13Jan / 2015

Chermoulah Chicken Tagine


So, after an incredible meal at Cafe Mogador in New York, my husband makes the humble request that I re-create the chicken chermoulah tagine I had ordered for dinner. For those of you unfamiliar with Moroccan food, Chermoulah is a blend of fresh herbs, chilis, and garlic that when cooked down creates the most delicious and aromatic sauce.

The Chermoulah

1 bunch of cilantro
1/2 bunch of flat leaf parsley
4 cloves of garlic
3 seranno or 2 jalepeno peppers (use less if you like things less spicy)
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp. ground corriander and/or cardamom
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp water

Roughly chop the herbs and peppers, and place all the ingredients into a food processor. Process until the ingredients come together like a paste, roughly the consistency of pesto.

You will need approximately 4-6 skinless, bone-in chicken thighs for this recipe. Make the Chermoulah sauce/marinade below, and marinate the chicken for at least 2 hours, or up to 24 hours ahead of time.

About one hour before you are ready to start cooking, take the chicken out of the fridge to allow it to come up to room temperature. Wipe off as much of the marinade as possible from each thigh, but make sure you wipe it into the bowl with the rest of the marinade – this will be the base of the cooking sauce.

Coat a somewhat deep sautee pan (that has a lid!) with olive oil and/or butter. Sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper on each thigh and cook over medium-high heat, slightly covered until the thighs are golden brown on the outside, and lift easily from the pan. Add the marinade to the pan with about 1 tbsp of water. Bring to a light boil, reduce the heat to low, cover and cook for approximately 20-25 minutes, until it is fork tender. Towards the end, tast the sauce to make sure there is enough seasoning, and add salt to taste. If necessary let the chicken and sauce cook uncovered for a few minutes to reduce the liquid and concentrate the flavor.

Serve over a bed of basmati rice, and garnish with a lemon wedge. Enjoy!

NOTE: Schug, a.k.a. Yemeni hot sauce

The recipe for Schug, a Yemeni hot sauce, is almost the same as that for the Chermoulah marinade. All you need to do is reduce the garlic to 1 clove (instead of 4), and add a 1/2 tsp of sugar or honey. Use this delicious sauce as a condiment for eggs, sandwiches, soups….really anything that needs a “kick!”

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04Jan / 2013

Starch-Free Schnitzel (a.k.a. Jewish-German Fried Chicken Fingers)


So my brother can’t eat starch. That makes cooking for him challenging, especially when my husband invites him to dinner without telling me (starch-free takes forethought, in case you were wondering). Luckily, I’ve been cooking for him for years, so I decided to just adapt our dinner plans a bit: instead of gluten-free chicken schnitzel, we are having starch-free chicken-schnitzel…

1 1/2 pounds chicken breast, trimmed and cut into 1/4 thick pieces

2 eggs, beaten

1 tsp salt (plus more for coating)

3/4 tsp black pepper (plus more for coating)

2 cups light frying oil

1 cup blanched almond flour

1/3 cup sesame seeds

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

At least one hour before you are ready to fry your schnitzel, combine chicken, eggs, salt and pepper in a bowl and allow to marinate in the fridge. (You can do this up to a day before).

When you are ready to start frying up your chicken, heat the oil over medium to medium-high heat until a pinch of almond flour sizzles when dropped in the oil.

In a large shallow bowl or plate, combine the almond flour, sesame seeds, red pepper, and salt and pepper to taste. Coat each piece of chicken on the almond flour mixture and drop in the oil. Flip when the underside is golden brown (approx 3 minutes). Remove when both sides are golden brown and place on a paper towel lined platter in the oven on the warm setting. Continue until you finish cooking all the schnitzel! Enjoy with a fresh green salad as a light accompaniment…

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29Nov / 2012

Avocados go soft


 

 

The Cupboard Tip Board

Don’t let those sneaky avocados go soft on you!

There is almost nothing I hate more than grabbing an avocado out of my fruit bowl to find that it is supper mushy and sure to be stringy, brown and over-ripe the minute I cut into it.

Thankfully, I realized that I don’t have to be at the mercy of my avocados’ ripening timeline anymore! Make sure to buy avocados BEFORE they are super soft, and as soon as your avocados reach the perfect point of firmly soft, put them right into the fridge to slow the ripening process and extend your avocados’ lifetime for days.

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29Nov / 2012

Ginger Soy Chicken Drumsticks


Ginger Soy Drumsticks

This is a great go-to for a busy weeknight, since you just throw it in the oven…PLUS it won’t break the bank with affordable chicken legs.

1.5-2 lbs skinless chicken legs/drumsticks

1/4 cup gluten-free soy sauce (I like San-J or LaChoy)

1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

juice from 1/2 lime

1/2 teaspoon ginger powder (or 1 teaspoon of fresh grated ginger)

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp salt (since soy sauce is salty)

1 large onion, sliced

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a glass baking dish, combine all the ingredients except the onion salt and black pepper. make sure the chicken is well coated in soy sauce and spices. Arrange the onions around the chicken and season with the salt and pepper. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes.

Remove from the oven, remove the foil and stir the onions and chicken. Increase heat to 400 degrees, and return the chicken to the oven for another 15 minutes, or until chicken is golden and fork tender.

 

 

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30Oct / 2012

A little gift from the sky…and Almond Meal Pancakes???


I wrote this guy quite a while ago – forgot to publish it though

So when my alarm went off this morning at 5am, I was not exactly in the mindset of jumping out of bed, whipping up my favorite almond meal pancakes and conquering a day full of flying. Luckily, I didn’t have to….

To my great surprise and relief, a fellow flight attendant had taken off my shoulders the early-wake-up portion of the 3 day trip I have on my schedule today, i.e. I’m not flying to Denver and back this morning. This discovery = ecstatically happy Adria who can now wake up with husband and indeed make almond flour pancakes. In my overwhelming joy, I have decided that you too should make almond flour pancakes, with chocolate OF COURSE…

A few ingredients make the most tender delicious pancakes you’ve ever had!

1 cup almond meal

2 eggs

1/4 buttermilk or plain kefir

2 tbsp agave nectar

pinch of salt

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp baking soda

butter

bittersweet chocolate chips

Mix together in a bowl all of the above ingredients, except the butter and chocolate chips. The consistency will be thicker than regular pancakes – don’t worry! Heat a flat non-stick pan or skillet at just under medium heat and melt in a heaping tablespoon of butter – You enough butter that the pancakes will kind of ‘float ‘ on a thin sea of butter…mmm…. When you can feel the heat of the pan several inches away, use a 1/4 cup measure to drop-pour your pancake mix.

See how they ‘float’ on the butter?! OH SO YUM!

These take a while, so be patient – wait until there are a few bubbles and the pancake will lift easily from the pan before attempting to flip, about 3 minutes. Just before you flip each pancake, carefully place the chocolate chips into the batter. flip very gently and cook on the opposite side for about 1-2 minutes. Remove from the pan, add more butter and do the same with your next batch. Enjoy!!

These are a little overcooked – OOPS! They should be more golden and less black!

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30Oct / 2012

I’m not really a slacker…don’t judge…


I’m not really a slacker…don’t judge…

SO I’ve been missing from the old cupboard for QUITE a while now. I’m embarrassed, actually. I’ve even been avoiding the inevitable return for fear that you can see me covering my face in embarrassment through the internet waves.

Then I came back to reality. You can’t see me unless I want you to, so there! I do have a reasonable excuse, though…my law school applications took over my life for about a month…and then I hurt my shoulders at work and have been rather crippled in the kitchen. Shoulder Injury = a dearth of yummies to post. However, looking through my good ol’ phone camera I found some photos to pair with delicious recipes in my head.

They are actually coming…really…

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09Sep / 2012

Gluten-Free Banana Bread Muffins


2 bananas

2 eggs

1/4 cup light oil (like grapeseed or safflower)

3 tbsp buttermilk (if doing non-dairy: 1tsp apple cider vinegar and 2 tbsp water)

1 cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups all-purpose gluten free flour ( I like Bob’s Red Mill or Jule’s)

2/3 cup blanched almond flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and grease a muffin tin; set aside. In a large bowl, mash together the bananas and the brown sugar. Then add the remaining wet ingredients (oil, buttermilk, eggs, vanilla), and mix well to combine. In a second bowl, combine the remaining ingredients, stir to combine and slowly add it to the banana mixture until well combined.

Fill each muffin tin approximately 3/4 full and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Enjoy them warm!!

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09Aug / 2012

Summer Squash “Pie” with Cornbread Crust


Summer Squash Pie with Cornbread Crust

Cornbread Crust

1/4 cup all-purpose gluten free flour

1/4 cup cornmeal

1 egg

2 tbsp buttermilk

1 tbsp agave nectar

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine the above ingredients and spread into a butter-greased 10″ round cake pan. Bake for 6-8 minutes, or until just cooked. Remove from oven and set aside.

Summer Squash Pie Filling

2 yellow squash, diced

1/2 large onion, diced

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup mascarpone cheese, room temp.

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese + 1/4 cup for top

3 eggs

salt, pepper, red pepper to taste

2 tbsp fresh chopped basil

Heat a saute pan over medium high heat and melt in the butter. Add the squash, onions and spices and saute until golden brown and tender. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Meanwhile, combine the remaining ingredients except the additional Parmesan cheese.

Slowly add the squash/onion mixture to the egg mixture and stir quickly to keep from scrambling the eggs. Pour the mixture into the cake pan with the cooked crust and top with remaining cheese. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until cooked through.

Posted in GF Baking, Smalls

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01Aug / 2012

Evening Primrose Oil


I began taking Evening Primrose Oil about a year ago, and while it was in conjunction with a lot of other new vitamins and supplements, I’m pretty sure it is at least responsible by half for the regrowth and doubly healthy/shiny appearance of my hair!!

EPO is very high in Linoleic acid (an essential fatty acid) which cannot be synthesized in our bodies. What does that mean? It means that we have to consume it in order to provide it to our bodies’ systems for various biological processes. To put it simply: our body needs it; we don’t make it; we need to eat it!!

While some people may say that it is virtually impossible to be deficient in linoleic acid (it is found in MANY other oils and foods), I can only speak to my own personal experience, and the fact that EPO was used in ancient times in remedies and poultices. I’ll put my money on the “wise women” of the middle ages and keep on taking my capsule of EPO every day….

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10Jul / 2012

Wheat Free Quinoa Tabbouleh


Tabbouleh is a traditional Middle-Eastern salad made with fresh vegetable, herbs and Bulgur wheat. Since I don’t eat wheat or wheat products, I was thinking about an alternative for the Bulgur wheat that gives this salad it’s hearty texture and nutty taste and found that quinoa is a perfect substitute.

2 cups cooked quinoa, cooled

1 cup finely chopped cucumbers

1 cup finely chopped tomatoes

1/3 cup finely chopped red onion

1/2 cup chopped flat leaf parsley

1/3 cup olive oil

juice of 1 lemon

salt and pepper to taste

In a large bowl, combine the above ingredients and let the flavors marinate for an hour or two before serving. This salad is a great appetizer, side dish or even a hearty topping for a green salad. The protein rich quinoa also happens to be a more nutritios alternative to Bulgur wheat. Enjoy!

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