Orange Chicken

Ready for some delicious gluten free take out?  I’ve got a great chinese recipe that I came across that is so yummy you’ll never miss the gluten.  You’ll get a little messy making this dish in the kitchen, but the flavor is well worth the mess.  Serve this with some steamed rice and you are all set.

Ingredients:

•  2lbs boneless skinless chicken, chopped into bite sized pieces
• 1 large egg
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• white pepper
• oil (for frying)
• 1/2 cup cornstarch, plus 1 tablespoon
• 1/4 cup white rice flour ( I used Bob’s Red Mill)
• 1 tablespoon ginger-root, minced
• 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed hot red chill pepper
• 1/4 cup green onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

Orange Sauce

• 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce (I used San-J Gluten Free Soy Sauce)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons water
• 5 tablespoons sugar
• 5 tablespoons white vinegar
• zest of 1 orange
• Mix ingredients for orange sauce in a small bowl and set aside.  Place chicken pieces in large bowl and stir in egg, salt, pepper and 1 tablespoon oil.  Mix well.  Stir cornstarch and flour together and add chicken pieces, stirring to coat.  Heat oil for deep-frying in wok or dutch oven to 375 degrees.  Add chicken, small batches at a time, and fry 3 to 4 minutes or until golden crisp.  Remove chicken from oil with slotted spoon and drain on paper towels; set aside. Clean wok or dutch oven and heat 15 seconds over high heat.  Add 1 tablespoon oil and then add ginger and garlic.  Stir-fry until fragrant; about 10 seconds.  Add and stir-fry crushed chiles and green onions. Add white wine vinegar and stir 3 seconds.  Add Orange Sauce and bring to boil. Add cooked chicken, stirring until well mixed. Stir water into remaining 1 tablespoon cornstarch until smooth and add to chicken then heat until sauce is thickened.  Stir in sesame oil and orange zest if desired.

Japanese Fried Chicken

I was flipping through the May issue of my EveryDay with Rachel Ray Magazine which happened to feature 10 different styles of fried chicken.  Immediately after reading this issue I was craving….you guessed it….fried chicken.  Once of the styles featured was gluten-free so I decided to try my hand at it this weekend and it was soooo good.  Crispy and flavorful, this fried chicken was mouthwatering.

Marinade Ingredients:

8 pieces of chicken with skin on

1/2 c water

1/2 c gluten-free soy sauce

1/4 c rice wine vinegar

1T grated ginger

1T grated garlic

Combine all above ingredients in a large ziploc or brining bag and let marinate for at least 30 minutes or up to 12 hours.  Remove chicken pieces from marinade, but don’t toss out marinade.

2 c cornstarch

2 tsp coarse salt

1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper

3 c vegetable oil or shortening

sesame seeds

3 scallions sliced on the bias

Coat chicken pieces in seasoned cornstarch and let set on parchment lined baking sheet for 15 minutes then coat again.  Meanwhile heat oil or shortening in cast iron skillet to 350F.  Carefully fry chicken in batches and cook for 25-30 minutes total turning over halfway through cooking.  In a small saucepan boil remaining marinade for 3 minutes and then strain.  Add 1/4 c honey and 1T rice wine vinegar to the sauce.  Once chicken is fried brush on sauce and garnish with sesame seeds and sliced scallions.

Fish and Chips

I hope you all had a wonderful St. Patrick’s Day.  Mine was filled with lots of shamrocks and green appletinis.  I also made sure to make some gluten-free Fish and Chips courtesy of Tyler Florence’s recipe.  They were puffy, crispy and delicious.  I did some research on malt vinegar and found out that it is believed that malt vinegar is gluten-free or contains only trace amounts of gluten because of the process it goes through when they are making it.  I did have a little bit of malt vinegar on my fish, but if you want to be absolutely, positively safe just dunk your fish in some homemade tarter sauce instead.

Ingredients:

2c all-purpose gluten-free flour

1 T baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper

1 large egg lightly beaten

1/2 c white rice flour for dredging

16 oz cod fillets cut into 2-3 inch pieces at an angle

12 oz club soda

canola or vegetable oil for frying

4 russet potatoes scrubbed clean and cut into potato wedges

1/4 c chopped parsley

1 T fresh thyme chopped

1 T fresh rosemary chopped

2 T olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

For the chips, preheat oven to 400F.  Coat your potatoes in oil and then spinkle with salt, pepper, thyme, rosemary and parsley.  Spread evenly onto a large baking sheet and roast in the oven for 20-25 minutes turning over halfway through cooking.

For the fish, heat about 3 inches of oil over medium-high heat.  In a large mixing bowl combine 2 c all-purpose flour, baking powder, egg, 1/4 tsp of pepper and 1 tsp of salt.  Pour in club soda and whisk to combine.  Batter should be smooth.  Dust each cod fillet with rice flour and then dip in the batter.  Drain off excess and place fish in hot oil.  Fry for 5 minutes until golden brown.  Drain fish on papertowels and sprinkle lightly with salt.

Coconut Shrimp with Orange Chili Dipping Sauce

It seems like forever since I’ve had coconut shrimp.  I love seafood, but it’s a pain to peel the shrimp, devein them, make the batter and then the mess they make when frying them.  I decided to forge ahead anyway and with the help of my five year old daughter we peeled them in no time.  I deveined and butterflied them and then made the batter.  After dipping them in the batter and then coconut we were ready to fry.  I threw together a homemade dipping sauce and it was really yummy with these shrimp.  My husband gently reminded me to write down the recipe for the dipping sauce so we won’t forget how to make it.  Here it is:

Coconut Shrimp Ingredients:

1 lb large shrimp peeled, deveined and butterflied (leave tails on)

1/4 c rice flour

1/4 c cornstarch

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 egg

1/3 c cold coconut water or regular cold water

1/2 c dry shredded unsweetened coconut

1 c canola oil

Mix all dry ingredients for batter and then crack an egg into mixture.  Add your water stirring to break the yolk and form a fairly smooth batter.  Spread coconut on a plate and set beside batter.  Dip shrimp in batter and then coconut.  Place on a plate near the stove.  Heat oil over medium-high heat.  Test your oil by frying a drop of batter in.  If it sizzles and cooks it is ready.  Fry shrimp in batches so you don’t overcrowd the pan.  You’ll want to cook the shrimp for about 30-40 seconds in total and then remove when it is golden brown. 

Orange Chili Dipping Sauce Ingredients:

1/2 c thai garlic chili sauce (found on the ethnic foods aisle with the other asian ingredients)

1 T gluten-free soy sauce

1 tsp rice wine vinegar

1/3 c orange marmalade

Put all ingredients in a small saucepan over the stove and heat to warm through then turn off heat.   Serve with warm coconut shrimp.