Spicy Chicken & Sausage

This is a family favorite, chicken thighs with sausage and hot cherry peppers! It's pretty spicy but can easily be tamed by swapping mild sausage and sweet cherry peppers. 

Here's what you'll need:

1 package of skinless chicken thighs with or without the bone

1 lb hot Italian sausage links 

Jarred hot cherry peppers and some of the liquid 

6 cloves garlic peeled

2 onion sliced

1 cup dry white wine

Olive oil

Salt, pepper

Fresh or dried herbs: parsley, rosemary, basil

Preheat the oven to 375. Working in batches, brown the seasoned chicken, cut up sausage and garlic in olive oil over medium high heat. 

When all sides are brown, transfer to a large roasting pan. In the meantime, prepare the peppers by removing stems and seeds and give them a rough chop. Use as few or as many as you'd like. 

When everything is browned and removed to roasting pan add the sliced onion and peppers to the sauté pan and cook for a few minutes. 

Add the wine and a splash of the jar liquid. Scrape the bits from the pan and reduce a bit. 

Combine peppers with the browned chicken  

and bake uncovered for approximately 45 minutes until the chicken is very tender

All you need is some crusty bread and a bottle of wine!

Cheesy Chicken Eggrolls

Eggroll wrappers are my current food obsession. I've tried a few different experiments lately, this was the latest.

Here's what I used:

10 eggroll wrappers

1 1/2 cups of cooked, shredded chicken breast

6 oz. softened cream cheese

1/4 cup each shredded cheddar and Monterey jack

2 jalapeños diced

salt, pepper, garlic powder and a dash of cayenne

Mash all of that together and divide into ten equal logs. Wrap each log into eggroll wrapper as directed on package. (note that I unwrapped this one for its photo op)

Heat a non stick skillet with a tablespoon of vegetable oil and place the rolls open flap down. Brown all sides until they are crisp and golden.

If you were deep frying them they would be hot enough inside but these will need to go in a 350 degree preheated oven for approximately 10 minutes. I've tried them just baked and not fried at all but they just aren't the right texture for me. I made a quick dipping sauce featuring my new favorite condiment from Trader Joes.

Green Dragon Hot Sauce is so good! I mixed a few spoons of sour cream, a few splashes of green dragon and chopped cilantro, yummy.

One pan chicken and orzo

I never want this dish to end. Greek inspired with the lemon, feta and olives...it is so good and easy. It started because boneless chicken thighs were on sale, I can't bring myself to buy them off sale and I never have time to debone them myself. The rest of the ingredients are pretty much always here so this came together easily. The added bonus is that I only used one pan, my husband (aka the one-man clean up crew) will appreciate that. A little side note- will you look at this parsley

It is mid January in Connecticut and I still have parsley in the garden! You should also know that it never looked this good all summer. 

Moving along, here's what you'll need:

1 pkg boneless skinless chicken thighs (10)

1 large onion diced

3-4 cloves garlic chopped

Juice and zest of 2 lemons

1 cup pitted calamata olives chopped

1 lb orzo

1/4 cup white wine

4 cups chicken broth 

Fresh parsley

1 cup grape tomatoes halved

Olive oil 

Feta cheese

Salt, pepper, rosemary, and a pinch of dried oregano 

Heat a large skillet and brown seasoned chicken in some oil over medium high heat, approximately 5 minutes each side. 

Remove chicken and set aside. It's ok if it's not cooked through. Add onion and garlic to the pan, scraping up bits on the pan. Sauté until wilted and then add the orzo, stirring to coat with the onion. Continue to toast the orzo for a few minutes. Add the wine and lemon zest and juice and stir in until absorbed. Add the broth, olives and tomatoes and bring to a boil. 

Reduce to simmer and place chicken on top, cover and simmer for approximately 10 minutes. 

Check it a few times to be sure that the orzo isn't sticking and that you have enough liquid. You can add a splash more of broth or water if needed. 

When it's finished sprinkle with parsley and crumbled feta. I didn't need to season this dish other than when I cooked the chicken, the olives and feta are salty enough on their own. 

Speaking of salt...

Here's a tip that doesn't pertain to this particular dish but it's handy when cooking pasta. 

I add salt right in the box of pasta while I'm waiting for the water to boil and dump it all in together. I have a few reasons for this. 

1-I can never remember if I salted the water or not. 

2- if I pour the salt in the water from the jar all of that steam clumps the salt. 

3- after 11 science fairs with my kids I still can't remember what boils faster, salted or unsalted water. 

Bacon Jalapeño Chicken

Grilled chicken season is over at this house, time for some different ideas. I had chicken, bacon, jalapeño and cheddar...it's not going to be a healthy dish, although there is nothing wrong with a little decadence. I think I will make bite size versions of this as an appetizer for the World Series, let's go Mets! Here's what you need:

Chicken breast (cut into 4 lengthwise quarters) 

1/2 jalapeño for each chicken piece 

Bacon, I slice per chicken piece

Seasoning of your choice

Shredded cheese optional

Here's what you do:

Cut up your peppers and chicken. Season the chicken, I used my standard salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder, cayenne, paprika, dried parsley. 

Place the pepper on top of the chicken and wrap the bacon tightly around it, making sure the ends are underneath. You can secure with a toothpick if you'd rather not live life on the edge. 

You can get them prepped up to one day ahead, keep covered in the fridge until you are ready to cook. 

In a large nonstick skillet, cook chicken over medium-high heat, bottom side down first. 

Turning gently after about 5 minutes, the bacon should be getting brown and crisp. Cook another 5 or so minutes until chicken is no longer pink in the center. They can be finished in a 400 degree oven if needed. You can top them with shredded cheddar and place under the broiler for a minute. I forgot to do that before I took the picture!

I served them with some roasted asparagus and smashed new potatoes. 

Tip of the month:

You can download all sorts of printable labels on Pinterest. I love storing in jars and I really love these chalkboard looking labels. I just used mod podge to stick them on. Currently, this half shelf is the only organized part of my life. 

On to Crafty business:

I've been working on these vintage animals 

Flannel throws for future gifts

Another baby hat (it will be an owl hat) 

And of course, this pun towel 

Chicken Paprikash

Quick dinner today and it's one of my husband's favorites. Traditional paprikash is done slowly with chicken on the bone, no time for that today. I buy the good Hungarian paprika in the red can, the hot isn't too spicy and has a very subtle smoky flavor for this dish. 

Chicken Paprikash

2 boneless chicken breasts

1 cup chicken stock

1/4cup flour

2 tbsp. butter

salt, pepper, hot paprika

2 cloves crushed garlic

1 large onion sliced

8 oz. sour cream

fresh parsley chopped

Cut chicken into bite size pieces and set aside. Sauté onion and garlic in butter until they are slightly brown and wilted. Remove from pan and brown the chicken pieces, season with salt and pepper, you may need to add a little oil or butter. 

Add the onions back in and season with a few tbsp of paprika, add flour and cook a minute. Stir in broth until the liquid thickens. 

Toss in fresh parsley and start stirring in sour cream until you have the consistency you like. 

Cook until sauce thickens again. I served this with egg noodles and roasted broccoli today but rice or any green veggie is just as good. 

30 minutes of uninterrupted time and this baby stocking cap will be done, so I'm figuring 4 days will do it!

Mini Chicken Pot Pies

Pie crust is one of my worst subjects, pie crust and frosting cakes. In a blind taste test no one would know but I can't make them look pretty. There are worse things. 

Today while figuring out what to make for dinner while also figuring out how to not go to the grocery store, this came together...

Mini Chicken Pot Pies

Crust:

2 sticks of cold butter cut up

2 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp salt

1/4 cup cold water

Filling:

1 onion diced

3 celery stalks diced

3 carrots diced

1 cup frozen petite peas

1 lb chicken breast chopped

Veg oil

1/4 cup flour

1/2 cup half & half

Tbs butter

Chicken broth 2 cups

Salt, pepper, garlic powder,  herbs de Provence 

In a food processor, pulse flour and salt. Add butter and pulse until it resembles coarse crumbs. Drizzle most of the cold water and continue to pulse until it starts coming together. Turn out to a floured board and work in remaining water by kneading. Make 2 discs, wrap in plastic and refrigerate. 

In a large sauté pan cook veggies in some veg oil until they just become slightly tender. Add a tbs of butter and  Make room for chicken, season everything with salt pepper, garlic, and herbs. Sauté until fully cooked. Sprinke 1/4 cup of flour and stir until cooked. Add 1 cup of broth until combined, add 1/2 cup half & half and stir until thickened. Add remaining broth, stirring constantly. While we are on the broth subject, I purchased this by accident 

And decided to try it. I like to flavor things myself but this worked really well for the sauce, it gave it a nice rich taste. Nice job College Inn!

You want the sauce pretty thick but not pasty. 

Let that sit and cool a bit. Preheat your oven to 375 and get your dough out. Roll it out pretty thin and see how many mini pie plates you can get out of the first rolling. I have a variety of sizes here; 3 individual tarts, 1 topless ramekin, and a small pie dish that's bigger than a tart but smaller than a pie because my husband would not be full on a tart size. So, you line the plates that you are using,  you may have to roll out the next disc for the last one but that's ok (says the unskilled pie maker) the tops use less dough to cover. Scoop the filling with a ladle and put a top on it. Crimp the edges (do it nicer than mine). I had extra filling so that's how I ended up with that topless ramekin. Waste not, want not. Brush tops with egg wash, and cut some airholes. 

Bake on an old baking sheet, because they will probably leak, for 30-40 minutes until golden and bubbling. 

 

Super crunchy chicken strips

This falls into the not healthy section of my recipes but it's really good, and my Julia might starve to death if I didn't make them every few weeks. Here's what you need: 

Boneless chicken breast cut into strips

Buttermilk

Spice mix (see below)

Flour

Vegetable oil for frying 

Season chicken and pour buttermilk Enough to cover, you'll want excess milk. 

Let that soak at least 30 minutes or even overnight. In a pie plate, add some flour and seasoning 

and put an inch of oil in a fry pan and heat to med-high. 

Take one chicken strip at a time and dip into flour, back in milk and back in flour. You want it to look lumpy, that's what makes the good crunch. 

When you get 4-5 done drop them in oil. 

Let them get deep golden brown on the bottom before turning  

Depending on size of strips I would say 3-5 minutes per side. Adjust heat as needed, you want the chicken to cook through without the outside being over done. Drain on a wire rack and serve warm.  These stay really crisp even when they are cold. You can serve with any sauce. 

Spice Blend:

This is my go-to blend for a lot of things, mainly chicken. I love how it looks like sand art before I mix it. Here's what's in the jar:

Coarse black pepper, kosher salt, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, and cayenne pepper.  

Shake it up and save yourself some time when you are seasoning with your go-to spices, it's way cheaper than a blend you buy and you control the flavor!