Chile Honey Chicken

I have such a plethora of recipes to tell you about in my drafts box that it is getting a bit ridiculous (30 and counting), just waiting for me to find the time to sit down and type. That said, this fast, simple chicken dish I threw together on a whim the other night was such a success that it is usurping the other recipes in the hopper because I just can't wait to tell you about it.

I'm not kidding, this one really hit it out of the park.  In fact, it was so good that when I made it the first time, I didn't even get any pictures and had no problem making it again the very next day so that I could share it with you.

The process for making this couldn't be easier, and honestly, even though it uses a few items from the Asian section you may not have in your pantry all the time, but once you make this you'll have no problem keeping them on hand - especially since they aren't expensive or too hard to find.

The first 'special' ingredient is sweet chile sauce.  I use this brand, because I like it and have had good success with it and have found it in most of the major stores, but you can make your own fairly easily.  It is, as the name suggests, a little sweet and a little spicy.  I love to keep it on hand for tossing in with veggies and chicken when we want a quick stir fry for dinner.

The second is Ponzu sauce. It is a citrus flavored sauce that is great in marinades on chicken, pork, beef, seafood, whatever. It really adds a nice, fast, bright burst of flavor.

The chicken pieces are first marinated in a mixture of the sweet chile sauce and ponzu, just for about 30 minutes. Then tossed in a little cornstarch to create a crust when they are then fried in a little bit of hot oil. The cornstarch helps to thicken the finished sauce a bit too.

Now, making the chicken this way is a little messy.  I'm not gonna lie.  But it is just SO good, that the little extra mess is worth it to me. However, if it's not to you, just skip the cornstarch step all together and follow the second set of directions in the recipe for just stir frying the chicken pieces and move on. You won't have that extra little crusty, crunchy layer on the chicken, but it will still be incredibly good.

Once the chicken is fried, it gets sauced.  This is where this dish gets so delicious that you'll be craving it again while you are still eating it.

Making the sauce couldn't be easier.  It is just a combination of some more sweet chile sauce with some honey and a little seasoning.  Pour it into the pan after the chicken has cooked to deglaze your pan (after you've poured out the oil if any was left of course) and let it reduce a little.  Slide the chicken pieces back in and coat them in the sauce.  Toss in a handful of sugar snap peas and let it all simmer together for a couple of minutes while the sauce thickens and reduces down to a glaze and that's it.  Just serve it all over since nice hot rice or noodles and dinner is done.

The finished dish isn't really too spicy at all, just more of a sweetness with a little bit of heat.  In fact, A. hates spice and he chowed down on this meal like I was going to snatch it away from him.  That is quite the feat for him these days, so I know we'll be making this often.  If you however like things a little spicier, just add a few chile pepper flakes to your sauce and you can up your heat quotient to your liking.

Speaking of the rice though, I like to make my rice on the stovetop... because I don't have room for a rice cooker, nor do I have a decent one.  Someday that will change, but in the mean time, I am loving this recipe. It really is the best rice I've ever made, and I love that it makes plenty (because the best fried rice the next day is made with cold, leftover rice - seriously).

Chile Honey Chicken

Original Recipe from PheMOMenon


Printable Recipe

Makes 4 Servings

For the chicken:

2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breast or tenderloins

1/3 cup ponzu sauce

1/4 cup sweet chile sauce

2/3 cup cornstarch

2-4 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 cup fresh sugar snap peas

For the sauce:

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup sweet chile sauce

3 tablespoons butter, melted

2 tablespoons water

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder or 1 clove garlic, minced very fine

Pinch red pepper flake, to taste

Trim and cut the chicken into bite-size pieces and place them in a large ziptop bag with the ponzu and sweet chile sauces. Mash the chicken in the bag a bit to get it all covered in the marinade. Set the bag aside in the refrigerator for 30 minutes (I usually start the rice or noodles now so it will be ready when the chicken is done).

While the chicken is marinating, make the sauce by whisking the honey, chile sauce, butter, water, garlic and pepper flake together in a small bowl. Set aside until ready to use.

Use a colander over the sink and pour the chicken out in the colander, discarding any marinade left over. Toss the chicken pieces lightly in a large bowl with the cornstarch, preferably working a few pieces at a time.

Heat 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a large frying pan or wok over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, fry a few pieces of chicken at a time until golden on all sides, about 2 minutes total. Work in batches so you don’t crowd the pan. Remove cooked pieces and set them aside while cooking the remaining chicken. About half way through the batches you can add more oil to heat if needed.*

Once all the chicken is cooked, pour any remaining excess oil out of the pan, but don’t worry about any other little bits, they will be absorbed in the sauce. Turn the heat down to medium and add the sauce to the pan. Use a wooden spoon to stir the sauce and let it boil in the hot pan for 1 minute before adding the chicken pieces into the pan.  Stir the chicken in the sauce to coat. Toss in the peas and stir to coat. Allow the mixture to simmer and cook in the sauce until everything is hot, glazed and the sauce is almost completely absorbed - about 3 to 5 minutes.

Serve hot over rice or noodles and enjoy!

*NOTE: Alternatively, you can skip the cornstarch frying process and follow the directions below for a simple stir fry.

Stir Fry Chile Honey Chicken Directions:

Marinade the chicken pieces as described above, then drain the marinade.  Heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a large frying pan or wok over medium-high heat and add the chicken, still in batches and cook on all sides till just golden. Proceed as usual with the rest of the recipe.

Recipe Source: © PheMOMenon, All Rights Reserved

FFwD: Roast Chicken for Les Paresseux

Where oh where did I go.  Again.  Sheesh.  I'm not going to lie, I've just been very ambivalent, basically about everything.  We've all been sick, for about a month now, and swamped with life and dealing with a special needs baby.  I have still been baking and cooking, but mainly just to get by and make it through most days.  I did finally cave this week and go in to the doctor to deal with my 'cold'.  Well, let me just tell you, colds and viruses have pretty much just trashed my world since the end of September.  Kayla got her first cold and it has been quite the set back.  The easiest way to illustrate that is the fact that before her cold, she was almost (so close) to finally being off the oxygen after being on it since birth.  Now, she is on a higher prescription than ever, 24/7 and they won't be reviewing taking her off it again till after her birthday in February.  Awesome (yes, you definitely noted a heavy dose of sarcasm there).

So.

As you can tell, I just haven't had much positive to say and haven't had the most wonderful attitude.  I'm trying to pull myself out of it even though I can already tell we are in for another winter of discontent around our house, but I hope you'll bear with me if I need to occasionally whine about life.  I've been so blah lately that I haven't even found the energy to do my much needed venting over on my Sweet & Simple blog.  I'll be trying to force some of my angst out over there very soon in the hopes that it helps lift some of the blahhbiddy-blahs over here.

All that said, let me just tell you, my kids are awesome.  I love them dearly.  They are just complicated and I'm sleep deprived, which isn't the best combination on a good day.  

OK.  Now that I got that out, let's get on to the real reason you're here.  I made this roast chicken for French Fridays with Dorie a couple of weeks ago, with the full intention of trying to keep on schedule and post it, but am just now getting around to writing the post.  

I fiddled with the recipe just a little bit, because the only herbs I had on hand were dried ones.  I also really, really, really love using honey on chicken and root vegetables, so I did add about 1/2 cup of honey and some butter as a glaze on my chicken.  The herbs I used were dried Herbes de Provence.  All things considered, this may have been one of the best chickens I've ever roasted.  I followed all the other directions, and even though the honey made the skin on my bird brown excessively dark, it was still delicious.  The chicken stayed moist and tender, but, oh the vegetables.  They were my favorite part.  They were so good!  I ended making about the double the vegetables, because we love roasted vegetables.  I also used red potatoes because I had them on hand and was feeling lazy - after all, I believe that is allowed in the title of the recipe.

The original recipe can be found in Around My French Table, and version from more members of French Fridays with Dorie can be found on the blog.

Catering Review for the Moms Who Make It Conference

Earlier this week I mentioned that I would have more information to share about the food at the upcoming conference. What I actually have for you is a recipe from Chef Steven Swallow, of Utah Celebrations Catering, for one of their most popular menu items - the Chicken Marsala.

We got to sit down with Lani, the owner, event coordinator and wedding planner for Utah Celebrations Catering and have a great chat about their company too. I loved their philosophies of making their dishes from scratch and from the freshest and best ingredients available. I also loved that this company has been a long time dream - now come true - for her. You can really tell the difference when someone is truly passionate and cares about you, your event and what they do - that is Lani and Chef Steven to a T.

Utah Celebrations Catering will be providing a delicious and fun dinner buffet for the Moms Who Make It Conference! Seriously, where can you get dinner for that small an amount - especially a dinner selection of Chicken and Beef Fajitas on fresh, hot tortillas and also some luau type selections like their Kahlua Pork.

They have many other menu selections for your event - you want a carving station with some delicious beef? The chicken marsala? How about a crepe station with all the decadent fixings for your dessert table - or maybe, like me, you get a serious kick out of anything set on fire and want to have the bananas foster station. You can choose any of those options, and more!

I didn't get a great picture of it, but even their drinks are delicious - probably one of my favorite items of the night was their peach lemonade - I am usually the person who just drinks water, water and more water - but that peach lemonade was sweet, a little tart, cool, refreshing and dreamy.

Chicken Marsala
Source: Utah Celebrations Catering, Chef Steven Swallow

4 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts, Trimmed
2 teaspoons salt
Flour, for dredging

2 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter
1 Tablespoon Garlic, minced
1 Tablespoon Shallots, minced
1 Cup Sweet Marsala Wine
1 Cup Heavy Cream
1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese, grated
1 Tablespoon Fresh Basil, finely chopped
Salt to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Season chicken breast with the salt and dredge in the flour. In a saute pan on high heat, melt the butter and add the chicken. Sear till the outside is golden brown, remove from the pan and place the chicken in a baking dish and place in the oven to finish cooking through, approximately 15 to 20 minutes. In the same pan the chicken was seared in, over medium heat, sautee the garlic and shallots until just slightly golden brown. Add the wine to the pan with the garlic and shallots and deglaze and reduce till a syrup consistency is reached. Add the heavy cream and reduce the sauce until it coats the back of a spoon and leaves a line when a finger is drawn through the sauce. Add the Parmesan cheese and basil and salt to taste. Pour sauce over the chicken and enjoy.

Bourbon Chicken and Jasmine Rice - Plus the Apron Giveaway Winner!

I have had this recipe bookmarked for a while now, ever since I saw it over on Melanie's blog. I love these kinds of recipes and, while Melanie has several delicious looking chicken dishes on her blog, this one looked fast. Really fast. I have to admit that when it comes to meal planning, I am not always as much of a planner as I wish I was. Most of our meals end up being eaten later than intended because I had no plan in mind and started something that was going to take a while.

I am happy to say that this meal was started and eaten, all within 45 minutes. All I had to plan ahead was to at least make sure I had the ingredients and had some chicken thawed.

I modified the recipe only a little, mainly because of what I had on hand and what I thought I would like. I only had myself and Aidan to feed this to today, and didn't really plan on a lot of leftovers, so I decreased the amount of chicken I made, but I didn't change the amount of sauce since I wanted a little extra to go on the rice.

Now speaking of the rice, I have to admit, that I don't actually make rice often, because I never have that great of results. That has all changed today. I'm never looking back. It was simple to make and the rice tasted wonderful and had a perfect fluffy texture - even without being drowned with sauce of some kind.

The other change I made to the recipe was to add some chopped bell pepper for color and a little extra flavor. Overall, these are both recipes I know I will be making often from now on.

This made the perfect fast and tasty meal and was even kid friendly. If your kids don't like spice though, I would suggest cutting back on the red pepper flake a bit though since it was a little too hot for Aidan.

Perfect Steamed Jasmine Rice

Adapted from My Kitchen Cafe

Ingredients:

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts

4 tablespoons oil (for pan-frying)

2 T cornstarch (for dusting)
1 large red bell pepper or 6 assorted color baby bell peppers, cut into bite size pieces (or 1/2 inch)

Sauce:

1 garlic clove (minced)

1 1-inch piece fresh ginger, chopped

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

¼ cup apple juice

1/2 cup light brown sugar

2 tablespoon ketchup

1 tablespoon cider vinegar

½ cup water

1/3 cup soy sauce

Cut chicken breasts into small bite-sized pieces, and dust them lightly with cornstarch. Heat oil in large frying pan and fry chicken bits in batches until lightly browned over medium-high heat. Remove from the pan and drain on paper towels and set aside. Leave the remaining oil in the pan and add the bell pepper pieces to the pan. Saute for 5 minutes til soft.

In a blender combine all sauce ingredients and blend for about 10-15 seconds. Strain the mixture into the frying pan and bring to a boil. Add chicken bits back to the pan, reduce the heat and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes until sauce has thickened and reduced almost completely to thick glaze over chicken and peppers. Serve over hot steamed rice.

Perfect Steamed Jasmine Rice
Source: Tyler Florence's Real Kitchen

Serves 4 - Makes 3 1/2 cups

1 cup jasmine rice
2 cups water
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter (optional)

Rinse the rice in a colander until the water runs clear to remove some of the starch. Let the rice drain. Put the rice, water, and salt in a medium pot and place over medium heat. When the water begins to boil, stir it once; then cover tightly and lower the heat. Simmer the rice for 15 minutes without lifting the lid - it is wise to set a timer. After 15 minutes take the cover off to check the rice. The water should be absorbed and rice cooked but firm. Fluff the cooked grains with a fork so they separate, but do not stir with a spoon or the rice will become gummy. Add the butter and toss gently. Serve hot.

Winner!

AND THE WINNER OF THE BLOOM-N-BLUSH GIVEAWAY IS....

doughmesstic said...
I follow you on Twitter! (of course!)
March 15, 2009 3:38 PM

Woo hoo! Thanks so much to everyone that entered. Don't forget, you can still get free shipping through April 30th on orders from Bloom-n-Blush!

My First TV Experience and a GIVEAWAY!!!

This is me. This is actually me posing for my bloggy friends photo shoot in the Good Things Utah kitchen. You really have to love bloggers. It is so great being in a group of people that think alike. Lindsey, Becky and I all showed up with our cameras and both gals took shots of me in the kitchen, which I couldn't have done for myself, so I am so grateful! The pictures here are from Lindsey since she had a great pro camera. I hope they got some pictures of them too because I was pretty out of it trying to get ready to cook on live TV and was kept pretty busy with that too.

Let me warn you right now that there are a lot of links you are going to want to check out in this post, so if you didn't already know, ctrl click is your friend and will leave this post open and let you choose to open the link in another window so you can enjoy all the good stuff!

The TV segment yesterday was awesome. I was completely nervous, but I think I hid it pretty well. I am told by my immediate family that unless you knew me well you might not catch my tells (the shaky voice and hands at times). You know I am all about full disclosure and honesty here, so now when you watch the video you can see if you catch me shaking in my boots! Well, my ballet flats anyway. If you want to miss all the rest of the fun and jump down to the video link toward the middle of the post, you can, but there is lots of fun stuff to tell, so you may want to stick around.



That is the demo plate of the Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas I made for the show. I have mentioned it a couple of times before, and I got to mention on air that the original recipe for these came from a couple of other bloggers, but I just wanted to reiterate here how grateful I am to Melanie at My Kitchen Cafe for turning me on to this recipe in the first place.

The really fun thing (I think) about this original recipe is that it has been through at least three or four sets of adaptations. That probably isn't even the whole story. In my enchiladas, I increased the honey and lime a bit and took the amount of chili powder down a bit. I also use fresh garlic because that is what I always have on hand and like that more than the powder for something like this. I also decreased the amount of cream a little bit and I like to play with the types of cheese I use for topping - mostly depending on what I have on hand. The other change I made was that I really love using the corn tortillas for this now. I can't tell you enough how ridiculously easy and delicious these enchiladas are.

I first saw this recipe made by Melanie (who made some changes to it), Melanie at My Kitchen Cafe got it from Brittany (The Sister's Cafe which is a GREAT blog by the way), and Brittany got a version of it from a friend who brought it to her after she had her baby. Now, I give you my Good Things Utah version, as well as the links to all the others (just click on the various blogger in this paragraph to find the recipe versions.

That is really the great thing about this recipe. It is so flexible to change and still turns out such fantastic results! Confusing? My point is that you can adapt this and have a great time doing it and still have great results. Don't believe me? Well...

Imagine my surprise and thrill when I tuned in for GTU this morning and Nicea mentioned that she made these enchiladas for her family last night and that she adapated the recipe for them a bit too (she subbed the heavy cream with some half-and-half to make it a little less decadent) and that they still turned out great.

I had someone in the studio audience ask me what else you could substitute to make them healthier and I had to chuckle at myself a little bit when after she asked me, and I paused and said, "well, just leave the cream out altogether." I chuckled because I didn't remember at first, but, I believe Melanie made the addition of the cream in the first place. This is one chameleon of a recipe!

We got to talk with Nicea and Reagan on the show and they were both amazing! I have to tell you, these gals look great on TV, but even better in person! I was in awe of how put together and awesome they were! Thanks again to both Nicea and Reagan for having us and for making us feel so comfortable!


In my humble opinion, the best compliment you can get on a recipe is when someone actually makes it! I am so glad that the ladies at GTU loved it as much as I do!

One thing I didn't get to mention on air either was the fact that the substitution of using corn tortillas for the enchiladas instead of flour actually came from my sister, Michelle. The first time I ever made these enchiladas was with my neices, Miranda and Brit, when they were visiting here. Those are the original "Rock Your World" version already here on my blog. We all loved them and were floored by how good they are. I told my neices I would try to give them a shout out on the show if I could, but frankly, I was so discombobulated just trying to remember what I was supposed to be doing that I didn't get to. Therefore, I told them they would get the shout out here in writing instead! Hi girls! Love ya!

My Good Things Utah experience was not only a good thing (see how I did that... I'm just so clever - snerk) - it was a GREAT thing!

The producers, staff, cameramen, and especially the hostesses at Good Things Utah are simply wonderful. There really isn't another word to describe them. Even though I was nervous just by the new experience of being on live TV (or any TV for that matter) they made me feel so comfortable that it went a whole lot better than I hoped it would.

HUGE Thanks go out to all the crew and hostesses over at Good Things Utah for having us on the show and for just being so wonderful! Thank you, thank you, thank you! (And for all my foodie friends, did you know that they make a recipe on there pretty much EVERY DAY and there are video links and recipe links to them on their site? Yeah, I thought that might get your attention!)

The only problem was that there just wasn't enough time to talk about all the things I wanted to. We talked about food blogging in general and about the recipe and a bit about what we do on a food blog, but we just ran out of time before we could get into all the things I hoped too.

They showed the front page of my blog several times though which had a great link to The Hive and I have already had several requests to join The Hive blog as well as the group on Facebook. So, even though we didn't get to spend time talking about The Hive once we cleared up the issue of what this food blogging thing is all about, we certainly seem to have succeeded in getting the word out about our little group!



I also gave away a copy of my favorite baking book of all time - Baking From My Home To Yours (I talked about Tuesdays with Dorie too - it was great!) to a great lady in the studio audience who had to answer a food related trivia question that Reagan, one of the hostesses, had to come up with since yours truly was in such a dither still that I couldn't come up with jack!



SO. After all those fun pictures. Now you can even watch us on Good Things Utah (and please do because poor Becky was blocked in the picture to the right from this angle and she looked great too, so you really need to see!) - HERE IS THE VIDEO LINK TO THE INTERVIEW! Here is a little link to the story.

By the way, the videos are kind of small but when I did a right-click I was able to go full screen.

AND. Here is the recipe link for my take on the Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas that I made on the show - which you can watch THE VIDEO LINK TO THE COOKING SEGMENT HERE.


BUT. Before you run off and check it out, make sure you come back, because you see those seriously cute aprons we were wearing? Yeah. I thought you did. Well... drum roll......

My good friends over at
Bloom-n-Blush
have decided to throw down some fantastic deals for my readers and Good Things Utah viewers.......

They are going to giveaway an apron. Not just any apron though. Whichever one the winner chooses from their website. That's right. You get to pick.

Here is the thing about this fantastic company. These aprons are all unique because they are made with care and love, one by one. No manufacturing here. You see that pretty fringe-y stuff on Reagan's apron? Yeah. It is delicate stuff. The heart pockets are stitched on with skill and care. They use only the highest quality materials and fabrics and have so many seriously fun varieties.

So, do you want to know how you can win? Of course you do!

GIVEAWAY ENTRY RULES
PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT FOR EACH ITEM YOU COMPLETE!

You've got up to five chances to enter here! Good luck! Mr. Random.org will be doing the drawing - you've got until midnight (MST) on March 18, 2009 to enter!

1. Go to Bloom-n-Blush ( http://www.bloomnblush.com/ ), and sign up for their newsletter. Then look around their website and come back here and tell me you are going to get the newsletter and tell me what item on their website you would most want to win.

2. Subscribe to PheMOMenon via email or reader (links in the left bar), then tell me you did. If you already do, well, great, that counts so let me know.

3. Follow PheMOMenon on Twitter. Link is right over there on the side bar. If you already do, that counts so leave me a comment.

4. Twitter about the giveaway and leave me a comment that you did.

5. Blog about the giveaway - please include a link to both PheMOMenon ( http://phemomenon.blogspot.com/ ) Bloom-n-Blush ( http://www.bloomnblush.com/ ) ! (I am even posting a picture of one of their darling aprons below that you can use on your post - yes, it happens to be my personal favorite!)
Now, as if all those chances weren't enough, we all realize that a lot of you are going to want one of these spectacular aprons (did I tell you they have bags too? Yeah. I know!) the ladies over at Bloom-n-Blush want to make it even easier for you to get an apron for you, your mom, your grandma, your daughter, your sister, your best friend, or whoever - so here is some more good news:

For the same time as the contest, if you make a purchase from Bloom-n-Blush you get free shipping in the Continental U.S. and Canada - so get your order in before midnight (MST) on March 18th!

That's not all though - you can also use the discount code: GTU (as in Good Things Utah) as an extra thank you (and if you don't already watch the show, then you should) to get an extra $10 off your purchase now through midnight (MST), April 30, 2009!

Good luck! I can't wait to hear what you all pick out from their site!

-------------------------------------------------------------

On a related note, I have had a few requests on how to find the other recipes I mentioned on the show. Here are links to both the Jicama & Black Bean Salad Lindsey made and the Gooey Coconut Dream Bars I made a while ago and mentioned during the show. Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Cassoulet - NaBloPoMo - Day 6

Though I know it is only Friday, I thought I would give you this recipe so that you could make this on Sunday if you wanted to. It is one of those slow cooker recipes that you will have some leg work at the beginning, but be rewarded by a comforting and fantastic meal by dinnertime. Sunday has always been my very favorite day of the week for eating. Growing up at our house, this meant the day when it was going to be something special, something we didn't have on any other day of the week. It meant something that took more time, more work and was usually lingered over longer.

Not to long ago I got the email from Williams-Sonoma with Thomas Keller's recipe for a Cassoulet that could be made in a slow cooker. I have decided recently that I don't give my slow cooker hardly enough play lately, so I decided to give this a try. I made some modifications to the recipe, more to suit my tastes than anything else, and of course, since my slow cooker isn't the super fancy and oh so pretty one that Williams-Sonoma was selling, had to change some of the procedure. I think that the overall result turned out pretty darn good though and I enjoyed the process. I haven't ever had a Cassoulet, let alone an authentic one, so there is my disclaimer. We enjoyed it and it was definitely good comfort food.

So, should you decide that, maybe this Sunday, it is time for a nice, comforting meal that takes a little extra effort and care, and give your friends and family something different to talk about, then now you have Friday and Saturday to plan for this one. It does have a lot of steps, but none of them are difficult or confusing, so give this a try, and if you do, please let me know what you think.

I am trying to get back in the habit of cooking at least once or twice a week, and not just my usual routine of the same old stuff. I cook certainly, but I find that I am just making the same things over. Which, really, for the most part is just fine since it is what we love, but then again, how will I ever find new things to love if I am never trying new recipes.

So, while Mr. Keller's recipe called for enough ingredients to feed 8 to 10 people, since it was just for two people, I modified the recipe quite a bit and would still probably feed closer to 4 to 5 people. Other than that, as I mentioned before, it was to change up some of the ingredients due to what I had on hand, as well as what I like. It ended up being a departure from the original, but it worked out quite nicely. You can find the original recipe here, my version is below.

Slow Cooker Cassoulet

Ingredients:
2 lbs. boneless pork shoulder country-style ribs
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 Tbs. canola oil
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
8 slices thick-cut bacon, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch strips
2 cups coarsely chopped yellow onions (about 2 medium onions)
2 Tablespoons tomato paste
1 can (14.5 oz.) diced tomates
2 cups chicken broth
6 cups cooked Great Northern beans or other small white beans, drained
4 large chicken thighs
1 garlic head, halved crosswise
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, plus more for garnish
1 lb. baguette, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices (you might not use all of it here)
Extra-virgin olive oil for brushing
Coarse sea salt, such as sel gris, for garnish

Directions:
Season the pork generously with kosher salt and pepper; set aside. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, combine the canola oil and panko. Cook, stirring constantly, until the panko is toasted and golden, 4 to 6 minutes. Transfer the panko to a baking sheet and season with kosher salt and pepper. Set aside.

Add the bacon to the skillet and cook until crisp on both sides, about 5 -7 minutes. Drain on paper towels. Reserve the bacon fat in the pan. Add the pork to the pan and brown on all sides, 7 to 8 minutes total. Transfer to a platter.

Brown the chicken thighs, skin-side down til golden and crisp, about 4 minutes, remove and set aside. Add the onions and 1/2 tsp. kosher salt to the insert and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and softened, about 7 minutes. Add 1 cup of the chicken broth and simmer until reduced by half, about 5 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, tomatoes and broth. Remove the pan from the heat and add ingredients to the insert of your slow cooker. To the slow cooker, then add the beans, pork, chicken and garlic. Place the insert on the slow-cooker base, cover and cook on low until the pork pulls apart easily with a fork, 6 to 8 hours. Skim off the fat, and remove and discard the garlic. Fold in the panko and the parsley. Adjust the seasonings with kosher salt and pepper.

Position a rack in the lower third of an oven and preheat the broiler. Brush the baguette slices with olive oil. Arrange the slices, oiled side up, on top of the cassoulet, overlapping them. Broil until golden brown, 4 to 6 minutes.Let the cassoulet stand at room temperature for about 30 minutes before serving. Sprinkle each serving with the reserved bacon, sea salt and parsley.

Serves 4 to 6.

Adapted from a recipe by Thomas Keller, Chef/Owner, The French Laundry.

CEiMB: Chicken Cacciatore

This week's Craving Ellie in My Belly recipe is the Chicken Cacciatore, hosted by Peggy over at Pantry Revisited.   (Incidentally, over at Food Network, this recipe has a five star rating).  I have never made, nor eaten this dish.  Why?  Well, I don't like eating peppers, onions or mushrooms, three of the main components of this dish.  Really.  I don't like them.  I haven't liked the texture when I have tried them before, I love the smell, but haven't loved eating them.  You already knew I was weird, right?

Well... it pains me to admit this, but I may have to start saying, "I didn't like them."  This dish was really, really good.  I did make a few changes, but nothing I felt was too drastic.  In the original recipe, it calls for skinless chicken breasts, on the bone.  With the economy the way it is, and the fact that we don't buy chicken on the bone, I decided to make a few little changes.

First off, I used a whole chicken that I cut into four pieces - two breast and wing sections and two thigh and leg sections.  This probably detracts from the healthy factor a bit, but since the 3 lb. chicken I bought cost me just barely above $3, I am fine with that.   I also didn't bother to remove the skin, because I knew that none of us were going to eat it anyway.  I chose to let it cook in with everything and help with the flavor a bit.

I also used some sweet baby bell peppers I had on hand - red, orange and gold, instead of just one large red bell pepper, and actually almost doubled the amount of peppers.  I didn't make any change to the amount of onion, but I did use cremini mushrooms instead of white mushrooms.  I just like those, when I am trying to get myself to eat mushrooms that is, better than plain white mushrooms.

I will admit that I added about 1 Tablespoon of butter to the vegetable mixture when I put the mushrooms in, but the way I see it, 1 Tablespoon, amongst several people, isn't too mush to worry about.  The only other change I made was to use chicken stock instead of dry white wine in the mixture.  I don't drink, and therefore never have wines or other liquors on hand to use and don't often go to recipes that would use it anyway, so this seemed like a good substitution to me.  I don't know what it would have tasted like with the white wine, but with the broth it was really fantastic.

I served the chicken on a bed of whole wheat egg noodles with all the good juice and sauce from cooking the chicken.  Yes, me, whole wheat noodles - go figure - I actually added something healthy instead of taking it away!  I am happy to say that I will definitely be making this again. It was fairly easy to make and tasted delicious.  It was a great meal for a cold winter night.

Don't forget to check out the blogroll to see how everyone else's chicken turned out!  (You can find the original recipe here - my changes are shown below). 

Chicken Cacciatore

Adapted from The Foods You Crave, by Ellie Krieger

4 skinless chicken breast halves on the bone, about 2 pounds (or 1 whole small chicken, cut into quarters)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper 
2 teaspoons olive oil 1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
1 medium onion, thinly sliced 
1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced (or 10 small baby bell peppers, thinly sliced)
1/2 pound cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced 
2 garlic cloves, minced 
1/2 organic, low sodium chicken stock
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can whole tomatoes in juice, chopped and juice reserved 
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano 
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes or more to taste

Rinse the chicken and pat dry with paper towels. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. 
Heat the oil in a saute pan over moderately-high heat. Brown the chicken on both sides, about 8 minutes. Remove the chicken.Reduce the heat to moderate. Add the onion and pepper, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook, uncovered and stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms begin to brown. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Add the stock and cook until reduced by half. Add the tomatoes and juice, oregano, red pepper flakes and 1/4 teaspoon of salt and simmer the mixture covered for 10 minutes.

Return the chicken to the pan and simmer, covered, until the chicken is just done, about 20 minutes longer.

Rock Your World: Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas

Well, it is late, life is crazy and the pictures of these enchiladas I bring you just really don't do them justice. Melanie at My Kitchen Cafe always has the most wonderful dinner recipe ideas that are right in line with the way I like to eat. Before I even had a chance to make these I knew they would be good.

What I didn't know was that they were going to be The Best Enchiladas Ever. Seriously. I have made several different versions before, but these now go down in history for me as the best. It was like all the planets aligned.

They were super easy to make, didn't require a lot of ingredients and were ridiculously delicious. I hardly made any real changes to the recipe, mainly just switched it up a tiny bit because of what I had on hand. I never seem to have tortillas on hand so I had to make homemade flour tortillas (which is what I generally prefer to do anyway). I served the enchiladas with "Spanish" Rice and black beans. Seriously, you HAVE to make these as soon as possible.

A huge thanks to Melanie and Brittany for sharing the recipe!

Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas
(From Brittany at The Sisters' Cafe via Melanie at My Kitchen Cafe)

6 tablespoons honey
5 tablespoons lime juice (approx. 1 large lime)
1 tablespoon chili powder (use a little less for a milder version)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (I used 3 cloves fresh garlic, crushed)
1 pound chicken, cooked and shredded (I used 2 large chicken breasts)
8-10 flour tortillas (I made 12 smaller ones)
1 pound monterey jack cheese, shredded (I used cheddar and monterey jack)
16 ounces green enchilada sauce
1 cup heavy cream (I only used about 1/2 cup)

Mix the honey, lime juice, chili powder and garlic together and toss with the shredded chicken. Let it marinate for at least 1/2 hour (or toss together in a ziploc bag and let it sit in the fridge for a few hours).

Pour about 1/2 cup enchilada sauce on the bottom of a 9X13 baking pan. Fill flour tortillas with chicken and shredded cheese, saving about 1 cup of cheese to sprinkle on top of enchiladas. Mix the remaining enchilada sauce with the cream and leftover marinade. Pour sauce on top of the enchiladas and sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes until brown and crispy on top.

Serve with sour cream, rice and black beans.

GWW: Noodle Ring with Creamed Chicken

First things first - what is GWW? Well, let me take you back one week when darling Leigh, the one and only Lemon Tartlet, announced that she had coerced - lol - ummm I mean invited me, Laurie, Nikki and Clara to join her in celebrating the 1950's Americana that is Betty Crocker's Picture Cook Book.

And so was born GWW - which is smart-alec speak for "Good Wife Wednesdays" the snarky name I suggested to LT as what we dub this new undertaking. I believe it came up along the lines of, "Oh, I'm sure there is something in that book like - "The Good Wife always has a cocktail at the ready for her husband when he arrives home from a long, hard day at the office." (Incidentally, there actually was something in the book about a clever wife having cocktails ready for her husband when he got home from work - so, I wasn't too far off).

This is all in fun, so welcome to our first undertaking: The Noodle Ring.

I think a home cooked meal will always be more comforting than the finest gourmet plate. Why? Because - I don't know. But to me, that is just the way it is. There is just something truly satisfying about preparing a meal for yourself or your friends or family with your own hands, from scratch. It doesn't even have to be perfect. Heaven knows that noodle ring up there sure didn't quite work out - but it still tasted really good!

I had never heard of a "noodle ring" before (and therefore had no idea what to expect). You know me, so I had to get out there on the web and look it up and did you know that there is actually a National Noodle Ring Day (seriously, it is Dec. 11th - I couldn't say how official it is - but there you go).

Anyway, this noodle ring was also to have "creamed chicken" - yup - didn't really know what to expect with that either. However, as I looked at both recipes late last week it actually sounded pretty good to me - simple comfort food - which after a week of all of us being sick, something simple and comforting and not too crazy or spicy sounded like the perfect choice.

The noodles for me didn't really work out and I can only assume that it is because I didn't use the right type of noodles. It was still very tasty though. The creamed chicken was delicious and slightly salty - which I am willing to bet is because back in the day they most likely used homemade chicken broth while I used canned - and though low-sodium, probably still not as low as it could have been. Even at that, it was still really good.

To round out the meal I made some glazed french green beans and toasted slices of homemade white bread (for which the recipe can be found here and is my new absolute go-to recipe for our "daily" bread). It was a very soul satisfying meal. One that, while not fancy, was definitely something I could see making again (hopefully with the right noodles next time).


Noodle Ring (pg. 386)
(The little description reads) "My boys loved this filled with creamed chicken for Sunday supper for their friends!", says Mildred Stewart Sumner of our Staff.

Mix together gently...
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
(I added a dash of freshly grated nutmeg)
3/4 c. milk
1 tbsp. butter, melted
drained hot Boiled Noodles (10 to 12 oz. uncooked) (p. 380)

Place in well buttered 10" ring mold. Set in pan of water (1" deep). Bake until silver knife plunged into center comes out clean. Unmold; fill center with hot creamed chicken, seafood, etc. Serve immediately.

Temperature: 350 F (mod. oven).
Time: Bake 45 min.
Amount: 6 to 8 servings

Creamed Chicken (pg. 97)
(The little description reads)
Helps master many delicious recipes.

Melt tbsp. butter or chicken fat

Blend in tbsp. GOLD MEDAL flour, 1 tsp. salt, and 1/8 tsp. pepper and cook over low heat until bubbling. Remove from heat and stir in 1/ 1/2 c. well seasoned chicken broth, and 1 c. cream or top milk. Bring to a boil and boil 1 min., stirring constantly. Stir in gently 1 c. cut-up cooked chicken. Just before serving add if desired 2 tbsp. sherry flavouring.

Serve hot in patty shells, pastry cases, biscuit rings, or timbale cases; or over toast points, noodles, fluffy rice, etc.

Amount : 6 servings.

Spinach & Brie Chicken with Tomato Orzo

So, yes, that is actual food you see there. Go figure, huh! Food has not been making much of an appearance on this blog for a while. The reasons for that are really threefold - 1. it is easier to buy baking ingredients when they are generally "repeated," thus cutting down DH's time in the grocery store calling me on the phone asking me to direct him on where to find items in the store (I'm not kidding - it usually takes about 2 hours too); 2. Sleep depravation + lots of knife work = kitchen accidents (I'll spare you the picture of today's latest incident, but will share the story momentarily - I do have proof of reason #2); and 3. I'll just fess up and be honest here - I follow recipes when I bake and keep track of what I'm doing - when I'm cooking, yeah, not so much. It isn't that I don't want to share what I'm making, it is just that by the time I'm making it I'm so picking starved that I completely forget to either write anything down or take a picture. Also, I'm a lot less adventurous with food than I am with baking. I tend to have a few favorite things at a time that I make in rotation and call it good. So, I hereby promise that I will do better. I have just been uninspired. Once I can get back to being the one at the grocery store it will be a bit more diverse.

Why this sudden epiphany about the lack of food in lieu of baking? I was very kindly requested by a very good friend of mine who is learning how to branch out (by checking my blog for ideas it turns out) that woman cannot live by dessert alone. Now, while I think we all know that there is an evil part of me that disagrees with that wholeheartedly, luckily, I have a good friend like this to give me a serious kick in the pants to do a little better.

So, while I won't even begin to claim that there is going to be any kind of balance, I do promise to do better about sharing the actual food we are eating in between the desserts and goodies.

So, this chicken and pasta recipe comes courtesy of my dear friend's request and Martha Stewart. This was fairly easy to make, but I have a confession. Remember #2 above and the little story I alluded to? Well... sometimes when I'm in the kitchen trying to cook and there are a million things going on around me (crying baby, crazy boy trying to get attention by throwing a major tantrum, mom visiting and talking to me at the same time, me trying to read Martha's (somewhat vague) instructions, etc.) I get distracted and do stupid things - usually with knives or hot things - such as cutting toward myself - like today. So, I said I'm not sharing the picture, but let's just say that two fingers on my left hand are wearing little bandage caps from my latest kitchen escapade. It's actually making typing this post pretty funny. Lucky for me I tend to be able to just phase this kind of stuff out. Anyway, so, injury and all, here is an actual meal from me that we had for lunch. It took slightly longer to make than Martha's original recipe, but I would just chalk that up to my little episode slowing me down. The chicken was very yummy, as was the orzo. I decided to be brave and go ahead with Martha's recipe as advertised and use fresh tomatoes. Why is that brave? I hate tomatoes. I know. I'm a freak. I just can't stand raw tomatoes - so sue me. So, bottom line, my parents who were visiting, both loved all of it. I loved the chicken, but the tomatoes ruined the orzo for me. If I make it again I would probably replace the tomatoes with roasted red bell pepper for me. Also, if I make the chicken again, I will probably brown it in a pan and then just lid it and let it bake. The chicken still wasn't thin enough and took longer to cook and I would have liked it to be more browned, but my broiler stinks at broiling Go figure.

Anyway, enjoy!

Spinach and Brie Chicken with Tomato Orzo
(From Martha Stewart)
Ingredients:
Serves 4
Coarse salt and ground pepper
8 thin chicken cutlets (1 1/2 pounds total)
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 package (10 ounces) frozen leaf spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
4 ounces Brie cheese, cut into 8 slices
1 cup orzo
2 plum tomatoes, cored and chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Directions:
Set a large saucepan of salted water to boil. Heat broiler, with rack set 4 inches from heat.

Place chicken on a large rimmed baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. Dividing evenly, spread one side of each cutlet with mustard; top with spinach, then cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Starting at short end, roll chicken up tightly, and arrange, seam side down, on sheet. Season rolled chicken with salt and pepper. Broil, without turning, until tops are lightly browned and chicken is cooked through, 8 to 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook orzo in boiling water until al dente. Drain well; return to pot. Add tomatoes, parsley, butter, and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper, and toss to combine.

Serve stuffed chicken with orzo.

Individual Sized Chicken Pot Pies - Mini Pie Revolution #3

The Mini Pie Revolution continues and this time it is all about mini-sized pot pies. As much as I love cake (and I do love cake) this is where pies can separate themselves from most other forms and you can make an entire meal of nothing but pie.

Since I love chicken pot pie so much, and always have the makings on hand, it was fun to try to make miniature ones. I used my usual recipe here for chicken pot pie and made a homemade crust for the pies. Although biscuit toppings for our savory mini-pies was allowed, and that is usually the topping I use, I thought it would be fun to try a pastry crust for once.

I used a jumbo muffin tin to make these, so they were the perfect size for individual servings. The directions for the crust and assembly of these mini pies is below. The crust recipe I used is my "go-to" recipe for pie crust, I ended up doubling the recipe shown below.

Basic Pie Crust
Adapted from Williams-Sonoma Collection Series, Pie & Tart, by Carolyn Beth Weil (Simon & Schuster, 2003)
1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 Tbs. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
8 Tbs. (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 4-inch cubes
3 Tbs. very cold water

1 egg, lightly beaten with 1 teaspoon water for egg wash

Directions:
To make the dough by hand, in a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar and salt. Using a pastry cutter or 2 knives, cut the butter into the flour mixture until the texture resembles coarse cornmeal, with butter pieces no larger than small peas. Add the water and mix with a fork just until the dough pulls together. To make the dough in a stand mixer, fit the mixer with the paddle attachment, and stir together the flour, sugar and salt in the mixer bowl.

Add the butter and toss with a fork to coat with the flour mixture. Mix on medium-low speed until the texture resembles coarse cornmeal, with the butter pieces no larger than small peas. Add the water and mix on low speed just until the dough pulls together. Transfer the dough to a work surface, pat into a ball and flatten into a disk. (If you have doubled the recipe, you should divide the dough into two disks at this point, one slightly larger than the other. The larger of the two will be for the bottom crusts of the pies). (Although many dough recipes call for chilling the dough at this point, this dough should be rolled out immediately for the best results.) Lightly flour the work surface, then flatten the disk with 6 to 8 gentle taps of the rolling pin.

Lift the dough and give it a quarter turn. Lightly dust the top of the dough or the rolling pin with flour as needed, then roll out into a round at least 12 inches in diameter and about 1/8 inch thick. Roll out the second dough disk into a round at least 12 inches in diameter and about 1/8 inch thick and refrigerate until ready to use.

For the bottom crusts, cut the dough into a circle large (or small) enough to fit into your muffin pan, all the way up the sides. Make sure to prick the dough all over with a fork in each cup. Bake the bottom crusts for 15 minutes, until puffed and lightly browning, in a 400 degree (F) oven.

Remove from the oven and fill with the chicken mixture, top each cup with another cut of dough round large enough to cover the entire topping. Cut vent holes into the top of each crust.

Brush lightly with egg wash. Bake in 400 degree (F) oven for 15 minutes, or until crust is lightly browned.

Make-Ahead Tip: Pie dough may be made ahead and frozen for up to 2 months. To freeze, place the dough round on a 12-inch cardboard circle and wrap it well with plastic wrap. Alternatively, use the round to line a pie pan or dish, flute the edge and wrap well.

NOTE: I often end up with more filling than crusts to fill. Just put the extra into freezer bags or containers and freeze until the next time you are ready to make pot pies.