Chicken Curry

I am leaving for a trip to San Antonio today, so I won't be posting the rest of the week. But before I go... Enjoy some delicious lightened up chicken curry. I had been planning on making fried rice, but was just so in the mood for rice that was soaked in sauce (yum) and I happened to have a can of light coconut milk on hand, so this delicious spiced (but not spicy) curry was born. With enough delicious sauce to drown a huge bowl of rice. Have a great week, see you all Monday!

Chicken Curry:
1 tbsp of coconut oil
2 chicken breasts
2 tbsp of flour
2 onions
1 parsnip
1 bell pepper
2 tbsp of curry powder
1/2 tsp of ginger
1/2 tsp of cinnamon
1/4 tsp mustard
1 tsp of Garam masala
1 tsp of chili powder
1 Bay leaf
2 tbsp of brown sugar
1/2 cup of chicken stock
1/2 cup of light coconut milk

Salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a large skillet. Cut the chicken breast into 1 inch pieces and season with salt and pepper. Toss the breasts with the flour to coat. Add to the hot pan and cook until golden brown, about 2 minutes then flip. Chop the onions, parsnips, and pepper and add to the pan. Cook until onions soften slightly, about 4 minutes, stirring frequently. Add spices, sugar, stock and coconut milk, stir and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook until chicken is cooked through and the veggies are soft, about 20 minutes. Serve over rice.

Happy Eating.

Chicken Tetrazzini

I love a good casserole, they are so hearty and filling and can warm you from the inside. I was looking for something creamy and delicious, that wasn't a million calories, when I stumbled across this casserole from Cooking Light, which inspired me to make my own version. I added a substantial amount of broccoli to really stretch the dish and so that I could eat a gigantic portion guilt free. A piece the size in the picture below (1/6th of the casserole) is under 350 calories, a very reasonable dinner portion. So enjoy some deliciousness absolutely guilt free (and eat the leftovers for lunch).

Chicken Tetrazzini:
2 heads of broccoli, chopped and steamed
1/2 lb of angel hair pasta, broken in half and cooked
2 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded (I boiled mine)
1/2 tbsp of butter
1 small onion
1 package of mixed gourmet mushrooms
1/2 tsp of salt
1 tsp of pepper
1 tsp of garlic powder
1/4 cup of sherry wine
1/3 cup of flour
2 1/2 cups of chicken broth
1/2 cup of reduced fat, shredded, mozzarella cheese
1/4 cups of plain bread crumbs
1/4 cup of Parmesan

First, prep work, cook the chicken, broccoli and pasta (this could be done in advance too). Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 by 13 inch baking dish with non-stick and add pasta, broccoli, and chicken and mix together. Heat a large skillet over medium heat and melt butter, chop onion and add to butter. Chop mushrooms and add as well, add salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Cook until onions soften, about 3 minutes, add sherry and cook until absorbed, about 1 minute. Slowly stir in flour, mixing constantly, cook for 3 minutes, stirring to ensure flour doesn't burn, this will be very thick. Stir in stock and bring to a boil then reduce heat to low, stir until smooth. Add in mozzarella and stir until melted. Pour mixture over the noodle mixture and stir to combine. Top with bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese. Bake for 30 minutes. Let stand for a few minutes before serving.

Happy Eating.

My Favorite Roast Chicken

First, a little business. Congrats to Claire on winning the jar of Tropical Traditions Coconut Peanut Butter! Enjoy!

In my September DC post, I mentioned that I made a roast chicken, and used the leftovers from that to make my stock. Not only did I make a roast chicken, but I made my favorite roast chicken. I shared this once before, but it was so long ago, I wasn't even putting pictures on my blog then, so I decided I needed to re-post it. This chicken is absolutely magical, and very easy to make, it's been made so many times over the years, and tweaked slightly from time to time (usually depending on what herbs I have), but it's always delicious.

Roast Chicken:
1 whole chicken, giblits removed
3 cloves of garlic
2 large yellow onion
2 lemons
Fresh Thyme
Fresh Rosemary
Fresh Parsley
Olive Oil
Salt, Pepper
1-2 cups Chicken Stock

Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees. Chop the onions, reserving 1/4 of an onion, and put in the bottom of a 9 by 13 inch baking dish. Wash the chicken inside and out and pat dry. Season the chicken with salt and pepper on both sides and inside the cavity. Put in the dish breast side up. Smash the garlic cloves and put inside the chicken, put the reserved onion in the chicken as well. Quater one of the lemons. Put one quarter inside the chicken, unsqueezed. Use another quarter to squeeze the juice all over the chicken. Chop the remaining 1 and 1/2 lemons and add to the dish with the onions. Stuff a handful thyme, rosemary, and parsley into the chicken. Rub olive oil over the exposed chicken skin, and drizzle a little into the onions as well. Tuck the wings in and tie the drumstick together with kitchen twine (truss). Bake for 25 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 and add some stock to baste. Bake until the internal temperature is 165 in the thigh, or the little ready thermometer pops, about 20 minutes per pound, stirring the onions and basting with stock occasionally. Let stand for 10 minutes before carving. The lemons (rind and all) in the pan with the onions are completely edible, and taste really good. Enjoy!

Happy Eating.

Tandoori Grilled Chicken

I haven't cooked a whole chicken in awhile, well that's not entirely true. It's just in a different form. Summer's version of the whole chicken, is grilling a whole, split chicken. A split chicken is a wonderful thing, it's just a regular chicken with the backbone removed and chopped in half. Then you can easily grill the two halves, which lie flat on the grill. This is my FAVORITE marinade for the chicken. The yogurt keeps the chicken super moist and it's got a lovely smokey, slightly spicy flavor. You can eat the grilled skin, or pull it off and the chicken tastes amazing either way. The leftovers make a wonderful lunch sandwich or salad topper.

Tandoori-Style Chicken:
1 Split chicken, about 4-5 lbs
3/4 cup of Greek yogurt
1 lemon
2 tsp of paprika
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp of cumin
1/4 tsp of ginger
1/2 tsp of salt
1 tsp of pepper
Season the chicken with salt and pepper on both sides and put in a freezer bag. In a bowl, mix together the yogurt, lemon and seasonings. Add to the chicken bag, and seal the bag. Shake, and press the bag until the chicken is coated. Marinate in the fridge overnight. Pre-heat the grill. Place chicken on the grill skin side down, and cook for 20 minutes, flip the chicken and cook on the meat side until chicken is cooked through, about 10-15 minutes, but will vary based on the size of the chicken. Let rest for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Happy Eating.

Quick Pulled Chicken Tostadas

Generally speaking, I have a really hard time delegating, in life and in the kitchen. I always feel like I'm cheating (in the kitchen, that is) if I don't make everything that can be made from scratch from scratch. I take pride in my work and I love knowing that I made everything I am eating, plus I love knowing every ingredient that is in what I ate 100%. However, sometimes, this is a lot of work, and sometimes, I just want something and I want it fast. So I swallow my pride and pick a quality version of a product, and enjoy it, even though I know I could have made it myself.

Pulled Chicken Tostadas:
2 Chicken Breasts
1/2 bottle of barbaque sauce (I like Bull's Eye Texas Style)
1/4 cup of water, plus more for boiling
1/2 tsp of salt
1 large Onion
6 small corn tortillas
1 tsp of canola oil
salt, pepper.

Pre-heat the grill. Bring a pot of water and 1/2 tsp of salt to a boil. Boil chicken until mostly cooked through, about 8 minutes. Drain water from the pot. Using 2 forks, shred the chicken. Add barbaque sauce and 1/4 cup of water to the pot, cook covered on low until ready to eat. Cut the onion into thick slices and rub with oil. Season the onion with salt and pepper and grill until charred and softened, about 8-10 minutes, flipping halfway through. Grill the tortillas for about 1 minute on each side, until crisp. Serve tortillas topped with pulled chicken and onions.

Happy Eating.

Chicken Thighs with Lemon-Sherry Pan Sauce

Chicken thighs are amazing. Just as versatile as the chicken breast, but 1000 times more flavorful and juicy. Lately I have been bulk buying them instead of the standard breasts and subbing them into all kinds of delicious chicken creations. This one was a particular winner, warm and satisfying in the extremely cold December that is currently plaguing my existence (either be warmer or snow, come on weather). I'll admit this dish was probably very "winter" because I served it with the Saffron Risotto I made shortly after returning from Argentina. If I thought that was delicious last time, it was nothing compared to coming in from arctic temperatures to something hot, creamy and oh so soothing. But, back to the chicken, and my favorite flavor combination: lemon, sherry and black pepper.



Chicken Thighs and Lemon-Sherry Sauce:
1 lb of boneless skinless chicken thighs
1 tbsp of olive oil
1 tsp of salt
1 1/2 tsp of pepper, divided
1/2 tsp of nutmeg
1/2 a lemon
1/4 cup of sherry
1 tbsp of butter
1 tbsp of flour
1/2 cup of chicken stock

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Mix together the salt, 1 tsp of pepper, and nutmeg. Sprinkle the seasoning on both sides of the thighs. Squeeze the juice of half the lemon onto the chicken, reserve the rind. Put chicken, fattier side down, into the pan. Brown on both sides, about 2-3 minutes per side. Transfer chicken to a baking sheet and cook in the oven until cooked thoroughly, about 15 minutes. Pour the sherry into the pan and scrape up any brown bits the chicken left behind. Allow sherry to reduce, about 3 minutes. Add butter to the pan and melt, whisk in flour. Cut reserved lemon peel into chunks and add to the pan. Pour in stock and whisk together. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Stir in remaining pepper and allow sauce to thicken. Serve chicken with about a tsp of sauce smeared onto it.

Happy Eating.

Roasting Chicken

There is nothing so perfect as a whole roasted chicken. To me it is the ultimate Sunday dinner. Something about it just screams family. The first step to roasting a wonderful chicken is ensuring crispy skin, while keeping the meat moist and tender, once you have perfected that you can start to play with the flavor. I still love my go to chicken recipe, based on the Barefoot Contessa's "Engagement Chicken", but I was in an allspice kind of mood and this was a wonderful change of pace. As a bonus I tossed in some zucchini and made this a lovely one dish meal.



Roast Chicken with Sherry and Allspice:
1 5-6 lb roasting chicken
1/4 cup olive oil
4 cloves of garlic
3 medium onions
2 medium zucchini
1 tbsp of whole allspice
1/3 cup of sherry
1/2 cup of chicken stock
Salt, Pepper

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Rough chop the zucchini and onions, and toss in the bottom of a baking dish (reserving 2 or 3 pieces of onion) with salt and pepper and about a table spoon of olive oil. Wash the chicken, inside and out, then pat dry. salt and pepper the chicken inside and out. Stuff with the reserved onions, the garlic cloves (smashed slightly) and half the allspice. Sprinkle the remaining allspice through out the pan. Drizzle or rub the rest of the olive oil onto the chicken. Bake for 20 minutes, then lower the heat to 350 and pour the sherry over the chicken. Bake for another 20 minutes then pour the stock over. Continue cooking until the popper pops up, basting the chicken stock occasionally with the juices from the pan, about 20 minutes per pound. Let rest 10 minutes before carving. Serve and Enjoy.

Happy Eating

Chicken Drama

Not all chickens are created equal. Or are butchered that way. I learned this lesson the hard way last night, when I attempted to remove the giblets bag of a chicken that I was going to roast. There was no bag. I am not squeamish, I have even seen a chicken butchered before (from the head-on stage, in Spain), but it's not exactly pleasant to stick your hand inside a chicken expecting to pull out a little white bag and instead being jabbed by bone and having your hand come out covered in chicken guts. Ew. I assume that this chicken is for making stock, when the bones and guts would probably come in handy, but I was not about to roast this bad boy. I grabbed my cleaver and "broke down" the chicken myself, with none of the impressiveness of a Top Chef. I managed to chop off the legs, wings and the breast (in two pieces). Then used a newly purchased back up chicken to roast instead. I didn't have any fresh herbs but I still followed my basic-no fail-always wonderful Roasting Chicken. And, it came out wonderfully.

In garden news, everything is re-potted and moved to the back porch as of Sunday (there are also some lovely new additions, thanks to a trip to Home Depot). I am giving them a few days in there new home to smarten themselves up (and make sure they survive) and then I will take some pictures.

I do have a recipe for all of you today. It is for a quick and easy London Broil, which with corn on the cob (I love summer) was a very delicious Sunday night dinner.

London Broil

1 Plastic Bag
1 2.5-3 Lb top round roast (beef)
1/2 cup of Balsamic Vinegar (I used my special and delicious fig vinegar)
2 garlic cloves, chopped up or pressed
2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/8 cup of Olive oil
1 Tbsp Soy Sauce
1 Tbsp brown sugar
Salt and Pepper

Rub the meat with brown sugar and salt and pepper it. Put it in the plastic bag. Add the vinegar, oil, soy sauce, and Worcestershire sauce. Seal bag and shake to combine. Sort of rub/massage everything together. Allow the bag to sit and marinate for at least an hour, but ideally overnight. If you are letting sit for only an hour or two, leave out on the counter and flip a few times. Longer than that put it in the fridge and try to flip it at least one. When you are ready to cook the meat, position a rack in the upper third of the oven and pre-heat the broiler (you can use a grill as well). When the broiler is all the way hot put the meat on a broiler pan. Cook for about 12-13 minutes on each side. Serve and Enjoy.

Happy Eating.

Hot Comfort, Please

So at some point last week (yes this is a little bit after the fact, but it's on my mind) I was craving gravy (strange, I know). I didn't care what I ate, as long as it was covered in hot, creamy gravy. So I reached into my past, and made a much better version of an old camp favorite of mine, chicken in gravy. It was so delicious. It was almost creamy perfection, except that I added too much milk at the end and it was a bit liquid-y, still amazing, but a little soup-y. So next time way less milk. Here is my super winter recipe for hot comfort, now that it is warming up and the plants are growing I am looking forward to putting this recipe in the back of my mind until next year. In other spring news some of the seedling are showing there first true leaves (the first set of leaves seedlings get after the 2 "baby leaves" they sprout with) so it's time to get out the fish emulsion fertilizer. I will have fresh herbs before I know it. The flowers have not done anything yet, but hopefully I will see some sprouts soon. Also, last night, I ate corn for the first time this year! And it was so good, surely a sign the summer is right around the corner...

Chicken and Gravy

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2-3 cups of chicken broth
2-3 Tbsp of butter
2-3 Tbs of flour
1/4 cup of sour cream
salt, pepper
Milk
Elbow or egg noodles (cooked, you know how to make pasta)

In a small pot, bring the chicken stock to boil, you should have enough to cover your chicken in a pot. Salt and pepper the chicken, and cut into bite sized pieces. Put chicken in boiling stock. Cook covered of medium-low heat until chicken is almost cooked through, about 10 minutes. In a large sauce pan over medium-low heat, melt 2 tbsp of butter and stir in 2 tbsp of flour (hey, your making rue) until dissolved. Let cook a few minutes to enrich flavor. Using a ladle, spoon add a ladle of broth and whisk to combine add salt and pepper to taste. Repeat until you have a desirable amount of gravy (approximately 2 cups of stock. If the gravy is to thin, melt the additional butter in a microwave and stir flour into it, then add to gravy. The gravy should be thick but gravy like. Reduce heat to low and let gravy cook down for about 5 minutes. In the mean time. Put your noodles and chicken in bowls for serving. When gravy has reduced and thickened a bit, add in sour cream and stir. Then slowly add milk until gravy is desired thickness (be very careful so you don't end up with gravy-soup). Ladle gravy over chicken and noodles. Serve and enjoy.

Happy Eating.

Buffalo and chicken, not buffalo chicken.

Exciting news! Food wise anyways. This has somehow become a big week in cooking. On Tuesday night I made delicious chicken kebabs, that are being added to the list of regular dinners (as in dinners to repeat, often, these include, fried rice, pasta w. red sauce, etc. You know, everyday meals). Then last night I made bison burgers! They were falling apart slightly, but good and exciting. Plus the meat came to me for free. A lovely gift from some people at work who went hunting and brought back more meat than they knew what to do with. They also gave me (well the boyfriend, but me by extension) something that is called a ham, but is really a roast from the butt. I will have to investigate what to do with that. Then tomorrow night, we are hosting a homemade pizza party. I am so excited! Saturday I will be making pizzas all day. I will definitely let everyone know, exactly what gets made and how it turns out!

So the delicious chicken kebabs...

1-1.5 lbs of boneless, skinless chicken thighs (yes, you heard me right, and trust me)
1 Vidalia onion (or something similar)
1 Bell Pepper
3 Cloves of garlic
1/2 a lemon
6 Sprigs of Rosemary (soon it could be from my garden!)
Olive oil
Salt, pepper
Skewers

Pre-heat the broiler (or the grill). Chop the onion and pepper into sizable chunks and season with salt and pepper, for skewering. Dice the garlic and rosemary. Cut the chicken into largish chunks, and season with salt and pepper. Assemble skewers in the order of your choice. I did onion, pepper chicken, repeat. I needed 5 skewers for 1.2 lbs of chicken, 1 onion, and 1 pepper. Lay the skewers on the broiler pan and pour a little olive oil on the full skewers. Sprinkle (a lot of sprinkling) the rosemary and garlic on them. Squeeze the juice of half a lemon over the skewers. Broil for about 6 minutes then turn the skewers and broil on the other side for an addition 6-7 minutes until cooked through, this will largely depend on the size of your chunks. So, adjust time as necessary.

This was so delicious. I served it with Carolina's Spanish style yellow rice, which was the perfect accompaniment. The chicken was juicy and delicious. It made me wish for summer so bad though. I can't wait until it's grilling time again!

And the Buffalo Burgers...

1 lb of ground bison
1 yellow onion
3 cloves of garlic
1 egg
A bit of breadcrumbs
Salt, Pepper

Mix everything together and make into burgers. This isn't so much a recipe, as much as it is a story about how I ate bison for the first time, and I cooked it. I cooked them on a griddle pan. I had mine with mushrooms, lettuce, tomato and feta cheese, the boyfriend has jack cheese, lettuce and tomato. They tasted a lot like a regular burger with a small something you can't quite put your finger on. Not the most adventurous way to try a new meat, and I am excited to try the roast, which seems more real than eating ground meat, because really ground meat is ground meat, and the only thing that really makes a difference is fat content. Bison is similar to an 85/15 or 90/10 and that's all you really need to know.

Happy Eating.

The Quest for Crispy Skin

For me, the difficult part of roasting a chicken is the skin. I am good with flavor and consistently cook not-dry chicken, but the crispy skin has always been my issue (and, therefore my goal).

On Sunday, after a weekend (plus Thursday) of celebrations, we all went to my dad's house for dinner, which was going to be a roast chicken (a gigantic 7 and a half pound bird, I might add). I said I would make the chicken, I had been thinking about roasting one all weekend anyway, and this one was free (well, free for me). The skin (minus the bottom because my dad did not have a rack to put in the pan) was crispy perfection (thanks to a temperature assist from my mom). The skin, was completely gone by the time I got the chicken (thanks, little brother), but I stole some off the boyfriend's plate and it was yummy.

Insides and outsides:

4 small onions
6ish cloves of garlic
Dried Thyme and Rosemary
Coarse Salt
Pepper
1 can of chicken stock
A whole chicken (obviously)
the inside parts of the chicken (for gravy)
2 tbsp of flour
butter.
olive oil

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees

Give the onions a rough chop, save about half a small onion for inside the chicken, and line the pan with the rest. Salt and pepper the onions. Smash and set aside to cloves of garlic (just put your knife on top of them and give them a little squish. Chop the rest of the garlic, sprinkle about half in the bottom of the pan with the onions. Remove the package of insides from the chicken and set aside. Wash the chicken and pat dry. Rub olive oil over the bottom of the chicken and season with coarse salt, pepper, thyme and rosemary. Squeeze the juice from half a lemon over the the seasoned chicken. Put the chicken in the pan, season side down (on top of the onions, or on a rack if you have one). Season the inside of the chicken with salt, pepper and herbs, stuff the reserved onion and garlic in the chicken. Season the top side of the chicken in the same way. Put both halves of the juiced lemon in the chicken. Add about a quarter of the can of stock to the bottom of pan, it should just cover the onions so they don't burn completely and stick to the pan.

Cook for 20-40 minutes at 400 degrees, this is really a judgement call, based on how the skin looks and the size of the bird. Then lower the temperature to 325 for the remainder of the cooking, if skin isn't brown enough, raise the temperature to 375 for the last 15 minutes or so (thanks, mom). Baste from the bottom of the pan and remaining stock (save about a quarter of the can for gravy)

To make gravy:

Butter the bottom of a skillet. Add the reserved inside parts of the pan and brown on both sides. When, they are browned, add another chunk of butter and the flour, whisk until combined (hey, you made rue). Add leftover stock and reduce heat and let simmer until chicken is done. Remove all the inside parts from the gravy pan, when chicken is cooked. Take the chicken out of the roasting pan and pour all the juices and onions into the gravy pan. Stir together.

Our dinner was excellent, a great last meal for my brother (who is leaving for Italy today, I am jealous and will visit). I don't really know what I will be making this week, but tonight I will not be cooking, I will be baking. Jalapeño Corn Muffins, to be exact. Stay tuned...

Happy Eating!