Confessions of a Foodie

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Thursday, December 15, 2016

Chicken - and Computer Back Up

Finally, I'm back online! It only took several calls, including one that lasted almost 35 minutes (shortly after noon) and one that lasted 55 minutes! Ouch! But now that we're back in business...

There was a time when chicken was relegated to Sunday dinner. Now, it's an anytime meal. Chicken fast food restaurants seem to be everywhere; even burger places frequently have chicken sandwiches and nuggets. And many picnics and pot luck dinners have at least one or two chicken dishes, whether fried or baked, with or without gravy – hundreds of ways to have chicken.

As you probably guessed by now, today's post gives you six tasty ways to fix chicken. Enjoy!

KUNG PAO CHICKEN

This was posted by Daring Gourmet in tbsp. (tablespoon)’s website. She wrote, “One of the most popular dishes throughout China and the Western world alike, this sweet and spicy chicken dish is not for the faint of taste buds. It packs a punch, or should we say, ‘PAO, right in the kisser!’” Prep Time: 15 minutes; Total Time: 25 minutes; makes 4 servings.

To view this online, click here.

Ingredients

3 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil

6-10 dried hot red chili peppers (or less according to heat preference), seeded and membranes removed (gloves recommended)

1 1/2 pounds chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 teaspoons fresh ginger, minced

3/4 cup dry roasted peanuts

1 bunch green onions (about 6 green onions)

For the Marinade:

1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine or sherry

3/4 teaspoon cornstarch

For the Sauce:

1/4 cup black Chinese vinegar or dark balsamic vinegar

3 tablespoons soy sauce

1 1/2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil

3 tablespoons white sugar

2 tablespoons hoisin sauce

2 teaspoons cornstarch

Directions

Combine the marinade ingredients in a small bowl and pour over the chicken pieces. Toss to coat and let the chicken sit while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

Combine all the sauce ingredients in a bowl, stirring until the cornstarch and sugar is dissolved. Set aside.

Heat the oil in a wok or skillet over high heat. Fry the chilies for a few seconds until they turn darker in color.

Add the chicken and marinade and fry until no longer pink. Add the garlic, ginger, and white parts of the green onions and fry for two minutes. Add the sauce and stir until thickened. Reduce the heat to medium-high and stir in the peanuts. Simmer for one minute. Remove from heat and stir in the green onions. Serve immediately with steamed rice.

CHICKEN CACCIATORE

Servings: 6

View recipe: http://diabeticgourmet.com/recipes/html/64.shtml

Source: Cooking Healthy and Fast

Ingredients

1 cup sliced mushrooms

1 cup tomato sauce

1 16-ounce can whole plum tomatoes

1/2 cup white wine (or cooking wine)

1/4 tsp. basil

1/4 tsp. oregano

1 bay leaf

2 tsp. minced garlic

1 chopped onion

4 half chicken breasts, skinned, boned

2 Tbsp. fat-free chicken broth

Directions

Heat liquid chicken broth in a non-stick skillet and brown chicken, onion, and garlic.

Add all other ingredients except mushrooms. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer about 30 minutes.

Add mushrooms, cook 10 minutes more.

Remove chicken from pan, boil down sauce until slightly thickened.

Serve over cooked rice.

Nutritional Information Per Serving: Calories: 217; Protein: 28 g; Fat: 3.5 g; Sodium: 382 mg; Cholesterol: 73 mg; Carbohydrates: 15 g; Exchanges: 1 Starch; 4 Lean Meat

BUFFALO CHICKEN GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICH

This comes from Jennifer Meier, About.com’s Cheese expert. Jennifer wrote, “Perhaps this isn't a traditional grilled cheese sandwich - maybe it's just a sandwich - but either way it's delicious. This buffalo chicken grilled cheese sandwich recipe takes everything we love about Buffalo Chicken (spicy, crispy chicken, creamy blue cheese dip, celery on the side) and turns it into a memorable sandwich.” Prep Time: 20 minutes; Cook Time: 25 minutes; Total Time: 45 minutes; Yield; 4 sandwiches

Jennifer also added a note about using mayo on grilled cheese sandwiches, as well as what to do with leftover buttermilk.

To view this online, click here.

Ingredients

2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, pounded to 1/8-inch thickness. Or, make your life easier and buy 4 thin chicken breasts

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

2 eggs, whisked

1 cup panko

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 cup celery, very thinly sliced (plus any leaves you can pull from the stalks)

1/4 of a red onion, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley

3/4 cup mayonnaise, divided, plus more for spreading on the outside of the bread slices

1 tablespoon buttermilk

2 teaspoons hot sauce, or more to taste

4 tablespoons vegetable oil

4 ounces blue cheese

8 slices of sourdough or country bread

Preparation

Generously season chicken breasts with salt. Cut each pounded chicken breast in half, so you have 4 pieces of chicken.

You’ll need three shallow bowls or dishes for dredging the chicken. One for the flour, one for the eggs, and one for the panko, salt and cayenne pepper.

Working with one piece of chicken at a time, dredge both sides of the breast in flour, shaking off excess. Next, dip the chicken into the egg, coating both sides and letting excess drip off.

Lastly, dredge through the panko/salt/cayenne mixture, pressing gently so the panko sticks to the chicken. Set the coated chicken pieces aside.

In a food processor, combine the celery (plus celery leaves if you have them), red onion, parsley, 1/4 cup of mayo and the buttermilk. Pulse just a few times until the celery and onion are roughly chopped. Don’t over-process or the mixture will get too mushy. Set aside.

In a small bowl, mix the remaining 1/2 cup of mayo with the hot sauce. Start with 1 teaspoon of hot sauce and then add more according to how spicy you want it. Set aside.

Heat 2 tablespoons vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 2 pieces of chicken to the skillet and cook until dark golden brown on both sides, about 8 minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside. Heat the last 2 tablespoons of oil in the same pan and cook the remaining pieces of chicken. (If you have a very large pan, you might be able to cook all the chicken pieces at once)

Return all the chicken to the pan.

Top each piece of chicken with crumbles or slices of blue cheese. Turn the heat to low and put a lid on the pan.

Spread a thin layer of regular mayonnaise evenly on one side of each piece of bread. Flip the slices over and spread the spicy mayo on the other side of each slice of bread.

When the blue cheese on the chicken is warm and very soft, remove the chicken from the pan (use a wide spatula) and set one piece of chicken on the spicy mayo side of 4 slices of bread.

Top each breast with a scoop of celery slaw and another slice of bread, with the side spread with regular mayo on the outside.

Over medium heat cook the sandwiches until the bottom is golden brown. Flip. Brown again. Slice the sandwich in half and serve.

Why Use Mayo on Grilled Cheese Sandwiches?

Spreading the outer slice of bread with mayonnaise instead of butter or oil makes the perfect slice of toasted bread; crispy, flaky and evenly browned.

Leftover Buttermilk? Buttermilk is the slightly sour liquid that remains after milk is churned into butter. It adds a tangy flavor to recipes that always punches the flavor up a notch or two. Buttermilk is usually sold in 1 quart containers, which means you're likely to have some leftover when you buy it for a recipe. How can you use up the buttermilk before it goes bad? Try my favorite buttermilk salad dressing, or one of these recipes for using up buttermilk.

CHICKEN PAPRIKASH

This comes from Sam Sifton in The New York Times cooking e-newsletter. Sam wrote, “Spices lose their flavor over time but few as quickly as paprika, which starts out tasting of pepper and sunshine but deteriorates in but a few months to sawdust and bitterness. For this recipe, get some new at the market: sweet or hot Hungarian paprika is best, but the generic article isn’t terrible and the smoky Spanish varieties known as pimentón de La Vera would not be out of place either, lending a deep, woodsy aroma reminiscent of cooking over an open fire. It’s a dish that pairs beautifully with butter-slicked egg noodles.” Yield: Serves 4 - 6; Time: 1 hour.

This was featured in “The Fresher the Spice, the Better the Chicken Paprikash” and can be viewed online here.

Ingredients

3 to 4 pounds chicken thighs and drumsticks, or whole chicken legs

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 tablespoon neutral oil, like canola

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 large yellow or Spanish onion, peeled and diced

3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

3 tablespoons Hungarian paprika, sweet or hot, or a combination

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 cup canned crushed tomatoes or 1 large ripe tomato, chopped

1 cup chicken broth, homemade or, if not, low-sodium

1 pound egg noodles

3/4 cup sour cream

Preparation

Heat oven to 400. Season the chicken aggressively with salt and pepper. Heat the oil and 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large, heavy, oven-safe sauté pan or Dutch oven set over high flame, until the butter is foaming. Sear the chicken in batches, skin-side down, until it is golden and crisp, approximately 5 to 7 minutes. Then turn the chicken over, and repeat on the other side, approximately 5 to 7 minutes. Remove chicken to a plate to rest.

Pour off all but a tablespoon or 2 of the accumulated fat in the pot. Return the pot to the stove, over medium heat, and add the onion. Cook, stirring frequently with a spoon to scrape off any browned bits of chicken skin, until the onion has softened and gone translucent, approximately 5 minutes. Add the garlic, and stir again, cooking it until it has softened, approximately 3 to 4 minutes. Add the paprika and the flour, and stir well to combine, then cook until the mixture is fragrant and the taste of the flour has been cooked out, approximately 4 to 5 minutes.

Add tomatoes and broth, whisk until smooth and then nestle the chicken back in the pan, skin-side up. Slide the pan or pot into the oven, and cook until the chicken has cooked through and the sauce has thickened slightly, approximately 25 to 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, set a large pot of heavily salted water to boil over high heat. Cook noodles in the water until they are almost completely tender, approximately 7 to 8 minutes. Drain the noodles, and toss them in a bowl with the remaining butter, then toss again to coat.

Place the chicken on top of the noodles, then add the sour cream to the sauce, stir to combine and ladle it over the whole.

SPICY THAI CHICKEN

Servings: 2 (4 oz. each)

View recipe: http://diabeticgourmet.com/recipes/html/143.shtml

Print Friendly: http://diabeticgourmet.com/recipes/bin/print.cgi?ID=143

Ingredients

1 small red bell pepper, chopped

2 tbsp white vinegar

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1 packet Equal sugar substitute (or similar substitute)

2-4oz boneless chicken breasts, skinned

1 lime, sliced into 6 wedges

Directions

Puree red bell pepper with vinegar in a food processor.

Pour puree into a saucepan. Add red pepper flakes and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat to simmer and cook for 3 minutes more.

Remove from the heat and let stand til cool.

Once the red pepper puree is cooled, stir in the Equal sugar substitute.

In a preheated oven, broil the chicken breasts for about 10 minutes (or until browned). Turn chicken and broil approximately 5 minutes more.

Prepare a serving platter with a bed of hot, cooked, white rice, brown rice, or couscous.

Remove chicken from oven and place breasts atop the bed of rice/couscous. Spoon the spicy red pepper sauce atop the chicken breasts, garnish with the lime wedges, and serve at once.

Nutritional Information Per Serving: Calories: 200; Protein: 35 g; Fat: 4 g; Sodium: 85 mg; Carbohydrates: 331; Exchanges: 4 Lean Meat

ROASTED CHICKEN SALAD WITH NAPA CABBAGE

Serving size is 4 oz. chicken, 1 cup cabbage, and 1/4 cup snow peas.

Yield: 4 servings

Source: Express Lane Diabetic Cooking

Find this recipe at: http://diabeticgourmet.com/recipes/html/860.shtml

Ingredients

1 pound roasted white-meat deli chicken (either pulled from a whole chicken and skinned or from sliced chicken), cubed or shredded

1 cup fresh snow pea pods, halved

1/2 cup julienne baby carrot strips

1/2 cup low-fat Oriental salad dressing or low-fat vinaigrette

4 cups shredded Napa cabbage

Directions

In a large nonstick skillet over medium heat, heat the chicken, snow pea pods, carrots, and garlic. Cover and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in dressing. Remove from heat.

In a large bowl, combine the cabbage and chicken mixture; toss together until mixed.

Nutritional Information Per Serving: Calories: 285; Protein: 34 g; Fat: 13 g; Sodium: 416 mg; Cholesterol: 100 mg; Dietary Fiber: 1 g; Sugars: 4 g; Carbohydrates: 7 g; Exchanges: 1/2 Carbohydrate, 4 Lean Meat, 1/2 Fat

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