
3. In a separate medium bowl, mix dry bread crumbs, flour, onion powder, cornstarch, white sugar, garlic salt, salt, pepper, paprika, and cayenne pepper. Thoroughly coat the chicken in the bread crumb mixture.
4. Heat the olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat, and cook chicken 5 to 7 minutes on each side, until lightly browned.
5. Transfer chicken to a medium baking dish, and bake in the preheated oven 30 minutes, until no longer pink and juices run clear.

Courtesy of Allrecipes

Easy End-Of-Summer Recipe: Bourbon Apple Crisp

This is so easy in the end of August when our Gravensteins are begging to be baked!  

filling:
7 large apples, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces (I use Gravensteins)
Dash of cinnamon, to taste
1 tsp. lemon zest
3 Tbs. regular sugar
splash of Bourbon

topping:
4 Tbspn room temperature butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup Gluten Free oats
Tbspn Gluten Free flour (I use rice, but its your choice)

1. Preheat oven to 400
2. peel and chop apples into 1/2 inch pieces
3. add to 8X8 baking dish
4. add cinnamon, lemon zest, sugar, bourbon, toss in baking dish
5. mix toppping ingredients with your hands until they are crumbly
6. drop crumb topping onto apples in baking dish

bake at 400 for 45 minutes or until golden brown on top. cool. top with ice cream or whipped cream.

ENJOY!

Easy Recipe - Pulled Chicken Sandwiches

Pulled Chicken -
I like this one because it is simple and crowd pleasing.  Also its easy after a long work day - as long as you put the rub on the chicken before you go to work, it's really a 30 minute meal.  Buy coleslaw and rolls, make a little green salad, and ding dong bitches, dinner is DONE.

Pulled Chicken Recipe 

Ingredients

• Chicken:
• 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground chipotle chile pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken thighs
• Cooking spray
• Sauce:
• 2 teaspoons canola oil
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
• 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 1 cup ketchup
• 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon molasses
• Remaining ingredients:
• 8 (2-ounce) sandwich rolls, toasted
• 16 hamburger dill chips

Preparation

• Prepare grill. [You can also cook the chicken in a cast iron or pan on the stove, over medium/medium high heat.]
• To prepare chicken, combine first 7 ingredients in a small bowl. Rub spice mixture evenly over chicken. Place chicken on a grill rack coated with cooking spray; cover and grill 20 minutes or until a thermometer registers 180°, turning occasionally. Let stand for 5 minutes. Shred with 2 forks.
• To prepare sauce, heat canola oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion; cook for 5 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in 2 tablespoons sugar and next 5 ingredients (through pepper); cook 30 seconds. Stir in ketchup, vinegar, and molasses; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes or until slightly thickened, stirring occasionally. Stir in chicken; cook 2 minutes or until thoroughly heated.
• Place about 1/3 cup chicken mixture on bottom halves of sandwich rolls; top each serving with 2 pickle chips and top roll half.

Note: The chicken and sauce can be made up to two days ahead and stored in the refrigerator.

David Bonom, Cooking Light
JUNE 2006

Notes: I don't put the full amount of brown sugar in because I find it too sweet. Also, I don't mix all of the sauce with the chicken because I don't like when the rolls get soggy.  Udi's GF hamburger rolls are really good with this sandwich!

Easy Recipe - Kale!

I love the Red Russian Kale that grows nearby.  When de-stalked properly and simmered in a little organic Better than Bouillon or broth, it melts like spinach in butter.  Any kale will work well in this recipe, and if its a hardier variety like red russian, be sure to cut out the stalks.

Kale!

1 bunch of red russian kale (any variety will work), stems removed, chopped coarsley
2-4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 teaspoon oil (Canola probably)
8 oz chicken broth (I use 1Tablespoon organic Better than Bouillon chicken base + water!)

Saute the garlic in the oil for a few minutes over medium heat. Rinse the kale thoroughly, but don't shake the water off.  Add kale and water drippings to hot pan and steam for about 3 minutes until kale starts to wilt, add broth, turn to low and simmer for about 10/15 minutes until soft and cooked.

add a little fresh pepper, serve with tongs.
*to my taste, no salt needed because of the broth