Oven Baked Fajitas

I never put fajitas or tacos on the dinner menu because they always take so much time and so many ingredients, that it's just not worth it for me.  When I stumbled across this recipe, I knew I had to try it.  Fajitas in the oven?  Genius!  They are awesome.  So easy to prepare, quick, and tasty!  We served them with some guac and sour cream and it was  totally effortless.  I used frozen peppers instead of fresh, to save time and money.


Ingredients

• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into thin strips
• 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 tsp chili powder
• 2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes with green chilies
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• 1 large bell pepper, seeded and sliced (I use 1/3 of a bag of frozen pepper strips)
• 12 flour tortillas
• Toppings such as cheese, sour cream, and guacamole – if desired

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place chicken strips in a greased 13×9 baking dish.
2. In a small bowl combine the oil, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, dried oregano, and salt
3. Drizzle the spice mixture over the chicken and stir to coat.
4. Next add the tomatoes, peppers, and onions to the dish and stir to combine.
5. Bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and the vegetables are tender. Serve on tortillas with desired toppings.

original recipe found here

Panda Express Orange Chicken

This recipe looks daunting, and time consuming, but it's really fairly simple.  I've tried a few other "copycat" recipes for orange chicken and none seemed authentic, until this one.  I think it's a dead ringer for the real deal!  The only changes I made were to double the orange zest, and add some crushed red pepper to the sauce for some heat.  Otherwise, it was delicious, as is.  Oh, I also used thinly sliced onions instead of green onions, because I didn't have any green ones on hand.

Ingredients

• 1 lb. chicken breast meat
• 1 egg white
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 4 cups vegetable oil to be used for frying
• 1 cup cornstarch

Orange Sauce

• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/8 cup vinegar
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 4 teaspoons cornstarch
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon grated orange peel (I doubled this)
• 2 tablespoons chopped scallion (I used 1/4 thinly sliced onion instead)

Directions

1. Cut chicken breast into 1/2-inch cubes, set aside.
2. To make marinade – combine egg white, salt and sugar in a bowl and stir vigorously until ingredients are thoroughly mixed. Add chicken cubes to marinade and stir to coat well.
3. To make orange sauce – combine water, ketchup, sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, 4 teaspoons cornstarch and sesame oil; stir and set aside. Place a pot over high heat. When pot is hot, add the 2tablespoons vegetable oil and heat. Add orange peel and scallion and stir for about 20 seconds, taking care not to burn the orange peel.
4. Pour combined sauce ingredients into the pot and cook, stirring frequently, until sauce has thickened, about 12-15 minutes.
5. Preheat 4 cups oil to 350-375°F. Meanwhile, put marinated chicken in the plastic baggie containing the cornstarch. Shake chicken well for about 20 seconds or until chicken is covered with cornstarch. Shake off all excess cornstarch and fry chicken in hot oil until golden brown, approximately 2 1/2 minutes. Remove chicken from oil with a slotted spoon, drain well and set aside. Add fried chicken to pot with heated orange sauce, stir for about 30 seconds, and then serve immediately.
6. Serve with steamed rice.

Thai Basil Stir-Fry

This is probably one of the better stir fry's we've made. It definitely tastes like takeout, and it's pretty easy to make. FYI - Oyster sauce and fish sauce can be found in the International aisle of your grocery store.

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons oyster sauce
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• sesame oil for frying
• 4 cups cooked jasmine rice, chilled
• 6 large cloves garlic clove, crushed
• Sriracha hot sauce (comes in a big red bottle) or crushed red pepper
• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into thin strips
• 1 1/2 cups frozen bell peppers
• 1 onion, thinly sliced
• 2 cups basil (remove leaves from stem, but don't chop)

Directions

1. Whisk together the oyster sauce, fish sauce, and sugar in a bowl.
2. Heat the oil in a wok over medium-high heat until the oil begins to smoke. Add the garlic and serrano peppers (or crushed red pepper), stirring quickly. Stir in the chicken, bell pepper, onion and oyster sauce mixture; cook until the chicken is no longer pink. Raise heat to high and stir in the chilled rice; stir quickly until the sauce is blended with the rice. Use the back of a spoon to break up any rice sticking together.
3. Remove from heat and mix in the basil leaves.

Baked Buffalo Chicken Wings

Chicken wings are on sale! That's great, but I hate deep frying them because it's just such a pain to clean the oil afterwards and whatnot. You'd never know these were baked, instead of fried, they taste just as good as the "real deal." This was super easy to make and delicious. My best advice is to dry the wings with paper towels before dredging them in the flour mixture. This will help them come out nice and crispy instead of soggy. We dipped them in blue cheese dressing and served with steamed veggies. I don't have a picture because we were starving and devoured these in just a few minutes, before I realized I forgot to take a snapshot! Oh well.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 20 chicken wings
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 1/2 cup hot pepper sauce, such as Frank's RedHot

Directions

1. Line a baking sheet with foil, and lightly grease with cooking spray. Place the flour, cayenne, garlic powder and salt into a resealable plastic bag, shaking to mix. Add chicken wings, seal and toss until well coated. Place the wings onto the prepared baking sheet, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
3. Whisk together the melted butter and hot sauce in a small bowl. Dip the wings in the butter mixture and place back on the baking sheet. Bake until chicken is no longer pink in the center, and crispy on the outside, about 45 minutes. Turn the wings over halfway during cooking so they cook evenly.

Sweet & Spicy Pork

This is probably one of the easiest marinades I've ever made, and it's full of flavor! We used it on pork loin, but I think it would be equally delicious on chicken, especially if it's grilled. The marinade only has 4 ingredients, but it's full of flavor -- sweet, spicy, smokey, and slightly salty.

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup maple syrup
• 1-2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (you can buy these in a can in the International aisle, and they last forever)
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• 3 cloves garlic

Directions

1. Pour all ingredients into blender or small food processor. Process until smooth.

I used a pork loin, sliced into 1/2 inch pieces, and marinated it in this for about 2 hours. Then I cut up an onion and stir fried everything together, serving over rice. Next time, I'm going to marinate chicken and grill them! Yum!

Cilantro Lime Chicken with Avocado Salsa

Blog entry #200! Can't believe I have that many entries on this thing. Insane!

Tonight's dish, Cilantro Lime Chicken with Avocado Salsa, was courtesy of Cooking Light. It's got a 5 star rating there, and now I know why! Quick and easy to prepare, a multitude of flavors, and absolutely delicious. We paired it with some steamed corn. The leftover salsa is great when mixed in with the corn, so versatile! I made the recipe exactly as stated, except for the addition of some cilantro in the salsa. I wouldn't change a thing!

Ingredients

Chicken:

• 2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
• 2 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Cooking spray

Salsa:

• 1 cup chopped plum tomato
  
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
• 2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 avocado, peeled and finely chopped (I only used 1/2 an avocado and it was plenty)
  

Directions

1. To prepare chicken, combine first 4 ingredients in a large bowl; toss and let stand 3 minutes. Remove chicken from marinade; discard marinade. Sprinkle chicken evenly with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add chicken to pan; cook 6 minutes on each side or until done.
2. To prepare salsa, combine tomato and next 4 ingredients (through pepper) in a medium bowl. Add avocado; stir gently to combine. Serve salsa over chicken.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Last night was cold and rainy and just a dreary day. So I figured it was time to try out the next soup on my list! Spicy Chicken Tortilla Soup, from the Food Network Magazine. It was very easy to make with just a few ingredients, and took little prep time. Great for a busy weeknight! The recipe didn't have exact measurements or times, so I sort of winged it and ended up with a very tasty soup! It was just a bit spicy, but the creaminess of the avocado mellowed out the spice. We each had 2 bowls, and had to force ourselves to stop, so we could take leftovers for lunch.

Ingredients

• 2 seeded ancho chiles (I used ancho chiles in adobo sauce)
• 1 onion
• 2 tomatoes
• 5 garlic cloves
• 3 cans chicken broth
• 2 chicken breasts, chopped and cooked
• 6 corn tortillas, sliced into thin strips
• 1/2 avocado
• 3/4 cup cilantro (we love cilantro, so you might want to tone this down a bit if you're not as big a fan)

Directons

1. In a food processor, puree ancho chiles, onion, tomatoes and garlic.
2. Meanwhile, cook chicken in large stock pot with a Tbsp of oil. Remove chicken and set aside.
3. Fry chile/onion mixture in the oil until fragrant. Add chicken broth, chicken, and 1/2 cup cilantro; simmer 10-15 minutes until thick. Add tortilla strips and boil 1-2 minutes until softened.
4. Ladle into bowls, top with sliced avocado and more cilantro.

Chicken with Chipotle

A few weeks ago I got a great deal on chicken leg quarters, so I vowed to try 4 new recipes with my bargain chicken! This is the last of the 4 new ones. I found it on AllRecipes and didn't make any substitutions to the original recipe. The only thing I would change next time, is when the recipe says to put the chicken in the pan and simmer it in the sauce for 10min. I found that the oil from the chicken actually broke my sauce, leaving it looking not so appetizing. The chicken was definitely done after being in the oven, and I think it would be better to just spoon the sauce over it, instead of simmering both together.

Anyway, the dish is very simple to make, and the sauce would be great on just about any type of meat. I served it with some quesadillas, but you could also add refried beans or rice as a side dish.

Ingredients

• 2 chicken leg quarters
• 1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons milk
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1/2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
• 1-1/2 teaspoons chicken bouillon granules
• 3/4 teaspoon margarine
• salt to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. Roast the chicken legs in the preheated oven until the skin is crispy, and the meat is cooked through, 30 to 40 minutes.
3. While the chicken is roasting, puree the milk, sour cream, chipotle peppers, and chicken bouillon granules in a blender until smooth. Melt the margarine in a large pan over medium heat. Pour in the chipotle puree, bring to a simmer, reduce heat to low, and season with salt to taste. Add the cooked chicken legs, and simmer for about 10 minutes, until chicken has taken on the flavor of the sauce (next time, I will skip this step and just pour the thickened sauce over the chicken).

I didn't feel comfortable using my own photo for this dish, because the sauce broke after adding the chicken to it, and left it looking pretty unappetizing (though it still tasted good!). So this is the picture from the original recipe on AllRecipes, because had my sauce not broken, my dish would have looked very similar.

English Farmhouse Salad

This is another recipe from the Simply Salad book by Jennifer Chandler. I added some grilled chicken to it and it made for a nice, light, Summery dish. Normally I am not a fan of blue cheese, but I decided to go for it anyway. Glad I did! The bite of the cheese is really mellowed out by the grilled apples and balsamic dressing.

Ingredients

• 1 granny smith apple, cored and thinly sliced
• 1 Tbsp canola oil
• 1 bag Spring Mix lettuce
• 1/2 cup walnuts, toasted and cooled
• 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
• 2 chicken breasts
  

Vinaigrette

• 6 Tbsp olive oil
• 4 Tbsp balsamic vinaigrette (I used black currant balsamic)
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Preheat a clean grill or grill pan to medium-high. Season chicken with salt and pepper, and grill until no longer pink inside. Allow to cool, then slice into bite-sized chunks.
2. In a medium bowl, toss apple slices with oil until well coated. Place apples on grill pan and grill until just softened, about 2 min per side. Set aside to cool.
3. In a large salad bowl, toss the Spring Mix, walnuts, and blue cheese.
   
4. For vinaigrette, mix olive oil, balsamic salt and pepper until well blended. To keep the dressing from separating, add just a dash of garlic powder and mix gently. Add vinaigrette to taste and gently toss. Top with grilled apples.

Mocha Chicken

I have to admit. When I first saw the title of this recipe, I was a bit turned off, but knew I had to try it anyway. Especially because I gave up my coffee addiction almost 3 months ago, so now I had a valid excuse to break out the coffee machine and brew up a cup! A small one, but a cup nonetheless. The chicken was marinated overnight in a soy/coffee combination that smells great, even though it sounds a bit off. I used chicken leg quarters and my Le Creuset dutch oven, because honestly, I just love using the damn thing! It's awesome.

The original recipe came from Dave, on Allrecipes. I didn't make any changes to the recipe, except that I used low sodium soy sauce, and it took me about an hour to get the chicken to cook (instead of 30min). I ended up covering it, and turning up the heat, and it finally cooked!

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup cooking sherry
• 1/4 cup strong brewed coffee
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 6 chicken legs
• ground black pepper to taste

Directions

1. In a medium, nonreactive container, mix the soy sauce, brown sugar, sherry, coffee, and 2 tablespoons olive oil. Place chicken legs in the mixture. Cover, and marinate in the refrigerator 3 to 4 hours.
2. Remove chicken from the marinade mixture, and set aside. Transfer the marinade to a medium saucepan, and bring to a boil.
3. Heat remaining olive oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Season chicken with pepper, and brown on all sides in the skillet. Pour the hot marinade mixture into the skillet. Reduce heat, and simmer 30 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear. Cool slightly before serving.

40 Clove Chicken

I've been meaning to try this recipe for a long time, and also, really just wanted to make a dish using my Le Creuset dutch oven! It doesn't get nearly as much use as it should.

I saw that chicken quarters were on sale this week for 47 cents a pound, so this dish came out to be very cost effective. Don't be scared off by the fact that there are "40 cloves of garlic" in the recipe, because after they cook for an hour and a half, they are sweet and delicious, not spicy like raw garlic. Definitely make this dish with a fresh loaf of bread so you can schmear all the roasted garlic goodness on the bread! We also made a side dish of potatoes and onions with fresh rosemary. So tasty. And so simple to make! I think this dish would be great to make when entertaining, because the whole house smells wonderful, it looks great, and there's little effort involved. Definitely no fuss, that's for sure.

Ingredients

• 1 whole chicken (broiler/fryer) cut into 8 pieces
  
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 10 sprigs fresh thyme
• 40 peeled cloves garlic
• Salt and pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Toss with a 2 tablespoons olive oil and brown on both sides in a wide fry pan or skillet over high heat. Remove from heat, add oil, thyme, and garlic cloves. Cover and bake for 1 1/2 hours.

3. Remove chicken from the oven, let rest for 5 to 10 minutes, carve, and serve.

Browning the chicken on the stove.

Adding fresh thyme and garlic to the pot before putting it in the oven.

When it came out of the oven, the thyme was pretty dried up and the garlic was nice and roasted, with a wonderful caramel color.

mmm...garlic chicken...

Broiled Feta Chicken Parmesan

Yum yum yum! I love feta. On just about anything. And lately I've been buying it in a block and slicing/chopping whatever I need for various recipes. It's got much more flavor than the crumbled feta and I'd definitely recommend using the block instead of crumbled. This was our little twist on chicken parmesan. Breaded chicken is pan-fried, then topped with fresh tomato slices, fresh basil and sliced feta and broiled until bubbly.

Ingredients

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1/2 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
• oil for pan frying
• 1/2 medium tomato, sliced
• fresh basil
  
• 1/2 block of feta, sliced

Directions

1. Coat chicken breasts in breadcrumbs. Discard remaining breadcrumbs.
2. Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. When oil is hot, add chicken, frying about 3 minutes per side, until golden brown. Chicken should be about 75% cooked, or about 130 degrees.
3. Remove chicken from pan and drain quickly on paper towel. Top with fresh basil leaves, sliced tomato and sliced feta. Broil about 3-4 minutes until cheese is bubbly and brown and chicken registers 160 on a meat thermometer.

Korean BBQ Chicken

I had this marinade recipe kicking around from an old Cooking Light issue. It didn't seem to be anything fantastic, but it did look simple and quick, so I gave it a shot last night. I mixed up the marinade, coated some chopped chicken in it, and stir fried it with some white and green onions.

The overall dish was a bit sweet for me, and lacked some spice. I ended up adding crushed red pepper and Sriracha for some heat, which improved the dish. It was good, but not great. And I honestly don't know what makes it Korean at all...? Next time I think I'll cut down the sugar, add some ginger, and some heat.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons dark sesame oil
• 4 garlic cloves, minced

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients. Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
2. Cut 2 chicken breasts into bite sized chunks and coat with marinade. Stir-fry chicken with 1 white onion, thinly sliced, until onions are tender and chicken is fully cooked. Remove from heat, stir in chopped green onions and serve over rice.

Coconut Curry Chicken Soup

With the recent ice and snow hitting the DC area, I decided it was time to start making some warm, hearty soups for dinner. Something about snow and wind makes me crave hot soup and bread, so I turned to Cooking Light (Dec 2008) and found a delicious recipe for Coconut Curry soup. It's definitely filling, with the chicken, spinach and pasta.

This definitely has a long list of ingredients, but it makes about 8 servings, so it'll last a while.

Ingredients

• 4 cups water
• 3 cups fresh spinach leaves
• 1/2 pound snow peas, trimmed and cut in half
• 1 5.75oz package pad thai noodles
• 1 T canola oil
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced shallots
• 2 tsp red curry paste
• 1 1/2 curry powder
• 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 6 cups fat-free, low sodium chicken broth
• 1 13.5 oz can coconut milk
• 2.5 cups shredded cooked chicken breast
• 1/2 cup chopped green onions
• 2 T sugar
• 2 T fish sauce
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
• 4 small hot red chiles, seeded and chopped
• 7 lime wedges

Directions

1. Bring 4 cups water to a boil in a large saucepan. Add spinach and peas to pan, cook for 30 seconds. Remove vegetables and place in a large bowl. Add noodles to pan; cook 3 minutes. Drain; add noodles to spinach mixture in bowl.
2. Heat oil in pan over medium-high heat. Add shallots and next 5 ingredients (through garlic) to pan; saute 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add chicken broth to pan, and bring to a boil. Add coconut milk to pan; reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes. Add chicken, onions, sugar, and fish sauce to pan; cook for 2 minutes. Pour chicken mixture over noodle mixture in bowl. Stir in cilantro and chiles. Serve with lime wedges.

Chicken Fricassee & Roasted Brussels Sprouts

We've recently found a love for Brussels Sprouts, despite the negative connotation the public seems to give them. These little gems are really quite delicious when seasoned properly, and I highly recommend you try them, even if you've had negative past experiences. The chicken is SO easy to cook -- marinate it overnight and it's ready to go whenever you are. Both recipes are from Cooking Light -- Chicken is from Jan/Feb 2009 edition, Brussels sprouts from Dec 2008.

Chicken Fricassee Ingredients

• 1/4 cup Dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1 T chopped fresh thyme
• 3 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breasts
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 T olive oil
• 1 1/2 cup chopped onion (about 1 large onion)
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1 cup fat-free, low-sodium chicken broth

Directions

1. Combine mustard, 1 Tablespoon parsley, 1.5 tsp thyme and chicken in a large plastic bag. Toss well to coat -- chill 8 hours, or overnight.
2. Remove chicken from bag, discard marinade. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Heat oil in large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add chicken to pan, cook 5 minutes on each side until browned. Remove from pan.
3. Add chopped onion to pan, and saute 5 min or until tender, stirring frequently. Add garlic to pan, and saute 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in wine and chicken broth, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Stir in 1 Tablespoon parsley and remaining 1.5 teaspoons thyme. Return chicken to pan. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 25 min until chicken is done. Remove from pan with a slotted spoon, and keep warm.
4. Cook sauce, uncovered, over medium heat 4 min or until slightly thick. Pour sauce over chicken and sprinkle with remaining 2 Tablespoons parsley.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts & Chestnuts
Ingredients

• 4 cups trimmed and quartered Brussels sprouts
• 1 1/4 cups halved chestnuts (I roasted fresh ones)
• 4 tsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• dash of ground red pepper
• 1 tablespoon butter

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Combine sprouts and chestnuts in a large bowl. Add oil, salt and peppers; toss well to coat. Spread in a single layer on a jelly-roll pan.
3. Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes or until sprouts are tender, stirring after 15 min. Remove from oven. Add butter to sprout mixture, tossing until butter melts.

Pineapple Fried Rice & Chicken

There's a lovely food blogger, by the name of Joelen, who has the most amazing blog ever. Seriously, her culinary adventures sound fantastic, and I am highly envious. Tonight, I decided to make her pineapple fried rice, and add in some chicken as well. The original recipe is from her blog, but I will repost it here for convenience. The rice was quick and easy to make, and very tasty.

The only change I made was to add some chicken to it. And I didn't have green onions, so I omitted them (though I think they'd make the dish that much more delicious). The end result was a sweet and salty fried rice, and a sort of glazed chicken addition (my chicken addition is below the recipe).

Ingredients

• 2 cups cold prepared rice
  
• 1 clove garlic, minced
  
• 1 small onion, finely diced
  
• 2 tablespoons olive or canola oil
  
• 2-3 stalks green onion, sliced
  
• 1 small can pineapple tibits, drained
  
• 1-2 tablespoons lite sodium soy sauce
  
• salt & pepper to taste

Directions

1. In a wok or skillet, heat oil.When hot, add diced white onion, garlic, pineapple and half of the sliced green onion.Toss and heat until white onions are softened.
   
2. Add cold rice, crumbling it with your hands.
   
3. Fold rice into the onion/pineapple mixture.
   
4. Allow rice to heat & crisp up.
   
5. Add remaining green onion and toss.
   
6. Drizzle in the soy sauce for additional flavor and color.
   
7. Add salt & pepper to taste.
   
8. Fold or toss rice to fully combine.
   
9. Serve when heated through.

My chicken addition is as follows.
Ingredients

• 1 boneless, skinless chicken breast
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 3 T brown sugar
• 2T honey
• 2T sesame oil

Directions

1. Cut chicken into chunks. Mix soy sauce, sugar, honey and oil in a small container. Toss chicken in mixture and marinate about 2-4 hours.
2. In a wok, heat 1-2 tablespoons oil. Stir-fry chicken until caramel colored and cooked through. Remove from pan and set aside. Continue with fried rice recipe above, in same wok, and add chicken in at the end, just to heat through.

Smoked Cornish Game Hens

This was our pre-Thanksgiving test, to see just what's involved in smoking a bird. We picked up 2 cornish game hens at the store and planned to season them and smoke them on the grill. First, we made a salty-sweet brine and injected the thighs, breasts and legs with a bit of the brine, to help keep the bird juicy while cooking. Then we made a paste with roasted garlic, sage, thyme, salt, pepper and shallots, and stuffed that under the skin. We removed the innards and saved them to make the gravy. The hens went into a large pan and the grill was heated to about 325 to begin the smoking process. It took about 3 hours, mainly because it was our first attempt and we weren't quite used to keeping the fire going and adding charcoal to the fire. But the finished product was delicious, perfectly cooked, and topped with a luscious gravy. Can't wait for Thanksgiving when we do a big turkey the same way!

Brine

• about 1 cup chicken stock
  
• about 1/2 cup water
• pepper
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons honey

These measurements are estimates. We just sort of threw them into a bowl until it tasted good, heated it up to dissolve the sugar and honey, then let it cool before injecting it into the bird.


Herb Rub

• 2 shallots, diced
• 1 head roasted garlic, chopped
• 3 tablespoons fresh tarragon, chopped

Combine all ingredients. Run fingers under skin of hen to make room for the rub. Generously coat the hen, under the skin, with the herb mixture.

Gravy

• 1 shallot, diced
• 2 tablespoons fresh tarragon, chopped
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• chicken innards
• Remaining brine mixture from above
• chicken stock may be necessary if you don't have enough brine leftover

Over medium-high heat, pan fry shallot and tarragon with 1 tablespoon oil. Fry for 30 seconds. Add chicken innards to pan. Turn frequently until brown on all sides. Add about 1.5 cups of brine mixture to pan, bring to a boil. Simmer gently, stirring about every 10 minutes or so, for about 2 hours. If liquid reduces too much, add more brine, or chicken stock, to keep simmering. When gravy is a bit thick (takes a few hours), remove the innards from the pan and discard. Lightly spoon gravy over birds when they come off the smoker.


All of these recipes/procedures are sort of estimates because we just flew by the seat of our pants. I tried to write down things as we went, but nothing was exact.

Cornish Game Hen & Potatoes

While shopping at our new "budget grocery store" a.k.a. the sketchiest place on Earth, I came across some cornish game hens, on sale 2 for $5.00. I had some potatoes left from our giant 10 pound bag (only cost 97 cents for the whole bag!) and broccoli was on sale 3 pounds for $1.00. So all in all, I knew I could create a pretty tasty meal, for about $6.00 total. I didn't have a recipe for the hens, and I've never made a whole roasted chicken, so I sorta winged it. They actually came out really tender and juicy and quite flavorful! And as always, my famous potatoes were deliciously spicy and perfect.

Ingredients

• 2 Cornish Game Hens
• olive oil
• garlic powder
• Lawry salt
• Paprika
• 2 teaspoons Rosemary
• 2/3 cup chicken stock
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1 Tablespoon jarred garlic (yes, I use cheater garlic!)
  

• 2 baking potatoes, cut in large chunks
  
• 1/4 onion, thinly sliced
• 1 small head of broccoli
• Old Bay seasoning (about 1/4 cup)
• 1 Tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 Tablespoon paprika

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place defrosted hens on a broiling pan lined with foil. Drizzle with olive oil, then sprinkle all sides liberally with garlic powder, Lawry salt and paprika. Cover loosely with tin foil and bake approximately 25 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, combine chicken stock, rosemary, 1 Tablespoon olive oil and garlic in separate bowl. Set aside. Baste hens with chicken stock mixture after 25 minutes. Recover with foil, and return to oven an additional 10 minutes. Baste again, remove foil, and bake until hens reach 165 degrees, approximately 15 minutes more.

3. While hens are cooking, heat large skillet over medium high heat. Combine Old Bay, garlic powder and paprika in large plastic bag. Coat potato slices with spice mixture. Add 1 Tablespoon olive oil to pan. Fry potatoes over medium high heat, stirring occasionally, approximately 4 minutes, until brown on all sides. Turn to medium low, cover, and cook an additional 4-6 minutes until potatoes are tender. Add onion to pan, cover, and cook 4-6 minutes until onions are caramelized. When hens are just about finished, turn heat off on the potato pan and add the broccoli. Cover, and turn off heat, leaving pan on the burner to continue cooking.

4. Slice hens in half and serve.

Thai Chicken Ramen

So delicious! This is one of the better Ramen dishes I've made. Again, budget friendly, full of vegetables, chicken and lots of flavor. I used the Creamy Chicken Ramen because I wanted to add a little extra body to the sauce. I think a regular Ramen might taste OK, but the sauce would probably be too thin.
1 Chicken breast - 50 cents
2 packs of ramen - 25 cents
1/4 onion - 20 cents
2 green onions - 20 cents
1/2 red pepper - 25 cents (2 for a dollar)
1 carrot - 20 cents
2 Tablespoons peanut butter - 50 cents
1 Tablespoon cilantro - 5 cents?
Total cost - Approximately $2.15

Ingredients

• 1 chicken breast, cut into small chunks
• 2 packages Creamy Chicken flavored Ramen
• 1/4 onion, sliced
• 1/2 red pepper, julienned
• 1 carrot, julienned
• 2 Tablespoons peanut butter
• 2 Tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 Tablespoon brown sugar
• 2 green onions, sliced
• 1 Tablespoon cilantro, chopped

Directions

1. In a large nonstick skillet, add 1 Tablespoon oil and heat over medium high. Add chicken and cook thoroughly. Add onion, red pepper and carrot to pan and cook 3-5 minutes until tender.

2. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to rapid boil. Add Ramen noodles with seasoning packet and cook 3 minutes. Be careful not to overcook the noodles or they become soggy.

3. Drain noodles, reserving about 3/4 cup liquid. Add peanut butter, soy sauce and brown sugar to noodles, mixing well to combine. Add noodles to pan with chicken and vegetables and stir. If too much liquid remains, bring saute pan to a boil and simmer 3 minutes until liquid evaporates.

4. Remove pan from heat and add green onions. Stir to warm the onions. Top with chopped cilantro and hot sauce, if desired.

Chicken Ramen w/veggies

Trying to plan meals for $3 each (that's $1.50 per person) has proven to be a challenge, but not an impossible one. Due to some inexpensive markets out here, we've been able to stock up on frozen veggies (just as many nutrients as fresh), pasta, ramen, chicken, and even catfish! This is one of our staples though, because it's cheap, quick, easy and definitely doesn't taste like ramen.

This meal cost about $3 total. Here's the breakdown:
2 chicken breasts - about $1
2 packs of ramen - 25 cents
1 bag frozen veggies - $1
Various spices, brown sugar, stalk of green onions, etc - 75 cents

Ingredients

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 2 packages of Ramen (any flavor, though we usually do 1 chicken, and 1 Oriental flavor)
• 1 bag frozen veggies (we use a 3 pepper and onion mix)
• 1 Tablespoon fresh ginger
• 2 1/2 cups water
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
  

Directions

1. Brown chicken in large saute pan, or wok, until cooked through.

2. Add water, noodles with seasoning packets (use 1/2 of each packet to avoid over-saltiness), soy sauce, ginger and brown sugar. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer about 5-8 minutes.

3. Stir mixture and add frozen veggies. Cover and simmer another 8-10 minutes until heated through and veggies are tender.

4. After placing noodles in bowls, top with freshly sliced green onions.