Tag: Chicken

Poultry

Easy chicken piccata with lemon and caper sauce

Belinda

I made this again last night and was reminded of the tangy, clean flavors. We had it with green beans tossed in lemon, olive oil and garlic, but it’s also lovely over pasta with the lemony caper sauce coating the pasta.

Serves 4

4 organic boneless, skinless chicken breasts, pounded to about 1/2″ thickness
salt and freshly ground black pepper, as needed
All- purpose flour for dredging
4 – 6 tbsp olive oil
2 heaped tbsp capers, drained. For a more intense flavor, try mincing half of the capers, leaving the rest whole
3/4 cup dry white wine
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (squeeze 1/2 cup incase you need more)
1/2 cup chicken broth
6 tbsp cold diced butter
1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley

After pounding the chicken breasts to 1/2 inch thickness, season them generously with salt and pepper.
Dredge the chicken breasts in the flour until completely covered, shaking off the excess.

Add the olive oil to a large skillet and place over medium high heat.
When the oil is hot, add the chicken and cook for about 4 minutes per side or until golden brown and just cooked through. Put the chicken on a warm plate, cover loosely with aluminum foil and keep warm.

Add the capers and wine to the skillet. Turn the heat up to high and boil for  2 to 3 minutes or until the wine has reduced by half. Be sure to use a spatula or spoon to scrape up all the bits stuck on the bottom of the pan as this is where a lot of the flavor is.

Add the lemon juice and chicken broth and bring to a boil. Cook for 1 minute, reduce the heat to low and add the chicken back to the pan.  Toss the chicken in the sauce for a few minutes until heated through. Remove the chicken to a warmed serving platter.

Add the diced cold butter and chopped parsley to the skillet and whisk for 1 minute or until the butter emulsifies into the sauce. Check the seasoning and spoon the hot sauce over the chicken.
Decorate with lemon slices if you like, or just some more parsley and serve immediately

 

Do-ahead · Gluten Free · Poultry · Soup

Slow cooker Chicken Enchilada Soup

Belinda

This is a pretty low calorie comfort soup and you can leave it to “do it’s thing” for several hours.
I just love weather that asks for soups and stews!

Serves 6         260 calories per serving

2 tsp olive oil
1/2 cup onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups chicken broth
8 oz can tomato sauce (or more to taste)
1 to 2 tsp chipotle chili in adobo sauce (or more if you can take more heat)
1/4 cup chopped cilantro, and more for the garnish
15 oz can of black beans, rinsed and drained
14.5 oz can petite diced tomatoes,
2 cups frozen corn (or tinned sweet corn niblets, drained)
1 tsp cumin (I use roasted ground cumin)
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, or if you prefer, chicken thighs
1/4 cup chopped scallions, for topping
3/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese, for topping
fat free sour cream, optional

Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium-low heat.
Add onion and garlic and saute for about 5 mins, till soft
Slowly add the chicken broth, tomato sauce and chipotle adobo sauce and bring to the boil
Add the cilantro and remove from the heat.
Pour into a slow cooker (crock pot)

To the slow cooker, add the drained beans, diced tomatoes, corn, cumin, oregano and stir.
Add the chicken, cover and cook on low heat for 4 to 6 hours.

Remove the chicken and shred with two forks.
Add the chicken back to the soup and season again with salt and more cumin, to taste

Serve in bowls and top with sour cream, cheese, cilantro and scallions.

If you’re not too worried about the low calorie aspect of this soup, it is divine with sliced avocado and crushed tortilla chips on top!!

Do-ahead · Gluten Free · Meat · Poultry

Mustard stuffed chicken breasts

Belinda

This is so lovely and simple. The creaminess of the mozzarella with the tangy wholegrain mustard makes it extra special.

Serves 4

5 -6 oz large fresh mozzarella ball, torn into small pieces
3 oz strong cheddar cheese, grated
1 heaped tbsp wholegrain mustard
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
8 rashers smoked bacon

Heat the oven to 400 F .
Mix the cheeses and mustard together.
Cut a slit into the side of each chicken breast then stuff with the mustard mixture.
Wrap each stuffed chicken breast with 2 bacon rashers each, not too tightly, but enough to hold the chicken together.
Season and place on a baking sheet or pan and roast for 20 to 25 minutes or so, basting once.

Tip- If you want to use less bacon, stretch out each bacon rasher using the back of a knife to make each one longer and thinner and use only one.

Do-ahead · Gluten Free · Poultry

Roast chicken with basil, lemon, garlic and white wine

Belinda

This is the quintessential juicy, tangy, moist roast chicken that you can’t beat.
You can make this for any amount of people, but this recipe serves 4.
You will need to use a good white wine that you will also be drinking, the tougher leaf basil and a good organic, free range chicken, whether it’s a whole chicken cut up or chicken pieces. This is seriously divine with couscous or good bread as there is so much juice, the couscous just soaks it up

6 free range, organic chicken pieces, bone in and skin on
good fruity olive oil
6 – 8 large cloves of garlic,
1 large lemon
a large glass of white wine, (not too sweet)
large handful of basil leaves (about 30)

Season the chicken pieces well on both sides with salt and pepper and put them in a roasting tin.
Pour over enough olive oil to moisten them and make a shallow pool in the bottom of the roasting pan.

Squash the garlic in it’s skin and tuck it in amongst the chicken.
Squeeze the lemon over the chicken and drop in the empty shells too.

Roast for 30 minutes in a preheated oven at 400 F.
After the chicken has been roasting for 30 minutes, remove the chicken from the oven.
Tear up the basil leaves and toss them about a bit with the chicken and pour in the white wine, stirring everything around.
Return the chicken to the oven for another 20 minutes.
Remove from the oven and put the roasting tin over a hot flame and let the wine and juices bubble and reduce a little, (for about 5 minutes) basting the chicken as you do this.

This is also good with lots of good bread as there is so much aromatic, sticky juice to mop up from the plate.

This is seriously divine!!

Do-ahead · Gluten Free · Poultry · Soup · Whole30 compliant

Eternal slow-cooker chicken broth

Belinda

I was reading about this today and went straight to the freezer where I had a bag of two organic roast chicken carcasses waiting for recycling.
What a great idea and to have the slow cooker on all day every day for a week (making the house smell divine) and just top up the slow cooker with water when necessary.
When removing any broth for use, strain it through some cheesecloth or a (spare) reusable coffee filter, so that all the herbs, chicken bits and vegetables stay behind, also producing a clearer broth, then replace the used broth with more filtered water.
Do this for up to a week, extracting every bit of goodness from that chicken carcass then throw it all away and start all over again with a new roasted chicken carcass or whole chicken.

This recipe is for you to improvise. It gives a guide to what you can put in the broth, but you can make an Asian broth by adding fresh ginger, lemon grass, star anise etc

1 whole chicken (or the carcass of a roasted chicken)
4 bay leaves
1 tbsp black peppercorns
1 tbsp white peppercorns
1 large onion, chopped into chunks
2 carrot, chopped into chunks
3 stalks of celery, chopped into chunks
1 or 2 leeks, chopped into chunks
bunch of fresh thyme, sage and Italian parsley, stalks and all
Filtered water

Put the chicken or chicken carcase into the slow cooker then pile in everything else, stirring and mixing together.
Cover with the filtered water and cook on your lowest setting for ONE WEEK.
After 24 hours or so, you may begin using the broth.
As you need it, simply dip a ladle into the broth to remove the stock. Pour it through some cheese cloth or a fine mesh strainer.
Replace the broth with an equivalent amount of filtered water.
If you are using a whole chicken, you can remove the chicken meat as you need it and use it in other dishes, like stir fries, soups or sandwiches.

At the end of the week, strain off any remaining broth, save or freeze, then discard or compost the bones. The bones by this time will pretty much crumble when pressed between your fingers.
The softness of the bones shows that most of the nourishment (minerals, amino acids etc) have leached from the bones into the broth you’ve been enjoying all week.

Wash the insert of your slow cooker and start al over again!

Poultry

Oven fried chicken

Belinda

This is about as low-fat as you will get for a fried chicken recipe that still retains it’s authenticity and it’s done in the oven with egg whites.

Soaking the chicken in the buttermilk overnight really helps the tenderness of the chicken

1 cup low-fat buttermilk
2 large egg whites, beaten
1 cup all-purpose flour (about 4 1/2 oz)
1/3 cup cornmeal
1 tsp salt, divided
3/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp ground red pepper (Cayenne)
1/4 to 1/2 tsp each of dried oregano, chile powder, dried sage, basil and marjoram, paprika, onion salt and garlic powder
2 chicken breast halves, skinned (about 1lb)
2 chicken thighs, skinned (about 1/2 lb)
2 chicken drumsticks, skinned (about 1/2 lb)
2 tbsp canola oil
Cooking spray

Preheat the oven to 425 F
Cover a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Put the egg whites in a shallow dish and whisk well.
Combine the flour, cornmeal, 1/2 tsp salt, black pepper and red pepper, (Cayenne) all the herbs and other seasoning in a separate shallow dish.
Sprinkle the chicken evenly with the remaining 1/2 tsp salt. Dip the chicken into the egg whites.
Dredge chicken in the flour/cornmeal mixture
Heat the oil in a large non stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken to the pan and cook 4 minutes on each side until lightly browned.
Place the chicken on the prepared baking sheet and lightly coat it with cooking spray.
Bake at 425 F for about 30 minutes or until the chicken is done

Asian flavors · Fish · Gluten Free · Nuts · Poultry · Salad

Marie Claire’s Vietnamese prawn and chicken salad (CleanCuisine)

Belinda

This is so light and tangy and one of the best salads I know. Well worth making and wonderful for entertaining in the summer!

Serves 4 – 6

12 oz small cooked prawns
1 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp fish sauce
4 tbsp lime juice
4 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp sesame oil
15 fresh mint leaves, finely sliced
1 tsp sugar
2 cooked boneless, skinless chicken breasts, shredded
2-3 carrots, grated
4 oz snow pea sprouts or other sprouts
1&1/2 English cucumbers peeled, seeded and diced
6 scallions (spring onions) , finely sliced
3 x baby cos (romaine) lettuce, finely sliced
1 -2 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted
optional  1/3 cup chopped dry roasted peanuts
optional  1 avocado, cubed

Peel the prawns and put them in a bowl
In a small bowl, combine the cumin, fish sauce, lime juice, olive oil, sesame oil, mint and sugar.
Stir until the sugar has dissolved, then pour the mixture over the prawns and toss until the prawns are well coated.
Add the chicken, carrot, snow pea sprouts, optional cubed avocado, cucumber, spring onion and lettuce.
Lightly toss together then pile onto a serving platter or into individual bowls and sprinkle with sesame seeds.  (dry roasted peanuts)

 

Do-ahead · Poultry · Whole30 compliant

Greek chicken with olives and lemons. (Kotopoulo Lemonato)

Belinda

This is one of the best recipes I think I’ve ever tried because it’s packed with flavor, is easy and is fairly quick.

There are two parts to it, however.  The lemons have to be made ahead of time, but you can keep them in a glass jar for weeks and weeks, but the minimum time is 3 days that is the only thing you have to know before you start.

Here is the lemon part of it first, because these lemons are incredible and they are the shortcut way of making preserved lemons without any salt, just olive oil and cloves. When you make this, try to treble the lemon recipe and do it with 3 lemons, then you have two marinating in your pantry waiting for another occasion!

1 large lemon. (make sure the lemon’s skins aren’t too think as they can get bitter)
6 cloves
Extra virgin olive oil to cover the lemon

Place the lemon in a small saucepan and cover with cold water. bring to the boil then reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. (Turn the lemons occasionally while cooking, so they get all sides covered.)

Remove from the water and pat dry gently with kitchen towels. Press the cloves gently into the lemon and place in a glass or sturdy plastic container. Cover with the olive oil, seal well with a lid and leave to marinate at room temperature for a minimum of 3 days.
When ready to use for the chicken dish, remove the cloves from the lemon and discard the cloves. Cut the lemon into 8 wedges, retaining all the lemon and juices and use with the following recipe!!
Easy isn’t it!

Chicken with olives and Lemons (Kotopoulo Lemonato)    serves 4

The preserved lemon (see above)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
8 large boneless, skinless chicken thighs, preferably organic
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground pepper
6 large shallots, sliced
1/2 cup pitted Kalamata olives
1 cup good chicken, turkey or veal stock
1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme

Heat the 1 tbsp oil and butter in a large heavy skillet over medium heat.
Sprinkle the chicken thighs with the salt and pepper on both sides and add to the skillet in 2 batches and cook until golden brown on both sides, about 5 minutes per side. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the chicken to a plate and set aside.
Add the sliced shallots to the pan and cook until golden, about 5 – 8 minutes.
Return the chicken to the pan and stir in the drained olives, and stock. Bring to the boil over medium heat then reduce the heat and simmer for 25 minutes.
Add the lemon wedges and any juices and the chopped thyme and simmer , stirring occasionally for another 15 minutes.
Place the chicken in a deep serving dish and spoon the sauce over.
garnish with fresh thyme sprigs and serve with crusty bread and a salad.

Note

This is also lovely served with a rice pilaf made with chopped sauteed leeks, dried dill weed and chicken broth.
Garlic mashed potato is another lovely side dish, so long as you have something that can soak up all those gorgeous juices, that is all that matters!
Heavens, maybe even orzo or a pasta might work. Let me know!!
All my recipes are a work in progress and there is no such thing as the “finished product.
It’s all about tweaking and sharing!

Gluten Free · Poultry

Easy oven baked pesto chicken breasts

Belinda

This is a recipe from “Kalyn’s Kitchen” food blog which I tried one evening when I didn’t really feel like cooking. It was so delicious I decided to post it.

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
salt and freshly ground pepper for seasoning the chicken
1/2 cup basil pesto
2 oz (1/2 cup) grated mozzarella
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Trim all visible fat and tendons from the chicken pieces, then cut each breast lengthwise into 2 or 3 pieces. (I cut the larger ones into 3 and the smaller ones into 2 strips)

Spray a 9″ x 12″ baking dish with non stick spray, then spread 1/4 cup of basil pesto over the bottom of the dish. lay the chicken strips over the pesto then spread 1/4 cup more pesto over the chicken.

Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and bake the chicken for 25 to 30 minutes, just until the chicken is barely firm and cooked through. Don’t over cook at this point or the dish will be very overcooked by the time the cheese is melted and browned.

When the chicken is barely cooked through, remove the foil and sprinkle with 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese then 1/2 cup grated mozzarella. Put dish back in the oven without the foil and cook 5 more minutes or just until the cheese has melted. At this point it is nice to put under the broiler to get a nice color on the cheese.

Serve hot. There will be great and flavorful juice in the bottom of the dish so you may want rice, couscous, ciabatta bread or quinoa to soak up the juice.

Asian flavors · Gluten Free · Nuts · Poultry · Salad

Thai chicken, cucumber and coconut salad (CleanCuisine)

Belinda

I made this last night and we were blown away by the flavors. It’s light, healthy and full of flavor!
You can buy palm sugar in Asian supermarkets like “99 Ranch” (in Los Angeles)

Serves 4

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast
165 mls coconut milk
40 grams palm sugar, (shave it off with a knife) or if you can’t find any, demerara sugar
3 tbsp fish sauce
1 large English cucumber
2 long sweet red chillies, thinly sliced  (I noticed that Trader Joes has these)
small bunch fresh coriander, leaves picked
1 good sized thai shallot or regular shallot, finely sliced
50 grams roasted peanuts. crushed

Put the chicken between two sheets of cling film and bash with a rolling pin or heavy pan to flatten a little so it is all the same thickness.

Put the coconut milk, palm sugar and fish sauce in a wide, shallow pan. Add the chicken to the cold liquid then gently bring to a simmer. Cook gently for 15 minutes. Take off the heat and leave to cool in the liquid, turning it a couple of times.

Using a vegetable peeler, cut the cucumber into long thin ribbons.

Take the chicken from the poaching liquid and slice as thinly as possible, then mix all the ingredients except the roasted, crushed peanuts.
Serve drizzled with some of the cool poaching liquid and sprinkle with the peanuts.

It’s SO delicious!