Cranberry - BBQ Pulled Turkey GF/DF/SF

This was a monumental year for my family. We hosted Thanksgiving for the first time. We made a braised turkey, mashed potatoes, cornbread stuffing, gravy, green beans with bacon and a handful of pies. The whole dinner was gluten, dairy and soy free and tasted great. It was a lot of fun and we all ate good.

I will share the recipes for the main meal, but thought I would start with a great recipe I found for leftover turkey first.

I read The Daily on my iPad, the weekend addition this week had an article titled Leftover Makeover written by Bill Bradley. It included a series of recipes for leftovers from Joe Doren, head chef at Chicago's Franks 'n Dawgs. Lots of great ideas, but one stood out to me as a decent option for our allergies.

From The Daily, Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Pulled Turkey Sandwich

"kind of like pulled pork, but with turkey. Take about 3/4 cup of your leftover cranberry sauce, add 1 cup of bourbon and reduce that down until you cook off most of the alcohol but still get the bourbon flavor. Mix in your favorite barbecue sauce and simmer until it's warm. Shred up some of your turkey breast or turkey leg or whatever you have left over, and mix it with the sauce in the bowl. You traditionally get a slaw with a pulled pork sandwich, so you could do a slaw with cabbage and some shaved raw green beans mixed in with mayo to taste. Just put it on any sort of bun or leftover rolls you might have"

This looked intriguing so I gave it a shot. Here is what I used...

3/4 cup homemade cranberry relish
1 cup Pendleton Whiskey (locally bottled canadian blend)
1/2 cup homemade "Red Neck" BBQ sauce


I put the relish and whiskey in a sauce pan over medium heat. I let the sauce reduce for 5 min, long enough for the alcohol to burn off but still retain the flavor.

My kids are a little finicky so rather than leaving the sauce chunky I threw it in the vita-mix to smooth it out.

I put the sauce back into the sauce pan and added the BBQ sauce, bringing it all back up to a simmer.

I added about 3 cups of diced dark meat. To be honest dark meat is not my favorite, I used it in case the recipe didn't turn out :) 

With the chicken and sauce combined, it was now time to find something to put it on...

I ended up with pan fried corn tortillas. I am sure someone can correct me on the right way to warm these up, but I usually use a non stick pan or griddle at medium heat. I drizzle a little oil and sprinkle salt in the pan, then I add the tortillas and move them around to pick up the salt. I heat them until the bubbles in the tortillas start to expand, then flip them and wait for the same from the other side. This has been a normal replacement for bread for me. I will put all sorts of sandwichy ingredients in there, but I digress...

I added a little of the bbq turkey to the hot tortilla, folded it over and went to town...

It was great. It had a sweet smokey taste to it that is very tough to explain. Here is the real kicker... my kids couldn't get enough of it. The portion I made was devoured in a little under 10 minutes by my family.

On the second pass I added a little fresh cranberry sauce on top like a salsa. If I had cabbage, I would have shredded that and used it as well.

All in all this is a very simple recipe and very tasty. I made it again at my parents house later that day and we used it as a dip for tortilla chips. I could also easily see this as the topping on a pizza. The turkey is good and timely but you could use the same recipe with leftover chicken, beef or pork just as easily.

Give it a shot and let me know what you think.

Stay Hungry!

Chicken Tortilla Soup (GF/DF/SF)

No question, no hesitation... this is my favorite soup. I have tried many differnt variations of this over time, but it always comes back here, to the Chicken Tortilla Soup. I am not going to try and convince you this is better than such and such resteraunt or so and so's recipe, but try it and tell me what you think :)

As good as this tastes, it couldn't be easier to make. Give this a good read, give it a shot and you will see that it is not only easy but convenient as well. This is something you can throw together in 30 minutes and convince folks you slaved over it all day :)

A few notes before we get into it:

- My recipes have all been built around large groups, so if it is just two of you in the house make sure you scale it back, or you have room in the freezer for a lot of soup pucks!

- I use home made chicken stock (easy recipe here) and I keep it pretty rich (meaning I don't thin my stock out as far as I could), so... when I use stock in a recipe I use 1 part stock to 1 part water. So you can expirement and see what you like, but if I call for 8 cups of stock, that would be 2 boxes of store stock, or 4 cups of my stock and 4 cups of water. Clear as mud?

- The recipe below calls for 4 cups shredded chicken. I used the chicken from my stock recipe, but there are other options. You can use canned chicken (it shreds well), you can throw some breasts into the crockpot with salt, pepper and cumin (it will shred well also) or you can grill some chicken with the same spices and then dice it. It all tastes good :)

- Soup is very forgiving but make sure you taste as you go. You can add seasoning but you cannot take it out. In this soup we are going to use some hot spices. They can add zest and zing, or they can remove your taste buds, so take your time and enjoy the spoon fulls along the way (I keep a tasting bowl by the stove, I use the mixing spoon to serve a taste into the bowl, then I use one bowl and spoon for the whole session, vs multiple spoons into the pot). If you ever leave the kitchen hungry, you didn't taste enough :)

So with all that out of the way, lets give this a swing...

Chicken Tortilla Soup:

• 2 Tbl oil (olive, canola, etc)
• 1 large onion - diced
• 2 cups chopped carrots
• 6 ribs celery diced
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 Tbl salt
• 1/2 Tbl black pepper
• 1/2 Tbl cumin
• 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
• 1/4 tsp chili powder
• 16 cups chicken stock (see above, 2qts homemade + 2qts water OR 4 qts store bought stock)
• 4 cans diced tomatoes
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 4 cups cooked and shredded chicken (see notes above)
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro chopped
• splash of lime juice

If you made it through the ingredient list above, then you have conquered the toughest part of this recipe.

 

 

in a large pot (I use a 12qt) heat the oil and add the onions, carrots and celery. Let that cook for a few minutes (my favorite smell) then add the spices. Stir this well and let it work together for a few more minutes.

 

Add the Stock (I put mine in frozen) and water if necessary

 

Open and add the diced tomatoes.

 

A quick disclaimer... I used to cut up fresh tomatoes and that tastes amazing, but man it is a ton of work... I now just use the canned tomoatoes and have had great luck with it. As you can see aboce I also mix it up a bit. Sometimes it has to do with what is in the cupboard, but if I have my druthers I will usually have 2 cans of roasted dice, one plain diced and one with green chilies (like a rotel)

Let this work for a bit (the longer it goes the more flavor you get). In my perfect world this will sit and stew for an hour before I fuss with it, but that rarely happens and it still turns out great :)

 

The next step is optional and obviously depends on your access to the gadgets. I tastes the same either way.

I prefer to have this soup blended. I like the rich red base with the whole corn, shredded chicken and diced cilantro added after. I do this with an immersion blender, but you could also do it in portions in a blender.



Next add in the frozen corn, shreded chicken and diced cilantro. It should look pretty close to this.

 

now start tasting to fine tune the soup. If it tastes "flat" you probably need more salt, or if it is "dull" you could add more black or red pepper. Also don't be afraid to add a little more cumin. As stated above, take your time with this and don't add too much to fast. This is the part that makes it yours :)

When it is all done, serve it :)

I love to crunch up a few handfulls of tortilla chips (mission brand is Soy Free if that is important) and serve the soup over that. We have also served over rice to stretch it out. Either way put a pinch of fresh cilantro on top and enjoy.

If you don't have allergies then a dallop of sour cream, or a handful of shredded cheese might add to this (but it doesn't need it... trust me, try it) Otherwise a scoop of fresh salsa or slices of avacodo can top it off.

That's it... Cook the veggies, add the stock and tomatoes, blend, then add chicken corn and cilantro... Very straight forward and very statisfying.

This is a perfect soup for Game Day, so give it a shot and let me know how it turns out.

Stay Hungry!

 

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What Do I Do With The Leftovers?

So the last two posts have been about liquids (chicken stock, and potato soup), so this one is going to be about what you do with the leftovers (if there are any).

The answer (according to me) has to do with your intentions down the road. If you think you are going to eat it within a few days then just throw it in the fridge. I recommend storing it in glass but use what you can.

If it is going to be a while before you are going to use it then it is off to the freezer.

Next question is how you will use it when you need it. The two options here are in bulk (a pot full) or individual servings, for portions, lunches etc.

For the bulk packaging, I put 4 cups at a time into double bagged freezer bags. This gives me frozen portions exactly equal to the boxes of chicken stock you find at the store. (You can find the quart boxes for $3/box, my bags are closer to .75/bag...)

For portions, I use a Demarle Muffin Pan. These make 1/2 cup (4oz) soup pucks. These are very useful for lunch portions for soup, or sick portions for the chicken stock. Fill the cups with liquid (soup or stock) and transfer to the freezer. Two of these portions equal the 1cup portions mini boxes you find at the store. These are about $4 for a four pack or $1 per cup. My stock is less than .20 per cup.

When the "pucks" are frozen solid, then I transfer 4 at a time into a quart size freezer bag and store them for later.

I put soup "pucks" in a bowl and reheat, or the stock "pucks" in a cup and give them to whoever is sick :)

It is soooooo nice to have a freezer full of food ready to go at anytime.

If you have any questions about anything you see here let me know...

If you have not seen Demarle products before or are looking for something specific (like the Muffin Pans shown above), follow this link.

If you want more great Gluten/Dairy/Soy free recipes, then stay tuned :)

In the spirit of full disclosure, I am eating the bowl of soup shown above as I type, so if I seem distracted it is because it tastes even better than it looks :)

Stay Hungry!

Gluten/Soy/Dairy Free Baked Potato Soup or Clam Chowder

Potatoes are a staple in our house. We like them baked, mashed, shredded, grilled and fried. One of our favorite ways to serve them though, is in thick and creamy potato soup. This recipe will let you make a number of different soup but we will start with the basics...

Creamy Baked Potato Soup. (this makes 10qts, so scale accordingly)

4T oil (safflower/olive/etc)

1/2 med onion diced

4 ribs celery diced

2 large carrots diced

2 cups of cooked Ham diced

6 large potatoes diced

8 cups chicken stock (see my earlier post)

4T non dairy butter

4T flour alternative (I use brown rice, but any should work)

8 cups unsweetened vanilla almond milk

lots of salt and pepper

I start almost every soup the same way... onions, celery and carrots in a little oil at the bottom of a stock pot... such an amazing smell! So that is where this starts also...

Use enough oil to cover the bottom of the pot and add the onions, give it a second and add the carrots, then the celery. Stir to keep it from browning, add a few good pinches of salt. Add the ham and let that work together for a few minutes. I do this until the veggies start to soften a little.

The broth and most of the potatoes go in next (I hold out a few cups of potatoes to add later). Add a bunch of salt to this, you have to work pretty hard to over salt potatoes, and plenty of fresh ground black pepper. Bring this to a boil and let it go for 10-15 minutes, or until a potato will smash easily against the wall of the pot.

When the potatoes are done, take a potato masher to the pot and mash them in the pot. You could also use an immersion blender, but I prefer having chunks in the soup. 

let this sit for a moment and grab a small stock pot. Put the 4T of fake butter (I use earth balance soy free plus a splash of Wildtree butter flavored oil) in the sauce pan and let it melt. Whisk in the 4T GF flour until you have a thick paste. Next step is to add this to the soup, a little at a time, whisking all the time. Bring this back to a boil to thicken.

This is where I add in the potatoes I held back earlier. This adds a great texture to the soup. Now stir in the almond milk and bring it back temp. 

Take a quick taste and add more salt and maybe some more pepper. Remember you will have to work to over season this.

You can leave things just like this, or you can open a few cans of minced clams and add them to make a chowder. 

Enjoy, and freeze any leftovers in freezer bags for quick access later.

Many folks have told me that this is as good a "cream" soup as any they have every had... You don't always get to hear that about allergy free food so it is a real treat to serve this to a house full of friends. 

Be creative with this and let me know what variations you come up with. 

I have a request for tortilla soup, so that will likely be the next post here. If you have something you would like to see or need a allergy free option for a favorite food let me know. 

Thanks for reading, and Stay Hungry!

It All Starts With A Bird

Buy Chicken Stock From The Store???? Pfft!

I make a lot of soup. We decided last year to open our home to friends on Sundays after Church. We found that it was indescribably cheaper to make soup for thirty people then it is for four people to eat out. Not to mention that with varying, ridiculous allergies in our family, trying to find a restaurant that we can all eat at is close to impossible. So every fall, our house is full of friends, kids of friends and the smell of fresh, homemade soup. 

Not sure exactly how much soup has been made or consumed in this house over the last 12 months but it has been quite a bit, and with the exception of one friend who does not care for cilantro (name rhymes with Layson Morgday) I have never had any complaints.

So before I share recipes and step by steps on how I make my soup, I figured we should start with the bird. Yes I said the bird. Although chicken stock in varying varieties and sodium levels is available at your local grocer, none can replace home-made. Making your own stock allows you to control what goes in it as well as save incredible amounts of money.

There are many different ways to get to the end result, but my favorite is roasting the chicken. Since this is my blog, that is what we are going to talk about. 

So the first part of this is "how to roast a chicken"

Ingredients:

1 whole fresh or previously frozen chicken

half of a medium onion, sliced

3 ribs of celery, sliced

2 carrots, peeled and sliced (or a few handfuls of baby carrots)

2 cloves of garlic peeled

dash of marjoram, thyme, rosemary

salt/pepper and paprika to taste 

3 bay leaves

You could certainly do this in a roasting pan, but I am a HUGE fan of the crock-pot, so that is what I will share. This couldn't get much easier or tastier or cheaper... So here we go.

Step 1 - Put all that stuff in the crock pot

Step 2 - Wait 4 hours and eat

Seriously.... I'll give you a little more detail but that is about it. 

Unwrap the chicken and remove whatever goodies they added to the cavity (yes, you have to stick your hand in the bird and pull out the parts). Depending on the brand you may find sachet of parts or just an extra neck or two... Whatever it is place it in the crock-pot. I prefer to cook mine breast side down to keep it moist.

Season the bird with the salt and pepper, add the herbs on top and surround with the veggies. When it is  ready it should look something like this...

Turn it on, sit back and enjoy the aroma...

About 4 hours (Internal temp of 165 by the book). The longer you cook the more "fall off the bone" you will experience.

End of the run should look like this (or something similar)

Now again we come to preferences. You could stop right here, serve it with potatoes or rice and call it a night. I prefer to separate the bird from the rest and put them in the fridge over night. Makes it so much easier to de-bone, but it is not an option if you are hungry. No way to describe how good this smells! Either way you are going to remove the meat from the bird. You can do this dainty like with a fork and knife but I prefer to get in and get after it with my hands. Take all the meat that you want, but don't be afraid to leave a little on the bone as this will just add to the flavor of the broth. Place the carcass aside (the bones and skin and such) and any meat that you don't like. I won't judge... I am a very picky chicken eater so my broth is very meaty :)

So now onto the broth. Take the bowl of not chicken (chicken juice, veggies etc) and put it into the biggest stock pot you have. I use a 12 quart stock pot for this, but you can use whatever you have. Then put the carcass of the chicken into the pot. Add water to the top of your pot, add a few liberal shakes of salt and pepper and simmer for as long as you can stand. Keep track of the simmer part, if you bring it to a full boil you will make the broth murky, letting it simmer keeps it very clear. This is just a look thing, but I think it is important

After a few hours, or as long as you can stand then take a sieve (fine mesh strainer), cheese cloth (a fabric mesh used or making cheese) or if neither are available you can use a coffee filter (last resort). To keep the broth clear, scoop it out with a ladle or a large measuring cup and pour it slowly through the sieve into a bowl, and empty the sieve as often as necessary into a separate bowl. 

Keep this up until you have it all strained and collected. Tonight I used my 12 qt stock pot to simmer the stock. When it was all said and done I ended up with 9 qts of beautiful broth. Considering a 1qt container of quality stock is around 2.99, then this is 27.00 worth of stock. Shopping for sales (i.e. .88/lb for chicken) can land you savings north of 20.00 per batch. Not to mention the fact that you saw everything that went in there.

Let the stock cool overnight in the fridge, and remove or skim the fat layer off if you wish. Then prepare for storage. We pour 4 cup portions into gallon size freezer bags for use later.

So that's it. Homemade, Gluten, Dairy, and Soy free chicken stock with no added anything. You can do this too. 

Next will be Dairy free Creamy Baked Potato Soup and or Clam Chowder. 

Hit me with any questions and let me know how your chicken stock turned out. Would love to hear what you tried or changed.

Stay Hungry