Chicken and Dumplings

The top one is mine- it's looking a little dry.  The bottom one is from the cook book.  Mine when I ate it looked more like the bottom, as far as sauce.  The top was Andrews after it had sat for a little bit and soaked up sauce.  So hopefully, when he reheats his tonight, it will get saucy again!

Here is the adaptation I made to the CHICKEN AND DUMPLINGS recipe found in my Complete America's Test Kitchen Cook Book (the white one).  The book involves cooking chicken thighs and such in the stew and letting it simmer for an hour, shredding etc.  I had some left over chicken breasts I had cooked earlier in the week, so I adapted the recipe to do it faster and easier!

Stew
1 1/2 cooked and shredded chicken breasts
2 Tablespoons butter
2 carrots, peeled and sliced 1/4 in thick
1 celery rib, sliced 1/4 inch thick
1/2 onion, minced
3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/8 cup "dry sherry" * I did broth with a little bit of white vinegar in it.  Maybe 1/2-1 tsp, I didn't measure
2 1/4 cups chicken broth
1/8 cup whole milk (it needs to be whole)
1/2 tsp thyme
1 bay leaf
1/2 c green peas frozen
1 1/2 Tablespoon parsley

Dumplings
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup whole milk (again needs to be whole, according to the test kitchen divas)
1 1/2 T butter

1.  Melt butter in Dutch oven over med-high heat.  Add carrots, celery, onion and 1/8 tsp salt and cook til softened, about 7 min.  Stir in the flour.  Whisk in the "sherry", scraping up any brown bits.  Stirin the broth, milk, thyme and bay leaf.  Add chicken.  Simmer til warmed through and slightly thickens and simmers.
2.  FOR THE DUMPLINGS: Stir the flour, baking powder and salt together.  Microwave the milk and butter in bowl until just warm, about 1 min.  Stir the warmed milk mixture into the flour mixture with a wooden spoon until incorporated and smooth. (only make this when you're ready to cook the dumplings- don't do ahead of time)
3. While stew is still at a simmer, stir in the peas and parsley.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Drop golf-ball sized dumplings over the top of the stew about 1/4 in apart (should have about 9 dumplings).  Reduce heat to low, cover and cook until the dumplings have doubled in size. 15-18 minutes.  Serve!

Chicken Sausage Oven Roasted Pasta Primavera

I know!  It's a post.  Shocking.  This is a really good one from realmomkitchen.com  Andrew loved the mushrooms and I shoved all of them into his portion.  Great way to get the hubs to eat veggies.  I'm making it again tonight!  Here's the link!

Chicken Sausage Oven Roasted Pasta Primavera

January

I haven't blogged anywhere since August. And I don't even feel guilty. Something had to go to make my life simpler. But I am going to try something in January-hopefully I will post close to everyday this month.

I frequently get stuck in making the same things for dinner over and over again. This January I am going to try something new-my goal is to not repeat a dinner once. 31 days of 31 new dinners. I hope I can do it. I am well aware that there are days when this might not be possible (you know, working full-time with two little ones and a husband who works more-than-full-time) but I am going to try my best.

So here's January 1st.

Pan Roasted Chicken with Potatoes from Cook's Country
(I am not the best at taking pictures...one day I will improve-when I have some time!)

INGREDIENTS
4 split bone-in chicken breasts
6 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2pounds red potatoes , cut into 1-inch wedges
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 garlic clove , minced
1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves
Pinch red pepper flakes

INSTRUCTIONS
Making the Minutes Count: While the chicken browns, cut the potatoes.

1. Heat Oven: Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 450 degrees.

2. Season and Brown Skin Side of Chicken: Pat chicken dry with paper towels, and season with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Brown chicken well on skin side, about 5 minutes.

3. Microwave Potatoes: While chicken browns, toss potatoes with 1 tablespoon of oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in microwave-safe bowl. Cover tightly with plastic wrap. Microwave on high until potatoes begin to soften, 5 to 10 minutes, shaking bowl (without removing plastic) to toss potatoes halfway through.

4. Bake Chicken: Transfer chicken, skin side up, to baking dish and bake until thickest part registers 160 degrees on instant-read thermometer, 15 to 20 minutes.

5. Brown Potatoes: While chicken bakes, pour off any grease in skillet, add 1 more tablespoon oil, and return to medium heat until shimmering. Drain microwaved potatoes then add to skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and tender, about 10 minutes.

6. Make Drizzling Oil: Whisk remaining 3 tablespoons oil, lemon juice, garlic, thyme, and red pepper flakes together.

Drizzle oil over chicken and potatoes before serving.


My chicken breasts were huge so I used 2. We feed our family of four plus had enough chicken left over to make something else. I'm thinking maybe a pot pie for dinner tomorrow? That also meant my chicken took a lot more time to cook. I would suggest putting the chicken in a larger pan. I used a small pan and the oil kept popping into the oven. We had the smoke detector going off no less than 3 times. Yikes.

I liked it, though. The drizzling sauce was really good. (We cut the recipe by 1/3m, but it was still too much-I guess it depends on how many people you are serving). It will make it's way into the rotation after January.

Chicken Satay Noodle Soup

Rachael Ray says that this serves 4. Thinking it really did, I decided to just make it for the 4 servings and have Andrew and I eat it once for dinner and then once for lunch the next day as left overs. We've eaten it for dinner and I've eaten it twice for lunch and there is still TONS of soup left. So my advice is that if you don't have a large crowd to feed, half this recipe for sure!

That being said, this was kind of a fun and different kind of dinner. I would definitely not forget the toppings at the end (cilantro, peanuts, green onions and lime) since I felt like they totally made the meal.

Salt

1/2 lb whole wheat pasta

2 Tbl vegetable oil

3/4 lb chicken, thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

3/4 cup peanut butter

1/4 cup plus 2 Tbl tamari (dark soy) *I used regular soy since I didn't have any

1/4 cup Thai red curry paste

2 Tbl tomato paste

6 cups chicken broth

One 1-inch piece fresh ginger, thinly sliced

1/2 head napa or savoy cabbage, shredded *I only had regular cabbage and it worked fine

1/2 cup apple joice

1 cup bean sprouts

1/4 cup chopped peanuts

green onions thinly sliced

1 Tbl chopped cilantro

Lime wedges

1. Bring a large pot of water to boil, salt it, add the pasta and cook until al dente. Drain

2. Meanwhile, in a soup pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the chicken and garlic and cook, stirring until the chicken is opaque, about 5 min. Transfer to a plate.

3. Add the peanut butter, tamari, curry paste and tomato paste to the pot and stir. Increase the heat to meduium-high and whisk in the chicken broth; add the ginger. Bring to a boil, then stir in the cabbage and cook until wilted, about 2 minutes. Return the chicken to the pot and stir in the apple juice.

4. Divide the pasta among 4 bowls. Ladle the soup over the pasta. Top with the bean sprouts, peanuts, green onions and cilantro. serve with the lime wedges.

Chutney Curried Chicken with Yogurt Sauce

No, I haven't forgotten about this blog. I've just been really, really bad at putting things on it. I have been cooking, just not taking pictures of what I make!

The name of this recipe would not have caught my eye and I would have moved on in my Crock Pot book. However, the picture in the book looked yummy and I did have a mango sitting in my fruit bowl that needed to be used. So I tried it and it was good! Andrew said it was fun. I'll be making it again. Plus, it's a crockpot dinner- I love those!

(I can't get this one to not be flipped sidways, sorry)

1 container (6-8 oz) plain low-fat yogurt
2 tsp. curry powder
1 tsp. garlic salt
1/8 tsp. ground red pepper (I didn't have, so I used red pepper flakes)
4 bone in chicken breast halves, skin removed (2 lbs. about) (I used boneless skinless I think)
1 small onion, sliced
1/3 cup mango chutney (chop large pieces of mango if you don't have chutney)
1 Tbl. lime juice
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbl. cornstarch
2 Tbl. water
3 cups cooked linguini or lo mein noodles
Optional Toppings: chopped cilantro chopped peanuts, toasted coconut

1. Place yogurt in paper-towel-lined strainer over a bowl. Drain in refrigerator until serving time.

2. Combine curry powder, garlic salt and red pepper; sprinkle over chicken. Place onion in crock pot; top with chicken. Combine chutney, lime juice and garlic; spoon over chicken. Cover; cook on LOW 5 or 6 hours or on HIGH 2 1/2 to 3 hours or until chicken is tender.

3. With slotted spoon, transfer chicken to serving platter and cover with foil to keep warm. Turn crock pot cooker to High. Combine cornstartch with water until smooth. Stir into cooking liquid. Cover; cook 15 minutes or until thickened. Spoon sauce over chicken; serve over linguini. Top with thickened yogurt and garnish as desired.

Chicken Fajitas with Lime

This was a really good fajita marinade recipe and I don't want to lose it. I love lime so this was perfect.


1 clove garlic minced
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp. chili powder
2 Tbl. olive oil
juice from 1 lime (+ another half for during cooking)
about 1-2 tsp. sugar (optional)
about 1 tsp vinegar (optional)

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, sliced thin
2 bell peppers (green, red or orange)
1 onion

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Mix in chicken to coat. Marinate in the fridge for a few hours.

Cook chicken and marinade in a skillet with a little olive oil. Remove. Cook onions and peppers in some of the marinade left in the pan. Add extra lemon squeeze to the veggies if desired. Add chicken and heat through again.

Serve with tortillas, cheese and sour cream.

Chicken and Veggies in Parchment Paper

My in-laws bought some of those pre-seasoned chicken breasts at the grocery store the other day. I needed to use them before they went bad, so I tried to decide how to best cook them up. Bake them? Broil them? Pan cook them? Then I decided to cook them in parchment paper- sort of like a tin foil dinner.

I cut a square of parchment paper, put the chicken, cut potatoes and carrots in the center (sadly, I had no other good veggies to put in at the time). I added a little seasoning for the veggies since the chicken already had a little, and a spoonful of chicken broth (since we have some in the fridge from cooking a batch of chicken on Sunday). Then I just folded it up, cooked it for 35 minutes on 375 and we ate with a little bit of brown rice and BBQ sauce. It was pretty good! I look forward to trying it again but with my own chicken seasoning (it wasn't great pre-seasoned) and some different veggies like zucchini or something. Anyway, it was good and it was fun to rip open the packet and eat it inside the paper like a foil dinner. I got the folding directions here.

Peanut Butter Lovers Day

Happy Peanut Butter Lovers Day! I didn't know that such a day existed until today. Though I can't say I'm surprised, there are all kinds of silly made up holidays. Anyway, I decided to dedicate dinner and dessert to peanut butter. I made a homemade thai peanut chicken marinade/sauce over fried rice for dinner and peanut butter cookies for dessert. It was delicious!

I left the peanut butter cookie recipe upstairs, I'll post it tomorrow.

Peanut Chicken

I used two chicken breasts for Andrew and I to eat (plus a little left over for one lunch for tomorrow). I mixed together the sauce and marinated the cut up chicken bites in the fridge for a couple of hours. Then I just heated about a Tbl. of oil in our pan and cooked the chicken through. I took out the chicken and made the fried rice (rice, rice vinegar, soy sauce, garlic and onion salt, green onions, broccoli, scrambled egg, frozen carrots and peas) in the same pan. We have bought a bottle of peanut sauce for stir fry etc and Andrew said he liked this homemade version much better. I liked it because it tasted fresher and I could control the heat with the red pepper flakes.

4 Tbl. hot water
4 Tbl. peanut butter
2 Tbl. soy sauce
3 tsp. vegetable oil
3 tsp. white vinegar or rice vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp fresh ginger, minced or grated
1/4 tsp red pepper or red pepper flakes
chicken

Mix up the water and peanut butter first- whisking it works really well. Then add the rest.

Orange Chicken

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We LOVE this chicken. It is great with white rice, but homemade fried rice might be even better!

Chicken Ingredients
2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into bite sized pieces
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp. salt
white pepper
oil (for frying)
1/2 cup cornstarch plus 1 Tbl. cornstarch
1/4 cup flour
1 Tbl. ginger root minced
1 tsp. garlic minced
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 cup green onion chopped
1 Tbl. rice wine
1/4 cup water

Orange Sauce Ingredients
1 1/2 Tbl. soy sauce
1 1/2 Tbl. water
5 Tbl. sugar
5 Tbl. white vinegar
zest of 1 orange

Directions
1. Mix egg, salt, pepper and 1 Tbl. oil in a bowl. Add chicken and stir to coat.
2. Stir cornstarch and flour into a separate bowl.
3. Heat oil in wok or fry pan to 375 degrees (or until the oil sizzles and bubbles when a piece is dropped in)
4. Coat chicken in flour mixture in batches.
5. Add chicken in small batches to the oil and cook for 3-4 minutes or until lightly golden brown
6. Remove chicken and set aside. Empty oil and clean wok.
7. Heat 1 Tbl. oil. Add garlic and ginger until fragrant- about 10 seconds.
8. Add red peppers and green onions. Add rice wine (optional) and stir for a few seconds only.
9. Add prepared Orange Sauce and cook until it comes to a boil.
10. Add cooked chicken and stir.
11. Stir 1 Tbl. cornstarch into water and add to chicken and sauce. Stir and heat until sauce is thickened and coats.

Note: We used rice vinegar since rice wine has alcohol. I thought it tasted fine but Andrew would leave it out next time- he thought with all the white vinegar it was too acidic. He may have also substituted some of the orange juice (from the orange we zested) in place of half of the white vinegar in the sauce.

Chicken Satay

Again, not my picture, but the general idea. I didn't have my camera around when I made this dinner.

I served this Chicken Satay with the Garlicky Baked Butternut Squash.

1 tsp. garlic
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. white pepper
2 Tbl. soy sauce
1 Tbl. molasses
2 tsp. lime juice
2 lb. chicken strips (I cut 3 chicken breasts into strips)
2 Tbl. vegetable oil (This is one time that veg oil is better than olive- the olive oil will try to smoke in the broiler)
Skewers. (soak these in water before broiling so they don't burn)

Combine garlic, salt and pepper in a bowl- mash with the back of a spoon into a 'paste'
Mix in soy, molasses and lime juice.
Add chicken strips and toss to coat.
Refrigerate for 2 hours.

Remove chicken. Thread of skewers. Place skewers on a broiler pan. Brush oil over the skewers.
Broil 5-10 minutes, turning occasionally throughout.