Balsamic Chicken Caprese

This one came together sort of... off the cuff. But really, we're combining some great concepts here, so it was bound for greatness!

Ingredients:

• 4 thinly sliced cuts of chicken breast
• 1/2 c whole wheat flour
• 4 T olive oil
• 1/4 c balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 onion, finely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 c chicken stock
• 2 roma tomatoes, halved and sliced
• 1/2 c baby bella mushrooms, sliced
• 1/2 c fresh mozzarella pearls
• 3 T pesto
• 1/2 lb linguine

1. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Prepare linguine according to al dente instructions on package.

2. Heat olive oil on medium in a saute pan. While oil is heating, lightly dredge chicken in flour. Saute chicken for 3-4 minutes on both sides, until golden brown. Set chicken aside, keep warm.

3. Saute onion and garlic (in the same pan used to saute chicken) for 5 minutes, until tender.

4. Deglaze pan with balsamic vinegar, whisk gently for a minute, then add chicken stock. Stir and cook down on med-high heat for ~5 minutes, until sauce begins to thicken.

5. Add chicken and mushrooms, simmer on low an additional 3 minutes.

6. In a separate bowl, combine tomato, mozzarella pearls and pesto.

7. Remove chicken and sauce from heat, toss in pasta, tomatoes, and mozzarella pearls coated in pesto.


Voila!

Broiled Butterflied Chicken

I have a personal goal of increasing my bird carving skills. Today, I made serious progress toward that goal thanks to Julia Child's Broiled Butterflied Chicken tutorial and recipe.

'Rather than broiling a chicken in pieces, which is easy to do but not wildly exciting, and rather than roasting it whole, which takes an hour or more, butterfly your chicken. It cooks in half the time and makes a great presentation.

Ingredients

• A 2½-to-3-pound broiler-fryer chicken, butterflied
• 2 tablespoons melted butter blended with 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• ½ teaspoons dried thyme or an herb mixture
• 1 tablespoon minced shallot or scallion
• ½ cup chicken broth and/or dry white wine or vermouth
• 1 to 2 tablespoons butter, for enrichment

Directions

1. To Butterfly a Chicken: With heavy shears or a cleaver, cut down close to the backbone on each side, and remove the bone. Spread the chicken open, skin side up, and pound on the breast with your fist to flatten the chicken. Cut off and discard the little nubbins at the wing elbows, and fold the wings akimbo. To hold the legs in place, make ½-inch slits in the skin on each side of the lower breast and tuck the drumstick ends through the slits.

 
2. Preheat the broiler to high. Brush the chicken all over with butter and oil and arrange it skin side down in a shallow pan. Set it under the broiler so the chicken surface is about 6 inches from the heat source. Let broil for about 5 minutes, then baste rapidly with the butter and oil, and continue for another 5 minutes. The surface should be browning nicely; if not, adjust the heat or the distance of chicken from broiler. Baste again, this time with the juices accumulated in the pan, and broil another 5 minutes. Then season with salt and pepper, turn the chicken skin side up, and season the surface. Continue broiling and basting with the pan juices every 5 minutes for another 10 to 15 minutes, until the chicken is done (see Notes).

3. Remove the chicken to a carving board and let it rest for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, make the deglazing sauce by first spooning cooking fat off the juices in the pan. Then stir the shallot into the pan and simmer for a minute or so on top of the stove, until the juices are syrupy. Swirl in the enrichment butter, pour over the chicken, and serve.

(I served it with barley risotto and brussel sprouts. Delish!)

Sauteed Chicken with Mushrooms and Cream

The first step to preparing any good meal is to get some good help!

Chicken and mushrooms must be made for one another, and this dish is proof.

Ingredients:

• For Sauteed Chicken
• 2 lb frying chicken parts, skin on (breasts, thighs, drums, wings)
• 2 Tbs butter and 1Tbs oil for frying
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• A pinch of thyme
• For Deglazing Sauce
• 1 Tbs minced shallots or scallions
• 1/2  c chicken stock
• 1/2 c dry white wine
• 1 Tbs butter for final sauce
• 2 Tbs minced fresh parsley
• 2 c mushrooms (I used half baby bellas and half miatake
• 1 1/2 c heavy cream

Directions:
1. Brown the chicken- rinse and dry chicken. In a large cast-iron skillet, melt butter and oil over high heat. When oil is hot but not smoking, add chicken (skin down), and turn once a minute for 10 minutes. Chicken will brown to a nice "walnut" color. Add salt, pepper and thyme.

2. Finishing the cooking- reduce heat to low/medium, cover the chicken and let simmer 6 minutes. Turn and simmer another 6 minutes. Turn once more and simmer another 6 minutes. Set chicken aside.


3. Sautee mushrooms in a separate pan in oil for 8-10 minutes.

4. Deglazing and cream sauce- immediately skim off all but 1 Tbs of the chicken grease. Add shallots/scallions and stir constantly for 2-3 minutes. Add chicken stock and wine, boil down and continue stirring for 2 minutes. Stir in the mushrooms and cream, boil down on medium-high heat for 2-3 minutes, add butter for flavor if desired. Salt and pepper to taste.

L: Deglazing; C: W/ Cream; R: Boiled down

5. Reduce heat to medium and add chicken to heat throughout, another 2-3 minutes.

6. Serve with rice or risotto.

Rosemary Chicken Skillet

I love all-in-one meals, and after our first time trying it tonight I can already tell that this great cast-iron recipe will show up on our table again soon!

Ingredients:

• 3/4 pound small potatoes, halved, or quartered if large
• Kosher salt
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary, plus 1 tablespoon leaves
• 3 cloves garlic, smashed
• Pinch of red pepper flakes
• Juice of 2 lemons (squeezed halves reserved)
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 6 skin-on chicken drum sticks
• 10 ounces mushrooms (I used sheepshead)
• 1/2 lb of fresh brussel sprouts, quartered

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 450. Cover the potatoes with cold water in a saucepan and salt the water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook until tender, about 8 minutes; drain and set aside. 

2. Pile the rosemary leaves, garlic, 2 teaspoons salt and the red pepper flakes on a cutting board, then mince and mash into a paste using a large knife. Transfer the paste to a bowl. Stir in the juice of 1 lemon and the olive oil. Add the chicken and turn to coat.


3. Heat a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken, skin-side down, cover and cook until the skin browns, about 5 minutes. Turn the chicken; add the mushrooms, brussel sprouts and potatoes to the skillet and drizzle with the juice of the remaining lemon. Lightly top it all with salt and pepper.


4. Add the rosemary sprigs and the squeezed lemon halves to the skillet; transfer to the oven and roast, uncovered, until the chicken is cooked through and the skin is crisp, 20 to 25 minutes.

Thai Peanut Chicken

So spicy and delish! Thai noodles are a total comfort food throwback to La Bodega's (Oxford, OH) spicy Thai Noodles for me.

Ingredients:

• 2 chicken breasts, pounded into 1/2" thick
• 1/4 cup chopped peanuts
• 1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup peanut sauce (from Asian section of grocery store)
• 1 T mayonaise
• Cayenne/Jabanero sauce
• Japanese Udon noodles
• 1 c frozen stir fry veggies

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 (Yowza!) In a shallow dish, combine peanut sauce, mayo and hot sauce. In another shallow dish, combine panko crumbs and peanuts. Dredge chicken in sauce then nut/crumb mixture. Bake (I put it in my cast iron and it got super crispy) for 20 minutes.








2. While chicken is baking, prepare noodles according to directions.

3. 10 minutes before chicken is done, saute frozen veggies on med-high heat in olive oil. Once they're hot through, add some additional peanut sauce and stir.









4. Stir noodles and veggies together, top with chicken. Extra dipping sauce is a good thing!

Parmesan Crusted Chicken Salad

Joe's Review: "That was the best... salad... ever... Best salad ever."

I'm lucky enough to have an entire Saturday to myself, today. What I like to call, "A nice little Saturday," if you will. Amidst my nice little Saturday of crossing things off  "the list," I took a breather to grab some miscellaneous things from the grocery store and get creative in the kitchen. The salad was perfect! Crunchy, flavorful, hearty, and so tasty!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 c chopped Romaine lettuce
• 1/2 c chopped spinach
• 1/2 c cole slaw mix (finely chopped carrots and cabbage)
• 1/4 c chopped fresh basil
• 1 tomato cut into thin wedges
• 1 lg chicken breast sliced into two thin pieces
• 1/4 c grated parmesan cheese
• 1/4 c panko bread crumbs
• 1 egg

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 F. Spead a small amount of cooking oil onto a baking dish.

2. Mix panko bread crumbs and parmesan in a flat dish. Beat the egg in a separate dish. Dredge the washed chicken in egg then the crumb/cheese mixture.









3. Lay the pieces on the baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Flip them half way through.

4. While your chicken is cooking, throw all of the veggies in together.

5. If you have a broiler, pop the chicken in there for 2 minutes on each side to get extra crispy. Then slice the chicken and layer it over the greens. Top with your favorite dressing :) We had balsamic vinaigrette- it was SO tasty!!

Baked Macaroni and Cheese with Chicken and Broccoli

Eureka! At last! Sweet sweet, blog-ready, macaroni perfection...

Time and time again my mac and cheese has come out too spongy, too dry, too crispy, too flour-y, too... something. We've "suffered" through it with the help of Frank's Red Hot, but we shall suffer no more! Finally I've nailed down a recipe for creamy, gooey, delicious macaroni and cheese, and here it is for your enjoyment :) I'm glad to report that Frank stayed in the cupboard during dinner this evening.

Total Cook Time: 1 hr
Active Cook Time: 40 minutes
Serves: 4-6

Ingredients:

• 2 small chicken breasts, chopped (I used some that were marinated in barbecue sauce... yummy!)
• 1 glug olive oil
• 2-3 c broccoli florets
• 1/2 of a large white onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 T four
• 1 c chicken stock (fat free, low sodium)
• 3 T unsalted butter
• 2/3 lb elbow macaroni
• 2 c milk
• 2 c finely shredded sharp cheddar cheese (dairy or soy cheese)
• 2 t salt

Directions:

1. Prepare macaroni according to directions on box. In the last 2 minutes of cooking the pasta, drop the broccoli into the boiling water and let it cook with the pasta.
2. Heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add onions, garlic and chicken. Saute 5-7 minutes until chicken is cooked and your whole house smells yummy...
3. In a medium sauce pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the chicken stock and bring it to a boil, stirring constantly. It will thicken over 2-3 minutes.
4. Add the milk to the sauce pan and bring it to a boil. Once boiling, stir in the cheddar cheese and remove from heat. It should turn into a nice creamy sauce instantly :) Stir in the salt for taste.
5. Combine the pasta/broccoli, chicken/onions/garlic, and cheese sauce in a large baking dish and bake at 350 F for 25 minutes. (Honestly, you don't have to bake it... but I like the way baking it makes the cheese sauce set up).
6. Let stand 10 minutes and serve.

Bacon-wrapped Stuffed Chicken over Mushroom Risotto

These two dishes were a good combo because once the chicken was in the oven, I could focus on the risotto, which is kind of a time-intensive dish to make. 

Chicken Ingredients:

• 4 chicken breasts
• 1/2 c ricotta cheese
• 1 package frozen spinach, thawed
• 4 strips thick cut bacon
• 4 toothpicks or 2 wooden skewers cut in half

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Place the spinach into a cloth, squeeze it until there's no liquid left in it. Butterfly cut the chicken breasts and lay them out opened on a cutting board. (To butterfly cut, stand the chicken breast up on its side and slice it almost all the way through. It will look like a heart-shape when you're done.)
3. Combine ricotta, spinach, salt, pepper and garlic powder. Add a heaping spoonful of the mixture to each chicken breast.
4. Fold the chicken breast around the stuffing and wrap it in bacon. Tuck in any loose ends and skewer it all together, then place on a baking tray.
5. Once you've wrapped up all of your chicken breasts, pop them in the oven for half an hour and get started on the risotto.

Risotto Ingredients:

• 1 c Arborio Rice
• 4 c chicken stock
• 1/2 c finely chopped onion
• 1 c chopped mushrooms
• 3 cloves garlic
• 3 T olive oil
• 3 T freshly ground parmesan cheese

Directions:

Browning the risotto

1. Add 1 T olive oil to a pan on medium heat. Saute mushrooms for 3-5 minutes, and set aside. 
2. Saute onion and garlic in the remaining oil for 3-5 minutes, then add the dry risotto to the pan and brown for 2-3 minutes. 
3. Add 1 c of chicken stock and stir constantly until the broth is absorbed. Then add 1/2 to 1 cup of broth at a time and stir constantly until the broth is again used up. This will take about 20 minutes. It's important to keep stirring and not just let it boil to allow the starch in the rice to break down and spread out.
4. Once all broth is absorbed, add the mushrooms and parmesan cheese.
5.  Layer the chicken over the risotto and enjoy!

 

Chicken Noodle Soup (from scratch!)

I brought this dish over to Casey & Travis' last night for dinner after work. It was fun/easy and totally from scratch! They raved of its deliciousness so I hope you enjoy :)

2 lbs. bone in skin on chicken breast

2 qt. Water

1 carrot, diced

1 celery stalk, diced

1/2 yellow onion, diced

1/2 tsp. cloves

1/2 tsp. thyme

1 bay leaf

salt & pepper

3 cups dry noodles

Before I get started, I have to share with you that I searched the pasta aisle for literally 20 minutes just to find the right noodle. Finally, I spotted them, and "...the way you remember them" is absolutely correct. These noodles are thick and hearty and hold up well in a soup, regular egg noodles tend to break down and turn to mush. I snapped a visual so that when replicating you are sure to get the "right" noodle.

Combine chicken breast and water in a large pot, bring to a boil. Skim the scum from the top of the water with a spoon. Once scum has been removed, reduce heat and add in the vegetables and spices. Cover and cook on low for approximately 1.5 hours or until the chicken meat is falling off the bone.

Remove the chicken breasts and set aside to let cool. Meanwhile, place the dry noodles into the chicken stock and continue to cook on low. Once the meat is cool enough to handle, begin pulling the meat away from the bones, you'll find that this is extremely easy to do. Also remove any skin and cartilage that may be attached to the meat. At this point you can either shred the meat with your fingers or use a sharp knife to dice into small squares. I like the shredded chicken best, but it's up to you! Add the chicken back into the pot and your soup is complete!

The excess soup can be frozen, refrigerated or just shared with a big group - just don't forget the saltines!

Say Say's Enchiladas

Things that I love about this meal:

• it's easy to make
• it's well rounded
• it's healthy (until you slather it with cheese and sour cream)
• it makes great left overs

Sarah Mapel made delicious enchiladas for me a few years ago and they've been a staple at my house ever since I bogarted her recipe. Of course nothing survives long periods of time in my kitchen with out evolving a little, so I've made my own adjustments.

This is my first week in my new kitchen, and my old roommate's first week without me in her kitchen. Enchiladas were her first blog request :)

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients:

• 6 large flour tortillas
• 1 large can of enchilada sauce, I use "mild" and Joe hots it up with hot pepper sauce at the table
• 3 boneless skinless chicken thighs OR 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 c long grain rice
• 1/2 of a chopped green pepper
• 1/4 of a thinly sliced vidalia onion

Directions:

1. Fill a medium sized sauce pan 2/3 of the way full with water and bring it to a boil. Carefully add the chicken (washed, whole) to the water. Let boil 10-15 minutes depending on the size of the pieces of chicken.
2. In a small saucepan, combine 1 c rice with 2 c water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Once it's fully boiling, cover it and drop the heat to super low for 15 minutes. Don't uncover it during this time, or I'll come to your kitchen and slap your hand with a spoon! When 15 minutes is up, turn it off and let is sit covered until you're ready to use it.
3. Preheat oven to 350 F.
4. When the chicken is cooked, dice it into small pieces or shred with with 2 forks.
5. Layer a small amount of chicken, onion, pepper, and rice onto a tortilla. Don't over do it or you'll have bulging enchiladas that are too big to eat. There are worse problems happening in the world.

6. Repeat step 5 with the remaining tortillas.
7. Add a splash of sauce to a casserole dish, then start laying the enchiladas in.

8. Pour the entire contents of the sauce can into the casserole dish, onto the enchiladas.

9. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.
10. Add cheese to the top of the enchiladas and put it back in the oven with the heat turned off for another 5 minutes.
11. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.
12. Top with sour cream if you so desire :)

Baked chicken tikka, tomato lentil cous cous, and mango lassi

Two ways to do Tikka:

1. Nani's way
2. From a jar that you can find in the Indian section of your local grocery store.

 If you are so inclined, here is Nani's way :)

• 1 cup yogurt
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
• 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
• 4 teaspoons salt, or to taste
• small can tomato paste

Combine these ingredients and marinate chicken drum sticks. Grill or bake at 375 x 30 minutes.


While the chicken is baking, prepare the cous cous according to the directions on the box. I used Near East tomato lentil cous cous. It was a great compliment to the chicken.


Mango Lassi: (delicious Indian beverage)

• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 1 mango - peeled, seeded and chopped
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 2 cups cold water
• 1 cup ice
• 1 dash cinnamon, 1 dash cardamom
• 1 pinch salt

Combine all ingredients in a blender. This is one of my favorite treats. It's so cool and refreshing! 

Chicken Carbonara

This dish requires cardiac clearance prior to consumption. But it's so worth it after a long day of work (not to whine...).

Ingredients:

Serves 4-6

• 3/4 lb. fettucini (I make the whole pound then set some aside for pasta salad or thai peanut noodles...)
• 4 oz. bacon, diced
• 1 med. onion, diced
• 1 1/2 c. heavy cream
• 2 chicken breasts, cut in strips
• 2 tbsp. butter
• 1/2 c. grated cheese
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 4 egg yolks
• Some chopped parsley
*1/2 c peas (opt)
*1 c spinache (opt)

Directions:

Cook pasta in boiling water according to directions on box. Meanwhile, in large saucepan saute the bacon bits until golden. Drain off some drippings; add butter, chicken strips and onion, and cook until chicken is tender. Drain spaghetti and place into pan with chicken. Add cream, salt and pepper, stir well over heat until just boiling. Add the cheese and egg yolks. Turn off heat, stir well. Place on dish, top with chopped parsley; serve immediately.

Chicken Marsala

This came out fantastic! I layered Tyler Florence's recipe for chicken marsala over creamy mushroom risotto and the result was perfect (to pat my on self on the back).

Chicken Marsala Ingredients:

• 6 skinless boneless chicken breasts
• all-pupose flour, for dredging
• salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1/4 c extra virgin olive oil
• 4 oz prociutto, thinly sliced
• 8 oz porcini or crimini mushrooms (I used baby bellas)
• 1/2 c sweet marsala wine
• 1/2 c chicken stock
• 2 T unsalted butter
• 1/2 c chopped flat-leaf parsley

Directions:

Put the chicken breasts side by side on a cutting board and lay a piece of plastic wrap over them pound whit a flat meat mallet, until they are about 1/4 inch thick. Put some flour in a shallow platter and season with a fair amount of salt and pepper; mix with a fork to distribute evenly.

Heat the oil over medium-high flame in a large skillet. When the oil is nice and hot, dredge both sides of the chicken cutlets in the seasoned flour, shaking off the excess. Slip the cutlets into the pan and fry for 5 minutes on each side until golden, turning once – do this in batches if the pieces don't fit comfortably in the pan. Remove the chicken to a large platter in a single layer to keep warm.

Lower the heat to medium and add the prosciutto to the drippings in the pan, saute for 1 minute to render out some of the fat. Now, add the mushrooms and saute until they are nicely browned and their moisture has evaporated, about 5 minutes; season with salt and pepper. Pour the Marsala in the pan and boil down for a few seconds to cook out the alcohol. Add the chicken stock and simmer for a minute to reduce the sauce slightly. Stir in the butter and return the chicken to the pan; simmer gently for 1 minute to heat the chicken through. Season with salt and pepper and garnish with chopped parsley before serving.

Risotto Ingredients:

• 1 c Arborio Rice
• 4 c chicken stock
• 1/2 c finely chopped onion
• 1/2 c chopped mushrooms
• 3 cloves garlic
• 3 T olive oil
• 3 T freshly ground parmesan cheese

Directions:

Add 1 T olive oil to a pan on medium heat. Saute mushrooms for 3-5 minutes, and set aside. Saute onion and garlic in the remaining oil for 3-5 minutes, then add the dry risotto to the pan and brown for 2-3 minutes. Add 1 c of chicken stock and stir constantly until the broth is absorbed. Then add 1/2 to 1 cup of broth at a time and stir constantly until the broth is again used up. Once all broth is absorbed, add the mushrooms and parmesan cheese.

Layer the chicken and mushrooms over the risotto and enjoy :)