Chicken w. Cherry Tomato Pan Sauce

Last week I was trying to eat some of the veggies in the fridge before they went bad....but I was out and about so much that I didn't get a chance to do that....so I made the sauce and froze it until today when I used in this recipe. The recipe is rather simple and is my take on a recipe inspiration that came from one of my favorite cooking/recipe blogs: Big Girls, Small Kitchens. It took me about 15 minutes to make the sauce last week and another 15 min this week to cook the chicken and assemble--all in all a pretty quickie chicken dinner.

The Big Girls Small Kitchen recipe was slightly different...I added black and green olives to the sauce (because I had them in the fridge) and 1/4 tsp of chili flakes. I also used olive oil instead of and water instead of chicken stock.

This turned out sooo good, tart and slightly acidic sweet from the tomatoes, briny from the olives, a slight kick from the chili flakes, and the sauce is sooo good on the chicken and the slightly melted mozzarella.


Ingredients:
1 container of small cherry tomatoes
Olives (sliced, optional)
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
Dried basil
1/4 tsp of chili flakes
1 cup of water (or olive oil)
2 clove garlic (minced)
2-3 Chicken breast cut up into about 1.5 in pieces (I used chicken cutlets cuz its what I had)

Directions:

1. Pat the chicken pieces dry.
2. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and paprika.
3. Heat ~1 tablespoon of olive oil and the chili flakes and 1 minced garlic.
4. Add chicken to the pan and brown ~ 3 min on each side.
5. Remove the chicken from the pan.
6. Add the tomatoes (I cut them in half to shorten the cooking time) to the pan and the cup of water.
7. Bring to a boil and let simmer about 10 min, the tomatoes will start to break down.
8. Add the sliced olives and allow to simmer for another 5 minutes.
9. Season to taste with salt, pepper, dried basil (or you can use fresh basil. I only had the dried kind).
10. Place the chicken back into the sauce.
11. Add a couple of balls of mozzarella (I used the Ciliegine sized balls, but if you have a bigger piece just cut it into medium sized cubes) directly into the pan
12. Let simmer another 5 mins, until the mozzarella just starts to melt
13. Serve. Enjoy !

Sooooo delicious!! *drools* 

Remember ...stay consumed! 

Tomato Garlic Chicken Wings

It has been a while since I have posted in this poor neglected blog...but I plan on being better about it....summer got in the way and then I was studying for this work thing....but thats all done now so I am back to posting...yay!

Today's post is for Tomato Garlic Chicken Wings.....random idea I had that just turned out absolutely deeeee-licious!

So....for the last 5 weeks or so, I have been eating some type of baked chicken wings for dinner every week....it started with me trying to eat some of the things in the pantry and i found a box of BBQ  Glaze Shake and Bake...I havent had Shake and Bake in lord knows how many years....so I thought what the heck....they turned out pretty good and I been experimenting with different wing flavors since.

Tonight I made Tomato Garlic Chicken Wings. They were super easy to make!! Instead of using whole wings, I used the wing sections (which is just what I had in the house).

I used this Lee Kum Kee Sauce for the marinade. Its technically a sauce for shrimp....but I saw it Sunday at the grocery store and had the brilliant idea that it would make a great sauce for wings. Most Asian Grocery stores will carry this so it should be fairly easy to find. The wings have a tangy, tomato-y garlicy flavor....Super YUM!

I had 14 wing parts and used 2 bags of this sauce (I really only need 1.5 bags...but what was I going to do with the remaining 1/2 bag??). Instructions below:

1. Rinse wings and pat dry
2. Sprinkle with pepper to taste (you won't need salt as the sauce is already salted, unless you have gi-ganta-normous wings!)
3. Sprinkle with garlic powder
4. Put the chicken in a ziploc bag (or a bowl...I like to marinade in ziploc bags so I can just throw the bag in the fridge).
5. Add the tomato garlic sauce
6. Add a couple of dashes of sesame oil
7. Marinade overnight
8. Bake in the oven at 350 (30 minutes for wing parts, 45 for large whole wings)

That's it....way easy! Stay tuned for more recipes! As always.....stay consumed! 

One Pot Wednesday: Papaya Chicken

I know, I know...I've skipped this for 2 weeks...but it was a busy week at work...I think I worked like 60+ hours......and today isnt Wednesday...but I forgot yesterday was Wednesday cuz the work week started on Tuesday this week....lols.

So here is the one pot recipe for this week. I have thinking about making this for a while now....I think it came from the Cooking Channel....cant remember where I saw it now...

So I bought the papaya like over a week ago...it started to get pretty ripe...in fact, the 2nd papaya i bought was molding and kinda started to melt....so ummmm....eeeeeeeew.

The papaya I ended up using for this was pretty big...1 papaya was actually closer to 2 cups so I ended up making a double batch of this. The papaya are pretty easy to work with....Use a peeler to peel the skin, cut it into 4 pieces and scoop out the seeds and then cut the papaya into chunks.

The dish turned out pretty good.....I added a little bit of chili pepper flakes to give it a little bit of extra kick. The smoky-ness of the herbs (cumin, paprika, etc.) goes really well with the sweetness of the papaya and the tartness from the yogurt. I definitely would make this one again.

Ingredients:
2 tablespoon grapeseed oil (or olive oil)
1 onion, chopped
2 tablespoon grated garlic
1 tablespoon grated ginger
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
1 teaspoon paprika
2 lb chicken breast
1/2 cup yogurt
1 cup papaya chunks.

Directions:

1. Place a large skillet over medium-high heat and add the oil.
2. When the oil is hot, add the onion, garlic and ginger and saute until the onion is softened, about 4 minutes.
3. Add the cumin seeds, coriander, fenugreek seeds, and paprika and toast for 10 seconds
4. Add the chicken pieces and cook until it is nearly done, about 8 minutes.
5. Add the yogurt and finish cooking the chicken, about 2 more minutes
6. Stir in the papaya chunks.

See how easy that was! I would suggest serving it with roti, naan, or rice. Give it a try and let me know what you think...and as always....stay consumed!

One Pot Wednesday: Coconut Chicken Casserole

Sorry for missing Wednesday last week.....I am trying really hard to post at least one recipe a week....but alas! Life gets in the way some times....This week I have an easy thai coconut chicken casserole. Its delicious and super easy--rich, chicken, and veggies all get cooked in one pot!

Ingredients: 
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 Chicken legs (I ended up using boneless skinless chicken breasts ~3 lbs)
1 can light coconut milk
1.5 cups of chicken stock
1-2 teaspoon of Thai red curry paste (depends on how spicy you want it)
1 cup Jasmine rice
2 red bell peppers (cut into 1 in pieces)
8 oz of fresh green beans

Directions: 

1. In a 5-quart Dutch oven or heavy pot, heat oil over medium-high. 
2. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Working in two batches, cook chicken until browned, 6 to 8 minutes; transfer to a plate (chicken will cook more in step 2).
3. To pot, add coconut milk, broth, 1/2 cup water, and curry paste; bring to a boil, and stir in rice. 
4. Add chicken (with any juices), arranging pieces in a single layer. 
5. Cover, and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook, without stirring, until rice is almost tender, 15 minutes.
6. Scatter bell peppers and green beans on top of chicken mixture; cover, and cook until vegetables are crisp-tender, 8 to 10 minutes. 

Easy and Delicious! 

One Pot Wednesday: Chicken with Potato and Kale

I have some interesting things in the works for this blog.....the first being: One Pot Wednesdays.....every Wednesday I am going to post a 1 pot/pan/dish recipe.....first up this week: Chicken w/ Potato and Kale. Hopefully these recipes will give be easy enough that it inspires you to try them in your own kitchen.....and as always...stay consumed!

This Chicken with Potato and Kale is simple but flavorful.  You basically throw everything in a roasting pan and pop it in the oven. The veggies help keep the chicken moist. Give this a try...you wont be disappointed!

Ingredients:
8 chicken legs (I used the thighs....but you can also use whole chicken legs or chicken breasts. If you use the whole chicken leg or big chicken breasts, make a cut at the joint so the chicken will cook all the way through )
1.5 lb kale (I "cheated" and used the ones from the grocery store that have already been stemmed, cut, and washed)
1 medium onion sliced very thinly
1.5 lb potatoes, peeled and sliced about 1/4in thick
Olive Oil
Salt
Fresh Ground Pepper
Paprika
Lemon wedges (optional, for serving)

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees
2. In a large roasting pan toss the kale, potatoes, and onions with the olive oil, salt, and pepper. Make sure that the kale, potatoes, and onions are well coated with the olive oil. 
3. Sprinkle the chicken (top and bottom) with salt and pepper and paprika. I didn't really measure how much salt and pepper I used...just kind of guesstimated. Sprinkle generously with the salt and the paprika. 
4. Set the chicken in the pan on top of the vegetables (nestle them in a little bit)
5. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and put in the oven for 25 minutes
6. Remove the foil and cook for another 30 minutes
7. Serve the chicken and veggies with a lemon wedge for extra flavor. 

If I Can't Do It Chinese Style, Perhaps Thai Style?

As a kid my mom always made me rice porridge (usually with pork or abalone) whenever I was sick, so in my mind rice porridge is the ultimate comfort food. In college, I was living in apartment with a kitchen and I got really sick. My mommy was too far away to make me rice porridge, so I called her and wa-wa-wa-ed to my mom that poor little me, I'm sick and my mommy is too far away to make me rice porridge....She promised that it was really easy to make, fill the pot she had given me with water + 1 handful of uncooked rice, boil and wa-la: rice porridge. That 1 little handful of rice looked so lonely....so I added another handful, but then that was too much rice so i needed a bigger pot and more water, and 4 hours and 3 pots later I  had a gigantamongous pot of partially cooked, partially uncooked rice goop that I chucked in the trash.
Yes....that was the ULTIMATE FAIL. I tried making rice porridge one other time with almost similar disastrous results. I have given up on making Chinese rice porridge.

Two weekends ago, I was sick.....and really wanted some rice porridge....and I remembered this Thai style rice porridge that a co-worker made and gave me a recipe for.....I thought well, if I cant make it Chinese style, perhaps I'll be more successful w/ the Thai style rice porridge.....boy did it turn out delicious!


Recipe:

Thai Jasmine-scented rice (other types or rice will work too. I used brown rice)
1/2 tsp salt
1-3 tbsp fish sauce
1-3 tbsp soy sauce
2lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into thin slices
1/2 onion
1 tbsp white pepper
1/4 cup chopped green onion
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Directions:

  

1. Steam about 2-3 cups of rice in a rice cooker (or however you make rice. I use the rice cooker because it was the easiest way to do it) 
2. Make chicken broth/soup by boiling chicken bones in water (or you can just use chicken broth or if you want you can do a vegetarian style by adding a bunch of veggies to it--onions, cabbage, turnip, etc.)
3. Add the onions, and the fish sauce, soy sauce, salt, and white pepper to taste
4. Add the chicken to the broth and cook for about 15 minutes (you can marinate the chicken for about 30 min or overnight with some salt, pepper, soy, sesame oil, garlic)
5. Add the rice and bring to a simmer and let cook for about 3-5 minutes. 
6. Serve with chopped green onion, cilantro, and fried garlic on top

 Not sure why, but lately I have totally been loving adding lettuce to soupy things and letting the hot soup cook it just a little so that its still crunchy but sweeter and more flavorful than raw lettuce. So I added it to the bottom of the bowl prior to adding the rice soup.

The rice porridge soup with the fried garlic on top (I bought this fried garlic for this rice soup. man it added great flavor!)  

Thai-style rice porridge (or rice soup) was a huge success! Ive had 3 meals of it and I'm not sick of it yet! 

Keep an eye out for several more posts, and as always stay consumed! :)