chicken rice congee-style soup

Fast, easy and delicious!

¾ lb. skinless, boneless chicken thighs or breasts
⅓ cup jasmine rice, rinsed
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 2" piece ginger, peeled, thinly sliced
Kosher salt
2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
½ bunch cilantro, coarsely chopped
Freshly ground black pepper
Optional: 1-2 eggs

Bring chicken, rice, garlic, ginger, and 5 cups water to a boil in a large saucepan. Add a big pinch of salt. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered and stirring occasionally for 25 minutes, until soup is thickened and rice is tender. Continue cooking rice while transferring chicken to a bowl to shred with 2 forks, then return to pot. Stir in lemon juice and soy sauce; taste soup and season with salt if needed.

Scramble eggs and  drizzle into soup and cook 2-3 minutes longer.

Divide soup among bowls. Top with cilantro and lots of black pepper.

Do Ahead: Soup (without cilantro) can be made 3 days ahead. Transfer to an airtight container and chill. Reheat over medium-low, adding water to thin as needed.

pumpkin bread magic

1 15-ounce can of pumpkin puree
1/2 cup grapeseed oil
3 large eggs
1 2/3 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Heaped 1/4 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
Heaped 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
Two pinches of ground cloves
2 1/4 cups gluten free flour

1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 6-cup loaf pan or coat it with nonstick spray.

In a large bowl, whisk together pumpkin, oil, eggs and sugar until smooth. Sprinkle baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves over batter and whisk until well-combined. Add flour and stir with a spoon, just until mixed. Scrape into prepared pan and smooth the top. In a small dish, or empty measuring cup, stir sugar and cinnamon together. Sprinkle over top of batter.

Bake bread for 80 minutes until a tester poked into all parts of cake (both the top and center will want to hide pockets of uncooked batter) come out batter-free, turning the cake once during the baking time for even coloring.

Cool it in the pan for at least 10 minutes.

Cake keeps at room temperature as long as you can hide it. I like to keep mine in the tin with a piece of foil or plastic just over the cut end and the top exposed to best keep the lid crisp as long as possible.

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

the very best stuffing

No one makes Thanksgiving stuffing like mom. I always make it using an entire loaf of bread and love it when no one else eats any: more for me! Easy to make the day before and toss in the over right before the meal.

1 loaf gluten free bread (I use Canyon Bread), cut into cubes
3 tablespoons butter
2 medium onions, cut into small dice
4 large stalks celery, cut into small dice
2 tablespoons of Bell's Seasoning
2 large eggs, beaten
2 cups homemade chicken stock
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Make the stock if there isn't any on hand.

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Spread the bread cubes on a large baking sheet in an even layer and bake until quite crisp, about 60 minutes.

Melt 4 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet set over medium-high heat. Add the onions and celery and cook, stirring frequently, for 10 minutes or the vegetables are very soft. Add the Bell's Seasoning and cook for 2 more minutes.

In a large bowl, fold together the toasted bread cubes with the cooked onions and celery.

Beat the eggs in a medium bowl with the broth, salt, and a generous quantity of fresh black pepper. Pour in the bowl and stir into the bread.

Grease baking dish with butter or olive oil. Spread bread mixture in the baking dish.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Cool the dressing for 10 minutes before serving.

– Adapted from The Kitchn and my mom

ez cranberry curd

Thanksgiving always brings a new dessert challenge, and this year's was a hit. And it can be made in one pot. Other options we came up with include:
cranberry lime
strawberry rhubarb
raspberry lemon

12 ounces cranberries
1 cup sugar
 About 1/2 cup juice and peel (orange part only) of 1 orange
1 stick softened butter
2 eggs plus 2 egg yolks

Use vegetable peeler to remove slices of peel from orange. Heat cranberries, sugar, orange juice and peel in a saucepan over medium heat. Simmer until cranberries have popped and softened, about 10-15 minutes.

Remove peels from cranberries. Use immersion blender to break down cranberries as much as possible. (For smooth curd press cooking liquid through medium mesh sieve into a bowl.)

Whisk the butter into the warm liquid in the pot.

Put eggs and egg yolks into a bowl and beat lightly. Slowly whisk a cup of warm cranberry liquid into the eggs to temper, then add the tempered mix back to the pot and whisk together. Cook over low heat until nearly bubbling and thickened, about 10 minutes. Pour into overproof dish. If using immediately, let cool to room temperature. If working ahead, cool to room temperature, cover with plastic wrap (press wrap against curd) and refrigerate. (Curd may be cooked up to 1 day ahead.)

When ready to eat, bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes to set curd.

– Adapted from NYT Cooking

spinach cheese pie - hold the crust

We've doubled this recipe, and added even more cheese! You can never have enough cheese!

2 bags frozen spinach, thawed, moisture squeezed out
4 eggs
1 1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
1 cup low-fat cottage cheese
1/2 cup of white cheddar
salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Place cast iron skillet in oven and heat for 10 minutes. In a bowl, combine spinach with eggs, feta, cottage cheese, cheddar, salt and pepper. Mix well. Remove skillet from oven, and reduce oven temperature to 400 degrees. Spread spinach filling evenly over crust, and bake for 20 minutes longer. Cool for 10 minutes before slicing.

porky belly salady

In an effort to find the right side salad for our sweet potato soup we came up with a delicious pork belly, fried egg and parmesan salad.

Ingredients:
2 eggs
cooked pork belly
hard parmesan cheese
balsamic vinegar
lettuce

Wash salad greens and distribute among two bowls. Shave parmesan into each bowl. Fry pork belly until crisp on all sides. Slice the fried pork belly. Fry each egg in the same pan as you fried the pork belly to use the leftover pork fat. Mix everything together.

cheesy frittata

The first frittata we made came about out of necessity - we were hungry and the only thing we could make out of what we had in the house was a frittata. It was so good we went out to get the ingredients to make it again.

Ingredients:
8 eggs
2 tbsp half and half
1 small log of herbed goat cheese
1 onion, chopped
1/2 lb of bacon
salt and pepper
1 tomato, thinly sliced
slices of brie
2 zucchini, chopped

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Chop raw bacon into small pieces. Fry in a cast iron skillet until crispy. Remove to a separate bowl and pour off excess bacon grease from the skillet. Fry the onions in the bacon grease until softened and add the chopped zucchini, frying both until lightly browned. (Cover to help speed the softening process.) Add the crumbled bacon and stir to combine.

Place slices of brie on top of the mixture (use as much or as little as you want).

Whisk the eggs with the half and half and salt and pepper to taste. Pour the eggs over the veggies, meat and cheese in the skillet. Place slices of tomato carefully on top of the eggs and sprinkle chunks from the log of goat cheese over the top.

Cook on the stove top for 8 minutes, then transfer to the oven for another 15 minutes, then broil for 4 minutes until brown and bubbly on top, and cooked through.

Cut into wedges to serve.

My favorite part of the frittata is the tomato, every time. So while we haven't tried this yet, next time we plan a tomato-heavy version. 

Prepare as above, except omit the zucchini. Once the onions have softened, add the bacon and stir to combine. Place slices of tomato over onion mixture. Add a layer of goat cheese, then add another layer of tomato and a layer of brie. Pour eggs over the top. Add another layer of tomato and crumble the goat cheese on top. Cook as directed above.