Tag - chicken

Food Prep Sundays

The farmers markets in Oakland really are lovely, it’s been nice going to them every weekend to get produce to prep meals for the week. This Sunday was a big prep day and I got a ton of food. I’m making a valiant effort to only buy what we’re going to eat. I feel too guilty throwing out fresh food that goes bad, so I’m doing my best to plan out meals well.

The first meal I prepped for the week was Honey Garlic Chicken with broccoli and sweet potatoes. The nice part is that this recipe doesn’t really need overnight marinating, it came out perfectly fine just sitting in the fridge for a couple hours while I continued prepping other meals for the week. If you’re looking for a new chicken recipe, this is a good one!

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Honey Garlic Chicken
(Recipe credit to Tori Avey)
4 chicken thighs
4 chicken drumsticks
1/3 cup honey, divided
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
2 Tablespoons garlic, chopped
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 cup white wine
2 teaspoons cornstarch
Salt and pepper

1. In a small bowl, combine olive oil, honey, sugar, garlic, lemon, cayenne pepper and set aside.

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2. Prep the bottom of a casserole baking dish with cooking oil. Place the chicken pieces on top and season with salt and pepper.

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3. Pour marinade over chicken and ensure that it’s evenly distributed. Place in the refrigerator for two hours (can be overnight if desired).

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4. After the chicken has marinated, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cover the dish with foil and poke a couple holes in the top to ensure ventilation.

5. Roast the chicken for one hour, turning the chicken a couple times in between. After an hour, remove the foil and roast for an additional 20-30 minutes to brown on top. Some blackening is fine because of the sugar in the marinade.
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6. Transfer chicken to serving platter, once empty, tip the dish and carefully remove the oil from the top with a spoon. The drippings remaining will be used to make the gravy.

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7. Strain the drippings through a mesh strainer to remove the garlic pieces or crispy chicken bits leftover.

8. Heat the sauce over medium heat. In a separate, small bowl, combine the cornstarch with 1/4 cup cold water until it’s dissolved. Add the starch mixture, honey, and wine to the saucepan and heat on medium until it begins to thicken and bubble around the edges. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

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9. Serve and eat!

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Roasted Whole Chicken, Twice Baked Potatoes, and Garlic Butter Mushrooms

After my last Smittenkitchen kick with the Chocolate Hazelnut Macaroon Torte, I went ahead and scoured the blog for some side dish recipes. I found the Twice-Baked Potatoes with Kale and Garlic Butter Mushrooms. Both sounded absolutely divine, so I went for it! I made a roasted chicken as well which has made it through the first few days of the week.

Twice-Baked Potatoes with Kale
(Recipe credit to smittenkitchen)
3 russet baking potatoes
1 bundle lacinato kale
Kosher salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 large leek
1 cup coarsely grated cheddar
Parmesan cheese
3/4 cup sour cream
Freshly ground black pepper

1. Heat oven to 400°F. Gently scrub potatoes and pierce all over with a fork. Bake 1 hour or until potatoes are tender when pierced in center.

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2. While potatoes cook, prepare your filling. Tear kale from the stems and tear into large chunks then wash leaves in cold water to remove any grit. Do not dry after rinsing. Place them in a skillet over medium-high and add a pinch of salt. Cook them in the pan until they wilt and collapse. When they’ve cooled, ring out any excess water then finely chop greens.

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3. Trim leek down to just white and pale green part then cut longways into quarters. Rinse in water to remove dirt inside the layers. Thinly slice quarters and heat in skillet over medium heat with butter and oil.
4. Leeks should cook approximately 10 minutes, avoid browning. Then add kale and heat, approximately one minute.

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5. When potatoes are cool enough to handle, cut in half longways and take out most of the potato, leaving a thin ring around the skin to keep stable.

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6. Add potato filling to bowl with leeks, kale, sour cream, cheese and mash until combined. Arrange the potato shells on a baking sheet and fill with a heaping amount of the mixture. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.  Cook potatoes a second time, for 20 minutes or until crisp on top.

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Garlic Butter Mushrooms
(Recipe credit to smittenkitchen)
1 pound mushrooms such as cremini or white, halved lengthwise if large
2 tablespoons capers, rinsed and chopped
3 large garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

1. Preheat oven to 450°F with rack in middle. Toss mushrooms with capers, garlic, oil, salt and pepper, and  parsley in a shallow baking dish.

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2. Top with butter and roast, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms are tender and golden, about  15 to 20 minutes.
3. Stir in lemon juice and serve immediately.

Roasted Whole Chicken
(Recipe credit to Ina Garten)
1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Remove the chicken giblets and rinse the chicken inside and out. Also remove any excess fat and leftover pin feathers and pat the outside dry.

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2. Liberally salt and pepper the inside of the chicken then stuff the cavity with the bunch of thyme, both halves of lemon, and all the garlic. Brush the outside of the chicken with the butter and sprinkle again with salt and pepper. Tie the legs together with kitchen string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the chicken.
3. Place the onions, carrots, and fennel in a roasting pan. Toss with salt, pepper, 20 sprigs of thyme, and olive oil. Spread around the bottom of the roasting pan and place the chicken on top. Roast the chicken for 1 1/2 hours.

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Slow Cooker Creamy Chicken Chili

I’m going to be running around today and tomorrow getting a lot done before I start my job on Thursday. I found this recipe because I wanted to make something with a home-style feel but easy to assemble in the Crock Pot while I’m out most of the day. I stirred once in the first hour of cooking, then again when I got home and the chicken was ready to be shredded and served.  When Jason took his first bite he looked at me and said, “oh, hell yeah!” I would consider this a success.

Slow Cooker Creamy Chicken Chili
(Recipe credit to SimplexFood)
4 chicken breasts, frozen
2 cans Rotel tomatoes, with chilies
2 cans whole corn kernels, not drained
2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
2 packages Ranch dressing mix
2 tablespoons cumin
2 teaspoons chili powder
2 teaspoons onion powder
2 8 oz packages cream cheese

1. Place chicken in the crockpot.

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2. Top with tomatoes, corn, beans, dressing mix, and spices. Stir to combine then top with cream cheese.

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3. Cook on low for 6-8 hours, stirring a couple times to blend the cheese.

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4. Shred the chicken into large pieces and serve over brown rice with avocado.

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Open-Faced Pot Pie

When I put this dish in front of Jason yesterday, he asked, “what do we have tonight?” I wasn’t certain how to answer so I said, “open-faced pot pie.”

*shrug* Why not?

This is a seemingly flexible recipe, and can be altered to be more or less hands on. You can slow this down to cook on LOW for 5 to 6 hours. You could add more chicken thighs if you wanted to (just don’t forget to add more of the other ingredients to adjust with the chicken). You can also bake your own biscuits, but as I haven’t been feeling well the past two days, I opted for the easier way out.

Open-Faced Pot Pie Crock Pot
(Recipe inspiration from Real Simple)
3 carrots, cut into 1/2-inch lengths
2 stalks celery, roughly chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
4 skinless chicken thighs
1/8 teaspoon dried thyme
1/8 teaspoon dried sage
1/8 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/8 teaspoon dried rosemary
kosher salt and black pepper
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup choice broth
1 cup frozen peas
1 14 oz bag of frozen, chopped kale
1/2 cup heavy cream
Store bought biscuits, or home made

1. In slow cooker, mix carrots, celery, onion, flour. Place the chicken on top and season with dried herbs, dash of salt and pepper. Cover with wine and broth.
2. Cook on HIGH for 2 hours. Add kale to crock pot. Cover and cook another 1/2 hour.
3. 15 minutes before serving, cook biscuits as described on container. Add peas and heavy cream to the crock pot.
5. To serve, spoon stew into a shallow bowl, place chicken on top and serve with biscuits and baked potato, should you choose!

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