Gym Dinner: Spicy Cashew Chicken

So I've sold my soul and joined a gym, which is great for my health, but sad for my weekday dinners. I use to come home around 6:30, but now it's late and I'm tired and take out is not an option. So I've started collecting a few quick dinners that require fewer ingredients and even less prep, but aren't your typical boring meals: introducing Gym Dinners.

This first recipe was something I've been meaning to try for awhile, taken from my sister's blog, Brioche & Bourbon. It was spicy, filling, and tasty.

Perfectly cooked chicken!

Chipotle Cashew Chicken

• 2 chicken breasts
• 2-3 chipotles en adobo 
• 1 Tbl. cilantro- chopped finely 
• 1 tsp. lime zest 
• 2 tsp. brown sugar 
• 2 Tbl. tamari or soy sauce 
• 2 garlic cloves- finely chopped 
• 2 Tbl. fat free mayo 
• 1 tsp. olive oil 
• 1/2 c. roasted cashews, plus more for garnish

1.  Preheat oven to 425. Roast cashews on a low heat for 5 minutes until nicely browned. 
2. Combine all ingredients, except the chicken, in a food processor.
3. In an oven safe pan place the chicken and pat dry and season lightly with salt and pepper. 
4. Rub the marinade over chicken and bake in the oven for 45 minutes until breasts are plump. Serve with lime wedges.

Side Dish Idea: I bought two small sweet potatoes, and roasted those at the same time as the chicken. Just peel, toss with a little olive oil, brown sugar, and salt, and roast until tender. Add in half a red onion, cut in large slices, to give it extra depth.

Making the Most of Leftovers

So tonight I was cooking just for myself and didn't really feel up to exploring new recipes, so I turned to what was left in the fridge: a frozen chicken breast, some lemon basil ricotta, a fennel bulb, and a tomato. Doesn't sound like much does it?

Or does it?

Looks pretty tasty doesn't it? It was. And it was a Teresa original! Although I took a few notes from the stuffed chicken recipe I did a few weeks ago, the salad is a complete first--and turned out fantastic! I'd make both again.

The Ricotta Stuffing is originally from a Health Magazine. I made it again last week as a quick dinner, but had extra ricotta that worked perfectly as a quick stuffing for chicken as well. Did I mention everything tonight came from leftovers in the fridge?!

Stuffed Chicken with Lemon Ricotta 

• 2 Chicken Breasts, butterflied to create a pocket
• 1/4 c. Chicken Stock

Stuffing

• 1/2 c. Ricotta Cheese
• 1/2 t. lemon zest
• 1/2 T. lemon juice
• 2 T. Basil leaves, thinly chopped
• pinch of salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix the stuffing together, and add a heaping spoonful into the butterflied chicken breasts. Secure with toothpicks.
3. Heat an oven-safe skillet (cast iron if you have it) with a little oil and add the chicken breasts when it's reached a medium-high heat. Brown both sides of the breasts (3-4 minutes), remove from heat, and add chicken stock. Let the steam die down, then cover and place in an oven for 15 minutes.

Fennel Salad with Tomatoes and Parsley
The Salad could have been just a bunch of ingredients thrown together, but I decided to saute the fennel for a few minutes first. Not only did it loosen up some of the stronger liquorice notes, it also helped the fennel grab on to some of the other flavors in the salad.

• 1 fennel bulb, diced
• 1 medium tomato, diced
• 1 T. lemon juice
• 1/2 c. garbanzo beans, drained and rinse
• 1/2 bunch flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• 1 T. Parmesan cheese
• Dash of salt/pepper

1. Heat a splash of olive oil in a skillet to medium heat, and add in fennel. Saute for a few minutes until slightly tender. Remove from heat and add in garbanzo beans. Cool to room temperature.
2. Combined remaining ingredients with fennel in a bowl, add a little more lemon juice as needed, and serve!

Grill Much?

HOT coals!

So it's week two of eating healthy and this week, I had a boy to please as well. Also, without really realizing it, I selected three delicious recipes that all use a grill. Too bad it's a heat wave, but we just waited until a little later in the night to start, and everything was peachy.

All of these recipes are great as alternatives to the usual hamburgers and brats—it was healthier, delicious, and definitely a change of pace from the traditional chicken breast recipe I've made in the past. Below you will find recipes for Teriyaki Chicken (my mother's recipe), a Grilled Pork Tenderloin (with cherry salsa), and a Yogurt Marinated, Indian Spiced Chicken Beast.

But I'd have to give my 'best of the week' recommendation in a tie to two SIDE dishes I made: the Walnut Basil Pesto on Squash and the Parmesan Peppers. Both used the grill, and were new and exciting flavors I hadn't tried before. Make both of those immediately.

Grill Night # 1:
Basic, Can't-Fail Chicken Breast

Teriyaki Chicken (courtesy my mother)
*2 hour minimum marinating time required*

• 6-10 Chicken Thighs (we used breasts)
• 1 c. soy sauce
• 1 c. sake (or crisp white wine as a substitute, I used a Viognier)
• 1/3 c. brown sugar
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1 t. red pepper flakes
• 1 T. powdered ginger (I used fresh, grated---I would highly recommend the upgrade)

1. Combine all the marinade ingredients in a sauce pan, and cook until sugar melts. Pour on top of chicken and marinate overnight, or at least 2-3 hours.
2. Broil in oven, or over the grill. Turn chicken once, after around 10 minutes. Cook until done (20-25 minutes). 

served with
Grilled Squash with Walnut Parsley Pesto (Everyday Food)

• 1 cup tightly packed, fresh parsley leaves
• 1/3 cup chopped toasted walnuts
• 1 small garlic clove, smashed and peeled
• 1/4 c. Parmesan cheese, finely grated
• 1/4 t. finely grated lemon zest
• 1 T. fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil
• salt/pepper
• 2 yellow squash, quartered lengthwise and seasoned with salt and pepper

1. Preheat Grill.
2. Using a food processor, pulse pesto ingredients (everything except squash and olive oil) for 10 seconds. Then, with the machine running, slowly add the olive oil in a slow, steady stream until a paste forms.  Season with salt/pepper and transfer to a small bowl.
3. Grill Squash, turning occasionally, until lightly charred and tender. (About 10 minutes)

Grill Night #2:
Pork, The Other Grill Meat

Parmesan Peppers in the back stole the show

Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Cherry Salsa
(Bon Appetit June)
*15 minute marinating time, although overnight is preferred*

• 1 c. coarsly chopped cilantro, divided
• 1/2 c. minced shallots, divided
• 6 T. fresh lime juice, divided
• 1/4 c. vegetable oil
• 2 pork tenderloins, about 2.5 lbs (one could feed 3-4 people)
• 1/2 lb. fresh cherries, stemmed, pitted, halved
• 1 fresh Fresno chilie, red jalepeno, or Holland--thinly sliced crosswise. (I used a green jalapeno)
• 1 T. extra virgin olive oil
•  Salt/Pepper

1. Prepare grill to medium-high heat.
2. Combine half the cilantro, half the shallots, 4 T. lime juice, and vegetable oil in a resealable plastic bag. Add pork, and seal. Turn to coat, and marinate at room temperature for 15 minutes, turning occasionally.
3. Combine the rest of the shallots, cilantro, lime juice, cherries, chile, and olive oil in a bowl and set aside.
4. Remove tenderloin from marinade and season generously with salt/pepper. Grill, turning frequently, until meat registers 145 degrees (about 15 minutes). Let rest for 10 minutes. Cut into slices and serve with salsa.

I had made a similar recipe before, but while the cherry salsa stands out, the pork wasn't anything special. This time around, grilled, the pork held its own. Plus—we used the second tenderloin the next night for Taco Meat. THAT was another tasty meal that allowed me to indulge in dairy without also worrying about greasy meat. Just shred and reheat the meat.

served with
Parmesan Peppers
(Bon Appetit June)

• 4 bell peppers
• 1 clove, thinly sliced garlic
• 8 thyme sprigs
• 1 T. extra virgin olive oil
• salt/pepper
• 1/4 c. grated Parmesan
• 1/2 lemon, juiced (optional)

1. Stem, corn, and quarter the peppers and toss with all remaining ingredients except cheese. Place on baking sheet and roast at 425 degrees until softened (or use the grill). Top with cheese, and broil until cheese melts and peppers are slightly charred. Juice lemon over peppers, if desired.

Grill Night # 3: Exotic Chicken
I say exotic because the kitchen smelled like Indian food all night, but this recipe was just as easy to make as the Teriyaki Chicken on night one--make whichever one sounds fantastic for the moment! This one was slightly jucier, and had those fantastic ginger/garam marsala spice notes to it.

Yogurt Marinated Grilled Chicken (Bon Appetit)

• 8 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
• 2 cups plain whole-milk yogurt (I used Greek)
• 1 cup coarsley chopped cilantro, leaves and stems
• 1/2 large onion, coarsley chopped
• 1/3 c. olive oil, plus more for brushing
• 6 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
• 1 T. fresh lime juice
• 1 T. garam marsala
• 2 t. salt
• 1 t. pepper
• 1 2" piece of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped

1. Pound each breast of chicken between two sheets of waxed paper until they are an even 1/2" thick. Transfer to resealable plastic bag.
2. Combine the remaining ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth. Pour yogurt mixture over chicken and marinate at least 3 hours, or overnight.
3. Build a medium fire, brush grill with oil (this meat stuck to an un-oiled grill, so I'd recommend). Scrape excess marinate off chicken and season with salt. Grill chicken, turning once, until browned and cooked through. (The recipe says 3-4 minutes, but ours needed at least 8-10 per side).

Healthy Meals by Land and Sea

I added another rule to my diet: One Bad Thing a Day. I really can't go without things like cheese or Dr. Pepper forever—but if I can try to keep it under control. Monday and Tuesday, I had a soda, and today I indulged in pizza (thin crust). So far it's working out pretty well.

I also made these tasty dried tomatoes my sister told me about with some cherry tomatoes I picked up at the farmers market.  They were a great snack, and I used the rest of them in the couscous I served with tonight's chicken.

But on to the recipes--here's a check in with two fantastic dinners I made myself. One fish, one chicken, but both really easy to make and great for someone looking to feed one or two. Both had a side dish too!

Eggplant and Chickpea Salad

Eggplant & Chickpea Salad
Two major changes from the original recipe: I cut the feta cheese to 1/4 cup (that's plenty), and I only cooked the eggplant for 10 minutes, until it was just starting to get tender. This recipe was also even better the next day for lunch, when the flavors had really meld together.

Panko & Mustard Crusted Salmon

Panko & Mustard Crusted Salmon
Took no time at all---the mustard and salmon worked really well together. A .8 pound filet gave me two nice servings, too.

Stuffed Chicken with Couscous

Stuffed Chicken with Feta, Spinach & Pine Nuts
Cooking Light

• 5 ounces fresh spinach, chopped
• 1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled feta cheese
• 2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme, minced
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 cup fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Heat a large nonstick ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Add spinach to pan; cook 1 minute or until spinach wilts, tossing constantly. Place spinach in a colander; press until barely moist. Wipe pan clean.
3. Combine spinach, cheese, nuts, thyme, juice, and garlic. Cut a horizontal slit through the thickest portion of each chicken breast half to form a pocket. Stuff 3 tablespoons filling into each pocket. Seal with wooden picks. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper.
4. Heat oil in pan over medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook 3 minutes on each side or until brown. Add broth, and cover pan. Place pan in oven. Bake at 350° for 15 minutes or until done

Marinate Tonight: Lemon Garlic Chicken

The charred, eatable lemon is great mixed into the mashed potatoes

This can be a fast recipe, ready after a quick 30 minute marinate, but we prepped it the day before and let it sit for 24 hours and the lemon REALLY stood out in a way that makes it a great, refreshing summer meal. 

A Few Notes:

• Watch the time cooking---we let it go for 30 minutes, and the chicken was way too dry. 20 minutes to start should be plenty, and then maybe another 5 to brown if you think it needs it.
• The recipe calls for Garlic Oil, which you can make ahead the day before (if you marinate), or just forgo it completely it you're looking for something quick. While it sounds cool, the lemon overpowers the oil in a way that makes its assembly almost worthless.

Chicken Marinated in Garlic Oil
Everyday Food, July/August

1/4 c. Garlic Oil (or regular Olive Oil, plus 4-6 garlic cloves smashed and peeled)
1 lemons, cut into rounds
1/4 c. chopped fresh parsley
4 chicken pieces (we used breasts, with or without skin)
salt/pepper to taste

1. To Make Garlic Oil: Smash and peel 1 head of garlic and heat over a medium-low heat with 1 cup Olive Oil until it starts to bubble. Reduce heat to low, and cook for 10 minutes (don't let the garlic brown). Remove from heat and let cool at room temp, at least 45 minutes. Store in the fridge for up to a week.
2. In a zip-top bag, combined all ingredients and shake to coat. Let sit 30 minutes, or refrigerate overnight.
3. Preheat the oven 45 degrees. Transfer to baking sheet, season with salt and pepper, and roast until skin is golden, 20-25 minutes. Turn in the final 5 minutes to brown other side, if desired.

Summery Succotash

How can you not love this?

Not that the picture is a perfect example, but I have learned that succotash is a dish composed of mostly corn and lima beans—and then mixed together with any number of other ingredients. Thanks to some leftover queso fresco from the jalapeno poppers, I decided to try out this Everyday Food recipe from the July/August issue. It's also a great second recipe to keep up your sleeve when you have leftover rottisserie chicken in your fridge.

Chicken Succotash with Avocado
Serves 4

3 large tomatoes, cut into 1" wedges
2 small zucchini, diced medium
2 c. corn kernels (from 3 ears)
2 c. frozen lima beans (from a 10 oz. package), thawed
1/2 rotisserie chicken (skin removed, meat shredded. ~2 cups)
1 avocado, thinly sliced
3 oz. farmers cheese (queso fresco), crumbled (1/2 cup)
6 small red potatoes, quartered into bite-sized chunks

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Season potatoes with salt/pepper and roast for 30 minutes, or until insides are mushy.
2. Season zucchini with salt/pepper and cook on medium heat until slightly soft (4-5 minutes). Add corn and lima beans and cook until corn is cooked through and lima beans are softened (~3 minutes). Season with salt/pepper, then add in chicken. Cook until meat is warm.
3. Remove potatoes and add them to the mixture. Divide on to plates, and then add avocado, tomatoes, and farmers cheese.

The freshness of the avocado, cheese, and tomatoes really makes this a great summer dish that is light, yet still satisfying. Feel free to be more adventurous with the ingredients you add to it—the potatoes was my own addition because we had them around. The side starch ended up being fantastic with the rest of the dish, and we just mixed it all together.

Adding Some Heat: Jalapeno Poppers and Stuffed Chicken

Jalapeno poppers have got to me one of my guilty pleasures, right up there with crab rangoon. What can be better than cheese oozing out of a spicy shell? While the fried, freezer options can taste heavy and fattening, this recipe I discovered last week sounded both delicious, and relatively easy.

Be warned: these turned out pretty hot. Our theory is that grilling doesn't remove the chili fire like a fried popper will, so a less heat-intense option is to split them in half—reduce the chili heat-to-cheese ratio.

Anaheim Chili Popper, oven baked

Grilled Jalapeno Poppers

• 1/2 white onion, thinly diced
• 4 garlic cloves, diced
• 8 oz. queso fresco, crumbled
• 4 oz. Monterrey jack cheese, shredded
• 2 T. lime juice
• 1 t. cumin
• Salt/Pepper to taste
• 15 jalapeno peppers (or milder peppers like green Anaheim Chilies, if you can't stand the heat)

1. Saute the white onions in olive oil on a medium-low heat until they start to sweat, around 10 minutes. Add in garlic and cook for an additional 5 minutes until onions are translucent. Let sit to cool.
2. If you have contacts on, make sure you wear gloves. Chop off the top of the jalapeno, and slice the peppers length-wise almost all the way down—leaving the end together. Remove the veins and seeds with a small spoon. Line up on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil.
3.  Mix together your cheeses, lime juice, cumin, and spices, and then add the onion/garlic mixture to it. Stuff the cheese mixture into the poppers.
4. Fire up the grill, leaving the poppers on the foil and on the top rack that is away from the heat. Close the grill and let cook until the cheese starts to ooze out. At this point, feel free to add your burgers/hotdogs/other items to the grill. Let the poppers continue to cook until the jalapeno skin has charred up and become soft. (We left ours on for another 10 minutes).
5. For indoor baking: Heat the oven to 350 degrees, place the chilies in for 15 minutes, or until cheese is oozing out. Then, place the oven on a high broil and cook for an additional 2 minutes, or until the skin starts to burst.

If the heat from jalepeno poppers isn't your thing, I would recommend the following Stuffed Chicken recipe that I created from scratch on Day 2, made with the leftover cheese mixture. We served a jalapeno popper with the chicken, but the mild Anaheim was so great mixed with the chicken, I'm going to adjust the recipe below and have you add the pepper to the actual chicken recipe.

I forgot to saute the breast on the stove, and so the meat turned out white

Cheese-Stuffed Chicken Breast

• 1 chicken breast, butterflied
• Cheese Mixture from Above
• 1 Mild Anaheim Pepper
• Salt/Pepper/Cumin to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 350.
2. Butterfly the chicken breast (leave attached).  Season the inside with salt, pepper, and cumin.
3. Slice the top of the pepper, and half lengthwise. Remove the seeds and veins. Slice the chili into flat, thin squares.
4. Stuff your butterflied chicken by layering chili squares first, then a spoonful of cheese, then another layer of chili squares. Fold the top of the chicken breast over the mixture, and secure with toothpicks or string. Season outside with spices.
5. Heat up a cast iron (or oven safe) skillet with oil, and saute the breasts 1-2 minutes per side to brown the skin. Transfer pan to oven and cook for 15 minutes, or until chicken is done and cheese is oozing out.

Cayenne Chicken

The avocado salsa really matches the spicy cayenne rub nicely

Not really sure what to make tonight, I did a quick troll of Everyday Food's website (why don't I have a subscription yet!) and found this recipe for a Cayenne-rubbed Chicken with avocado salsa. The prep was super easy--10 minutes, and I liked the versatility of the meat. We ate the breasts whole, but you could easily shred the meat and make some tasty tacos as well. The kick from the spice was a perfect pairing with both the bland chicken flavor and the citrus avocado salsa. This is a must-make recipe.

Cayenne Chicken
Everyday Food

• 2 chicken breasts
• 1 t. salt
• 1/4 t. pepper
• 1/4 t. cayenne pepper
• olive oil for pan
• 1/2 small red onion
• 1 haas avocado
• 1 lime

1. Mix the salt, pepper, and cayenne together and rub over the chicken. 
2. Heat a pan with oil and add chicken. Cook on a medium heat for 5-8 minutes on each side, until the outer skin is crispy and brown, and the meat is puffed out (resist slicing into the meat because you'll let the juices escape). Let the meat rest for 5-10 minutes.
3. As meat is cooking, thinly dice onion and squeeze lime juice on top of the pieces. Right before you serve, cube the avocado and add to the onion mixture.

Again--this recipe took 20 minutes tops---and the entire meal was under $15. And we've never devoured anything so quickly. (well, maybe honey mustard chicken) Try it!

Everyone should roast their soups...

Roasted Chicken and Butternut Soup

So this is the second soup recipe I've used from Everyday Food in a week--and it's another fabulous one. The roasting helps speed up the cooking process, as well as gives the soups a really rich flavor, no matter what ingredients you use. The Roasted Chicken and Butternut Soup was amazing--nice, juicy chunks of chicken resting between creamy, butternut squash. This time I was better about seasoning, and the soup wasn't too salty (again--watch how much you add throughout the cooking process). You can go ahead and follow Everyday Food's recipe exactly, except I would adjust a few things:

• Roast the chicken in a separate pan so the grease from the meat doesn't mix with the vegetables. That way, when you're ready to add the roasted veggies to a pot to simmer, you can add a little broth to the pan and scrap out all the blackened bits that are stuck to the pan--those will be amazing in the soup.
• If you like a thicker soup, withhold 1 cup of broth from the pot until you mash up the veggies—4 cups makes a rather thin soup.

They've finally posted the recipes online here for the October issue (which sadly, is not in stores anymore) so you can make it yourself. I'm probably going to try all these recipes before the month is out, but you don't have to wait for me to try them:

• Roasted Beef, Mushroom and Barley Soup 
• Roasted Eggplant and Chickpea Soup
  (see how mine turned out here)
• Smoky Roasted Potato Soup 
• Roasted Beet and Potato Borscht

The Long and the Short of Dinners

I made two dinners this weekend, one took 4 hours, and the other was ready in 30 minutes. Both can be made for $10-$15, and both were amazing meals and worth the effort it took to make them--so I wanted to post both in case they give you any ideas going into the winter. 

The Short Ribs are a great meal to make in the late afternoon on a cold, winter weekend when you have the time to let them braise---and the Honey Mustard Chicken is fantastic for a quick, easy weekday meal; so you can decide what sounds good for when.

Short Ribs on Polenta with red wine

Braised Short Ribs 

• 1 package 5-6 bone-in short ribs
• 1 t. allspice
• 2 T. flour
• 1 large onion, finely diced
• 2 celery ribs, finely diced
• 2 large carrots, finely diced
• 2 cloves garlic, finely diced
• 2 cans Rotel tomatoes (10 oz. each)*
• 1 can tomato paste (8 oz.)
• 2 cups hearty red wine 
• 2 cups chicken stock (if needed)
• 2 t. thyme
• 2 bay leaves

1. Coat an oven-safe dutch oven with olive oil and bring to a high heat. Salt spare ribs, combine allspice and flour and coat the ribs on all sides. Add ribs to the pan and brown, 2-3 minutes per side, and remove.
2. Add onion, celery, carrots, and garlic to pan, season with salt, and cook 5-7 minutes. Add in tomatoes, cook another 5 minutes. *The Rotel gives the ribs a spicy finish, but if you'd rather use 1 large can crushed tomatoes, that's more traditional. Add in the wine, lower the heat to medium, and reduce the mixture by half--usually about 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
3. Return the ribs to the oven and add in enough chicken stock to just cover the ribs. (If your mixture is still watery, you can skip adding in the stock--but feel free to add more as it's cooking to keep it moist). Cover and place in the oven for 2 hours, uncovered for the last 30 minutes. When done the meat should be tender, but not falling apart.
4. Serve ribs and braising liquid together. Also, placing the dish on baked polenta, mashed potatoes or something else that can sop up the braising liquid is a nice touch--and easy to create when you're waiting for it to cook.

Honey Mustard Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, Old Fashions

Honey-Mustard Chicken
 Serving for two

• 2 Chicken Breasts (thighs are okay too)
• Garlic Salt
• Dijon Mustard
• Two parts lime juice
• One part honey

1. Preheat oven to a high broil. Sprinkle with garlic salt and spread each liberally with mustard. Broil chicken 5-7 inches away from heat for 10 minutes.
2. Stir lime and honey together and brush mixture on chicken. Broil for another 5 minutes then turn the pieces over. Spread the other side with mustard, broil for another 5 minutes, or until tender. Baste with remaining lime-honey mixture and let rest for 5-10 minutes before cutting into it. Serve with rice or potatoes.

What to Make with a Whole Chicken

If I can give potential food budgeters one piece of advice, it would be to eat what you can use the most. Cooking an entire chicken this week was a huge success for a few reasons:

1. You get a ton of meat from it--precooked and ready to reheat and use for quick weekday meals. Just store away in tupperware and use as needed.
2. The bones and gross parts (neck, back, heart, etc.) can be saved and used to make a really great chicken stock.
3. For a $7 chicken--I'd say this is a definite must for those under a tight budget.

Shredded meat w/ reserved bones

For a few recipes to get you started, here's a run down of what I made this week:

Aji de Gallina A family recipe from South America, great ethnic comfort food.

New Mexico Enchiladas. Another family favorite--this is more along the lines of do-it-yourself enchiladas. The tortillas are served flat, covered in enchilada sauce, and then 3-4 are layered on top of each other with meat, onions, tomatoes, cheese, etc in between—plus (most delicious of all) a fried egg on top. 

Chicken 'n' Dumplings. Southern comfort food at its finest. Recipe below.

and finally, Chicken Tacos with the remaining leftovers from other meals.

Chicken 'n' Dumplings

• 8 pieces of chicken (or a whole chicken, shredded)*
• 1 T butter
• 2 c. Chicken Stock
• 2 c. water
• 1 t. salt
• 1/2 t. pepper
• 1/4 t. saffron flakes
• 2 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into pieces
• 2 small onions, diced
• 2 large carrots, diced
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 1 T. chopped parsley
• Dumplings: 1.5 c. flour, 1/2 t. salt, 1 egg, 3-5 T. milk

1. Brown the chicken in a dutch oven with butter, add water and broth, salt, pepper, and saffron and bring to a boil. Add in potatoes, onions, carrots, celery, and parsley. Cover and simmer for 30-45 minutes. (*Note: if you've already cooked the chicken, reserve the meat until the veggies are cooked, before the dumplings.)
2. In a bowl: combine flour and salt. Separately, beat the egg and add 3 T. of milk. Add into flour until dough is smooth, and not sticky. Add more milk if need be. 
3. Spoon out teaspoon-sized nuggets of dumplings, flatten, and add them to the soup. Cook an additional 15 minutes. With five minutes remaining, add 2-3 T. of milk to thicken the soup. Sprinkle with cheese, and serve.

Kitchen Basics: Chicken Stock

So on Tuesday when I first boiled my chicken, I attempted to kill two birds with one stone and reserve the liquid from the pot to make chicken stock out of. So after the chicken was cooked, I cooled the pot and placed it in the fridge overnight---with the understanding that the next morning, the fat would have risen to the top and the stock would be underneath--ready for me to use.

Not so much. I'm not sure if it's because I left the veggies and chicken in the pot, or because there was just a lot of skin and fat in the chicken--but the next morning the entire pot had turned to this gelatin-like goo. I have since discovered the gelatin comes from the bones, and had I strained the stock the night before, it would have been easier to manage. Either way---down the sink it went, and on to my second attempt.

I still had all the bones--now cooked--but my coworker Heather and I were discussing my gelatin problem, and she offered to scan a Joy of Cooking Recipe for me. Using roasted chicken bones actually makes for a richer stock--and because I'm feeling sick and wanted to make a hearty chicken soup with it, I didn't see why I couldn't try again. My recipe last night was pretty easy on the labor--- I'll let you know how my soup goes!

Chicken Stock
from Joy of Cooking 

• 2 lbs chicken parts 

I removed the meat from the chicken first, but left large pieces on the bones for flavor, however, leaving the meat on apparently makes for a more flavorful stock.

• 1 onion-chopped
• 1 carrot-chopped
• 1 celery stock-chopped

I roasted the bones and vegetables for 30 minutes at 425 degrees, then added them to a dutch oven. Using one cup of water, scrap the roasting pan and add the brown bits to the pan. Add around 8 cups water (cover the bones plus two inches) and bring to a simmer. Lower the heat so there aren't any bubbles rising, but heat is still coming off the pan (around 180 degrees). Cook for three hours.

• Bouquet garni (garlic, peppercorn, parsley, thyme, bay leaf wrapped in cheese cloth)

In the last hour, add in the bouquet garni. Remove from heat and strain the stock twice--once with a strainer, once with a cheese cloth to get all the bits and pieces out. Cool, then refrigerate and then skim the fat off in the morning.

Aji de Gallina

The first time I broke down a chicken was to make this dish. Naturally, if I'm going through the trouble of cooking an entire chicken--you better believe this is on the menu.

Aji de Gallina is a shredded chicken dish from Peru that gets its name from the Aji Amarillo pepper of the area. I have never found the actual pepper in the supermarket--but a quick stop at a South American/European food market (there is one down my street) and you should be able to find it in paste form. If you can't find any--cayenne pepper works as a good substitute, but you will want to SEVERELY reduce the amount you put in. Cayenne will give you that heat, but there is this smoothness to an aji pepper that really makes this dish something special.

Serious Eats did a nice run down on the spice, saying:

[It is] less sharp and harsh, more full-bodied, and a lot more subtle. If there were a chile to taste like sunshine, this would be it. It may sound odd to use the word "comforting" to describe a hot chile, but for aji amarillo, it seems fitting.

The recipe is fairly simple, and gets even more so if you decide to skip out on boiling the chicken and either buy a rotisserie one pre-made, or heat up some chicken breasts in the microwave. This is also good to freeze back--I've doubled up on the sauce and reserved half for a later meal, or used leftovers for a nice hearty lunch the next day.

Aji de Gallina

• 3-4 lb. Chicken--skinned
• 4 c. Chicken Broth (reserved from boiling)
• 8 slices white bread, without the crust
• 1-2 T. aji amarillo paste (or 1 t. cayenne, or less)
• 1/2 c. evaporated milk
• 1 finely diced onion
• 1 finely diced garlic clove
• 2 T. olive oil
• 1/2 c. Parmesan cheese, grated
• 1/2 c. pecans or walnuts, finely chopped
• Garnish: salt, pepper, parsley, black olives, hard-boiled eggs

1. To be done a day ahead or in the afternoon (takes 1-2 hours): Break down the chicken into parts (breasts, thighs, wings, back & neck) and submerge entire  bird in water. Liberally add salt. If you want, add in celery, carrots, onions to create a richer stock. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 30-45 minutes until chicken is done. Cool, reserve broth, and shred the chicken.
2. In a saucepan, saute onions and garlic in oil until golden.
3. In a blender, soak bread slices in broth and add aji amarillo paste and evaporated milk. Blend under fine.
4. Gradually add bread mixture to saucepan and stir constantly for about 15 minutes until liquid reduces to a thick consistency. When desired consistency is reached (thick, creamy sauce) add in cheese, nuts, and chicken. (Note: you might not need the entire chicken--add gradually, and use extra for other meals)
5. Cook another 10-15 minutes. Serve with rice and garnish with parsley, olives, and egg.

Food Budgeting Week 2: The WHOLE chicken

Last week was such a success at NOT spending money and using up random freezer food (spanokopita GONE)--I am $40 under budget for the month so far! I celebrated over labor day by buying a new wallet with the saved money. (Yeah, I know my budgeting should be extended beyond food--but that's not what I blog about!) This week's plan is to make use of an ENTIRE chicken. All my followers from my Vegetarian month should stop reading now. It's going to get bloody.

My Shopping List--3 meals for $25 dollars

That's right. An entire chicken. One that cost me $7.33 cents. The savings you get from buying an entire chicken totally makes it worth the extra hour of work (20 minutes to break it down, 45 minutes to boil off the stock). For that, I've built out a plan to make three meals over the course of the week: Aji de Gallina, Honey Mustard Chicken, and Chicken 'n' Dumplings. But first things first. Attacking the beast.

Before it got gross!

I've cut down a chicken before--and didn't take too many photos because I'm ubber scared of raw chicken and it was too much hassle to continually washing my hands between shots. If you are interested in trying this, I recommend two sites: Serious Eats breaks it down in 16 nice close-up photos, and Martha Stewart has a great video that pretty much follows the same technique.

wings, thighs, and random meat...maybe the liver?

Two skinnish Breasts, plus the spine

The breasts are being stored until I grill them Thursday for the Honey Mustard Chicken recipe--and the rest went into a large pot to cook as part of the stock. I'm going to reserve one thigh and wing for tonight's Aji de Gallina, but the rest will be stored until Friday's Chicken 'n' Dumplings. Feeling hungry yet? I am...and my stock is still cooking for another 20 minutes!