Mushroom & Spinach Crepes

Mmm, crepes.  With mushrooms!  And spinach!  Oh, and chicken...  Feeling French and fancy free?  Try this on for size ;)

Ingredients:

• 4 T. butter
• 4 T. flour blend
• 2 c. milk (coconut/rice)
• 1 t. mustard
• Handful of cheese
• Salt/pepper, to taste
• Dash of nutmeg
• 1 can mushrooms, drained
• 2 handfuls spinach, chopped
• 1-2 handfuls of shredded rotiserrie chicken -or- 1 can chicken, drained

Directions:

     Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium heat.  Stir flour into browned butter and cook over low heat, stirring constantly for one minute.  Add milk a cup at a time.  Bring to a boil and whisk for 1 minute.  Add mustard and season to taste.  Add remaining ingredients and heat through.  Serve inside crepes.

Simple Gluten Free Crepes

Crepes are a great way to make an ordinary meal extra special or fancy!  Omit the sugar and vanilla for a savory crepe...  As for the filling, the sky's the limit ;)

Ingredients:

•  1 ¼ c. milk (coconut/rice)

•  2 large eggs

•  2 T. oil

•  1 c. flour blend (equal parts brown rice, sorghum, and tapioca)

•  ½ t. salt

•  1 t. sugar (opt)

•  ½ t. vanilla (opt)

•  1/8 t. baking powder

Directions:

Pour milk, egg, and oil into a blender and turn on low.  Combine dry ingredients together in separate bowl, then add to blender.  Blend until smooth.  Heat skillet over medium high heat.  Add a little oil and evenly coat bottom of pan.  Pour ¼ c. batter into heated skillet.  Swirl until bottom of pan is covered.  Cook crepe for 1 minute, then gently flip to other side and cook just until golden.

Coq Sans Vin (food storage version)

So, I have a pretty cool story behind this recipe.  Well, I think it's cool...  Anyway, I was fretting all week about converting one of my all time favorite meals (Coq Sans Vin) into something that would work for food storage and I just kept drawing blanks on ideas.  I mean, how can you turn a fabulous French meal into something using canned food???  I was almost embarrassed for even considering it!

But then this morning, I woke up with a dream fresh in my mind and suddenly I had an idea: make chicken patties with canned chicken.  Talk about answered prayers, because it totally worked!  Now, mind you, this version doesn't even hold a candle to the original.  But, BUT, it will suffice in times of emergency.  And for that reason I am calling it a miraculous success ;)

Ingredients:

     • prepared chicken patties

     • ¼ c. bacon bits

     • 1 T. flour (GF fine)

     • 2 c. chicken broth

     • 1 T. apple cider vinegar

     • 1 T. dried onions

     • 1/4 t. garlic & herb

     • 1/2 t. salt

     • 1/2 t. dried sage

     • 1 bay leaf

     • 1 large can whole carrots, drained*

     • 1 can mushrooms, drained 

Directions:

     Once chicken patties are transferred to warm oven, add bacon to the hot skillet used for preparing the patties.  Cook until crisp.  Add flour and stir, cooking for 1 minute.  Add vinegar and chicken broth a cup at a time, whisking until a thin gravy forms.  Add remaining ingredients and stir; turn heat to low and bring to a simmer.  Remove from heat and serve over prepared mashed potatoes and chicken patties.  Goes great with sweet & savory green beans!

Note: I'm pretty sure dehydrated carrots would be far superior in this than canned.  So that's my next experiment: cook with more dehydrated food.  And I'm pretty dang excited about the prospect of dehydrating frozen food!  Makes me giddy just thinking about it.  *B

Coq Sans Vin

When I was newly married I would happily go through my Betty Crocker cookbook (a wedding gift), select a recipe and experiment on my new husband.  This dish was one of the first I tried in our itty bitty kitchen, and I've been cooking it ever since.  Whenever we had people over for dinner, we served this.  Whenever I wanted to impress the in-laws, I'd make this.  I've tweaked it a bit each time, getting closer and closer to perfection...  And I am happy to report that it is has indeed been perfected :)

Adapted from Betty Crocker

Ingredients:

• 6-8 chicken thighs, rinsed and dried
• 1 c. flour (make it GF by using equal parts sorghum, tapioca and brown rice flour)
• 2 t. salt
• 1/2 t. pepper
• 1/2 onion, chopped/sliced
• 6 carrots, scrubbed & cut into fourths (baby carrots work great, too)
• 4 - 8 oz. mushrooms, sliced
• 8 slices of bacon OR 2 chicken sausage links, diced
• 2 c. chicken broth
• 2 T. apple cider vinegar
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1/2 t. dried thyme
• 1/2 t. dried parsley (opt)
• 1 bay leaf (opt)

Directions:

1. Combine flour, 2 t. salt and 1/2 t. pepper into a large ziplock bag.  Add chicken and coat evenly in flour mixture.  Remove chicken and set aside.  And throw that nasty bag away!
2. Heat a large cast iron pot over medium heat.  Cook bacon/sausage until done.  Remove from pot and set aside.
3. Allow pot to get nice and hot and add the dredged chicken in single layers.  Cook for two minutes per side, or until brown.  Remove chicken from pot and set aside.
4. Add onions, carrots and mushrooms to pot.  Cook for one minute, add garlic and cook for a minute longer.
5. Add chicken broth, apple cider vinegar, 1/2 t. salt and thyme.  Stir well.
6. Place chicken on top and sprinkle with bacon.  Remove from heat.  Cover pot and place in a 275 degree oven.
7. For every pound of chicken, cook for 1 - 1.5 hours.  So if you have 3 pounds of chicken, cook for 3 - 4.5 hours.
8. Remove from oven and serve with mashed potatoes.  You can use the liquid straight from the pot, or you can make a killer gravy with it.
9. Another option is to let it sit overnight in the fridge and serve it the next day.  This allows the fat to raise to the service and solidify, making it easier to remove before reheating.  That is, if you want to...

The original recipe is called "Coq Au Vin" which is French for "chicken with wine".  As you may have noticed, my recipe does not use wine.  That's where the extra cup of chicken broth, plus the apple cider vinegar, comes from.  That's my secret wine substitute.  And I will have you know that both of my parents speak French, one lived in Quebec while the other lived in France, and both think this dish is awesome!  So there.  *B