Pan-Seared Chicken with Lemon Chive Reduction

Now, now, I know what you're thinking. Yikes, that sounds hard. No, it is not. And yes, it IS fancy. Fancy enough that you could serve it to company and they will marvel at your skills but only YOU will know how easy it is. The problem with pan-seared anything but ESPECIALLY chicken is that it tends to be dry, chewy, and tough given the heat of the pan needed to brown it. It usually overcooks way too fast. Not so with this method. I got this off of my FAVORITE show and cookbook, America's Test Kitchen. Seriously, I'm addicted like a housewife is addicted to Soap Operas. Husband even calls it my "stories". That aside, here's the recipe.

***One important note before we begin, you MUST have a stainless steel pan to make this work. Non-stick WILL NOT WORK. I always get blasted by people who swear by how great their non-stick cookware is. Please, bear with my soapbox. Having grown up in a strictly non-stick household, I prefer aluminum/stainless clad for several reasons. Hippie stuff like, "The teflon will kill you!" aside, here they are: 1. You don't have to treat it like fine china. I scratch the heck out of mine almost every day, throw them in a cupboard, let them rub against each other and they are still working like champs. 2. In my experience, they tend to heat more evenly and retain heat more consistently. 3. They really aren't a pain to clean. Put a little dishsoap in it and let it soak and almost everything wipes right off. For charred marks, a sprinkling of Barkeeper's Friend cleanser makes them look like new. 4. And the most important reason, meat browns BEAUTIFULLY and gives off a glorious fond to make the most delicious pan sauces. You don't need to go out and buy an entire set of stainless on my word, but honestly, one good-quality large skillet, in my opinion, is a must-have. Stepping down from soapbox. Thank you.

Ingredients:

4 (6-8 oz) boneless skinless chicken breasts. Trust me on the weight thing, the bigger they are the (way) longer they take to cook)

1 tsp. salt

1 tbsp. vegetable or canola oil (I have tried olive in the past and prefer canola for this recipe)

2 tbsp. butter, melted

1 tbsp. flour

1 tsp. corn starch

1/2 tsp. pepper

Pan sauce:

3 tbsp. shallot minced (I usually just use an onion because I never have shallots)

1 tsp. flour

1 cup chicken broth

1 tbsp. lemon juice

1 tbsp fresh chives (psh. I rarely use fresh. Dried works fine but if you are substituting dried, only use 1-1/2 tsps.

1 tbsp. butter

Directions:

Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Use a fork and poke the thick side of the chicken breast 5-6 times. Sprinkle each with 1/4 tsp. salt. Place in a 9x13" dish, skinned (smooth) side down, cover tightly with foil, and bake 30-40 minutes until the internal temperature reaches 145-150 degrees. Remove from the dish, put on a paper-towel lined plate and pat dry.

Heat oil in a large stainless steel skillet over medium-high heat until it starts to smoke (this is key. If the oil isn't hot enough, the meat will not brown)

While heating you are going to make a "velvet" which is basically just a coating over the chicken to protect it from getting tough. Whisk together the butter, flour, cornstarch and pepper. Brush tops with it. Cook, coated side down, for 3-4 minutes. While cooking, brush the top of the chicken with the remaining coating. Flip them over and marvel at your skills. They will be GORGEOUS. Cook another 3-4 minutes until the internal temp is 160-165 (or you can just cut it open and make sure it's done but only a tiny slit, you don't want all the juice running out!) Place the chicken on plate to rest while you make the sauce. If you aren't making the sauce, let the chicken rest 5 minutes before serving.

Now the sauce. See all those browned bits on the bottom of the pan? That's called a fond and it's all the juices from the meat that have thickened and carmelized and it tastes DELICIOUS. Reduce your heat to medium, put in your onion or shallot and stir around for about 2 minutes. Add, the flour and stir for another 30 seconds. Pour in the chicken broth and scrap the bottom of the pan to loosen the fond. Increase heat to medium-high again and bring to a vigorous boil for 3-5 minutes to let the sauce reduce to about 3/4 of a cup. Remove from heat, pour in the juices the chicken has released on the plate, add the lemon juice and chives, stir for 30 seconds, pour over chicken and impress everyone!!!

Asian Chicken Salad

This is a GREAT salad to take it light and easy. Have a relaxing night with this light salad.

Ingredients:
2 Chicken Breasts
1 Head of Romain Lettuce
1 Bunch of Green Onions
1/2 a Package of Wonton Papers
Rice Wine Vinegar
Sugar
Oil
Sesame Seeds

Directions:
Heat your fryer. While fryer is heating cut 1/2 of the package of wontons into either strips or squares. Fry up your wontons and set aside.

Place oil in the pan and cook your chicken. I like to brown both sides before I start cubing them. Make the cubes as large or as small as you would like. When the chicken is done cooking place in a bowl and set aside.

While chicken is cooking cut and/or tear your romaine lettuce and place in a large bowl. Chop your green onions and sprinkle over your lettuce. Shake on about 1/4 cup of sesame seeds and set bowl aside.

In a dressing shaker place equal amounts of rice vinegar, sugar and oil in and shake. Pepper it to taste.

Now you get to make your own plate. Place your lettuce on first, top with chicken, wontons and dressing. Enjoy your summer salad.

Pulled BBQ Chicken Sandwiches

I was really torn about putting this up. I found it in a cookbook and was actually a little offended it actually made it into a cookbook because of how simple and common-sense it is. In fact, I wanted a dime back from the makers of the cookbook because I shouldn't have to PAY for such a recipe. But, here I am, using up internet space to post it here. Here's why: Even though everyone probably already knows to do this, it was the first time I actually tried it and it is actually in my top 10 recipes now because of the response it got! My brother came over last night and tried one, then between he and Husband, they went through 1 and a half loaves of bread making sandwiches. My brother thought I slaved away in the kitchen for hours and said it tasted just like something you would get in a restaurant. Music to my ears. Anyway, here it is. Don't judge me for posting it!

Ingredients:
4-6 chicken breasts (mine were still partially frozen)
1 (18 oz. or larger) bottle of BBQ sauce. You might have one you prefer but if not, I HIGHLY recommend Bull's Eye Original by Kraft.
My own addition: 1-2 onions, chopped

Ingredients for sandwiches:
Bread or rolls, provolone or mozzarella cheese, jalapeno peppers (from a jar) if you like it spicy! (husband and brother's creation)

Directions:
Put chicken in slow cooker.
Put onions on top of chicken, if using.
Dump BBQ sauce over the top.
Cook on LOW 8-9 hours.
About 30 minutes before serving, shred chicken with two forks.

Serve as sandwiches. I also thought after the meat is chilled, you could make a DELICIOUS BBQ chopped salad? Hmm.....

Chicken Enchiladas

My mother has never been modest about the fact that she doesn't cook. She hates it and with cooking, practice makes perfect so if you don't practice...it's not going to be perfect. :) I love my mom's openness about the fact she has no desire to be a traditional housewife. She does, however, have 2 recipes I made sure to get when I flew from the nest. This is one of them. These are chicken enchiladas for people who hate cooking. Though they seem pretty fatty at the outset, you can use the fat free cream of chicken and low fat/fat free sour cream and it lightens this dish considerably with no sacrifice on the taste. Quick and very easy and you can even make them in the microwave....

Ingredients:

2 cups chicken (my mom uses canned chicken and it tastes great)

1 can cream of chicken soup

8 oz. sour cream

1 small can diced green chilis

2 cups shredded cheese

4-6 tortillas

Canned enchilada sauce (optional)

Preheat your oven to 350 or don't if you want to microwave. Mix together all ingredients, reserving about half the cheese, fill and roll tortillas. Now, this part is like a Choose Your Own Adventure Book, remember those?! Loved them. If you want to top them with some of the filling, reserve about 1 cup of it and you'll get about 2 less enchiladas. I particularly like pouring store-bought enchilada sauce over the top. Whatever you choose, top with the remaining cup of cheese and bake for about 20-30 minutes until cheese is bubbly. If you would rather microwave them, microwave on high for about 10-12 minutes until heated through. The microwave technique tastes just fine and is great if you are in a hurry to get dinner on the table.

Taco Chicken

This here is a little something I invented last night. That's right. I INVENTED it. I'm pretty proud of myself and it turned out REALLY yummy. If you haven't noticed by my posts, we eat A LOT of Mexican food in my house. Like, a lot, a lot. My other half literally eats a burrito every day so I always try to keep beans, rice, and taco meat in the fridge for when he needs a snack.

Ingredients:
2 tbsp. olive oil
3-4 chicken breast halves, cut up into bite-size pieces
1 cup salsa
1 cup water
4-5 tbsp lemon juice
3 tbsp sugar (probably not necessary but it did add a bit of sweetness that was a nice compliment to the citrus from the lemons and limes)
2 small limes
2 tsp. garlic salt
1 tsp. cumin

In a skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat until it starts to smoke, just a few minutes. Add the chicken and saute a few minutes until the outside looks cooked.
Add the salsa, water, lemon juice, sugar, squeeze the juice out of the limes, the garlic salt and the cumin. Bring to a boil and let simmer, covered, until cooked through - about 15-20 minutes.

May I suggest serving with Brittney's Refried Beans?

Mexican Casserole

This is another recipe I put together when I got creative in the kitchen one day. It uses stuff you likely already have...at least if you are Mexican food junkies like we are at my house. It's sooo fast and easy, you will have dinner on the table in under 30 minutes. I promise. I make this a couple times a month now and I love it! Easy. Fast. Cheap. Delicious.

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp. butter
1/2 a medium onion chopped
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained with a couple of tbsp's of the liquid reserved.
1 small can (11 oz-ish) of corn drained, again reserving a bit of the liquid
1/2 cup or more of your favorite salsa
1/2 packet taco seasoning
3/4 lb. diced or shredded chicken - I usually use about half of one of those GIGANTRONIC rotisserrie chickens from...you guessed it, my favorite place on earth, Costco.
1 1/2 coarsely crushed tortilla chips
1 cup shredded mexican blend cheese

Directions:
In a large skillet or better yet, a wok, melt the butter over med-high heat and sautee the onions for a few minutes until they become transparent. Add the liquid from the beans and corn, the beans and corn, salsa, taco seasoning and chicken. Let simmer for about 10 min. until the meat absorbs that deliciousness.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. When the mixture is done simmering, pour it into a 9x13 inch casserole dish. Top with half the cheese and crushed up tortilla chips. Bake for about 15 minutes. Take it out, top it with the rest of the cheese and bake for another 5 minutes until the cheese is bubbly. Done!!!

Slow-Cooker Chicken in a Creamy Italian Sauce

Whipped this up for dinner last night and both the husband and kiddo loved it. Plus, it's a slow cooker meal so you know it's easy to boot!


Ingredients:

3- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 envelope Italian salad dressing mix
1/2 cup water
1/2 package (4 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1 can condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
1/3 cup sour cream
Rice or noodles, cooked according to package directions.

Directions:

1. Place the chicken breast halves in a slow cooker.

2. Combine salad dressing mix and water; pour over chicken.

3. Cover and cook on LOW for 3 hours.

4. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together cream cheese and soup until blended.

5. Pour cream cheese mixture over chicken.

6. Cook on LOW for 3 to 4 hours more, until chicken juices run clear.

7. When chicken has 30 minutes of cook time left, stir in sour cream. Allow chicken to finish cooking.
8. Serve Italian Chicken over hot rice or noodles.

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

Wow! It's flu season and the flu hit our little family... hard! Coughing, fevers, nausea, chills; you name it, we had it. Thankfully, we are all on the mend now, but I can't tell you how wonderful a bowl full of this simple, tasty soup felt while being so sick.

It's doesn't require all manner of fancy ingredients; I bet you have most, if not all, of this stuff in your kitchen now. Plus, it's low in fat. You just can't go wrong with this simple staple!

So, go enjoy a couple bowls of this savory soup and call me in the morning!

Ingredients:

1 medium onion
Tbsp vegetable oil
8 cups chicken broth
2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 bay leaf
1 cup carrots
1 cup celery
2 cups egg noodles
1/2 tsp dried parsley
Salt and pepper to taste


Directions:

1. Chop onion and then saute in the oil in a large soup pot until translucent.
2. Add broth, chicken breasts, and bay leaf to the onions in the pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until chicken is cooked all the way through and tender (about 45 minutes).
3. Remove chicken from broth and cut into bite-sized pieces.
4. Add celery and carrots to broth and simmer for 5 minutes.
5. Add egg noodles and parsley to broth and simmer an additional 5-7 minutes or just until egg noodles are tender. Don't overcook the egg noodles or they will fall apart.
6. Add chicken to soup and stir to combine and warm through.
7. Salt and pepper to taste.