Blueberry Balsamic Rosemary Chicken

We tried this recipe for the first time today, and it was awesome! We got some blueberries in our co-op basket and were trying to figure out what we wanted to do with them, other than just eat them as-is :), and I was thinking for whatever reason that it would be good as a sauce with balsamic vinegar. Went on the trusty internet and found a couple of various recipes which were pretty much identical. Turns out someone else had the idea before I did! 

This is a French dish and was incredibly home~y and rustic. I could totally see myself ordering it at a French restaurant or maybe even a pub somewhere. :) We had it with mashed potatoes, and it was a great Fall dish - even though it isn't quite Fall yet! One thing we did notice was that 10 min. definitely wasn't long enough in the oven to finish cooking. I would definitely do it for at least double that. We kept checking w/ the thermometer just to make sure. Maybe we didn't brown it long enough? Or it really does make a difference browning in a skillet vs a regular frying pan? We're going to try browning it longer next time, but really either way it turned out great and the flavor was awesome! If you want to retain some of your crispy skin after browning I would use a larger baking dish so that your sauce doesn't completely cover your chicken. 

We had ours with brownies for dessert, but during dinner we ended up talking about other desserts that would go really well with this, like a free-form apple tart, baked cheesecake, lemon pie...yum! We figured this would be great for company and easy to stretch out, recipe made quite a bit of sauce. We were thinking it would also be really nice with a green salad with feta too, if you decided to serve it in courses... Such an inspiring dish, ha! And it was fairly easy to do and the results were well worth the effort!

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/8 - 1/4 tsp pepper
• 4-6 skinless, boneless chicken breasts or 2 lbs bone-in leg and thigh (we used thawed frozen chicken thighs from Costco, 4 thighs in a pack, worked great) 
• 2 shallots, about 1/4 cup, thinly sliced (we substituted this with regular onion thinly sliced)
• 2 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen - we supplemented with frozen)
• 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup honey or 1/3 cup maple syrup (Used honey because we already had it! But I imagine it would be really good with maple syrup, want to try it that way sometime...)
• 1 Tbsp fresh rosemary, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/8 - 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

PREPARATION:

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F
2. Heat 1 Tbsp each of oil and butter in a large skillet until hot and bubbly. Season chicken with salt and pepper, and sear over medium high heat until golden brown - about 1 minute per side or until a light crust forms. Remove to baking dish and set aside.
3. Add remaining oil and butter to pan and when hot stir in shallots and cook until soft and lightly caramelized - about 4 minutes.
4. Add blueberries to shallots and cook 1 minute. Add balsamic vinegar, honey or maple syrup, rosemary and salt and pepper. Simmer about 10 min, or until blueberries have collapsed.
5.  Pour blueberry balsamic mixture over chicken and place baking dish in top half of oven for about 10 min. (25-35 min. I would say start at 25 and check and then go from there), until the chicken has cooked to interior temp of 170° F 

Chinese Soy Sauce Chicken

So when we were first out in Portland and stocking a new pantry we ended up with a lot of frozen chicken thighs. We discovered chicken on the bone doesn't tend to work out as well as just regular chicken breast when thawing out for recipes. At least the skin on it isn't really good anymore for baked chicken etc. We had it in the back of our freezer for the longest time until we came across this recipe and finally made use of it. It's a really simple recipe, just put everything in a pot and let it simmer. It may be an acquired taste for some but, we both like as we've had a lot of experience with Chinese food. :0) And of course it holds special memories for me being a Chinese recipe and all! Enjoy! Original recipe can be found here.

Oh, and a small note, the hardest thing for us to find for some reason was the star anise. We used whole cloves the first time around because we couldn't find it and it was ok. The smell was right but the flavor was weaker. It was on ok substitute. We ended up finding whole star anise though at a World Market/Cost plus for a really reasonable price and the taste was much better. To make a stronger sauce as well we ended up cutting down the liquid a little to concentrate the flavor of everything else - so usually 1 part soy to 2 parts water instead of the original 1:3.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup soy sauce
• 2 cups water
• 2 to 2 1/2 lbs chicken wings, drummettes and wings separated
• 1 2-inch piece ginger, peeled and sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, smashed
• 3 Tbsp sugar
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 pieces star anise
• 1 scallion, shredded or chopped

*Maintain 1 part soy sauce to 2 parts water ratio so liquid covers at least 3/4 of the chicken

PREPARATION:

1. In a large Dutch oven or pot, heat the chicken, soy sauce, water over medium flame. Bring the liquid to a simmer. Reduce heat to very low and cover the pot. Make sure heat is as low as can be without turning off; simmering soy sauce can easily become rapidly boiling soy sauce, which can easily become a big mess to clean up.
2. Add the ginger, garlic, sugar, cinnamon, star anise, and sugar. Allow the chicken to simmer for 25 to 30 minutes, or up to an hour if you want falling-off-the-bone tenderness. Ladle the chicken and sauce into a deep platter. Garnish with scallions and prepare to enjoy some savory, succulent chicken.

Serves 4 to 6...or 2 with leftovers for next time :0)

'Microwave' Chicken Curry

UPDATE Aug. 2013: I've decided that this post needed an update as we don't really make it the way the original recipe called for anymore. We do it on the stove-top and the use slightly different ingredients now too. Left the link to the original recipe if you still wanna try it out via the microwave!

ORIGINAL POST: So this is a fabulous recipe that I absolutely love. It was a recipe featured on a food network show that got canceled starring George Duran called "Ham on the Street"-very fun show, too bad they stopped running it. Anyhow, although it seems kinda random for right now-I just did this recipe and used leftover thanksgiving turkey instead of chicken and it turned out marvelously. :0) Didn't use basil because it was on the expensive side, just used the whole bunch of cilantro. I also got really mild curry, didn't plan on it being so mild so I put in a little bit of Sriracha Hot Chili sauce (the really hot Asian chili sauce) to kinda of heaten it up a little, did the trick. Also, you don't have to do it in the microwave, I just do it on the stove in a pan-it went really quick because the turkey's already cooked.

And if you don't already have curry, I would recommend the Vermont curry sauce, so easy to use and it comes in already portioned Tbsp rectangles-love it! It comes in 5 different levels of heat, I got the first, I'd say you'd be safe with the third one, though not quite sure what it's called on the box. Anyways, try this recipe, it's so easy and you'll love it if you're a fan of the curry taste! (You can always add an extra cube of curry if it's tasting heavy on the coconut milk...) Oh, and one last thing I've noticed as I'm eating this: as someone who's had it with chicken before, the turkey flavor is stronger than chicken, so if that's not your thing, of if it throws you off just add a little bit more spice. Still tastes 'oh so good' though...

Oh, and here is the  link the to recipe on Food Network's site if you want to check out the original recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 Tbsp olive oil or vegetable oil
• 2 - 3 Tbsp curry paste, chopped up into smaller pieces (incorporates quicker this way!)
• 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup of diced onion, your preference 
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (or thigh, sometimes it's cheaper), cut into strips (or chunks)
• 1/2 bunch basil, leaves chopped (We tried this out w/ Thai Basil, still good! And it's usually cheaper too! Makes for a more Asian flavored curry.)
• 1/2 bunch cilantro, leaves chopped
• 1 (13.5-ounce) can coconut milk
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Sriracha to taste (ranges anywhere from 1/2 tsp to a Tbsp, totally up to you. And if you're preparing for a range of tastebuds, kids included, I would just add it to individual bowls when serving)
• 2 -3 cups or 1 small pkg of bean sprouts(This is totally approximate. We buy ours at Winco and it usually it comes in a smallish pkg. I can't remember how much is in there, but we usually dump it all in. I've also bought it at Macys before and it was just an open bin and you get however much you want.)
• Steamed rice, to serve
• Paprika, for garnish
• 1 scallion, thinly sliced, for garnish (Totally optional, we usually leave this part out b/c we use the onion in the curry)

PREPARATION: 

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan or wok and add the curry paste, mix and let it go until it's bubbly.
2. Add diced onions and let it go for a few minutes, you want to caramelize the onions by the end
3. Add the chicken and cook until a little over half-way done, until you just see some pink left on the chicken. Don't want to overcook at this stage, or you'll have tough chicken by the end. It'll cook the rest of the way in the coconut milk broth.
4. Add the coconut milk, basil, cilantro and soy sauce and season with salt and pepper. Give it a good stir, cover it, and bring it up to a boil.
5. Drop it back down to a simmer and add bean sprouts. If you want to add hot sauce (sriracha) I would do it at this stage Let everything simmer for 5 - 10 min. Really flexible recipe, you just want to make sure your chicken is cooked through all the way and then cook until the bean sprouts are the texture you want. The longer the you let it simmer the softer they get. We prefer them firmer so we just add them in at the very end for a few minutes.
6.  Serve over steamed rice, garnished with paprika and scallions. Enjoy!

Bajio Chicken

I know most of you are fans of Cafe Rio, but I actually had Bajio's first before I ever had Cafe Rio. Most of you who have tried Cafe Rio first probably wouldn't end up going to Bajio's after the fact, but I've gotta say - I love love love their CHICKEN! (And their sour cream, but couldn't find any recipes out there for that...) Bajio recipes are actually quite a bit harder to find, or rather aren't nearly as plentiful as Cafe Rio copycat recipes out there. But I found one that looks quite promising from another blog 'Kara's Kitchen Creations.' Here it is-I will try it out soon, but if you get to it before I do, let me know how it goes. I've copied it out here...

INGREDIENTS:

• 5 chicken breasts
  
• 1/2 cup salsa
• 1 Tbsp. cumin
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• One 4 oz. can of diced green chilies
• 6 oz. of Sprite (1/2 can)

PREPARATION:

1. Combine all ingredients in a crock pot. 
2. Cook on low for 5-6 hours.
3. Remove chicken and shred.
4. Return to crock pot and cook 1 more hour. 
5. Serve with flour tortillas, lettuce, cheese, black beans, and whatever other taco fixin's your family likes.

Author's Note: This chicken is not real spicy, so you could add some extra green chilies if you like your food with a little more kick. It has lots of juice so serve it with a slotted spoon. Bajio serves the chicken with caramelized onions, I think I might try that next time. Maybe, I don't know if I can handle any more yumminess.

Cafe Rio Chicken

INGREDIENTS:

• One small (8 oz.) bottle of Zesty Italian Dressing
  
• 1 Tbsp. Chili Powder
  
• 1 Tbsp. Cumin 
• 3 cloves garlic minced
  
• 5 lbs chicken breast
  

PREPARATION:

Cook all together in a crock pot for 4 hours, shred meat and cook 1 additional hour.