Creamy Jalapeno Chicken

I needed something new and interesting for supper this week to get myself out of the rut I have been in lately. When I came across a recipe for Jalapeno Chicken on How Sweet Eats, I knew this was perfect as I love jalapenos. There isn't a lot of color in this dish (veggies on the side sort of make up for this) but it is very tasty.

Creamy Jalapeno Chicken

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 tablespoons sunflower/safflower oil
2 jalapenos, seeded and chopped
1 shallot, sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon flour (any kind will do, I used whole wheat)
1/4 cup skim milk
1 12-ounce can fat-free evaporated milk
2 tablespoons finely grated parmesan cheese

1.Finely chop the jalapenos, onions and garlic. This is easiest done with a food processor, just give it a couple of pulses and you are done. Keep these for later.
2.In a pan, heat the oil and add the chicken breasts (seasoned with salt and pepper if you would like). Cook the chicken for 8 to 10 minutes a side, the chicken should be cooked through and browned on the outside.
3.While the chicken cooks, add the butter to a small saucepan on medium heat. Cook the jalapeno/onion/garlic mix for 2-3 minutes (will the a little soft and fragrant).
4.Add the flour to the butter vegetable mix and stir (the butter and flour will become a thick paste) and cook for 1 minute.
5.Slowly whisk in the milk and evaporated milk to the butter/flour/vegetable mixture, allowing it cook and thicken. Cook for 6 to 8 minutes until thick and add the parmesan cheese. If you want it to be a thicker sauce, turn the heat to low and leave it cook for a couple more minutes.
6.To serve, place sauce on the chicken.

Reviews:
Yum! I loved this and the sauce was fantastic with rice (I even ate just the sauce on rice for leftovers the next day). This meal will be in my regular rotation of meals from now on, it was easy to make and made a tasty dinner.

Favorite Chicken Sandwich

I love roasting chicken when it is cold out, the house smells amazing for the day and it is just a comforting meal when it looks miserable outside. The other thing I love about roasting a chicken - it usually lasts us no less than 4 complete meals and multiple lunches! The number of meals I am left with at the end usually depends on the number of people who are coming over for th initial roast chicken dinner and how big of a chicken we have.

Anyways, I had a chicken thawing for roasting when i went to the grocery store and disscovered on of my new favourite foods - peppercorn crusted bacon! How could I pass that up - it would be amazing on burgers right? Well since it is not grilling season, I did roast chicken sandwiches with leftover roast chicken. The peppercorn bacon was perfect and these are definatly my favourite sandwich!

Peppercorn Bacon Chicken Sandwich

Ingredients:
2 large soft kaiser buns (or your favourite bun)
Leftover roast chicken
6 to 8 slices peppercorn crusted bacon, cooked
Pickles, sliced
Mayo
Cheese (I used Swiss, but cheddar is equally good)

Direction:
Assemble the chicken, bacon, pickles, mayo and cheese in a bun with mayo. Enjoy!

Reviews:
Oh this so so good! I don’t usually make sandwiches for supper, or even eat leftover chicken sandwiches that much, but these babies make my mouth water! If I had another chicken in the freezer, I would be planning on cooking it soon just so I could have these again!

O liked the sandwiches as well - he said they would have been perfect with a slice of tomato (sadly we had none in the house).

Tai Coconut Curry Soup

I saw a recipe for this in “The best of Chef at Home” by Micheal Smith. The picture had me drooling, and I really wanted to try this soup. However after a trip to the grocery store I was unable to find a few of the ingredients (lemon grass, lime leaves ect), so I picked up a curry sauce instead of a paste and made my own soup!

Ingredients:
2 cans coconut milk
1 jar Thai curry sauce (I used yellow, but if you want spicier go for red or green)
2 chicken breasts, thinly sliced
2 carrots – shredded
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 – 2” knob of ginger
1 box chicken broth
1 packed thai rice noodles

Directions:
1.In a saucepan, cook the chicken strips.
2.Add in the curry sauce (start with ½ the jar and go from there), 1 can of coconut milk, cream from 1 can of coconut milk, carrots, celery, grated ginger and chicken broth. Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes ( vegetables should be cooked).
3.Add the rice noodles and allow them to rehydrate (1-3 minutes depending on heat of soup – check package directions).
4.Serve and enjoy.

Tip: If the noodles are long (as rice noodles tend to be), break them before putting them in the soup, long noodles are hard to dish up or eat with a spoon!

Reviews:
O and I both really enjoyed this soup! It was easy to adjust the spice, and the flavours went really well together. Using the pre-made curry sauce allowed the soup to be made in about 30 minutes, with very little work (and I didn't have to hunt out lemon grass, but still got the flavour). That is my kind of dinner.

The chicken is great in this, but I am sure it would be just as good without and using vegetable broth as a vegetarian version.

Quick Turkey Pot Pie

Owen loves these, and insists on having them when we have turkey leftovers. I usually make a couple and store some in the freezer for later (when I am not so tired of turkey). This is the quick and simple way to make them, and it doesn't take long the through them together, but everyone seems to really like them! Owen took one to his work potluck and everyone enjoyed it.

Note that this recipe works well all year if you use chicken meat instead of turkey. You can cook a couple chicken breasts (and dice) are use leftovers from a roast chicken.

Turkey Pot Pie (makes 1 pie)
Ingredients:
Pie shell (for a double crust pie)
1 can cream soup (I usually use mushroom, but broccoli and chicken also work well)
Diced cooked turkey
Frozen veggie mix (or leftover veggies from turkey dinner)
Diced, cooked potatoes (optional)
shredded cheese (optional)

Directions:
1. In a bowl mix the cream soup, turkey, veggie mix, potatoes and cheese.
2. Roll out pie shell and line the pie plate. Pour in the filling and top with the top crust.
3. Pinch the edges together, and cut vents in the top of the pie ( I do 4 slits).
4. Bake at 350F for 25-30 minutes until the crust is cooked. (if you would like a golden pie top, brush with some oil or egg whites before baking).

Reviews:
Owen loves these and they get made with both turkey and chicken leftovers! It only takes a few minutes to pull together, which is great.

Herb Cream Cheese Chicken Rolls

I must have seen this somewhere, I am sure of it, it is just to good to have come out of my brain alone! This actually came about as I was going through the fridge and came across some herb and garlic cream cheese. O likes it on bagels for breakfast, but as he was all out of bagels, I was free to experiment with it.

Ingredients:
Chicken breasts (1 per person)
Herb and Garlic cream cheese ( I also did one with old chedder instead of the cream cheese)
Bacon (1 strip of bacon per chicken breast)

Directions:
1.Put the chicken breast inside some plastic wrap (allowing room around the edges), and flatten the breasts by hitting them with a heavy skillet.
2.Once the breast has been flattened, spread about 2 tsp of the cream cheese on one side of the chicken breast.
3.Roll the chicken breast so that the cream cheese is on the inside of the roll in a swirl pattern with the chicken (just pick and edge and start to roll towards the other edge).
4.Take the slice of bacon and wrap around the chicken breast. The bacon will keep the chicken rolled up.
5.Cook on the grill for 20-25 minutes, rolling every 5 minutes or so.
6.Enjoy!

Reviews:
This was tasty and really easy to put together. Our friends loved this and so did O. The variation with the chedder also great if you don’t want all the garlic. I will be making these again.

Sweet and Sour Chicken

After the success of the Magic in the Middle cookies and the fantastic Cookie Dough Topped Brownies, I started looking around My Kitchen Café a little more. I was in need of a super recipe and feeling completely uninspired to make anything. I clicked on her Sweet and sour chicken recipe. I instantly knew I had to make this – and the best thing was that it called for ingredients I keep stocked at all times!

Chicken
3 medium to large chicken breasts
1 cup corn starch
2 eggs (mixed in a bowl)
salt and pepper
¼ cup canola oil ( I plan on switching this to sunflower or safflower oil next time)

1. Cube the chicken, I did about ½ to 1” cubes – but as long as they are even it doesn’t really matter. While you are doing this, put the oil in a frying pan and heat it.
2. Sprinkle the salt and pepper (to your own tastes) over the chicken cubes and mix.
3. Drop chunks of chicken into the corn starch and coat. Transfer to the eggs and coat.
4. Fry the chunks of coated chicken in the oil until they are browned on the outside, but not cooked through.
5. Place in a casserole dish.

Sauce
¾ cup sugar
¼ cup ketchup
½ cup vinegar
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp garlic salt

1. Mix the sauce ingredients together until well blended and pour over browned chicken.
2. Bake at 325F for one hour, turning the chicken every 15 minutes.
Note: I didn’t think the sauce was thickening enough, so I added a little extra cornstarch (about 1 tsp) to it for the last 15 minutes and it worked beautifully.
3. Serve over white rice

Reviews:
Oh wow was this every yummy. It gave us a good supper and we had enough leftovers for the both of us for lunch, which is fantastic! I was worried about the texture of the coating on the chicken after reheating – but there was no need for such things. The leftovers were just as good as the fresh dish. I am adding this to my regular recipe file!

Grilled Stuffed Chicken

We were visiting our friends at their cabin one weekend, when they brought out the Weber How To Grill book, and raved. Well I spend a few hours that weekend flipping through that book, again, and again, and again. Everything in there looked so good and I couldn’t wait to try some of them. However, I have had some trouble finding the book at a reasonable price so I tried to make this one from memory.

Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts
2 slices provolone cheese
Prosciutto
Fresh Basil
Butcher string

How to:
1. Thaw the chicken breasts. Put the breasts between saran wrap and flatten with a heavy skillet or a tenderizer.
2. On top of the flat chicken breast layer 1 slice of cheese, prosciutto and 1-2 leaves of basil (I suggest 1 small leaf, but if you really like basil go for more).
3. Roll the breast around the fillings and tie with butchers string.
4. Grill on medium heat for about 15 minutes. (Turning every 3-4 minutes), until chicken is cooked.
5. Enjoy!

Reviews:
These were really good, but as I said, watch how much basil you put in each of them. I can’t wait to make them again!

A Quick Catch Up

So, my picture taking has not been able to keep up with my H’s ability to quickly finish all my baking. If I don’t get a picture before he knows that it is around, it isn’t likely that I am going to get one. Along those lines, I have also been really busy with work and haven’t been as on top of picture taking and writing up the recipes as I would like, so I am going to do a quick review of what I have been making for the past little while.
1. I did make some actual food this week! In flipping through my old posts one day, I found Chicken Lasagna and then wondered why I hadn’t made this again (now I remember why I do this blogging thing). Anyways, I made this earlier this week and it turned out fantastic. Removing the milk from the recipe was a great idea, it wasn’t soupy at all this time. Oh, and I substituted the mozza cheese for some swiss, which was also great.
2. Nutella Cupcakes from I Heart Cuppycakes. Alright, so this is midstream in my campaign to prove to my H that cupcakes are good. Apparently he has never been a cupcake fan and I just had to set him straight. He thinks they are boring as it just cake and icing, and he also doesn’t like all the icing piled up on top (he doesn’t really have a big sweet tooth), so I wanted to make something I knew he couldn’t resist. Now who can resist Nutella? I had a bunch left over from the brownies, and so rather than just pig out with a spoon, I decided to make these lovely cupcakes. They were fantastic, although my mixing in of the nutella could have been better. Oh and Clara, you are right, I didn’t even need the icing.
3. Apple dumplings. So someone not to long ago pointed me in the direction of The Pioneer Woman. I don’t know how I have not come across this before, but hey, at least I am catching up now. I have made these twice now, once for a surprise for the guys that my H’s work (they had been having a slow week) and once for my Dad’s 50th birthday. They worked fantastic and everyone raved about them (actually the guys that H works with almost swarmed me when I brought them in, and it took them no more than 1.5 minutes to polish off the whole batch). At my Dad’s party, a couple people took one look at them and asked if they were from Pioneer Woman, apparently they had been meaning to try them for a while. These were fantastic, a big hit, and are a keeper for those days when I need a quick dessert to take somewhere, thanks Pioneer Woman.
4. Chili Brownies. I love chili and chocolate, and I love the gooeyness of brownies. So I decided to try and make come chili chocolate brownies. I found this recipe on Rachel Ray’s site and decided to try it, it had all the elements I was looking for. I used a yummy 72% cocoa bar instead of the bittersweet baking chocolate, which worked great. The brownies were delicious and gooey, but sadly there was not enough chili powder (or my chili powder is old and needs to be refreshed with I am thinking is a contributor). Everyone liked them, but no one noticed that they had any heat to them. I will have to try again on this one.

Creamy Dill Salmon (and Chicken)

So, every few weeks, I treat my husband with some fresh fish from the local fish market. Well this week's special was steelhead salmon, so I came home with a pound of salmon and no idea what I was going to do with it. My original thought was to try and find a cedar plank somewhere and BBQ it, but after poking around a little bit, I couldn't resist trying this recipe for creamy dill sauce. Seeing as how I don't eat fish, I used the sauce on a chicken breast and threw it in with the fish to cook.

INGREDIENTS:
3/4 cup mayonnaise ( for a lower fat version, switch this to low fat yogurt)
1/4 cup prepared mustard
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp basil
1 salmon fillet
Dill

Method:
1. In a bowl mix together mayo (yogart), mustard, thyme, oregano and basil. Pre heat the oven to 375F.
2. Smooth the sauce over the fish (and the chicken breast). Sprinkle with dill to taste. Bake for 20 to 30 mintues, or until the fish is cooked and flakes easily.
3. Save the extra sauce, it is great to add a little more when the fish is finished cooking.

REVIEWS:
Hubby loved this recipe and it was really easy to make. He actually ate half a pound of fish in one sitting. I loved the sauce on the chicken. I did try the salmon as well and as much as I dislike fish, I actually kind of liked it. Next time I cook this however, I will definately not let Hubby have his way, and I will be using the yogurt.

Chicken Kabob

So after a long winter and it not being quite ready to warm up yet, I decided I needed to add a little spring and summer to my dinner. What is more summery than Hawaiian chicken on kabobs?

INGREDIENTS
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons sherry
1 tablespoon safflower oil
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
3 lg skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into cubes
1 (20 ounce) can pineapple chunks, drained
1 green pepper
1 red pepper
skewers

DIRECTIONS:
1. Mix the soy sauce, brown sugar, sherry, oil, ginger and garlic powder in a dish to be used for marinading.
2. Add the chicken and veggies to the marinade (Note it is safer to use two marinades and keep the chicken and the veggies seperate), marinade for at least 2 hours.
3. While the chicken and veggies are marinading, soak the skewers in water so they will not burn.
4. Spear chicken and vegetable onto skewers and grill until the chicken is cooked.


Reviews:

I loved this! It was just the burst of summer I needed as a pick me up. Hubby said this was keeper recipe and his friend raved about it. The only thing I would do differently is marinade it a little longer - I barely made the 2 hour mark.

Jerk Chicken

I was looking for a tasty new recipe for my chicken breasts when I stumbled across this recipe (faux jerk chicken by BETHMCAFEE. It looked easy enough, so I thought I would try it - with a few substitutions with what I had on hand rather than what they called for. It made the house smell delicious, and turned out great - definatley a keeper.

INGREDIENTS
1/3 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons white vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
3/4 teaspoon ground allspice
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1/4 cup finely chopped Hot Jalepanoe Slices (in a jar)
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

HOW TO
1. In a dish large enough to fit all the chicken breasts mix the oil, vinigar, lemon juice, sugar, thyme, allspice, cinnamon, salt and cayenne. Then stir in the Jalepanoes, onion and garlic.
2. Poke the chiken breasts on all sides with a fork before placing them in the marinade. Leave in the fridge for 24 hours.
3. Preheat the grill for med-high heat.
4. Grill until the breasts are cooked.

Note - I used my George Forman grill on medium heat and it was delicious! Review for the recipe says it also turns out well if baked in the oven at 350F for 1 hour.

We all loved this dish, and I look forward to making it again!

Chicken Stew

It is cold and snowy out, so what is better to eat than a nice big bowl of yarm stew. I am huge fan soup in the winter and a nice thick stew tops my list.

Chicken stock (can make by boiling leftover chicken bones or by add using chicken broth and water.)
2 stalk celery
1/2 onion
Spices (I use an italian spice mix and a bay leaf) to taste.
2 chicken breasts
4-5 med. potatoes
3-4 carrots
1/4 cup flour

Add spices, celery and onion to the chicken stock and heat to a simmer. Put lid on and let simmer on the stove.

Cut the chicken breats into cubes and fry until almost cooked. Add to the stock to let simmer for 30mins-2hours.

Cut the potatoes into cubes and cut the carrots. Add to the soup and let cook until they are tender.

Mix the flour with 1/2 jar of warm water ( close jar lid and shake vigorously), Then slowly pour into the stew and stir in. Let simmer until thick.

Serve.

Creamy Chicken Saute

Another quick and easy taken from the campbells kitchen and changed to suit my needs,

~1 pound boneless chicken
2 stalks of celery
1 medium onion
1/2 tsp thyme
1 can Cream of Celery Soup
1/4 cup water
Hot Cooked Rice

1. Heat oil in a pan, cook the strips of chicken.
2. Reduce heat to medium and cook celery, onion and thyme until the vegtables are tender,
3. Stire the coup and water into the skillet and heat to a boil. Return chicken to the skillet and cook until hot and bubbly.
4. Serve of rice.

Wings, wings wings!

What goes better with a hockey game and friends but some yummy chicken wings! After searching for a good wings recipes that wouldn't take me ages to make, I made up my own "cheater" wings as well as trying another recipe from allrecipes.

My Cheater Chicken Wings

1/2 to 1 pound chicken wings
1 chicken bbq sauce

In a pan cover the chicken wings with bbq sauce and marinade for 1-2hours. (it also works without marinading them). Cover and place in oven, cook for 30 minutes at 375F. Remove and stir/flip wings, cover and cook for 30 more minutes. Uncover and cook 15 minutes.

"Candied" Garlic Chicken Wings (from allrecipes.com)

1 1/2 cups honey
1/3 cup soy sauce
2 cloves minced garlic
2 pounds chicken wings

Heat the honey, soy sauce and garlic in a pan until they boil to form the sauce.

Place wings in the bottom of a pan (9x13 works well) and pour the sauce from step one over the chicken. Cover (with foil) and marinate in the fridge (hour to overnight).

Bake at 375 covered for 1 hour (turning after 30 minutes).

Remove cover and bake 15 minutes.

Remove wings from sauce and place on a rack. Bake for 20 minutes, turning after 10 minutes.

Hubby Rate: 8/10 for both kinds

Our friends loved the wings and we will definately make these again!