Category Archives: Chicken

On A Wing And A Prayer

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Back in 19…well, 19 something and lets just leave it at that shall we, I worked at T.J. Applebees which was the name the restaurant now known as Applebees went by back in the day. One of the Friday night specials they had was ten cent wings. Yes, ten cents. Now of course you feel blessed if you can find somewhere that does wings for 50 cents. But that’s neither here nor there. You don’t want me to get started on a rant over the state of the economy and how difficult it is for a person to get an inexpensive wings fix now do you?

I want to know who decided wings were trendy. I mean really? Wings? They have about 2 ounces of meat and that’s if you find a nice meaty one from a chicken who had weight issues and needed lap band surgery. Couldn’t the “theys” that decide these things have made drumsticks a fad instead? I don’t like drumsticks. I could have had a whole flock of wings all to myself.

The problem with wings (other than the now exorbitant price) is that up until fairly recently they came in three flavors:  mild, medium and “omg, I no longer have lips”. While I love me a good hot wing and have been known to court tongue blisters many times, I tend to crave variety. Mind you, even my variety tends to have some heat to it but it’s not of the Franks Red Hot Sauce kind (I do love that stuff though). So when I made wings for dinner last night, I wanted to try something different. I love Orange chicken but it is usually cloyingly sweet and has no bite to it at all. I also love Chipotle peppers but they have been done to death. So I played around and made my own fusion of the two flavors. I of course also had to use the glaze on boneless skinless chicken breasts because my husband won’t eat wings. Did I mention that I love him in spite of his obvious flaws? But… it worked well on the breast too though it was difficult getting them glazed well without a skin for it to stick to. If I do that again, I will marinade the breasts for some time before cooking them.

But if you like wings (or chicken breasts or any part of the feathered creature actually, especially the lips) or you like a bit of citrusy (yes, that is now a word) heat you may like these. They are sticky, sweet, spicy and with the tang of citrus.

ORANGE CHIPOTLE GLAZED WINGS

  1. 4 lbs chicken wings (whole, pieces; doesn’t matter. Use what you like)
  2. 1 12 ounce can frozen orange juice concentrate
  3. 1 7 ounce can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (I used 5 peppers and some sauce)
  4. 1 cup honey
  5. 1/4 cup brown sugar
  6. 2 teaspoons minced garlic
  7. 1 teaspoon onion powder
  8. 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  9. zest from one orange
  10. 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • First, if you’ve decided to do this with boneless skinless breasts, I suggest putting the chicken and the marinade/glaze in a large plastic bag and letting it marinade for up to 24 hours. Otherwise, just continue as instructed.
  • Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Put your wings in a single layer (or as close to it as you can get) in a large baking pan and put into the oven while you make the glaze.  This is to help render some of the excess fat off for obvious reasons and so it doesn’t thin out the glaze too much.
  • Take the rest of your ingredients and dump them into the blender or the bowl of a food processor.   Like I wrote in the ingredients, I used five peppers and some sauce in mine. If you are heat averse (you poor soul) use less. If you really like your heat, use more. I would have rated this about a 4. Next time, I will use more peppers.
  • Process this up until it is a nice puree. You may still have some small bits of peppers. That’s no problem.
  • After your wings have been in the oven for 30 minutes, turn the oven up to 400 and take the wings out. Drain off all the fat and pour your glaze over them. Turn them to coat both sides. Cook for about another 30 to 45 minutes until they are nicely glazed (you may want to turn them once more during cooking) and cooked through. Before you take them out, you can turn the oven to broil and put the wings under there to crisp up the skin a little.
  • If you have any extra sauce in the pan, it’s great over rice. Now go… shoo… cook some wings.

Awww mom! Curry AGAIN?!

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I blame the Germans. Really. I do. I knew nothing about curry before my ex got stationed in Mannheim Germany. I also knew nothing about German candy (which btw leaves American candy in the dust) Schnitzel (*drools*) or just how wonderful a country it was in general. I’ll talk more about Germany later I’m sure. I still miss it 23 years later (omg, I’m old). But today I’m bitching at them about my love for Curry. The Germans love curry. While I wasn’t exposed to it much there because I was a young stupid American afraid to try anything new, I did try curry ketchup. As I got older and more adventurous, I started to try things outside my comfort zone. Curry anything was one of my attempts and I love it.

The first time I tried Curried Chicken Salad was from the deli department of one of those large “we sell gourmet foods (I originally went there looking for German chocolate. Go figure.) as well as booze” types of stores.  Being the cheap bastage that I am, I didn’t want to continue to pay $5.99 a pound for it (and this was years before curried chicken salad became a trend and you could find recipes for it all over the net so I shudder to think what it costs now) so I tried to recreate it. I have tweaked it some over the years but basically it is still the same recipe I made up about 15 years ago. Even if you’re not a curry fan, try this version. This cold chicken salad is chock full of grapes giving it a subtle sweetness along a mild curry flavor. It is great served on a croissant or just eaten straight or as you know is the norm for me with something I like, hidden away in the fridge in a tub labeled “Spinach” and eaten on the sly when no  one is looking. 😛 This is an extremely simple recipe which makes it even better.

CURRIED CHICKEN SALAD

  1. 3 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts
  2. 1 cup mayonnaise
  3. 1 1/2 cups seedless grapes (you can cut them in half if you want. Personal preference thing there)
  4. 1/4 cup raisins
  5. 2 green onions, sliced thin
  6. 2 tablespoons mild curry powder
  7. 1/4 cup brown sugar
  8. 1/4 cup apricot preserves (can use Peach preserves or even mango chutney)
  9. salt to taste
  • Put your chicken in a large pot and bring to a boil over medium high heat. Lower heat to a simmer and cook until the chicken is done. You can just cut the largest piece in half and make sure it isn’t pink. But don’t overcook. You can end up with rubber chicken even if it’s been cooked in water. When done, set aside and let cool. Chop into bite sized pieces.
  • While it’s cooking, make your sauce. It’s very difficult.
  • Take all the rest of the ingredients. Dump them in a bowl. Mix well. See. I told you it was difficult.
  • Mix the chopped chicken into the sauce. Taste for seasoning. It will have a bit of a gritty feel at first so as good as it tastes, let it sit for 24 hours or so before you eat it. That gives it time for the spices to dissolve.

 

 

Happy Birthday To My Hubby!

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Needs more cheese. What? Why are you looking at me that way!?

My husband turned 25 in his dreams yesterday.  On birthdays in our family, the birthday person gets to choose the dinner. My teen boys of course always choose to go out to eat because they are too young to realize how much better home cooked food is most of the time 😛 My 48 25 year old husband however prefers my cooking. He’s a smart man who knows when sucking up is a good idea 😀 So he chose one of his all time favorite meals, Chicken Parmesan.  I was really hoping that he would choose Chicken Curry but I guess wanting him to choose one of MY favorite meals isn’t nice huh?

The chicken I thawed out yesterday ended up being spoiled. Don’t you just love when you get meat from a reputable store only to open it up and get a whiff of hell on a Styrofoam tray? Sooooo… he gets his birthday dinner tonight instead.

Chicken Parmesan is one of those dishes that has a rep for being difficult and it’s really not. If you have ever made fried chicken and a side dish to go with it, then you can make this. I mean, what is it really other than fried chicken with an Italian flair with pasta on the side? The only difference is using bread crumbs as well as a flour mix and having to flatten the chicken somewhat. And truthfully, if it’s just for family and you’re not worried about pretty, you don’t really even need to worry about the flattening step. It will still taste fantastic. This is one of those dishes that can be more complex & fancy by using homemade sauce (which I usually do but am not describing here today), fresh mozzarella and basil and flattening out your chicken or using jarred sauce you have doctored up, bagged cheese and just frying the chicken without smooshing the crap out of it. When I make it it is usually a combination of both methods. So here you go; enjoy. 🙂

CHICKEN PARMESAN

This is the easy version of the classic favorite. It goes from frying pan into the oven to finish which ensures it is completely cooked as well as giving your cheese a nice golden color rather than the pale chewiness you get if you microwave it like some recipes suggest.

  1. 5 boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 2.5 pounds)
  2. 2 cups unseasoned bread crumbs
  3. 1 cup all purpose flour
  4. 1 tablespoon Mrs. Dash Italian Medley seasoning (you can use just plain Italian seasoning but the Mrs. Dash has more flavor)
  5. 1 tablespoon salt
  6. 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  7. 1 cup vegetable oil (you may need more)
  8. 3 large eggs
  9. 1/2 cup milk
  10. 1 to 1/2 pounds dried pasta (I use fettuccine because I love it but you can use whatever shape makes you happy 😛 )
  11. 1 tablespoon salt
  12. 1 jar spaghetti sauce  (again; can use homemade but this is the easy version)
  13. 1 15 oz can diced tomatoes (I use garlic, basil & oregano flavor)
  14. 2 tablespoons sugar
  15. 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
  16. 1/4 cup chopped fresh Basil (I used the tube found in the produce section; it’s about as close to fresh as you can get if you don’t have any)
  17. 8 ozs shredded Mozzarella cheese (ok, so I use considerably more but I had to give an amount that wouldn’t make people cringe 😀 )
  • Preheat oven to 350 and line a 13×9 pan with foil.
  • In a large bowl, mix together your flour, bread crumbs, Mrs. Dash, 1 tablespoon salt and garlic powder.
  • In a smaller bowl, beat together the 3 eggs and 1/2 cup milk.
  • Dip your chicken pieces into the milk mixture. Let excess drip off then dip into the flour/crumb mixture. Repeat one more time in each. After each piece has been coated, set aside on a wire rack while you heat oil.
  • Pour the oil into a large pan, . You want at least 1/2 an inch of oil so use more than the cup if needed. Add chicken, making sure not to crowd the pan. You can always do a second batch but if you crowd, the chicken steams more than fries. When the oil reaches 300 degrees, (one of the best investments you can make for the kitchen an instant read thermometer. Trust me.) carefully lay your chicken in the pan. Let brown on one side (about 3 to 5 minutes) then carefully flip it to the other side to brown. Use tongs or a plastic spatula for this if you can because the coating is more delicate than a pure flour one would be and will fall off easily if pierced. Let brown on the other side (again, about 3 to 5 minutes) then transfer to the foil lined pan and put into the 350 degree oven to finish cooking.
  • While the chicken finishes cooking, start your sauce and your pasta. In a medium sauce pot, combine the jar of spaghetti sauce, the sugar, the can of diced tomatoes and the fresh basil. Heat to boiling, stirring frequently then turn heat down and let sauce gently simmer. Just before serving it, stir in 1/4 cup of the grated Parmesan.
  • Cook pasta according to package directions using a tablespoon of salt in the water..
  • When the internal temp of the chicken is 155 degrees f, top with the rest of the grated Parmesan and the shredded Mozzarella. Finish cooking until the internal temp of the chicken is 165 degrees F.
  • Top a serving of pasta with some sauce. Do the same with the chicken. Eat until you are ready to burst. This serves five to seven hungry people or two teenage boys, one grown man and a  not so hungry mom and toddler.

I think he liked it if the plate is any indication 😀