Pages, Pucks and Pantry

Chicken Au Champagne or Champagne Chicken

Over the years myself, my husband, my mom, and many of my friends have belonged to one wine club or another. It's always fun to try new wines and find new favorites, not to mention having the wine delivered directly to your door. At some point Mr. L and I looked around and realized we actually had too much wine (I know, that seems like such an impossible possibility) so we decided to join a champagne club and have champagne delivered directly to our door instead.

Believe it or not, every once in a while, after we open a bottle of champagne, there is actually some left. Again, such an impossible possibility, but it does happen. So I usually go looking for some dish I can use the leftover champagne in. This time I found a recipe on Pinterest that used the champagne and included ingredients I had on hand.

This dish was good enough that I'd actually open a bottle of champagne to make it again. And again. And again. One of the reasons I chose this recipe as opposed to others was that there is no cream, which I think makes this a lighter (and therefore healthier, and therefore I feel no guilt in eating this) dish.

You can find the recipe on Cooking with Curls website here.

Chicken au Champagne
(Cooking with Curls)

Main ingredients you'll need:

chicken breasts or thighs (skin on, bone in)
shallots
brut Champagne
mushrooms
fresh tarragon

NOTE: I used chicken thighs.

NOTE: You'll need a cup of champagne so when you open the bottle in the morning for those mimosas, you might want to set aside the champagne for dinner before you begin. Otherwise you might drink more than you think and not have enough...then you'd have to open another bottle of champagne. And then if you forget again, you'll just keep opening bottles...and then you won't be awake to be able to cook the dish for dinner. Trust me. I have personal knowledge.

Honey-Sriracha Glazed Buffalo Wings

Out of all the recipes Mr. L and I could have tried from The Sriracha Cookbook, yeah, we went with the chicken wings. Chicken wings are Mr. L's Achilles heel. I don't think Mr. L has ever found a chicken wing recipe that he wouldn't try or a chicken wing recipe that he didn't like. Considering all the weird stuff I've cooked or made Mr. L try in restaurants, I have no problem with contributing to his wing obsession.

These were actually pretty good. If you plan on frying up some chicken wings for a Superbowl party, these would work great. A bit different than the standard red sauced wings that tend to show up. Super simple to do, basically you just fry the wings and then coat them with the sauce

HONEY-SRIRACHA GLAZED BUFFALO WINGS
(The Sriracha Cookbook)

Vegetable or Peanut Oil for Frying
4 pounds chicken wings
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
2/3 cup Sriracha
1/2 cup orange blossom honey
2 teaspoons kosher salt
Juice of 1 lime
Chopped fresh cilantro, for garnish
2 tablespoons white sesame seeds, for garnish

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F. Prepare the deep fryer by filling with oil to the manufacture's suggested fill level. (Alternately, a cast-iron or other wide heavy-duty pan can be used; fill with oil to a depth of 2 to 3 inches, but no more than halfway up the side of the pan.)

Tuck the wing tips beneath the wing to avoid burning them, or remove the tips and save to make stock.

Heat the oil to 350 degrees F. Fry the wings in batches for 10 to 12 minutes, until crispy and golden brown. Be careful not to crowd the pan, as this will lower the temperature of the oil significantly and result in soggy wings.

Keep batches of cooked wings on a wire rack set over a baking sheet (or on a foil-lined baking sheet) in the preheated oven until all the wings have been fried.

While the wings are frying, melt the butter in a medium saucepan over low heat. Add the Sriracha, honey, salt, and lime juice, stirring to combine. Keep warm over low heat. Put the cooked wings in a large mixing bowl and toss with the Sriracha mixture. Plate the coated wings on a large platter, garnishing with cilantro and sesame seeds.

Makes 6 to 8 servings.

NOTE: I used three pounds of wings instead of four because that's all I had.

NOTE: I actually did have some orange blossom honey on hand but I think you could use any honey.

NOTE: We used our little deep fryer and used vegetable oil. Because I kept the chicken wings whole (with tips) I couldn't get more than five wings in the basket at a time. It took four rounds of frying to do all three pounds.

NOTE: It took less than 10 minutes per batch to fry these in our fryer. I'm going to assume that different fryers or cooking on the stove will time differently.

NOTE: When I first started heating up the sauce in wouldn't come together (there was a big red blob in the middle of the honey and butter mixture). I used a whisk to get it to mix together.

NOTE:  There was a ton of sauce, probably because we used a pound less wings. The sauce didn't really stick to the wings much. We were pretty much dredging the wings through the sauce left on the platter. We also used the sauce on some potatoes we cooked. And I think some vegetables. We probably would have put it on ice cream if there was any left.

NOTE: I think there is a reason that Sriracha is called the "flaming rooster wonder juice".

Did I mention the sauce was really good? Didn't have a lot of heat and it was a bit sweet tasting but we liked it.  Maybe just a bit more heat next time. Maybe more Sriracha. We didn't wait for all the chicken to be done before we started eating these, once the first batch was in the sauce, we started eating them as we were frying the next batch of wings. So we didn't use the cilantro or seeds for garnish on most, I just used it on the wings above for the photo. Yeah, I think we liked them. Definitely make again.

 

 

Jalapeno Popper Chicken

I came across a recipe for Jalapeno Popper Stuffed Chicken Breasts and thought it sounded like a great recipe. But I was lazy and didn't want to have to deal with stuffing the breast. Nor did I want to deal with pounding the breasts thin to make the same recipe only in a roll up. I also didn't like the sound of using taco mix which quite a few of the recipes I searched for on the internet required. When I came across this recipe on Epicurious that not only seemed pretty simple but added bacon, I knew I'd found the Jalapeno Popper Chicken recipe I was looking for.

Not a lot to be said about this recipe other than Oh Em Gee it was good. Really good. Mr. L wanted seconds and thirds. I had to keep myself from eating the topping off the remaining chicken before putting the leftovers away. And other than cooking the bacon mixture it goes together pretty quick. This will be a recipe I make often.

The topping is obviously what makes this dish so tasty and I keep thinking of ways to use the topping in other recipes. Maybe on a baked potato? Or on top of some sort of hash brown casserole? Yeah, the topping is that good!

 

JALAPENO POPPER CHICKEN RECIPE
(Epicurious)

6 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
For the Jalapeno Popper Topping:
3 slices bacon, diced
2 jalapenos, de-veined, de-seeded and diced
1/4 cup diced onion
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup mayonnaise or Greek yogurt
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
For The Topping:
1/2 cup crushed butter crackers (1/2 sleeve)
1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese
4 Tablespoons butter, melted

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Place chicken breasts in a small casserole dish and bake until juices run clear when pricked, about 45 minutes.

While chicken is baking, prepare jalapeno popper topping for chicken. Add bacon, jalapenos, and onions to a small skillet and fry until bacon is crispy and jalapenos and onions are tender. Remove from heat and add to a small mixing bowl. Add cream cheese, mayonnaise or yogurt, and cheeses to mixing bowl and cream together with bacon mixture until well-combined.

Remove chicken from oven and reduce oven heat to 350 degree F. Spread jalapeno popper topping on top of chicken until well-covered.

For the topping, mix together crushed crackers, cheese, and melted butter. Sprinkle on top of jalapeno popper topped chicken. Bake until crackers are lightly browned, about 15 minutes. Serve warm.

Makes 6 - 8 servings.

Note: I added more bacon (no surprise there right?). I used mayonnaise. The crushed butter crackers were Ritz Crackers. I used preshredded parmesan cheese from my local supermarket deli counter.

Note: I tasted my jalapenos and they weren't that hot so I left a few seeds in the mixture as I don't mind a bit of heat.

Note: I tend to get organic chicken breasts which seem to be much bigger than normal chicken breasts. Depending on the size of your breasts (stop laughing) you may or may not have leftover jalapeno topping. The amount I had fit fine on my larger breasts (again, stop laughing!) otherwise spread mixture on your breasts (I'm warning you) and save any extra to top baked potatoes.

Candy Corn Quesadillas

Wait, no, stop, don't run away! I know what you're thinking...candy corn flavored quesadillas, ugh! But these don't taste like candy corn, they are just made to look like candy corn. No real candy corn involved at all!

I found this recipe in a Pillsbury special magazine "The Best Ever Halloween" that is supposed to be displayed until November 22nd. Retailing for $10.99 it's more like a cookbook than a magazine...no ads and a decent sized photo of each dish. It's chock full of great, fun recipes to use for my favorite holiday.

Both Mr. L and I liked these Candy Corn Quesadillas though I changed up the recipe a bit (I couldn't find the cheese and salsa dip called for). I will say that my quesadillas don't look exactly like the recipes...no matter how hard I tried, unless I let the quesadilla get cold, the sour cream wouldn't stay put on the end...it just kind of sadly melted off. So I just kind of globed it on (nothing I hate more than cold quesadillas) so that I could get a quick photo and Mr. L and I could commence eating dinner. Loved the crunch of the corn chips in this by the way.

CANDY CORN QUESADILLAS
(Pillsbury Best Ever Halloween 2013)

Basically here's what you do. Make quesadillas any way you like. Once they are done, melt some cheddar cheese on the top. Then put crushed corn chips on the outer edge and sour cream on the inner edge to make it look like candy corn. The real instructions from Pillsbury go like this:

2 1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken
2 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese (10 oz)
3/4 cup Old El Paso mild Cheese 'n Salsa dip (from 15-oz jar)
2 tablespoons butter, melted
4 Old El Paso flour tortillas for burritos (8 inch)
1/4 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups crushed corn chips

Heat oven to 450 degrees F. Spray a 15 x 10 inch pan with sides with cooking spray.

In medium bowl, mix chicken, 1 cup of the cheese and the cheese dip.

Brush melted butter on 1 side of each tortilla; place tortillas, buttered side down, on pan. Spoon chicken mixture evenly over half of each tortilla; fold in half over filling, pressing slightly.

Bake 10 minutes or until edges begin to brown. Turn; sprinkle evenly with remaining 1 1/2 cups cheese. Bake 3 minutes longer or until cheese is melted.

Spoon 1 tablespoon sour cream in middle of folded edge of each quesadilla. Sprinkle crushed corn chips over rounded edges of tortillas, pressing to secure. Cut each quesadilla into thirds and serve.

Makes 12 servings of 3 wedges each. 270 calories each. 13 grams carbs each.

Note: I didn't have the cheese and salsa dip called for so I just made my own "filling". Took some  chicken, added a bunch of cheese and some salsa and a bit of salt and pepper. Pretty much you can make your own filling with whatever you have. Be sure if you use your own salsa or a jarred salsa, that you drain it a bit so the filling doesn't get to wet.

Note: I cut the recipe in half.

Note: I used rotisserie chicken. I used a mix of cheese (almost double what's called for to go in the quesadilla) and some really good fresh salsa(which had some heat in it) instead of their cheese and salsa dip. I'm thinking melty cheese like, gasp, Velveeta or some jarred stuff would be similar to theirs.

Note: I bought one of those small bags of Fritos and it was plenty for a half recipe.

Note: Again the sour cream, no matter how nice I tried to be placing it, melted off the quesadillas. I suppose you could wait till they cooled off some but I kinda like my quesadillas piping hot with all that melty cheese so I didn't quite get the effect I'm sure they were going for.

Since a lot of the foods that come out for Halloween are sweet, this was a nice change of pace to have something more like a meal for the holidays. And I really really liked the corn chip crunch on these.

 

Brown Ale-Braised Chicken

I'm a fan of Guinness...some people aren't. I like the flavor it gives to food be it this Brown-Ale Braised Chicken or a Guinness cake. This surprises some people because I don't like beer. I just like Guinness. More specific, I like Black and Tans. Guinness and Bass Ale. With very salty potato chips. I have no clue why. So yeah, pretty much anything cooked with Guinness works for me.

Mr. L and I both really liked this recipe and the flavor the stout gave this dish. I realize they called for "brown-ale" and gave many local beer examples. That's fine for you. I'm using Guinness. The whole thing is pretty simple to put together but took me about 30 minutes or so to prep and then you just have to wait the 40 minute baking time. Which gives you time to sit back and have a Guinness (because you of course bought a full six pack because the grocery store no longer sells the single bottles and you'd hate for Guinness to sit around and go bad). With St. Patrick's Day coming up this weekend, this would be a great dish to serve for dinner.

The recipe for this Brown Ale-Braised Chicken came out of the October 2012 Better Homes and Gardens magazine. As usual the photo of my recipe doesn't look a whole lot like theirs, but at least it tastes really good.

BROWN ALE-BRAISED CHICKEN
(Better Homes and Garden October 2012)

1 Tbsp. packed brown sugar
1/2 Tbsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper
8 skin-on chicken thighs
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 medium onion, sliced
2 stalks celery, chopped
8 small whole carrots with tops, peeled and tops trimmed to 1 inch
2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 12-oz. bottle brown ale
1/2 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
4 cloves garlic, peeled
Coarsely chopped celery leaves
Fresh Thyme

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a small bowl combine brown sugar, chili powder, salt, ground black pepper, and crushed red pepper; rub into chicken thighs. Let stand 10 minutes.

In an extra-large ovenproof skillet heat oil over medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook until well browned on both sides and skin is crispy. Remove chicken from skillet. Drain fat, reserving 1 Tbsp.

In the same skillet cook and stir the onion, celery, and carrots in the reserved fat about 5 minutes or until tender. Stir in flour; cook and stir 1 minute. Stir in beer and broth. Bring to a simmer. Return chicken to skillet. Add garlic. Cover and bake 40 minutes. Sprinkle with celery leaves and thyme.

Makes 4 servings. (Each serving 552 cal, 23 g carbs, 4 g fiber)

Note: I couldn't find any small carrots but I did find some smallish organic carrots of different colors. I used them but cut them into half and thirds. Messes a bit with the presentation but still tasted good.

Note: I used Guinness Stout in bottles

Note: I of course had the thyme and stuff to garnish the dish and then completely forgot to put them on. Sometimes cooking when you're really hungry isn't the best for food blogging.

Note: We seemed to have way more "sauce" than pictured in the recipe article. It's pretty good sauce so I kept it and used it to pour over some brown rice and quinoa.

All in all a great dish that we would definitely make again and perfect to serve to company.

 

Gong Bao Chicken

Depending on what you read and where, Gong Bao Chicken is just another version of Kung Pao Chicken, the Chinese version of Kung Pao Chicken...or not related at all. As long as it's tasty, I'm not really sure that I care what you call it.

There are many recipes out there for Gong Bao Chicken...some with peanuts, some without. Some using chicken breasts, some using chicken thighs. Some with Sichuan peppercorns, some using more red chilies and no peppercorns. Again, as long as it's tasty I don't care what you put in it.

The recipe I used for Gong Bao Chicken came from Serious Eats. I love quick dishes like this. And though I tend to make quite a few chicken stir fry type dishes I love that they all seem to have a different flavor depending on the types of spices or even parts of the chicken you use.

It took me a bit to find Sichuan peppers in my grocery store. The store had a wide assortment of different brands of spices but I found Sichuan peppers in a display of little green boxes that sat at the end of an isle. I was concerned that the recipe called for these to be left whole and not put through a grinder. Since I didn't bite into any hard little balls of heat while eating, I guess this didn't matter.

Quick. Simple. Tasty. I put this over rice and grilled a few baby bok choy and we had a wonderful dinner that came together quickly. You can find the Serious Eats recipe here.

GONG BAO CHICKEN
(from Serious Eats)

1/3 cup unsalted peanuts
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 3/4-inch cubes
1 tablespoon cornstarch
4 tablespoons light soy sauce
2 tablespoons unroasted peanut oil or other neutral oil
1 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns
2 dried red chilies, roughly chopped or crushed
2 garlic cloves, peeled and very thinly sliced
1-inch knob ginger root, peeled and very thinly sliced
4 scallions, trimmed and roughly chopped
Cooked white rice, for serving

Combine the chicken, corn starch, and half the soy sauce in a small bowl. Toss the chicken until it's well-coated in the mixture and set aside.

Meanwhile, heat a large, dry skillet or wok over medium heat. Add the peanuts and cook, gently tossing occasionally, until they're golden brown and fragrant, 2-3 minutes. Transfer to a plate to cool.

Heat the oil in the skillet or wok over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the Sichuan peppercorns and dried chiles and cook, stirring continuously, until the chiles turn a light brown in color.

Turn the heat to high and add the marinated chicken. Cook for 2-3 minutes, until starting to turn golden, then add the garlic, ginger, scallions, and peanuts. Continue cooking until the chicken is cooked through, 1-2 minutes more.

Remove from the heat, pour the remaining soy sauce over the chicken and serve immediately with rice.

Serves 4

NOTE: I didn't cut up the chicken into small enough pieces for my liking.

NOTE: This dish wasn't spicy at all, even with the Sichuan peppercorns and chilies.

NOTE: Not a lot of sauce. But what was there went nicely over some rice (we used brown).

There wasn't a lot of spice or "heat" to this dish but it could have been peppercorns or chilies that were past their prime. I think this is one of those dishes where you can experiment and add more or less chilies and heat to your preference. I also think you can play with the other flavors (adding more garlic, less ginger) to make a dish that works for your taste buds. Use this recipe as a guide. Definitely a dish that will go into our "quick stir fry* dinner" rotation.

*I don't own a traditional wok by the way. I have an electronic wok that I usually only get out on special occasions and I have a Pampered Chef wok pan which is just more of a deep rounded frying pan. I do most of my stir frys in that Pampered Chef pan or a standard frying pan.

Crunchy Oven-Fried Drumsticks

In my quest to use up stuff in my pantry I was pleased to see that the guys at The Bitten Word had their own pantry challenge. Their Clean Out the Cupboard challenge though was a bit different than mine...For one week, all three meals they made each day, were only made from stuff they had in their freezer or pantry. They only spent $15 at the store for milk and produce for that week. They came up with some really great sounding meals only using stuff they had on hand. I'm soooo not that talented a cook yet. My talent is to pick one item, then spend hours looking through all my cookbooks to see what I can make with that one item. Then I go buy tons of ingredients to use up that one pantry item. Pathetic I know, but believe it or not, my freezer and pantry are slowly getting less crowded.

This dish was perfect for me to start off my Operation Pantry Project a few weeks ago as it used up three items I had on hand...some chicken drumsticks that were in the freezer; some of the Rice Krispies cereal I had in the cabinet; and an envelope of Ranch Dressing Mix that was in the pantry.

This recipe also brought back a bit of nostalgia, because I don't know about you, but chicken cooked like this was pretty big while I was growing up. If I'm not mistaken the recipe used to be on the back of the Rice Krispies box at one point and most folks might remember the version made with cornflakes. The recipe I chose made a wonderful coating and the ranch dressing added just the right amount of flavor. I'm thinking I might need to make this again the next time I'm having a picnic.

When I went looking for the back of the box recipe I found many versions using all kinds of coatings and flavorings. This recipe comes from the Woman's Day website. What is cool about their recipe is that it gives many variations on the coating (think potato chips or wheat germ or pretzels!), one of which was using Cheese-It type crackers which I must try!

CRUNCHY OVEN-FRIED DRUMSTICKS
(Womans Day)

8 (3 1/2 lb) drumsticks
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups crisp rice cereal,  crushed
1 envelope ranch dressing mix
Nonstick Spray

Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a jelly-roll pan or shallow roasting pan with foil. Coat with nonstick cooking spray.

Skin chicken by grasping skin with paper towels and pulling off. Or if you're like me and want to live a little dangerously calorie and fat wise, leave the skin on for flavor.

Place crisp rice cereal in a plastic ziploc bag. Add the packet of ranch dressing, close the bag and crush the krispies with the heel of your hand (some folks say to use a rolling pin, but that's an extra step that I think is a bit overkill. Those Rice Krispies will succumb to the force of your strong hand quite easily!).

In a pie plate or shallow bowl, slightly beat egg. Coat a few drumsticks at a time in the egg mixture.

Put 1 or 2 drumsticks in the bag with the cereal coating and shake to coat chicken evenly.

Place coated drumsticks on prepared pan; lightly coat drumsticks with cooking spray. Bake 20 to 35 minutes until chicken is cooked through and coating is browned. Serves 4.

Note: I used Rice Krispies and Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing Mix

Note: I didn't pulverize the Rice Krispies...instead I left bigger pieces. Some of the coating turned out great on the chicken while some pieces had a much finer coating. All tasted the same though the look was different.

Note: Yes, I did leave on the skin.

Alas, the recipe does not include any nutritional information. I estimated that the drumsticks were about 200 calories each and that the carb count would be about 12 per drumstick. But don't quote me on that.

Jerk Chicken

When life is crazy busy I tend to turn to my crockpot for meals. Doesn't matter if it's the dead of winter or the hottest days of summer, my crockpot is my friend.

So in the crazybizzies of life recently I decided to make a crockpot recipe from the Plugged In cookbook. Seems like a cop-out since there were so many other appliances I could have tried out, but I really wanted to make a dish I didn't have to think about.

I've come across many recipes for Jerk Chicken online, in my cookbooks, and magazines. For some reason I always thought of the recipes using a dry rub, the meat being barbecued and that the chicken would come out pretty much coated with the sauce. This recipe is much more of a marinating type, and with the way it's presented, you kind of pour what sauce there is on the chicken.

The finished Jerk Chicken had really nice heat to it. Mr. L said that it didn't burn your lips, mouth, and tongue all the way down...it just had a nice heat in the back of your throat. I added more of the chipotle chilies than they suggested.

The chicken did come out a bit dry. The recipe called for the dish to be on the low setting for six hours. I'm thinking that my newer crock pot was probably hotter than the one she used 16 years ago while writing this cookbook so next time I'd try this at five hours. Even though the chicken wasn't as moist as I would have liked, the meat did fall from the bone. When I went to serve it, I only had one breast that was left whole, the rest disintegrated into the sauce.

JERK CHICKEN

1 large onion, cut into 8 pieces

1 generous tablespoon candied ginger

1 1/2 tablespoons minced canned chipotle chilies, or more to your taste

1/2 teaspoon ground  allspice

2 tablespoons dry mustard

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons garlic oil

One 3 1/2 pound chicken, skin removed and cut into 8 pieces, or 3 1/2 pounds chicken tenders

To prepare the sauce, place the onions and ginger in the work bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade and process to chop into very fine pieces. Add everything but the chicken and pulse to combine.

Place the chicken in a slow cooker and coat with the sauce. Cover, set on low, and cook for 6 to 8 hours or set on high and cook until the chicken is tender, 2 to 3 hours. Serves 4

Note: I ran out of candied ginger so I added some ground ginger. I put in two large of the adobo chilis (no extra adobo sauce). I didn't have any garlic oil so I just chopped up some garlic and added some olive oil. I used a regular chicken cut into pieces.

Note: I'd really watch the time on this. If I had let it cook on low for 8 hours the chicken would have been rubber. Of course if you have an older crock pot that might not be as hot as mine even on low, you might want to go longer.

Since the chicken sort of disintegrated in the sauce, this would have gone great over rice, potatoes, cauliflower, noodles, quinoa or any other grain. Even if the chicken had stayed in whole pieces, there was enough sauce to wish I'd made one of the above starches to serve it on.

Simple to throw together which is nice. But I'm thinking I may want to try other jerk chicken recipes for variations. I'd make this again though.

Spicy Chicken & Mushrooms

This is another recipe that was clipped from a magazine. Under quick chicken recipes in the November 1, 2008 issue of Family Circle magazine, this recipe for Spicy Chicken & Mushrooms seemed like the perfect dish to try on a wet spring evening. Of course that was last week...this week we are having 80 degree weather...this dish would work for that too.

This recipe was quick, it was easy, it was a bit spicy due to me adding a bit more of the crushed red pepper than called for (though spicy for Mr. L, not me). It did have a bit of heat or "kick" at the end that was nice but all in all it was a bit bland for me. Still made a nice dish to throw together on a busy weeknight.

They say to serve this with rice, but there wasn't much liquid or sauce in the final plating so I thought that would make the dish too dry.

Though this says it serves four, without the rice, this recipe fed just the two of us  with just a tiny bit left over for lunch the next day.

SPICY CHICKEN & MUSHROOMS
(Family Circle 11/08)

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon minced ginger
2 cups sliced mushrooms
4 scallions, sliced
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon each salt and black pepper
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 1/2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
12 cup chopped cilantro
3 cups cooked rice (optional)

Heat oil in a medium-size skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and ginger to pan; cook 1 minute. Stir in mushrooms, scallions, red pepper flakes and 1/4 teaspoon each of the salt and pepper; cook 3 minutes, stirring often.

Reduce heat to medium. Add chicken to pan and sprinkle with remaining 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, for 4 minutes or until cooked through.

Stir in soy sauce, vinegar and cilantro; cook 2 minutes.

Serve with rice if desired. Makes 4 servings. 176 calories per serving.

Note: Added a bit more of the red pepper flakes than called for. I used full salt soy sauce.

Note: Did not serve over rice since I didn't feel there was enough liquid in the finished dish.

Note: This would have come together even faster if I had used pre-sliced mushrooms, which I did not.

 

 

Cashew Chicken

I originally went to the store to buy some sole to make a fish dish. But they were out of sole. Luckily I had the October 2009 issue of Food Everyday in the car. I remembered wanting to try several recipes and figured this would be a quick dish to make that evening.

This was fairly easy to put together and it tasted pretty good too. There are a few ingredients but they're quick and easy to put together (about an hour to do everything including marinating). I wanted a bit more "umph" so I added some Sriracha Sauce to mine (cuz come on, what doesn't taste better with a bit of Sriracha Sauce!). I thought it was the prefect touch. Mr. L though, thought the Sriracha Sauce overpowered the taste (boo Mr. L). He suggested maybe a bit more garlic or ginger or onions or soy sauce. I think either one of our versions would work.

I didn't seem to have as much sauce as the photo in the magazine and it didn't seem to be as thick as pictured. But I'm learning that maybe it's not always me when the food doesn't look like the photos (I don't retouch or do anything fancy when I take a photo with my little PowerShot.

CASHEW CHICKEN
(Food Everyday October 2009)

1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 tablespoons dry sherry
2 teaspoons minced peeled fresh ginger
3 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
coarse salt
1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2/3 cup unsalted cashews, toasted
2 scallions, white and green parts separated and thinly sliced
cooked white rice, for serving

In a medium bowl, toss chicken with sherry, ginger, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch; season with salt. Refrigerate 30 minutes. In another bowl, combine broth soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, and 2 teaspoons cornstarch; set sauce aside.

In a large non-stick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high. Add half the chicken and cook until golden and cooked through, about 5 minutes. Transfer chicken to a plate. Add 1 teaspoon oil to skillet and cook remaining chicken (reduce heat if chicken is over-browning). Transfer to plate.

To same skillet, add 1 teaspoon oil, garlic, cashews, and scallion whites. Cook, stirring constantly, until garlic begins to soften, 30 seconds. Whisk sauce and add to skillet along with chicken. Cook until sauce thickens, about 30 seconds. Top with scallion greens and serve with rice.

Serves 4 at 424 calories each.

Note: I used unsalted roasted cashews, I did not toast them beforehand

Note: I did not use unsalted chicken broth and still felt it needed a bit more salt (though I didn't put any in as Mr. L would have given me a dirty look since he thinks I eat too much salt).

Note: There seemed to be a lot of calories in each serving and I think that was before adding rice.

Good flavor. I'd like to find a similar dish that has less calories.