chicken

Pretzel Crusted Chicken

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The idea of covering a chicken breast in a pretzel crust is ingenious!  Add a mustard dill dipping sauce and this becomes an incredibly delicious meal.  This recipe is in the current issue of Fine Cooking, and can also be found here on their website.  Have I said before how much I love this magazine?  It is wonderful.

There isn’t a whole lot to say about this chicken other than that it is super tasty.  It’s simple to prepare.  It uses the same breading process as most breaded chicken recipes; flour, egg, then crust.  While I don’t mind handling raw meat, I do HATE the mess that is unavoidable when breading chicken, and the number of times I find myself washing my hands.

I prepped everything (including breading the chicken) earlier in the day to avoid trying to get it all done right before dinner, which is more of a challenge with a little one who is now requiring an earlier bedtime.  I put the chicken in the fridge for about an hour, then let it sit out for about 20 minutes to avoid putting totally cold chicken into the pan.  I had to cook the chicken in 4 batches, so I kept it warm and the crust nice and crispy in a 200° oven.

I served the chicken with roasted veggies (cauliflower, brussel sprouts, red onion and broccoli) and egg noodles tossed with butter and parmesan cheese.  The dipping sauce, which I served in a seperate bowl along side the chicken, was delicious.  It added a great flavor to the already tasty chicken.

Maybe one day I will get smart about the amount of dinner I prepare for just the two of us.  Sometimes I find great uses for leftovers, and other times I end up throwing food away, which I absolutely hate doing.  I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to get Ben to eat the leftover chicken.  The crust would just never be the same!  I ended up making sandwiches using a loaf of Italian flat bread that were pretty good. I used the mustard as a spread on both sides of the bread, topped it with a chicken piece then sprinkled some mozzarella cheese on top.  I wrapped each sandwich in foil and put them in the oven for about 25 minutes.

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Chicken Chili

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A few weeks ago Ben and I decided to invite some friends over to watch Texas A&M play in the Cotton Bowl.  The game didn’t turn out the way I would have liked, but this chili exceeded my expectations.  This photo below of the delicious chili, however, is quite disappointing.  Sorry.

With the little guy keeping me pretty busy I knew that I had to be really on top of things in order to get the house cleaned and dinner made in time.  I chopped all my veggies and prepped all that I could the night before while Ben was home.  This made the cooking process simple and clean up a breeze.

I found this recipe on allrecipes.com.  Here is the link.  I didn’t change much.  I used a rotisserie chicken to further simplify this soup, and I used more green chiles than the original recipe calls for.  The extra green chiles made it a bit hotter, so use a 4 ounce can if you don’t want that added heat.  I also added a chopped red bell pepper in with the onions for more flavor and color.  We ate left over chili for a few days, and it was even better.  I like to crush Fritos or blue corn chips and mix them in the chili, then top it with sour cream and cheese.  Enjoy!

Chicken Chili

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 red bell pepper, chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 1 (4 ounce) can diced jalapeno peppers
  • 1 (7 ounce) can chopped green chile peppers
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
  • 2 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth
  • 3 cups chopped cooked chicken breast
  • 3 (15 ounce) cans white beans, rinsed and drained
  • shredded Monterey Jack cheese (or cheddar, or a mix)
  • sour cream
  • tortilla or corn chips

Directions

  1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Slowly cook and stir the onion and red pepper until tender.
  2. Mix in the garlic, jalapeno, green chile peppers, cumin, oregano and cayenne. Continue to cook and stir the mixture until tender, about 3 minutes.
  3. Mix in the chicken broth, chicken and white beans. Simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  4. Serve garnished with cheese, sour cream and corn chips.
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Freezer Meals

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With baby countdown at 2 weeks and 1 day I felt it necessary to make some freezer meals for those days (of which I’m sure there will be many) that I don’t have time to cook a real meal.  I searched quite a few websites for recipes that would freeze and reheat well.  I cannot attest to their post-freezer goodness , but I did some taste testing along the way and I was pleased with the flavors and a little upset that I wasn’t going to be able to enjoy the food for dinner that night.

I didn’t want to make typical freezer meals.  Lasagna, chili and casseroles that use cans of cream of whatever soup were just not the kind of meals I was looking for.  Yes, I like to make things difficult for myself.  Yes, I am a bit of a food snob.  Ask me a year from now, and I think my love of convenience foods will have grown.  But since I have the time now, why not make something extra good?

Here is what I ended up with in my freezer.  Click on the meal for a link to the recipe.  The pastitsio and shepherd’s pie include freezing instructions.  I added my own for the chicken pasta.

Pastitsio – a layered Greek noodle dish with ground beef, tomatoes and bechamel sauce.  The beef layer is spiced with olives, oregano, cinnamon and oregano.

Chicken Florentine Artichoke Bake – a bowtie pasta casserole with chicken, artichokes, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes and cheese.

Shepherd’s Pie – Turkey, tomato, peas, corn and mushrooms topped with mashed carrots and potatoes.

These are not the quickest meals to get prepped for the freezer.  But the time you spend now will be time you save in a few weeks or a couple months when you go to enjoy the results of your hard work.  I made the pastitsio the other afternooon, I think it took me about an hour and a half to cook and clean up.  I made the chicken pasta and shepherd’s pie Saturday morning, and I think my total chopping, cooking, boiling, packaging and cleaning time was 3 hours.  Here’s my kitchen during its worst moment on Saturday.

I know some of you have now decided that I am crazy to have spent that much of my Saturday morning on this project, but it’s something I’d planned to do…and so I had to do it.  I also kind of like spending that time in the kitchen and having something to show for it.  It makes me feel productive, and it’s a lot more fun that organizing the stacks of paper on the desk in the office.  And look at my fully stocked freezer!  Two 9×13 pans and two 8×8 pans of food waiting patiently to be eaten.  Why does this kind of thing make me happy?

Here are a few quick notes and changes on these recipes.  Some changes were made because of personal preferences, others because I forgot to or chose not to buy an ingredient.  I am becoming more and more comfortable with improvising in the kitchen.  It makes life so much easier, and it saves money too.  A jar of sun-dried tomatoes was going to set me back $5.99…so I used some sun-dried tomato pesto that I already had.  It makes me feel so resourceful when I can do things like that.

Pastitsio:

  • Left out the red wine
  • Used green olives instead of Kalamata
  • Used only 4 tablespoons of butter, 1 cup of milk and 1 egg in the pasta mixture
  • Use a LARGE and DEEP pan, I did not have room in a regular 9×13 to fit all the sauce.  It broke my heart to pour that creamy bechamel down the drain.

Chicken Florentine Artichoke Pasta

  • Cooked 2 chicken breasts in a skillet and chopped it up to make 2 cups
  • Used a 12 ounce package of pasta instead of 8 ounce
  • Used 2 tablespoons of sun dried tomato pesto instead of the chopped sun dried tomatoes
  • Freezer Instructions: Bake without bread crumbs for 15 minutes, then with bread crumbs for 5 minutes.  Let cool completely, then cover with plastic wrap and a couple layers of foil.  When ready to bake, let it thaw in the fridge overnight, then bake @ 350 F covered with foil for 20 minutes and without foil for 15-20 minutes or until nicely brown on top.

Shepherd’s Pie

  • Used 6 carrots and 4 large baking potatoes which was enough to top 2 8-inch pans
  • Made one of my pans with cheese, and one without
  • Used 1 1/2 cups mushrooms, 1 1/2 cups peas and 1 cup corn in addition to the meat and tomatoes

When Ben and I get around to eating these over the next couple months I will give some feedback about how the thawing and re-heating goes.  If you try them in the meantime and bake them right away, please let me know how they turn out!

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Baked Chicken Taquitos

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Some of our great friends are leaving the hustle and bustle of Amarillo and are moving down to Houston at the end of the month.  We’re very sad to lose them and they will be missed!  It’s even more sad since they are some of the only Aggies we know up here!  We had a little going away party for them this past weekend.

We had an hors d’oeurves dinner and had a wide variety of tasty foods that I need recipes for now.  A super delcious queso, spicy jalapeño, black bean and corn dip, and some crazy good chocolate chip cookies.

I made chicken taquitos that turned out to be pretty good.  These were easy to prepare ahead of time, easy to assemble, they re-heated well and were a popular item on our buffet table.

I used a rotisserie chicken, a “Fiesta” blend of cheese and added a little more lime juice and cilantro than the original recipe.  Low fat cream cheese is fine in this recipe.  You can change up the filling any way you’d like.  There are so many options with taquitos!  I made a black bean and corn version that people liked even more than the chicken ones, so I’ll get around to typing that one up in the next couple days.  Enjoy! (more…)

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Apple & Almond Chicken Salad

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Few things are better than a really delicious chicken salad on some really delicious bread.  This chicken salad is really delicious.

I have been convicted lately to use my cookbooks more.  I am often reminded of my dad saying to me and my sisters when I lived at home, “Why are you looking on the internet for a recipe?  You’ve got a whole bookcase full of cookbooks right here!”.  He only said it once, but he had a good point that has obviously stuck with me.  While I do still find myself browsing recipes on food sites, I am making an effort to use my cookbooks more and it is really paying off.

This chicken salad recipe is from Rebecca Rather’s cookbook and is one of my favorites.  I have made and have blogged about many of them, and have yet to be disappointed.  I often focus on her sweet treats, but decided to delve into another section of the cookbook this weekend.

I do prefer to use homemade items instead of store bought most of the time, but not for this recipe.  Rather instructs you to make your own mayonnaise.  This, I am sure, it spectacular.  She also includes a few ways to spice up your homemade mayo that make it extra special.  She suggests curry powder, saffron, garlic, chives or rosemary.  With the egg fiasco going on, and this whole pregnancy thing I’ve got going on, I figured raw eggs would not be the best choice for me…so I used store bought mayo.  I recently bought a bottle of Kraft Olive Oil mayonnaise that I used here, and I really liked it.

Other than my laziness in the mayo department, I made minor changes to this recipe.  My changes are shown in the recipe below.  The only thing I left out completely was 1/4 cup finely diced red onion.  I didn’t have one, so I just used 5 chopped green onions.  I also added the fresh tarragon.  Central Market sells a lovely tarragon chicken salad, so that was my inspiration.

I served this chicken salad on ciabatta rolls with lettuce and tomato.  I ate some leftover today on a bed of lettuce.  The almonds still had some texture, so two days in the fridge will not turn your almonds into mush.  Enjoy!

Apple & Almond Chicken Salad

Adapted from The Pastry Queen

Ingredients

  • 2-3 cups chopped cooked chicken
  • 1 Granny Smith apple, cored and diced
  • 2-3 stalks of celery, diced
  • 4-5 green onions, thinly sliced
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
  • 1-2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon
  • 1/2 to 3/4 cup mayonnaise
  • 1 cup slivered blanched almonds, toasted
  • salt and pepper to taste

Directions

  1. Combine the chicken, apple, celery, green onion, parsley and tarragon in a large bowl.  Mix until well combined.
  2. Add in the mayonnaise, salt and pepper and stir until thoroughly mixed.
  3. Add the almonds right before you plan to serve the salad so the almonds stay crunchy.
  4. Serve on bread, rolls, croissants, crackers or salad greens.
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Chicken, Spinach & Mushroom Lasagna

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This week was going to be a busy one.  With every other night but Monday being packed with some event, I wanted something to make for dinner on Monday night that would create good leftovers for the week and be quick to reheat.  Lasagna it would be.  And because I like to try new recipes, I tried this one.

It was OK, but Ben agreed that I have a better white lasagna recipe that I’ll probably stick to for now.  This artichoke and mushroom lasagna is pretty spectacular.  You can add chicken to it if you want to, but it doesn’t need it.  It is a great vegetarian dinner option.  I’ve made it for a few guests before and everyone seems to like it…or they’re just being nice!

Anyway, there were some great things about this lasagna.  Melted in to the béchamel sauce is a creamy herb cheese that gives a great lively flavor.  I made the mistake of trying to use 2% milk instead of whole milk in the béchamel, leaving it pretty runny even after baking.  I’m not entirely sure it was just a milk problem, though.  When I’ve made béchamel sauce in the past I’ve always made a butter and flour paste before adding the milk.  This recipe didn’t call for any flour.  I ended up adding some when I saw how thin the sauce was, but it didn’t solve the problem.  So, I made some changes to the recipe below to help others avoid the runny béchamel.

Another change I would make it to cut the chicken into smaller pieces.  I might even suggest shredding it.  The pieces were just a little too big to get a good combination of noodle, mushroom, spinach, chicken and sauce in one bite.

The flavors are wonderful, and I like the combination of ingredients.  I skimped on some of the cheese since I have often found lasagnas a bit too heavy on the cheese, but I might have skimped too much since the layers didn’t hold together well.  It’s hard to tell what this would have been like if the béchamel had been thicker.  It may not need more cheese…but then again it may.  I don’t know for sure.  I would guess that a thicker sauce would mean the same amount of cheese listed would be fine.  But if you like cheese or you just don’t trust me, add more.

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Chicken, Tomato & Zucchini Packets

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One of the best things about this meal, besides being quick and simple, is that it is almost completely free of any kitchen clean up!  By baking the chicken and vegetables in little foil or parchment packages, you don’t have to worry about scrubbing down a pan that is coated with the remnants of roasted vegetables.  It felt so good to just wad up the foil and toss it in the trash!  I am sure Ben was thankful as he is almost always the one who does the dishes after dinner.

So, is this quick, simple and clean-up free meal any good?  I thought so.  The recipe is from Eating Well and is full of vegetables.  I love when a meal is heavy on warm cooked veggies.  Having a salad can be a good way to get your daily amount of vegetables, but it can often become monotonous.  This is a good way to actually incorporate vegetables into your main course instead of having a separate salad with your meal.

I used more tomatoes than called for in the recipe, replaced the cubanelle pepper with an anaheim, and only used one shallot since the ones at the grocery store were monsters!  These guys were huge.  I also made the great error of leaving out the mustard.  This came to my attention as they were coming out of the oven…not the best timing.  So, I just spread some mustard onto the chicken after it was cooked, and all was well.  I am sure it would have been better had I remembered the mustard earlier, but it didn’t ruin dinner.  I served the chicken with white rice, and so the liquid that remained in the packets was a good sauce despite its thin consistency.  Since I had it on hand I used dried thyme, but I think that fresh would give this a much better flavor.

Overall, a good, tasty meal that can be scaled down to make a quick dinner for 2. If you’re like me, finding recipes and cooking for 2 is often a challenge, unless you want leftovers for the rest of the week.  A reviewer on eatingwell.com said she doubled the ingredients and cooked everything in a Dutch oven, so that is another way to go to serve a larger crowd.  Enjoy!

Chicken, Tomato & Zucchini Packets

From Eatingwell.com

Ingredients

  • 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, (1 1/4-1 1/2 pounds)
  • 2 tablespoons whole-grain mustard
  • 2 small zucchini, thinly sliced
  • 2 sweet banana peppers, or cubanelle peppers, cut into 1-inch pieces (I used 1 anaheim)
  • 2 shallots, thinly sliced (I used 1)
  • 1 1/2 cups halved grape or cherry tomatoes
  • 4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme, or 1 teaspoon dried
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
  2. For the foil packets you will need 4 pieces of foil, about 18 inches in length.
  3. Place a chicken breast in the center of one piece of foil and spread with mustard.
  4. Toss zucchini, peppers, shallots, tomatoes, oil, thyme, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Place about 1 1/4 cups of the vegetable mixture on top of each piece of chicken.
  5. Close the packet to cover the ingredients. Starting at the top, seal the packet by folding the edges together in a series of small, tight folds. Twist the tip of the packet and tuck it underneath to help keep the packet closed. Place the packets on a large rimmed baking sheet (packets may overlap slightly). Bake until the vegetables are tender and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the chicken registers 165°F, about 25 minutes. (Carefully open one package to check for doneness and be cautious of the steam.) Let the packets rest unopened for 5 minutes before serving.
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Chicken Sausage and Pepper Kabobs

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Grilling makes almost all foods taste better, and it makes your neighbors jealous.  Last night I made these incredibly simple sausage kabobs and they were delicious.  The recipe is from The Food Network.  Here is the link.

The pesto recipe needed a bit more oil, so I added about 1 tablespoon more than called for.  A little minced garlic also made the pesto extra special.  I left out the cherry tomatoes…because I forgot to buy them despite the fact that they were on my list.  Can pregnancy brain begin this early?  Anyway, I found a yummy red pepper and garlic chicken sausage that was perfect.  The remaining pesto is mixed into plain couscous and is a great dish.  Very simple and clean.  I would maybe add some lemon juice to the couscous to kick up the flavor.

This is a quick, simple, and delicious meal.  It can easily be doubled to feed more people and changed to accommodate what you like…or don’t like.

Chicken Sausage and Pepper Kabobs

Ingredients

  • 1 cup couscous
  • 2 bell peppers (red and yellow), cut into chunks
  • 1 (12-ounce) package chicken sausage (preferably garlic-flavored), cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 1 large red onion, cut into chunks
  • 1 cup cherry tomatoes
  • 3-4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
  • ¼ cup fresh parsley
  • ¼ cup fresh cilantro
  • 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 4 scallions, roughly chopped
  • 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

Directions

  1. Soak eight 8-inch skewers in water, at least 15 minutes. Preheat a grill or grill pan to medium high. Prepare the couscous as the label directs.
  2. Meanwhile, toss the bell peppers, sausage, onion and tomatoes in a bowl with 1 tablespoon olive oil; season with salt and pepper. Thread onto the skewers, alternating the sausage and vegetables. Grill, turning, until the vegetables are slightly softened and the sausage begins to brown, 6 to 7 minutes.
  3. Meanwhile, puree the parsley, cilantro, garlic and scallions in a blender with the remaining 2-3 tablespoons olive oil, the vinegar and 2 tablespoons water. Season with salt and pepper. Brush the skewers with some of the pesto and continue to cook, turning, until the tomatoes are tender and the sausage is charred, 6 to 7 more minutes.
  4. Toss the couscous with half of the remaining pesto and season with salt and pepper. Serve with the skewers and the remaining pesto, for dipping.
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Tomatillo Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas

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A while back I posted a recipe for chicken enchiladas from Tyler Florence.  They were good, but not the best.  At the beginning of that post I mentioned my all-time favorite recipe for chicken enchiladas, but did not provide it.  What was I thinking?  How could I be so selfish as to say how wonderful something was, but not share it?  I must apologize and make up for it by sharing this incredible recipe with you now.  I made  these enchiladas this weekend and they were a hit  that night for dinner, and last night as leftovers.

There are a few shortcuts to this meal, but the sauce totally makes this dish, so don’t try to use any shortcuts there.  When I have time I boil my own chicken and shred it, but you can save quite a bit of time by shredding the meat from a rotisserie chicken.  I also use a cup of the chicken broth to make the sauce when I boil my own chicken.  This time I used 3 large skinless, bone-in chicken breasts, and that was just enough chicken.  Using pre-shredded cheese is an obvious time saver.  You can put the enchiladas together and refrigerate or freeze them until you want to bake them.  The sauce also freezes well, but freeze them separately and thaw them in the fridge overnight before baking.

You can add more green chiles to kick up the heat, which I usually do.  The cheese is also something you can play with.  More or less is fine, but leave it out entirely and you’ll be sad and sorry.  If you have leftover turkey, then use that in place of the chicken.

This recipe is from Austin, Texas Junior League cookbook, Austin Entertains.  You can purchase it here.  The recipe is below, and just slightly adapted.

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Chicken And Fennel Flatbread Pizza

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Fennel in one of my favorite vegetables.  The flavor of fennel is quite similar to anise, but they are not the same vegetable.  It is delicious raw, sliced in a salad.  It is completely different in flavor when cooked in a casserole, like this potato and fennel gratin which is quite tasty.  It is incredible roasted with other vegetables when the edges get a bit crunchy and caramelized and the flavors mellow.  Fennel leaves look like dill in their delicate, thin, wispy green appearance.  These leaves are used as an herb.  The fennel bulb is used as a vegetable.  Fennel is one of the main ingredients in original absinthe.  I love fennel.

The use of fennel in this recipe is what caught my eye on the Eating Well website.  Yes.  I am posting yet another recipe from the site.  Everything I’ve made so far has been wonderful, so I’ll keep trying things until I hit a bump.  Then I’ll back off, but not until I find something that doesn’t make me want seconds.

These pizzas are not greasy or overly cheesy.  The vegetables add great flavor, and the chicken is much better for you than pepperoni or sausage.  There isn’t any sauce on the pitas, which I thought would make them a bit dry, but they were not even close.  The little bit of cheese goes a long way and you don’t miss the sauce.

I changed the recipe just a bit.  I added salt, pepper and minced garlic to the chicken before cooking it, and I cooked the vegetables and chicken separately.  On two of the pizzas I used feta cheese instead of provolone and sprinkled some red pepper flakes on the finished products.  A combination of provolone and feta would be better since feta doesn’t melt very well.

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