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As you know, I'm trying to do a bit more cooking from scratch. One thing I like but haven't fixed myself in a number of years is chicken but I do really like chicken. But before I go out and buy much of it, I'd like to get ideas/suggestions on how to fix it. [I'm surprised there isn't a chicken item here already [besides the chicken SOUP one].
25 responses total.
I remember somewhere I had some boneless chicken breast that was marinated in something, though I don't recall exactly what it was [maybe something like Italian Dressing]. Whatever it was, it was great cooked outside on the grill [barbecued chicken is always great, too; I have that at my brother's every once in awhile]. I can[t cook outside where I live but perhaps I can dig out my little George Forman grill and see if that still works.
One of my favorite chicken recipes is Amy's Salad Dressing. Any flavor. In fact, I use Amy's as an all-purpose sauce solution. Goddess is a nice nutty flavor, shiitake and sesame vinegarette is a salty, asian flavor, and raspberry is the sweet, fruity flavor. There are lots of other flavors as well. I marinate boneless skinless breasts for an hour, or if I'm hungry, just dip them in the sauce and grill them in my Foreman grill. I also use the sauses as pasta sauce, often as a way to blend left over bits and pieces into a single dish. Works well to make rice blends too. er sauces, not sauses. Works for pork and beef too.
My latest chicken concoction: marinated chicken breat [with italian dressing], long grain rice, diced tomatoes, and a bit of seasoning [a sesame and salt blend]. The chicken turned out much better than my previous attempt. And though its probably not easy to mess up the long grain rice--but it did turn out pretty well for my first attempt. In the past, I've always used the instant/minute rice. This stuff today was much better [thanks to the suggestion from my Japanese s-i-l.
Denise, I certify you as reaching the first level of chef-versatility. Rice_& is my favorite menu item. Usually it's Rice_&_meat, but sometimes it's simply vegetables. Frequently, I'll come home, start a pot of rice, dice some onions and begin sauteing them, and only at that point decide what the rest of the meal will be.
:-)
Ok, back to searching for more ideas for fixing up some chicken. I'm
starting out looking for recipes that are pretty basic/simple... I'll
share some of the recipes here [and will post other 'simple' recipes in
its item in the conference].
Chicken Parmesan
Breaded chicken is baked with purchased spaghetti sauce and cheeses for
a flavorful, but easy recipe.
Email Recipe
Print Recipe
Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless Chicken breast halves
2 Eggs, beaten
1 cup Italian Bread Crumbs
1/4 cup Olive Oil
1 jar Spagetti Sauce (15-1/2 oz.)
1/2 cup grated Parmesian Cheese
1 cup (4 oz.) shredded Mozzarella Cheese
Method
Preheat oven to 400. Dip chicken into eggs and into bread crumbs. Heat
olive oil. Cook chicken in oil until well browned on both sides. Pour
spaghetti sauce into 11x7" baking dish. Place chicken on sauce and top
with cheeses. Bake 15 minutes or until cheese is melted and lightly
browned.
Notes: If you have extra time, you might flatten the chicken breast
before preparing.
Number of servings: 4
Mexicalli Chicken Breasts Skinless, boneless chicken breasts are covered with salsa, baked, and sprinkled with cheddar cheese for this super-easy recipe. Ingredients: Boneless/skinless chicken breasts (1 for each person) Jar of salsa Bag of shredded cheddar cheese Method Preheat oven to 375. Place chicken breasts in baking pan and spoon some salsa on top. Place in oven for 30-45 minutes (according to whether frozen or not). Sprinkle cheddar cheese over all and bake an additional 5 minutes, or until cheese is nice and bubbly. Notes: This is too easy. Ingredients are measured only by the number of servings. Number of servings: 2-200
Easy Mexican Chicken Chicken breasts combined with canned chili-ready tomatoes, corn, and beans. Served with rice or macaroni and sprinkled with shredded cheese. Ingredients: 3 Boneless, skinless chicken breasts 2 cans chili-ready tomatoes 1 can corn, drained 1 can black or pinto beans, rinsed and drained 1-2 cups shredded cheese (such as cheddar or monterey jack) Cooked rice or cooked elbow macaroni Method Cut chicken into one-inch cubes; season to taste with salt and pepper. Cook in a tightly- covered non-stick skillet until done. Add tomatoes, corn & beans; heat through. If you are using the macaroni, add it and heat everything through again. Just before serving, sprinkling with the cheese and serve hot. If you are using the rice, spoon chicken and vegetables over the rice and sprinkle generously with the cheese before serving. Notes: This dish may also be served as a cold salad on lettuce (without the rice or macaroni, and the cheese added after everything is cold.) Serve with warmed tortillas and salsa. Number of servings: 6
Ok, so this isn't exactly chicken, but chicken could easily be
substituted [and for me, at least, I'd use a different kind of cream
soup]: One Dish Turkey & Stuffing
Boneless turkey breasts are placed in a baking dish and topped with a
mixture of condensed soup and sour cream, then with prepared stuffing
mix.
Ingredients:
4 skinless, boneless turkey breast pieces or cutlets
1 box Stove Top stuffing mix
1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 can of milk
1/2 cup sour cream
Salt and pepper to taste
Method
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter or use nonstick spray in a medium
baking dish. Place turkey in single layer in the dish and season with
salt and pepper. On the stove, prepare the stuffing mix according to
directions on the box. Next combine the can of soup, milk and sour
cream. Pour soup mixture over turkey then top each breast with the
stuffing--any excess stuffing should be placed around the turkey. Bake
for 35 minutes or until turkey is done.
Notes: This recipe goes great with cranberry sauce, mac & cheese, and
mashed potatoes.
Number of servings: 4
Ok, BECAUSE of the name of this recipe, its one that NEEDS to be
included here, in honor of one of the fairwitnesses of this
conference...
Chicken Denise
This rich and creamy chicken dish is sure to please at your dinner
table.
Ingredients:
4-5 thin sliced chicken beasts
One clove garlic, thinly sliced
1/2 yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 tbsp butter
1 zucchini (green)
1+ tbsp pesto
1 cup heavy cream (or half and half)
Olive oil
Flour (enough to cover chicken)
1 cup mozzarella cheese
Grated Romano
Method
Clean and flour chicken breasts and set aside. Preheat oven to 350
degrees. In a skillet begin to brown garlic and onions in butter and
some olive oil. While that it browning, thinly slice the zucchini. When
onions begin to brown add zucchini and heat until wilted about 5-8
minutes. (Add dry white wine, optional) Empty into a bowl. Do not clean
skillet just add more olive oil. Sear chicken on both sides. Remove and
place into a cooking pan. Pour zucchini mixture neatly over chicken.
Each chicken should have zucchini over it. Bake in oven at 350 for
about 10 minutes. Remove from oven and cover with mozzarella. Put back
into oven until browned. In a small pot heat pesto, (do not add oil or
butter) add black pepper if needed. Once it simmers add cream. Heat
over low flame to let it thicken. Add Romano cheese; add flour for a
thicker sauce. Keep heat on low. When chicken is ready, pour pesto
sauce over chicken and serve.
Notes: This is very rich, so my family likes this with risoto or on
bread.
[OK, enough postings to this item for one sitting; I don't want to overwhelm y'all and inhibit the discussion aspect of conferencing!]
I make chicken parmesan and the only things I do differently is to pound it out so it's all one thickness and dip the bread in flour before I put it in the egg. I made some a few weeks ago - Dave liked it a lot.
I brought some chicken thighs on sale the other day and need to figure out how I want to use them [maybe use Colleen's suggestion for a chicken with the olive oil and herbs]. For the last several years, I've ONLY brought checken breasts at the store... [Not counting chicken purchased at restaurants and fast food places like KFC and Boston Market.]
Chicken thighs have a bit more flavor than chicken breasts. Just substitute them in your favorite chicken recipe. In general, thighs and breasts are interchangeable in recipes.
How much difference are the cooking times between the two? [ie, with the c.breasts having no bone in it while the thigh does?] [Hmm, and with the leftover bones when cooking more than a couple at a time, is this enough to maybe boil for enough to make some good chicken broth?]
Yep, the bones make great broth. I wouldn't worry too much about cooking times. Use whatever the recipe says. If it's not enough, throw the meat in the microwave for 5 minutes, or keep simmering.
Spachickios *Take a package of chicken thighs and legs *dump a can of spaghettiOs on top *bake at 350 for an hour *baste the chicken with the sauce occasionally or else you'll get crunchy noodles. The above is an actual recipe from ASH. We used to joke sometimes about making a cookbook called a million and one ways to cook Chicken. I wont say who came up with the above recipe. I never ate it. I just heard about it.
I have GREAT memories of cooking at ASH.
ASH?
Acute Services House Slynne was the manager, and I worked for her there at one point in time.
Yeah. The staff had to cook. I even had to cook and found that after a while, I was able to cook lots of fairly eatable meals for 5-12 people on a regular basis. The staff had different levels of kitchen skills though and also sometimes right before shopping day, things were lean in the pantry (especially before we started getting stuff from Food Gatherers). I think it was a lean pantry that led to the spachickiOs recipe :)
My all time favorite thing I ever made at ASH was cheese sauce using non-dairy creamer.
Curried Chicken Spread Filling This multi-purpose filling combines cooked chicken, hard-cooked eggs, chutney, cream cheese, & mayo, and is seasoned with Worcestershire & curry powder. Ingredients: 1 cup chopped, cooked chicken 3 hard cooked eggs, finely chopped 3 tbsp mango chutney, chopped 4 oz cream cheese, softened 2 tbsp mayonnaise or salad dressing 1 tbsp Worcestershire (or to taste) 1 tbsp curry powder (or to taste) Dash cayenne Salt and black pepper, to taste Method Mix all ingredients well. Cover and chill several hours. Serve on crackers, as a filling for celery or scooped-out cherry tomatoes, or as a tea sandwich filling. Notes: This is best if made several hours in advance to allow flavors to blend. Number of servings: Makes 1 1/2 Cups
I made up one of the packages of chicken thighs I got on-sale. I did it the olive-oil and herb method suggested by Colleen [well, I dabbed on a bit of o.oil on both sides and sprinkled on the following: curry powder, garlic powder, pepper, and italian seasonings, then baked at 350 for maybe 45 minutes or so [at one point, I took the pan out and cut into one of them and it was still slightly pink inside, so I stuck it back in for another 5-10 minutes]. After they cooled [on a cooling rack over a cookiee sheet so the meat wouldn't sit in the grease, I cut off most of the meat to save for later [and I had a bit of it for lunch]. The bones, skin, and the bits of meat are now simmering in water. Initially, I didn't add any more seasoning but after simmering for maybe 45 minutes, I tasted it and decided it needed something, so I added more of the above. Not too much, though since I'm good at overdoing it; I can always add more later if needed. I'll probably go turn the stove off after I'm done typing this and let it cool--then will skim off what fat I can right away, then get rid of the skin, bones, and any grizzle/ whatever. After its 'fridgerated, then I'll be able to get rid of more of the fat... It smells good in here, great for a cool and rainy day. [And I feel good about going ahead and trying something a bit different for a change.]
Hmm, after turning off the stove and stirring the broth, I think I'll strain out everything [including the bits of meat from the bones]; if I need to, I can add 'fresh' chicken to the broth/soup later, chicken that hasn't had all of its flavor cooked out of it already.
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