Chicken Cacciatore with Rice

Thrown into the middle of the meal planning mix this week was this chicken dish. After all, we can only eat soup so often, right?

I remember Grandma fixing it and thought today seemed as good a day as any to resurrect the recipe, particularly given the fact that our own "pet" chickens have created a whirlwind of work for us and maybe this is my way of getting back at them. Sounds awful, but our girls are on my naughty list this week.

Last Thursday when I came home from work our daughter Katie was wandering around our yard looking fairly upset. I rolled down the window and she announced that "the girls were missing out of the yard." If there is one single thing that sets me in a dither, it's that. 

I absolutely adore our girls--probably too much. They jump up on me, sit in my lap, chase me around the yard, fly up on the window sill outside my office to remind me if I've been neglectful,  absolutely love it when I'm out gardening so they can get right in front of me and "help" me weed. I just love 'em.  They are my babies. So when Katie alerted me to the fact that they were MIA, I almost dialed 911. We have our routine when this happens. Walk around the block, check the neighbors' yards, and sound the alarm (aka the chicken call). They were nowhere to be found. Finally I used the lid of the galvanized garbage can in which I store their feed and banged it loudly once or twice. They've been known to tear around the corner running when I do this, so I thought it might work to round them up. Sure enough. Katie hollered to me that they had been scratching around in our next door neighbor's bushes and were hightailing it home.

The next day they did the same thing. And the next day.  So off we went to Home Depot to pick up some plastic chicken fencing and posts.  We figured out where they were escaping (a hole they had dug by our hedgerow) and spent the better part of 2 hours in the freezing cold measuring, cutting, fencing. Now they are contained, we're happy, and that's the end of that. At least for now.

So in honor of our little "Houdinis," here's Chicken Cacciatore in all its glory.

Chicken Cacciatore with Rice

2 tablespoons olive oil
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite sized chunks or use whole split fryer
Salt and pepper
½ cup flour
½ cup white wine or chicken broth
1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
1 large red bell pepper, chopped
3 zucchini sliced diagonally into ¼ inch pieces
1 can (14.5 oz) diced Italian style tomatoes, undrained
¼ cup tomato paste
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning or ½ teaspoon each basil and oregano (if not using Italian style tomatoes)
3 cups hot cooked brown or wild rice

Wash chicken pieces and pat dry. Salt and pepper pieces and dredge in flour to coat. Heat oil in Dutch oven or large skillet over medium-high heat and cook chicken until browned. Do not crowd chicken in the pan. Set chicken aside. Pour in wine or chicken broth and scrape up brown bits. Add in onion, mushrooms, red pepper, and zucchini and cook for 3-5 minutes or until crisp tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in tomatoes, tomato paste, and seasonings. Cook through until heated, stirring occasionally and serve over rice.

Baked Stuffed Pork Chops

Having a savory smell wafting through the house on a non-descript cold winter day in February is a welcome treat.  With the smell of apples and pork you just know that there's going to be something great for dinner. What is it about that combination of flavors? Haven't been able to figure it out, but it's magical good and this recipe is great as is . I wouldn't change a thing except maybe to prepare this stuffing for our next Thanksgiving turkey. It's already passed the test with pork and I honestly think it could go famously with chicken or turkey too. My only suggestion is not to use a heavily pre-seasoned stuffing mix like Stove Top. It's just a little too rich for this dish.

Baked Stuffed Pork Chops

1/2 pound Italian sausage (remove if in casing)

3 cups Pepperidge Farm dry cornbread stuffing

1 can chicken broth

1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and diced

1 small onion, diced

1 rib celery, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoon butter

Pepper

8 thin sliced boneless pork chops

Preheat oven to 350F.

Brown Italian sausage over medium heat until cooked and crumbly. Discard all but 1 tablespoon fat in the pan. Using slotted spoon, mix sausage with dry stuffing and can of chicken broth in large bowl.

Pepper both sides of pork chops and place in heated pan used to cook sausage. Cook on each side approximately 3-4 minutes until brown.

While chops are cooking, melt butter in separate pan and saute apple, onion, celery, and garlic. Combine with sausage, stuffing and broth mixture.

When chops are cooked, place in buttered 9x13 baking dish and use ice cream scoop to place scoops of stuffing mixture on top of chops in baking dish. 

Bake 30-40 minutes or until chops are fully cooked (160 degrees on meat thermometer).

Super Chicken

On Super Bowl Sunday, we served this make-ahead, marinated chicken for our crowd and it was a hit! This is one that's suitable for almost any casual gathering any time of year.

All the wonderful flavors of soy, ginger, garlic and onion give the chicken a little tang and the white wine vinegar tenderizes to perfection. Not only is it super tasting, but it's also super easy to prepare and a budget pleaser! We made all this chicken for about $6. Far less than buying a bucket of fried or even a tray at the grocery deli counter.

Now that I look at the picture, it's actually a "pretty" dish too (even in the aluminum pan)!

Super Chicken

18 chicken legs

3/4 cup soy sauce

3/4 cup white wine vinegar

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

4 cloves of garlic, peeled but left whole

1-2 bay leaves

8 green onions, chopped (reserve half for garnish when serving)

2 cans chicken broth (or 2-1/2 cups of your own homemade stock)

2 tablespoons flour (made into roux with 1/2 cup water)

2 tablespoons dried parsley

Wash chicken legs, pat dry, and place in plastic bag or marinade container.  Whisk together the soy sauce, vinegar, and ginger. Add garlic, bay leaves, and half the chopped onion and pour into marinade container or plastic bag thoroughly coating the chicken legs. Secure container and place in refrigerator for 2-3 hours.

After marinating, remove bay leaves and put chicken, marinade liquid, garlic cloves and onion in a large pan and add chicken broth. Heat to boiling and cook for 45 minutes. 

Remove cooked chicken and garlic cloves and place on serving plate.  Continue boiling liquid, add flour roux, and stir constantly until liquid has thickened slightly. Spoon some of the thickened liquid over chicken and garnish with parsley and remaining chopped green onion. 

Swiss Chicken with Peppers

I never developed a taste for bell peppers until I was grown up and missed out on fully appreciating all the great food Grandma made with these colorful veggies. (I was always a brat and picked the little green or red or yellow or orange pieces off whatever they may have been cooked with.) 

In defense of bell peppers everywhere, this dish was Grandma's secret weapon. It allowed her to "hide" the peppers under the cheese and in the sauce. Before I knew it, I had eaten the dreaded things and actually liked them!

If you have a bell pepper "hater" in your humble home, this one's for you!

Swiss Chicken with Peppers

4 chicken breasts (can be boneless or fryer)

salt and pepper

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

2 tablespoons butter

1 small onion, chopped

1 green or red bell pepper, chopped

1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce

1 cup shredded Swiss cheese

Preheat oven to 375F. Place chicken in buttered casserole dish and season with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Dot butter over chicken and top with chopped onion and bell pepper. Bake 25 minutes. Remove from oven and drain any liquid from casserole dish, then pour tomato sauce over chicken and top with shredded cheese. Bake 5-10 more minutes until cheese is melted and chicken is fully cooked. Serves 4.

Wild Rice Chicken Casserole

The first time I had wild rice I swore I would never eat white rice again. Wild rice is filling and hearty and stays with you for hours, the way food should. It's healthy too and many nutrition experts say it contains lots of Vitamin E and folate and is a good protein source.  Mix it with fresh vegetables or meat and you've got a healthy full meal deal. This would also be a great side dish (then you might have a little left over!).

Wild rice is fairly easy to find now, but this wasn't always the case. Years ago, it was only in certain grocery stores and a bit expensive so Grandma didn't have it often, but when she prepared it, it was done up in a special way like this one with almonds, chicken, and onion. The recipe is flexible though. You can add whatever you want--water chestnuts, mushrooms. Throw in anything that brings you joy! 

Wild Rice Chicken Casserole

1 cup wild rice, prepared with chicken broth
½ cup onion, chopped
1 stick butter
¼ cup flour
1 can chicken broth
1 cup light cream
3 cups cooked chicken, diced
¼ cup pimiento, diced (optional)
2 tablespoon dried parsley
1½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
½ cup slivered blanched almonds

Prepare wild rice according to package directions (use chicken broth for liquid when preparing). 

Preheat oven to 350F. Cook onion in butter until tender but not brown. Reduce heat. Stir in flour then add chicken broth gradually stirring into flour mixture. Add cream. Cook and stir until thick. Add wild rice, chicken, pimiento (optional), parsley, salt and pepper. Pour into large casserole dish and top with slivered almonds. Bake 25 to 30 minutes in 350F oven. 8 servings. 

Oven-Baked Parmesan Chicken

I think Grandma concocted this recipe when she had to use up what she had in the fridge. Chicken Cordon Bleu sounded good but there was no Swiss cheese or ham. What's a creative cook to do? Use what you have and call the dish something else. Then later on work on it, perfect it, and call it your own. That's the 411 on this one.

One other plus for improvising a recipe is that it helps you stay within your budget. Very seldom did Grandma buy expensive cuts of meat except for special occasions. Neither would she purchase unusual and costly ingredients that had limited use in recipes. So she had some mozzarella cheese left over after making a casserole dish and some bacon left over from breakfast. That became her ham and cheese for "Chicken Cordon Bleu," which was then officially renamed "Oven-Baked Parmesan Chicken." The result? Amazing. Keeper factor from 1-10? 15.

Don't be afraid to improvise. Don't be afraid to try complementary ingredients in a dish. Bacon can be substituted for ham. Different cheeses can work in place of one another too. I think one key to being a good cook is fearlessness. Let's be fearless in the kitchen, people!

Oven-Baked Parmesan Chicken

4-5 boneless skinless breasts

4 slices cooked bacon, halved

4 slices mozzarella cheese

1 tablespoon dried basil

salt and pepper

dried parsley (or real parsley, finely minced)

Dipping mixture:

2 eggs, lightly beaten

Crumb coating (process in food processor to crumbs):

3-4 slices of Italian or French bread

1/4 cup Parmesan & Romano blend cheese

1 tsp garlic powder or 2 cloves of garlic

Preheat oven to 400F. Put aluminum foil in bottom of baking dish and spray with canola or olive oil spray.

Pound chicken breasts, sprinkle one side with basil, top with cheese and bacon, and season with salt and pepper. Roll up and hold with toothpick (be sure to remove these after cooking).

Dip chicken roll in egg and then cover with crumb coating, pressing to coat thoroughly. Place in baking dish and sprinkle with parsley.  Bake 25-30 minutes until golden brown and chicken is fully cooked.

Chicken Soup with Dumplings

There is one thing Grandma made that had such wonderful flavor: Chicken Soup. Unfortunately, I've never been able to replicate it to Grandma's perfection...but I'm working on it. She may have thrown in some seasoning or herb that wasn't called for in the recipe and I have yet to discover what that was. When I do, you'll know. The result is still delicious though.

This particular one-pot soup can be made with or without the dumplings, but I recommend you use pastry flour as called for in the recipe and not all-purpose. Pastry flour is finer in texture and creates a more pliable dough which works perfectly for these dumplings. 

Grandma's dumplings were always fairly large (about 3 inches in diameter) and deliciously doughy and tasty. This particular dumpling recipe is versatile because you can use it in any kind of soup or stew (other recipes might contain the broth or meat of whatever soup you're cooking, but these babies are plain).

Also, serve them as soon as they are done. Adding in the dumplings was the last thing Grandma did right before serving it up. 

One-pot meals are just the ticket on a cold wintry day (or any day, for that matter). They are easy, filling, nutritious and delicious. 

Chicken Soup

2 Tbsp butter or oil

1 large onion, diced (reserve half)

2 cloves garlic, minced

4 ribs celery, sliced (reserve half)

6 carrots, sliced or julienned (reserve half)

1 cube chicken bouillon

8 cups water

1 whole chicken 

salt and pepper
2 tsp sage
1 Tbsp dried parsley

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1/2 tsp dried sage

Melt butter in Dutch oven or large stockpot.  Saute onions for 2-3 minutes on medium heat. Add garlic and cook for additional minute; add celery and carrots and cook for 2 minutes. Add in water and bouillon cube and bring to gentle boil. Meanwhile, thoroughly clean chicken, then salt and pepper it and add to pot. Add in parsley and sage.  Reduce heat to low and simmer for 1-2 hours.

When done, remove chicken and strain broth. Remove all meat from chicken. Return broth to pot along with chicken meat and reserved vegetables. Salt and pepper to taste and let simmer for additional 1/2 hour. Add in dumplings in last 15 minutes.

Dumplings

1 cups pastry flour

1 1/2 tsps baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 small egg

1/3 cup milk

1 Tbsp melted butter

Sift all dry ingredients and set aside. Beat egg slightly in large bowl and add milk and sifted dry ingredients. Beat thoroughly then add melted butter. Drop by spoonfuls on top of stew or soup then cover and cook until done. Serve immediately. Makes 4 large dumplings.

Stir Fry & Sauce

This week I think we're on a theme of quick and easy meals. There is no requirement of a lengthy preparation or laundry list of ingredients for a recipe to be good! Grandma would pull out her George Foreman or a plain old electric skillet to prepare some of her finest meals!

This chicken stir fry is an example of one of those fine dishes...cooked right in a skillet, not a fancy wok or anything like that. Grandma used to tell me that today's popular small appliance is tomorrow's garage sale fodder--and I know only too well how true that is! So no wok. Just a skillet.

The real secret behind a tasty stir fry is to get the freshest vegetables possible and a high quality (homemade preferred) sauce, although too much of a good thing isn't necessarily good either.  Limit the sauce, since the vegetables should be the real star of the show! 

As for the noodles, Grandma didn't use them in her stir fry but our kids love 'em so they're mandatory! 

Prefer no meat? Meatless is certainly do-able and the healthiest option of all. Use vegetable broth when making the sauce.

Modify, modify, modify to your liking, but the sauce is definitely a keeper and you can control the MSG, gluten or sodium by what goes into it. Prepare it the night before so the flavors have time to "ripen." You'll have plenty sauce for at least 2 stir fry meals. You can also use it for a regular marinade even if you're not making stir fry.

Stir Fry Sauce:

1-2 tablespoons cornstarch

¼ cup brown sugar, packed

1 clove garlic, minced

¼ tsp ground ginger

1/3 cup soy sauce (whatever variety you prefer--gluten free, MSG free, low sodium)

1/4 cup cider or white vinegar

1/3 cup water

1 cup chicken broth (use beef if you are preparing beef stir fry or vegetable if meatless)

Combine all ingredients and refrigerate overnight so the flavors are enhanced.   Mix well before using.

Grandma's Chicken Stir Fry

¼ cup canola or vegetable oil

2 large boneless chicken breasts

4 cups of fresh vegetables (broccoli, carrots, bok choy, onion, pea pods)

1-2 packages yakisoba noodles (or your preferred variety)

1 cup sauce (recipe above), divided

Prepare noodles according to package directions (they may have to be rinsed and separated).

Heat oil in skillet over medium heat.

Wash chicken and pat dry. Cut into cutlets, strips, or chunks and place in bowl. Pour ½ cup sauce over chicken until oil is heated; brown chicken in heated skillet. Prepare vegetables and add to skillet with cooked chicken. Cook 1-2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add in noodles with remaining ½ cup of sauce and stir to combine for 1-2 minutes. Stir fry is done when vegetables are heated through and have bright color.