Chicken Stir-fry

Super delicious, quick and easy stirfry



Ingredients:
- 1-2 Chicken breasts (cut into strips)
- Chopped veggies:
I like 1/2 bell pepper (red and green), 1 head broccoli, carrots, snap peas
- 1/2 onion
- Soy-Vay Teriyaki Sauce
- Kikkoman stirfry seasoning mix (1/2 packet)
- 2c Jasmine Rice/4c water - oil and salt

Metal colander

1) Marinate chicken strips in Teriyaki sauce and set aside for 30 min.
2) Chop vegetables to bite size (2-3 cups of vegetables is a good amount) and set in a metal colander, covered with a large pot lid.
2) Slice onion into thin slices
3) Place colander over pot containing rice, water, oil, salt and bring to a boil.
4) Cook until veggies are softened. (Also, keep an eye on rice -- you can also steam veggies over an empty pot of boiling water)
5) Dissolve Stirfry seasoning mix in 1/2 c water, and toss with cooked veggies.
6) Heat oil in a large skillet and saute onion until softened. Add chicken strips, and a few tbs of marinate. Cook until chicken strips are cooked through (5-7 min)
7) Add chicken to large bowl with vegetables and toss.
8) Add mixture back to skillet and cook for an additional 2-3 min stirring to coat with sauce.
9) Serve stirfry on bed of white rice.

Crab-stuffed Chicken

In honor of HBO Sunday and the return of Treme, I decided to cook a dish with some New Orleans flair...while the must-taste list goes on for pages (Uptown Looter at Cooter Browns, Fried Shrimp PoBoy at Ramparts, Laura's Pralines, Crawfish Monica) the possible favorite would be the deep-fried crab-stuffed shrimps we ate at Jazz Fest, which sadly were not from a restaurant and thus can be found but 2 weeks a year...so with that in mind, I made some delicious chicken breasts so stuffed with crab they needed a handful of toothpicks to close.



Ingredients:
- 2-4 Boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 2-3 oz fresh Crabmeat (per breast)
- 1/2 c diced onion
- 2 tbs white wine
- 2 tbs lemon juice
- 1/2c breadcrumbs
- 1 tbs softened butter
- salt/pepper
- Italian seasoning

Sauce:
- 1/4c white wine
- 2 tbs butter
- 1 tsp flour

Wooden toothpicks


1) Pre-heat oven to 375.
2) Prepare stuffing: Saute onion until softened. Add to bowl. Add in crabmeat, wine, lemon, and breadcrumbs and mix well.
3) Prepare chicken breasts: Placing palm on the chicken, slice through the middle, but not all the way through, so that sides of chicken breasts open like a book.
4) Lay open and season with salt, pepper, and italian seasoning
5) Rub inside with softened butter.
6) Scoop a generous mound of stuffing into center of each chicken breast, then roll outside ends in to form a roll. Secure opening with toothpicks (criss-crossing two to hold).
7) Heat skillet with butter and olive oil and place chicken toothpick side up in pan. Cook for 2-4 min.
8) Turn chicken over and transfer chicken to baking pan and cook in oven 45min-1hr.
9) Add butter, flour, white wine to saucepan (which chicken was cooked in)
10) Cook until mixture forms a smooth sauce. Serve atop chicken.

Chickie Chickie Parm Parm

Parks & Rec's Tom Haverford explains his food slang: "Zerts are what i call desserts, tre-tres are entrees... I call cakes big ol' cookies, I call noodles long-ass rice. Fried chicken is fry-fry chicky-chick, chicken parm is chicky-chicky parm-parm."

OK, I see a trend of featuring Parks & Recreation cast members and in particular Aziz Ansari, but c'mon, Chicken Parm is classic and delish. The key to making this batch come out sooo good was definitely secret ingredient: Panko breadcrumbs. It sounds silly, but they really made all the difference!



Ingredients:
- 1 pkg thin chicken cutlets - about 4 (obviously you can just slice chicken breasts yourself, or pound them out...but if they already sell that at the market like this, why not just pick up a pack?)
- 1 bottle tomato sauce - warmed or room temperature (I use Classico)
- 1 container shredded Parmesan cheese (never the powdered stuff)
- 1 8oz pkg shredded mozzarella (or two if your friends like to eat it plain while you cook)
- Italian flavored Panko breadcrumbs
- 2 eggs beaten
- Flour
- Olive oil
- Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil (for easy clean up) and place in oven to heat up.
2. Prepare batter stations, fill 3 shallow trays with the following (or use can use plates):
- 2 eggs beaten
- 1c flour (seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic)
- 1 1/2c panko breadcrumbs mixed with two handfuls of shredded parmesan
2. Season chicken cutlets with a bit of salt/pepper
3. Dip chicken first in egg (wiping off excess), next coat in flour until cutlet is dry to the touch, finally in breadcrumbs (you may need to sprinkle a handful on top and press into the chicken to get it to really stick)
4. Coat skillet with olive oil (be generous) and heat (med/high)
5. Place chicken in (2 at a time) and cook until golden brown on both sides (about 2-3 min each).
6. Remove from heat and place chicken on cookie sheet in oven. (repeat with all chicken)
7. Remove cookie sheet and spoon a generous amount of tomato sauce on each cutlet, cover with mozzarella cheese.
8. Place chicken back in oven until cheese is bubbly and browned.
9. Serve with spaghetti and garlic bread.

Hash Browns

Love these, and with a few quick techniques, I can whip up a batch in around 30 min, which honestly is at the far end of how long Brunch should take to cook.

Ingredients:
- 4 red skinned potatoes (these are way more filling than they look, so this will make 3, or two large, servings)
- 1/2 onion
- 1/4c bell pepper (diced)
- butter
- salt
- garlic powder
- oil

Toppings:
- Sour Cream
- Scallions

1. Wash potatoes and chop into quarters. Put them in a small pot and fill just until covered with cold water. Add 2 tbs salt and bring to a boil (10-12 min).
2. Once boiling, lower heat and cook for an additional 10 minutes or until fork tender. (You can taste them as they cook, they should be well cooked, but not mushy).
3. Once cooked, remove from heat and rinse with cold water.
4. Cut potatoes into 1/4" slices. Set aside.
5. In a large flat pan, heat 4 tbs oil.
6. Saute onions and bell peppers until peppers are soft and onions are browned. (You may need to set the onions aside as the peppers continue to cook)
7. Once cooked, season with salt & garlic powder, turn up heat and add potatoes (drizzle with extra oil).
8. Toss potatoes around to ensure they are well mixed with onions & peppers and cook turning periodically until potatoes have a sear on all sides and are crispy and brown.
9. Season with salt, pepper, garlic powder.
10. Serve with ketchup, sour cream, chopped scallions.

Fall Flavors: Pumpkin

I love everything pumpkin, especially Pumpkin Pie, but these dishes were an attempt to really feature the flavor of pumpkin.

Pumpkin Risotto



The first is a basic risotto with some extra flavors. Because the pumpkin is so sweet, it's important to use other bold nutty flavors such as the sage and a good Parmesano Reggiano parmesan cheese.

1 onion (diced)
12-15 sage leaves (torn from stems)
1 c arborio rice
2c chicken stock (warmed slightly)
4 tbs butter
1c pumpkin
1c parmesan cheese

1. Cook sage leaves on low heat in 3 tbs butter until slightly crispy. Remove and reserve 4-6 leaves.
2. Add 1-2 tbs olive oil and add onions. Cook until translucent. Set aside.
3. Add 1-2 tbs olive oil and toast rice. Cook for 3-5 minutes and begin adding chicken stock in small batches. When stock is absorbed, add more. Until rice is soft, but still slightly nutty.
4. Stir in sage, onion, and pumpkin and dilute with remaining chicken stock. Cover and simmer for 2-3 minutes or until pumpkin is well disolved.
5. Stir in parmesan cheese.
6. Serve and top with fried sage leaves.

The pumpkin flavor really brings out the sweetness of this dish and adds to the rich, moist texture: Pumpkin Spice Muffins with Cranberries & Walnuts



1 box Trader Joe's Pumpkin Bread Mix
1 12oz can pumpkin
1c water
1c chopped walnuts
1c sweetened dried cranberries
1/2c white chocolate

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a muffin tin with cooking oil.
2. In a large bowl, gently stir together pumpkin mix, pumpkin, and water (being careful not to spill).
3. Stir in walnuts and cranberries.
4. Scoop into muffin tins until nearly full. Bake for 18-20 min or until muffins are cooked through.
5. Let muffins sit until cooled.
6. Heat chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl. Heat in 30 second increments stirring in between heating until mixture is smooth.
7. Using a fork, drizzle chocolate over the tops of muffins (in a paint spatter motion) until each muffin is liberally coated.

Fall Flavors: Sage

My favorite flavor this fall was Sage! It makes all those Thanksgiving dishes taste that much more Thanksgiving-y.

Cornbread Stuffing Muffins



This recipe is from Claire Robinson of 5 ingredient fix, a concept I love. In fact, one of my favorite things about fresh Sage is that it can take the place of buying a million herbs and spices for your meals...thyme, rosemary, sage, even garlic are all optional if you've got one strong flavor. I prefer to buy a large pack of fresh sage and build my meal from there.

1 pound cornbread (store bought or homemade)
1 stick butter, divided
1 large Vidalia or Spanish onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
1/2 cup fresh sage leaves, about 15 (stems removed)
2 large eggs
Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
3/4 cup water

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.

2. In a large skillet over medium heat, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter; add the onions and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Cook, stirring often, until light golden, about 6 to 8 minutes and remove from the pan to a small plate.

3. Raise the heat to medium-high and add the water, scraping up the brown bits from the bottom of the skillet and allowing the water to simmer just a couple of minutes to infuse in the onion flavor. Remove from the heat.

4. Put the cornbread in a large mixing bowl.

5. Melt the remaining 6 tablespoons butter in a small pan over medium heat and let it bubble until the milk solids to start to turn golden. Add the sage leaves and briefly fry until beginning to crisp, about 30 seconds. With a slotted spoon, remove sage and put on top of cornbread to drain and crisp. Remove the butter from the heat. Reserve one leaf per muffin.

6. Add the eggs and cooked onions to the cornbread and pour the browned butter over the mixture. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Add the onion infused water, a tablespoon at a time, gently folding, until cornbread is evenly moistened but not soggy.

7. Scoop the stuffing mix into muffin tin. Top each with a fried sage leaf. Bake until top is golden brown in color and the stuffing is set in the middle, about 18-20 minutes.

Another super easy, super delicious dish is Pan Roasted Chicken with Sage and Pan Gravy

This is a super easy and (even better) super fast way to get tender, delicious, flavorful chicken without having to roast for hours. It tastes great on its own, but even better with a quick gravy on top.



2 Chicken breasts (or breast & wing) with Skin
1/2 stick butter
8-10 sage leaves
1/2 cup chicken stock
2 tbs flour
salt/pepper
garlic powder or granulated garlic

This meal is great to make in a skillet that can go in the oven, but if you're not sure if yours can, try this:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a baking dish with oil and place in oven.
2. Prepare spices:
- Cut 4 tbs butter into pats (place on clean plate)
- In a small bowl or plate, add 2 tbs salt, 1 tbs pepper, 1/2 tbs garlic mix loosely
- Tear off 8-10 sage leaves (leave 4-6 separate)
3. Prepare chicken:
- Peel skin away from top to create a pocket
- Cut an incision between meat and breast bone
4. Season chicken:
- Season area inside of incision generously with seasoning mixture
- Season area under skin similarly
- Insert 2 tbs of butter and 1-2 sage leaves under skin. Press to distribute.
5. Add remaining butter to a skillet and cook gently with remaining sage leaves until slightly crispy. Remove sage from butter.
6. Add chicken, skin down. Cook for 3-4 minutes until skin is golden brown.
7. Lower oven to 350 degrees. Carefully transfer chicken to heated dish in oven skin side down, leaving remaining butter in pan. Cook chicken in oven for 7 minutes.
8. Flip oven chicken to skin side up. Cook 2 additional minutes or until juices run clear.
9. Meanwhile, prepare gravy:
- Heat stovetop to medium, add 1 1/2 tbs flour to chicken drippings in pan, whisk with a wire whisk until it becomes a smooth paste.
- Slowly add stock 2-3 tbs at a time to taste (might need to add to initial drippings to allow flour to incorporate).
- Continue adding stock until the mixture yields about 1 cup.

Remove chicken from oven and transfer to plates. Let sit 1 minute. Add gravy.

Chipotle Lime Cilantro Rice

Here's another restaurant try-at-home. Easy and simple and tasty too.

Ingredients:
- 1 tbs canola oil
- 2/3 cup white rice
- 1 cup water
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 lime (juiced)
- 2 tbs fresh cilantro

1. Heat oil, add rice and lime juice. Stir for 1 minute.
2. Add water and salt. Bring to a boil.
3. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer about 20 minutes (until water is absorbed).
4. Meanwhile chop cilantro.
5. Add cilantro and mix well. Season with salt and additional lime juice to taste.