My kids and friends love this. I always have two cans of chicken chilling in my refrigerator just in case someone stops by and it’s lunch time.
Easy to pull together.
1 12.5 ounce can of white chicken meat
1/2 cup Mayonnaise (you can also use half sour cream)- I love Best Foods.
1/4 cup red or white onions finely diced
1/4 cup finely chopped celery
1/2 cup sliced red grapes
1/4 cup toasted walnuts (7 minutes at 350 degrees, let cool, then finely chop)
salt and pepper to taste.
Optional: chopped green onions garnish
Serve with croissant, or toasted wheat or rye bread, or Ritz crackers, or in a wrap. All good!
My sister-in-law once said she loved Coq Au Vin. I had never made it, but the thought was stored until the other day. The time was now. So, I put this together. Husband Dennis loved, loved, loved it!
Since all my kids have flown the coup, my office is the lucky group that get my leftovers. I think they are goin’ like it!
4 pieces of bacon or ham slices, coarsely chopped
2 chickens
2 chopped onions
3 tablespoons chopped fresh Thyme
Salt and Pepper
16 ounces large crimini (baby bella) mushrooms, halved
8-12 carrots, chopped into 1 inch chunks
1 fennel bulb chopped into quarters
4 whole garlic cloves
2 bottles red wine. Merlot, Cabernet, Syrah all work.)
1 small can tomato paste
1/4 cup beef gravy mix
Bake for 4 hours at 300 degrees. Move the pot from the oven to the stovetop.
Add Gravy mix to 1/2 cup water, stir to mix and then add to drippings.
Let simmer 5 minutes and serve over mashed potatoes.
If you do not have gravy mix, use flour. Place flour in small cup.
Add 1/4 cup water, stirring until smooth. Add flour mixture to sauce. Cook until sauce thickens, 3 to 4 minutes. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper. Arrange chicken on platter; stir juices from dish into sauce and spoon over chicken. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon fresh thyme.
I started this at lunch time, and finished it off by making mashed potatoes when I got home from work. This is a keeper.
Mustard Tarragon Butter Sauce
for a lower calorie version read further on.
Serve with Grilled Chicken or Broiled Fish or Asparagus over mixed gourmet greens.
Good for you!
8 oz butter or 1/2 olive oil and 1/2 butter
3 T minced shallots
½ cup dry vermouth
4 T heavy cream
1.5 oz Glace de Poulet Gold (condensed chicken stock)
¼ t Dijon Mustard
½ tsp chopped fresh tarragon leaves or 1/2 tsp of chopped sage and I hear fresh thyme is equally delicious. Choose one.
Salt and white pepper
Variations: you can add sauted onions (1 small yellow onion) and you can also add 1 cup sauted mushrooms.
If you want a reduced calorie version, try this:
Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 breast half, 1 cup greens, and about 2 tablespoons sauce) only 271 calories per serving according to cooking light.
3 tablespoons minced shallots
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon chopped fresh tarragon
1/2 teaspoon sugar
4 cups gourmet salad greens
Preparation
1. Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Sprinkle chicken evenly with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Coat pan with cooking spray. Place chicken in pan; cook 6 minutes on each side or until done.
2. Combine remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, remaining 1/8 teaspoon pepper, shallots, and next 6 ingredients (through sugar) in a bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Serve chicken over greens with sauce.
Want a faster and lighter calorie version for a marinade? Try Val Fender’s version from bling.
So good on grilled chicken. Amazingly tasty flavor, but not overpowering. Works well as a marinade and grilling sauce.
Prep time 5 minutes
Cooking time 2 minutes
Servings
Ingredients
1 cup buttermilk
1 Tbsp leaf dried tarragon
1 cup Dijon mustard
2 Tbsp chopped dried parsley
pinch salt
Instructions
Combine buttermilk and tarragon in small sauce pan over medium heat. Heat just until the buttermilk is warm but not hot. Remove from heat. Add mustard and parsley and whisk to combine. Allow to cool before putting over raw meat. Store in airtight container in the refrigerator.
In the best of plans, before I leave for work in the morning, I marinade the mushroom caps in a ziplock back and upon returning home from work, they are ready to go.
8 large portabello mushroom caps – marinade in your favorite oil and vinegar dressing for 1-8 hours. You can also use corn tortillas, fry until crisp and serve the chicken mixture on top for BBQ Tostados. Or use pizza dough from Trader Joe’s or you local pizza place, or english muffins bagels. All work well.
BBQ Chicken Filling:
Cook 4 chicken breasts in a heated skillet with 1 tablespoon olive oil.
Season with Italian seasonging and garlic cloves finely chopped or pressed.
Add 1 cup each of; green, red or yellow peppers, chopped zucchini, and sliced mushrooms.
Add 1 small red onion-thinly sliced
Simmer for 5 minutes. Slice chicken into bite size pieces.
Variations: Jalapeno pepper slices, crumbled crispy bacon
or try Alfredo sauce for your base and use the BBQ sauce in the chicken filling. Yummy.
Spread Sweet Baby Rays BBQ sauce onto mushroom caps. Spread chicken/Vegetable mixture on top of BBQ sauce.
Sprinkle with 1 cup grated mozzarella, monterrey jack, cheddar or crumbled feta cheese.
Bake mushroom caps for 20-25 minutes until they are fork tender. (Follow instruction for you pizza dough for cooking times and temperatures.)
Chicken and Dumplings Ingredients:
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
4 cups water
2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1 1/2 T. olive oil
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 large carrots, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1Â 1/2 tsp. table salt (or 3/4 tsp. fine sea salt)
1 tsp. dried thyme
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup cold water
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup frozen peas
For the Dumplings:
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. table salt
1/4 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 cup sour cream (reduced fat is fine)
1/2 cup milk
1 T. vegetable or canola oil
Directions:
Place the chicken broth, water, and chicken breasts in a large pot or Dutch oven. Bring the liquid to a boil, and boil until the chicken is cooked through, about 15 minutes. Remove the chicken from the broth and shred it with two forks. Set the chicken aside and keep the broth warm on the stove.
While the chicken is cooking, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the celery, carrots, and onion, and cook until the vegetables are softened, about 6 to 7 minutes. Once the chicken has been removed from the broth, add the cooked vegetables to the broth, along with the salt, thyme, and black pepper. Stir to combine, and bring the broth to a simmer.
In a small bowl, stir together the cold water and the flour. Slowly pour the flour mixture into the hot broth and vegetables, whisking constantly until well combined. Add peas and chicken to broth.
Make Dumplings:
To make the dumplings, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and thyme in a medium bowl. In another bowl, stir together the sour cream, milk, and vegetable oil. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. (It’s okay if there are a few dry spots of flour remaining.)
Heat the soup to boiling and drop teaspoons of the dumpling dough on top of the soup in a single layer. (The dumplings will expand quite a bit as they cook.) Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover the pot, and let the dumplings cook undisturbed for 15 minutes. (Do not lift the lid during the cooking time.)
When done, gently stir soup to break the dumplings apart.Â
We were in Uganda with friends at the Speke hotel restaurant and they specialized in Indian Cuisine when I first tried this great dish. It is wonderful. So many flavors,in it’s like a party in your mouth.Â
I have loved it every since. One of my boys is improving his backyard and lay pavers.  I whipped them up some lunch and delivered it since I knew they would be hungry. I made it spicy, because the boys like it that way.
Awesome bite! Butter Chicken
2 pounds cut up chicken (I like chicken thighs)
Marinade:
2 cups yogurt, drained or sour cream
6 cloves garlic, puree
½ in fresh ginger, puree
2/3 tsp red chile powder or paprika
½ tsp cumin powder
½ tsp garam masala powder
A tiny pinch of red tandoori coloring (optional)
½ tsp salt
2 tsp lime juice
(Marinade the chicken at least 1 hour but best overnight)
 Makhani Sauce:
1 ½ pounds tomatoes, skinned, mashed
½ tsp kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves)
3 oz chilled butter
Few drops of vinegar
½ tsp garam masala
Salt
1 ½ ounces light cream
When ready to cook, heat oil in cast iron or heavy braising pot, add chicken with marinade and cook over low heat turning chicken until it is done. Â
For sauce, in saucepan cook tomato pulp about 5 minutes until liquid has evaporated. Add chilled butter, paprika; after butter has melted cook for just 1 minute.
Taste, if it is not sour add a couple of drops of vinegar. Add the kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves), garam masala, salt to taste. After 30 seconds, add the cream. The sauce is ready.Â
Pour into the skillet and mix with the chicken.Â
(You can prepare and cook the chicken ahead of time. The Makhani sauce takes only 5-6 minutes to make, so wait until the last bit and serve immediately with rice.)
Ingredients
•2 whole 2-pound chickens
•¼ teaspoon salt
•¼ teaspoon pepper
•3 tablespoons olive oil
•2 tablespoons fresh rosemary leaves
•6 tablespoons Grand Marnier (or Wild Turkey with 1 T marmalade)
•3 tablespoons fresh orange juice
•2 tablespoons brandy
•2 tablespoons butter
•4 tablespoons Chicken Stock
1/4 cup Orange marmalade
Directions
Split the chickens into halves. Cut out the backbones and remove the breastbones and ribs with your fingers and a paring knife. Blend the salt and pepper, and season the chickens inside and out.
Preheat the oven to 500° F.
Place the chickens skin-side down in a hot, dry 14†ovenproof skillet and brown 5 minutes. Turn the chickens and brown 5 minutes longer, then add the olive oil. Transfer the skillet to the preheated oven and roast the chickens 30 minutes, turning them occasionally. Remove from the oven, drain off all fat, and add the remaining ingredients to the pan. Place over high flame and cook 2 minutes, frequently basting and occasionally turning the chickens. Transfer the birds to serving plates and spoon the pan sauce over them. Glaze the chicken with the marmalade about 10 minutes before removing from oven.
You can use just about any jam as a glaze/marinade on savory items.
I like plum, apricot, orange and cherry best for chicken. A sweet/tart marmalade is nice on salmon.
Give it a try.
If you want to just do dinner for two try the following:
2 Chicken Breasts
Jam/Jelly spread over the meat. Bake at 400 degrees about 35 minutes until done.
All my kids love chicken salad sandwiches. They did when they were small one and even in their twenties. The perfect quick meal.Â
2 big cans chicken white meat in water
1 onion finely diced
2 apples finely diced
2 stalks of celery finely diced
1 tsp corriander
1 tsp black pepper
2 T of lemon juice
1/2 cup Best Foods Mayonnaise
Chopped it all up!
Finely dice everything, sprinkle lemon juice over the apples to prevent from turning brown. Break the chunks of meat into small pieces. Mix all together. Season.Â
Serve on croissants for a treat with sliced cranberry sauce.Â
“I feel like Italian food tonight.” This is one of those quick dinners you can make in 30 minutes. If you are going to serve with pasta or rice, get those started, then move on to pounding your chicken breasts. Turn the oven on to preheat at 350.Â
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 eggs beaten
Panko Bread Crumbs
Season with ground rosemary, salt, pepper
1 1/2 cups Tomato Sauce or marinara sauce.
1/2 cup shredded Mozzarella or pepper jack
16 teaspoons grated Parmesan.
Pound your skinless chicken breasts into filets. Use a mallet and a ziplock bag to minimize the mess. Pounding the chicken breast, you are trying to get a uniform thickness of about 3/8’s of an inch so the chicken cooks evenly.
Dip the chicken in beaten egg, and then the seasoned panko breadcrumbs.
Brown the chicken filets in olive oil, about 3 minutes per side.
Place on a baking sheet, and spoon over the top a couple of tablespoons of marinara sauce. Top with your cheeses and then bake the browned filets for about 10 minutes in the oven until they reach 160 degrees on your instant read thermometer.Â
Years ago, I tasted this smoked turkey salad. At the time, I made a mental note that I had to make my own version. It was so delicious. I happen to love chicken or turkey salad, but this one has a surprise. The smokey-ness. It pops it into a gourmet category, and yet it is still so simple to make.
Gourmet Smoked Turkey Salad
I like to use left over turkey breast meat. I cube the meat, making sure to remove any skin.Â
You do not need to measure for this recipe, but I will give them to you anyway.Â
1 cup cubed turkey breast meat (you can always substitute chicken)
1/4 cup celery and/or white onion (optional)
1/4 cup seedless grapes (optional)
1/4 cup mayonaise – Best Foods is my favorite.
1 tsp dijon mustard
1/2 tsp Hickory Smoke Flavoring
1/2 cup Pecans or Walnuts (optional)
1/2 cup apples – cubed
Mix together and salt and pepper to taste.
Serve on toasted sour dough bread or with saltine or Ritz crackers.
Do you want to make it richer? Try adding some cubed apple and toasted pecans or walnuts. You end up with a smoked turkey waldorf salad. Put that on your buffet table!
