Tag Archives: dairy-free

Honey Glazed Stuffed Chicken Breasts

These honey glazed stuffed chicken breasts make for a really nice presentation. The stuffing is gluten-free and dairy-free, and combines spinach with shallots and ground almonds and the sweetness of dried apricots and basil, making it a great dish to serve for the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, when it is tradition to serve something sweet and fruity. The stuffing is inserted inside the chicken breast and underneath the skin, making for a nice chicken-to-stuffing ratio for almost every bite.

To make the stuffing, combine the almonds and basil in a processor and process until the almonds are pretty fine, with no big pieces. The basil and almonds will be mixed through thoroughly. Add the almond basil mixture to a non-stick frying pan.

Defrost and drain a box of frozen chopped spinach and squeeze the excess water out with paper towels. Add one cup, tightly packed spinach into the frying pan along with the chopped shallots, chopped dried apricots, 4 tablespoons of olive oil grated garlic clove and salt and pepper and sauté for 3 minutes.

To stuff the inside of the chicken breasts, find the pocket on the side of the joint. Use your fingers to separate it and make room for the stuffing. Using a tablespoon, spoon the stuffing into the pocket pushing down to make sure it extends all the way to the end of the breast. Then separate the skin from the breast and spoon the stuffing in between. Repeat with the remaining stuffing and chicken breasts ad place in an ovenproof dish.

Salt and pepper the skins of the chicken breasts and brush with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil. Add the wine and water to the pan, and place in preheated 375° oven and cook or 20 minutes. After 20 minutes of cooking, glaze the tops of the chicken breasts with the honey and continue cooking for another 40 minutes, the breasts will be browned on top and cooked through.

Honey Glazed Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Ingredients:

1/2 cup almonds

1 cup basil leaves

1 cup tightly packed frozen chopped spinach defrosted, drained and squeezed dry

2 shallots minced

1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped

5 tablespoons EVOO

1 garlic clove, grated

Salt pepper

1/2 cup white wine

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup Honey

Combine the almonds and basil in a food processor and process until the almonds are pretty fine, with no big pieces. Add the almond basil mixture to a non-stick frying pan.

Defrost and drain a box of frozen chopped spinach and squeeze the excess water out with paper towels until the spinach is dry. Tightly pack one cup of spinach and add to the frying pan along with the shallots. Chop the dried apricots into 1/8” pieces and add to frying pan along with 4 of the tablespoons of olive oil, the grated garlic clove, and salt and pepper to taste. Sauté for 3 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375°. Stuff the inside of the chicken breasts, using the pocket by the joint, and place stuffing under the skin. Repeat with the remaining stuffing and chicken breasts and place in an ovenproof dish. Salt and pepper the skins of the chicken breasts and brush with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil. Add the wine and water to the pan, and place in oven. After 20 minutes of cooking, glaze the tops of the chicken breasts with the honey and continue cooking for another 40 minutes, the breasts will be browned on top and cooked through.

Serves 4

Flourless Almond Sponge Cake

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This is a gluten-free version of a cake my grandmother used to make for Shabbat and holidays. It’s a sponge cake, made very light and airy with beaten egg whites. This cake is not only gluten free but it’s also dairy free, making it a great dessert for Passover. Orange zest and a bit of orange juice provide the added flavoring. The tricky part in making it with almond meal is that the amount of wet ingredients had to be reduced from the original recipe. I used fewer egg yolks and orange juice than what I would use to make the traditional sponge cake. I tried making the cake with varying types of almond meal from course to fine. I found that fine almond meal absorbed the wet ingredients better.

Traditional sponge cakes are made in a tube pan, and I baked this one in my grandmother’s tube pan. The key in making this cake is to really whip the egg whites until they are thick and frothy and then add a few teaspoons of sugar and keep whipping until it’s absorbed so the egg whites become glossy. Reserve the egg whites and then in the same mixing bowl add the yolks and whip for a minute then add the sugar gradually until the sugar is completely absorbed into the yolks and the mixture is glossy. This will take 5-10 minutes, depending on your mixer. The color of the egg yolk-sugar mixture will turn a mustard color.

To the yolk-sugar mixture, add the juice and zest and mix for a minute. Then fold in the egg whites, one quarter at a time, and then pour the mixture into the ungreased tube pan. Tap the bottom of the pan to get rid of any air bubbles and place in a 350° pre-heated oven for 50-60 minutes, until a fork comes out clean.

The trick to keeping the shape, height of the sponginess of the cake lies in turning the pan upside down over the neck of a bottle (I use a wine bottle) let it stand until the cake is cool, about an hour.

Flourless Almond Sponge Cake

Ingredients:

1 cup almond meal

1 cup sugar

6 eggs plus 2 egg whites

2 tablespoons of orange juice

Zest of one large orange

Beat egg whites until stiff and frothy. Add 4 teaspoons of sugar, one a time, and continue to beat so the sugar us absorbed and the egg whites are silky and glossy. Remove egg whites and reserve.

Using the same beaters and bowl, beat the yolks on medium-high speed and then add the remaining sugar and beat until the sugar is fully incorporated and the mixture is glossy – it will take about 10 minutes or so and the color will be a mustard yellow. Then add the juice and zest and then the flour. Mix until incorporated.

Fold in the egg whites 1/4 at a time. Pour into an ungreased 10″ tube pan. Pat bottom to remove any air bubbles. Place in bottom rack of 350° pre-heated oven and bake 50-60 minutes, until a fork comes out clean. Take the cake out of the oven and invert it on a wine bottle to keep the elasticity until the cake is cool, about an hour.

Serves about 10.

Stuffed Mushrooms

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This is a recipe taken from my father. He didn’t cook a ton, but there were a few dishes he made quite well. This is one of them that I doctored up with additional herbs for added flavor. These stuffed mushrooms are healthy, gluten free, no-carb and dairy-free. They are made with a secret flavoring ingredient: anchovies. The anchovy filets pretty much disintegrate when they are sautéed with the chopped mushrooms – so those who get haunted by the sight of anchovies on their Caesar salad but are fine with their flavor in the dressing, will like this recipe and may never know they’re in there. Their flavor adds a lot of seasoning and depth.

They key is to finely chop the mushrooms and open up the caps to hold enough filling. I take a paring knife and slice around the mushroom cap and the gills and add them to the chopped mushroom mixture. This leaves a bigger cap to fill.

The mushrooms can be cooked and then frozen for future servings. Just thaw out the mushrooms before heating them up.

Stuffed Mushrooms

Ingredients:

1 lb large sized white mushrooms

1/ 4pound small crimini mushrooms, chopped finely

1 1 oz can of anchovies packed in olive oil

1 garlic clove finely chopped or grated using microplane

¼ teaspoon ground pepper

3 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley

1 teaspoon fresh thyme

Preheat oven to 375°. Finely chop the stems from the pound of white mushrooms and the stems and caps of the crimini mushrooms. Add the can of anchovies with the oil, garlic, pepper, parsley and thyme, and sauté the mushrooms until the anchovies disintegrate. Line a baking pan with foil and place the mushroom caps on lined pan. Fill the mushroom caps with a teaspoon each of the filling. And bake for about 30 minutes, until the mushroom caps are soft and cooked.

Serves 4-6 as appetizer.

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Tag Archives: dairy-free

Honey Glazed Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Flourless Almond Sponge Cake

Stuffed Mushrooms