10 Jun
Sweet and Sour Chicken
Posted by Michelle as Poultry | 57 Comments
I am about to tell you something that you just may not believe. You will accuse me of lying. But I swear it’s the truth. Are you ready?
I ate Chinese food for the first time last month.
Crazy, isn’t it? I had gone through 29+ years without ever having tried it. I went to college, lived in a dorm, lived in an apartment, and yet never did a morsel of Chinese food touch my lips. I’m not exactly sure how this happened – we did our fair share of take out, but it seemed to always be pizza or hoagies (yes, in Pittsburgh they are hoagies, not subs or heroes). So about a month ago after my Chief Culinary Consultant and I hiked a trail around a lake in the D.C. heat and humidity and decided we needed dinner to come to us, he suggested getting Chinese delivered. I said sure and I’d get whatever he was having since I’d never tried it. He couldn’t believe it. We had General Tso’s and egg rolls and I’ve been craving Chinese ever since.
26 Jun
Parmesan Chicken
Posted by Michelle as Poultry | 0 Comments
Another Thursday installment of the Barefoot Bloggers, and this Thursday features Ina Garten’s Parmesan Chicken, a wonderful selection from Megan of My Baking Adventures. Chicken pounded thin, coated in a traditional breading of flour, eggs, and breadcrumbs/Parmesan, and then sauteed in a combination of olive oil and butter – this is a classic dish that Ina has managed to perfect. Served over a bed of greens, this is a wonderfully satisfying meal.
12 Jun
Pesto Pasta & Chicken
Posted by Michelle as Pasta, Noodles and Dumplings, Poultry | 26 Comments
What a fabulous meal! This was my first time making homemade pesto and the smell of it brought me back to my childhood and images of my grandfather tending to his garden. This was a great break from our usual dinners and something that I will definitely make more often. Thank you to Barefoot Blogger Elizabeth of Ugg Smell Food for choosing this recipe!
I adapted this recipe a bit to suit what I could find in the store and my allergies. First things first, my allergies. I am allergic to all nuts, so I had to venture out and make my own pesto sans the nuts. Quite easy, actually. Next, I couldn’t find much basil at our store and knew I wouldn’t have enough, so I supplemented what I had with baby spinach. I thought it added a great dimension of flavor! However, since I did this I eliminated the frozen chopped spinach (as well as the mayo and lemon juice). And since I like to incorporate protein in the form of meat in most of my dinners, I added some sauteed chicken breast to the dish. So in the end you get a bow tie pasta dish with chicken and a spinach-basil pesto. Honestly, it was fabulous and I really enjoyed it!
See how the other Barefoot Bloggers liked this dish here.
The original recipe as well as my spinach-basil (no nut!) pesto after the break…
24 May
Lighter Chicken Parmesan
Posted by Michelle as Poultry | 12 Comments
Not too long ago, after I fell in love with Cook’s Illustrated magazine, I began recording the America’s Test Kitchen show on PBS. I have really enjoyed watching many of the recipes being made, picking up some tips and tricks along the way. An episode that I saved from a couple of months ago featured a lightened up chicken parmesan recipe. The key to this recipe is that the breaded chicken is not fried, but rather the panko breadcrumbs are toasted first, and then the breaded chicken is baked at a high temperature in the oven.
Big thumbs up on this recipe. This had tons of flavor, and the combination of toasted breadcrumbs and parmesan was tasty enough that I kept eating spoonfuls of it before the chicken got prepped. Next time I would probably do more smothering with the sauce and cheese, but this will definitely go into my regular rotation.
18 May
Chicken Fajita Enchiladas
Posted by Michelle as Poultry | 13 Comments
I have seen enchiladas popping up on a number of blogs recently, and have never had them, so I decided to make them for dinner Friday night. I absolutely loved these – they (and any other variations I can think of) will be going into the “regular rotation”.
How to make the enchiladas and recipes after the break.
20 Feb
Chicken and Dumplings
Posted by Michelle as Poultry | 25 Comments
I have only had chicken and dumplings once in my twenty-something years of existence. However, I do remember that I loved them. I have been seeing some of these dishes pop up on a number of blogs that I frequent, as well as on some cooking websites. The only problem was that I didn’t *love* any of the recipes. I liked parts of one, some parts of another, and so as a result I just never made any of them! This is where I run into problems, as I am a big recipe follower. Perhaps it’s the baker in me. Bakers NEED to follow recipes, or bad things happen. While this is not so in cooking, I still treat it as such. I am always leery to stray from a recipe, in fear of what might happen. I decided to just create my own recipe for chicken and dumplings (cut to bright lights and angels singing). I must say that I think it turned out fabulous! It felt warm and hearty, just like a good bowl of comfort food should. If you try this recipe, I hope that you enjoy it as much as I did!
09 Aug
Parmesan Chicken & Rice
Posted by Michelle as Beans and Grains, Poultry | 0 Comments
This is a nice light version of the typical Italian dish, risotto. I came across this lighter adaptation on Cooking Light and only made a couple of slight modifications on the original recipe.
There are no leftovers to speak of, so you know it was a hit! This was also a great clean-up meal since you only need to use one pot! I served this with a side salad – it was a very filling meal!
Parmesan Chicken and Rice (adapted from Cooking Light)
1 T. olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
8 oz. sliced mushrooms
3/4 lb. skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup uncooked instant rice (in my pantry was Uncle Ben’s Fast & Healthy Brown Rice)
1.5 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup (2 oz.) grated fresh parmesan cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic, thyme and mushrooms; saute 5 minutes or until onion is tender.
2. Add chicken; saute 4 minutes or until the chicken is lightly browned.
3. Add wine, salt, and pepper; cook 3 minutes or until liquid almost evaporates.
4. Stir in rice and broth. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer until liquid is absorbed. Stir in cheese and parsley.
**Note: The original recipe only called for 1 cup of chicken broth but I had to add an additional 1/2 cup because the rice was not yet cooked after cooking through the first cup of broth.
15 May
Chicken Salad
Posted by Michelle as Poultry, Salads | 2 Comments
This is a delayed Mother’s Day weekend post 
When I had my mom and sister over on Saturday for lunch, I made my mom’s favorite lunch – chicken salad. I didn’t follow a recipe but just threw together what I thought sounded good. My mom loved it! I served these on croissants – you could do any type of roll, or even lettuce cups.
**Note – I didn’t put any nuts in this salad because I’m allergic, but I think cashews or walnuts would be great!
