Spanish Chicken with Chorizo and Potatoes

I found this on Pinterest and made it last night.  One of the nice things about Pinterest is you get to see pictures and links of what your friends have found that you might not ever have been introduced to.  I repinned this from Leslie Simons.  We started following each other's Pins, so thanks Leslie for the introduction to this great recipe.

Spanish Chicken with Chorizo and Potatoes.

  Yummy comfort food that the whole family loved.  Another benefit is this one is very easy to make.  You pretty much throw it all together in a casserole dish and put it in the oven.  Very minimal prep, just a little chopping.   Life is Great originally posted this picture, but the recipe is from Nigella Lawson.

Life is Great

Nigella

I'm not sure what country the recipe is from because the measurements were in kg. and the oven heat was in Celsius?  I baked it at 375 degrees convection bake for an hour and broiled it for a couple minutes at the end to crisp up the chicken skin.  I used a pound of baby red potatoes because our grocery store didn't have baby goldens.  Next time I will use linguica sausage instead of chorizo.  The chorizo was delicious, but our brand crumbles apart into small pieces.  If you look at the picture, their chorizo stays in chunks. 

The combination of the orange peel, oregano, and spicy sausage made the whole house smell yummy!

This one's a keeper and I'll definitely make it again.

Tried any new recipes lately?

Thanks for checking it out.

Chicken Sorrentino- My Gluten Free Version

Casey was watching the Cake Boss cook Chicken Sorrentino on the food network and decided she wanted to make it. She called her friend Maddie who also loves to cook and enlisted the help of Cami to make this recipe.  I bought all the ingredients and they got to work.  Here is the original recipe for  Chicken Sorrentino.

Together they can make anything in the kitchen. 

I decided to come up with a gluten free version of the original Cake Boss recipe and it turned out awesome.  We all helped out.

It was fun!

You start by marinating the chicken. 

We have found the recipe is much better if you pound the chicken to about a quarter of an inch thick before marinating.  It's much easier to serve, it's easier to layer evenly, it's more tender, and it's easier to eat if you pound it first.

It's not pounded in this picture.  This was our first attempt at this recipe. 

 It's so good we've made it three times now.

We are growing eggplant, but ours aren't ready yet so we had to buy one.

You'll need some of this too.

The recipe calls for making your own bread crumbs, but the girls used pre-made ones from the store.

The Changes I Made To This Recipe Are As Follows:

Whether you are making the original version or the gluten free version (GFV) you need to pound the chicken to a quarter inch thickness.  The girls used pre-made bread crumbs.

To Make It Gluten Free.

* I replaced the pasta with fresh spinach.

* I eliminated the flour completely.

* I replaced the bread crumbs with Almond Flour.

Here the girls are battering the eggplant slices in flour, egg, and bread crumbs.  Everyone washed there hands with soap before starting, just in case you were wondering? 

For the gluten free version I dipped the eggplant in egg and battered them in seasoned Almond Flour.
I added the garlic and the seasoning the bread crumbs called for into the Almond Flour.




Here the girls are starting the layering of the Chicken Sorrentino
The recipe calls for a bottom layer of pasta.

Add the sauce and cheese.

I switched out the pasta for spinach to make the GFV.
The second time I made this I tried it with gluten free rice pasta for this layer, but I like the spinach better.



Next the girls layered the chicken, prosciutto, eggplants, sauce, and cheese.

For the GFV I layered the chicken, prosciutto, eggplant, sauce, and cheese.  This picture shows the un pounded chicken.  The next two times I've made this I pounded it.







Don't add too much sauce at this point in the GFV.  The spinach "sweats" and there isn't any pasta to absorb the extra moisture.  I serve it with extra sauce after baking.



GFV



Original Recipe.

mmm good.
Serve with extra sauce on the side.

My husband eats gluten and he likes this GFV better.  Don't think he's just telling me what I want to hear.  He's from New York and he ALWAYS tells me exactly what he thinks.  No sugar coating it in our house.

The girls said the original recipe is delicious too.

Do you cook with your kids?  I would love to hear your stories.  Do you eat gluten free?  I would love to hear about your favorite recipes.

Thanks For Checking It Out.

Spring Decor

I pulled out the Spring decorations right after St. Patrick's Day.

I fill my cloches with moss, bird's nest, blue eggs, mini orchids, butterflies, and small green plants to welcome spring. 

Many of my decorations for spring are recycled from my Thanksgiving Tree.

I have white Hyacinth bulbs in mini iron urns. 

I bought 6 of these these mini iron urns at Michael's years ago. 
I painted them white and I use them all the time for different seasons and table scapes.  Here they are at Halloween.

I use my cloches for all different seasons too.

A little green brings the outdoors in.

Here are my Shish Kabob Bunnies leaping over tall grass.
 I got the bunnies last year at Pier One. 

They still have them this year and they are under $3 a piece.

Don't worry Rosie, we won't Shish Kabob you.

Can you tell what's real and what's not? 


Not sure how you feel about silk verses real, I use both and mix them together.

Faux cabbage

I wish I had real chicks. 

I would love to raise some chickens, but our homeowner association wouldn't go for it.

No, I didn't trap a butterfly or raid any bird's nests, both fake.

Another Pier One purchase from last year.
 It was an ugly red, but it was on clearance, so I bought it and painted it white. 

How do you bring the Spring in?

Thanks for checking it out.

Happy Spring!

Chicken Milanese Rughetta

I got this recipe out of a House Beautiful Magazine. Click here
for the recipe.
This is one of my mid. week go-to recipes. It's delicious as is but I made a few changes to it to make it even healthier. The recipe calls for Panko style bread crumbs. You can buy them in the Asian section of your local grocery store. I use Almond Meal Flour on my chicken breast for a gluten free option instead of Panko. You can buy Almond Flour at Trader Joe's or any health food store. I didn't have time to go to Trader Joe's. I found it at my local grocery store.

No Gluten

This is what the recipe calls for.

I pound the chicken breast until it's about an half inch thick. I use dried basil instead of rosemary (the recipe calls for rosemary) because the favor was too overpowering for my kids. I like it both ways. My family likes the basil better. I also switched out the olive oil to cook the chicken breast to either coconut oil or grape seed oil. Both coconut oil and grape seed oil are healthier cooking options than olive oil. They have a higher flash point and stay stable at higher cooking temperatures. You will use less oil when cooking. You can't tell the difference in taste. I finish the recipe off with olive oil for the dressing.

This is how I serve it with tons of fresh arugula and cherry tomatoes on top of the chicken breast. The veggies are the main dish and the protein is the side dish. You can't see it, but there is a piece of yummy chicken under all those veggies. I also made a side of oven roasted peppers and red onion. I roast the peppers and onion at 350 degrees for about 20 min. with some salt and pepper and a little grape seed oil.

Quick, Yummy, and Healthy!