Homemade Chicken Stock

This week is one of those crazy weeks so I tried to keep our dinners as easy as possible.  One of my favorite new recipes is the best whole chicken in a crockpot that I found over at 100 Days of Real Food. (If you can't tell already, I'm obsessed with that website.)  The chicken is so delicious and literally falls off the bones.  It's nice having that roasted chicken dinner without turning the oven on, especially as the weather is getting warmer.  And let me tell you this is very kid-friendly.  I think my two little ones would eat the whole chicken if I let them have it.  One of my favorite parts about cooking the chicken in the crockpot is that it makes it so easy to make some homemade chicken stock.  It makes about 4 quarts of chicken stock so it's a big money saver vs. the boxes in the store and it is so much tastier.  I'm going to use the leftover chicken to make some chicken enchiladas again because the family loved them so much last time.  The leftover stock will get used for some Turkey Chili I will be making and then I will still have some left over in the freezer.  I really feel this is a fool-proof recipe for stock and you don't have to tend to it because it can just sit all day or overnight in the crockpot.

Chicken Tandoori

Another issue of Food Network Magazine brought me another Indian dish that I was willing to try: Chicken Tandoori. It is most known for it's fiery red color and is usually cooked in a clay oven (tandoor.) The color comes from certain red chili powders and sometimes even food coloring. While mine was not as red as others the flavor was great and I think this is most important. This dinner was also another milestone for me because I cooked on the grill with no help for the first time.

Chicken Cacciatore

This recipe has just about all of the things I love in a classic Italian pasta dinner. Except cheese, of course, although it is one recipe where I find I don't miss the cheese. It's just so good. My husband, always budget conscious, recently asked me why I don't ever buy chicken thighs instead of chicken breasts. I mainly don't buy them because of the additional fat versus breasts. I decided to try them with this recipe and I was not to thrilled. The fat and the texture just made me miss my chicken breasts. The dish was still very good but I will definitely do chicken breasts next time. Serve it over your favorite pasta (I like it with spaghetti). Delizioso!

Chicken Satay Stir-Fry

This is one of those recipes that I can make that is guaranteed to make everyone happy. It is so good and quick and easy. I saw it on a 30 Minute Meal episode originally. It's a great family meal but also great for company. You can have everything chopped ahead of time and then quickly stir-fry it when it's time to eat. I leave out the snow peas because we're not big fans and I don't feel that it really adds anything to the dish. Also, she originally called for creamy peanut butter and then to add some chopped peanuts. I skip a step and just use crunchy peanut butter.  I use our Homemade Peanut Butter and throw in a handful of peanuts for crunch. The rice is also a great addition to this meal. You can use regular long-grain rice if you don't want to buy jasmine, but don't skip the orange zest. It really adds something. UPDATE: I have done this with brown rice and it's delicious!  You just have to cook the rice for 45 minutes instead of 18.  I also half the rice and water amounts lately because we don't need so much rice.

Chicken Tacos and Mexican Rice

I've been missing Mexican food like crazy lately. Everything about it, the spicy, the beans, seems to make my baby unhappy. It is my husband's favorite cuisine and I've felt really bad it so I tried to make a milder Mexican dinner and left out the beans. Success! It was yummy: happy Mommy and happy baby! Anyway, I did the chicken in the slow cooker and it came out really good. I did the shells my self by frying corn tortillas in a little oil in a skillet. I like to fry them just a little so they're kind of in between the soft tortillas and the really hard tacos. Then I made my own little version of Mexican rice. Easy and delicious.

Recipe (serves 4 plus leftovers)

Chicken for tacos (would be great in burritos or for nachos, etc)

2 - 2.5 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
16 oz container of fresh salsa
1 T chili powder

Note: the salsa is where you can really alter the spiciness.

Combine all ingredients in slow cooker and cook on high for 4-6 hours or low for 8 hours. Shred meat with 2 forks and serve.

Mexican Rice

1 T olive oil
1 c long-grain rice
1 cube (or 1 T) of tomato chicken bouillon (see below)
2 c water
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 onion, chopped
1 t cumin

In a medium saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add rice and cook, stirring, until brown (but not dark brown/black). When almost brown add the garlic. Next, add the bouillon and water (WATCH OUT: It will steam!!!) and the remaining ingredients. Stir well and cover, leaving a small air escape. Reduce heat to medium low. Cook UNDISTURBED for 20 minutes. When ready, the rice should be fluffy and the grains split open and dry, not saucy.

*The bouillon can be found in the Mexican food section of the grocery store. If for some reason you cannot find it you can substitute chicken bouillon (or just use chicken stock instead of the water) and add a tablespoon of tomato paste or a few tablespoons of tomato sauce.

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Chicken Picatta

This is definitely a go-to meal when I don't know what to cook. It contains ingredients that I pretty much always have in the house (with the exception of capers, which I feel are optional in this recipe anyway.) It is one of my favorite Italian dishes and is delicious with pasta or rice. I like to make a simple white rice or pilaf with chicken stock and we had some roasted green beans. Yum!

Chicken Korma

My husband LOVES Indian Food! My experience with it has not been so great. I like spicy food, but every time I've tried Indian food it was so spicy I couldn't taste anything. The fact that I don't really like curry probably doesn't help either. So one day I was looking in my Food Network magazine and I saw this recipe for Chicken Korma. I had never heard of it but it looked really good. I asked my husband if he'd hear of it and he said "yeah, it's Indian." So I decided to try it seeing as it does not have curry and I could adjust the spice to my liking. It was really good. I think it will definitely become part of our regular rotation. The recipe calls for ground chicken so I just took some boneless skinless chicken breasts that I had and pulsed them in the Cuisinart. I served the Chicken Korma with some fresh toasted whole-wheat pitas. I think next time I will try to make some homemade naan bread. For sides I served roasted garlic couscous and roasted broccoli (I was going to do an Indian cauliflower dish but the market was out of cauliflower!) All in all, this dinner was easy, healthy, the kids loved it, and it was better than most take-out. Score!

Turkey Chili with White Beans

You can't get much more comforting than a bowl of chili. Add some cornbread and it just gets that much better. Unfortunately the cornbread gets put on hold when you realize your kids have drank all the milk. So what do you do with 2 sticks of butter that you have already melted? Make some chocolate chip cookies! So it all works out. Anyway, I love trying out new chili recipes. I'm a fan of regular old ground beef chili. I also make a turkey chili without tomatoes. I even like to make a white chicken chili. I was searching for a recipe the other day because I wanted something to make with some ground turkey. I thought of chili but I wanted to do something new. I found this recipe from Bon Appetit and was intrigued by the use of cinnamon and cocoa. I'm so glad I tried this recipe. It was really tasty. The cilantro on top is a must. It adds a flavor that you can't get from anything else. The only change I made to the recipe was to use half the amount of chili powder because spicy foods are not agreeing with my nursing infant. It still had a wonderful flavor.

Chicken Parmesan

This a recipe is a perfect example of why I need to keep a running list of the things I make. It is one of my favorite recipes, but I always forget about it when I'm making my grocery list for the week. It's really simple, yet delicious and you can make it with common ingredients you might already have in the house. I boosted the healthfulness of the meal by serving it over whole wheat pasta. Our family loved it and I think it will become our regular spaghetti.

Buffalo-Chicken Macaroni and Cheese

When I was writing my Fried Chicken post, I mentioned my constant quest for yummy mac and cheese recipes. I think I laughed out loud when later that day I opened my new Food Network Magazine (April 2010) and saw that there was an article on just that. When I turned to the recipes and saw this one I knew right away I had to make it. I like buffalo chicken dishes occasionally, but my husband and son LOVE them. I discovered that even my 22 month old daughter does too. She devoured this buffalo chicken dip that I made for Superbowl this year. Anyway, I thought this sounded pretty good. Well, it was delicious! The sour cream gave an incredible texture and left me thinking that I need to be putting sour cream in all of my mac and cheese. One thing I left out was the blue cheese on top. We are just not huge fans and honestly I don't fell like it was missed.  Even though we're not normally blue cheese fans, the blue cheese makes this recipe delicious! The original recipe calls for using a store-bought rotisserie chicken but I just poached some chicken breasts instead. Be careful with this one. You're going to want to eat it all. (Look for more mac-and-cheese recipes to come - I think it will be a series)

A Whole Lotta Comfort Food

Chicken with Cornmeal Dumplings
Dijon Rosemary Potatoes
Glazed Carrots

I love to make chicken and dumplings and I came across this recipe one day in the Gourmet Cookbook. It's not the typical chicken and dumplings recipein that it doesn't have all of the vegetables, but it has a delicious flavor with the addition of shallots and a little white wine. Then there are the cornmeal dumplings. Yum! They don't have a strong "corny" taste but have a different texture than the standard dumplings. The recipe calls for a whole cut-up chicken but I had a bag of drumsticks that I wanted to use. Honestly, you can use what ever chicken pieces you like.

Fettucini Alfredo with Chicken and Roasted Broccoli

Yum! This is one of my all time favorites. It is a quick and very easy recipe that pleases just about anyone (as long as they like pasta and cheese!) I have a deep love for Italian food and have the opinion that cheese can make just about everything better. I have always been a fan of broccoli and have recently discovered the incredible flavor you can get from roasting broccoli. I do it as a side dish but have also found it to be delicious with my Fettuccine Alfredo.

As far as chicken goes, there are many ways you can prepare chicken to go with this dish. It is delicious, grilled, roasted, or sauteed. You can even cut your cooking time and buy a rotisserie chicken from the market. They are delicious and a good time-saver for quick family meals. I've used them in pasta dishes, for nachos or quesadillas, and even pizza toppings (Note to self: I'll have to do a post on BBQ Chicken pizza).

I think the simplicity of this dish is one of the things that makes it so delicious. But, you can make things even better by including great ingredients. I recently bought a large chunk of
Parmigiano Reggiano at Costco. While this sauce has always been delicious, the quality of the cheese brought it to new heights.

Recipe (serves 4 plus leftovers)

3/4 - 1 lb fettuccine
1/2 c butter
1 c Parmigiano reggiano (plus more for garnish)
1 c heavy cream
1/2 - 3/4 lb broccoli
olive oil
salt and pepper
1 - 1 1/2 lb chicken tenderloins

Follow directions on box of pasta to cook to al dente.

Preheat oven to 400. Arrange broccoli on baking sheet in a single layer and season with salt and pepper. (It's also great with some minced fresh garlic or a little garlic powder.) Drizzle broccoli with olive oil and toss to coat. Roast in oven for about 10 minutes.

To saute chicken: Heat 1-2 T olive oil in skillet over medium heat. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Cook in skillet a few minutes on each side until lightly browned. Remove to cutting board and slice before mixing with pasta.

For sauce: Melt butter in pan over medium-low. Add cream, cooked fettuccine, and Parmesan. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir until combined and cheese is melted into sauce. Add chicken and broccoli and mix to combine. Garnish with additional Parmesan (I love my Microplanefor this - more on that in a later post).

Fried Chicken

Back in 2005 I bought myself some cast-iron cookware. I got a griddle/grill pan (which I love), a 10 1/4 inch skillet (great for cornbread), and a 15 1/4 inch skillet. I've used the large skillet for a number of things (e.g. chicken fried steak). Recently when my mother was visiting she made fried chicken and I realized that I have never made fried chicken in my cast-iron skillet. So this was my first experiment in making fried chicken and I think I may need to tweak a few things.

I got a really good deal on chicken breasts at Costco this past weekend so I only made breasts this time and I split them because they were huge.

First I salted the chicken and let it sit in a bowl while I readied the other ingredients. To the bowl I added about 3 cups of buttermilk, 2 onions - sliced, and some hot sauce. I let this marinate overnight until dinnertime.

In a paper bag I combined about 2 cups of flour, paprika, cayenne, garlic powder and salt. I placed the chicken pieces in the bag one at a time and shook until well coated. I let the chicken pieces rest about 30 minutes before frying. In the cast-iron skillet over medium heat I heated up enough shortening to come up about an inch in the skillet. Then I began frying. This took a while! I think the first batch took almost 30 minutes or more to cook. I was concerned about getting the middle up to temperature while not burning the outside. Also some of the pieces were cooking faster than others and not evenly. I think maybe a lid might help, but unfortunately they don't make one for this size skillet. I also think I may need to play around using both burners to keep the skillet hot all around.

All in all I think it still came out pretty good. The chicken was moist on the inside and crispy on the outside for the most part although there was some unevenness. I served it with homemade macaroni and cheese and corn. I strayed a little from my usual mac and cheese recipe. I used some Dijon instead of dry mustard which was pretty good. I think I'll write a post some time about my search for the perfect, but easy, homemade mac and cheese.

Turkey Meatloaf

Growing up I was never a real fan of meatloaf. To me, it always tasted like a weird, mushy hamburger with a bunch of ketchup on it. A few years ago my mom bought me the Gourmet Cookbook. I saw this recipe for Turkey Meat Loaf with Roasted Red Pepper-Tomato Sauce. It is delicious, healthy, and a great way to "sneak in" veggies for pickier family members. This has become a family favorite and can please both kids and foodies. I like to serve it with mashed potatoes and a favorite veggie (for our family it's Brussels sprouts). Oh and definitely skip the ketchup. This sauce is a must!

Recipe (Serves 6 or 4 plus leftovers)

Meatloaf

1 t olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium carrot, finely chopped
1/2 - 3/4 lb cremini mushrooms, finely chopped in food processor.
1 t salt
1/2 t black pepper
1 1/2 t Worcestershire sauce
1/3 c flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
5 T ketchup
1 c fresh bread crumbs (about 2 slices, I use whole wheat)
1/3 c milk
1 whole egg plus 1 egg white, lightly beaten
1 1/4 lb ground turkey

Sauce

1 head garlic
1/2 lb plum (Roma) tomatoes, halved lengthwise
1 large red bell pepper
1 t olive oil
1 1/2 t lemon juice
1/2 t balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375. Cut off top of garlic head and wrap garlic in foil. Arrange tomatoes cut side up on baking sheet and season with salt. Add bell pepper and wrapped garlic to pan. Roast 1 hour.

(Note: I found the best results is to chop each of the vegetables in the food processor. This is necessary at least for the mushrooms, so if I have it out I might as well use it for everything. Just process each ingredient and add it as you go.)

Meanwhile, Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook until onion is softened. Add carrot and continue cooking until softened, about 3 minutes. Add mushrooms, 1/2 t salt, 1/4 t pepper, and cook until liquid from mushrooms evaporates, about 10-15 minutes. Stir in Worcestershire, parsley and 3 T ketchup. Set aside to cool.

Stir together bread crumbs and milk and let stand for 5 minutes. Stir in eggs and then add to vegetables, along with turkey and remaining 1/2 t salt, and 1/4 t pepper. Mix well (mixture will be VERY moist.)

Remove tomatoes, pepper, and garlic from oven. Place pepper in a small bowl and cover with plastic wrap for 20 minutes.

Turn oven up to 400. Lightly oil a baking sheet. (You do not want to use a loaf pan for this). Form mixture into a 9x5 inch oval loaf on the baking sheet. Brush meatloaf with 2 T ketchup (this gives it a sweet glaze). Bake 50-55 minutes.

Peel pepper and discard stem and seeds. Add to food processor along with roasted garlic, tomatoes, oil, lemon juice, vinegar, and salt and pepper to taste. Puree until smooth. Serve over meatloaf.