Broiled Chicken with Mushroom & Wine Sauce

Treat yourself to this gourmet chicken dish. The mushrooms, onions, and wine make a wonderful combination! You're sure to enjoy it immensely!

1 chicken, quartered
Juice of ½ lemon
Minced garlic, salt, pepper, and cinnamon, to taste

Squeeze the lemon over the chicken, then sprinkle with garlic and spices. Broil for 15 minutes on each side.

In the meantime, sauté 1 onion, chopped in 2 Tbsp oil until soft. Add ½ box mushrooms (4-5 ounces), sliced and cook for another 5 minutes. When chicken is ready (it may not be fully cooked yet), pour ¼ cup dry white wine into the mushrooms, and put the chicken pieces into the sauce. I took some of the onions and mushrooms and put them on top of the chicken pieces. Cook on low flame, covered, 30 minutes.

Marilyn's Chocolate Cake

Chocolate Cake. What can be better than that?? Fudgy, rich, creamy, and absolutely addictive! How to make chocolate cake using SCD ingredients? Leave that up to Marilyn, author of the forthcoming "Louisiana SCD Lagniappe", and owner of the BTVC-SCD Yahoo Group. The only challange here is portion control!

16 large Medjool dates
6 ounces pecan flour (I did 3/4 cup)
4 ounces cocoa butter, melted[1] (I did 1/2 cup melted)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt (I did half the amount)
1/4 teaspoon finely ground black pepper[2] (I did half the amount)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 jumbo egg (I did an XL egg)
1. Preheat oven to 325°F.
2. Place the pecan flour, salt, and black pepper in the food processor. Process to mix well.
3. Pit the dates and chop, by cutting lengthwise and then crosswise, and crumble the date pieces into the food processor. Process for several minutes until dates and pecan flour are well mixed.
4. Add the melted cocoa butter and vanilla. Process again for several minutes. The date/pecan mixture and the cocoa butter will slosh around in the food processor and will not incorporate with each other – but you need this processing to really chop up / puree the dates.
Scrape down the sides. Add the egg and the baking soda and process again. It’s rather amazing to see how this mixture suddenly turns into a very chocolate-cake-looking batter. You may wish to scrape down the sides once, and process a second time until very smooth.
5. Pour batter into four well-buttered mini-Bundt pans or one well-buttered 8” cake pan. Bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
6. Cool cakes(s) and turn out. The mini-Bundts can be topped with vanilla half & half yogurt and cherries for a to-die-for dessert. The cake tastes even more chocolaty if it chills over night before you eat it.
Note: This is a very dense, firm, almost brownie-like cake. Be very, very careful. The tendency is to want to eat the entire recipe.

[1] Cocoa butter is the pure fat and is SCD-legal, even though cocoa powder or chocolate is not. If you are concerned about it, use coconut oil or butter. It won't be quite as "chocolaty" but it will be very good.

[2] Yes, I know. Pepper? In a sweet cake? Are you crazy? (Well, yes, probably....) Actually, this was a trick I picked up to give sweet spices and things depth: use pepper as the "bottom note." I tried any number of ingredients to get that slightly sharp "bite" of dark chocolate, including a tablespoon of very strong coffee, but nothing worked the way the pepper did. And, since I am not a coffee drinker, and my husband is allergic to it, the pepper is significantly more convenient.

Peanut Chews- The Real Stuff!

If you thought you were settled on your favorite brand peanut butter, wait until you try our very new Cream Nut Peanut Butter! After visiting the Specialty Food Show, Diane, a devoted customer informed me about this peanut butter she tasted there that was "To Die For". Well, one lick will tell you why!
Now, if that's not enough, I've discovered that this peanut butter makes awesome peanut chews! I haven't tasted something this good in a LONG TIME!
½ cup Coconut Oil
1 ½ cups Honey
1 16.5 oz. jar Cream Nut Crunchy Peanut Butter
2 Tbls Vanilla Extract
¼ tspn Sea Salt
1. In a medium saucepan, melt coconut oil and honey on a low to medium heat. Bring to a boil, and cook on low heat for 10 minutes. Stir mixture every few minutes.
2. Add peanut butter, vanilla, and salt, and stir constantly on low heat for 8 minutes.
3. Remove from heat and cool completely.
4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
5. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto baking sheet.
6. Optional: Position a lollipop stick in each round.
7. Place baking sheet in freezer. When frozen, remove chews and place in an airtight container.
8. Store in the fridge or freezer.
9. Be careful - these are addictive!! Enjoy!

Olive Dip

Ironically, even though I don't care for olives, I'm totally hooked on this olive dip. I enjoy it with freshly cut up veggies, on fish or meat, or as a spread on SCD Melba Toasts or Crackers.
1/2 cup pitted olives
1/2 cup homemade mayo
1-2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup olive oil
4 Tbsp water
2 tspn vinegar
2 shakes black pepper
Blend all ingredients in a food processor or blender. Refrigerate for up to three weeks.
Enjoy dippin' away!

Veggie Cheese Quiche

In the honor or Hanukkah, make yourself this tasty luscious dish. You're sure to love it!

2 large onions, diced
1 medium eggplant, unpeeled and diced
1 large zucchini, unpeeled and sliced thinly into half circles
8 ounces fresh mushrooms, chopped

Saute the above for 40 minutes, until soft. If necessary, add ½ cup of water to the pan. Drain the excess water when done. Add the following and mix well:

1 cup dripped yogurt
1 Tblsp honey
4 eggs
Salt and pepper, to taste
6 Tblsp almond flour
¾ -1 cup shredded cheese

Pour batter into a 9X13 baking pan. Bake at 350F for 40 minutes, or until browned and crispy on top.

Thank you Debby for this terrific recipe!

Coming next: Something enticing for olive lovers!!