Recipe: Double-Dipped Chicken Fingers + Spinach Salad with Orange Goat Cheese Dressing

Yum. This was a delicious meal, and I can definitively say that this recipe is extremely flexible. Because for a  wide variety of reasons, I basically didn't follow the recipe at all. Oops. Oh well. It was still delicious. Yum.

First step is to make the dressing. The original recipe called for blue cheese and  lemon juice in the dressing, but that was obviously not going to happen. Blue cheese? Gross. So what did I substitute? Goat cheese, obviously. What else would I do? And I had every intention of using lemon juice. I really did. Except I didn't check the fridge before I went to the store. We only had like a tablespoon of lemon juice left in the bottle. And the only lemons in the fridge were growing some kind of funky fuzzy stuff. Ew. So instead, I used oranges. Totally the same thing, right? Oh, and last change to the dressing? I opted out of the chopped celery and threw in some dried cilantro. 

So to recap the ingredients: sour cream + goat cheese + hot sauce + freshly squeezed orange juice + orange zest + cilantro + salt and pepper. Whisk them all together, and you've got some fairly serious magic.

Toss about half of the dressing together with some spinach, finely chopped red onion, and mushrooms (optional). Set aside the rest of the dressing to be used as dip for the chicken fingers.

Meanwhile, heat up some oil in a deep pot and get your flour and buttermilk ready. Coat the chicken fillets once in flour and buttermilk, then twice, and then one last time in the flour before firing them into the oil. 

Cook to your preferred level of crispiness, remembering to turn them over about halfway through.

Once they're all crisped up, put them a plate lined with paper towel and sprinkle with salt. Throw the next batch in the oil, and keep going until they're all cooked.

Serve them beside the spinach salad with extra dressing for dipping sauce, or chop them up and sprinkle on top of the salad. Your choice. I added chopped peaches to my salad for garnish and a bit of a flavour pop (berries would work nice too -- blueberries in particular, I think) as well.

Enjoy :)

The original recipe comes from Rachel Ray's Express Lane Meals.

Double-Dipped Buttermilk Chicken Fingers on Spinach Salad with Blue Cheese Dressing

(aka possibly the longest recipe name of all time)

Ingredients:

Zest and juice of 2 lemons

A few dashes of hot sauce

1 cup blue cheese crumbles

1/2 cup sour scream

1 celery rib, finely chopped

Salt and black pepper

Vegetable oil, for frying

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups buttermilk

1 teaspoon paprika, 1/3 palmful

1 1/2 to 2 pounds chicken tenders

1 pound spinach

1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced

10 button mushrooms, stemmed and thinly sliced

Directions:

1. In a small mixing bowl, combine the lemon juice, hot sauce, crumbled blue cheese, sour cream, celery, salt and pepper. Mix the dressing well and reserve.

2. Preheat 1 1/2 inches of vegetable oil in a large deep skillet. While the oil is heating, set up a breading assembly line near the stove. Put the flour in a large, wide bowl; pour the buttermilk into a second large, wide bowl; then stir in the lemon zest and paprika. Season the chicken tenders with salt and pepper. Working in 2 or 3 batches, dust the chicken tenders in the flour, shake off the excess, then coat in the buttermilk. Transfer them back to the flour and coat them thoroughly, then back to the buttermilk, and then back into the flour for one last coating.

3. To test the oil temperature, add a 1-inch cube of bread to the hot oil. If it turns deep golden brown by a count of 40, the oil is ready. If the bread cube browns too quickly, turn down the heat and wait a few minutes for it to cool down. Carefully place the first batch of coated tenders in the hot oil. Fry the tenders in small batches for 6 to 7 minutes, turning when the first side has become golden brown. Once cooked, remove from the oil to a paper-towel-lined plate and immediately sprinkle them with a little salt. Repeat until all the tenders are fried.

4. After the last batch of tenders goes into the oil, combine the spinach, red onion, and sliced mushrooms in a large salad bowl. Pour half of the dressing over the salad and toss it to coat. Top the salad with the fried chicken tenders, whole or chopped, your choice, and serve the remaining dressing on the side for dipping. 

Recipe: Bee's Specialty Pasta

I like to think of this dish as the one that started it all. Okay, maybe that's being a bit dramatic. But it was this particular dish that started off my whole cooking streak. You see, there was this rather upsetting incident at work one day, and I arrived home feeling quite awful about it. Therefore, I decided that some cooking was in order to cheer me up. Maybe cooking doesn't work that way for the rest of you, but it virtually always improves my mood.

Anyways, this pasta dish is one I created quite awhile ago and make with decent frequency for two simple reasons: we almost always have the ingredients on hand and it's really, really delicious.

The first step is to fry up some onions in oil. Once they start to get soft, add the chicken and some minced garlic. Once the chicken has browned on all sides, it's time to season it up. I use a liberal amount of both chipotle chili powder and cayenne pepper, but I suppose it's up to you on the level of spiciness you want. Remember though that it will be diluted by all the sauce and cheese and noodles, so don't be afraid to add more than you think is necessary. Honestly, if my mom could see how much spice I put in this dish, she'd probably have been afraid to even try it, yet she still loves it.

Next step: chop up some peppers (preferably orange or yellow) and throw them in the pan. Meanwhile, cook the noodles. Fusilli is my personal favourite choice for this particular recipe, but that's just me. If you plan on baking the pasta (an optional but excellent step), then preheat the oven now.

While the noodles are cooking, pour a jar of your favourite prepared tomato sauce over the chicken. Mix in about 1/2 cup of cream. Keep it on low heat until the noodles are done.

Pour the sauce over the cooked noodles, mix it all together and pour into a casserole dish. Top with lots and lots of grated cheese and throw in the oven.

When the cheese is bubbly and golden, serve up a huge portion and enjoy. :)

This recipe turns out a bit different every time I make it, since I made it up and I've never bothered to write down the exact proportions. But here it goes, such as it is:

Bee's Specialty Pasta
Ingredients;
2 chicken breasts
1 small onion, chopped
3-5 garlic cloves, minced
1 small orange or yellow bell pepper, chopped
Chipotle chili poweder, to taste
Cayenne pepper, to taste
1 jar of prepared tomato sauce
1/2 cup cream
Fusilli or other noodles
1 cup of grated cheese (cheddar, mozza, etc), optional

Directions;
1. Place the chopped onion in a skillet with some oil over medium-high heat. Meanwhile, slice the chicken breast into even chunks.

2. When the onions are just beginning to soften, add the chicken and the minced garlic to the pan. Brown the chicken on all sides.

3. Begin cooking the pasta and preheat the oven to 400 F if you intend to bake the pasta.

4. Add the chopped bell pepper to the frying pan and turn the heat down low. Pour the jar of tomato sauce over the chicken mixture. Add the cream and stir thoroughly. Keep on low heat, stirring occasionally, until the noodles are cooked.

5. If you're pressed for time, skip the baking step below and simply drain the noodles when they are done cooking and pour the sauce over top. Mix well and serve immediately.

6. If you do have the extra time, drain the noodles and place in an oven-safe casserole dish. Pour the sauce over top and mix thoroughly. Generously cover the top with shredded cheese and place the casserole dish in the oven (without the lid). Everything's already cooked, so all you're really waiting for is for the cheese to melt and get all bubbly. Should take about 10-15 minutes.

Enjoy :)

Recipe: Spice Rubbed Chicken

This recipe was so beyond easy it was ridiculous. Like I'm pretty sure even the most incompetent cook in the world couldn't screw this up. The original recipe was for chicken thighs, which I think might have worked better simply because they tend to be more juicy than chicken breasts, but since that's all I had, that's what I made. Odd how that works, eh?

The chicken took all of 5 minutes to prepare, and then I just threw it in the oven for 20 minutes. Easy, easy, easy.

Here's the recipe:

Spice Rubbed Chicken:
Ingredients;
2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp cumin (personally, I would put less cumin in - but that's just me)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cayenne  (I happen to love cayenne, so I definitely added more than 1 tsp. Adds a nice kick!)
1/4 tsp black pepper
10-12 chicken thighs

Directions;
1. Preheat the oven to 425 F and grease a baking sheet.

2. Combine all of the spices in a bowl and mix together so there's no lumps. Pat the mixture over the entire surface of the thighs.

3. Place the thighs on the baking sheet and place in the oven. Cook for about 30-35 minutes depending on the size/number of thighs.


That's it. That's literally all you have to do. It's beyond easy. And quite tasty to boot. :)

And yes. That is another salad with pecans and goat cheese. Sue me! :P

Recipe: Mulligatawny Soup

Subtle, creamy, comforting. Those would be my top three words to describe this tasty, tasty dish. Perfect comfort food, whether you're sick, tired, or just plain ol' grumpy. I should know. I was those last two items before I made this, and now I am neither. Okay, that's not true. I'm still tired. BUT I'm no longer grumpy. So kudos to the mulligatawny soup. (Added bonus: mulligatawny is just super fun to say!)

This recipe (like all the ones I've been making) was ridiculously easy. It took about an hour to prepare, including chopping time (onion, chicken, apple, etc). But if you did the chopping ahead of time, or you didn't simmer it so long, you could probably cut down the prep time to ~40 minutes.

The thing that I liked a lot about this recipe (besides how easy and tasty it was) was that I had virtually all the ingredients already on hand. All I needed to buy was some curry paste, and now that I have that, I'm pretty much set! Of course, not all of you may keep coconut milk in the pantry, but I highly recommend it. It's delicious in all manner of curries and Asian dishes. Mmm.

My apologies about the blurry picture. I swear the full-size version isn't blurry at all, but something weird is happening every time I try to upload it. Grrr.

Your first step is to throw on some rice. I like to make mine in a rice cooker, because it's much harder for me to screw up that way, but you can always do it on the stove as well. Instead of doing just water though, throw in some of the coconut milk for a deliciously creamy finished product. (Be careful though -- coconut milk can bubble like crazy once it gets going. It can make quite a mess!)

Next, sauté the onion and garlic in a skillet. When they're just beginning to get soft, add in the chicken and apple.

Once the chicken is cooked through, stir in a tablespoon of curry paste. I'm sure you could use pretty much whatever type of curry paste you'd like and it would turn out great, but I myself used tandoori. Yum.

Warning: although you can't really tell in the above picture, after you add the red curry paste, the chicken will turn a rather alarmingly bright pink colour. Like really pink (i.e., the chicken starts to look more like ham). It was a bit disconcerting, but it tasted great anyways.

After about a minute, it's time to add some good ol' chicken broth, cream, and the rest of the coconut milk.

You may notice from the above photo that I've suddenly switched everything to a very large saucepan. If I was thinking I would have cooked everything in there from the start and saved myself another pan to wash, but as it was, it wasn't until I was merrily adding the 3rd or 4th cup of chicken broth that I began to realize I was going to have a very large problem if I didn't switch everything to a much bigger pan. Ah well. C'est la vie.

Also, the soup really isn't as yellow as it look in the above picture. The lighting situation on our stove is really terrible for pictures, so I did the best I could. It's actually much more of a delicate creamy pink than it is the squash-yellow of the above photo.

Bring the whole thing to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes to thicken slightly. Now, if you don't care about presentation, then just dump all of your lovely coconut rice into the soup, along with some chopped green onions, give it a good couple of stirs, and serve. For a more elegant and impressive look, pile some rice in the center of a shallow soup bowl and then ladle the soup around the rice. Top with a sprig of fresh parsley for a garnish, and you're all set!

Here's the full recipe:

Mulligatawny Soup
Recipe from "The Guy Can't Cook" by Cinda Chavich

Ingredients:
3/4 cup long-grain basmati rice
One 400 mL can coconut milk, divided
1 cup water
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 chicken breasts, cut into 1/4 inch cubes
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and cut into 1/4 cubes
1 Tbsp hot Indian curry paste (or to taste)
4 cups chicken broth 
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 green onions, chopped

Directions:
1.  To make the rice, combine the rice, 1/2 cup of the coconut milk, water and salt in a medium pot. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Cover and reduce the heat to low. Simmer for 20 minutes or until the rice is tender.

2. To make the soup, in a medium saucepan heat the olive oil over high heat and sauté the garlic and onions for 5-10 minutes or until just soft. Add the chicken and apples and cook until the chicken is almost cooked through, about 5 minutes.

3. Stir in the curry paste, coating the chicken and apples. Cook for 1 minute or until the paste is very fragrant. Add the broth, cream, and remaining coconut milk, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for 10 minutes to slightly thicken.

4. Stir in in the cooked coconut rice and green onions and heat through. Or for a special presentation, pile portions of the coconut rice in the center of each shallow soup plate, then ladle the creamy chicken soup around the edge of the rice.

Bee's Notes: 
The original recipe says it makes enough for 4-6 people. While I agree it easily makes enough soup for 6 people, I would definitely suggest making more rice if serving for more than 3 people. The amount of rice in the recipe gave exactly 1/2 cup of cooked coconut rice for each of the 3 of us.

Recipe: Sweet & Tangy Orange Chicken

Yum. Yum, yum, yum. This recipe was absolutely delicious! It's largely based on a recipe I found here, but I did tweak it a little bit. It was my first time trying a recipe from that particular blog, and it was well worth the effort. The main reason I picked this recipe was totally in no way related to the fact that it sounds exactly like a meal Katniss eats in The Hunger Games. Nope. Not at all.

Anyways, on to the sweet, tangy goodness that is this wonderful, wonderful recipe. I forgot to take a picture of the ingredients, so we'll just launch right in. Take a couple of chicken breasts and slice them up into fairly even chunks.

Toss them in a bag with some flour, salt and pepper until they're nicely coated. Brown them on all sides in some melted butter in the frying pan.

While they're browning, mix together some brown sugar, white wine vinegar (or just regular vinegar if you don't have any), orange juice, nutmeg and dried basil. I was a little alarmed by the amount of nutmeg in this recipe (I am not nutmeg's biggest fan), but never fear! It turned out delicious, even if the nutmeg smell while cooking was a tad strong.

Once the chicken is browned, pour the sauce over the chicken in the pan. Simmer for 20 minutes. Add in some canned mandarin orange slices 5 minutes before you intend to serve for a sophisticated touch.

Serve over rice with a side of asparagus (or any other delectable vegetable you prefer), and you've got yourself a really amazing looking (and, more importantly, amazing tasting) meal that's done in 45 minutes flat. 

Absolutely delicious! 

Here's the full recipe:

Sweet & Tangy Orange Chicken

Ingredients:

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into even chunks*

1/2 cup flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

Melted butter or olive oil

Sauce:

3 Tbsp brown sugar

3 Tbsp white wine vinegar (or regular white vinegar)

1.5 cups orange juice (with or without pulp, whichever you prefer)

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp dried basil

The juice from 2 small cans of mandarin orange slices

Optional: add some ground ginger

Directions:

1. Combine the flour, salt and pepper in a bag. Toss in the chicken chunks and shake until well coated. In a skillet, either melt the butter or heat the oil. Then add the floury chicken, browning on both sides. Because of the flour coating, they should brown up nice and crisp, should you desire it. Once the chicken is browned, drain off any excess fat. (I didn't find that necessary -- the flour tended to absorb any extra fat)

2. Combine the sauce ingredients, taking care to set aside the mandarin slices once you have added the juice to the sauce. Pour the sauce over the chicken. Cover and simmer for approximately 20 minutes. (If you want a thicker sauce - which I recommend - then leave the cover off to reduce the sauce, allowing it to naturally thicken as it cooks). 

3. Approximately 5 minutes before you are ready to serve, add in as many of the mandarin orange slices as you wish. I say the more the merrier! :)

4. Serve over a bed of rice, and devour eagerly.

Delectable right down to the last bite!

* I was a little worried about how many people this recipe would serve, but it easily made enough for 5. Depending on how generous you want to be with your portions, it could even be suitable for 6. Pretty good for 2 chicken breasts!

Recipe: Stuffed Chicken Breasts

I gave a lot of thought to what would be the first recipe I posted on this blog. Okay, okay. That's a lie. I took all of 10 seconds to flip through the recipes I've made in the last 6 weeks and picked this one because it was near the top and was utterly and completely delicious.

In future recipe posts I hope to be adding lots of pictures of the different stages along the way, but as I made this  approximately 6 weeks ago I, alas, have none. Oh well. What's a girl to do? Post a ridiculous cartoon about chickens, duh!


 


Anyways, on to the recipe, which I found in my current favourite cookbook, The Girl Can't Cook, by the amazing Cinda Chavich.


Chicken Breasts Stuffed with Red Peppers and Goat Cheese*

Ingredients:
2 red or yellow bell peppers

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

½ lb. (250g) creamy fresh goat cheese

1 Tbsp. (15 mL) olive oil

2 cups (500 mL) chicken broth

½ cup (125 mL) dry white wine

1/3 cup heavy cream

2 Tbsp. chopped fresh thyme

2 green onions, chopped

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Fresh herbs to garnish

Directions:

1. To roast the peppers, grill or broil until blackened on all sides. Place the peppers in a paper bag to steam and cool, then peel off the charred skin and remove the stems, ribs and seeds. Slice the peppers into thin strips and set aside.

2.  Lay the chicken breasts flat on a cutting board. Insert a small paring knife into the thickest part of the side of the chicken breast. Holding your palm over the breast, wiggle the knife back and forth to form a pocket, keeping the entry to the pocket small. Use your fingers to stuff the pockets with the goat cheese and roasted pepper.

3. Heat the olive oil in a heavy, non-stick skillet over high heat and brown the chicken quickly on both sides. This will take about 4 minutes. Add the broth and white wine to the pan. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce the heat and simmer for 6-7 minutes. Remove the chicken from the pan and keep it warm.

4. Boil the liquid in the pan hard until it has been reduced by half. Add the cream and cook until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Stir in the fresh herbs and green onion and simmer 1 minute longer. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Keep warm over low heat.

5. Slice the chicken breasts and arrange on warmed, individual plates. Drizzle with some of the sauce and garnish with more fresh herbs. Heat the remaining sauce and pass separately.

6. Dig in!

Bee's Notes

Something I learned from making this recipe? Roasted red pepper is really slimy. And stuffing raw chicken with slippery peppers and soft goat cheese makes one heck of a mess! Oh well. It was totally worth it!

I also found that the chicken took longer to cook than the recipe indicates. Maybe I stuffed them too full? But when cooking in the broth, I found that flipping them about halfway through helped to make sure they were cooked all the way through. Some of the cheese leaked out into the sauce while cooking, but don't worry about it -- it just made the sauce even more deliciously creamy. Mmmmmmm. 

The other great thing about this recipe is that once it's sliced and drizzled with sauce, the chicken looks amazing on a plate. Like something you got at a restaurant! This is one recipe that will definitely impress.

You could pretty much serve this with anything and have it be delicious, but I paired it with roasted asparagus and baby red potatoes. Yum!

 

* You may begin to notice a bit of a goat cheese theme crop up on this blog. I have no excuse other than the fact that I've recently discovered that goat cheese is freakin' DELICIOUS.