Herb-Crusted Baked Chicken

I have to admit that taking a picture of chicken legs was probably one of the most difficult things that I have ever photographed. No way does the picture do these drumsticks justice! 

That said, keep an open mind here. 

Whether it's with summer barbeques and picnics or when a cold winter day dictates having comfort food, this recipe is one of my favorites. Chicken is always the star for me. I am a self-professed "chick-a-holic".

And when I think of baked chicken,  this is my favorite recipe from over the years. Nutty, yummy, low carb baked chicken breading that is crunchy, savory...with an herb-packed punch!

Adapted GF from Nancy W. in Banning, Ca, and her wonderful 1980’s recipe. This is based on an herb-crusted baked chicken served at Whole Earth Restaurant in Santa Cruz, Ca.

3 pounds of chicken thighs or drumsticks

¾ cup of buttermilk or ½ cup fresh squeezed lemon tossed with ¼ cup olive oil

1 T. salt

1 cup almond meal*

1 cup GF bread crumbs**

½ cup corn meal

½ cup Parmesan, grated

1 T. smoked paprika, 1 t. garlic powder, 1 t. onion powder, ½ t. sea salt (optional), 2 t. dried thyme, 2 t. dried rosemary,

Soak chicken pieces in the buttermilk-salt or lemon-olive oil-salt mixture for several hours or over night. Toss the crumb coating ingredients and spices together and refrigerate until ready to prepare chicken.

Preheat oven to 325˚F. When ready to bake, pull the chicken from the liquid marinade, and dip chicken into the crumb mixture and coat well. Bake on an oiled cookie sheet for an hour or until meat near the bone is no longer pink.

Makes: 4-6 servings.

Notes: *Ground almond meal is available and inexpensive at Trader Joe’s markets. **Make your bread baking “rejects” into crumbs and place in the freezer and save for breading for dishes like this.

For recipes from my cookbook: "Delicious! The Very Best of Gluten Free and Wheat Free Cooking. It is available at:   http://www.celiacdiseaseinfo.org

 

And the winner is....!

And the winner of the drawing for my free cookbook is Theresa Gates!

Theresa Gates, who harkens from Eagle River, Arkansas, was drawn out of all the voting submissions. A personally autographed edition of my cookbook goes out to her this week! Theresa is not the only member of her family with celiac. Her daughter and son have the disease as well.  

While Theresa’s personal favorite in the voting was my previous cookbook cover, the overwhelming majority of voters who sent in their opinions for the drawing chose my new vintage-looking cookbook cover and title: “The Farmer’s Daughter Cooks Gluten Free.” This week, the new title and cover will become available at my website along with the already existing older cover and title: “Delicious! The Very Best of Gluten Free and Wheat Free Cooking”, so watch for it.

 Thanks again to everyone who took the time to send me their thoughts and input on both cookbook covers. Your feedback was much appreciated! 

And a special thanks to Topper, my lab, for carefully picking Theresa’s name from the batch of names for the drawing. She did good (GOOD dog!) and received a Three Dog Bakery carob “oreo” cookie for doing her job so well as my assistant!

Gluten Free Cinnamon Raisin Bread (or wheat version)

An easy bread machine sweet bread. Full of a burst of cinnamon flavor; a moist and tender bread that is wonderful for breakfast or brunch.

1 cup water, warmed to 125-130˚

4 T. butter, room temperature

2 t. cider vinegar

2 large eggs, room temperature

½  cup granulated sugar

1 t. GF vanilla extract

2½ cups gluten free flour blend + ½ t. extra xanthan gum (or use regular wheat flour and no xanthan gum if not doing gluten free)

¼ cup milk powder

1 T. active dry yeast

1¼ t. salt

1 T. ground cinnamon

¾ cup raisins

½ cup nuts, chopped

Whisk liquid ingredients and sugar together in a medium-sized bowl.

 In separate bowl, whisk together dry ingredients, ending with cinnamon.

Pour the liquid ingredients into your bread pan, followed by the dry ingredients. Set your bread machine to the Quick Bread or 2 hour cycle. Allow bread machine to mix the batter thoroughly for 3-5 minutes, by you assisting this process with a rubber spatula if necessary. Add the raisins and the nuts.

Now, before the oven begins heating up, pull the paddle out of the bread pan and smooth over the top of the dough. This will avoid the paddle sticking in this sweeter-than-usual loaf at the end of the baking time and will help maintain the integrity of the loaf.

 Makes: One loaf.