#2 on my list, Cook 15 new dishes (#3 & 4)

Last week was our ladies Bible fellowship. Normally we do simple finger food, but with the fall season upon us the section that I've been assigned to this year felt like doing something more festive. But the really fun part was the fact that it was almost an entirely GF fellowship, except for a few crackers and the apple pie that was made everything else was GF. Christie made a fabulous pumpkin pie cheesecake with macadamia nut crust. Heather made a spaghetti squash casserole, and yours truly made a GF chicken pot pie! Even the chicken I made for it was from scratch.

TASTE BUD WARNING: Full Flavor Ahead

Roasted Chicken:
1 chicken , 4 1/2 to 5 pounds each
6 lemons
A poultry mix of fresh herbs: Rosemary, sage, thyme, parsley and oregano work well

Marinade for one chicken:
1 cup Dijon mustard
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup juice from fresh lemon (don't discard lemon rinds)

To make marinade: Place all ingredients in a nonreactive bowl. Whisk with a wire whisk until ingredients are incorporated well—the marinade should have a smooth and creamy consistency. If you're making this GF make sure to find a GF brand of soy sauce. Yes, even soy sauce has wheat in it. It's usually the #2 ingredient.

To make roasted chicken: Preheat oven to 425°.Clean chickens well and pat dry. Place each chicken in its own baking dish.Stuff cavities with lemon rinds and fresh herbs. A poultry mix is fine, usually consisting of rosemary, sage, thyme, parsley and oregano. Pour marinade over chicken. Add cracked pepper and remaining herbs to the top of each chicken.Place an oven thermometer in each chicken and cover with aluminum foil. Place on the lower rack of the oven. Bake for 1 1/2 hours, then remove the aluminum foil. Baste with a basting bulb. Keep basting often, ever 15 minutes until the thermometer reads 180°.

This chicken is full of flavor!!! What more can I say. Your taste buds will be accosted in the best sort of way. The lemon and soy sauce work together to bring our a tang that really make your mouth come alive with it's sweetness and tartness; and Oh my. . .the meat was so tender it just fell off of the bone. Do not be afraid to be generous with the herbs, especially the sage (but that's just one that I like). If you have a strong inclination towards one more than the other use that too, but really the more herbs the better. And if you have left overs from your mix, use then as a topper on the chicken. It gives a nice texture to the chicken as it begins to brown. However, remember to take the stuffing out of the chicken before you cut into it. Let it cool a little first. I used some saran wrap to get in there and get it all out, without getting more of the mix in between my finger nails.

I wish I could take credit for this recipe, but as with most of them I can't. I got it off of Oprah's website as I was looking for a roasted chicken recipe. So rather than having you all have to go there, now you can just come here and look at it. But that was just the first part. Once I cut up the chicken I put it in the freezer until I needed it a couple days later (trying to do all this in one day is just to much, unless you have that kind of time. In which case knock yourself out). Next time I make this for an actual dinner, I also plan on saving the drippings for a gravy. Just thicken it up, in a pot, with some corn or potato starch over a warm burner. It would probably be delicious over some mashed potatoes or as a sauce for asparagus.

The second part of the process included actually making the chicken pot pie.

Now I know that it doesn't look exactly appetizing, with it's gravy everywhere, but the corn meal crust on it and the flavors inside it really was, people that had it that night loved it:)

Paparazzi Pot Pie (I'll explain the name later)
1 lb chicken breast, cooked and shredded
2 Tablespoons of rice flour
2 Tablespoons of olive oil
1/2 teaspoon dried mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
5 carrots, sliced/diced thin
1 cup of broccoli
1 pkg of sliced mushrooms
3/4 cup of sweet peas
1package of frozen onions
1 3/4 cup of chicken stock (homemade or gf brand)
1 Tablespoon fresh basil, chopped finely
3 Tablespoons of sour cream
1 clove garlic, minced

Topping
1/2 cup of cornmeal
1/4 white rice flour plus 2 Tablespoons
2 Tablespoons of tapioca flour
3/4 teaspoon of xanthan gum
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 Tablespoon honey
3/4 cup of milk
2 Tablespoons of olive oil

Directions:
Chop/dice/thaw the vegetables for the chicken pot pie.

In a Dutch oven, heat 2 Tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Add the 2 Tablespoons of rice flour, 1/2 teaspoon of dried mustard, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper. Cook about 2-3 minutes until bubbly and foamy. Slowly whisk in the chicken stock. Return to boiling. Add the vegetables and basil and simmer for ten to twelve minutes or until tender. Add the cooked chicken and the sour cream; combine well. Put the vegetable mixture in a 9×13 baking dish.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

To prepare the topping, combine the dry ingredients in a small bowl and whisk together well. In a large bowl, combine the honey, milk, and olive oil. Add the dry ingredients and stir until moistened. Spread on top of the vegetable mixture. I had to make two servings of the crust for this recipe, but for me that was OK. I like a thicker/heartier crust. So do what works for you. If you don't like how thin the crust turns out. Then by all means make another one. It will be just fine.

Bake, uncovered, about 30 minutes or until lightly browned. Let stand for 15 minutes before serving.
Serves about 6

Use whatever veggies you have available. This original recipe I got from Gluten Free Mommy, called for a can or artichokes as well as some red bell pepper. Go ahead an put your own spin on it though and find what you like. If you have veggies that you're afraid will go bad this is probably a good recipe to use to freshen up the whole tired stew menu. I also recommend not doing it at the last minute, but that's just me. If you get home around 6 or 7, you might be eating to late if you make this. I think it's a perfect meal for a Saturday evening with the family (or friends if you're like me and don't have family on hand). I was also liberal with the basil. Since I was already buying fresh herbs for the chicken I decided to just do the same for the pie. It's hard to know how many basil leaves actually make up a TBSP so I just gauged it with my eye. It was probably more, but basil is a great flavor anyway so I'm sure it didn't matter at all. Also the gravy was a little thin. I think if I added more sour cream it would be thicker. I'll have to try that next time.

OK, now for the name of the pie. I was taking pictures of my dish and Kali started teasing me about the flashes as they were going off. She said it looked like Pot Pie Paparazzi was everywhere (I'm sure TMZ is dying to get this recipe, LOL). BTW, try saying that 10 times fast. It's really hard huh. So, not only did I teach myself a new recipe, but I also came up with my own tongue twister. My talents never end:P.

So there are my new dishes. I hope that you get to try them for yourselves. I'm sure you'll love them too. I know this post was long, but I've been saving onto this one for a while so I could post them together. I love fall cooking. Lots of comfort food to be had:)