cookbook_challenge | Entries tagged with chicken

From my mother's cookbook.

( Ingredients )

( Method )

Changes, Mistakes and Substitutions
I used chicken thighs as advised and substituted rice wine for sherry (since experience tells me that the appearance of sherry in any 1980s-90s asian-style recipe from the UK should probably be replaced by rice wine). I cheated and bought microwave coconut rice.

Verdict

Nice and simple chicken dish. Will make again.

purplecat

I realise that this page of Mum's recipe book contains no less than four chicken recipes, all in the same font and cut from a magazine. I hypothesise some kind of "things to do with chicken" article. The jury is still out on whether I'll attempt the other two - a tagine and a slightly tame looking Thai poached chicken. Anyway, Chicken and Mushroom pie is a classic, so I thought I might as well.

( Ingredients )

( Method )

Changes, Mistakes and Substitutions
I didn't have any shredded cooked chicken thigh meat to hand so I diced some chicken thighs and fried them first. I was very suspicious of the lack of any seasoning beyond two rosemary sprigs and so added a pinch of salt and a generous grinding of pepper to the mixture before I put it in the pie dish.

Verdict
The puff pastry didn't really puff, but I suspect that isn't necessarily the recipe's fault but more, perhaps, a comment on the quality of ready-rolled puff pastry - or possibly I took it out of the fridge too soon. Otherwise this was perfectly nice and very decorative. Will make again.

purplecat

The offspring having returned to university, I am going back to cooking my way through my mother's recipe book. This looks like it has been cut out of a magazine.

( Ingredients )

( Method )

Verdict: A perfectly nice chicken in a cream sauce recipe, but nothing special.

purplecat

Again this is from my mother's cookbook. It looks like a photocopy from a recipe book.

( Ingredients )

( Method )

Changes, Mistakes and Subsitutions
I used three halved chicken thighs instead of carving up a whole chicken. As a result I was then playing fairly fast and loose with the other quantities (particularly after I dropped half the chilli/coriander mix on the floor). I still used a whole onion, but used only one tomato. Most of the herbs and spices I halved. Since I had a lot less chicken I cooked for 15 minutes before adding the coconut mix, and then only 10 minutes afterwards. This probably put more time pressure on making the coconut mix that was good for it, and I was very sparing with the coconut milk since I was wary of it getting too runny.

Verdict
It's a kind of baked curry and even with all the random I had introduced it was very nice (if a bit hot). We will make again.

The blurb in the recipe says "Kuku means chicken in Swahili. This is a coastal recipe which was brought inland by traders" which begs a lot of questions really. Is this an African dish? Is it from an African cookbook. What bit of Africa? Wikipedia suggests it is a recipe from the Indian communities on the East African Coast.

Images on the internet suggest I was too sparing with the coconut milk and could have used considerably more of it than I did.

watersword

From The New York Times.
( ingredients )
( paraphrased method )
( notes )

purplecat

Cross-posted to

cookbook_challenge.

From my mother's recipe book.

( Ingredients )

( Method )

Changes, Mistakes and Substitutions
I mis-read the recipe and thought it said 2 old potatoes. Since I was cooking half/third quantities I only bought one potato - though since it was a baking potato I had more or less the right amount. I could not decide whether or not the chicken was supposed to be sliced (in order to make layers). In the end I sliced it. I was very generous with the tarragon, chopping up a good handful. I reduced the cooking time to around 50 minutes and then forgot the final step (though, to be honest, I didn't have a lot of tarragon butter left).

Verdict
I didn't actually have high hopes of this, thinking it would be rather heavy on the cream and potato and probably a bit bland, but actually we really liked it. It wasn't particularly in your face, but it had a nice flavour and didn't feel too heavy at all.

purplecat

From my mother's cookbook. This is a newspaper clipping of unknown provenance. It starts by stating the recipe is from "Leaves from our Tuscan Kitchen" so I had some hopes of dating the clipping by googling the recipe book. However it transpires that Leaves from our Tuscan Kitchen was first published in 1899 and my mother is not that old.

( Ingredients )

( Method )

Changes, Mistakes and Substitutions
I did not pre-cook the chicken. I was using breast and didn't want it to dry out and figured if it was finely chopped it would cook just fine. I also substituted arborio rice for long grain rice since the stuffing was described as a risotto.

We were a little dubious about boiling the peppers before we stuffed them (not something we normally do with stuffed peppers) and indeed one did fall apart when I drained it, but the others were fine and I think it just needed a little more care.

I also filled the peppers to the top. I hadn't even noticed it said three-quarters until I ran out of risotto - however given one pepper had fallen apart anyway this wasn't a disaster.

Verdict
As this reviewer notes, it is difficult to imagine this as a Victorian recipe, it feels very modern, which just goes to show, I suppose, that modernity is not as novel as we might think. Obviously the unknown newspaper columnist may have updated the recipe (the mention of using a stock cube, for instance) but I'm sure the essence of the idea of stuffing peppers with risotto must date back.

We really liked it, and also thought the general concept was an interesting one and are now contemplating our various other risotto recipes with a viewing to stuffing them into peppers.

purplecat

From The Roasting Tin around the World by Rukmini Iyer

( Ingredients )

( Method )

Changes, Mistakes and Substitutions
I didn't make many changes here. I left the optional macadamia nuts optional.

Verdict
Another recipe we liked. I think the South-East Asian recipes from this book have, so far, been among the most successful which main, in part, be novelty.

fuzzyred

Last week I was lazy and didn't actually make myself any food; I just kind of grabbed what was in the freezer or made a sandwich, since I was on afternoons. This week, I made Southwest-Style Chicken Burgers from the Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook.

( recipe )

Thoughts and Variations
I used plain torilla chips, roughly a quarter cup of green pepper (I didn't want to measure 3 tablespoons and though 1/4 cup would be close enough), 1/2 teaspoon chili pepper, I accidentally shredded the cheese instead of slicing it, Kaiser rolls that I forgot to toast, and I skipped the salsa. This came together pretty easily, although the juice from the meat did once again set of the smoke alarm. XD I didn't burn anything this time though, so there is that.

The burgers turned out well; not too spicy, not too dry, and they cooked all the way through. I don't *think* anything was missing by omitting the salsa (I don't really like salsa) but if you like salsa, I'd go ahead and add it to your burgers. Unfortunately, since I really don't eat avocados, I had no clue how to pick a ripe one and didn't bother to google it. I'm pretty sure that's why the avocado tasted really bitter. Either that, or I just picked a bad one. I don't like avocado much to start with, but this was definitely worse than normal. The burgers themselves were tasty though, so they would be good with whatever kind of burger toppings you normally like. 👍 Will keep this one in mind for the next time I want burgers.

Current Mood: happy

musesfool

I've had my eye on this recipe for Braised Chicken Thighs with Tomato and Garlic for a while and finally made it today.

( ingredients and instructions )

This is really good and really easy. Definitely recommended! The only change I made was to use a 28 oz. can of diced tomatoes rather than a 20 oz pack, because that is what I had on hand, so I simmered it about 10 minutes longer to get rid of the excess liquid. Also, I didn't bother with orzo since I was just feeding myself. I can definitely see myself making it regularly, but probably with boneless/skinless thighs, since those are easier to deal with for me.

spiralicious

Strawberry Balsamic Chicken Salad with Sliced Almonds and Creamy Goat Cheese

Found on Zest My Lemon's Instagram here

I made this in August and forgot to post.

1 boneless skinless chicken breast.
2 tablespoons @ batistinifarms Estate Notes Extra Virgin Olive Oil and more for drizzling.
2 tablespoons @ batistinifarms Estate No. 15 Balsamic Vinegar and more for drizzling.
2 cups baby spinach
2 cups baby arugula
6 large strawberries with stems removed and sliced in half.
2 tablespoons sliced almonds.
1 tablespoon shallots thinly sliced.
Goat cheese crumbles.
Salt and cracked black pepper.

Add the chicken breast to a shallow bowl. Season both sides with salt and pepper. Add the balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil and fully coat the chicken. Let the chicken sit in the mixture for 5-10 minutes to let marinate. Heat a grill pan on the stovetop and grill each side of the chicken for 5-6 minutes until cooked through. Let rest for 5 minutes before slicing. To a large bowl add the baby spinach and baby arugula. Drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil then add the sliced balsamic chicken, strawberries, sliced almonds, shallots and goat cheese on top. Drizzle with more balsamic and enjoy!

I did use a different balsamic vinegar and I substituted the arugula with a different leaf lettuce. I am always looking for different ways to eat chicken, because frankly, I don't like chicken. I would eat this everyday though. I did wonder if it was going to be balsamic vinegar overload, but everything worked very well together. Extremely tasty.

purplecat

From The Roasting Tin Around the World by Rukmini Iyer

( Ingredients )

( Method )

Changes, Mistakes and Substitutions
I made this one pretty much as is, apart from using lime juice instead of real limes. Because we hoped to feed this to the offspring we left the salsa on the side, rather than adding to the chicken in the pan.

Verdict
A bit of a disappointment this one. The chicken thighs were lovely, but the chorizo had cooked to a crisp (maybe I didn't chop roughly enough - but even so, in retrospect, 1 hour seems a long time to roast chorizo), everything else was just ordinary. This felt more like roast things and a feta dressing, rather than a coherent dish.

purplecat

From The Roasting Tin around the World by Rukmini Iyer

( Ingredients )

( Method )

Changes, Mistakes and Substitutions

I'm not sure I can really claim to have cooked this. I have a similar recipe in another cookbook called Roasted Ratatouille Chicken which is much like this (aubergine instead of fennel) but without the pesto. I know from long experience that the chicken breasts will dry out unless diced and cooked for a shorter time and wasn't convinced that the pesto would magically stop this happening. So I diced the chicken breasts, tossed them in the pesto and breadcrumb mixture and cooked on top of the veg for 20 minutes.

Oh, and I had no fennel or spinach.

Verdict

A nice variation on Roasted Ratatouille Chicken which I already have in regular rotation as a meal.

fuzzyred

Well, this is going to be a journey today. I decided I would make Bacon-Cheese Topped Chicken and Chili-Seasoned Potato Wedges for dinner this week, but I'm working overtime tonight so I won't be cooking until after 7pm. Both recipes are from my tasteofhome 2010 Annual Contest Winning Recipes cookbook (I think; will check when I get home) and they will be posted below. I will add any thoughts and variations tonight after I've made and eaten them.

( both recipes )

Thoughts and Variations
Chicken
This was a fairly tasty recipe, though I always forget that I don't really like the taste of mustard. Other than leaving out the parsley, there were no ingredient substitutions this time, though I did only marinate the chicken for one hour, and I cooked the mushrooms in the fat from the bacon, then wiped the pan and browned the chicken. It seemed to turn out just fine, although "partially cooked" is not really a good indicator for what to do with the bacon. It finishes cooking some in the oven, but I cooked it to a degree that would have been unedible if I was just frying bacon. My recommendation is to cook the bacon to the point *just* before it would be ready for someone who likes fatty bacon.

This wasn't a hard recipe to put together, though it did have a fair number of moving parts, so it was within my skill range but starting to stretch it a bit. It probably didn't help that I was doing all the chicken prep while the potatoes were cooking, so I had two things to focus on.

Potato Thoughts
I made it as is, using russet potatoes for my baking potatoes. I should have cut the chili powder about in half, and just added more of the other spices, as this ended up on the high range of tolerable to me. The potatoes did crisp up nicely, and the seasoning was good, but I'd definitely put less chili powder next time. Or maybe sub it completely for something like paprika. I also needed to grease the baking sheet more than I did, since the potatoes stuck to it some when I went to flip them.

Overall, rather tasty and would definitely make again, perhaps when I can finally have family over again?

Current Mood: pleased

turlough

Tried out another Nigella recipe today, Chicken and cashew nut curry from her Forever Summer. It's not online so ( here is a scan... )

Changes: Used frozen peas instead of green beans and peanuts instead of cashew nuts. I also skipped the chillies (don't like hot food) and the fresh coriander (tastes like soap to me).

Verdict: Tasted nice and was quite quick and easy to make so I'll probably make it again when I feel like a bit of coconut curry.

Current Mood: okay

fuzzyred

I had some chicken breasts in the freezer I wanted to use, so I figured this was a pretty good recipe for that.

( Chicken Tacos with Pineapple pico de gallo from the tasteofhome 2012 annual recipes cookbook )

Thoughts and Variations
I made the pico de gallo yesterday, to save myself some time today, and it came together pretty easy. I need to see if I can find a substitute for cilantro though, because it has an "off" taste to me; not quite soapy but that's the closest I can come up with. I couldn't find a salt-free garlic blend, so I picked up "Club House Blends Garlic Plus" and then left out the salt when cooking the chicken. I used a 1/2 teaspoon of the seasoning as a result, though I probably could have used a bit more. Also, since I was using incooked chicken that I cubed myself, I didn't add the spices until the chicken was just about fully cooked.

I liked the pico de gallo a lot (wasn't sure I would) though like I said, next time I might something to replace the cilantro. The chicken was okay, maybe a touch dry, but decent flavour. The corn tortillas... To me, they have an odd texture and are kind of bland which makes the texture harder to get over. It probably doesn't help that I missed the part where I was just supposed to fold the sides over and I tried to fold the bottom up too like I usually do with tacos. The corn tortillas cracked when I did that so I had a bunch of "extra" pieces that ened up left over after I ate all the filling. I also definitely recommend putting the pico de gallo *in* the tacos, not on top or on the side. It's much less messy and I found that you need the flavour and juiciness from the pico de gallo to bring everything together.

All in all, a dish that I'm happy I tried, but I might make a fee substituions and changes if I made it again.

Current Mood: drained

stellar_dust

I'm moving soon, so I'm delving into the depths of my freezer to see what is salvageable. I had a bag of freezer-burned mixed veggies that looked ... actually pretty bad once I opened them. The broccoli was shriveled, cauliflower was brown, carrots were turning pale. But I decided they probably wouldn't kill me. And I also had some slightly less elderly frozen peas and mushrooms, along with some red/green peppers I'd frozen a few months ago ... plus some relatively recently frozen chicken breast, and all the other stuff on the ingredients list here. So I tried it (with minute brown rice), and the sauce was DELICIOUS, and the freezer-burned veggies didn't even seem to suffer much - even the cauliflower was fine once it was all mixed up with everything else, and the broccoli stems weren't even tough (though I did have to drain water out of the pan before adding the sauce, since I just dumped all the veggies in straight from the freezer). The only other substitution I made was lemon juice instead of orange juice. And I got at least 4, maybe 5 meals out of it.

I'm claiming this for my "learned something valuable" bingo square due to my experiments with freezer-burned veggies, I guess.

Spicy Peanut Chicken Stir-Fry ( recipe here due to paywall )

fuzzyred

It is afternoons for me once again, so I went with another lunch food this week. This recipe for Italian Chicken Wraps came from the Tasteofhome Contest Winning Annual Recipes 2010 cookbook.

( Recipe )

Thoughts and Variations
My regular grocery store didn't have an easily identifiable "stir-fry vegetable blend" so I have no idea what this recipe originally intended. My choices were a Thai-style stir fry blend, a Chinese-style stir fry blend, a Portuguese mix, an Italian mix, or a Parisian mix. Since these are "Italian" chicken wraps, I went with the Italian vegetable blend (which included sliced carrots, romano beans, zucchini, red bell peppers, and lima beans) and then prepared it using the pan fry instructions on the Thai package. I also could not find the ready-to-use chicken strips, so I sliced and pan fried two chicken breasts instead (it was a package of 4 chicken breasts weighing 28 ounces, so the two I used were hopefully about 14 ounces total, which is close to the amount in the recipe). I used reduced fat Zesty Italian dressing because that's what the store had, and I used a bit more than a quarter cup of Parmesan cheese, since I had to grate mine from a brick and that made easier measuring.

It came together pretty quickly and the most complicated part of this recipe was trying to find the packaged ingredients listed. I don't know that I made the best choice in vegetable blends, because they aren't my favourite vegetables, but they did seem to mix relatively well with the Italian dressing and the Parmesan cheese. The warm dressing was a nice change, although I'm not sure you actually need the whole 1/2 cup that the recipe states. There is a lot of flexibility in this recipe, and I could see using this as a starting point for all kinds of wraps in the future if I'm looking for a quick lunch that's not sandwiches.

Current Mood: pleased

arthur_p_dent

Tonight I made this Homemade Cream of Chicken Soup from Spend With Pennies.

https://www.spendwithpennies.com/homemade-cream-of-chicken-soup/

Aside from leaving out the onion and celery (somebody around here doesn’t like them), I followed the recipe as-is. Without sautéing the carrot I expected them to be undercooked. I was right, but they were only a little bit firm - not a deal breaker. I expect the same would have happened with the celery, had I used them.

Overall not bad, but the heavy cream makes it a pretty rich soup. A small bowl with a salad is plenty for dinner. No word yet on how it reheats, but I’ll find out at lunch tomorrow. I’ll probably make this again, but I’m thinking I’ll try substituting table cream for the heavy cream, to see if it lightens it up a bit.

Enjoy. =]

Updates:

First, leftovers reheat just fine. Like any cream soup you have to warm it slowly to keep it from breaking, but it ends up tasting about the same as the first time around.

Second, I want to reiterate that this is a very rich soup. Frankly, after finishing up the leftovers, I’m kinda sick of it already. I had a thought to leave out the cream altogether - make it more like a soup version of a pot pie filling. The weather forecast says this is a good week for soup, so I might just give that a try.

Current Mood: good

topaz119

The website I found this on calls this The Best Chicken You Will Ever Eat. Ever which is... not exactly a portable name. Also, not really true.

So. Lots of spices, both in the brine and then in the dry rub. Amazingly enough, I had them all, mostly because I was buying all kinds of stuff at the beginning of the pandemic. I really don't think doing a dry rub on skinless chicken breasts is conducive to not drying out the meat, but I started it off that way and then changed my mind halfway through and gave them a little mist of olive oil.

Also, there is no way that chicken is going to cook without turning to char over too high of a heat in 3-4 min per side, not without pounding them thinner. (Which I did not do, but I was looking at the internal temps and they had barely gotten past the agonizingly raw state at the point when they were supposed to be done. More oil and a bit lower temp to try not to turn them to dust happened.)

In the end, it was fine? The kids liked it and ate it willingly enough, though they all said the smell of the dry rub was much better than the taste. I don't think I'll make it again, but it was a decent enough variation for the middle of yet another week of eating at home.

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Cookbook Challenge!

February 2024

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purplecat - Ginger Chicken with Coconut Rice
purplecat - Chicken and Mushroom Pie
purplecat - Chicken with Fennel and Tarragon
purplecat - Kuku Paka
watersword - Chicken Thighs With Coconut Creamed Corn
purplecat - Chicken Dauphinoise
purplecat - Peperoni Farciti
purplecat - Malaysian Roast Chicken with Coconut, Lemongrass and Squash
fuzzyred - Southwest-Style Chicken Burgers
musesfool - Braised Chicken Thighs with Tomato and Garlic
spiralicious - Strawberry Balsamic Chicken Salad with Sliced Almonds and Creamy Goat Cheese
purplecat - Smoky Chipotle Chicken with Black Beans, Feta and Lime
purplecat - Crispy Pesto Chicken, Roasted Fennel and Courgettes
fuzzyred - Fancied up Chicken and Potatoes
turlough - Chicken and cashew nut curry
fuzzyred - Chicken Tacos with Pineapple Pico de Gallo
stellar_dust - Spicy Peanut Chicken Stir-Fry
fuzzyred - Italian Chicken Wraps
arthur_p_dent - Homemade Cream of Chicken Soup
topaz119 - Grilled chicken with Morrocan style spices

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Cookbook challenge

Make new recipes you already own!

Entries tagged with chicken

Ginger Chicken with Coconut Rice

Chicken and Mushroom Pie

Chicken with Fennel and Tarragon

Kuku Paka

Chicken Thighs With Coconut Creamed Corn

Chicken Dauphinoise

Peperoni Farciti

Malaysian Roast Chicken with Coconut, Lemongrass and Squash

Southwest-Style Chicken Burgers

Braised Chicken Thighs with Tomato and Garlic

Strawberry Balsamic Chicken Salad with Sliced Almonds and Creamy Goat Cheese

Smoky Chipotle Chicken with Black Beans, Feta and Lime

Crispy Pesto Chicken, Roasted Fennel and Courgettes

Fancied up Chicken and Potatoes

Chicken and cashew nut curry

Chicken Tacos with Pineapple Pico de Gallo

Spicy Peanut Chicken Stir-Fry

Italian Chicken Wraps

Homemade Cream of Chicken Soup

Grilled chicken with Morrocan style spices

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February 2024

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