The Unknown Chef is newest addition to the Birdz of a Feather family; it’s our recipe category. Food is one of life’s greatest pleasures. The recipe for a happy life is the right blend of family and friends to share it with, don’t you think?
‘The Unknown Chef‘ is inspired by Hubs. But does anybody really trust a skinny chef? Find out why you should! Although his ambitions to become a well-known chef didn’t go to plan, the blog at least provides an outlet to help prove the naysayers wrong!
We’re big proponents of healthy eating and prefer our ingredients to be non GMO, organic, where possible, and sugar free.
You’ll find quick and easy recipes that are real timesavers, like our pressure cooker pulled pork. All the recipes are accessible to everyone. Even those with gluten intolerance or celiac disease, there are gluten free substitutes that will work every time. Hubs himself has celiac so every recipe on the site caters to a gluten-free diet.
Enjoy!
When is comes to gluten free chocolate chip cookies, it’s impossible to achieve that distinctive caramelized flavour that chocolate chip cookies are known for without any refined sugar. So, if you’re willing to compromise, we’ve come up with a few cheats in this recipe (cream cheese and molasses) that we believe work wonders.
Enjoy these craveable, dunkable chocolate chip cookies with your favourite morning beverage or any time of day.
Gluten free low sugar chocolate chip cookies
Matcha is our new go-to indulgence and these matcha popsicles fit the bill as a scorching heatwave approaches. These refreshingly creamy, dreamy and delightful treats are just what we need to beat the heat!
Since May is Celiac awareness month, we couldn’t let the month slip by without highlighting a new to us gluten free product; these matcha pancakes from a mix are a real convenience on busy mornings!
Perfecting this shredded chicken recipe was a long time coming.
13 years ago, I auditioned for a TV show in which home cooks could compete for their recipe to become a President’s Choice product to be sold in grocery stores nationwide! Exciting right?
Unfortunately, one of the judges didn’t like the cubed chicken on my chimichurri pizza. It wasn’t the chicken per se, but the shape! Back then, shredded chicken wasn’t even on my radar. Now that this recipe is tried and true, I can’t wait to share it with you. I know we use it a LOT and I think you will too!
Gluten free chicken crepes using shredded chicken
Gluten free chicken crepes with mushroom sauce and filling are a delicious weekend dinner or brunch. Or make the crepes ahead and cook the filling during the week to speed up a week night meal.
If you don’t need to be gluten-free, this recipe works just as well with regular flour too!
Savory gluten free crepes
My grandmother was an amazing cook and introduced me to foods I’d probably never try, like this chopped liver recipe! It’s the BEST chopped chicken liver ever; once you know about her secret ingredient.
Chopped Chicken Liver
Banana muffin tops are our favourite way of using up over ripe bananas. Who doesn’t love the crunchy goodness of the top of the muffin? As far as we’re concerned, that’s the best part of a muffin!
If you remember Yorkshire Pudding growing up, now you can enjoy gluten free Yorkshire Pudding with this recipe if you can no longer eat gluten. Or, if gluten isn’t an issue, keep this recipe in your back pocket for when you have a guest with a gluten free dietary restriction.
Make ahead spice rub for pork tenderloin is a quick and easy way to whip up a delicious meal in under half an hour. Perfect for week nights or on the weekend, pork tenderloin is a versatile meal for any night or occasion.
With winter hanging, on and new snow on the way, this hearty beef stew with wine is like a warm hug. It tastes like it’s been simmering away for hours on end, but it’s a quick cook in a pressure cooker to achieve comfort in a bowl! Or if you have an Instant Pot, that will work just as well.
To make this an Irish stew for St. Patrick’s day (it won’t be gluten free), add a cup of Guinness (you can still keep the wine, or substitute it if you prefer).
Did you know that green eggs are possible with the addition of only one natural ingredient? Try this fun food experiment for St. Patrick’s Day. And do it with kids; they’ll get a kick out of it too!
Hubs always ends his emails with “I do not like them in a car”. So, as huge Dr. Seuss fans (below is our copy of Green Eggs and Ham), we set out to discover if we could indeed make green eggs and ham!
Delicious and tender, this brisket recipe is so fast and easy because we use a pressure cooker, but an Instant Pot will do the same thing.
My husband and I have a birthday pact; every year he buys me ‘flours’ for my birthday and then I make myself carrot cake muffins to celebrate! This year is no exception. Well, except for that fact that I’m turning 60 and setting aside last year’s keto carrot cake muffins recipe in favour of this one (if only just for this special occasion).
Can a potato latke recipe that’s twice cooked be twice as good as a traditional potato latke? No, but in some ways, it can be even better!
Hanukkah starts today and it’s customary to eat foods that are either fried in oil or made with cheese. So is it any wonder that my favourite part of the celebration is eating potato latkes?!
To kick off the celebration, we developed this make ahead recipe.
Oven pork back ribs are awesome on the grill as a last step, but sometimes that isn’t possible during the winter. So this is the next best thing! And these oven pork back ribs are super fast too because the first step is to use a pressure cooker (or instant pot)! No need to even marinate or let the spice rub sit on the ribs; the pressure cooker does all the work of penetrating flavour into the meat. You can have fall off the bone sweet, caramelized and slightly sticky ribs in just over an hour!
If I’m being honest, we prefer these to just about every rib we’ve had at a rib fest cooked low and slow for hours! They even have that smoky flavour thanks to liquid smoke!
On a snowy blustery day like today, it’s time to perfect our gluten free gingerbread cookie recipe! It’s been ages since we shared a recipe. And that’s because this is the year I was determined to lose weight, so there hasn’t been anything exciting to share.
Our recipe for Kibbeh is unconventional and not traditional in the least. Kibbeh is a Lebanese dish that is made with bulgur and ground meat (beef or lamb). For an authentic recipe, a reader has kindly shared this YouTube tutorial in Arabic (the recipe is listed in English in the comments).
While Kibbeh means to form a ball, there are many ways to shape it; balls, patties or football shaped. Traditionally, these have a stuffing in the centre. However, we’ve adapted a Milk Street recipe, which is not stuffed, to make this a totally gluten free preparation. I don’t know how the bulgur would taste, but I can guarantee you won’t miss the wheat if you try our version. It’s delicious.
In today’s post we’re revealing our French onion soup secret ingredient! Actually, there’s more than one secret ingredient in this Unknown Chef exclusive recipe and we’re divulging them all.
