chicken

Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya

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This past few days I have been hearing a lot about Mardi Gras.  I have seen many blog posts featuring Mardi Gras recipes like King Cake and Gumbo.  The recipe websites that I frequent like allrecipes, epicurious and myrecipes also have little sections devoted to this day and time of year.  Why not jump on the bandwagon?

I was feeling very ambitious as I began looking for recipes and was set on making a King Cake.  Unfortunately, I didn’t think that I’d have time to make one after work unless I wanted to be up until the wee hours of the morning since the dough has to rise for about 2 hours.  I should have made it anyway because with just two people, I had a much better chance of getting the baby and being Queen for a day!

I settled on jambalaya.  Jambalaya is a Creole dish with Spanish and French influences.  These cuisines were meant to be combined.  I have only been to New Orleans once.  I went with a couple friends in college the year before Katrina.  We ate great food.  There is something wonderful about the flavors and ingredients that they use that is just incredible.  I wanted to go to Emeril’s Delmonico, but we were college students on a college students budget.  We did eat beignets at Cafe du Monde and got powdered sugar all over ourselves as we drank chicory coffee.  I loved every minute of that trip.

This dish is very simple and quick.  There is no seafood in this jambalaya, but you could easily add shrimp to the mix during the last 5 minutes or so.  I would decrease the sausage to 1 pound if you decided to add about 1/2 pound of shrimp.  Another ingredient that is common in jambalaya is tomatoes.  There are none here, but I will consider adding a can of chopped tomatoes with the juice next time I make this.

The flavors are great and not overpowering or too salty.  I did not use the cloves because I thought I had some, but I was wrong.  I am sure that would have been a great addition, but it was just fine without it.  The moisture is just about perfect.  I did add another 1/2 cup of chicken broth after about 20 minutes of cooking because it looked like it would be a bit dry.

Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya

Courtesy of Bon Appetit, 1997

Ingredients
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 3 pounds of chicken pieces
  • 2 cups chopped onions
  • 2 cups chopped green bell peppers
  • ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  • 1 ½ to 2 pounds kielbasa or other fully cooked smoked sausage, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 teaspoons chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 3/4 teaspoon (or more) cayenne pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 3 cups long-grain white rice
  • 6 ½ cups canned low-salt chicken broth
Directions
  1. Heat oil in heavy large pot over high heat. Working in batches, add chicken and cook until brown on all sides, about 8 minutes per batch. Transfer chicken to platter.
  2. Reduce heat to medium-high; add onion, bell peppers, parsley and garlic to pot. Sauté until onions are tender, about 5 minutes.
  3. Add sausage, bay leaves, chili powder, thyme, cayenne pepper and cloves; sauté until spices are fragrant and flavors blend, about 5 minutes. Add rice; stir to coat.
  4. Pour broth over rice mixture in pot. Add chicken; press to submerge in liquid. Bring to boil.
  5. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook until liquid is absorbed, rice is tender and chicken is cooked through, about 35 minutes. Remove bay leaves. Season with salt, pepper and more cayenne pepper, if desired. Serve hot.
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Classic Chicken Noodle Soup for the Soul

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The last few days have been a bit, well, what’s the word…bad?  No, that will not do.  Terrible.  Dreadful.  Upsetting.  Frustrating.  Disheartening.  Disappointing.  Oh, and tear inducing.  Those will work.

Here is my story.  I was scheduled to leave Amarillo Friday morning at 6:55 to help prepare everything for my sisters baby shower that is today at 3.  I took the day off of work a few weeks ago, and days off are a precious commodity.  As you may or may not know Amarillo received a good foot of snow on Thursday resulting in both Ben and I getting the day off!  So exciting!  Or so I thought.

The Panhandle weather also caused business closures, highway closures, and flight cancellations.  As of this moment my flights have been cancelled and rescheduled a total of 3 times.  If all goes well, I will be in Austin tonight.  I will miss the baby shower and the 3 dozen bird cookies that I made will not be enjoyed.  The cookies I spent all day Thursday rolling and baking.  Argh.  They are cute, no?

I know that I should not complain.  Some people have been affected by the weather in far worse ways than I.  I am in a warm house and I am safe, so I am thankful for that.  I am sad about not being able to see my family.  After Southwest called me this afternoon to cancel my morning flight for tomorrow I decided that I needed to make something for dinner that would bring some sort of comfort to my weary soul!  Nothing says comfort like chicken noodle soup.

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Chicken and Mushroom Crepes

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Leftovers are tricky.  Some things are great left over.  Pizza is even good cold straight from the fridge for breakfast.  Lasagna, spaghetti, and most casseroles take to reheating very well.  Unfortunately, a lot of foods are not good on their own left over.  However, with some creativity, leftovers can be transformed into something deliciously new and sometimes even better than the original.

I made tarragon chicken fricassée the other night and it was great.  Since it made 4 pretty big servings of chicken, I was left with two chicken breasts and some sauce.  What to do with these leftovers?  I was not about to toss them in the trash.  I thought about chopping them up and making chicken salad or combining them with the leftover egg noodles and some sauteed mushrooms and making a baked pasta.  I have no idea what made me think of crepes.  Some supreme culinary power must have influenced me, because it was a wonderful idea.  Chicken and mushroom crepes!

I know what you’re thinking.  Crepes are meant to be eaten for breakfast.  OR with sugar sprinkled in them, wrapped in paper, handed to you by a cute little Frenchman from a food cart and munched on while walking the streets of Paris at 10 pm.  Or is that just me?  I had the luxury of doing that exact thing on a French club trip in high school.  I must go back there.

Crepes are not meant to be confined to the categories of breakfast and sweets.  They can be a perfect thing upon which to serve savory items as well!  There is an adorable little trailer restaurant called Flip Happy Crepes in Austin where my sister and I ate for her birthday a few years ago.  We ate lunch there and didn’t even try the sweet crepes.  This was my first introduction to the savory crepe, and it was spectacular.

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Tarragon Chicken Fricassée

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My attempts in writing the title to this post resulted in many misspellings of the word “fricassée”.  I will not tell you the number of times I tried and failed to spell it…and do not ask Ben, because he will probably tell you and I will be embarrassed.

Despite the difficulty involved in spelling this French word, this tarragon chicken fricassée was quite easy to prepare and very delicious.

Fricassée is, by definition, meat, usually chicken or veal, browned lightly, stewed, and served in a sauce made with its own stock.  The origin of the word itself is French, but there are many regional variations of a fricassée.  Greek and Cuban fricassée are a few that I saw while searching for recipes.

The meal I made was, if I had to ascribe it to a region, French.  I love the flavor of the fresh tarragon.  It gives this dish an incredibly fresh flavor and perfectly slight sweetness.  Tarragon is a classic herb used in French cooking, and is considered to be one of the four fine herbs of Mediterranean cooking.  The other three are parsley, chives and chervil.

Some fricassée recipes use a variety of vegetables along with the chicken.  Quite a few recipes included mushrooms and onions.  A few had vegetables like peas, beans or peppers.  One recipe I saw had apples.  This recipe is simple in that the only vegetables to be found are shallots and tarragon.  Is garlic a vegetable?  Is tarragon a vegetable?  Anyway.  This is a simple chicken fricassée which allows for the flavors of the tarragon, chicken, white wine and cream to really shine and not be covered or overshadowed by a bunch of other stuff.

Everything in the recipe below is just as it was originally, except I used 4 chicken breasts and added more tarragon.  You can find the original recipe here.  I served this with green beans with toasted walnuts and egg noodles.  I will definitely be making this again.  I used the leftovers in a really special meal the following evening…more on that later.

Tarragon Chicken Fricassée

From Epicurious.com

Ingredients
  • 4 bone-in chicken breasts (skin on or off)
  • ¾ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • ½ cup finely chopped shallots
  • 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1/2 cup dry white wine
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • ½  cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
  • 1 ½ – 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh tarragon
  • ¼ teaspoon fresh lemon juice
Directions
  1. Pat chicken dry and sprinkle all over with salt and pepper.
  2. Heat oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then sauté chicken in 2 batches, skin side down first, turning over once, until browned, 10 to 12 minutes total per batch. Transfer to a plate.
  3. Pour off all but 2 tablespoons oil from skillet, then cook shallots, garlic, and bay leaf over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until shallots are softened, about 2 minutes. Add wine and bring to a boil. Stir in cream, broth, and 1 tablespoon tarragon, then add chicken, skin side up, and simmer, covered, until just cooked through, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer chicken with tongs to a platter and keep warm, loosely covered. If necessary, boil sauce until thickened slightly.
  4. Stir in lemon juice, remaining 1/2 tablespoon tarragon, and salt and pepper to taste. Discard bay leaf; pour sauce over chicken.
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Chicken Spaghetti

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Pioneer Woman is a blog I’ve been following for a few years.  Ree Drummond has exploded in popularity, written a cookbook and has thousands and thousands of followers.  I love the food part of her blog the best.  I am incredibly jealous of her photography.  And I am amazed that she has the time to home school her kiddos.

Anyway, this recipe for chicken spaghetti comes from her.  I changed a few things; omitted the pimientos, added red bell pepper, more onion, more green bell pepper, less cheese and added the Panko bread crumbs for a nice crunchy topping.

Ben and I both really enjoyed this.  Ben said it “tasted healthy” and I think he meant that in a good way!  While it is not terrible for you, you could make it healthier by using fat-free, reduced sodium cream of mushroom soup, using even less cheese, whole wheat spaghetti noodles, skip the cheese on top and instead top with whole wheat bread crumbs mixed with a teensy bit of butter.

This casserole seems like it would be pretty kid-friendly, but I have not tried it out on any kids so don’t take my word for it!  I did not freeze this dish, but baked it right away.  Pioneer Woman gives instructions for freezing, which would make this such a great meal to freeze and have on hand for a busy weeknight.  If you’re like me and only feeding a household of 2, then this meal could be split between two smaller dishes; one to eat that night and the other to freeze and eat later.  I like having stuff like that to use when I have a crazy week.

Chicken Spaghetti

Courtesy of The Pioneer Woman

Ingredients
  • 3 – 4 chicken breasts (about 1 ½ pounds)
  • 3 cups Dry Spaghetti, Broken Into Two Inch Pieces
  • 2 cans Cream Of Mushroom Soup
  • 1 ½ cups Grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese
  • ½ cup Finely Diced Green Pepper
  • ½ cup Finely Diced Red Pepper
  • ½ cup Finely Diced Onion
  • 1 ½ – 2 cups Reserved Chicken Broth From Pot
  • 1 teaspoon Lawry’s Seasoned Salt
  • ⅛ teaspoons (to 1/4 Teaspoon) Cayenne Pepper
  • Salt And Pepper, to taste
  • 1 cup Additional Grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese
  • ½ cup Panko Bread Crumbs
Directions
  1. Bring a pot of water to a boil along with some whole peppercorns& kosher salt.  If you have some carrot, celery, and onion, add them to the pot as well to make a more flavorful broth.
  2. Add in chicken breasts and cook for 20 minutes, or until cooked through.  Remove from water and transfer to a plate to cool.
  3. If you added veggies to your broth, strain the broth, and add the broth back to the pot and heat to a boil.
  4. Cook spaghetti in same chicken broth until al dente. Do not overcook.
  5. Shred or chop the chicken into small pieces.
  6. When spaghetti is cooked, combine with remaining ingredients except additional 1 cup sharp cheddar.
  7. Place mixture in casserole pan and top with remaining sharp cheddar and Panko crumbs.
  8. Cover and freeze up to six months, cover and refrigerate up to two days, or bake immediately: 350 degrees for 45 minutes until bubbly. (If the cheese on top starts to get too cooked, cover with foil).
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Chicken Cordon Bleu

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This dish can go horribly wrong.  I have nightmares of eating this at a bridal luncheon a few years ago.  Tough, dry chicken, ham with a strange texture, and fake tasting, rubbery cheese.  I still have a sneaking suspicion that the “caterer” was the frozen food section at Wal-Mart.  So, why make it for dinner, then?  Because chicken cordon bleu can be delicious.  And it was, oh, so very delicious.

cordon8

I looked at quite a few recipes, but this one from Bobby Flay sounded the best.  Gruyère cheese.  Yum.  While it is not imperative to use gruyère cheese I highly recommend it.  Go for it.  You will be rewarded for your cheese purchase.  But if you still don’t feel like taking the plunge, swiss cheese will work.

I used slices of black forest ham instead of the prosciutto called for in the recipe.  Other than that, I followed the recipe exactly.  Well, not exactly.  I didn’t pound the chicken breasts quite thin enough, so measure them if you need to and pound all the way to the 1/4 inch thickness instructed.  I had to secure my rolls with toothpicks, which turned out to work very well.  CAUTION:  Tell your husband that there are toothpicks in his chicken before he scarfs it down.

I loved the panko crumb crust.  If you cannot find panko, then dry bread crumbs is a fine substitute.

I served the chicken with a creamy parmesan sauce.  Some chicken cordon bleus are served plain, without a sauce, but I planned to serve the chicken with egg noodles and thought it needed a sauce.  It was perfect with the chicken and with the noodles.  Creamy and subtle with just a hint of cheese.

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