Creamy Chicken Casserole

Another easy meal day. We needed to use up some vegetables and left-overs. Autumn is finally setting in here. It is the perfect time for casseroles, warm yumminess.

Ingredients:
2 cups chopped broccoli
1 rib of chopped celery
1 large chopped carrot
1 medium chopped leek
1 medium chopped potato
1 boneless, skinless chopped chicken breast
1 cup grated cheese
1 egg
2 tbsp flour
1/4 cup cream
1 cup milk
2 tbsp olive oil
1 clove chopped garlic
1 tbsp chopped thyme
1 tbsp chopped lemon balm
2 hamburger buns
garlic powder, salt, pepper to taste
1/2 tsp herbs de Provence
Butter spray

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Chop vegetables. Chop and season chicken.
 

2. Saute chicken. Steam carrots and potatoes.

3. Remove chicken from the pan. Add the flour to the pan. Stir in with juices and oil over medium heat. Whisk in cream and milk. Add chopped garlic. Heat and stir until it thickens to a gravy.
 

4. Add vegetables, chicken, herbs and eggs to an oven safe dish.

5. Stir in gravy.
 

6. Top with shredded hamburger buns. Coat with butter spray and herbs de Provence.

7. Place dish in oven and bake for 45 minutes.
 

8. Allow to cool. Serve.

Creamy Garlic Chicken Farfalle

I realized, due to reading my own blog, that I have been cooking too many “country” meals. Comfort food.

Time to do something more interesting. Simple Italian food. Nothing too traditional but great Italian inspiration.

This is a seriously rich dish. You’re going to want some simple sorbet after this.

Ingredients:
2 skinless/boneless chicken cut into 1 inch cubes
salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste
3 slices (about 1/2 cup) of salt pork cut into 1/4 inch “sticks”
1 medium onion sliced thin
1 clove of garlic sliced thin
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup milk
1 clove of garlic sliced thin
2 tbsp chopped rosemary and thyme
1 dash of cayenne powder
2 cups of sliced Swiss Chard (or spinach, kale, or arugula)
1/2 lb of farfalle pasta
1/4 cup salt
1 tbsp “olio picante” (spicy olive oil)

Directions:
1. Cut up and season the chicken and slice the salt pork.
 

2. Heat a large pan over medium heat. Add salt pork and cook for 5 minutes. Add chicken and cook for 5 minutes. Add onion and 1 clove of garlic and cook for 5 more  minutes stirring occasionally. Transfer pan to oven at 200F to keep warm.
 

3. Heat a large pot of water to a boil.

4. In a large sauce pan, add 2 tablespoons of butter and melt over medium low heat. Add flour and stir. Stir occasionally for 15 minutes. 
 

5. Add herbs, garlic, cream, milk and cayenne pepper.
 

6. Bring cream mixture to a simmer over med heat, reduce to low and whisk frequently until thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon. Keep warm.

7. While cream is simmering, add salt to water. Stir to mix then add pasta. Boil for appoximately until “al dente”. Drain and add olive oil. Transfer back to pot.

8. Slice Swiss chard and add to pasta. Cook over low heat stirring frequently for about 1 minute.
 

9. Add cream to pasta mixture. Be careful not to add too much.

10. Transfer pasta to a plate. Top pasta with chicken and onion mixture. Serve immediately. 
 

Wine Pairing
2002 Flourish Cabernet Sauvignon

Fried Chicken

 

I grew up around Huntington, WV. In that area and over into Kentucky, fried chicken is a staple. It is many people’s favorite food. The trick, in my opinion, is to adequately season the flour and to finish the cooking in the oven. This time I did Buffalo fried chicken (replaced the buttermilk with hot sauce). I also finished by just moving the frying pan into the oven. I often finish by placing the chicken on a cooling rack over a cookie sheet and roasting on that. This just feels a little healthier…

Ingredients:
1/2 chicken
1 cup buttermilk or 1/2 cup Frank’s Red Hot Sauce
1 cup flour
1 tbsp rubbed thyme
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp ground pepper
1 cup vegetable shortening

Serves 2-3

Directions:
1. Cut the 1/2 chicken into parts. De-bone the breast and cut in half.
 

2. Mix chicken and buttermilk/hot sauce. Marinate for at least 30 minutes, preferably overnight.

3. Combine flour, thyme, salt and pepper in a large plastic bag. Shake well to mix.

4. Place chicken in the bag, shaking off excess liquid before placing in the bag. Shake bag to coat chicken well.

5. Preheat oven to 350F. Heat shortening in a large iron skillet (or other oven proof heavy skillet) over medium heat.

6. Place chicken in skillet. Cook for 3 minutes.

7. Carefully turn chicken and cook for 3 more minutes.

8. Carefully turn chicken and transfer skillet to oven. Cook for 7 minutes.
 

9. Remove chicken from skillet and place on paper towels to drain for 1 minute. Serve.

Buffalo Wings

 

Buffalo wings are a perfect party food. I’ve tried all kinds of things for the wings and nothing came out with that perfect “Buffalo sauce” taste. It turns out that in this case brand names matter. You just can’t make Buffalo wings without Frank’s Red Hot Sauce. The recipe for the wings is right on the bottle. I just twisted it a little here to do them on the grill and to add some kick. These are super easy. You can make a bunch at one time to really feed a crowd. You can fry these too, but it just too much work. Baking comes out even better and it is easier, you can’t beat that.

Ingredients:
16 wings (if you prefer, cut into halves for a total of 32 pieces) 
1/2 cup Frank’s Red Hot Sauce
cayenne powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Season wings with spices.

2. Pour hot sauce over wings, mix and let marinate in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

3. Preheat grill (or oven) to 425F.

4. Place wings on grill and cook for 45 minutes, turning every 10-15 minutes.
 

5. Remove wings from grill. If desired toss in a little sauce. Enjoy.

Chicken Cacciatore

This is a great hearty meal. It is based on a recipe my Dad makes. It is super simple to make with canned tomatoes. I, of course, had to over complicate things and start with whole totmatoes (trying to use up the batch we got this week from the farm).

Ingredients:
1/2 chicken, skinned and cut into 6 parts
3 lbs tomatoes
1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic roughly chopped
1/2 cup mixed fresh herbs (parsley, basil, rosemary, thyme)
1 cup red wine
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Wash tomatoes. Heat water and add tomatoes.
 

2. Remove tomatoes after 30 seconds. Peel tomatoes and cut into quarters.
 

3. Slice onions and chop garlic.
 

4.  Add tomatoes, bring to a simmer. Let simmer for 15 minutes.

5. In the mean time, cut up the chicken.

6. Add chicken, and return to a simmer.
 

7. Keep a slight simmer for 3 hours.

8. Chop herbs. Add herbs and wine and gently stir. 
 

9. Continue to simmer on low for another hour.

10. Plate and serve with a fresh salad and biscuits (to sop up the sauce).