Chicken and Dumplings for a Not-So-Rainy Day

Today was one of those days were the weather started out being sort of dreadful and cold, and got lovely and sunny. However, my internal mood was one that related only to the morning weather.  Basically, I was in a funk.

So I did what any adult would do. I ignored that feeling and worked on homework and work notes all day. Then, went to the mall and got myself a new bra.Finally, I went home and worked out.

After a nice (and for some reason, short) shower I decided I had to do something before I started up on my homework again. This whole weekend is basically going to be me cooking and indulging Boyfriend and mine’s tastebuds. I’ll attempt to post of these recipes within hours of making them, but since it’ll be this weekend, you’ll have to save the love for next Valentine’s Day. Or a Birthday, or whatever weekend/day. Doesn’t matter.

I’m rambling.

My point is that I was in the cooking mood, and I figured that I could use a warm up recipe, like running a few miles before a marathon the next day (not that I know specifically how that would work, I’ve never run more than a mile, and a low one at that).

This recipe came into mind simply because the weather felt cold, for me, and I wanted something comfortable, yet delicious. I’ve been eating and working out regularly, and eating everything I want, in moderation, and I’ve been pretty successful. I think I’ve lost 3 lbs since my last weigh in, and why not give myself a lovely lunch tomorrow?

This was my first time making chicken and dumplings, and my FIRST TIME TRYING THEM! And after this recipe, I’m a fan. I’m sure it’s not the best, but it’s pretty awesome in my opinion. My dumplings ended up being a bit “Freeform” in size, but that made me love them even more.

Recipe adapted from here (I cut my recipe in half)

2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup water
1 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 tbsp onion powder
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp herbes de provance
1 tsp dried basil
2 tsp black pepper (or more to taste)
1/2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast- roughly one
1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup frozen peas and carrots (I used mixed veggies)

Dumplings:
1 cup flour
1/2 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 Tbsp butter (softened)
1 cup milk

In heavy bottomed Dutch oven or large wide pot, over medium heat, add chicken broth, water, butter and all seasonings. Cover and bring to a boil. Meanwhile, cut chicken breast into bite sized pieces. Add to soup mixture, (at this point, I also added some lemon juice for a bit of zing, if you’re not a fan of zing, by all means omit it). Stir to combine and cover.

In a sealable container combine flour and milk. Seal tightly and shake vigorously to combine well. You will create a smooth flour mixture for thickening your sauce called a slurry. Slowly pour the slurry into broth, stirring constantly. Add frozen vegetables. Cover.

Combine dumpling ingredients in a medium bowl. Mix well with a fork. Remove cover from stew and stir well. Drop dumplings into stew one tablespoon at a time, use a 1 tablespoon scoop to make it even easier.

Reduce heat to simmer, cover and cook for 10 minutes

Ragu for Emergencies

This is my fool-proof recipe for ragu. At least it will be. This is the first time that I’ve made it.  But I am not disappointed.

Today started off a little slow for me. I didn’t really get out of my pj’s till noon, and even then it took a few cups of coffee to really get started. I had a short list to start off, and added to it slowly. First off, I had to make lunch, and enough for leftovers for dinner as well as Monday’s word lunch.  I also had to clean my tub for tonight’s bath, and lastly I had to vacuum (it’s been too long). So I did what any sane person would do. I started with something that was totally off the list!

In the end, I cleaned the kitchen, bathroom, vacuumed, and even took out the trash all in an hour. In the meantime, this ragu was bubbling away on the stove. It’s very simple, but very necessary, especially when there’s a chill in the air. (Granted right now it’s about 78 degrees in So. Cal but I’m a bit under the weather and that’s chilly enough for me!)

RAGU

• 1 lb ground chicken (organic if possible)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 can (standard 14.5 oz Heinz) of tomato sauce
• 3 tbsp chili powder
• 1 tbsp cayanne powder
• 1 tbsp garlic powder, or two cloves garlic minced
• 1 cup sharp cheddar
• salt and pepper to taste
• pasta of your choice- cooked
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, to serve
• dried basil, to serve

Heat oil in a 4 quart pot- or dutch oven (I used my cast iron Lodge).

Add in the chicken and the onion and cook together for about 7 minutes. It doesn’t matter that the chicken isn’t cooked or the onion isn’t perfectly seared. Add in all seasonings aside from chili powder. Add in tomato sauce. Stir and bring to a boil.

Add in the chili powder with the oregano and simmer on low for 15 minutes.

Add in the sharp cheddar, and stir till barely melted. Add in cooked pasta of your choice and sprinkle with basil and parmesan cheese to serve.

Simple, and perfect!

Chinese Blackened Chicken

I knew today would be busy as soon as I woke up. I had laundry to do. Paintings to receive in the mail (and UPS was not making it easy for me), not to mention preparing for a ton of homework and memorization for the following weeks. Making flashcards, cooking dinner, vacuuming, and even doing my nails all had to be done today.

There was a bright side to all of this however, a new and delicious chicken recipe.

As this is a work day I decided to be a bit loose on the directions, and although I posted the original recipe below (also found here by The Gourmet Kitchen), I eyeballed the measurements and did it to taste and preference. The only thing that I can stress here is the chicken you’ll be using. You really do need to get skin on and bone in. Chicken breasts that are skinless and boneless, and all lean and healthy will not work here. I’m all for healthy and lean, but this chicken is not it. It’s great for lunch, if you only eat one piece at a time you’ll hardly notice the calories, which some steamed rice, you’re all set!

 

Chicken Blackened Chicken

• 4 chicken wings, a few drumsticks and a few thighs – all skin on and bone in
• 150mls dark soy – the best you can get will be from an oriental supermarket, it’s really really thick and a little sweet
• 100mls light soy
• 150mls shaoxing rice wine (I used unfiltered sake)
• A few pinches Chinese five spice powder (I omited this, but used a lot of cinnamon, nutmeg, pepper, and cumin)
• A large thumb sized piece of ginger, minced
• A tablespoon toasted sesame oil
• 1 large garlic clove, minced
• Strands of ginger, red chilli and sliced spring onions to serve

Place the soy, minced ginger and garlic and shaoxing rice wine into a box with a lid and place into the fridge. Marinate for at least 24 hours, turning the box over occasionally so the wings are totally coated in the marinade.

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees.

Decant the chicken drumsticks and thighs (liquid and all) but not the wings into a roasting dish and place into the oven. After 15 minutes add in the wings and cook the whole lot for another 30 minutes in total, turning the pieces over every 10 minutes. Make sure the last 10 minutes is done with as much of the skin facing up as possible and give the skin a pinch of Chinese five spice just before it goes back into the oven.

Remove from the oven, give a drizzle of sesame oil, scatter with the ginger and spring onions and eat – we especially like it with egg fried rice.

Train Rides and Nutella Muffins

This weekend was pretty darn close to perfect. I went on a vintage train with Boyfriend and we got lots of time to do homework together, do errands together, and even pretty up my apartment… together! We did everything together and I must say it was a great and lovely time.

Fillmore and Western Railway Train

Inside the amazing and old train

we were on a “scenic” weekend tour… it was a lot of farm land and trailer parks

LOOSE CABOOSE mini chicken farm

This fan is probably older than my grandfather!

 

I even looked after a friend’s doggies this weekend. My first time pet sitting for someone that isn’t my mom and Miss Kitty Cat. I’m excited to say that they are very healthy, well fed, and happy. I hope my friend doesn’t mind me showing off her pooches, they were really adorable. And a little insane cause of the lack of attention. Nonetheless, you can see they were still fun.

 

 

As a result of this very fruitful and amazing weekend I decided to clean and bake for the first time in about two-three weeks. The fact that I’ve been too busy to bake has been astonishing for me, the person that would sometimes bake cookies or muffins and a cake in the same day to have “variety” for the rest of the week.

I’ve had a small sweet tooth for warmth lately. I don’t even know if that makes sense, but that’s what I’ve been craving: cinnamon, apples, brown sugar, caramel, all those amazing things.

I’ve had this recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction pinned on google chrome for a while now. And the last time I baked something I used one of her recipes, so I figured now is as good at time as any to get on the nutella train, knowing what I’d make would be delicious.

 

 

Nutella Stuffed Cinnamon Sugar Muffins

makes 8-9 muffins

• 1/3 cup (5 Tbsp) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup milk (I used almond milk, but regular is fine)
• 1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour (or all-purpose flour)
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 8 tsp Nutella

Cinnamon-Sugar Topping

• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 3 Tbsp unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 425F.  Spray muffin pan with cooking spray and set aside.

In a large bowl of an electric or stand mixer, cream butter and sugar together on medium speed.  Mix in the egg, vanilla extract, and milk. Gently stir in flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.  DO NOT overmix – stir until *just* combined.

Spoon 1 heaping Tablespoon of batter into muffin cavity.  Layer with 1 tsp Nutella in the center and spoon another heaping Tablespoon of batter on top.  If the muffin tins are completely full, that is ok.  They will not overflow.  Repeat layering batter + Nutella into each muffin tin.  I got exactly 8 muffins.

Bake at 425F for 5 minutes.  Reduce oven to 350F and bake for an additional 13-17 minutes until batter is set. Allow muffins to cool for about 5 minutes.

While the muffins are cooling, make the cinnamon-sugar topping.  Melt the butter for about 30 seconds in the microwave.  Stir and stick back in microwave if not fully melted.  In a separate small bowl, stir together the sugar and cinnamon.  Dip the top of each muffin into the melted butter and dip into the cinnamon-sugar mixture.  Swirl them around in the cinnamon-sugar a bit to make sure you get a thick coating. Set upright on cooling rack.  Enjoy!*

 

 

*I didn’t make the streusal topping because I added a bit more nutella and I didn’t want them so sweet that I wouldn’t eat them, so I sprinkled some raw sugar over the top instead.

Two for One Attempt

I’ve started my Master’s program on Tuesday, August 21. It has been extremely eye opening. For one, it’s a lot of reading and references that are necessary for my field, which I am totally new to. All the scientific articles I have to keep track of and the vocabulary that I have get down, immediately, for fluency checks. It’s a little daunting, but nonetheless, exciting, and I’m feeling VERY good odds about this challenge.

As you can imagine however, I’ve been very busy. Not only did I start school myself but my client started high school. And I’ve been trying to get a lay of the land there, making new friends, seeing how teachers do things over there, checking out the dress code and what’s deemed “appropriate”  (a lot!).

In any case this means that I have been neglecting my readers, as well as my stomach. Although the minimal posts will probably continue for a good two years (length of my lovely Master’s Program) I’ll try to give you what you rightfully deserve. Yums!

As the title might hint, I was going to try for two easy-peasy recipes. I thought to myself I could just use up all four of my chicken breasts into one recipe, but then I’d be eating the same thing for lunch for four days, and that’s not okay with me. Too boring, and I’m anything if not boring. So I thought, splitting up the recipes would be a great way to use up all four chicken breasts (by the time they go bad), and also entertaining my stomach during the week. The first, was a white chicken chili, and the second was a chicken piccata.

I quickly learned my time wasn’t that flexible. Therefore, I could only make one, the chili, before the other chicken sadly, went bad. Anyway, live and learn… now I know to make two recipes, same day, and not to squaller about with homework, and chores. Silly girl

White Chicken Chili

• 2 thin chicken breasts, organic
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 tbsp of olive oil, or any oil of your choosing
• 1 tbsp white wine
• 1 can of garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can of kidney beans, drains and rinsed
• 1 1/2 cups of frozen sweet corn kernels (because I love me some corn)
• 1/2 block of cream cheese (use low-fat if you prefer, but I think those things are plain disgusting)
• 1 cup of chicken stock, low sodium**
• 2 tbsp course sea salt
• 1 tbsp freshly ground pepper, white or black (I used black to offset the creaminess of the corn)
• 1  tsp cumin
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1-2 tbsp chili powder (add more or less depending on your taste)
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• a dash of nutmeg

Boil chicken for 30 minutes. You might want to check it at 30 and add more time if your chicken is thicker, but I used the thinly sliced breasts at the market, so 30 minutes was just enough time*. Take out of the water and shred with two forks.

In a dutch oven, about 3-4 qts large, add in the oil and cook the onion. Cook for 5 minutes without stirring. When the onions have gotten some brown bits at the bottom of the pan (brown, but not quite burnt), add in the wine to deglaze the pan. Cook down for another 2 minutes then add the spices, salt and pepper.

 

 

Make sure the onions are coated in the spices before adding the chicken, beans, stock, corn, and cream cheese. Everything in one pot, how convenient for later clean up.

Stir to break up the half-block of cream cheese, then cover, cooking for 10 minutes. Uncover, and turn the heat up the med-high, and cook another 13 minutes or so, till some of the liquid evaporates.

Serve with my cilantro- lime rice, or any rice you’ve got prepared for a filling lunch. Or without any side, it’s delicious either way!

Yields roughly 4-6 servings, depending on hunger.

*Remember that we’ll be cooking it further with the rest of the ingredients so if it’s a little pink in the center it’s okay.

**This is a runnier chili because I like adding my own liquid to the dish depending on taste. If you like it thicker, add more beans, or use less stock, about 1/2 cup.

Martha’s Cookie of the Month and Dinner

Martha Stewart Living for April came with a cookie of the month. That cookie was the Nutty Butters Cookie.  I’ve always wanted to make a peanut butter cookie and I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to do so. Although it’s been a while since I baked, and a while since I did much of anything (what with grad school applications and work) in the kitchen.

In any case, I got the baking bug, and I knew I had to give my kitchenaid another whirl. I’ve been itching to use it for a month or so, but never thought to use it aside from muffins. And those were better served by a mixing bowl with a fork (chocolate banana muffins). Still, today was my day, and I was able to make my these lovely cookies a reality.

Total time: 1 hr 15 min

makes: 24 delicious cookies

ingredients:

• 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup old fashioned oats
• 1 cup plus 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• coarse salt
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed dark-brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup nut butter of your choice (I used peanut butter)
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts (to match the butter)

Melt 1/2 stick butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat.  Add oats and cook, stirring, until toasted, 5 to 7 minutes. Spread oat mixture on a parchment-lined baking sheet, let cool.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together flour, baking soda, and 1 teaspoon salt. Beat together remaining stick butter and the sugars with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy. Add egg, and beat until combined. Add nut butter, and beat on medium speed until well combined.

thick goodness

Add oat mixture and chopped nuts, and beat on low speed until combined. Add flour mixture, and beat until combined. Roll dough into 1 1/2 inch balls. Place cookies 1 inch apart on 2 parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake until golden, 12-15 minutes. Let cook completely on baking sheets.

Along with these yummy cookies I made dinner, FoodNetwork Magazines: Light Scalloped Potatoes with Roasted Chiles served as my inspiration. I gave myself Friday’s as days to go crazy with the food, so I knew that since it was Saturday night it had to be a “lite” form of something, and potatoes are always my staple. Potatoes and chicken. This Saturday was no acception.

scalloped potatoes with roasted chiles and sticky lime chicken

For the potatoes:

• 1 medium poblano chile pepper
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for the baking dish
• 1 medium onion
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 teaspoons dried thyme
• 2 pounds new, yellow potatoes, sliced into discs
• 2 cans chicken stock (low sodium)
• 1/4 cup cream
• salt and pepper
• 1/3 cup Parmesan
• 1/3 cup grated pepper jack cheese

Starting with the chile: wash it and dry it off slightly. Turn a burner on for medium-high heat and place the Chile on the grate, as shown in the image. Make sure that you keep turning it every 2 minutes or so till it’s charred, and completely black. Place on a wet paper towel and cover. Let cool.

been charring for about 5 minutes

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly butter a baking dish. Heat 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic, and thyme and cook, stirring frequently, until the onion is soft, about 5 minutes. Add the potatoes, chicken stock, cream, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and pepper to taste and bring to a boil (I used more salt, and it was sea). Reduce the heat to medium and cook, stirring gently, until the potatoes are tender, about 10-12 minutes.

By this time the chile should be cooled. Skin it, under cold water if preferred, and pat dry. Slice into strips and then into cubes.

Arrange half the potato-broth mixture int he prepared baking dish in an even layer. Sprinkle with the poblano chile pieces and the pepper jack cheese. Repeat with another later of potatoes and the parmesan on top. Bake until bubble and slightly golden, about 35 minutes. Let stand 15 minutes before serving.

delicious!

For the chicken:

• 4 skinless chicken breasts
• zest and juice of one lime
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, chopped
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh oregano
• pepper

As soon as the potatoes go into the oven lower the temperature to 375 degrees. Arrange the chicken in a shallow roasting pan. Put the lime zest and juice, honey, oil, garlic, and oregano into a small bowl and mix. Spoon the mixture over the chicken to coat completely.

Roast the chicken in the oven for 35-40 minutes, basting about halfway. Take the chicken out and serve with the potatoes, which should have rested for about 10-15 minutes by now. Add 1/4 cup port to the roasting dish to de-glaze, place back in oven. Turn the temperature up to 475 and cook for 4 minutes. Spoon over the chicken.

Unlikely Inspirations: Lentil Marinara

I was looking through FoodGawker and I found this lovely blog that I’ve since been slightly obsessed with for the great food photography and inventive recipes. One recipe that caught my eye was this Lentil Marinara.

Original Lentil Marinara

Looking at the recipe, and knowing the taste and heartiness of the lentils myself, I thought putting them over pasta would be a bit too much for me. My version is “lite” if you will, adding in some chicken for the meat and a bit of cheese for some flavor.

My Version

my Lentil Marinara

• 2 tablespoons oil
• 3 anchovies in oil
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 2 teaspoons oregano (I used fresh)
• 1/4 cup port or red wine
• 1 can whole tomatoes
• 1/2 cup green lentils, rinsed and picked over
• 1 tbsp water
• 1/2 cup mozerella cheese
• Chicken stripes/ breast (I had strips, about 7 oz for all 5 of them)

Start off by adding 1 tbsp of oil to a deep braiser dish, I used my Lodge 3-quart dutch oven. When it’s just about heated, about 2 minutes, add in three anchovies and let simmer down, slowly stirring and turning to a paste/mush.

you don't taste the anchovies at all, they just add a natural salty seasoning

Add in the can of whole tomatoes and with some kitchen shears cut them up into eighths. The water goes in next and let simmer for 4 minutes.

While that simmers down you can cook the chicken. It shouldn’t take too long to heat the remaining oil in the pan and add in the chicken. Flavor with salt and pepper to taste. Let cook, about 3 1/2 minutes each side till golden and slightly charred (lovely!)

Add in the lentils and cook on low for about 25 minutes. I like mine a little under cooked so I simmered mine for about 15 minutes, so they still had a bit of bite. Add the oregano, spices of your choosing (I used nutmeg, paprika, and granulated onion), and the port.

oregano and tomatoes just go together, I can't not add them.

Cook for about 8 more minutes and start to layer on the flavor.

nice and marinated together

Place the chicken on the bottom of a plate and layer on some mozzarella. Ladle about 1/2 cup or so on top of the cheese to melt it, and garnish with some more oregano.

delicious end result

Now, for the healthy part: I’ve been dieting and I wanted to see if I could get an accurate number calories counted, or at least, close to it. And I think I’ve done just that. For the whole kip and kabootle it’s around 650 calories. There are meant to be two servings (perfect for lunch tomorrow and Friday), so the total damage, including the chicken and the cheese is: 325!

Happy Eating~

 

**note: my apologies for the poor picture quality, but  I was too darned lazy to get anything but my iphone. Thanks.

Mock Buttermilk Chicken Breast

That's a piece of roasted garlic stuck into the chicken, for fun of course.

You might be wondering what is “mock” in this recipe… is it the chicken? Is it the buttermilk? And yes, it is the buttermilk. I didn’t have on hand, so I went online and looked up what can be done for a decent substitute. Although the 1 cup milk and 1 tablespoon either lemon juice or vinegar (I used lemon juice) didn’t curdle the milk in the 10 minute sitting period, it was still a tasty chicken breast.

1 cup buttermilk (or use my method above)

2 chicken breasts, about 3 lbs total meat

salt and pepper

equal teaspoons of mustard seeds, cumin, nutmeg and chili flakes

2 cloves garlic, peeled, and cut in half

olive oil
Allow the marinade to sit for about 30 minutes, so don’t preheat the oven just yet.

For the marinade:

spices, garlic, salt and pepper, chicken and buttermilk should be placed in a ziplock bag and thrashed around a bit to get the chicken completely covered. Place in fridge (in a bowl to reduce possibility of leakage) for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place chicken without shaking off any of the marinade in an oven safe container.

Drizzle with olive oil and place in oven for about 20 minutes.Internal temp should be about 135-140 degrees depending on how thick your chicken breast slice is.

My handy little meat thermometer sticking out

Serve with rice, cause that’s what I did. But I’m assuming potatoes would be lovely as well.

Roasted Sausage, Chicken and Sweet Potatoes

I just found two sweet potatoes in my fridge. I don’t know how long they were there but they looked good and smelled fine, so I had to use them asap, before, well, they turned to mush on their own.

This was created!

(the second photo is with a cream sauce I created to incorporate some cheese, or ranch could work)

1 chicken breast

2 mild Italian Sausages

3 cloves garlic

2 sweet potatoes (washed, peeled, and roughly chopped)

sea salt

pepper

nutmeg

Italian seasoning

olive oil

Preheat to 400 degrees F.

Roughly cut the chicken breast and the italian sausages.  In a glass (or oven safe) container 8″ X 8″ wide cover the bottom with olive oil and place potatoes, chicken, and sausage so it covers the bottom of the container. Peel the 3 cloves of garlic and place around the chicken pieces. Drizzle olive oil over the mixture and season with a good pinch of pepper and salt. Add 1 teaspoon of nutmeg or so, and Italian seasoning (to taste).

Place in over for 30 min. Take out of oven and cover with foil, then cook for 30 more min.

ENJOY!