karaage everything

I've used this for both chicken and eggplant and both were delicious.

4-6 skinless or skin-on boneless chicken thighs
2 garlic cloves minced or grated
1 tbsp grated ginger
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp rice vinegar or Japanese sake
1 tsp kosher salt more to taste
1 cup potato starch or cornstarch
¼ - ½ cup canola oil more depending on size of skillet
lemon wedges

Cut chicken thighs into 3-4 bite size pieces.

In a bowl, add in the chicken thighs, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and kosher salt. Mix until well combined and let marinate for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat a skillet over medium-high heat with canola oil. Use enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan.

While oil is heating up, add potato starch to a shallow bowl. Lightly coat each piece of chicken thigh in potato starch making sure to shake off any excess.

Add chicken to the skillet (making sure not to overcrowd, cook in batches if you need to) and cook the chicken for 5-6 minutes per side or until golden brown and cooked through.

Place fried chicken on a paper towel lined plate and season with kosher salt to taste.

Serve karaage with lemon wedges. Be sure to squeeze lemon over chicken before eating!

Adapted from A Dash of Dolly

mexican marinade

Great on both chicken and shrimp. A reddit masterpiece.

1-2 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs, chicken breasts, or shrimp
¼ cup lime juice
¼ cup olive oil
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon onion powder
2 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon black pepper

Combine all ingredients of the marinade and mix. Trim excess fat from the chicken thighs and place in a zip bag or airtight container with the marinade. Marinate in the fridge for at least 2 hours before cooking, or overnight.

For chicken, bake at 425 for 30 minutes or pan sear both sides first and bake for 20 minutes.

For shrimp, pan fry both sides for 2-3 minutes until cooked through.

chicken poblano casserole

So so good!

8 roasted Hatch green chiles or Poblanos peeled
2 cobs of corn, kernels removed
Mexican chicken
4 oz dairy free cream cheese
2 handfuls of dairy free mozzarella
1.5 cups non-dairy milk
1 cup garbanzo bean flour or tapioca flour
4 large eggs beaten
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Marinate 5 chicken thighs with 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1.5 tablespoons of Basquise spices and the juice and zest of 1 lime. Cook on comal until brown on each side and cooked through. Shred chicken.

Grease a cast iron skillet or oven proof pan; set aside.

Carefully cut a slit in one side of each roasted and peeled green chile. Layer each opened chile in the dish, add chunks of cream cheese, and add  Mexican chicken. 

Add another layer of chiles, cream cheese and the kernels of corn.

In a large mixing bowl combine non-dairy milk, flour, eggs, baking powder and spices.

Whisk until frothy.

Pour batter over everything.

Sprinkle with shredded cheese.

Place into your preheated oven and bake for 25-30 minutes or until puffed & golden.

the best chinese recipe ever

Hands down a Hall of Fame recipe. 

8 ounces chicken breast (thinly sliced)
5 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 Japanese eggplants (cut on an angle into 1 1/2-inch wedges)
3 cloves garlic (sliced thinly)
3 scallions (sliced 1½ inches long on an angle, separated into white and green parts)
5 baby bok choy sliced
1 king oyster mushroom (cut into sticks)
1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
2 teaspoons fish sauce
½ teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons soy sauce
½ teaspoon sesame oil
ground white pepper
¼ cup chicken stock (hot)

Velvet chicken according to Kenji's Wok book. 

Add 1 more tablespoon of oil to your wok and heat until just smoking. Add the marinated chicken, and spread it around the wok. Let it sear for 30 to 60 seconds (depending upon your burner capacity) on each side. Remove from the wok and set aside.

Heat your wok over medium-high heat and coat it with 2 tablespoons of oil. Spread the eggplant out evenly in the wok, and let sear with the cover on the wok for 2 minutes. Remove the cover, turn the eggplant pieces over, and pour another tablespoon of oil around the perimeter. Cover the wok, and turn heat to medium-low for another 2 minutes until the eggplant is just tender. Next, raise the heat to high to cook the eggplant to a golden brown color–another 2 minutes. Transfer to a plate.

Add more oil and heat until near smoking. Cook mushrooms and bok choy until softened. Transfer to a plate. 

With the wok over high heat, add another tablespoon of oil, the garlic, the white parts of the scallions. Stir fry for 30 seconds, and add the veggies and chicken.

Next, add the Shaoxing wine, and stir everything together. Add the fish sauce, sugar, soy sauces, sesame oil, and white pepper, and stir until everything is combined–about a minute. Next, add the green portion of the scallions.

Pour the chicken stock around the perimeter of the wok to deglaze it. Stir fry until everything is well-combined, and most of the liquid has been absorbed by other ingredients. Serve with steamed jasmine rice!

umami chicken goodness

 Maybe the best chicken dish I've ever made?

1.5 lb. skin-on, bone-in chicken pieces (such as thighs and drumsticks)
2 garlic cloves, finely grated
1 1/2" piece ginger, peeled, finely grated
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 Tbsp. mustard powder
1 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted, slightly cooled
1/2 Tbsp. unseasoned rice vinegar
2 plum or other medium tomatoes, chopped or half a can of diced tomatoes
1/2 to 1 pint cherry or Sun Gold tomatoes|
Thinly sliced scallions and/or cilantro leaves with tender stems and steamed rice

Trim any excess skin and fat from skin-on, bone-in chicken pieces and place in a baking dish.

Whisk garlic cloves, ginger, soy sauce, mustard powder, butter, and unseasoned rice vinegar in a small bowl to combine. Pour marinade over chicken pieces and use your hands to work marinade into every nook and cranny, including underneath the skin. Turn chicken pieces skin side down and let sit at room temperature for 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 425°. Turn chicken pieces skin side up and tuck plum or canned diced tomatoes and cherry tomatoes between and under chicken pieces with a few on top as well. Roast chicken until skin is golden brown and meat is tender and tomatoes are soft and juicy with some bursting open, 35–40 minutes.

Transfer chicken and tomatoes to a platter and spoon some juices over. Top with thinly sliced scallions and/or cilantro leaves with tender stems. Serve with steamed rice.

Adapted from Bon Appetit

chicken rice congee-style soup

Fast, easy and delicious!

¾ lb. skinless, boneless chicken thighs or breasts
⅓ cup jasmine rice, rinsed
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 2" piece ginger, peeled, thinly sliced
Kosher salt
2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
½ bunch cilantro, coarsely chopped
Freshly ground black pepper
Optional: 1-2 eggs

Bring chicken, rice, garlic, ginger, and 5 cups water to a boil in a large saucepan. Add a big pinch of salt. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered and stirring occasionally for 25 minutes, until soup is thickened and rice is tender. Continue cooking rice while transferring chicken to a bowl to shred with 2 forks, then return to pot. Stir in lemon juice and soy sauce; taste soup and season with salt if needed.

Scramble eggs and  drizzle into soup and cook 2-3 minutes longer.

Divide soup among bowls. Top with cilantro and lots of black pepper.

Do Ahead: Soup (without cilantro) can be made 3 days ahead. Transfer to an airtight container and chill. Reheat over medium-low, adding water to thin as needed.

slow cooker chicken enchilada dip

So easy! So delicious!

3 blocks cream cheese
2-3 c. rotisserie chicken
1 can chopped/diced green chiles
1 1/2 c. shredded Monterey Jack cheese (1 and a 1/2 bags)
1 1/2 c. salsa verde (we used Whole Foods brand)
1-2 tbsp. chopped green onions
1 tomato, diced

Shred chicken. Combine all ingredients, except green onions and tomato, in a slow cooker. Cook on low for 1 1/2 hours, or until everything’s melted. Stir. If cheese browns against side of slow cooker, scrape down and stir in. May need to cook a little longer if cream cheese is not fully melted. Once cheese is completely melted turn slow cooker to warm and cover dip with green onions and diced tomatoes. Serve directly from slow cooker to keep warm.

lime and cilantro chicken

I came up with this based on what was in the fridge and what I most needed to use up before it went bad. The chicken was really good but the zucchini roasted alongside it was spectacular.

2 scallions cut into 2 inch pieces
1 tablespoon fresh cilantro plus a handful of large sprigs
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 half lime, quartered
1 4-to 4 1/2-pound chicken, excess fat removed from cavity (or half a chicken)
1 large zucchini

Preheat oven to 400°F. Sprinkle chicken inside and out with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Place cilantro sprigs, the scallion bulbs and lime quarters in cavity.

Toss zucchini and rest of the scallions in olive oil and salt and pepper.

Place chicken in large roasting pan; arrange zucchini and scallions around chicken. Roast until instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of chicken thigh registers 165°F and zucchini are cooked, about 1 hour 10 minutes.

Transfer chicken to platter; let rest 10 minutes.

Using slotted spoon, move zucchini and scallions to a bowl. Sprinkle zucchini with lie from inside of chicken.

creamy chicken and mushrooms

Quick and easy chicken dinners are harder to come by than I would like so finding this recipe, and adjusting it to be even faster, was great.

1 lb chicken thighs
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 sweet onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 package sliced baby bella mushrooms
2 tablespoons gluten-free flour
1 1/2 cups half and half
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
Pinch of hungarian hot paprika
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Cut chicken into 1 inch cubes and season with salt and pepper.

Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add onion, garlic and mushrooms, and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender and browned, about 5-6 minutes. Push vegetables over to the side of the pan and add another tablespoon of butter the empty side. Add chicken and brown on all sides.

Sprinkle everything with flour and mix until lightly browned, about 1 minute.

Gradually stir in half and half, thyme, basil and paprika; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring constantly, until slightly thickened, about 3-4 minutes.

Serve immediately, garnished with parsley, if desired.    

Adapted from Damn Delicious

crispy chicken and sauce

We've made this a few times already and the chicken comes out moist and the skin comes out perfectly crispy every time. We've tried a couple different flavor combinations and the only thing we need to watch is how much acid gets added, avoid adding too much. we also use chicken breasts instead of the original thighs and it's only way I've found that makes the breasts nearly as juicy as chicken thighs.

3-4 skin-on chicken beasts
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon oil
8 ounces bacon, cut into lardons
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 bag of baby carrots
3 cups chicken stock
2 tbsp lemon juice
3 tablespoons sugar
2 bay leaves
6 sprigs thyme
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 350°F. Season chicken generously with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a straight-sided sauté pan over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add chicken, skin side down, and cook without moving it until well browned and crisp, about 8 minutes. Flip chicken and brown lightly on second side, about 3 minutes. Transfer chicken to a plate and set aside.

Add bacon to pan and cook, stirring, until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Add onion and carrots and cook, stirring, until softened and starting to brown, about 4 minutes. Add chicken stock, lemon juice, sugar, bay leaves, and thyme sprigs and bring to a simmer.

Nestle chicken back into sauté pan, leaving the skin above the liquid but submerging most of the meat. Transfer pan to oven and cook, uncovered, about 45 minutes (do not cook longer even for larger pieces of chicken).

Remove from oven and transfer chicken and pieces of onion, carrot and bacon to a serving platter. Stir butter into sauté pan, reduce sauce and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

Adapted from Serious Eats

chicken corn chowda

This was an incredibly easy and delicious chowder - most of the work goes into chopping everything, but once that's done it all comes together very quickly. Good for a hearty weeknight meal.

2 cups half and half
2 cups fresh or frozen corn kernels
2 tablespoons butter
2 lbs skinless, boneless chicken thighs
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped celery
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced
2 tablespoons corn starch
3 cups milk
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen corn kernels (about 3 ears)
1 teaspoon chopped fresh or 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
1/8 teaspoon salt

Combine the half and half with the first 2 cups of corn in a saucepan. Heat over medium heat, but watch to make sure it doesn't boil over. Stir regularly and cook for approx. 15 minutes until the half and half is infused with corn flavor.

Cut the chicken thighs into bite sized pieces. Season with salt and pepper. Melt the butter in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the chicken and brown until cooked through. Remove the chicken to a separate dish.

Add onion, celery, and jalapeño to the Dutch oven; cook for 3 minutes or until tender, stirring frequently. Add corn starch; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in milk, chicken, the half and half and corn mixture and remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil; cook until thick (about 5 minutes).

Adapted from Cooking Light

mi csa su csa: week 1

We're doing both a meat CSA and a veggie CSA this year, both for the first time. The meat CSA is year round and we're on month 2, but the veggies just started. Since we're getting vegetables we don't usually eat, I thought I'd keep a record of what we've created with them.

Week 1:
scapes
broccoli
zucchini
turnips
arugula
red leaf lettuce
peas

First up: broccoli, a couple scapes and mushrooms pan fried with leftover chicken and homemade chicken broth.

I ate most of the lettuce simply dressed with a tangerine dressing—though I didn't get through all of it.

The zucchini made up the meat of a delicious Persian Kuku Kadoo recipe from Saveur, which we served with roasted turnips, scapes and carrots we seasoned with fresh dill from our herb garden.

The arugula didn't make it, but the peas look like they'll still be good enough to eat in week 2.

light and fresh chicken soup

This soup is wonderful for any reason, but is especially good if you're not feeling well. The cornstarch turns the broth silky and beautiful and the ginger gives it a nice bite.

Chicken, Mushroom and Ginger Soup

1 ounce dried shiitake mushrooms (dried is much preferable to fresh in this recipe)
4 cups boiling water
4 cups additional water
2 pounds chicken thighs cut into chunks
A 1-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced very thin
3 tbsp soy sauce
3 teaspoons sugar
A pinch of salt
1 1/2 teaspoons corn starch

Boil the first 4 cups of water. Soak the mushrooms in the boiled water for 20 minutes.

While the mushrooms are soaking, mix the soy, sugar, salt and corn starch in a large bowl. Make sure there are no corn starch lumps. Add the chicken and ginger to the bowl, toss to coat with the marinade, and set aside.

When the mushrooms have softened, remove from the water (saving the soaking liquid) and slice thin. Add the mushrooms into the bowl with the chicken. Pour the soaking water though a fine-meshed sieve lined with a paper towel back into the cooking pot.

Put the chicken mushroom mixture, and the additional 4 cups of water into the pot and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to a bare simmer, cover the pot and cook gently for 25 minutes. Serve hot.

Adapted from Simply Recipes

sticky chicken

Finding something for us to eat is hard enough, but also trying to feed two kids can be a seemingly insurmountable problem sometimes. Fortunately we came up with something that everyone devoured - so much so it looks like we might be making it once a week. And since we usually have most of the ingredients on hand we can throw it together at the last minute, which makes it taste even better.

Homemade Grilled Chicken Teriyaki

3/4 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
2 tbsp honey
1 1/2 tablespoons ground ginger
1 1/2 tablespoons powdered garlic
8-12 skinless boneless chicken thighs (about 3 pounds)

Combine everything but the chicken to make the marinade. Toss chicken in marinade to coat and let marinate for 15 minutes. Brush grill with oil. Grill chicken until cooked through, about 5 minutes per side.

Serve with sushi rice.

Adapted from Epicurious.com

grape roasted chicken

I'd been craving roasted chicken for days and finally bought a roaster along with some herbs to throw in the oven. I also picked up some delicious champagne grapes, and remembered having seen a roasted chicken and grapes recipe somewhere along the way. We made a couple of adjustments to the recipe I found and it turned out better than we thought possible. Goes especially well with purple mashed potatoes.

Ingredients:
1 pound assorted seedless grapes (tiny grapes especially good)
1 head of garlic, cloves peeled
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme plus 6 large sprigs
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 half lemon, quartered
1 4-to 4 1/2-pound chicken, excess fat removed from cavity

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400°F. Remove grapes from stems. Gently toss grapes, garlic cloves, chopped thyme, and 1 tablespoon olive oil in large bowl to coat. Rub chicken with remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil; sprinkle inside and out with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Place thyme sprigs, a handful or grapes and lemon quarters in cavity. Place chicken in large roasting pan; arrange grape mixture around chicken. Roast until instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of chicken thigh registers 165°F and grapes are shriveled, about 1 hour 10 minutes.

Transfer chicken to platter; let rest 10 minutes. Using slotted spoon, arrange grapes and garlic around chicken. Transfer pan juices to small pitcher; spoon fat from surface of juices and discard. Serve chicken with pan juices alongside.

Adapted from Epicurious.com

roasted chicken with root veggies

Sometimes the perfect meal happens by accident. I've never found the "right" roasted chicken recipe for my taste - most are too fancy for what I think this dish should be. Roasting chickens were on sale, and I had carrots, onions and fingerling potatoes in the fridge - all I needed were some herbs and parsnips and I was ready to go. Now I just needed to figure out the time and temp for cooking.

1 4 pound whole chicken
3-4 carrots
1-2 parsnips
1 onion
1 pound fingerling potatoes
herbs: sprigs of rosemary, thyme and sage(?)
salt and pepper
evoo

Cut the carrots, parsnips and onions into equal sized strips. Wash and dry the chicken, and place in a roasting pan. Surround the chicken with just the onion strips. Rub the chicken skin with the extra virgin olive oil, and sprinkle the onions with oil. Salt and pepper the chicken and onions. Roast at 375 degrees for 20 minutes. Add the potatoes, parsnips and carrots to the pan with some additional olive oil and salt and pepper. Toss with the onions and try to coat all of the veggies with oil. Roast for an additional hour at 415 degrees, stirring veggies once. Remove from the oven and let rest for 10-15 minutes.

Enjoy the roasted goodness!


 

spicy chicken wing sauces for saucy

Chicken wings can do no wrong - especially when they come from the Cherry Tree. We were inspired to make our own and came pretty durn close. Here's what we came up with:

Honey Hotness:

1 cup Frank's Red Hot
3/4 cup of wildflower honey

Cherry Tree:

3/4 cup Frank's Red Hot
3/4 cup wildflower honey
1 cup sour cream
3/4 cup mayo

For each, combine all ingredients. Cook wings. Coat wings. Eat.

this isn't your momma's home-cooking

Over the course of a week I had three amazing home-cooked meals, all with new ingredients or new cooking methods. I'm very lucky to have friends who love to cook and are really good at it. I just hope I can recreate these in the future.

Lamb Chorizo with Sweet Potato Gnocchi

Ingredients:
2 links of lamb chorizo
1 store-bought package of sweet potato gnocchi
1 sweet potato
2 roasted tomatoes
1 1/2 cups of frozen okra
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 cup chicken broth

To roast the tomatoes: turn oven to the lowest setting, cut smallish tomatoes in half, place in baking dish and sprinkle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Place in oven for at least 3 hours. The longer they roast the more intense the flavor will become.

Heat the sweet potato in the microwave to soften, about 5 minutes. Peel the sweet potato and cut into 1 inch pieces. Place these on a cookie sheet and broil first for 6 minutes, then flip over and broil for another 5 minutes.

Begin boiling water for gnocchi. When water boils, add gnocchi and cook for 5 minutes or until they float.

Brown the chorizo in a large frying pan. Add the garlic and fry for about a minute before adding the frozen okra, tomatoes and chicken broth. Bring to a boil. Add the  gnocchi and sweet potatoes. Simmer until the sauce thickens. Ladle into a bowl and top with parmesan cheese if desired.


White Fish with Red Chilis and Lime

Ingredients:
1/2 pound white fish
cornstarch to coat
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
2 limes
zest of 1 lime
2 red chilis
peanut oil


Pork with Roasted Vegetables and Balsamic Glaze

Ingredients:
2 pork chops
roasted vegetables: peppers, red onions, eggplant, portobellas
grape tomatoes
1/2 cup balsamic fig vinegar
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar (or 1 cup if you don't also have balsamic fig)
1/4 cup brown sugar
ricotta


Sweet Hot Apricot Chicken (SHAC)

Ingredients:
1 and 1/2 pounds of chicken thighs
1 10 oz bottle of apricot fruit spread
6 teaspoons of Frank's Red Hot
2 teaspoons wildflower honey
salt and pepper
1/2 tablespoon butter
2 teaspoons bacon fat

Heat bacon fat in frying pan. Salt and pepper both sides of chicken. Brown both sides of chicken in the bacon fat. Meanwhile, combine apricot fruit spread, Frank's Red Hot and honey. When chicken is brown, pour apricot sauce over chicken in pan and simmer until chicken is cooked through and slightly orange outside. Raise heat on stovetop and continue boiling sauce until it reduces. After 10 minutes of reducing add butter and stir in. Cook for another 3 minutes. Pour sauce over chicken and devour.