Tag Archives: chicken

Chicken Cacciatore

It’s hard to believe that it was so sunny this past weekend and not terribly cold and now it’s freezing and we are getting up to 10″ of snow. Really? Just when I think winter isn’t so bad, things go drastically south. Tonight it’s supposed to be 8 degrees. I don’t even know how to process that. Some people hate being cooped up inside when it’s snowy and cold but I thinks it’s a perfect time to do some cooking. This Chicken Cacciatore is a quick, tasty, and comforting dish to help satisfy that specific hunger that only comes with winter.

Diced chicken is tossed with dried basil, oregano, and red pepper flakes before being sautéed with fresh red pepper and earthly mushrooms. The secret weapon of jarred tomato and basil marinara sauce helps to keep this dish simple and a little red wine adds an extra dose of bold flavor. As the dish simmers, the flavors meld together to make a perfectly easy chicken cacciatore that can be served with your favorite pasta, quinoa, rice or simply vegetables. Talk about a perfectly warm dinner for a cold and snowy night.

The ingredients:

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle chicken evenly with oregano, dried basil, and red pepper.

Coat pan with cooking spray. Add chicken to pan; sauté 2 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring frequently. Add mushrooms and bell pepper to pan; sauté 5 minutes.

Stir in pasta sauce and wine; bring to a simmer. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes. Stir in salt and black pepper.

Sprinkle with cheese and fresh basil.

Additions: None

Omissions:

Basil

Substitutions:

Baby portabella mushrooms

Overall Rating: Like It

Source: Cooking Light magazine

Tex-Mex Chicken Soup

January 6, 2014
Shannon
0 comments
beans, chicken, corn, food, soup, tomatoes

I’m not sure where you live but where I live, it’s been downright cold. Friday we got 8 inches of snow and I woke up Saturday morning to the temperature outside being only 5 degrees. I had plans to go to a football game later that day which meant walking around in layers and layers of clothing. Those are the kind of days where the cold just permeates you and you can’t escape it. Even in the comfort of home and my running heater, I was always chilled. The best way to warm up on days like that is to warm up from the inside. This Tex-Mex Chicken Soup is a perfect way to beat the cold.

Onion, garlic, red pepper, and jalapeño are sautéed in olive oil until soft and fragrant before being mixed together with vibrant spices of chili powder, cumin and crushed red pepper. This mixture becomes the basis for this soup which adds precooked rotisserie chicken, corn, broth, tomatoes, and black beans (which I only left out because I thought I had them on hand when I didn’t). The result is a bold and flavorful tex-mex soup that is a perfect soup to warm your soul. I wish I would have had the beans to add in but even without them, this was a very satisfying soup. Plus, there is something very satisfying about having a pot of soup simmering on your stove on a frigid day. It’s like that little mixture of ingredients not only warms your body, but the scent warms your home too.

The ingredients:

Heat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add oil, onion, and next 3 ingredients; sauté 3 minutes. Add chili powder and next 4 ingredients; sauté 30 seconds.

Add chicken and next 4 ingredients; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 6 minutes.

Top evenly with cilantro and queso. Serve with lime.

Additions: None

Omissions:

Black beans
Queso fresco

Substitutions: None

Overall Rating: Love It

Source: Cooking Light magazine

Chicken in Deviled Gravy

I just love it when I come across a recipe and realize that I already have the ingredients in my kitchen so I can start cooking immediately. It doesn’t happen often. Let’s be real…part of the reason why we don’t make recipes we come across is because it calls for something we don’t have. Part of the reason for this blog is to challenge me into making things that I would normally throw to the side because I don’t have/want to buy the necessary ingredients. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t love it when no trip to the store is required like with this Chicken in Deviled Gravy.

A simple mixture of shallots, garlic, and red pepper flake is thickened with flour, broth, and wine and then bumped up with even more flavors of paprika, dry mustard, hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and parsley. The result is a rich, deep, bright gravy which brings tons of flavor to basic boneless, skinless chicken but would be equally impressive with beef, pork or seafood. Each bite of this chicken had me guessing what it was that I was tasting but it really is the marriage of all of the flavors combined. It’s not buffalo chicken and it’s not barbecue chicken. And it’s definitely not boring chicken. It’s something entirely its own that is sure to have people guessing what it really is.

The ingredients:

Season the chicken with salt and pepper. In a skillet, heat the EVOO over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook, turning, for 10 minutes. Off the heat, cover to keep warm.

Add the butter to the pan over medium-low heat. Stir in the shallots, garlic and chile (or crushed red pepper); season with salt and pepper. Cook for 3 minutes. Whisk in the flour, paprika and mustard. Whisk in the stock and vermouth (or white wine); bring to a bubble.