Tried and Tested Recipe - Three Cup Chicken

I have always loved East Asian cuisine particularly Thai and Chinese. Their blend of flavors and combinations have always intrigued me and delighted my taste buds. I have been wanting to give a try to making both of these types of cuisine, but I have always felt intimidated by the ingredients required. Thank goodness for Cooking Channel's Ching-He Huang and her show Easy Chinese. She takes you through the process of making excellent Chinese food at home in a very comfortable manner and her recipes are great.

I found the recipe for Three Cup Chicken in Cooking Channel's website after watching the show and thought I should get out of my comfort zone and try it. This recipe was easy to follow and the results were absolutely delicious. I modified it slightly because I did not have a few ingredients and I also thought that sliced almonds would make a great addition to give it a little crunch. Here is what you will need for my modified version.

Three Cup Chicken

1 TBSP peanut oil
Garlic - 5 cloves finely chopped
Ginger - 1 inch piece, thinly sliced
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1/4 Cup Soy Sauce
1/4 Cup White Cooking Wine
1/4 Cup Toasted Sesame Oil
1 TBSP Brown Sugar
1/4 Sliced Almonds

Follow the link above to the recipe on Cooking Channel's website and follow the cooking instructions. Add the sliced almonds at the very end tossing them into the chicken to integrate them evenly through the chicken pieces. 

This is a great recipe to get into making Chinese food at home. Serve with either white or Jasmine rice and vegetables. Enjoy :)

Oven Roasted Chicken with Grape and Thyme Cream Sauce

I found this recipe in one of my Spinney's magazines and thought is sounded delicious so I made it. Here is the recipe:

For the Oven Roasted Chicken
3 or 4 Chicken legs (separated or whole depending on what size portion you would like)
4 TBSP Olive Oil
1/2 tsp Curry Powder
1 tsp Honey
Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit (200 degrees celcius)

Place the chicken legs on a roasting pan, brush them with 2 TBSP of the oil and roast in the oven for about 35 minutes.

In a bowl mix 2 TBSP of the oil with the curry powder, honey, salt and pepper.

Once the chicken has cooked for the 35 minutes remove it from the oven and brush it with the oil, honey and curry mixture and return to the oven for an additional 10 minutes.

For the Grape and Thyme Cream Sauce
2 Shallots (finely diced)
1-2 TBSP Olive Oil
1 Cup Chicken Stock
1 1/4 Cup Cream
2 Fresh Sprigs of Thyme (If you don't have fresh Thyme sub in 1 tsp Dried Thyme leaves)
3/4 Cup Seedless Grapes (halved)

While your chicken is roasting in the oven you can make the sauce.

Heat the oil in a sauce pan oven medium high heat. Saute the shallots in the oil until translucent.

Add the chicken stock and allow it to cook and reduce by half.

 Add the cream and the Thyme and allow it to simmer until the mixture thickens.

Add in the grapes and season the sauce with salt and pepper to your taste. Remove from the heat and reserve until the chicken is ready.


Once your chicken is ready serve it on a plate with a good amount of sauce on top. You can either serve it with some rice or you can do what I did and just make a nice mixed salad with halved seedless grapes and blueberries.

Enjoy.

Chicken Lasagna

This recipe is very special to me because it was one of the things I always loved that my mom made (even though mine will never come close to how good my mom's is). This is the one that I would always request she make on my birthday. Here is my recipe.

Chicken Lasagna

9 inch by 12 inch Baking Dish
Lasagna pasta sheets (you will need enough for a base layer, 3 layers of filling in between and for the top)
3 large Chicken Breast Halves
3 Cups Chicken Stock/Broth 
2 TBSP Olive Oil
2 Plum Tomatoes (Seeded, pealed and finely diced)
1 Large Shallot (Thinly sliced and diced)
5 Cloves of Garlic (Thinly sliced)
2 Green Onions (Thinly sliced)
1/2 Red Pepper (Finely diced)
1 Large Carrot (Grated)
1 lb Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
2 Cups Ricotta Cheese
1 Cup Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese
Bechamel Sauce (see recipe at end)


Preheat oven at 390 degrees Fahrenheit.

Start by heating your chicken stock  in a medium pot add the chicken breasts and allow to cook through. Once cooked through, remove the breasts from the broth and allow to cool. When they have cooled off shred them as you would pulled pork (you want long stringy pieces).

In a large pan heat your olive oil and add the tomatoes, shallot, garlic, green onions, red pepper and carrot and cook until the onions become translucent. (If your mixture starts to dry out a bit add a bit of the chicken stock used to cook the chicken breasts). Add salt and pepper to taste.

Add the chicken to the vegetable mixture making sure to incorporate the chicken evenly and allowing the vegetable base to coat it. Once this is done set it aside.

In a bowl combine the ricotta and Parmesan cheeses until the Parmesan is evenly distributed into the ricotta. Set it aside.

Now start getting your pasta sheets ready in a large pot of boiling water with a pinch of salt and olive oil (I find it best to cook the pasta in batches on a per layer basis because it prevents the pasta from over cooking). 

Get your baking dish ready by greasing the bottom of it with a little olive oil. Start by laying down a layer of pasta at the bottom. Add half of the chicken and vegetable mix onto the layer of pasta making sure to distribute it evenly. Add the bechamel sauce on top of the chicken vegetable mixture (this will insure that your chicken will not dry out) and top out with a sprinkling of grated mozzarella. Now add another layer of pasta. The next layer is going to be your ricotta Parmesan cheese mixture distributed thinly and evenly. Add another layer of pasta and add the remaining half of your chicken vegetable mixture. Top this layer off with Bechamel sauce and a sprinkling of shredded Mozzarella. Add the last layer of pasta and add the rest of the shredded Mozzarella.

Place your baking dish at the center of your oven and allow the lasagna to cook until you see the ingredients bubbling and the mozzarella on top starts to brown. About 20-30 minutes.

Once ready remove from oven and allow it to rest for at least 15 minutes. Serve and enjoy


Bechamel Sauce (my version at least)

2 Cups Chicken Stock/Broth (you can use the stock/broth used to cook the chicken breasts)
1/4 Cup Heavy Cream
1/4 Cup Flour
Pinch of Nutmeg
Salt and Pepper to taste (if necessary)

In a medium sauce pot, heat up your chicken stock/broth and heavy cream on medium heat until they they start to lightly simmer. Start sifting in the flour while whisking it into the broth and cream. Whisk until you are satisfied that there are no lumps and the flour has been well incorporated into the wet ingredients. Add the pinch of nutmeg. Allow to cook for about five additional minutes stirring frequently. Remove from heat and set aside to be used when needed)

Empanadas

Well it took me long enough but here I am again. As promised I told you I would be delving into my South American roots so here we go. This is a super easy recipe that I concocted from watching my step aunt Lila and my mom make Argentinian style empanadas. I did not make the dough for the empanada exterior (I promise we will get into it at a later date). I just wanted to make sure that you knew that there is an easy way to make these tasty treats so that you can enjoy them rather than feeling spent after making them. Anywhoo here is my little tutorial for how to make these delicious treats:

Ingredients:

2 Packs Goya(or insert your brand here) dough for Turnover Pastries (there are 10 in each pack - find them in the frozen food section)

Filling:

1-2 TBSP Olive Oil

1 Plum tomato (finely diced)

1/2 Large red pepper (finely diced)

3-4 Cloves of garlic (minced)

1/2 Large white/sweet onion (finely diced)

1 Green onion (finely diced)

1 TBSP fresh cilantro/coriander (finely cut)

1 tsp Cumin

2 large chicken breasts (cooked and shredded)

1 Large Yukon Gold potato(cooked and cubed)

1 Hard boiled egg (chopped into very small pieces) 

Salt and Pepper to taste

In a large pan heat your olive oil at medium high heat. Add in all your vegetables and coat them with the oil. Saute your veggies until they have started rendering juices and the onions are starting to become translucent. 

Add the cilantro and cumin and stir to distribute them evenly. 

Add the shredded chicken breasts and potato. Stir in to distribute them evenly and to allow the vegetables and their juices to coat them.

Add the hard boiled egg to the mixture and stir to distribute evenly.

Add Salt and Pepper to suit your taste. 

Once you are happy with the taste take the pan off the heat and let it rest while you get your pastry disks lined up and ready to receive the filling. Make sure that your filling is still moist but not drenched in liquid from the vegetables as this will make it difficult for you to keep the pastry together.

Now it is time for the step by step on how to put these lovelies together. 

Place your pastry disk on the counter and spoon about 

1 1/2 TBSP at the center of the disk

Gently fold your pastry disk in half making sure to 

press the edges firmly together.

Press firmly down on the edges with a fork, 

starting at the center and moving outward

 Once you have completed these steps with all your pastry disks you are ready to either fry or bake these. I chose frying because although I like a baked empanada, there is something about frying these that makes them taste the way I remember them from earlier years in my life (yes I am older than I care to remember). 

If you choose to fry them make sure to use peanut oil/ safflower oil, something with a high heating temperature in order to make sure your home does not turn into a smoky mess. Use about 2 cups of oil in a frying pan about 9 inches in diameter at medium heat or just a little bit above this (you do not want your oil to get too hot or you will have burnt empanadas in no time). Also you want enough oil to immerse the empanadas to allow them to cook and be turned over to get them to a nice golden brown so if 2 cups is not enough for your pan, add a little more.

If you choose to bake these make sure you line your baking sheets with parchment paper and give your empanadas a nice egg wash. Turn your oven on at 350 degrees Fahrenheit and bake the empanadas until they are a golden brown. 

Here is the final result for the fried ones

Like I mentioned in one of my previous posts, there are quite a lot of different styles of empanadas so we will be having a little more fun with these as the year progresses. For now I hope you try these and that you enjoy them as much as my husband and I did.

Roast Sesame Chicken with Tangerine Ginger Glaze

OK I know another chicken recipe from me. I promise you that we will get away from this protein (not entirely, but we will look into the use of others) at some point. I made this because the hubby did the shopping this week and he had already defrosted the chicken thighs so I did not want them to go to waste. Great thing about cooking is that there are as many ways to make things as there are ingredients available in the world so you can have the same protein made a million different ways. Today I bring you a very simple but tasty recipe:

Roast Sesame Chicken with Tangerine Ginger Glaze
Makes 8-10 portions

1 Pack chicken thighs (with 8-10 pieces in it - totally recommend Whole Foods Family Packs)
3 TBSP Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 tsp Sesame Oil
1 tsp Soy Sauce
Salt and Pepper to taste
1-2 TBSP Sesame Seeds
Ginger Root (1 inch piece thinly sliced length wise)
1 Large Tangarine (Pealed, sliced in half and segments separated)
2 TBSP Honey 
1 Cup Water

Preheat oven to 420 degrees Fahrenheit. In a large, deep baking dish put in your olive oil, sesame oil, soy sauce, salt and pepper and sesame seeds and mix with a whisk until all the ingredients are evenly distributed. 

Take your chicken thighs one by one and coat them with the mixture in the baking dish. Add in your thinly sliced ginger, 1TBSP of the honey and tangerine pieces and spread them out as evenly as possible in the baking dish. Once all the pieces are coated arrange them in the baking dish with the skin side up (if you are using skinless chicken put the meatier side up). 

Add the water using a measuring cup and making sure to add it in from the edge of the dish so that you do not remove the coating from the chicken pieces. Cover the dish with either a tight fitting lid or aluminum foil. Place in the oven and bake for about 45 minutes or until you can tell that the pieces are cooked through. 

Remove from oven, uncover and sprinkle the last TBSP of honey on the chicken. Set your oven to broil and place the baking dish halfway away from the broiler surface and allow chicken skin to crisp up for about 5 minutes or until you see the skin is gold and crispy. 

Serve over rice or spinach with a generous amount of the juices from the baking dish for a little extra love and taste. 

Easy Cilantro Infused Chicken

Here is a nice easy recipe for those days when you just want to have as little fuss as possible. It is not just easy it is also very tasty. Anyway here you go:

4 Large chicken legs (Either whole or with thighs separate from drumsticks)

2 TBSP Olive Oil

3 Large Garlic Cloves (minced)

3 TBSP Cilantro leaves (chopped)

2 tsp Mild Yellow Curry

3/4 C Water

Salt & Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 420 degrees Fahrenheit.

Put the olive oil, garlic and cilantro in an oven dish and mix together. Add the chicken and coat in the mixture. Place the chicken pieces with  the skin side facing up. Sprinkle the chicken with the curry, salt and pepper. Add the water, cover and put in the oven.

Cook Chicken for about 25-30 minutes (until well cooked through) allowing the chicken to simmer in the cilantro mixture.

Uncover and baste the chicken with the liquid in the baking dish, and cover again for another 10 minutes.

Change your oven form baking to broiler setting. Take out the oven dish and uncover, basting the chicken again and place back in the oven for an additional 5- 10 minutes to allow the skin to brown and crisp to desired point.

Serve with your favorite sides and enjoy.

Chicken Dinner With a Twist

Today I made some really tasty chicken with at little surprise. I used some fresh lemongrass which is an ingredient that has become a staple in my kitchen, because it was such a big part of my culinary experience while my family and I were living in the middle east. The finishing touch that made the chicken extra delicious was the last few minutes left uncovered under the broiler to crisp up the skin (thank you Mr. Anthony Bourdain for making me become obsessed with this aspect of chicken eating). The following is my recipe:

4 full large chicken legs (Separated or whole will not make a difference)

5 large cloves of garlic (crushed or minced)

Salt and pepper to taste

2 TBSP Olive oil

2 TBSP Teriaki sauce

1 medium green onion (sliced thin)

1 long blade of lemongrass (sliced thin)

1 cup of water

Preheat oven to 420 degrees Fahrenheit.

In either a large, deep baking dish or a dutch oven combine the garlic, salt, pepper, teriaki sauce and olive oil ( I like putting the oil in first and then adding the other ingredients and combine them using a whisk).

Place the chicken in the dish/dutch oven and coat it in the mixture. Sprinkle the lemongrass and green onions on the chicken and around the baking dish.

Add the water and cover the baking dish/dutch oven. It is very important that I mention to you that when you arrange your chicken in your dish, you need to make sure that the side with the fattiest skin should be on the top in order to insure that the chicken does not dry out and so that the fat drips down over the flesh of the chicken to add more flavor.

 Place the dish/dutch oven in the oven and let cook for 30 minutes to allow the chicken to absorb the flavors.

Remove the cover from the baking dish/ dutch oven, and baste the chicken with the juices in the baking dish. 

Turn on the broiler and allow the skin to get brown and crispy.

Serve and enjoy with your favorite sides. This time I used jasmin rice and sauteed baby spinach.