Tag Archives: chicken

Eating

In the smoking section

I made our first “real” meal in the new apartment tonight. And naturally, I set off the smoke detectors in doing so. What I mean to say is, I wanted to test the smoke detectors. Since I was already making dinner, I decided to take the two birds, one stone approach. Yes. I totally meant to smoke up the new pad.

Anyway.

I’m going to try to double up on at least two recipes a week between now and mid-November (a.k.a. PeteTime!). I bought a copy of “Don’t Panic: Dinner’s in the Freezer” before we moved, and tonight was the first chance I’ve had to take it for a test run.

We had Apricot-Glazed Chicken Tenders, which were very tasty. The “Don’t Panic” theory calls for the cook to multiply the meal for any given night, serving it for dinner and stocking the freezer with the extra portions. Until I realized that the Apricot-Glazed Chicken Tenders were actually in the appetizers section, I was a bit worried that the authors’ families were going hungry. The recipe was purported to serve 4 to 6 people, so I didn’t double the recipe. I think Rockford may have to run out for a burrito or something later. At least I’ll know for next time!

Something else I’ll know for next time: Bake, don’t broil. The “basic” version of the recipe calls for the chicken to be cooked under the broiler for a total of 18 minutes. I’m all for broiling, but the sugar in the glaze didn’t pair well with the intense, prolonged heat. The smoke detectors went off after the first three minutes of broiling.

While the chicken would have been better with its full complement of glazing, I opted not to set off the alarms again. Fortunately, the chicken was fully cooked at that point. And even without all of the glaze, the flavor was great.

The following recipe is for the appetizer version, which supposedly serves 4 to 6 people. As a main dish, I think it would serve 2 to 3 people, with the possibility of leftovers. Be sure to double (or triple) the amounts if you’re feeding more than a few.

Apricot-Glazed Chicken Tenders
2 lbs. chicken tenders
Marinade (recipe follows)
Apricot glaze (recipe follows)

Add chicken tenders to marinade in freezer bag, tossing to coat, and:

  • if freezing, marinate at room temperature for one hour. After marinating for an hour, freeze. Freeze apricot glaze (directions follow) in a separate, smaller freezer bag and store with marinated chicken..
  • if preparing for that day, marinate in the refrigerate for 6 to 8 hours or overnight.

    Discard marinade and place tenders in a large baking dish. (Thaw first if frozen). Heat oven to 425 degrees and bake for approximately 25-30 minutes, basting with apricot glaze and turning every 10 minutes. Shortly before chicken is done, put the chicken under the broil and broil until golden brown and bubbly.

    The Marinade
    1/3 cup vegetable oil
    3 cloves garlic, minced
    2 tablespoons lemon juice
    1 teaspoon rosemary
    1 teaspoon thyme
    salt and pepper, to taste
    1 small bay leaf, crumbled
    Combine ingredients in a large freezer bag.

    Apricot glaze
    1 onion, minced
    1 tablespoon unsalted butter
    2 tablespoons cider vinegar
    1 cup apricot preserves
    1 tablespoon soy sauce
    2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
    1/4 teaspoon ginger
    1/4 teaspoon cloves
    1/4 teaspoon salt
    1/8 teaspoon pepper
    In saucepan, cook onion in butter over moderate heat, stirring until softened. Add vinegar and continue cooking until liquid has reduced by half. Add preserves, soy sauce, Dijon mustard, spices, salt and pepper. Cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes or until thick. Place mixture in a food processor or blender and puree.

    • Eating

    Hungry for fall

    I’m ready for summer to be over. I’m looking forward to cool days, bare trees and brisk breezes. Most of all, though, I’m looking forward to the food of fall. The meals that I’m drawn to these days are going to have to wait for the temperature to drop at least 25 degrees. As tasty as it sounds, I couldn’t realistically eat pot roast when it’s so hot outside.

    I’m finding it more and more difficult to come up with menus these days. That may be because it’s 95-plus degrees every day, and that makes it hard to think about anything that requires more heat. We used to do a lot of dinners on the grill during the summer, but we’re currently without a grill. Thus, no grilled dinners. Oh well.

    In anticipation of fall, here are a few recipes that have caught my eye recently. I’d expect at least one or two of them to hit our dinner plates in another month or so.

  • Alton Brown’s Pressure Cooker Chili. I have a great recipe for Chile Con Carne, but I see no harm in having a (super-fast) backup recipe.
  • Slow Cooker Chicken Taco Soup. I love a good taco soup. And I love the slow cooker. This could be a match made in heaven.
  • Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumplings. I have a good chicken-and-dumplings recipe, too. But it isn’t made in the slow cooker.
  • Tarragon Cream Chicken and Polenta Potpies. Oh, potpie. How I’ve missed you! Rockford’s mom’s potpie recipe is top-notch, but this version sounded awfully interesting. I’m also planning to try out the phyllo-dough version featured in this month’s Cooking Light.

    … update …

    As requested, here’s the non-slow-cooker recipe for chicken and dumplings. I think it’s from “The Joy of Cooking.”

    Chicken and Dumplings
    6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
    2 tablespoons unsalted butter
    2 tablespoons olive oil
    1 1/2 cups chopped onion
    1/3 cup all-purpose flour
    2 cups hot water
    1 3/4 cups chicken broth
    5 medium carrots, peeled and diced
    2 large celery stalks, diced
    1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
    1 teaspoon salt
    1/2 teaspoon black pepper
    1 cup fat-free half-and-half
    For the dumplings
    4 cups all-purpose flour
    2 tablespoons baking powder
    1 1/2 teaspoons salt
    6 tablespoons butter
    1 cup milk

    Rinse and pat chicken dry. Cut into smallish pieces and sprinkle with salt and black pepper.

    Heat butter and olive oil in a heavy 8- to 10-inch skillet over medium heat until fragrant and golden.

    Place as many chicken pieces as will fit comfortably and cook, turning once, 3 to 5 minutes on each side. Remove the chicken to a plate and repeat with remaining chicken. Set chicken aside.

    Add onions to the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are tender but not browned, about 5 minutes.

    Add flour and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat and add broth and hot water. Whisking constantly, bring the mixture to a boil over high heat. Add carrots, celery, thyme, salt and pepper.

    Return chicken to the pan and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat so the liquid barely bubbles.

    Cover tightly and cook 20 to 25 minutes.

    Prepare dumplings:

    Bring butter and milk to a simmer.

    Mix together flour, baking powder and salt.

    Add wet ingredients to dry and stir with a fork until blended. Divide and roll the dough into dumplings.

    Whisk half-and-half into chicken mixture and place dumplings gently on top. Cover and simmer 10 minutes.

    Serve immediately.

    • Eating

    A successful CrockPot conversion

    We had a “normal” recipe last night that I tried to convert for the CrockPot. It worked pretty well, but I do have a few things to alter for next time.

    The original recipe, courtesy my mother-in-law, calls for:

  • Cheddar cheese soup
  • sour cream
  • Miracle Whip
  • curry powder
  • chili powder
  • cooked, shredded chicken
  • cooked rice
  • steamed broccoli
    Basically, you make a sauce with the first five ingredients and pour it over the chicken and rice. Genia makes a lovely little broccoli border on the serving dish, too.

    I knew going in that I wouldn’t be able to add the sour cream at the beginning, but I needed more than just the Cheddar soup to cook the chicken in. I used a can of cream of mushroom soup to bulk up the “liquid,” and I added about half a cup of sour cream to the mix just after shredding the chicken and just before serving.

    The soup combination worked out well, but the final product was a little on the bland side. I added the spices when I was assembling the whole thing, which apparently I shouldn’t have done. According to the experts, ground spices should be added in the last hour of cooking. Duly noted, experts.

    Here’s what the modification will look like next time around:

    Cheesy Curried Crockpot Chicken
    3 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
    1 can Cheddar cheese soup
    1 can cream of mushroom soup
    curry powder to taste
    chili powder to taste
    1/2 cup sour cream

    Combine Cheddar soup and cream of mushroom in slow cooker, stirring well to combine. Add chicken breasts (make sure the soup is enveloping them). Cook on high for five hours. Add spices, and continue cooking about another hour or until chicken is done.

    Shred chicken. Stir in sour cream. Serve over rice, with broccoli on the side.

    The recipe made enough for the three of us last night and again for lunch today (keep in mind, though, that Poppy doesn’t eat all that much).