Grapefruit and Rosemary Chicken

Grapefruit and Rosemary Chicken 

4 bone-in, split chicken breasts
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon olive oil
1 shallot, minced
3/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup grapefruit juice
grapefruit segments [optional]
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon rosemary, minced
1 tablespoon coconut butter
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 450. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a 12 inch skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add the chicken, skin side down, and cook until deep golden, about 5 minutes.

Transfer the chicken, skin side up to a plate.

Pour off all the fat in the skillet except for 1 tablespoon and heat over medium heat until shimmering. Add the shallot and cook until softened, about 2 minutes. Stir in chicken broth, grapefruit juice, and any accumulated chicken juice and simmer until reduced to 1/2 cup, 4-6 minutes. Stir in grapefruit segments [if using] and 1 tablespoon of honey and simmer for 30 seconds. Off the heat, stir in rosemary and butter and season with salt and pepper to taste. Add the chicken and remaining juices to the pan and simmer until chicken is tender.  Spoon sauce over the chicken and serve. 

Happily Stuck

Saturday's are supposed to be quiet, still, and happy. But they are even better when you wake up and there's snow coating them. In Kentucky people think the world might end in the event of three inches, but I know they are secretly dazzled by it just as I am. Why is it so exciting to be stuck somewhere when it snows? Like there is a community around you just waiting to band together as soon as snow tragedy strikes. This might be in my imagination. No matter, my band of brothers just happened to be eggs, and almond flour, and ginger this morning, and we weathered the storm together, coming out on the other side with biscuits, and jam. Because I have loved ones in the midst of the "Makers Diet" I made these grainless, dairyless, and sugarless. Surprise. 

Grape and Ginger Jam (adapted from lovefoodeat)

5 cups of cleaned grapes

1/2 cup raw honey

2 inch piece of fresh ginger

Clean and wash your grapes well. Combine the grapes, crushed ginger and sugar in a saucepan and slowly bring it to a boil till the sugar completely dissolves. Reduce the flame and let it simmer for 8 to 10 minutes til the fruits start to disintegrate. Turn off the flame and let the mixture cool down a little.
Sieve the mixture to get rid of all the seeds and the skin. Press as much of the pulp of the fruits as possible with the back of your spoon to get all the juices of of the fruit.
Place the thick fruit juice/pulp back on the stove and let it simmer slowly. I simmered mine for more than 30 minutes to get to the desired consistency. You can stop when you think your jam is thick enough. Remember it’ll thicken further as it cools.
Store it in an airtight bottle.

Simple Biscuits (grain free)- Adapted from realsustinance

2 packed cups Blanched Almond Flour
1/2 Cup Arrowroot starch
1/2 Tsp. Salt
1/2-3/4 Tsp Baking Soda 
1/2 Cup Coconut Butter 
2 Large Eggs
3/4 Tsp Lemon Juice. 

 Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl combine the Almond Flour, Starch, Salt and Baking Soda.. Cut the coconut butter into the flour until it is about the size of a pea. In a separate small bowl whisk together the eggs and lemon juice. Pour mixture in with the flour and mix just briefly and gently until the dough comes together. It will feel a little wet. 

Dust a sheet of parchment, or your counter with additional starch. Gently pat the dough into a round and cut into 6-8 biscuits using a biscuit cutter or the top of a round glass. Use as much starch as needed to prevent sticking. Bake for 18 minutes.

P.S. These are especially lovely with coffee and frosted windows.

*Embarrassing disclaimer: due to the fact that I was on the phone with a friend when these came out of the oven I did something I'm not sure I'm proud of. I couldn't balance the knife and biscuit properly while holding the phone, so after pondering it for a very short second, I dove my hand into the jam and proceeded to spread it on my biscuit with my fingers like a small bear. or any other animal you would now like to insert here.

Snow (warning: this has nothing to do with food, sorry)

We finally got ourselves some snow... a big fat lot of it... for Kentucky that is. My day was "supposed" to be not so great, but snow has a way of making everything better. My car is deciding to fall apart and I had to drive it out along the winding back roads to the shop, sliding and spinning the whole way. God turned things all white and sparkly so that my terrifying drive could be less so... He thinks of everything. Of course I brought my camera...

"Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem!

Praise your God, O Zion!...

He gives snow like wool."

"He scatters the frost like ashes.

He casts forth His ice as fragments,"

"Who can stand before His cold?

He sends forth His word and melts them

He causes His wind to blow and the waters to flow."

-Psalm 147:12-18-

Scones and Snow

I was watching Downton Abbey and of course that sent me into a tailspin of needing scones and tea. I formatted a recipe from Poires au Chocolat. I am enraptured with this blog, and you really should just read her whole post on scones. It's magical and you will also learn how to be british and awesome. 

Anyway... it was cold and snow was just beginning to cover the ground outside. I made a pot of earl grey and ate these with clotted cream and raspberry jam. 

This is why I bake. 

I also tried out some new lighting and staging techniques on these photographs. I am in the process of making my own light box, so pics to follow of that endeavour! 

Simple Gluten Free Scones

2 cups almond flour
1/4 cup brown rice flour

2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup double cream
2 Tbs creme fraiche or cream cheese
1/2 cup whole milk
an egg yolk, or a little extra milk, to glaze

Preheat the oven to 350. Lightly grease a small baking tray. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt into a medium mixing bowl. Place the double cream, milk, and creme fraiche into a small bowl and whisk together.

Pour the cream mixture into the flour bowl and fold in very gently with a metal spoon, being careful not to overwork. The dough will be sticky, so dust your hands with a little brown rice flour and shape them however you want. Mine made about 8 large scones. I also like the rustic look so I did some as drop biscuits. Brush each one with a little egg wash.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden on the top.

These are not what I would call "healthy" per say (even though they are much better than the alternative allergy-wise) but they are scones... soooooooo. 

Christmas {is}

Christmas is becoming more and more bittersweet, and in an effort to be honest, I will note that while these pictures paint a rather fairytale looking life, they are merely the beauty weeded out of the chaos. I am so greatful for every good thing I recived from His hand this Christmas... and there were plenty of them! I also recognize that there we hard parts, and things that made me cry, and things that we not so Joyeux Noel. But God remains good, my heart is not light... but greatful. This isn't what you want to hear in a "Christmas Post" but I am not the pretending type. Bittersweet is an honest word. I'm glad God created it.

Here follows what I captured of my Christmas. So thankful God allows me to see HIS perfection in the midst of the biggest messes.



 { Winter Wind }

 {Reading by the fire}

 {Cards at the kitchen table}

 {Woodstoves}

 {hooray for the only time of year we get to bring the outside, inside.}

 {Things that are wrapped thriftily}

 {Wrapped up in mist}

 

{Simple things}

{Hannah's chocolate chip cookies deserve a moment of silence. _________. I can't post the recipe, it's a secret.}

 

{We Wait}

{Belanger family tradition, follow the trail of tootsie rolls to wherever the presents are, baskets in hand, gathering as we go. Mayhem.}

 {Pajamas all day long}

 {The stillness of sleeping siblings}

 {Home}



 {Candles lit}

 {Two christmas's, 14 stockings, making it work.}

{The Afterglow}