How to: Broil Chicken

I've heard it said that your broiler is effectively an upside down grill. I was skeptical about broiling bone in chicken, but compared ideas found online and tried it. I marinated the chicken all day in Mojo seasoning and broiled it skin on 9 inches from the broiler. 20 minutes on the skin up side, flip and another 20. Some of the pieces would have been done in 12-15 minutes, but one piece needed the full 20. They temp'd out at a safe 180 degrees and tasted...like they were hot off the grill!

With the homemade yellow curry sauce it almost seemed like we were at Pollo Tropical!

Tastes Like Chicken: Crispy Chicken Nuggets

Long before I made the rotating dinner menu, I had already designed a weekly lunch menu for our family. I did it because I felt like we were eating PB&J everyday and because I wanted our kids to eat more vegetables. So for example, every Monday we have "Mac & Cheese and Little Green Peas". Tuesday is Bagel Pizzas with cherry tomatoes (we - ok I - made up a song about bagel pizzas to go along with it), and Wednesday is chicken nuggets and corn.

I do not like processed chicken. So it only took one week of store bought chicken nuggets to motivate me to find a reliable chicken nugget recipe...and I have tried a lot! Here is the recipe I have finally settled on to be our usual chicken nuggets:

Leah's Chicken Nuggets (serves 1 adult and 2 very small children)

1 boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into small "nuggets"
2 tbsp corn starch
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 cup milk (or half&half or cream)
1/2 cup rice crispies, crushed

In a bowl, mix the corn starch, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Add the "nuggets" and toss to completely coat (make sure none are sticking together). Pour nuggets into a strainer and shake (over the sink) to remove all non-stuck-on cornstarch mixture. Put nuggets back in the bowl and pour on milk, stir to coat. Put nuggets into a bag with crushed rice crispies and shake to coat. Place on a greased sheet pan and bake at 400 for 15-20 minutes, depending on how big the nuggets are.

I know it doesn't sound like much, but one chicken breast, with the tender attached really makes a big pile of nuggets!

I am considering making a big batch to freeze before baking, but right now all my chicken is frozen, so that has to wait until the next stock making day.

Oh and the rest of the week:

Thursday is egg salad sandwiches and carrot sticks
Friday is fish sticks (storebought, Mrs. Pauls are pretty good) and tater tots
Saturday is chicken salad and green pepper
Sunday is PB&J day with chips and a pickle. Annalise loves the pickle!

Tastes Like Chicken: Make your Own Stock

I spent today making chicken stock. It took 8 hours, but yielded 11 cups of stock, which I will freeze mostly in 8oz portions. Here is how I do it:

When whole chickens are on sale (I've found them for $.79/lb, but this time it wasn't that good.), I buy 3. On the day I buy them, I cut them up to save the meat. I can cut up a whole chicken pretty quickly, but it is an art (or sorts) and the first time takes a while.

Some tips about chicken day - it helps to make sure that everything is ready to go before I pick up my boning knife so I don't have to wash my hands thirty times to keep from getting chicken goo on everything. I like to have my hair pulled back and I always have a pot of water to put anything I'm not keeping (i.e. skin and organs) into so I can quickly boil it before throwing it away. If I don't boil it, it gets awfully rank in the garage before trash day!

I cut off the wings and freeze them whole - removing the wingtips for the stockpot.
yield = 12 wing pieces about half of what we'd like if we were making hot wings.

Then I remove the wishbone (stick it in the stockpot) and skin the breast. I slice the breast carefully off of the ribcage and line a cookie sheet with wax paper or parchment. I place each breast half on the cookie sheet making sure none touch. Then I freeze them overnight. The next day, I toss them all in a zip top bag and can use them as needed without having to chip the apart.
yield = 6 boneless skinless chicken breast - with the tenderloin attached - you could remove the tenderloin and have a ziptop bag of them too for making chicken fingers

Next I dislocate the thighs and cut them away from the body. Sometimes I remove the skin while I'm at it. I package them 2 quarters together and freeze them wrapped in plastic wrap and a top layer of freezer paper.
yield = 3 packs of dark chicken quarters (2 legs, 2 thighs)

P.S. Here are 3 recipes that you can make using a pack of quarters and make enough to feed 3-4 people

Alphabet Chicken Soup
Chicken Curry Pot Pie
Alfredo Chicken Lasagna

With all of these, you'll need to roast or boil the chicken, then remove the meat and chop it up.

Now with all the desirable parts removed, I break the carcass into 3 or so pieces and store them in my biggest pot. Then I stick the pot in the fridge and get started making stock the next day.

I cover the pieces in water and bring it to a rolling boil. The water will foam with a icky grey mass of bubbles, which needs to be scooped off and discarded. Once it's gone, I lower the heat to a low simmer, add a quartered onion, 2 carrots (broken up, nothing fancy, I don't even wash them), 3 celery stalks (same treatment as the carrots), and some whole black peppercorns (2 tbsp or so, I just dump some in my hand). I let it simmer for EIGHT hours - just checking on it throughout the day and adding water when too much evaporates. The amount of water isn't important, what's important is that the bones are totally underwater.

After 8 hours, I let it cool down some before I strain it into a big container and cool it overnight in the fridge so that the fat will all rise to the top and solidify. The next day I peel off the fat and portion the stock (it's jello like now, unless I didn't do it right) into old yogurt and sour cream containers. Then I freeze it and use as needed.

Obviously bouillon is cheap, but I was throwing all these bones away before! Now I get something out of them first and have total control over how much salt goes into my recipes. I do think it tastes better than using cubes.

Tastes Like Chicken: Paprika Chicken

I remember as a kid my mom sprinkling paprika on deviled eggs. I don't remember it having much taste, but this easy recipe adds a lot of flavor.

Paprika Chicken

Bone-in Chicken Pieces
Paprika
Salt
Pepper
Butter
Lemon Juice

Sprinkle the chicken pieces with paprika, salt, and pepper. Lay out on a baking sheet lined with foil and dot with butter (how much butter you use depends on how much chicken you're cooking, about 1/2 tbsp per piece), drizzle pieces with lemon juice. Bake at 350 for about an hour or until internal temp of dark pieces is 180.

RFW: Day 5

Today's Meal was:
Hidden Dragon



I called it "Hidden Dragon" because it was an "Asian Inspired" flavor in a foil packet (hidden). If I had only been cooking for myself and Rob I would have made it spicier (more "dragon"), but Caleb can't handle really spicy foods yet

Hidden Dragon

2 cups cooked rice
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/2 tsp 5 Spice Powder
1/2 bag of "stir fry" veggies (I like Eat Smart brand, I usually buy their broccoli because it's on sale a lot and is only florets, no one in my house is crazy about the stem part)
1/2 cup teriyaki sauce (which I would have used if there had been some in the fridge, since there was not, I mixed soy sauce, sweet chili sauce, minced garlic, and ketchup)
2 large retangles of aluminum foil
cooking spray

Heat the oven to 400. Lay out one retangle of foil. Spray the middle with cooking spray and spoon on half of the rice in a retangle to make a "bed" for the chicken. Put the chicken on the rice. Sprinkle the chicken with the powder. Top the powder with half of the veggies. Drizzle the veggies with half of the sauce. Fold up the foil and crimp all edges well to completely seal. Place on a cookie sheet and bake for half and hour or so or until the chicken is completely cooked.



What I love about this meal? EASY CLEAN UP!!!

RFW: Day 1

Today's meal was:
Crispy Chicken Nuggets with Garlic Mayo
Creamy Mexi-corn
and Carrot Sticks


Rob ended up being stuck at a transmitter site all day and will be having Micky-D's for dinner, so Caleb was my taste tester tonight. Also, all of these recipes only make 2 servings.

Crispy Chicken Nuggets

3 chicken tenders
1/2 to 1 cup corn starch
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 cup milk
1 cup Rice Crispies
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp garlic powder
oil for pan frying

Cut chicken tenders into "nuggets". Combine cornstarch, salt and pepper. Place in a big bowl and pour on cornstarch mixture, stir with spoon until nuggets are coated. Pour in milk, stil to coat. Place Rice Crispies, cumin and garlic powder in a zip top bag. Crush until cereal is fine. Spoon nuggets into bag using a slotted spoon (being sure to drain off the milk). Shake to coat. Heat oil over medium high heat. Fry until golden brown. (and cooked through, it's chicken for goodness sake!)


(I like using Rice Crispies in place of bread crumbs when coating foods. They stay nice and crisp. This coating method is also what I use when I make Asian style foods that have a sauce that is supposed to coat bits of chicken.)

Garlic Mayo
1 tsp minced garlic
2 tbsp mayonnaise

Combine in a small jar, refrigerate until serving.


(Caleb tried one nugget with Garlic Mayo and ate the rest with ketchup.)

Creamy Mexi-corn
1 cup frozen corn (divided)
1 1/2 tbsp butter (divided)
1/3 cup diced onion
3 tsp flour
1 tsp taco seasoning
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 cup Nacho Cheese Dorito crumbs (fine)

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 16 ounce oven proof dish. Boil 3/4 cup corn for 3-5 minutes. Drain and place into blender. In a large skillet melt 1 tbsp butter, saute onions over medium heat until tender. Combine flour and taco seasoning, sift over tender onions - cook 1 minute. Pour on milk and stir until it thickens slightly. Pour into blender. Pulse until combined and only a few bits of corn are visible. Pour in cheese and remaining 1/4 cup corn (still frozen is ok). Stir to combine and pour into dish. Top with Dorito crumbs and dot with remaining 1/2 tbsp butter. Bake for 20 minutes.


(He asked for MORE MORE MORE!)

Carrot Sticks

Tastes Like Chicken: Rotisserie Chicken Ragout

Every now and then I add a recipe onto my meal plan that I think - no way am I going to like this one! But I'm not sure why I add those meals on, usually I don't like them, but this is an exception.

Ragout is a French cooking term, which I'm not sure how to pronounce - but I think it's ragoo, basically it's a catchall term that means to make a sort of stew. Based on what I read on wikipedia, I think they usually include tomatoes, but this recipe does not.

Rotisserie Chicken Ragout*

1 cup chopped yellow summer squash
1 cup chopped zucchini
1/2 cup chopped onion
1-1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups cubed cooked rotisserie chicken
1 can (15 ounces) white kidney or cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1 tablespoon heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Saute the squash, zucchini, onion and garlic in oil until tender. Add chicken through pepper, cook until heated through, stir in the parm.

This was much (MUCH) more tasty than I expected it to be. I think the cream made a big difference. I added the garlic in the last minute of saute-ing because it has a tendancy to burn. And I didn't use a rotisserie chicken, instead I seasoned 3 legs and 2 thighs with salt, garlic powder, and cumin (no pepper - pepper burns) and broiled them then shredded the meat - more work, but much cheaper. Also I used dry thyme.

*Simple and Delicious Magazine

Tastes Like Chicken: Apple 'n' Onion Chicken

Rob is pretty honest about what he likes and doesn't like when it comes to my cooking. We had this the other night and he pronounced it GOOD!

Apple 'n' Onion Chicken

3 medium apples, sliced
2 large onions, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon butter
6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
3/4 cup shredded Swiss cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1/2 teaspoon thyme
2 tablespoons unsweetened apple juice

Saute the apples and onions in butter until tender. Meanwhile... Combine the swiss, parm, bread crumbs, and thyme in a bowl. Then pour the apples 'n' onions into a greased baking dish and top with chicken. Season with salt & pepper. Top with cheese mixture and drizzle on the apple juice. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes.

Tastes Like Chicken: Mediterranean Chicken

So easy, a 2 year old can do it!



Mediterranean Chicken

Some chicken (4 breasts, a package of thighs, a whole cut-up bird, you pick!)
salt
pepper
olive oil
16 black olives, sliced (Caleb uses an egg slicer)
1 pint grape tomatoes (or slightly less if you have tiny tomato snatchers in your home)

Salt the chicken, brown on both sides in olive oil (say 2-3 tbsp). Pepper the chicken (if you pepper before browning, it will burn.), sprinkle with olive slices and grape tomatoes. If you like them, add a couple tablespoons capers, I don't, so I don't.

Bake at 375 (for bone-in) or 475 (for boneless) until internal temperature is 180+ (about an hour for bone-in, maybe 20 mintues for boneless.)

Tastes Like Chicken : Parmesan Chicken

Parmesan Chicken...not Chicken Parmesan, there's a difference! This is a easy, yummy recipe that won a national potluck dinner competition sponsored by Taste of Home magazine in 2003. The parmesan coating is wonderful, because when parmesan cheese melts it makes a crispy, crusty coating. It would probably also make great chicken fingers if you used chicken tenders or cut boneless breast into strips. I served it with twice baked potatoes and a spinach salad. YUMMY!!!

Parmesan Chicken*

GROUP 1
1 cup all purpose flour
2 tsp salt
2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp pepper

GROUP 2
2 eggs
3 tbsp milk

GROUP 3
2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup dry bread crumbs (I used panko)

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

Get 3 shallow bowls, round cake pans, or pie plates and combine ingredients in the 3 groups listed. First dip the breasts in the flour mixture, shake off excess. Then in the egg mixture, then roll breasts in the cheese mixture to coat. Spray or grease a baking pan, add chicken, and bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes (or until the juices run clear).

(Alt. - Use a 3-4lb broiler/fryer chicken cut up, increase baking time to at least 60 minutes or until the juices run clear.)

*Taste of Home 2004 Annual Recipes, Reiman Media Group, Inc.

Make Your Own Take Out vol. 1

Hope no one is going hungry for lack of meal plans! I'll be posting a new one soon.

For Christmas, Rob's parents gave me Rachel Ray's new cookbook Express Lane Meals. I've already made 4 recipes from it. We ate this one last night:

Sweet Soy-Glazed Chicken with Carrot-Sesame Noodles

Whew, well all of her recipes have "Titles"! It is really good! Actually I've tried several Asian themed recipes in the last year that I plan to post, this is the first of the series.

Don't be too overwhelmed by the ingredient list - there are a lot!

Salt
1 lb long cut pasta - spaghetti, vermicelli, whatever
1/4 cup tamari, plus 1 tbsp
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cup chicken stock, plus 1/4 cup
The Juice of one Lime
4 large garlic cloves - 1 crushed, 3 chopped
3 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated or chopped
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
2 tbsp vegetable oil, plus some for drizzling
1 large onion, chopped
5 or 6 carrots, peeled and shredded
black pepper
3 big chicken breast or 6 cutlets
1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds
1/4 cup each fresh chopped cilantro, basil, and parsley

While cooking the pasta, preheat a grill (I used George Forman), and make the soy glaze by combining 1/4 c. of the tamari, the brown sugar, 1/4 cup of chicken stock, the lime juice, crushed garlic, 1/4 of the ginger, and the red pepper flakes. Simmer in a small pan over medium-high heat and cook for about 4 minutes. Set aside.

In a large skillet over medium high heat, add 2 tbsp of oil, then carrots, onion, chopped garlic, remaining ginger, and a little salt and pepper; cook 5 minutes, stirring frequently.

Meanwhile, season the chicken with pepper, drizzle it with oil and slap it on the grill. Cook it for a couple of minutes to get "grill marks" then brush it with the soy glaze several times throughout the cooking. When it's done move it to a plate, tent it with foil and let it rest.

Back with the carrots - add the rest of the chicken stock and tamari and bring it to a boil for 1 minute. Add the drained pasta, stir and let cook about 30 more seconds. Kill the heat, sprinkle with sesame seed and herbs. Stir it up well, slice the chicken on the bias, top the noodles with the chicken and voila!



Caleb says, "It's finger lickin' good!"

By the way, Tamari is a special kind of soy sauce. Regular soy sauce is cheaper, but tamari tastes better to me! It's not that expensive, so I'd rather use it.

Cooking Methods : Foil Packet Dinners

Cooking with foil packets is a clean and healthy way to cook. That said, it won't work for every meal, I think pork chops and steak need a little direct heat to give them some color and taste, but using chicken breast you can vary this method in a thousand ways.

To cook with a foil packet, work in layers. From the bottom up:

A big piece of aluminum foil (roughly a 15-18 in. sheet).
Rice right in the middle, but not too close to the sides, think a rectagle about 3 in. by 5 in. with the 3 in. side parallel to the long side of the foil.
A raw chicken breast
Dry seasonings
Sauce or Salad Dressing
Choose two chopped veggies
Shredded cheese

Fold up the long ends of the foil to make a tent over the mound of food. Crimp the foil so that it is sealed, then crimp the ends. Put the packet on a cookie sheet and bake at 400 deg. for 25-30 minutes.

When it's finished, just transfer the packet to a plate and pierce the foil a few times to release steam (away from your face, it's hot!)

Here's how I like to make foil packets, but be creative!

When I boil the rice water I add a chicken boillion cube. On top of the chicken breast I sprinkle ground cumin and cayenne pepper and drizzle on ranch dressing. I top it with broccoli florets and diced pepper (red, green, orange, whatevers handy). Finally, I love colby jack cheese.

Wouldn't it be easy to replace the dressing with spaghetti sauce and use mozarella - almost like chicken parmesan. Or you could use jasmine rice, teriyaki sauce, and snow peas for a sort of Asian packet. That's why this recipe is more of a method than a meal.

Tastes Like Chicken : Chicken Broccoli Casserole

This is my mom's recipe and it's the only chicken recipe that I've ever had that is rich and creamy enough to resemble dessert.

Chicken Broccoli Casserole

4 whole chicken breasts
2 tsps salt (divided)
16 oz cream cheese
2 cups milk
3/4 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 cup parmesan cheese (divided)
20 oz frozen broccoli
1 small can of french fried onion rings

Cover chicken and 1 tsp salt with water and simmer until tender. Bone chicken and cut into bite sized pieces. Combine cream cheese, milk, 1 tsp salt, garlic powder, and 1 cup parmesan cheese in a saucepan and cook over medium heat to make a sauce. Cook broccoli as package directs and cut into bite sized pieces.

In a 9x13 glass dish, place all broccoli on the bottom, top with chicken and onion rings. Pour sauce over the top and sprinkle with remaining parmesan cheese. Bake uncovered at 350 for 30 minutes.

Want to save money on this meal? Compare the price between fresh and frozen broccoli. Depending on the time of the year, fresh may be more economical. Also you can use 2 whole chickens instead of the breasts, but cutting it up will be more labor intensive. Breasts really work better here, but buy them on the bone since boiling them will make the meat fall off on its own. This makes a big bunch of casserole, consider cutting the recipe in half if there will be 4 or less people at your dinner table.

Tastes Like Chicken : Crispy Onion Chicken

Let's face it - chicken is the white copy paper of the culinary world. But it's cheap and I don't think I've ever met anyone with a chicken allergy. Plain, unseasoned chicken is not particularly appetizing, fortunately there is so much you can do with chicken that you could eat it almost everyday. In fact, I think I know some people who do!

I like this SUPER EASY recipe.

Crispy Onion Chicken*

1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp ground mustard
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 6oz. can of french fried onion rings (YUM!)

In a shallow bowl, combine first 6 ingredients. Dip chicken in mixture then coat with onions. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes (or til the juices run clear).

That's it! Since I currently have no need for 4 servings of chicken, I halved the recipe and used the leftover onion rings for baked potato toppings as a side dish (oh yeah, I also snacked on a few while I cooked...)

By the way, I have a personal aversion to Worstershire sauce, so I routinely replace it with Dale's Steak Sauce or soy sauce in recipes.

*Taste of Home 2004 Annual Recipes, edited by Jean Steiner. Reiman Media Group, Greendale, WI, 2003. Pg. 81.