Luau Chicken

(Recipe from Stephanie Allred)

2-3 boneless chicken breasts (cube if you want)
1/2 onion (chop into 1/2 inch pieces)
1/2 green pepper (chop into 1/2 pieces)
1/2 carton sliced mushrooms (optional)

Sauce:
1 lg can chunk pineapple (drain)
1 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. corn starch
1 t. salt
1 c. vinegar
2 T. soy sauce

Add veggies, chicken and then sauce (I don't pre-mix, I just dump it all in).  Cook all day on low or on high for three to four hours.  Serve with rice.

*Because this calls for 1/2 an onion and 1/2 of a pepper, I just dump the other half into a freezer bag and double the rest of the recipe into that bag for a freezer meal to have later.

Chicken/Ham Polynesian

2 large chicken breasts, cut in chunks

2 Tbsp cooking oil

1 medium onion sliced

1 green pepper cut into 1 inch squares

1 (13 oz.) can pineapple chunks (save ½ c. juices)

1 cup chicken broth (2 cubes plus 1 c. water)

¼ cup vinegar

¼ cup brown sugar

2 Tbsp cornstarch

2 Tbsp. Soy sauce

½ cup mandarin oranges

1. Cut chicken into chunks or slices, brown in oil and remove.  Add green peppers and onion to pan and sauté until partially cooked, about 5 minutes and remove. 
2. Heat ½ c. liquid from pineapple in skillet with boulion, brown sugar, and vinegar.  Mix cornstarch and soy sauce; stir in.  Heat stirring constantly until sauce thickens and turns clear.
3. Add fruit vegetables, and meat. Serve over hot rice.

My Roommate Lindsay Payne

Teriyaki Chicken Salad

2-3 chicken breasts

Teriyaki marinade

1 pkg cole slaw

1 pkg chicken flavored Ramen

1 pkg sliced almonds (1 oz.)

½ cup veg oil or water (I use a mix)

2 Tbsp vinegar

2 Tbsp sugar

1. Marinade chicken breasts in Teriyaki sauce fore 30 minutes.  Then bake, fry, grill, or broil the chicken.  Shred or chop.
2. Toss cole slaw, uncooked Ramen noodles crunched, and almonds in salad bowl.  Add Chicken
3. mix oil, water, vinegar, sugar and the flavor pkg from the Ramen.  Pour over salad and then chill.

My roommate Kari Jones

Tex-Mex Chicken Burritos

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

5 Tbsp fresh lime juice (split)

1 tsp ground chili powder

2-3 chicken breasts cooked and shredded

1 (15.5 oz.)can black beans, rinsed, drained

2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved

1 cup corn kernels

1/3 cup diced red onion

2 Tbsp diced jalapeno pepper

1 ripe Hass avocado, peled, pitted

¼ tsp salt

8 flour tortilla’s

2 cups shredded iceberg lettuce

1 ½ cups shredded cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese.

1.      In a bowl, whisk together the olive oil, 4 Tbsp of the lime juice, and chili powder.  Add chicken, beans, tomato, corn, red onion, and jalapeno, tossing to combine.

2.      In a bowl, mash the avacoado, 1 Tbsp lime juice, and salt

3.      Lay tortillas on work surface.  Divide chicken mixture among tortillas, placing in a strip along bottom, 1 inch from edges.  Top each with avocado mixture, lettuce, and cheese, dividing eavenly.  Fold up each tortilla and roll in to burritos.

REDBOOK  Jul ‘06

Canned Chicken

Our local stores have chicken breasts for $1.39 this week so I pulled out my never-used-before pressure cooker and tried canning chicken. I was a little nervous because of our infamous family story of my Grandma Coombs' pressure cooker blowing up while full of red beets.

I thawed the frozen chicken by placing it into a bowl of warm water for about 20 minutes. This is about five pounds of chicken. I did a total of 20 lbs. My 16-quart pressure cooker states that it will process 10 pints at a time, but it really only did 8 - maybe because I used wide-mouth jars. Each jar held about one pound of chicken.

When it was completely thawed, I trimmed off any fat on the chicken (which wasn't much). I then put the raw breasts into clean jars with about 1 inch of head space. I didn't add any water. I could have added a 1/2 teaspoon of salt, but because the chicken had already been injected with some broth, I choose not to add the salt.

After fastening lids and rings onto the pint jars, I placed them into my pressure cooker with 3 quarts of water and fastened the lid (the water amount will vary - see your own pressure cooker manual for specific instructions).

My pressure cooker manual states to cook meats at 13 pounds of pressure (adjusted for my own altitude of 5700 feet) for 75 minutes (90 minutes for quarts).

I think this was the hardest part of processing the chicken. Every pressure cooker works differently. I had to carefully read the manual several times. Make sure to read yours carefully for water amounts, pressure required, and processing times (always adjusting for altitude as described in your manual). I vented mine for 10 minutes, added the weight, processed for 75 minutes and then let the cooker drop pressure and cool. It required some watching to maintain the pressure at 13 pounds. By the third batch, I had a pretty good idea of where to set my stove top and was able to get some other things done.

This is the result! I did 20 pints of chicken (each pint is about one pound of chicken). Prepping the chicken was easy. Learning to use the pressure cooker was a little harder, but now that I've done it, I won't be hesitant to do it again!

OG Chicken and Dumpling Soup

If you like soup, here is a recipe that I served at quilting and everyone really liked it. There is no official chicken and gnocchi soup recipe on the Olive Garden site, but by goggling, I came up with this one. There are many other very close but I chose to go with this one. I will add in red the actual things I did. This soup when served at Olive Garden is not a really thick with vegetable soup, but you can add whatever amount of chicken and vegetables you want. The first time I made it I concluded that I had added too much. The 2nd time I definitely cut back on the chicken to the amount listed below and liked it much better. You decide how you like it. I hope you enjoy it! Love, Mom

Olive Garden Chicken and Gnocchi Soup – non official recipe
http://www.food.com/recipe/olive-garden-style-chicken-and-gnocchi-soup-348802
Serves 8 to 10 – I doubt it, more like 4 to 6

3 -4 chicken breasts, cooked and diced – 1 to 1 ½ c. – diced is important – and not big chunks – tiny!
4 cups chicken stock
2 cups half-and-half
1 stalk celery, diced - extremely thin and small
1 garlic clove, chopped
1/2 carrot, shredded – extremely thin (first time a tried it I used some grated from the store – but they were too thick and didn’t cook well. I grated my own the 2nd time)
1/2 onion, diced - fine dicing
1 cup fresh spinach, chopped – don’t use canned, and chop very small – about the size of parsley flakes
1 tablespoon olive oil - I didn’t think that was quite enough, so the 2nd time I added some butter to the olive oil
1 teaspoon thyme - I used about ¾ tsp., but just because I was just being hesitant
salt and pepper - about ½ t. of each – the chicken stock already has salt in it, and I boiled the chicken for about an hour and a half in salt, bullion, garlic and onion flakes
16 ounces potato gnocchi - I used Danish dumplings – probably a half recipe, I used a melon ball spoon, and I cooked them in a separate container of chicken bullion broth. When they were done, I drained the juice off and hopefully much of the little pieces that had broken off, and put them out on a separate plate. I added them to the soup the last couple of minutes. I tried to cook them right before I was able to serve the soup
1 tablespoon cornstarch (optional) mixed with 2 or so tablespoons of water. (This is not a thick soap – like – chowder, but I would used 1 ½ to 2T. cornstarch)

Directions:
Prep Time: 10 mins
Total Time: 35 mins
Saute the onion, celery, and garlic in oil (butter) over medium heat until onion is translucent or 3 or 4 min. – in the same pan you will cook the soup in. Add chicken stock, half and half, salt and pepper, thyme and carrots (stirring frequently and not doing it so fast that it curdles the milk). When it is about to boiling, thicken with the cornstarch. When thickened to desired thickness – remember it is not a thick soup, add the chicken. Heat to boiling and simmer for 10 min. (This is where the regular recipe has you add gnocchi. It says gently boil for 4 minutes, then turn down to a simmer for 10 minutes.) During this time I was doing the dumplings. Add the pre-cooked dumplings and spinach and cook for another 1-2 minutes until spinach is wilted. This is where their recipe says to thicken it but I prefer thickening it before.

You can serve with Romano cheese, Parmesan cheese, or mozzarella cheese sprinkled on top. We used the Romano and Parmesan.

Serve with hot roll, bread sticks, or whatever and tossed salad with Olive Garden dressing.

Mom

Cafe Rio Style Shredded Chicken

• 2 lbs chicken breasts
• 1/2 cup zesty italian dressing
• 1/2 T minced garlic
• 1 package of ranch dressing mix
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 T chili powder
• 1/2 T cumin

Mix ingredients and pour over chicken.  Cook in crockpot until chicken is fall-apart tender (or use pressure cooker - about 30 minutes on poultry setting after adding 1/2 cup chicken broth to the bottom of the pan). Use juice from crockpot to keep chicken moist.  Serve with beans and cheese inside a tortilla. Top with more cheese and warm in oven until cheese is melted.

Butter Chicken - yummy!

There are no Indian restaurants here in Lewis County so Jared and I have been hunting for some good recipes. This one is great - Gabby even likes it. It's not hot but if you want to add more Cayenne pepper you can make it pretty fiery.

BUTTER CHICKEN

INGREDIENTS

• 1 tablespoon peanut oil
• 1 shallot, finely chopped
• 1/4 white onion, chopped
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/4 cup plain yogurt
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 1 cup tomato puree
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 pinch black pepper
• 1 tablespoon peanut oil
• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-size pieces
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1/4 cup water

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large saucepan over medium high heat. Saute shallot and onion until soft and translucent. Stir in butter, lemon juice, ginger-garlic paste, 1 teaspoon garam masala, chili powder, cumin and bay leaf. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add tomato sauce, and cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in half-and-half and yogurt. Reduce heat to low, and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Season with salt pepper. Remove from heat and set aside.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Cook chicken until lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Reduce heat, and season with 1 teaspoon garam masala and cayenne. Stir in a few spoonfuls of sauce, and simmer until liquid has reduced, and chicken is no longer pink. Stir cooked chicken into sauce.
3. Mix together cornstarch and water, then stir into the sauce. Cook for 5 to 10 minutes, or until thickened.

Fettuccini with chicken breasts

1 lb fettuccini
4 single chicken breasts cut into thin strips (I use less than this)
3 Tablespoons butter
6 cloves garlic, peeled and left whole
6 scallions, finely chopped (I use green onions - I don't know which you have)
1/3 cup heavy cream (I usually double the liquid parts of this to make it more saucy)
1 Tablespoon flour
1/3 cup grated gruyere or swiss cheese (I actually just use mozzerella and I use a lot more than it calls for)
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup parmesean cheese
salt and pepper to taste
3 tablespoons finely chopped parsley

1. While the pasta is cooking, saute the chicken breasts in hot butter for three minutes until firm and white.
2. Stir in the garlic and scallions and fry over moderate heat for three minutes. Discard the garlic. Stir in the flour. Add the cream and lemon juice an d stir until hot.
3. Add the cheeses and season with salt and pepper. It says to toss the pasta and the sauce, but we just serve it over the pasta like spaghetti.

Best-Ever Chicken Nuggets/Oven-Fried Chicken

Chicken (we use 15+ tenders or 5 breasts)

Wet Bowl:
2 large eggs
1 T. Dijon mustard
1 t. dried thyme
3/4 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
1/2 t. dried oregano
1/4 t. garlic powder
1/4 t. cayenne (optional - I leave it out)

Crumb Bowl:
1/4 c. vegetable oil
1+ c. bread crumbs (or 5 ounces melba toast, crushed)
Drizzle oil over crumbs in shallow dish. Toss well to coat.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a sheet pan with foil and set a cookie rack on it.

Prepare bowls as explained above. Coat chicken with egg mixture, then coat with crumbs (press to help them adhere). Shake off excess crumbs and place on cookie rack. Bake for about 40 minutes until juices run clear and chicken is a nice nutty brown color.

These are our favorite chicken nuggets! The boys cheer when I make them. They're pretty easy to make if you use purchased bread crumbs.

Crock Pot Creamy Ranch Chicken

Boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 Tbs butter, melted
1 can cream of chicken soup
8 oz cream cheese, cubed
1/2 c chicken broth 1 (1oz)
Packet ranch dressing mix
1/4 tsp minced garlic
1 dash paprika
1/8 tsp dry oregano
1/4 tsp dry parsley flakes

Wash and dry chicken breasts and place them evenly in crock pot. Sprinkle with paprika. Sprinkle ranch salad dressing mix over chicken. Drizzle chicken breasts with 1 tablespoons melted butter. Cover and cook on low for 4 hours.

Melt remaining 1 tablespoon butter with minced garlic and saute slightly.
Add cream of chicken soup,cream cheese cubes, 1/2 c chicken broth, dried oregano and dried Parsley flakes. Stir on med til smooth.
Add mixture to crock pot, cover again and continue to cook on low for 1 1/2-2 hours.

Chicken Fingers with Honey Sauce

2 - 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 egg white, beaten
1/4 c. + 1 tablespoon honey, divided
2 c. cornflakes, crushed
1/4 t. pepper
4 t. Dijon mustard
1/4 t. garlic powder

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Cut chicken into strips, about 3/4" wide by 3" long. Combine beaten egg white with 1 tablespoon honey. Place crushed cornflakes and pepper in a shallow dish (or large ziploc bag). Dip chicken in egg whites then roll in cornflakes. Place in a single layer on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 11 to 13 minutes. Meanwhile, mix remaining honey with Dijon mustard and garlic powder. Drizzle over chicken or use as a dipping sauce.

Tex-Mex Chicken Burritos

2 Tbsp Olive Oil
5 Tbsp fresh lime juice (split)
1 tsp ground chili powder
2-3 chicken breasts cooked and shredded
1 (15.5 oz.)can black beans, rinsed, drained
2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
1 cup corn kernels
1/3 cup diced red onion
2 Tbsp diced jalapeno pepper (yeah right?!?! - I'm too much of a wimp.)
1 ripe Hass avocado, peeled, pitted
¼ tsp salt
flour tortillas
2 cups shredded iceberg lettuce
1 ½ cups shredded cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese

In a bowl, whisk together the olive oil, 4 Tbsp of the lime juice, and chili powder. Add chicken, beans, tomato, corn, red onion, and jalapeno, tossing to combine

In a bowl, mash the avacado, 1 Tbsp lime juice, and salt.

Lay tortillas on work surface. Divide chicken mixture among tortillas, placing in a strip along bottom, 1 inch from edges. Top each with avocado mixture, lettuce, and cheese, dividing evenly. Fold up each tortilla and roll in to burritos.

This is a cold dish for hot summer evenings when you don't want to heat up the house from too much cooking. It's messy though because the juices leak out of the tortilla.

Lettuce Wraps

4 Chicken Breasts
6 T. Green onion, chopped
2 c. water chestnuts, chopped
1 1/2 c. fresh mushrooms or 1 can of mushrooms, chopped
minced garlic

Sauce:
6 T. Soy Sauce
6 T. Brown Sugar
1 1/2 t. rice vinegar (or regular vinegar)

Bring 2 T. vegetable oil to high heat in a wok or large frying pan. Saute the chicken until cooked. Cut chicken into small pieces. Add an additional 1 T. oil to the pan. Add chicken, vegetables, and sauce into the pan and saute for a few minutes. Serve in lettuce cups (lettuce head sliced in half).

I think this tastes just like PF Chang's lettuce wraps. We've also served the chicken mixture in romaine lettuce cups (they end up being more like a taco).

Sassy Chicken Salad

1 10 oz can diced tomatoes/green chilies (ro-tel) drained
1/2 c. mayo
1 12.5 oz can chicken
1 c. celery
1 c. grapes (I usually add 2 cups worth)
1/2 c. toasted pecans (can use almonds)

I've omitted the celery and nuts -- and it's still really good.

Cheesy Chicken & Rice

5 frozen chicken breasts
Salt, pepper & garlic salt to taste
1 can chedder cheese soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 c. rice

Mix cheddar cheese soup, cream of chicken soup and rice. Pour over seasoned chicken in a crock pot. Cook on low for 6 hours.

I probably wouldn't make this for company. But it's great comfort food for a cold day -- and so easy too.