Showing posts with label Chicken. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chicken. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Queso Chicken "Burrito" Bowl



I'm a huge fan of Mexican food - not such a big fan of burritos. Actually, I like what's in burritos, it's just the wrapping that I can do without. So here is my Qdoba rip-off of the queso chicken burrito bowl.



1) Prepare the chicken:

- cut skinless, boneless chicken breast into cubes

- simmer in 2 cups of chicken broth and adobo sauce until chicken is cooked through

- Set aside















2) Prepare the rice:

- Cook one cup of white rice per package directions

- Stir in chopped cilantro and juice of 1/2 lime

- Set aside



Other ingredients you will need:

- one can of black beans, heated in their own liquid

- one cup of guacamole

- Pace 4-Cheese Queso Dip
























- pico di gallo (diced tomatoes/onions/cilantro/lime juice)

- tortilla chips

- sour cream

- shredded cheddar cheese



In a shallow bowl, layer the items in order of - rice, beans, chicken, queso, pico di gallo, guacamole, sour cream.


Sprinkle tortilla chips around the perimeter of the bowl and drizzle some more queso.

Monday, September 6, 2010

Jamaican Brown Stew Chicken


There is a Caribbean restaurant east of Pittsburgh and they have authentic Caribbean food - including Jerk Chicken. They also have something called Jamaican Brown Stew Chicken. The chicken is stewed in veggies and spices and is tender and juicy and loaded with flavor. I have recreated this recipe and served it with a coconut curry rice. Yum!

Jamaican Brown Stew Chicken
1 whole chicken (about 3lb)
A splash of lime juice
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of pepper
1 onion
3 stalks of scallion
1 hot pepper (ideally scotch bonnet)
1 sweet pepper
3 cloves of garlic
1/2 inch of ginger
3 tomatoes
Oil for frying

3 tablespoons of flour, stirred in to 1/4 cup of water
3 sprigs of fresh thyme (or 3 teaspoons of dried thyme)
1 tablespoon of butter
1 tablespoon of kitchen bouquet browning sauce
2 tablespoons of soy sauce
2 teaspoons of creole sesasoning (more if you want it spicy!)
2 cups of water

Wash the chicken with a splash of lime juice. Chop the chicken in to small pieces. Chop the onion, scallion, hot pepper, sweet pepper, garlic and tomatoes in to small pieces, grate the ginger and mix the flour in 1/4 cup of water. Season the chicken by rubbing in salt, pepper, thyme, onion, scallion, hot pepper, sweet pepper, garlic, ginger and tomato. Leave to marinate for one hour.

Scrape the seasoning off the chicken and fry in the oil until the chicken is sealed (about 5 minutes). Remove the chicken and drain off the oil. Melt the butter in the saucepan and fry the onion, scallion, hot pepper, sweet pepper, garlic, tomatoes and thyme for three minutes Add the water, soy sauce and browning and simmer for five minutes. Stir the flour/water mixture in to the stew then add the chicken. Simmer for five minutes, occasionally stirring gently.

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Crockpot Chicken and Veggies


The credit for this recipe comes from a Pittsburgh Nestie - Cheri. Acutally, she's more of a Fayette County Nestie! :)
I made this last night - working 2 jobs makes crockpot meals a necessity! It was very good and I ate 2 platefulls!
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts (fresh or frozen)
2 family sized cans of cream of chicken soup (I substituted with 1 can of cream of mushroom soup)
1 can of chicken gravy
3 white potatoes, cut into chunks
3 carrots, cut into pieces
1 small onion, diced
a handfull of fresh green beans
a handfull of fresh asparagus
1/2 cup water
salt/pepper
Just toss it all into a crockpot and cook on medium heat for 6 hours. Serve over warm biscuits.

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Alton Brown's Fried Chicken




Fried chicken. It sounds simple enough, yet I've never been able to perfect it. Either it's cooked too long or not long enough or it's bland, etc. On an episode of Good Eats, Alton made fried chicken - and I watched it closely. I realized there were a few things I was doing wrong. I was seasoning the flour, which was wrong. Plus, I had the wrong equipment. Alton recommended a Lodge Chicken Fryer. Where do I get one? I checked a few places and thanks to my friend, Cara, I found exactly what I needed at Trader Horn. Sweet!


Yes - this is what I need! A large, deep skillet. Alton recommends cast iron for it's even heating and cooking. Now, for the chicken.....

1 broiler/fryer chicken, cut into 8 pieces
2 cups low fat buttermilk
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons Hungarian paprika
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Flour, for dredging
Vegetable shortening, for frying


Place chicken pieces into a plastic container and cover with buttermilk. Cover and refrigerate for 12 to 24 hours.



Drain chicken in a colander. Combine salt, paprika, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper. Liberally season chicken with this mixture. Dredge chicken in flour and shake off excess.


Melt enough shortening (over low heat) to come just 1/8-inch up the side of a 12-inch cast iron skillet or heavy fry pan. Once shortening liquefies raise heat to 325 degrees F. Do not allow oil to go over 325 degrees F.



Place chicken skin side down into the pan. Put thighs in the center, and breast and legs around the edge of the pan. The oil should come half way up the pan. Cook chicken until golden brown on each side, approximately 10 to 12 minutes per side. More importantly, the internal temperature should be right around 180 degrees. (Be careful to monitor shortening temperature every few minutes.)




Drain chicken on a rack over a sheet pan. Don't drain by setting chicken directly on paper towels or brown paper bags. If you need to hold the chicken before serving, cover loosely with foil but avoid holding in a warm oven, especially if it's a gas oven.


Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Pioneer Woman's Chicken Spaghetti


I love reading The Pioneer Woman. Hell, I've even found myself envious of her life. She has some great recipes...and this is the 2nd one I've tried. I like it. It's got good flavor and it's one of those comfort foods. Here's the recipe link:

PW's Spaghetti Chicken
Josh said it tastes just like a chi-chi...which is a delicacy where he works. Ramen noodles, cheese (or cheese puffs), onions, and chicken (or other available meat). Nice.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

One $4 Chicken. Endless meals.

The $4 roasting chicken is a great thing. I can rotisserie it or roast it...get a good meal out of it. Then I can remove all of the remaining meat and use it for chicken salad, tossed into a salad, or use it for enchiladas. Then I can take the carcass and the giblets and make oodles of chicken stock. This $4 chicken can give me about 8 pints (16 cups) of stock.


Let's do the math. A box of chicken stock is around $3.50 a box. Maybe more. That's about 32 oz. I have about 128 oz just from one $4 chicken. That saves me at least $14.00.



Chicken Stock
1 $4 Chicken carcass and giblets
1 big pot of water
1 onion
3 carrots
3 ribs of celery
3 garlic cloves
2 bay leaves
salt/pepper



Simmer all ingredients together for about 6-8 hours. Done.





Friday, May 16, 2008

Chicken Cacciatore



You can't go wrong with Ina Garten. You can't go wrong with Giada DeLaurentiis, either. This is my version of Giada's Chicken Cacciatore. As rich as it looks, it's a pretty light dish - even moreso if you don't bread the chicken.

4 chicken breasts (skinless/boneless)
2 teaspoons salt, plus more to taste
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
1/2 cup all purpose flour, for dredging
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large red bell pepper, chopped
1 onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
3/4 cup dry white wine
1 ( 28-ounce) can diced tomatoes with juice (San Marzano works best)
3/4 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
3 tablespoons drained capers
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil leaves

Sprinkle the chicken pieces with 1 teaspoon of each salt and pepper. Dredge the chicken pieces in the flour to coat lightly. In a large heavy sauté pan, heat the oil over a medium-high flame. Add the chicken pieces to the pan and sauté just until brown, about 5 minutes per side. If all the chicken does not fit in the pan, sauté it in 2 batches. Transfer the chicken to a plate and set aside. Add the bell pepper, onion and garlic to the same pan and sauté over medium heat until the onion is tender, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add the wine and simmer until reduced by half, about 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes with their juice, broth, capers and oregano. Return the chicken pieces to the pan and turn them to coat in the sauce. Bring the sauce to a simmer. Continue simmering over medium-low heat until the chicken is just cooked through, about 30 minutes for the breast pieces, and 20 minutes for the thighs. Using tongs, transfer the chicken to a platter. If necessary, boil the sauce until it thickens slightly, about 3 minutes. Spoon off any excess fat from atop the sauce. Spoon the sauce over the chicken, then sprinkle with the basil and serve.

Sunday, April 20, 2008

BBQ "Pulled" Chicken Sandwiches



Another easy crockpot meal! If you're a fan of pulled BBQ pork sandwiches, this is even better!

Here's what you'll need:
1 bottle of Coca-Cola
3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts (frozen is OK)
1/2 jar of Jalapeno Jelly




Place all of the ingredients in a crockpot and cook on high for 4 hours. Once cooked, drain all of the liquid and shred the chicken.

Place the chicken back in the crock pot. Set the crock on 'warm'.

Add:
1/2 bottle of Sweet Baby Rays BBQ Sauce
1 Tablespoon of brown mustard

Stir and allow to warm. Serve on a Kaiser roll.

Rotisserie Chicken


If you don't have one, run out and get yourself a rotisserie set for your grill. It's the best $25 you'll spend. Probably the easiest thing to make is rotisserie chicken. You can find endless recipes for the chicken, but here's what I did this weekend.
Grab yourself a whole chicken. I know, it's kinda scary. Make sure you remove the bag of giblets from the cavity. Rinse the chicken and cavity with warm water.

Here's what you'll need:
One whole roasting chicken
4 garlic cloves
1 bottle of beer
1/2 cup of chicken broth

Place the chicken on a sheet pan. Sprinkle the Creole Seasoning all over the chicken and gently rub the seasoning all over the chicken. Place the garlic cloves in the cavity of the chicken. Tie up the wings and legs with kitchen twine and place the chicken on the spit rod.

Take a 9x13 metal baking pan and place it in the center of the grill. Pour the beer into the metal pan. Place the chicken/spit rod onto the grill. Turn the grill on...leaving the center burner off. Keep the temperature at about 250 degrees.

Let the chicken cook for about 1.5 hours. Baste the chicken with the chicken broth. Let cook for another 1.5 hours, basting every so often.


Once the chicken is cooked, remove it from the spit and let it rest on a sheet pan for about 5 minutes before carving.

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Giada's Linguini with Chicken Ragu



My husband and I saw this on an episode of Everyday Italian and tried it right away. Since then, I've made it several times and it's a regular menu item!




I make the marinara sauce described in the recipe, however, I put it in a food processor after it's cooked to make it smooth.


Monday, November 19, 2007

Chicken Tortilla Soup

My friend Jill gave me this recipe several years ago. It's become a staple menu item in our house. Her recipe calls for carrot and zucchini, but Josh doesn't like them in the soup, so I've substituted them.

4 cups of chicken broth
1 cup salsa (I use homemade)
3 chicken breasts, cubed
1 green pepper, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can of Niblets corn, drained
1 clove of garlic, minced
2 teaspoons of orgegano
1 teaspoon cumin
salt/pepper

tortilla chips
cheddar cheese
sour cream

Place the chicken broth and spices in a soup pot and bring to a simmer.
Add the chicken and cook until no longer pink.
Add the salsa and diced peppers and simmer until peppers are tender.
Add the corn and black beans to warm.
Serve over crushed tortilla chips and shredded cheddar cheese. Top with sour cream.





Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Tha Ill-Dookie (Josh's Hot Wings)



My husband claims he can't cook, but yet he's made a few amazing things. For my 30th, he made filet mingon, garlic mashed potatoes, and even baked me a cake. He's also the grill-master of the house and can grill a steak to perfection.

These wings were no exception. This was a bit of an experimental recipe. He had tried these wings in Baltimore and had to figure out how to make these at home. I'm usually not a fan of hot wings...I don't care for the taste of hot sauce...but I found myself eating way more of these than expected! I told Josh...these are blog-worthy and he had to come up with a name. He said they were the "ill-dookie" and laughed. He didn't give me any other choice at that point, so these are Josh's Ill-Dookie Hot Wings.

Here's the rundown of ingredients - no real measurements were made and it was done according to taste:
Frank's Hot Sauce (the base of the sauce) - approximately 1 cup
Butter - approximately 3-4 tablespoons
Garlic Salt - a few shakes
Old Bay Seasoning (the secret ingredient that changes everything you know about wings!) - approximately 1 tablespoon (give or take)
Parmesan Cheese - approximately 2 tablespoons in the sauce and extra for sprinkling.

In a saucepot, heat up the Frank's Hot Sauce.
Add the butter and let it melt.
Add the spices and cheese.


*The Lions Head bottle that you see in the background is a pilsner beer from a microbrewery in Wilkes Barre, PA. This stuff is really good and only about $11 a case! You have to have beer and wings!


Monday, November 5, 2007

Chicken Enchiladas with Poblano Cream Sauce




Back in graduate school, a girl I used to know made this for us for dinner a couple of times. The sauce was her mom's recipe and she was never able to give me a copy. It was one of my favorite mexican dishes and I've been craving it for about 8 years now! I found this and thought it was very close to what I had in grad school. Maybe after a few practice rounds, I can get it just right!

Ingredients:
* 3-4 poblano chiles, seeded and chopped
*1 clove of garlic
* 1/2 cup milk
* 4 tablespoons butter
* 1 tablespoon flour
* 1 cup Mexican crema or heavy cream
* salt to taste
* 2 whole chicken breasts, cut in half
* 1 cup grated manchego, jack or gouda cheese

Preparation:
Puree the chiles and garlic in a blender with the milk until smooth.

In a medium saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter, add the flour and brown lightly.

Add the chile puree, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon or a wire whisk until smooth. Lower the heat, add the cream, and stir constantly until the sauce begins to bubble. Remove from heat and add salt to taste. This sauce may be made one day ahead and refrigerated.

Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter in a large skillet and saute chicken breast halves for 4 minutes on each side. Place them in a buttered baking dish, pour the poblano cream sauce over all bake, uncovered, in a preheated oven at 350º for 20 minutes.
Shred the chicken with two forks.

I served this rolled up inside a lightly fried tortilla with the cheese and topped with homemade guacamole and sour cream.

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Chicken Marsala


My recipe for chicken marsala is almost famous! I've given this to a few friends and it's on the top of their weekly menus quite often!


Ingredients
1 pound of skinless, boneless chicken breasts (Cut into thirds)
1 carton of baby bella mushrooms
1 cup of Marsala wine
1 1/2 cups of chicken broth
1 clove of garlic, diced
1 small shallot, diced
1 tablespoon of butter
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 eggs
1 cup of flour plus 2 tablespoons for sauce
salt/pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
3-4 sprigs of fresh thyme
Mix 1 cup of flour with the paprika, salt, and pepper. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, lightly beat the eggs with a fork.
Heat the olive oil in a skillet.
Dredge the chicken pieces in the eggwash and then coat with the flour mixture.
Brown in the skillet on both sides (3 minutes per side)
Place the chicken pieces in a glass baking dish and bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes.
While the chicken is cooking, use the same skillet as you fried the chicken and melt the butter. Sautee the shallot and garlic until transparent.
Add the mushrooms and sautee until tender.
Add the Marsala Wine and let simmer 5 minutes.
Add 1 cup of chicken broth and let simmer 5 minutes.
Add the fresh thyme.
Mix 2 tablespoons of flour with the remaining 1/2 cup of chicken broth and whisk until smooth.
Add the flour/broth mixture to the skillet and simmer lightly until thickened, stirring constantly. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Serve the marsala sauce over the chicken breasts and egg noodles.

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Chicken Cordon Ewe





Actually, I'm not sure what to call this! It's definitely Italian and not French, but my brain is not cooporating tonight and I can't come up with anything creative. Any suggestions?

So here's the recipe....

4 chicken breasts, pounded flat
4 slices of Prosciutto di Parma
1 oz. block of goat cheese (sliced)
3 eggs
1 cup of Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
1/2 cup of frozen spinanch, thawed and drained

Lay out the chicken breast. Place a piece of prosciutto on top of the chicken. Then layer on the cheese and spinach. Roll up. Dredge in egg wash and then lightly dredge in the breadcrumbs.

Brown in a skillet, approximately 5 minutes per side. Bake at 375 degrees for 30-35 minutes.

I served with Parsley Potatoes - which is basically 5 yukon gold potatoes cubed and boiled until fork tender and then tossed with butter and fresh, chopped parsley.

My husband put the peas on my plate...I think he over did it!


Sunday, October 7, 2007

Crockpot Salsa Chicken


So, yes, I broke down and tried this one as well! It's such a "staple" on the What's Cooking board, plus it looked so easy and yummy that I had to try it. Josh is always after me to make chicken enchiladas and this seemed very similar but way easier. Plus at 157 calories per serving, it's perfect for a low-calorie diet but super-filling!

The original recipe is from http://www.sparkrecipes.com/ and can be found here...Crockpot Salsa Chicken. We had this on tortillas with fresh lettuce, tomatoes, and cheddar cheese.




Monday, October 1, 2007

Giada's Balsamic Chicken Drumettes




I have made this recipe time and again and have used it on wings, drummies, thighs, and breasts. We love it! This recipe is from foodnetwork.com. I omitted the sesame seeds because hubby doesn't like them and also because I was out of them.



1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup soy sauce

5 sprigs of rosemary

5 garlic cloves, halved

10 to 12 chicken drumsticks

2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds

1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley


Combine the balsamic, honey, brown sugar, soy sauce, rosemary sprigs, and garlic cloves, in a large, re-sealable plastic bag. Shake and squeeze the contents of the bag to dissolve the honey and the brown sugar. Add the chicken drumsticks to the bag and seal with as little air as possible in the bag. Place in the refrigerator and marinate for 2 hours.


Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.


Place the chicken drumsticks on a foil-lined baking sheet. Bake until the skin is caramelized and very dark in spots, about 30 to 35 minutes.


Meanwhile, place the marinade in a small saucepan. Bring the marinade to a boil (in order to kill bacteria). Reduce the heat to simmer and cook over low heat until thick, about 15 minutes. Reserve.


Use a pastry brush to brush some of the cooked marinade on the cooked chicken. Place the chicken on a serving platter. Sprinkle with the sesame seeds and the chopped parsley.

Monday, September 24, 2007

Chicken & Dumplings

This recipe is from Southern Living. This was my first attmept at homemade chicken and dumplings and it was very good. Next time I'll use one of those dumpling makers instead of rolling/cutting the dough.
Ingredients
1 (2 1/2-pound) whole chicken, cut up
2 1/2 teaspoons salt, divided
3/4 teaspoon pepper, divided
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 teaspoon chicken bouillon granules
3 cups self-rising flour
1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1/3 cup shortening
1 cup buttermilk

Cover chicken with water, and bring to a boil in a large Dutch oven. Add 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and next 3 ingredients; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 1 hour. Remove chicken, reserving broth in Dutch oven; cool chicken. Skim fat from broth; bring to a simmer.
Skin, bone, and coarsely chop chicken. Add chicken, bouillon, and remaining salt and pepper to broth. Return to simmer.

Combine flour and poultry seasoning in a bowl. Cut in shortening with a pastry blender until mixture is crumbly. Add milk, stirring until dry ingredients are moistened.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll out to 1/8-inch thickness; cut into 1-inch pieces.

Bring broth mixture to a boil. Drop dumplings, a few at a time, into boiling broth, stirring gently. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer, stirring often, for 25 minutes.

Wednesday, August 8, 2007

Chicken or Turkey Gumbo

My very good friend, Andi, from Houston, TX sent me her tried and true recipe for gumbo. I've added okra to this as well. This is quoted from an email she sent me, so it's not exact! Enjoy!

Chicken gumbo (or turkey)
Usually i roast a turkey or chicken, serve it up, eat as much as i want and save a tiny bit of white meat but mostly the dark meat since we don't eat that. (some people just use chicken parts specifically for gumbo but i like getting two meals out of it) Pull all the excess meat from the carcass and set it aside. Place carcass or carcasses (if you make chicken gumbo i like to use two carcasses), fill pot with water and canned broth to cover the carcass (4 cans water 4 cans broth might do it but i'm not sure if that's one chicken carcass or two, so you might double it). Bring to a boil then simmer 2 hours or maybe 3 with the lid on until the water is flavored. You want to cook alot of the flavor out of the bones, but if you cook too long you'll decompose the little joints holding everything together and have the worlds tiniest bones and cartilage to sift through, if you try to salvage any of the meat that boils off the carcass.Strain the liquid into a seperate container and set aside.

I usually do the broth/stock the night before i make gumbo.

In a very large stock pot (we're talking not super huge like crawfish boiling or turkey frying but big enough to fit most of the turkey carcass in it when you made the stock). 1 large heaping spoon (we mean the spoon you use to stir or serve spaghetti and things like that not a tablespoon something bigger) of flour, and 1 large spoon of olive oil. Medium Low heat stirring constantly until a mahoghany color. You can't stop stirring be careful of splashups and if you do get splashed run cold water over it immediately.The roux goes through phases, you have oak, peanut butter, walnut color and when you get a distinct reddish brown tint it's mahoghany that's where you want it for gumbo.

When the roux is ready, remove from heat and quickly mix in chopped onion, chopped celery, and garlic. I think i use 1 onion , 4 stalks celery sliced (the heart is the best), the white part of a bunch of green onions, and 3 cloves garlic (again this might all be double i can't recall if this is the small recipe or the large).

You can tweak it. I usually eyeball it gumbo is intuitive not scientific. stir these in, then place it back over the heat and cook stirring frequently in the roux until onions are soft. Add the stock and cook for 2-3 hours (i think covered i can't recall).

30minutes from being done toss in chopped celery leaves, a bunch of chopped green onions green part, 1 bellpepper chopped, and a bunch of parsley chopped. Add back in the turkey or chicken meat (if you add it too soon it'd get tough)serve over steamed rice (i like a little rice and lots of liquid some people like lots of rice little liquid), and you absolutely MUST add gumbo file (sassafrass powder. i like lots of it but at least a little is sprinkled ontop of each bowl in addition that some is sprinkled into the pot).

If you can't find File let me know and i'll send you some. It should be in the spice section Zatarans as an example sells it in a little glass jar. I also add salt and pepper to taste to the gumbo before and when serving. you can add to the pot leftover chicken or turkey gravy made from deglazing the pan (not the mix that sucks), but be careful not to add too much or it gets greasy and nasty (unless you really strain your gravy).