Apple Pecan Bacon Chicken for the Birdie Know It All Tutorial Contest

What do you do when you have bacon grease left over from bacon and need to think of a fun recipe to enter into Gisele's Birdie-Know-it-All Tutorial contest?

You use it to make a sweet and savory Sunday dinner, Apple Pecan Bacon Chicken, to be exact :). So here's my tutorial! Have you all checked out the contest? It is so cool because it's no just for cooks/bakers; if you're into designing stationary, making handmade cards, or even creating your own holiday decorations, you can join too. Plus, you get to feature this cute little logo on your blog :). Click it to find out more about the contest and cute prizes!

I think Paula Deen would've been so proud seeing me use up the bacon grease to fry some chicken! (Have you all seen that episode of Paula's Party where she fries everything, including that yummy pumpkin cake? Delicious!)

This dish is tasty and fun to make, it offers afew different textures and tasty flavors...not to mention two of my favorite fruits, cranberries and apples! Yum! Plus, I threw in some bacon, the hubby's favorite food. It wasn't a one skillet meal, even though it kinda looks like it. I cooked the apples in a separate pan, then I baked the chicken, but it was worth all the dirty pots/pans/cutting boards/time etc. :). (The cool thing is that you can stick that skillet in the oven, though.)

These pictures are a part of the tutorial, please excuse the not-so-pretty yellow tinge of my kitchen, I don't get very much natural light in there! A big thanks to my hubby for taking these photos, please don't cook and take photos...it really isn't safe :P!

Ingredients:
You can use 4-6 chicken drumsticks for this recipe.
Bacon drippings (from about 4 strips of bacon)
1 iron skillet
1/2 cup gluten-free chicken broth
1/4 cup chopped sweet onion
1/4 cup chopped leeks
2 TBSP honey
pinch of pepper
1 large Macintosh apple
2/3 cup pure apple cider
1/4 cup warm water
1 1/2 TBSP brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/3 cup chopped pecans
1/3 cup cranberries
1 strip of bacon
Aluminum foil
1/4 tsp crushed bay leaves
1/4 tsp thyme

Instructions for Tutorial:

1. Preheat oven to 350
   
2. Cook 4 strips of bacon in an iron skillet.
   
3. Save the bacon drippings in the skillet.
   
4. Chop 1/4 cup each of sweet onion and leeks.
   
5. Cook onion and leeks on medium/low in bacon grease (in the skillet) for about 3 minutes.
   
6. Add chicken, use tongs to brown chicken drumsticks on all sides (watch for popping oil, be careful not to burn yourself).
   
7. Sprinkle chicken with a pinch pepper and add about 1 1/2 - 2 TBSP of honey.
   
8. Pour 1/2 cup gluten free chicken broth in skillet with chicken; cover and cook chicken on low for about 20 minutes.
   
9. Flip chicken onto side that wasn't cooking and now cook for another 15-20 minutes on low while you prepare the apples.
   
10. Peel and slice 1 large Macintosh apple.
    
11. Pour 1/4 cup warm water and 2/3 cup pure apple cider into a sauce pan, add about 1 1/2 TBSP brown sugar and 1/2 tsp cinnamon. Then add about 1/3 cup roughly chopped pecans. Cook on medium/high for about five minutes (without apples). Then lower flamer to low, add apples and 1/3 cup cranberries and cook for about 5 minutes (you don't want them too soft, just cook until they are slightly soft but still somewhat crunchy).
    
12. Cover the chicken in the skillet with the apple mixture (use only 1/2 of the apple mixture if you use 4 drumsticks, use all of the cooked apples if you have 6 drumsticks). Sprinkle with thyme, bay leaves, and bacon bits (from 1 freshly cooked but cooled strip of bacon) and bake (COVERED WITH ALUMINUM FOIL!) for 10 minutes then turn chicken drumsticks over. Lastly, bake for about 15 more minutes minutes. Let cool then eat! :)

Gluten-Free Biscuits and Chicken and Dumpling Stew

**For my most recent biscuit recipe, click here**

Like everyone else, I'm glued to the TV (watching CNN), so I'm going to make this short and sweet...or savory, I should say :). I know, it's another stew! I bet you're wondering if I eat anything other than stews and desserts :D. This cold weather has me craving hot food non-stop, it doesn't get old!



And if you're a long-time Flour Arrangements reader, you're probably not surprised to see biscuits. But This time, they're gluten-free! Big difference: more flours, a little bit of sugar, and the star ingredient: xanthan gum! The Gluten-Free Girl posted a tasty recipe for buttermilk biscuits that I wanted to make, but I didn't have all the ingredients, so I had to improvise. (I ended up eating half of them in one night! :) The stew has dumplings, but I can't get enough carbs, so why not have chicken and dumplings AND gluten-free biscuits?! Sounds like a tasty combo to me. This isn't just any ol' chicken and dumplings meal either, I added veggies to the stew. I tried to make it as hearty and nutritious as possible.



I've been thinking about something, I'm going to change Flour Arrangements up a bit. Not really change it, more like spice it up. I know how frustrating it can be to not be able to gluten-free recipe online; I can imagine how much harder it is to find recipes for other allergy=related diets. Purchasing specialty foods can get expensive, too, so that's why I've resorted to making almost everything from scratch. I know I'm not the only one. This is why I'd like to extend this invitation to you all: If there is a dessert/savory dish that you're craving, and you're on a special diet and can't find a recipe for it, I'll try to make up a recipe for you. I can't promise that I'll get it to you right away, but I'll do my best :). (Please just don't ask me to make basil cupcakes ;)!

...so much for a short and sweet post :P!

Apricot Chicken Tagine...and candy!

Before we even found out that we were going to be leaving Austin, Jose and I still tried to savor every bit of this city's quirkiness. But now we're trying to take it all in without being consumed by the unbearable heat! This coming week, temperatures will literally reach 100 degrees; this past weekend wasn't much cooler. So, with trickles of sweat dripping down our faces, we happily made our way to the Big Top Candy Shop. The promise of candy and too many sugary desserts to count was enough to get me out of the house, despite the blaring afternoon sun. This place was magical; with treats like old fashioned bubblegum 'cigarettes' and chocolate covered bacon, any fan of old fashioned candy and unique treats would find it hard to leave the Big Top Candy Shop.

Even though it's nearly impossible to leave room for dinner after visiting a place full of enough sweets to make an Umpa Lumpa jealous, Jose and I still managed to have an appetite for our Roast Apricot Chicken Tagine with Cilantro Couscous. Full of savory goodness from long hours of simmering, tagines are hearty North African stews named after the beautiful clay pots they're typically cooked in. Our 'quick' tagine included a few dried fruits and a variety of mouthwatering spices; we used chicken as our protein and served the stew over cilantro couscous. Cooking this meal was just as enjoyable as eating it, since the spices gave off a rich aroma that made us grateful we didn't have to wait very long to take the first bite, thanks to this quick tagine recipe from About.com.

Next week, we plan on exploring Mexico with our taste buds. Chile relleno sounds good to me; plus, I promised the hubby I'd make it for him (after making that promise, he then said he'd renew his vows to me, even though we've only been married for 5 months. It's one of his favorite dishes :)! I know the perfect person to ask for this recipe...my grandma!

Hope you all have a lovely and COOL week ahead :)!

Traveling the World One Plate at a Time: Karahi Chicken with Mint and Dessert!

I didn't get the chance to cook this meal last weekend, so I made it a point to make it today. Thankfully, it only took a little less than an hour to prepare and cook, which is great for a lazy Sunday evening. I feel like I need a weekend for my weekend!




Friday night, Jose and I saw the second Narnia movie at Alamo Drafthouse; it's definitely a place you should check out if you're not from around here. They serve pretty good food and even feature a special menu for some movies; Turkish Delight was on the menu for Prince Caspian :)! Of course, we ordered some. On Saturday we checked out IKEA. Jose and I think it might be best to purchase boxed, unassembled furniture instead of driving to Cambridge with a bunch of bulky furniture that can't be taken apart. (We're trying to figure out the best and cheapest way to move to Cambridge from Austin...any ideas? We did the numbers. Paying a moving company would be too expensive; if we flew there, we'd still need to figure out a way to move our stuff. So it seems driving to Cambridge in a large van with our stuff is the best idea, at least this weekend it is :)...we only have 2 more months to figure it out, though! Oh, but I can't wait :)!) As for today, we cleaned the apartment, sold a few of our many books to the folks at Half-Price, and went shopping for pants and shoes. So, as you can see, or read, it was a very busy weekend and I didn't have much time to cook dinner. Now I'm starting to feel myself catching Jose's cold; it seems my body always gets sick when I take the time to relax and slow down!

At least I got to squeeze in a bunch of baking last week. I was craving a healthy dessert earlier, so I made an apple and carrot cake that's moist, cinnamony, and milk-free. I made a blueberry peach pie too, but I'll post that recipe little later :).

Mini Maple Walnut Cupcakes and Caponatina

One of the best things about being an adult is getting to eat dessert before dinner without having to worry about anyone saying I'm going to spoil my appetite :P! So I'm posting the dessert before the meal ;). I found this recipe in a cheap cupcake cookbook I purchased at the pharmacy last weekend. It had such cute, delicious pictures, I assumed the recipes would be just as pleasing. Well, the mini cupcakes I made didn't turn out badly, I was just disappointed that they lacked flavor and spice. I followed the recipe for apple streusel cupcakes, but I was bummed when the crumbly part melted into the cupcake batter while it baked. I'm sure I didn't measure the topping properly, I can't imagine it was entirely the recipe's fault. When I discovered that the crumble had dissolved into the batter, I'd only used a little less than half of the topping. I didn't want to throw the rest away, so I figured I'd go ahead and make an interesting frosting with the remaining crumble. These are the ingredients that went into the crumble, followed by the ingredients I used to turn it into a frosting! I should call these Frankenstein cupcakes, because I used so many strange ingredients to make a frosting that would bring these tiny desserts to life!

Topping
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2 1/2 TBSP butter

To end up with the frosting I made, you'll need to divide that recipe in half then add the following ingredients to the mix. I didn't measure, I just kept adding things until I ended up with something frosting-like in texture :) <---I know it sounds really silly, but somehow it worked and folks at work even said they were delicious! Sometimes I remind myself of Amelia-Bedelia in the kitchen! (I was a big fan of hers as a kiddo, in all honesty, I could never be as fabulous as she is :D):

Frosting with Topping
1 -2 TBSP heavy cream
a few tablespoons brown sugar
1-2 TBSP maple syrup
a few more sprinkles of cinnamon
about a cup of powdered sugar

and as for the cupcake recipe (you might want to add a few extra spices, I think I should've used apple pie spice with these)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 cup apple sauce
4 TBSP butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 1/4 cup self-rising flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg

bake at 350 for about 12 minutes (for mini cupcakes)

As you can see, these cupcakes aren't exactly healthy. Just staring at the list of ingredients is making one of my molars hurt, can you feel a cavity developing ;)? Now that we've all had our sugar rush for the day, let's move on to dinner...

So my new friend Michele said it was ok to post the yummy Caponatina recipe she shared with me! I made this hearty Italian dish to go along with the chicken picatta I made for dinner this past weekend. It was the first time I tried both eggplant and caponatina. I was so happy to discover that it wasn't too difficult to make, despite its complex flavor. I divided the following recipe in half and didn't bother storing it in a jar because I had a feeling my husband and I would devour it in just two days -- I was right!

oops, I forgot to unpeel the eggplant! Can you believe I just noticed?! :D

Grandma Rose’s Caponatina Sicilian Style
2 lb unpeeled eggplant, cut into 1” cubes
½ cup olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 cup chopped celery
3 ½ oz. tomato paste
1 cup water
1 lb green olives, salted and pitted
2 oz jar of capers, unsalted and drained
salt and pepper to taste
1 heaping tsp. sugar
¼ cup wine vinegar

Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Add onion and celery, cook until almost tender. Remove onions and celery and place in a bowl. In same skillet, sauté eggplant until light brown. Remove. In same pan, over med flame, cook tomato paste and water, stir until dissolved. Add olives, eggplant, capers, onion, celery, salt and pepper. Mix well. Bring to a boil over high flame. Lower flame and simmer for 5 minutes. Add sugar and vinegar. Stir and cook for ½ minute. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Makes 2 quarts. Sterilize jars before using. Cover tightly.
Keeps in refrigerator for 6 weeks.

I found the chicken picatta recipe in a magazine I received in the mail last week! It's called Cuisine At Home, it isn't sold in stores yet; it was a free gift I received most likely for subscribing to 3 other foodie magazines. It's really great because it offers pictures along with step-by-step instructions, and some other fun cooking tips. The recipe called for 4 chicken cutlets, but I only had 5 drumsticks so I improvised a little :).

Instructions:
Well, they say you should sprinkle the cutlets with salt and pepper then lightly cover them in flour. But just a few pages away from this recipe in the same magazine was a short article that convinced me I needed to first dip the chicken in a mix of egg whites and corn starch THEN roll them in flour (I used whole-grain, it gave it a heartier flavor) seasoned with salt, pepper, paprika, and a bit of parsley. It was something new I wanted to try, so I went ahead and tried it on the chicken. I was happy with the results.

So here are the rest of the instructions:
Sautee in 2 TBSP oil (they suggest veg oil, I used olive) then once the chicken pieces are browned on all sides, set them aside. In the same pan that you used to lightly fry the chicken, add 1/4-1/2 cup white wine (depending on how much chicken you're using) and 2 minced garlic cloves. Then add 1/2 cup chicken broth, 2 TBSP fresh lemon juice, 2 TBSP butter, and 1 TBSP fresh capers. I wanted a thicker sauce, so I added a bit of flour to the mix. Since I used chicken drumsticks instead of cutlets, I went ahead and placed a few lemon slices in an oven-safe platter, then set the drumsticks on top of the slices. I then poured the "sauce" on top of each lightly fried chicken drumstick. Because I accidentally got a little more caper juice in the sauce than I wanted :D, I drizzled a bit of honey on top of the chicken before placing it in the oven to bake at 350 for about 45-50 minutes. If you're using cutlets, you can go ahead and continue cooking the chicken in the pan with the sauce until it's no longer pink. Though pink is one of my favorite colors, it's not very flattering on chicken ;).

Traveling the World, One Plate at A Time: Escalivada and Pollo A La Española

This weekend, our taste buds decided to take a trip to Spain. Using our kitchen as a vehicle for getting there, we discovered we didn't need a plane! So, a few hours ago, Jose and I put together two dishes that brought us closer to the Mediterranean than we've ever been. Our passport was a refrigerator full of delicious Spanish vegetables and ingredients, all of which we purchased earlier today at one of our favorite grocery stores, Central Market. We decided, instead of going out to eat on the weekends, we'd spend some time together in the kitchen preparing delicious, hearty meals that would give our very uneducated palates a greater appreciation for the world's many colorful flavors. It's a win-win situation: we get to spend more time together, and we actually end up saving money in the process! Even if you're on a budget, you can still travel; the kitchen is an amazing teleporter, you don't even have to ask Scotty to beam you up!

This week's dishes were Escalivada and Pollo A La Española, two very vegetable-loaded meals that will leave you feeling full and satisfied. I found these recipes in an old cookbook my husband purchased awhile ago, it's called Spanish: Over 150 Mouthwatering Step-By-Step Recipes by Pepita Aris. The chicken recipe gives the cook the option to use bacon lardons or pancetta; we thought it'd be fun to use pancetta since we've never tried it. We're so glad we did! Unlike bacon, it has a very mild, almost sweet flavor that enhanced the entire meal's flavor without taking the spotlight away from the rest of the dish. I didn't imagine it'd be this tasty! It is pretty fatty, but it actually seemed less fatty than bacon. I simmered the pancetta veggie sauce with the chicken for almost an hour. As a result, the often-dry boneless, skinless chicken breast pieces I normally use came out moist and full of flavor, even when eaten without the sauce (I didn't eat too much of the pancetta, but I noticed I still picked-up it's flavor in the chicken and I think it definitely contributed to its moistness).

So here are the ingredients for both dishes :)
Escalivada (this recipe makes enough for about 8 people, so I divided it in half and I still have leftovers for tomorrow)

2-3 zucchini
1 large fennel bulb
1 Spanish Onion
2 red bell peppers
1 butternut squash
6 whole garlic cloves
5 TBSP olive oil
juice of 1/2 a lemon
pinch of crushed cumin seeds
4 sprigs fresh thyme
4 medium tomatoes
salt and ground black pepper

Bake at 375 for about 40 minutes

Before turning on the oven, I suggest steaming the butternut squash. It didn't bake in the time it was supposed to, though all the other veggies were already soft and crisp on top. If I had to do it again, I'd bake it for 20 minutes at 375 or steam it for the same amount of time. Then I'd let it cool so that I could cut it into cubes and remove the skin. All the other vegetables get sliced long-ways; the tomatoes should be chopped, the garlic smashed (the skin stays on). The veggies need to be placed in a large-enough platter so that they're all level and not piled up too high. Basically, everything gets baked together, except for the tomatoes (those don't get added in until the rest of the veggies bake). The olive oil and lemon juice serve as a dressing for the veggies. The veggies get drizzled with olive oil/lemon juice right before the cumin gets sprinkled between the thyme sprigs and veggies. All these aromatic ingredient bake for 25 minutes. After these 25 minutes are over, remove the veggies from the oven and mix-in the chopped tomatoes, then bake all the veggies for another 15 minutes.

This is how the veggies should be chopped (I love that purple garlic, it's so tasty):


Pollo A La Española (this makes enough for 4)
1 tsp paprika
4 portions of chicken
3 TBSP olive oil
5 oz smoked bacon lardons or diced pancetta
1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic olives, finely chopped
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced 1
4 oz can of tomatoes or 1 lb fresh
2 TBSP chopped fresh parsley
salt and ground black pepper

This dish could be a meal in itself and tastes great with something as simple as white rice. Even if you use chicken breast, they'll still come out moist if you simmer them over a low flame with the pancetta/veggie sauce for a good amount of time. As for the instructions: lightly lather the chicken pieces with paprika, then fry the chicken in 2 TBSP olive oil - cook covered. In another pan, cook the diced pancetta in 1 TBSP olive oil until it starts to get slightly crispy, then add the onion and garlic - mix and cook covered until the onions are soft. Add the green and red bell pepper to the chicken, continue cooking until the chicken is no longer pink. Add the tomatoes and chopped parsley to the pancetta and simmer for 5 minutes, then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add the tomato/pancetta sauce to the chicken; then simmer the ingredients for at least 30 minutes, or until you're ready eat :).

Once all the ingredients simmer together, you'll get something like this...


I highly suggest using the pancetta if you've never tried it! I personally think bacon would be too strong for this dish, but the pancetta is so delicate in flavor and texture that it practically melts in your mouth :)!

mixed berry and white wine chicken

I recently paid a visit to the library in Downtown Austin and fell in love with the cookbook section! I literally had to put some back because I couldn't even walk down the aisles due to the weight of all the books I was carrying. When Jose saw me, the first thing he did was laugh; it was a site, a funny one. Anyway, I haven't had a chance to absorb all the wonderful goodness of the many recipe books I borrowed, but there is one book that I haven't been able to put down. It has really great pictures, plus it's so darn cute...it's called Shakespeare's Kitchen! For a degree holder in English and foodie, that's pretty much like heaven in binding! It's a great book, plus it even smells delicious (I feel that each book has it's own wonderful, unique smell that's in a category all its own...). I asked Jose to skim the pages so that he could pick out something we could make for dinner together last weekend, and he chose the Chicken with Wine, Apples, and Dried Fruit...which sounded pretty yummy. Of course, being that I always have to change recipes around in one way or another (well, not always, just most of the time) I went ahead and tweaked a few things here and there, they were very minor changes. The recipe called for whole wheat flour and we didn't have any so I used regular white, and I also changed what dried fruit went into the dish. I'm not much of a date fan, so I decided to add cranberries instead. It's always fun to add in your own personal touch, because in the same way our personalities differ, our taste buds experience flavor in their own unique ways as well. I'll post the original recipe, then I'll add my semi-copy-cat after it :).

Chicken with Wine, Apples, and Dried Fruit
4 chicken legs and thighs
Salt and freshly milled black pepper
1/4 cup whole-wheat flour
1 TBSP extra-virgin olive oil
2 cups dry white wine
1/4 cup currants
1/2 cup dried plums
1/2 cup pitted dates
1 TBSP minced fresh ginger
1/2 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tart apple, cored and quartered, skin on

Here is my mixed berry and white wine chicken
8 chicken thighs (instead of 4 of each)
salt and pepper
1/3 cup white flour
2-3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (I used a large pan :)
1 2/3 cups dry white wine (I'm not used to cooking with this, so I figured I'd add a little less first)
1/4 cup fresh pomegranant seeds
1/4 cup sweetened, dried cranberries
1/4 cup golden raisins
1/2 tbsp minced fresh ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg (I used the powder)
1 tsp cinnamon (I always add more of this!)
1 tbsp brown sugar (it counteracts the sourness of the cranberries)
1 sweet fuji apple, cored and thinly sliced w/ peel...because I love fujis!


Instructions (these are basically the same for both recipes):
Cut apart the chicken legs (and/or thighs). Sprinkle the chicken pieces with the salt, pepper and flour (I rolled it in the flour :). Heat the olive oil in large saute pan over high heat and brown the chicken on all sides. Remove the chicken from the pan. Add 1/4 cup of the wine to the pan and stir to loosen the pan drippings. Add the remaining wine, then the dried fruit, apples, and spices also. Return the chicken to the pan, cover with a lid, and reduce heat to low. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 45 minutes (the book says 30 but I like to make sure it's really cooked :). About 20 minutes into the chicken-cooking process, I sprinkled the brown sugar on top of the meat so that it could have a nice lightly sweetened coat. Remove the chicken and cook the pan sauce for 5-10 minutes, or until it's reduced by half (so it thickens and becomes more rich in flavor).

That's about it! Have fun experimenting with adding your own favorite dried fruits! I think maybe olives would add a nice touch too!

Mediterranean Chicken and Rice

Photographs of food really do look better when they're larger, I'll post bigger pictures from now on :).

I haven't posted in awhile. Lately I've been focusing more on preparing fast meals for dinner that don't require me to have the stove/oven on for so so long...our last electric bill was ridiculously high, and we just discovered that our AC might've been the culprit...since it's broken and only works "sometimes". Anyway, I decided I really wanted to make something tasty for dinner tonight, even if it required me to leave the stove on for a little longer than I would've liked. I actually got the idea for it from a book I picked up at the library earlier this week. The dish that inspired me to make this is called Milanese Chicken and Rice Skillet. The thing is, I didn't use a skillet, I used different spices, and even incorporated some Mexican food elements. I actually deviated from the recipe even more by cooking the chicken in a completely different way (I boiled it instead of cooking it in the skillet). The recipe called for chicken breast, but all I had were drumsticks. Improvising was a lot of fun, though. The picture in the cookbook was beautiful and yummy looking, I think that's what drew me to make the dish in the first place. But...I didn't really measure anything, though I do remember all the ingredients I used. Here are the ingredients that were used and the steps I took when making this eclectic plate that has both Mediterranean and Mexican flair.

I used 1 1/2 pounds of chicken drumsticks
I boiled the drumsticks in about 1 pint of water mixed with 1 TBSP chicken bouillon, some garlic salt and a little bit of cilantro (the chicken cooked in about 35 minutes--there were about 5 drumsticks).

While the chicken cooked, I prepared the rice, which is similar to the Mexican rice I've made in the past...but it's been spiced up a little more.
I cooked 1 cup of rice by first lightly frying it in a few TBSPS of olive oil, one small garlic clove, and about 1/8 cup finely diced onion.
I then boiled 3 roma tomatoes, removed their skin, threw them in the blender with 1/4 cup onion, 1 1/2 tsps chicken bouillon, 1 garlic clove, 1 tsp cilantro--this all amounted to about 3/4 of a cup.
To the rice in the pan I added the tomato mixture and 1 1/4-1/2 cups water
As the rice cooked, I added a few sprinkles of garlic salt and pepper, about 1 tsp of paprika and onion powder, cilantro, and parsley. I also added about 1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper, 1/2 cup frozen peas, 1/2 cup chopped carrots, and 1/2 cup celery.
When the chicken finished cooking in the boiling water, I dumped out the water then added some paprika, salt, pepper, about 1 1/2 tbsps Italian seasoning, about 2 TBSP olive oil, 1/4 cup chopped onion, 1/4 cup red bell pepper, 1/4 cup green bell pepper, and 1/2 a small can of diced black olives (about 1.5 oz) along with about 1/2 the olive juice--I seared the chicken in these spices/vegetables, then lowered the flame to a medium setting and sprinkled about 3/4 tbsp brown sugar and 1/4 cup golden raisins into the chicken mix.

That's pretty much it! Oh, and the book where I got the idea for this recipe is called Treasury of Christmas...it's a great book--so many great recipes!

easy taquitos!

...and for the last day of chicken left-overs, I made taquitos! I'm gonna have to start using a recipe book because I'm running out of ideas for chicken; my palate is still somewhat narrow but hopefully that'll change soon...back to the topic, this is another recipe that'll work for those days when there isn't much time for anything fancy. This is also fun finger food for parties or snack time. I made this a meal by serving it with the traditional side of beans and rice...and the not so traditional organic mixed veggies :D... When I can't have veggies in the actual meal, I always make sure to serve them as a side so that I feel like I'm getting meeting some of the food pyramid requirements :P.

So what did I do for the taquitos? I used some shredded chicken, fried it with cubed potatoes, chopped garlic and onion. Of course, a pinch of salt and pepper were thrown in, along with a hearty sprinkle of cilantro and parsley. I put the chicken in corn tortillas, which I warmed up in the micro for about 20 seconds so they'd be soft enough to roll into taquitos without breaking. I also added some colby/jack cheese before rolling everything up and piercing the taquitos with a toothpick (so they would hold when frying). I then fried the taquitos in a covered pan with canola oil for about 1 minute on each side, or until they were slightly crispy/golden all around. That's basically it! This was a very fast meal to whip up; minus the cooking time for the chicken, I was able to finish this in 15 minutes!

honey ginger chicken and a fun seasonal veggie mix

When there isn't much time to make something fancy to eat, I try to make up for the lack of complexity with a dash of spices, a quick vinaigrette, or a fun texture. I tried to incorporate all those things into this dish, making sure to use up one of the many squashes I've managed to collect in my refrigerator. Chicken breast is a versatile protein I like to work with, though it does tend to be a little dry if it's cooked the wrong way. Essentially, I would've preferred to let the chicken marinate over night in the "sauce" I made for it, but, like I mentioned earlier, I didn't have the time. Instead, I decided to let the chicken cook on a very low setting for a few minutes, then sear in all the flavors by cooking the meat over a high flame for a much shorter period of time. In doing so, the end result was reasonably moist and very flavorful. I would still like to know how to get a perfectly juicy piece of chicken breast, though; most of the time it seems that the fattier meats are the juiciest, but I'm sure there's a trick out there I've yet to learn that could easily prove that idea wrong...time will tell :).

I used about a pound of chicken breast to make this dish, and I actually sliced each chicken breast in half so it would cook faster. After cutting the chicken into smaller portions, I placed it in a pan with a little olive oil and 1/3 cup of orange juice. One thing I'd like to note again is that I cooked the chicken breast with the seasonings covered with a lid over a low setting for about 40 minutes. Afterward, for about 3 minutes, I uncovered the chicken and raised the flame to a very high setting until almost all the liquid/juice evaporated and the chicken itself was slightly browned on one side--I think this is what helped "lock-in" the flavor.

Here are the ingredients I added to each side of the chicken pieces equally:
1 3/4 tsp ginger
3/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp pepper
2 1/2 tsp parsley
2 TBSP honey

While the chicken cooked over a low setting, I prepared the veggies. Sometimes veggies can use a little bit of sweetness for extra flavor, so why not incorporate fruits when preparing them? I decided to add raisins to a mix of carrots and squash, but I also added chopped almonds because nuts tend to add a fun bite to whatever they're thrown in--I will never use pine nuts, though...just discovered I was allergic to those a few years ago, and it was not a fun discovery, to say the least :P.

Here are the measured ingredients I added:
1 1/2 cups cubed squash pieces
3/4 cups chopped carrots (a smart chopper does a great job with this)
1/8-1/4 cup chopped almonds
1/4 cup raisins
3/4 tsp fine herb spice
pinch of salt and pepper
2 TBSP olive oil

the veggies cooked pretty fast, especially the squash. I think it's best to actually cook the carrots alone in the olive oil before adding the other ingredients; the squash cooks a lot faster and almonds burn easily. By the way, burned almonds smell horrible...kind of like popcorn--I know because I burned some a few weeks ago and they do not give off a very pleasant smell when that happens :D.

Random Sidenote:
Oh, here are a few interesting excerpts from a CNN article about produce:
A research review of 41 studies conducted by the University of California at Davis found that, on average, organic produce contains as much as 27 percent more vitamin C, 21 percent more iron, and 29 percent more magnesium compared with traditionally grown foods.

USDA researchers have found that if it's [produce] not handled properly, produce can lose up to half its nutrients in transit. Water-soluble nutrients such as vitamin C are particularly
vulnerable.

You can read the rest of the article here

cranberry chicken summer salad with citrus honey sauce

This is something I made this weekend when I was feeling too lazy to make something more time consuming. I basically made baked chicken fingers, a quick veggie/cranberry salad, some seasoned rice and decided I'd call it a salad. It was fast and easy but still flavorful. I didn't measure the spices I added to the bread-crumbs that covered the chicken, but here's a rough estimate of what all went in to this part of the meal:
about...
1 lb chicken breast tenders
3/4 cup garlic and herb bread crumb
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 1/2 tsp basil
Then the chicken breast tenders were dipped in an egg wash, covered in the bread crumb seasoning mixed. They cooked in the oven for about 30-35 minutes at 325.

The "salad", if you want to call it that, was also easy to make. Most of the prep time for this dinner was spent cutting up the ingredients I used, which included:
1/2 sweet onion
1/4 cup sweet, dried cranberries
1/4-1/3 cup finely chopped celery
1 finely chopped onion
2 TBSP olive oil
a pinch of salt and pepper
1/2-3/4 cup chopped mushrooms
I then seared all these veggies/fruits together until they had a sweet and spicy aroma.

The rice was cooked in chicken broth and a mixture of spices, then I made the dressing last, so I could throw it over the baked chicken before serving. This is enough dressing for about 2 people:
1/2 tsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp brown sugar
2 1/2 tsp freshly squeezed tangelo or orange juice (I actually squeezed a tangelo...and I've only recently heard of them :)
1/2-1 tsp honey (depending on how sweet you want it)

This was all pretty quick and easy to make, I had a very lazy weekend. Today we made a pizza...and I'm really happy with how well the bread maker makes pizza dough! With just a few extra seasonings sprinkled over the dough after rolling it into a pizza shape, and the proper veggies and cheeses, the bread maker pizza dough, and the pizza in general, comes out so much better than delivery! I should have taken a picture, but it was so good that I couldn't resist diving into it before getting the camera out. Slow weekends are nice...especially on cold winter days...which I am definitely looking forward. But there's good news, it seems the unbearable Texas heat is finally giving in, at least a little, to the slight coolness of the approaching autumn days...we're finally in the low 90s!

fresh tostadas and salsa

I bought a $4 whole chicken at the grocery store on Sunday, cooked it in the crock-pot and I'm still finishing it up! What a bargain! I've been able to make so many meals with it, including last night's tostada dish.

I had to add a few more spices to the chicken, since it seems only the skin absorbed the flavor of the spices I added when I cooked it in the crock-pot. So I just chopped up about 1 1/2 cups of chicken, threw it into a pan with a little bit of olive oil, then seasoned it with cilantro, salt, pepper, and parsley. I added about 1/2 tsp of parsley, 1/4-1/2 tsp of cilantro, then a few shakes of salt and a sprinkle of pepper. I also cut up a small garlic clove and 1/8 cup of onion--added that to the chicken while it was spiced over a medium flame for about 5-7 minutes--or until it was slighty golden (I like toasting chicken sometimes because it adds good flavor, especially in Mexican dishes...I notice that pork chops also taste better when they're on the crispier side, not burned, though!)

As for the tortillas that I used for the tostadas, I purchased a bag of locally made tortillas that are completely preservative free (I am horrible at making tortillas, I tried a few times and all that results is a horrible mess and blocks of flour!), then I fried them in olive oil over a medium flame until they were crispy. If you don't want to fry them (I actually didn't fry the ones I ate) you can toast them on a grittle pan until they get crunchy--this is what my grandma does.

The garnish I used for the tostadas included the following ingredients: romaine lettuce (chopped), a chopped roma tomato, some grated cheese, and of course the salsa.

My grandma taught me how to make salsa a few months ago, but I wanted to add a few more things to it. I added chopped red bell pepper because it has a sweetness to it that balances out the spiciness of the chili piquin I used.
Here's what went into the salsa (this makes about 1/2 cup of salsa):
2 boiled roma tomatoes, with the skin removed
1 chili piquin
1/8 cup sweet onion
1 small chopped garlic
2 TBSP finely chopped red bell pepper
3/4 tsp cilantro
1/4 tsp salt
a pinch of pepper
I threw the roma tomatoes into the blender with 2 1/2 tsp of warm water and the little piquin. While this was blending into a liquid, I chopped up the garlic, onion and red bell pepper, then lightly sauteed these ingredients in olive oil with the cilantro and pepper. I then added the sauteed veggies to the plain roma tomato/piquin chili "sauce", added about 1/4 tsp of salt, then I turned the blender back on for a few seconds on the "grate" setting; I didn't want a complete puree, there should still be some small pieces of bell pepper in there.

That's about it for the salsa, you can chill it if you want to, or eat it warm on top of the tostadas.

One thing I really like on my tostadas is refried beans. I still had beans left over from the other day (you can get the recipe here), so I just added a couple of tablespoons of oil to a pan (I used olive because it doesn't smell up the house as much as canola/vegetable oil, and it does taste good with the beans), spooned in the beans, raised the flame to a medium-low setting and started mashing them with a spoon once they warmed up. I didn't completely mash them into a big mushy thing, I left a few semi-whole and then let all the beans simmer over a low flame until most of the watery bean "soup" evaporated, so that I was left with the refried beans.

Oh, and before I go, here are a few more pictures of my guineas, I took these a few days ago:
This is Mochi (we refer to him as the mini buffalo, he kinda looks like it)


This is Yoshi! (he's actually really hyper, but you can't tell that here)