Barbeque Baked Chicken

This quick solution to yet another round of baked chicken breast turned out really yummy.

4 bone-in chicken breasts
1 small can tomato paste
3 tablespoons mustard
3 tablespoons honey
1 tsp ground chile powder
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp chipotle powder
1 tsp salt

Put the chicken into a glass baking dish. Mix all other ingredients in a small bowl to make a thick paste; then slather on the chicken. (I use my hands to do the slathering.)

Bake at 350 until the chicken is cooked through. Test the temperature at 40 minutes; could take up to an hour.

SCD notes: homemade ketchup can take the place of the tomato paste; chili powder is basically a blend of ancho chile powder and ground cumin in about a 3:1 ratio.

Kielbasa & Kale Stew

This is just a rough recipe: adjust proportions to suit.

1 turkey kielbasa
chicken stock
6 medium carrots
1 bunch kale
2 medium onions
1/4 cup (or so) red wine
red pepper flakes
(salt if needed---depends on your stock)

Slice the kielbasa, carrots, kale, onion into smaller than bite-size pieces. Cook the vegetables and kielbasa in the chicken stock and add water as needed so everything is covered. Add the wine. When the carrots are soft, enjoy.

The wine is optional, but you'll be amazed how much it improves the soup.

Citrus Muffins (with butternut squash)

These muffins are adapted for SCD from Harry Eastwood’s St. Clement’s Cupcakes in Red Velvet and Chocolate Heartache. I bought a kitchen scale just so that I could bake out of this cookbook published in the UK and not yet translated into American measures. Now I wish I had gotten one years ago.

Citrus muffins

300g butternut squash
zest of 2 lemons
zest of 2 oranges
3 large eggs
100g honey
juice of 2 oranges
juice of 1 lemon
150g almond flour
50g coconut flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
[1/4 cup water]

Preheat oven to 325°. Put muffin papers in 12 muffin cups.

Peel and finely grate the raw butternut squash. If you grate by hand, you can reduce the amount down to 200g. If you use a food processor, pick out the largest chunks. Don’t do this until you’re ready to mix the muffins, or the squash will get dry.

Zest the lemons and oranges & chop the zest. I like to use a vegetable peeler followed by a knife. You can use a fairly rough chop if you like larger pieces of zest.

Weigh and mix the flours, baking soda, and salt. Add eggs, squash, honey, lemon juice, and orange juice. Mix everything together well. If the mixture seems too dry to spoon into muffin cups, add up to 1/4 cup water.

Spoon into muffin cups. Bake for 40 minutes---until firm to the touch. Serve with a drizzle of honey, lemon curd, or marmalade.