Gluten-Free Hazelnut Chicken
With Herbs & Homemade Quinoa Flour
"The smallest deed is better than the greatest intention."
John Burroughs
This is the recipe I had intended to post alongside my thoughts on the gluten-free fad, but as I am often wont to do - I got terribly carried away and had to make it it's own post.
For the record, I may have been a bit harsh. I want to make it clear that I am not condemning people who legitimately have celiac disease or a gluten intolerance. If you suffer adverse effects from consuming gluten, you should of course stop eating it! You are very lucky to be living in a world right now chock full of tasty alternatives, and you should take advantage of it. It can be very dangerous to consume something that causes your body distress.
My point in the article was to tackle those who are easily persuaded into believing every fad that comes along. Celebrities and health 'experts' alike are condemning gluten left, right, and centre these days and I wanted to make it clear that I see most of it as groundless. I am no expert myself, but I have done a fair bit of research on the subject and the consensus among legitimate professionals with no obvious ulterior motives seems to be that dropping gluten, especially in favour of commercial 'gluten-free' alternatives, can not only be fruitless, but dangerous. Any time you decide to drop entire groups of food, you must be careful to replace whatever nutrients you were getting from that food before with new, adequate sources. I also do not advise anybody diagnosing themselves with such a potentially devastating disease. Not only could it be pointless, but it practically ruins any chance you have of being properly diagnosed in the future. So please, bear that in mind.
All that aside, sometimes gluten can be easily omitted from recipes in a healthy way. This is a recipe that I love, and no I have not gone gluten-free! I do know a few people who have though, so I will keep this one in mind next time I need to cook for them. It is nutty, crunchy, and filling. I highly recommend it.
My mom makes a similar chicken with ground pecans which is also very delicious. I will find out what she puts in it, and maybe add it to this post (or make it it's own) some other time soon.
Just a note:
For this recipe you will need some sort of grinding device. I think a food processor would work, but I used my coffee grinder (washed and dried first, for this recipe) and it worked splendidly. Like, unexpectedly well. I will be using that again in the future.
This is the recipe I had intended to post alongside my thoughts on the gluten-free fad, but as I am often wont to do - I got terribly carried away and had to make it it's own post.
For the record, I may have been a bit harsh. I want to make it clear that I am not condemning people who legitimately have celiac disease or a gluten intolerance. If you suffer adverse effects from consuming gluten, you should of course stop eating it! You are very lucky to be living in a world right now chock full of tasty alternatives, and you should take advantage of it. It can be very dangerous to consume something that causes your body distress.
My point in the article was to tackle those who are easily persuaded into believing every fad that comes along. Celebrities and health 'experts' alike are condemning gluten left, right, and centre these days and I wanted to make it clear that I see most of it as groundless. I am no expert myself, but I have done a fair bit of research on the subject and the consensus among legitimate professionals with no obvious ulterior motives seems to be that dropping gluten, especially in favour of commercial 'gluten-free' alternatives, can not only be fruitless, but dangerous. Any time you decide to drop entire groups of food, you must be careful to replace whatever nutrients you were getting from that food before with new, adequate sources. I also do not advise anybody diagnosing themselves with such a potentially devastating disease. Not only could it be pointless, but it practically ruins any chance you have of being properly diagnosed in the future. So please, bear that in mind.
All that aside, sometimes gluten can be easily omitted from recipes in a healthy way. This is a recipe that I love, and no I have not gone gluten-free! I do know a few people who have though, so I will keep this one in mind next time I need to cook for them. It is nutty, crunchy, and filling. I highly recommend it.
My mom makes a similar chicken with ground pecans which is also very delicious. I will find out what she puts in it, and maybe add it to this post (or make it it's own) some other time soon.
Just a note:
For this recipe you will need some sort of grinding device. I think a food processor would work, but I used my coffee grinder (washed and dried first, for this recipe) and it worked splendidly. Like, unexpectedly well. I will be using that again in the future.
You will need...
2 large chicken breasts, cut into thirds
1/2 cup whole roasted hazelnuts
1/4 cup quinoa, uncooked
1 tbs italian seasoning blend (fresh or dry)
1 tbs parmesan cheese (optional)
1 tbs mayonnaise
Salt & Pepper
Olive oil
All right! So first things first, we need to preheat our oven to 400F. Then we need to make ourselves some GF flour.
Fill your normal, everyday, run-of-the-mill coffee grinder with the raw quinoa. Depending on the size of your grinder, you may need to this is in batches, but it should all fit in at once.
Pulse the quinoa for about 3-5 seconds or until the 'beads' are pulverized into a fine powder (I didn't do mine TOO fine, as I wanted a little bit of texture, but you can do it super fine if you want).
Now, dump the newly-made quinoa flour into a large bowl. You might need to wipe out the inside a bit with a paper towel or your finger, but be sure to unplug the grinder before you go sticking your digits in there. Seriously, I don't want to get an e-mail saying somebody went and got themselves de-nailed doing this. Don't be a hero. Just unplug it.
Now onto the hazelnuts. I used whole roasted ones from the store, as they were affordable and easy. You could also buy them whole and natural, and roast them yourselves. I am a lazy, lazy girl however, and these worked just fine.
Do the same thing as the quinoa, separating the nuts into batches if you need to. The only difference with the nuts is you have to be extra careful not to over-pulse. That is how you wind up with hazelnut butter. Tasty, but that's a post for another day. For this recipe we need it to be coarse enough that it adds texture and crunch to the chicken. So just bear that in mind and pulse it (instead of just holding it down and grinding non-stop) and check it every two seconds to be sure. Trust me, it's much too easy to end up with a gooey mess in there.
All right, now that you've got your hazelnuts ground, dump that into the bowl with the quinoa flour. Add the herbs, parmesan, and salt and pepper. Toss well and set aside.
Now to coat the chicken. I don't like using more dishes than I absolutely have to, because I love to cook but I hate to clean. So I just spooned the mayonnaise straight onto the chicken in the styrofoam tray (after cutting it up, of course).
Rub the mayonnaise all over the chicken so that it is completely coated. Now dip it in the bowl and toss in the quinoa/hazelnut mixture. Try to use as much of the batter as possible - I had barely any left over, but how much you'll need depends heavily on how large the chicken breasts are and what the surface area is. So yes, I guess breast size does matter.
Now lay the chicken across a non-stick baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Bake in the pre-heated oven for about 20-30 minutes, or until the outside is crispy and golden and the chicken is cooked all the way through. Unless you're hoping to poison someone, in which case, leave it raw.
When cooked, allow to cool for a few moments before transferring to plate.
Serve hot with your choice of veggies, pasta, or salad. Or maybe in a sandwich? Hmmm... might have to try that next time.
Olive oil
All right! So first things first, we need to preheat our oven to 400F. Then we need to make ourselves some GF flour.
Fill your normal, everyday, run-of-the-mill coffee grinder with the raw quinoa. Depending on the size of your grinder, you may need to this is in batches, but it should all fit in at once.
Pulse the quinoa for about 3-5 seconds or until the 'beads' are pulverized into a fine powder (I didn't do mine TOO fine, as I wanted a little bit of texture, but you can do it super fine if you want).
Like so.
Now, dump the newly-made quinoa flour into a large bowl. You might need to wipe out the inside a bit with a paper towel or your finger, but be sure to unplug the grinder before you go sticking your digits in there. Seriously, I don't want to get an e-mail saying somebody went and got themselves de-nailed doing this. Don't be a hero. Just unplug it.
Now onto the hazelnuts. I used whole roasted ones from the store, as they were affordable and easy. You could also buy them whole and natural, and roast them yourselves. I am a lazy, lazy girl however, and these worked just fine.
These were really cheap at Wal-Mart.
Do the same thing as the quinoa, separating the nuts into batches if you need to. The only difference with the nuts is you have to be extra careful not to over-pulse. That is how you wind up with hazelnut butter. Tasty, but that's a post for another day. For this recipe we need it to be coarse enough that it adds texture and crunch to the chicken. So just bear that in mind and pulse it (instead of just holding it down and grinding non-stop) and check it every two seconds to be sure. Trust me, it's much too easy to end up with a gooey mess in there.
Should look something like this - minus that big chunk in the middle there that I picked out and ate after taking this picture.
All right, now that you've got your hazelnuts ground, dump that into the bowl with the quinoa flour. Add the herbs, parmesan, and salt and pepper. Toss well and set aside.
My favourite bowl. Ever.
Now to coat the chicken. I don't like using more dishes than I absolutely have to, because I love to cook but I hate to clean. So I just spooned the mayonnaise straight onto the chicken in the styrofoam tray (after cutting it up, of course).
Appetizing.
Rub the mayonnaise all over the chicken so that it is completely coated. Now dip it in the bowl and toss in the quinoa/hazelnut mixture. Try to use as much of the batter as possible - I had barely any left over, but how much you'll need depends heavily on how large the chicken breasts are and what the surface area is. So yes, I guess breast size does matter.
Now lay the chicken across a non-stick baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Bake in the pre-heated oven for about 20-30 minutes, or until the outside is crispy and golden and the chicken is cooked all the way through. Unless you're hoping to poison someone, in which case, leave it raw.
Mmmm... salmonella flavour.
When cooked, allow to cool for a few moments before transferring to plate.
Serve hot with your choice of veggies, pasta, or salad. Or maybe in a sandwich? Hmmm... might have to try that next time.
And voila. Crispy hazelnut chicken. Totally gluten free, and you can impress people by telling them you made your own flour to coat it. They don't have to know how easy it is.
Until next time then,
0 comments:
Post a Comment