Crossing biscuits and gravy with chicken pot pies! Our deconstructed pot pie? Or our open-faced pot pie? Whatever it is, it's freaking delicious.
Justin had been wanting to do pot pies recently; the traditional kind with a pie crust. We even bought a perfect sized ramekin to make a family-size one in. But... he's been on another Southern Style Buttermilk Biscuit kick and made such a perfect, huge batch. We'd recently seen some traveling food show where a restaurant was known for their chicken pot pie biscuits and gravy and we both drooled on ourselves a little when we saw it. We had the biscuits, we had the chicken, we had most of the vegetables... it was on!
I just roasted some seasoned chicken thighs at 425 degrees F for 30 minutes. I leave the skin on while cooking and it comes out ridiculously crispy, like cracklins or chicharrones. Then I removed it before pulling the meat off the bone. I'm not going to lie... I ate 2 of the skins straight up and felt guilt. Massive, delicious guilt. I just threw the remaining skins into our freezer bag of broth-makin' scraps, but I kind of wish I'd kept one of the super crispy ones to chop up and sprinkle on top of the plated biscuit pot pies.
The potatoes I cooked real quick while I was chopping up and sauteing the veggies, it doesn't take too long to cook them. The instructions are below.
This recipe makes a large amount of gravy/pot pie filling. If it's more than you want, you can always freeze it. Or just cut the recipe in half. Or make somebody's day by sharing it with them... that's what we did. Justin took most of the batch to work to share with his coworkers since it's just the two of us at home.
Going back a little ways with some Stiff Little Fingers doing "Straw Dogs".
BUTTERMILK BISCUIT CHICKEN POT PIES Time: about 35 minutes Difficulty: Easy Makes: about 10 cups (10 servings - large batch!)
12 tablespoons butter (1.5 sticks)
2 cups carrots, diced 1/2" (about 3 medium)
1.5 cup celery, diced 1/2" (about 2 stalks)
1.5 cup onion, diced 1/2" (about 1 medium)
1.5 cups crimini mushrooms, diced
1 teaspoon rubbed sage
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon turmeric (optional for colour)
3/4 cup flour
5 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 cups potatoes (about 1 medium), diced 1/2" and cooked (see How To below)
In a large skillet or stock pot (that holds at least 4 quarts), melt butter over medium-high heat. Add carrots and celery, cook about 5 minutes. Add onion and mushrooms, cook 3-4 minutes until onions are translucent. Add sage, black pepper and turmeric, cook 1 minute. Add flour and stir until incorporated, cook 3-4 minutes. Pour in chicken broth and whisk until thickened, about 5 minutes. Turn heat to medium and stir in heavy cream, potatoes, peas, chicken, hot sauce and basil. Add salt to taste and serve over Southern Style Buttermilk Biscuits.
How To Boil Potatoes Dice potato into 1/2" cubes. Place potatoes in a large pot. Add cold water to cover 1" above the potatoes. Add a generous amount of salt. Bring to a boil and cook about 6 minutes. Potatoes should be cooked through but still firm.
This was the dish we made to go along with our Parmesan & Basil Zucchini. Normally we just throw the seasoned chicken in the oven, but I felt like something extra to go with it the night I made this. I was originally just going to saute the mushrooms and onion, but then decided to make 'em saucy. Pretty quick and easy! We don't do carbs a whole lot with our dinner, but with this sauce, I wished I'd made some rice or barley or even mashed potatoes to go along with it.
I'm gonna whip out a little old school punk here - Justin will be pleasantly surprised, as this is more to his liking. I can't even tell you why this song just popped into my head as I was wondering what to post. All I know is... whenever I think of FEAR, I think of Lee Ving (lead singer) in the movie Clue, as Mr. Boddy. I love that movie. Sad side note, Eileen Brennan, who played Mrs. Peacock, just died a few days ago. So maybe this song is apropos after all. Here's FEAR, "Living in the City". -jen
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with foil (for easy clean up) and drizzle a little olive oil over the foil or use some non-stick cooking spray on it.
Pat chicken thighs dry with a paper towel. Pull the skin back and with your choice of seasoning (seasoning salt, Mrs. Dash type seasonings, or just make your own "house" seasoning with salt, pepper and garlic powder), season the meat under the skin. Lay the skin back over the thigh evenly and season the top of the skin, as well as the bottom of the thigh. Place on prepared baking sheet and bake at 450 degrees F for 30 minutes, or until juices run clear. (Adjust time for smaller or larger thighs.) Let rest 5 minutes before serving. Note: Baking at this high of a heat crisps up the chicken skin nicely!
Meanwhile, in a large skillet, combine butter and olive oil over a medium-high heat until hot. Add chopped mushrooms and onions. Saute 5-7 minutes or until onions are just turning translucent. Add garlic, sage and tarragon, cooking an additional 1-2 minutes. Sprinkle flour over vegetables, stirring to coat, and cook 3 more minutes. Whisk in chicken broth, Worcestershire and heavy cream (which is optional, it just lends a little more creaminess to it). Continue whisking over medium-high heat until sauce thickens. Turn to a low heat and whisk in sherry. Taste and add salt and pepper to taste. (If you use a cooking sherry, it's salted and you may not require much more salt in the sauce.) Remove from heat and serve over baked chicken.
A few weeks ago, the idea for this meal came to mind... I don't even remember why. But it's one of those delicious southern comfort foods. I originally was going to put it over white rice... but the fact is, we really prefer barley over rice. I think I've mentioned that before. And it went real well with this chicken in gravy. It was actually quite fast to make tonight because we'd baked 8 chicken thighs the night before. So I just used the leftover chicken for this. It'd actually double just fine for a potpie filling, too! Or over biscuits if you wanted to get real southern!
Man, I put this song on a comp a few weeks ago for our work commutes... and the song just won't get out of my head! I was a fan of the original... but this version is so, so much better. Down By Law covering "500 Miles". -jen aka zigzag, heheh
In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add barley and stir to coat. Cook for about 3 minutes, stirring until the barley smells toasty. Add water, soy sauce, sage, thyme, coriander and pepper. Bring to a boil. Cover and turn heat to low. Simmer for 35 minutes. (Do not lift lid or stir!) Remove from heat and let rest 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork. You can make the chicken gravy in about the same amount of time it takes the barley to cook.
CHICKEN IN GRAVY Time: 25 minutes Difficulty: Easy-Medium Servings: 4-6
3 tablespoons chicken fat (if your chicken didn't render this much, use butter for remainder)
3 tablespoons butter
3 medium carrots, diced
3 stalks of celery, diced
1/2 a medium onion, diced
6 tablespoons flour
3 cups chicken broth (or 3 cups of water with chicken bouillon cubes or chicken base)
2 teaspoons dried rubbed sage
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon fresh or dried chives
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
salt to taste (some chicken broths are saltier than others)
meat of 4 baked chicken thighs, shredded (see below for baking instructions)
In a skillet over medium-high heat, heat chicken fat and butter. Add carrots, celery and onion. Cook, stirring occasionally for about 5 minutes. Carrots should be fork-tender, meaning a fork slides easily into them. Sprinkle flour over the vegetables and stir until absorbed, cook for 2-3 minutes. Whisk (using an actual whisk!) in chicken broth, sage, thyme, chives, the three peppers and salt, if needed. Continue whisking until gravy has thickened to desired consistency, turn heat to low, add the shredded chicken and cook for a few minutes until chicken is warmed. Serve over herbed barley. (Or use for the inside of a potpie!)
choice of seasoning (salt & pepper if nothing else)
olive oil
Preheat oven to 450 degrees, F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil (simply for ease of clean-up) and drizzle foil lightly with olive oil.
Season the bottoms of the chicken thighs, the place face-up on pan. Lift skin from meat and season both under the skin and over the skin. Bake at 450 degrees F for 30 minutes. Chicken should be at 165 degrees, and juices should run clear. If cooking the gravy recipe above, then reserve the chicken fat!
I've done a couple different variations of this recipe at home now and still haven't gotten it perfected but it's still awesome and a really quick and easy way to get some Caribbean flavors in your belly. This version isn't too hot even though it has two habaneros because de-seeding them takes out most of the heat. So if you like a hotter meal, only de-seed one of the peppers or if you like nuclear heat, don't de-seed at all.
I served this with a simple fresh salad and some fried plantain chips on the side to try and stick to the Caribbean theme but when I went to make my mango salad I discovered that my mango was no good and so I substituted an apple and a fresh tomato that I had making it decidedly less Caribbean but still pretty tasty.
To go with this recipe I went for some Lagwagon, Falling Apart, since they are one of our favorites in this house and we have yet to feature them in a post. Shocking! Not sure how they slipped under our radar but no longer will they escape this blog!
Now, the marinade part is simple. Throw all of the above in a blender or food processor and let her rip till at all blends into a smooth homogenous mixture, a couple of minutes ought to do. When everything is all chopped, blended, liquified, and incorporated, simply toss your chicken in a container with the mix and let it marinade for at least overnight, but the longer you let it go, the better it gets. I usually let it sit for 24 hours. Anything over 48 hrs is not going to do much for you.
Note: If you are only making enough to serve 2-3 people, halve the marinade recipe as this easily makes enough to cover 8+ pieces of chicken.
When you are ready to do up the chicken you have a couple of options. Tradition dictates that the chicken be cooked in a halved oil drum over hard wood charcoal but any grill would do as I know no one who grills in a halved oil drum outside of the Caribbean. However, we simply baked ours off in the oven, since it wasn't grilling weather and I wanted jerk chicken. 450 for 30 minutes will do if you are doing legs and thighs and if you want some of that charred grilled quality to it, toss under the broiler for a few minutes after baking.
Fresh Salad
1 fresh tomato
1 apple
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1/2 cup yellow bell pepper, diced
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
juice of 1/2 lime
salt & pepper to taste
The salad is everything listed above, just tossed together and served on the side. It's a light, refreshing accompaniment to the spicy, savory chicken and the starchy, salty plantain chips.
Plantain chips are also easy if you'd like to try those. Get a hold of a couple of plantains at the market and slice the skins off since they don't peel very easily. I follow the edges of the peel, they have 3, with the tip of a paring knife and then take off the ends. After that treatment they peel fairly easily. Slice them into 2 inch thick rounds and fry them in oil for about 2 minutes. Remove from the oil and drain them. Smash the rounds flat using the bottom of a coffee mug or something equally wide and hard. Fry them again in the oil for another 2 minutes, remove and drain. Salt liberally and serve.
Here's the thing about this recipe - you can go all out and do the whole thing: marinated chicken, whiskey caramelized onions and mushrooms, whiskey cheese sauce, and it'll take a few hours, but be well worth it! Or... you can only go half ass and make it quick! You could just marinate the chicken and bake it, easy enough. You could make the onions and mushrooms to stuff in the chicken breast, and pass on the cheese sauce. Or throw the whiskey onions and mushrooms on a burger. You could just make the cheese sauce to go on some veggies, or nachos, or pasta or whatever you want to put cheese sauce on. I'm trying to say it's versatile! And only as complicated as you want to make it. But it was smokey and rich... delicious.
I could see this being good with a variety of whiskeys. I used Jameson, because that's what we like to drink. Jack would be good. Use whatever you like to drink... and I highly suggest shots while cooking.
So tunes to go with it... some SoCal punk we were just introduced to and really enjoying - The Sparring. Check out their Facebook page for tour dates, news and new music! But first... enjoy their video for "Straitjacket". -jen
1-2 teaspoons minced garlic, depending on taste (we love garlic)
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon minced ginger
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
a few good cranks of fresh cracked black pepper
4-6 chicken breasts
2 cups Whiskey Caramelized Onions And Mushrooms (see recipe below)
2 cups shredded Smoked Gouda cheese
Whisk all ingredients together. Butterfly chicken breasts and place one at a time in a Ziploc bag and using a mallet or bottom of a sauce pan, pound the chicken out to 1/4" thick. Then place all the butterflied breasts into the Ziploc and add the marinade. Refrigerate for 2-3 hours.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil (for quick clean up) and coat foil with non-stick cooking spray. Lay the butterflied chicken breasts open on the foil and on one half of the breast, sprinkle a layer of smoked Gouda. Top with a big mound (about 1/2 a cup) of the caramelized onions and mushrooms, then sprinkle another layer of Gouda on top. Fold the breast the other half over the stuffing like a taco. Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes, or until chicken has reached 265 degrees. Cooking time is going to vary depending on size of chicken breasts. (We use a leave-in thermometer, they're awesome.)
WHISKEY CARAMELIZED ONIONS AND MUSHROOMS Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 30-40 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Yields: about 4 cups
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 large onions, julienned
16oz of sliced crimini mushrooms
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon minced ginger
3 shots of whiskey
Heat butter and olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add onions and mushrooms, Worcestershire, brown sugar and pepper flakes. Toss to coat, then let cook for about 10 minutes, stirring once or twice. When onions start browning, turn heat to low and add garlic, ginger and whiskey. Let cook an additional 20 minutes or until all liquid has evaporated and onions have caramelized, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat.
(If you're going to make the cheese sauce below, you can remove the caramelized onions and mushrooms and just use the same skillet - no need to even rinse it out. That's flavour!)
WHISKEY AND SMOKED GOUDA CHEESE SAUCE
Time: 15 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Yields: about 2 cups
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
1 and 1/2 shots whiskey (divided)
1 pint (2 cups) heavy cream
1 cup chopped Caramelized Onions and Mushrooms (optional)
dash of cayenne pepper, depending on taste
1.5 cups shredded smoked Gouda cheese
salt and pepper
In a skillet or sauce pan, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add flour and whisk for 3-5 minutes. Whisk in 1/2 a shot of whiskey and heavy cream. Add Caramelized Onions and Mushrooms (if you choose to) and cayenne. Continue stirring until sauce begins to thicken. Once thickened, turn off heat and stir in shredded cheese, one handful at a time, until melted. Stir in 1 shot of whiskey. Add salt and pepper to taste if needed.
One of my favorite dishes from my youth. My mother didn't, nor did anyone else in my family, cook anything piccata but one of the jobs I had for a couple years in high school was as a waiter and they had veal piccata on the menu. I used to get it quite regularly and as I've gotten older I've done fish piccata every so often when I get the craving for that butter fat, lemon, white wine tanginess.
The dish is pretty simple and versatile so, as I stated before, you can use pork, veal, chicken, or fish for this recipe as piccata refers to a style of preparation as opposed to a specific protein or sauce. Pounded, breaded, fried, and served in sauce. I generally use snapper or sole when I do fish and have done pounded out pork tenderloin steaks as well so mix it up if you like.
And to accompany this delicious dish I went with a classic song from a classic punk group who I'm shocked to say, has not yet been featured in a recipe of ours. These guys are also a flashback from my youth because it was my high school days when I first heard Agnostic Front and it may very well have been this song, "Gotta Go". I know it was one of the first that I'd heard from them so it's fitting that I go all the way back to sophomore or junior year. - justin
CHICKEN PICCATA Time: 40 minutes Difficulty: medium Servings: 3-4
3-4 chicken thighs, deboned, skin removed, cut in half
1cup all purpose flour
1 cup panko bread crumbs
salt & pepper to taste
1 large egg
1 tbsp water
1 tbsp olive oil
4 tbsp butter divided into 2 tbsp halves
1 cup onions, minced
2 tbsp capers
1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
1/2 cup white wine
Preheat oven to 350.
Pat your thighs dry with some paper towels. Toss your flour and panko in a gallon zip lock bag, along with some salt & pepper to season it up. Beat your egg and water together to make a little egg wash. Dredge your half thighs in the egg wash and toss inthe flour and bread crumbs to coat. Set aside until all are done. allow them to sit while you heat a large skillet to medium high heat and add your olive oil and 2 tbsp of the butter.
Brown the chicken on both sides until the breading starts to crisp up. Place the thighs on a sheet pan in the oven for 10 minutes to finish them up.
While the chicken is in the oven, toss the onions in the skillet with all the drippings from the chicken. After 5 minutes or so, when the onions should be translucent, add the lemon juice, the white wine, and the capers. Simmer for about five minutes and when the chicken is done add the last 2 tbsp of butter to the sauce and stir it in as it melts. When the butter is all incorporated, serve the chicken and drizzle the sauce all over the servings.
I like my creamy soups real thick... like a gravy! Justin, however, prefers his a bit thinner, and that's how we usually make them. This time around, I decided I was in the mood for a thick-ass soup. Really, this could simply be used as a chicken pot pie filling if you wanted, because that's pretty much what it is. Ohhhh... but it was so good! I think I need to heat up some leftovers while I type this up.
You'll note that I used frozen peas & carrots in the recipe, when everything else is fresh. I purposefully did this simply because the frozen peas and carrots ALWAYS make me think about pot pies... that 1950s retro thing, I dunno. I also wanted to be really productive and bake some pie crust to sprinkle on top, but I got lazy (and intoxicated) and went with crumbled crackers instead. And lastly, it seemed like a pain to write this in the recipe, but it calls for 1 cup + 2 tbsp butter. Well, I actually used the chicken fat from baking chicken for those last 2 tablespoons instead of butter, to help lend a little extra chicken awesomeness to it.
NOFX's "Mattersville" came to mind as I was thinking of how homey this
soup was. I haven't thought about this song in a little while, it makes
me laugh. -jen
CHICKEN POT PIE SOUP Time: 45 minutes Difficulty: Medium Yields: About 12 cups
Bonus pic! Deformed bell pepper with alien pods bursting
open inside of it!
1 cup + 2 tablespoons butter
1 large orange bell pepper, minced (about 1 cup)
1 medium yellow onion, minced (about 2 cups)
3 stalks celery, finely diced (about 1 cup)
8 oz package of mushrooms, diced
1 heaping tablespoon minced garlic
1 cup frozen peas & carrots mixed
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped
2 teaspoons rubbed sage
1 teaspoon savory (it's an herb, for those of you not familiar - it's optional)
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 cup + 2 tablespoons flour
4 cups whole milk
4 cups chicken broth (homemade preferable for super chicken flavour!)
2 cups cooked chicken, cubed
Add salt to taste (some broths are saltier than others)
In a large stockpot, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add bell pepper, onion, celery, mushrooms, garlic, peas & carrots. Cook until tender (about 10 minutes with that many veggies). Add thyme, sage, savory, paprika, white pepper, cayenne pepper and lemon juice. Stir in flour, coating all the veggies, and cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes. (It will be paste-like.) Add the milk and broth all at once and whisk until the roux (flour/butter paste) is fully broken down and there are no flour lumps. Continue stirring until the soup just begins to boil, then turn heat to low and add chicken. Taste soup at this point and add more salt if necessary. Remove from heat and serve with crumbled crackers on top.
So this is an older recipe from five or six years back that we decided to resurrect and revitalize. My brother, Drew, always raved about this one since it's creamy, cheesy, pasta goodness with some awesomely spiced chicken so this remake is for him. I used some penne that I had around the house but you could use some fettuccine or whatever you prefer. Also, the mushrooms and sun dried tomatoes are optional and can be added in quantities to your liking or not at all if that's what you prefer.
For musical accompaniment, The Vandals with Urban Struggle. Cause it's the Vandals, that's why. - justin
BLACKENED CHICKEN ALFREDO Prep time: 20min Cook time: 25 min Difficulty: Medium Serves: 4-6
Enough water to boil 1 lb of noodles
1lb of noodles
1 lb boneless skinless chicken cut into 1 inch cubes or thin strips
1 tbs blackened seasoning
4 tbsp butter
1 cup chopped mushrooms
1 cup diced yellow or white onion
1/4 cup diced sun-dried tomatoes
2 tbsp minced garlic
1/2 cup white wine (I used a pino grigio)
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 tsp grated lemon zest
2 1/2 cups heavy cream
2 tsp Kosher salt
2 tsp ground black pepper
1 cup shaved or shredded Parmesan cheese
1/4 chopped green onions
Toss the chicken and the blackened seasoning together in a gallon ziplock and set in the fridge. This can actually be done as early as the day before cooking if you really want to get those flavors in there.
Salt your pasta water generously and bring it to a rolling boil and add your pasta of choice. Bring it back up to a boil and drop it to a low boil for 10 min, or until al dente. Drain and set aside.
When you drop the noodles in the water, bring a cast iron pan up to heat over a medium burner and add 2 tbsp of the butter and let it melt. Add your chicken that had been sitting in the blackened seasoning and let it blacken. The milk solids in the butter, along with the spices in the seasoning, will turn dark and blacken as the chicken cooks. Try not to move it around too much before the surface touching the skillet has time to caramelize a bit. If it doesn't blacken completely, don't fret. You're going to smother it in alfredo later anyway and it's going to taste awesome so no worries.
When your chicken has cooked, remove and set aside. Return the pan to the heat and add the mushrooms, onions, and sun-dried tomatoes. Saute for 3 minutes or until onions become translucent. Add the garlic and saute for 1 minute more. Add the wine, lemon juice, and lemon zest and simmer for 5 minutes, using a spatula or wooden spoon to scrape up all the brown bits from the bottom of the skillet. Add the chicken that was set aside, the heavy cream, kosher salt, and ground black pepper and bring the heat up till the cream is at a low boil. Allow it to reduce by 1/3.
After the cream sauce has reduced and thickened, kill the heat, stir in the butter, Parmesan and the pasta. Mix well and allow the pasta to absorb some of that sauce. Serve it up with the chopped green onions served on top and with a couple of slices of the sun dried tomato if you like!
This is Part 2 of our Tall Cans recipes. The first recipe, Tall Can Mexican Black Beans, was actually made with a whole tall can of Tecate. Between the enchiladas and salsa verde here, it's really only 2/3 of a tall can of Tecate, but that just leaves the extra 1/3 for you to finish off. I really liked the beer flavour in the salsa verde. I don't usually use beer when I make it, so this was a first, and I think I'll make it with beer from now on!
Much like the black bean recipe, these recipes were inspired by the
Transplants' song, "Tall Cans In The Air." But since I used that song
for the bean recipe, I think it's fitting that I use a different
Transplants song. Justin and I always joke about their song, "Gangsters
and Thugs", because living in Humboldt County, we can relate to the
chorus, "...some of my friends sell records, some of my friends sell
drugs." It's a good sing-a-long, kiddies. -jen
ENCHILADAS DE POLLO (Chicken Enchiladas) Difficulty: Medium Prep Time: 30-45 minutes Cook Time: 20 minutes (not including the chicken baking) Makes: 15-20, depending on the size of your chicken thighs
6 baked chicken thighs
vegetable oil
1 medium onion, julienned
2 red bell peppers, julienned
2 jalapeños (de-seed for less heat), julienned
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 cup Tecate beer
1 can (4oz) diced green chiles
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1 teaspoon cumin
salt and pepper
corn tortillas (15-20)
salsa verde (see recipe below)
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
*I seasoned the thighs under the skin with salt and pepper, but left the skins on to bake. Baked at 450 degrees F for 30 minutes. Let cool.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil over a medium-high heat. Add onion, bell pepper, and jalapeños. Sautee for about 5 minutes. Add garlic, Tecate, and 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Continue cooking until all of the liquid has disappeared and vegetables are soft. Remove from heat to cool.
Discard the chicken skin and shred the chicken meat from the bone into a large mixing bowl. Add the cooked vegetables, green chiles, cilantro and cumin to the chicken, mixing. Taste and add additional salt and pepper to taste.
"Wet" tortillas, fried and dipped in salsa
Place 1/2 a cup of the salsa verde into a shallow dish (I like to use a pie plate) and have an additional plate available to hold the "wet" tortillas.
In a small skillet that will fit a single corn tortilla, heat enough oil just to cover the entire bottom of
the skillet over a medium-high heat, and keep the oil nearby for refills. Using tongs, place a corn tortilla
into the hot oil for 5 seconds, then flip and cook 5 seconds on the other side. Let the excess oil drip into your pan and place the tortilla right into the salsa, just to coat. Remove from salsa, letting excess salsa drip back into pie plate and set the wet tortilla onto your extra plate. Repeat, stacking the wet tortillas on top of each other on the plate until finished. Add oil to your skillet and salsa to your pie plate as needed.
Create an assembly line with your stack of wet tortillas, shredded chicken mixture, shredded cheese, and a large, rectangular baking dish. Place a thin layer of salsa verde on the bottom of your baking dish. Set a wet tortilla into the baking dish, fill with shredded chicken mixture and shredded cheese, and roll, placing the enchilada seam-side down. Continue until your baking dish is full. Spoon the remainder of your salsa (about 1/2 a cup) over the enchiladas, as well as the remainder of your shredded Jack cheese (also about 1/2 a cup).
1 can (28oz) tomatillos, drained (or 7-8 fresh, large tomatillos, roasted)
1 can (4oz) diced green chiles
1 cup Tecate beer
1 teaspoon chicken base (or 1 chicken bouillon cube)
juice of 1 lime
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
2 teaspoons dried Mexican oregano
1 teaspoon cumin
salt & pepper to taste
In a medium sauce pan, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook for 5 minutes until translucent and tender. Add all remaining ingredients except salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then turn heat down to simmer for 25 minutes. Pour into a blender to puree (but don't fill your blender more than half-way or it could explode hot salsa all over you! Ouch! Work carefully in batches... or use a stick blender and avoid that whole mess.) Add salt and pepper to taste.
We had our good friend Lua over for dinner tonight and wanted to do something that would be simple and fast, but still have a bit of a "wow factor". Justin and I had been talking about a yogurt marinade recently and having company seemed like a good reason to do it (not that we really needed a reason). So we went with a Mediterranean themed dinner.
What I really like about these three dishes is that I used lots of the same ingredients in everything, so everything just stayed on the counter and got used again and again. That's actually how I came up with the green hummus! I had the intention of just making my regular recipe... but then I had the 3 green onions leftover, the mint, and some parsley from when we did our Italian Chopped Salad. I was super stoked about how it came out all herby and delicious. J and I both decided that every recipe listed below was perfect... lots of times we make a recipe, like it, make it the next time, change it a little, make it again, change it a little. With these, we decided there wasn't room for improvement. We liked them all just as they are. (It was a pretty awesome compliment from Justin.)
The song playing right now in our kitchen, as I was typing this up and deciding what kind of music to post, is Bouncing Souls' "Letters From Iraq". I think it's technically "Fourth of July Weekend", since the 4th is this Wednesday. -jen
In a medium bowl, whisk together all of the ingredients (except the chicken - that's hard to whisk). Combine chicken strips and yogurt marinade in a gallon Ziploc and marinate for at least an hour (longer is optimal!)
The chicken would probably be better grilled, but it's a lousy day so we're baking it. Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly oil a baking sheet, then line up chicken strips on pan and pour remaining marinade over them. Bake at 350 F for 15-20 minutes (depending on the size of the strips, check with meat thermometer or cook until juices run clear).
Serve on a toasted pita with lettuce, tomato, onion, and cucumber. We like to spread some hummus on the pita and top the pita with tzatziki. Sprinkle with some crumbled feta cheese.
juice of 1/2 large lemon (use other half in chicken marinade)
zest of 1/4 large lemon (use remaining 3/4 in chicken marinade)
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 green onion, diced fine
1/2 teaspoon dill
2 teaspoons fresh mint, chopped fine
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon Accent (optional)
ground black pepper to taste
Place diced cucumber in a strainer over a bowl. Toss evenly with 1 teaspoon salt and let drain for 1/2 hour to 1 hour. Squeeze out excess juice. Discard juice and combine the cucumber with Greek yogurt. Add all remaining ingredients and mix. Serve on pita sandwiches, as a dip with toasted pita, or as a fresh vegetable dip.
GREEN HUMMUS Time: 5-10 minutes Difficulty: Easy Makes: 1 cup (maybe 1.5 cups) Need: Food processor or blender
1 can (14.5oz) garbanzo beans, drained
2 heaping tablespoons tahini
3 green onions, rough chopped
2 tablespoons parsley, rough chopped
1 tablespoon fresh mint, rough chopped
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon coriander
1/8-1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (depending on taste)
1/4 teaspoon salt
few grinds of fresh black pepper
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar (or lemon juice)
3-4 tablespoons olive oil
Combine all ingredients except the olive oil in the food processor. While blending, slowly drizzle in the olive oil until desired consistency. Blend for 2 minutes on high until completely smooth. Same application as tzatziki - use in pita sandwiches, to dip toasted pita or tortilla chips in, or as a fresh veggie dip.
PITA CHIPS Time: 15 minutes
pitas
olive oil
salt and pepper
Zatar seasoning (optional, but awesome)
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut pita into 1/8 sections. Place in a single layer on baking sheet. Brush tops with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and Zatar. Bake for 5 minutes. Turn pieces over and bake another 5 minutes, or until crisp. Can be eaten with both hummus and tzatziki.
I'd grabbed a Chinese chicken salad at our local co-op the other day for lunch. Forgetting how much I love Chinese chicken salad, I came home and told Justin we should come up with one that we dig. So instead of Chinese, we went with Thai! I don't think we ever get tired of the combination of cilantro, basil, and mint! I was a little leery of the chipotle in the dressing (begrudgingly inspired by Bobby Flay), but it was really great! We both ate giant bowls of this and in between mouthfuls, we just kept exclaiming how awesome the salad was (and how awesome we are!)
For music... well, this is how the conversation went. Me: What do you want to use for music? J: I dunno. Me: Did we use Screeching Weasel yet? J: "What We Hate" is my favourite of theirs. Me: I like that one too.
Not very inspiring, but still a great song from a band we love. -jen
THAI CHICKEN SALAD Time: 20 minutes prep at most Difficulty: If you can use a knife, you can do it, Nicky! Serves: 6-8
2-3 cups cooked chicken breast, cubed
1/2 head Napa cabbage, shredded
2 heads Romaine lettuce, shredded
4 medium carrots, shredded
1 cup broccoli florets
4 medium scallions, sliced long and thin
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
1/4 cup basil, chopped
1/4 cup mint, chopped
1/4 cup toasted slivered almonds
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons peanut butter (creamy or chunky, whichever you prefer)
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
2 tablespoons minced chipotle pepper
1 tablespoon soy sauce
3 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon fish oil
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon lime zest
2 tablespoons lime juice
2/3 cup vegetable oil
salt & pepper to taste
crunchy chow mein noodles
In a large bowl, mix chicken, cabbage, lettuce, carrots, broccoli, scallions, cilantro, basil, mint and almonds.
In a smaller bowl, whisk vinegar, peanut butter, ginger, chipotle, soy sauce, honey, fish oil, sesame oil, lime zest, and lime juice. Whisk in vegetable oil until completely blended. Salt and pepper to taste. Pour dressing onto salad and toss. Toss your salad until you can toss it no more. TOSS IT!!! Then serve with crunchy chow mein noodles on top (don't mix them in, they'll get soggy).
Tip: If you think you'll have leftovers, don't mix the dressing with all the greens. Just pour the dressing on your individual servings, that way your greens don't get soggy in the fridge.
Chicken and waffles have always had a magical place in my heart and stomach. Jen had seen some show not too long ago where the guy, Todd Wilbur, tried to discern the secret blend of herbs and spices in the KFC Original Recipe chicken by deconstructing the finished product. He apparently got incredibly close so we decided to give it a go, as I could think of no better tasting chicken to go with waffles and maple syrup (my favorite topping for the dish)! We didn't have everything his blend called for in terms of the tellicherry and the savory so we made a few substitutions but the finished product was juicy and tasted amazing. The waffles were Jen's creation and were golden and crispy with a little cornmeal crunch that was perfect.
Note: This is not health food. No one should in any way mistake this for a low fat, low carb, low sugar, light meal. This seasoning blend contains MSG, commonly known as Accent, and though it's a small amount some folks are particular about not consuming MSG. Also, this is fried chicken. You'll need a deep fryer or a large dutch oven and some frying oil.
Was in an old school punk mood so I went with some Circle Jerks "Wonderful" as that is exactly how I felt about this dish. Wonderful! - justin
Dissolve the salt and Accent in the water and add chicken for at least 2 hours. Chicken can be left to brine for as long as 24 hours in the fridge. Remove from brine, rinse, and pat dry.
BREADING
9 oz all purpose flour
1 tbsp kosher salt
1 tbsp Accent (MSG)
2 tsp granulated sugar
2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp ground white pepper
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp ground tarragon
1/2 tsp ground sage
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground marjoram
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp ground cayenne pepper
Combine all ingredients in a ziplock bag and shake thoroughly to mix.
Jen's Note: After the chicken was so awesome due to the seasoning, I made a double batch (minus the flour) just to keep on the counter as an awesome seasoning salt!
DREDGE
4 eggs
2 cups milk
Beat eggs in a large bowl and stir in the milk.
Heat oil or deep fryer to 300 degrees. When oil is hot, dredge each piece of chicken in the egg mix and cover with breading. Make sure it is well coated and set aside for 5 minutes. Shake off any excess breading and fry 2-4 pieces at a time or whatever your fryer may allow. Don't crowd the chicken though. Fry for 18-20 minutes or until the chicken becomes golden brown. Drain on a rack for at least 5 minutes before serving. Chicken can be kept in a 200 degree oven to maintain temp until served.
WAFFLES
1-1/2 cups all purpose four
1/4 cup cornmeal
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 egg yolks
1-3/4 cups milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
Mix all your dry ingredients in a bowl and lightly whisk the eggs, milk and oil in a separate bowl. Add the liquid to the dry ingredients, whisking until just mixed together. Let sit for 10 minutes before cooking as per your waffle maker's instructions (ours cooked about 7 minutes).
Serve chicken with waffles and cover with a generous splash of real maple syrup and you have achieved comfort food!
A few weeks ago, we went to try a new restaurant in town and got their spring rolls as an appetizer. After that, I was craving them like crazy. We'd made them before, I knew how simple they were, but I couldn't remember why the hell we didn't eat these largely phallic delicious, nutritious goodies more often! (Perhaps because I like to mention to my hetero life mate how phallic they are? Could be.)
I almost feel guilty even posting this as a recipe (especially without a peanut sauce recipe), because there's really nothing to it, it's just baking some chicken, chopping up veggies, cooking some noodles, and rolling them up. But I don't know many people who make spring rolls at home... and maybe it's because they didn't know how easy they were.
A note about the peanut sauce: I can't really post a recipe for it, simply because I used a random recipe I found online for a non-cook peanut sauce, and it came out like peanut butter with garlic in it. So, rather than tossing it, I thought I'd try to save it... I threw it in a pot, put it on the stove, added more coconut milk, more soy sauce, more fish oil, some rice vinegar, and more garlic. However, in my haste to not waste almost a whole jar of peanut butter, I didn't write down what I added. It actually came out pretty tasty, but I can't even begin to guess at measurements. So... you could go to your local Asian store and buy a peanut sauce, or you could find a recipe on line to make one. I'll have to find a different way of making one and post it later.
I think I posted a Fugazi song a few recipes back, but I heard their song "Ex-Spectator" the other day and had forgotten how much I loved it. And... you could make these spring rolls with tofu or just veggies, so it could very easily and deliciously be a vegetarian dish that even Ian MacKaye could love. -jen
THAI SPRING ROLLS WITH ASIAN BBQ CHICKEN
3 chicken thighs, skin on, bone in
3 tablespoons Hoisen sauce
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3-4 tablespoons Thai peanut sauce
bean thread (or cellophane) noodles
rice paper wrappers
butter lettuce leaves
1 large carrot, shredded
3-4 green onions, chopped
1/2 cucumber, chopped into matchsticks
whole basil leaves
whole mint leaves
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil (this helps clean up tremendously.) Peel the skin back from the chicken thighs and place a tablespoon of Hoisen on the chicken, coating the top of it (this gives it that barbecue taste). Place skin back over the chicken. Sprinkle each thigh with a tablespoon of soy sauce, and then rub a tablespoon of peanut sauce over each chicken skin. Bake on lined baking sheet for 20-25 minutes, until inner temp reaches 160 or until juices run clear. Allow to cool.
Once the chicken is cool enough to handle, remove the skin and discard, then take the meat off the bone and place meat into a food processor. Grind the meat until it is finely chopped (but don't process it too much or it'll turn into a paste!) It should be about the same consistency as canned tuna or chicken. Set aside.
Cook noodles according to package (usually at a boil for 12-15 minutes, until clear and al dente). Drain and set aside.
Prepare rice paper one at a time. Take a large dinner plate or pie plate and add hot water. Press the dry wrapper into the water and using your finger tips, gently move the wrap back and forth a little until it reaches an edible pliability (about 30 seconds). Carefully, so as not to tear the wrap, remove it from the water and lay on counter top, cutting board, or even a kitchen towel. Wrapper will be wet, but dries quickly.
Arrange your vegetables in your wrap. I found the best way was to put two layers of lettuce on the bottom, being sure that you leave about 1" of wrapper on each side (like you would for a burrito, so you can tuck the ends in). Add a layer of the basil and mint leaves. Then your chopped scallions, followed by the cucumber matchsticks and the shredded carrot. Take a handful of noodles and shape them to fit over your vegetables. Then mold 3-4 tablespoons of the ground chicken on top of the noodles.
Pull the bottom of the wrapper tightly (but carefully!) over your filling, give it a roll, tuck in the left and right sides, and finish rolling.
You'll want to place a damp paper towel over your finished rolls as you make them. And I found a good way to store them is by wrapping them in damp paper towels and putting them in a Ziploc bag.
Serve with a peanut sauce for dipping. Makes about 8 spring rolls.
I don't have much of an intro for this; it's been a long day. But these are delicious, and they were a pretty quick fix for us... we usually have all of these ingredients on hand. It'd still be worth buying the stuff if you don't have it, because chicken thighs are cheap and easy (like your mom) and this is better than just plain ol' thighs.
Here is a completely random song that has nothing to do with Asian Chicken Thighs - Millencolin singing "Devil Me". -jen
ASIAN CHICKEN THIGHS
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 heaping tablespoon Hoisen sauce
1 heaping tablespoon minced garlic
1 heaping teaspoon lime relish (or juice and zest of 1 lime)
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon ginger powder
a few dashes of Sriracha hot sauce
8 skinless chicken thigh*
* In the picture, you can see I used thighs with the skin on, but I wouldn't recommend it because the skin won't crisp up due to the marinade, and you'll end up with some soggy, gelatinous chicken skin.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
Combine all ingredients except chicken in a bowl and whisk. Place chicken and marinade in a Ziploc bag and marinate no more than 3 hours (or your meat will get tough from the vinegar). Place in a shallow baking dish and cook for 20-25 minutes, or until the chicken has reached 160 degrees and the juices run clear. Let sit for 5 minutes before serving.
This came out to be such a tasty, home cookin' kinda meal! We'd just had the whole chicken in the freezer for a while, not sure what we were going to do with it. Justin had mentioned brining it. But I left work early today and decided I was cooking up a meal. We had a lot of the stuff on hand - that's often inspiration enough for us... trying to see what we can use up in the fridge and still create something fantastic. We had the garlic sourdough bread, the leftover corn bread, we had onions and lemon... so I really just picked up a few odds and ends to complete it.
Oddly, we weren't really listening to much music while cooking this tonight. So as I posted this, I had this random stream of thoughts that made their way to Rage Against the Machine's "Bulls On Parade" in a ridiculously long, out-of-the-way though process. Punk? Well, not really, though I can think of a handful of arguments on how you could call Rage punk. But I get to break my own rules whenever I want. And if I want to post some Rage, I'm gonna post some Rage! :) -jen
ROASTED SAGE CHICKEN
1 whole chicken (about 5 pounds)
1 cup sage butter (recipe below)
1/2 a lemon, quartered (use other 1/2 in butter below, zest whole lemon first)
1 large carrot stick
1/2 a medium onion, quartered
1-2 celery sticks
a handful of fresh parsley
a handful of fresh basil
salt and pepper
butcher's twine
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Make sure all innards are removed from chicken cavity. Generous salt and pepper the chicken cavity. Stuff lemon, carrot, onion, celery, parsley and basil into cavity.
Tie legs tightly together with butcher's twine. Then gently lift the skin from the chicken and using your hand, rub a generous amount of sage butter under the chicken skin. Rub remaining sage butter over entire outside of chicken. Place chicken in a roasting pan and cook for about 90 minutes, or until the breast reaches 160 degrees F and juices run clear.
SAGE BUTTER
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temp
1 heaping tablespoon minced garlic
3 tablespoons fresh sage
2 teaspoons parsley, chopped
zest of 1 lemon
juice of 1/2 a lemon
several cranks of fresh cracked pepper
MUSHROOM SAGE STUFFING
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1.5 medium-sized yellow onions, chopped
3 cups roughly chopped crimini mushrooms
1 cup chopped celery
5 tablespoons chopped fresh sage
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 teaspoon salt
several cranks of fresh cracked pepper
6 cups stale bread, cubed (I like 4 cups sourdough, 2 cups cornbread)
3/4 cup chicken broth
2 eggs, beaten
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Melt butter over medium-high heat and add onions, mushrooms, and celery. Saute until tender, 8-10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in sage, parsley, salt and pepper. Set aside to cool.
In a large bowl, combine bread, chicken broth, and beaten eggs. Mix in sauted vegetables.
Pour into a buttered 9x13 baking dish. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes at 425 degrees F. Remove foil and continue baking for an additional 30 minutes.
