Oven Fried Chicken

Oven Fried Chicken

When my kids were growing up this was one of their favorite dinners. We’d have baked potatoes with sour cream and a vegetable along with this chicken and it was a most satisfying meal. Just last week one of my daughter’s neighborhood friends facebooked me that she had made oven fried chicken for her husband and little boy but it hadn’t tasted like she remembered mine tasting. She asked if I could share how I made mine. So here it is . . . this is one of the recipes that used to be on the back of the Bisquick Baking Mix box. BTW, my daughter’s favorite dish at her friend’s house was her mom’s Baked Ziti. I’ll have to track that recipe down!

Ingredients
2 T. butter or margarine
2/3 C. Bisquick baking mix
1 1/2 t. paprika
1 1/4 t. seasoning salt
1/4 t. pepper
1 chicken, cut up or 6 chicken breast halves (I use boneless and skinless breast halves0

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Place the margarine in a 13 X 9 inch pan and place in the oven until the margarine is melted.
3. Meanwhile, mix the dry ingredients in a large ziploc bag and place a couple of pieces of chicken into the bag and coat them with the mix. Repeat until all the pieces are coated.
4. Place the chicken skin side down in the pan.
5. Bake for 35 minutes. Turn pieces over and cook 15 minutes more or until done.
Serves 6

Crockpot Salsa Chicken

Crockpot Salsa Chicken

This recipe is ridiculously easy! Just throw three ingredients in the crockpot before you leave for work in the morning and it is ready to add the final touches for a great meal when you get home. It makes plenty of sauce so it’s great served over steamed rice. Simply add a salad or vegetable and you’ve got a great meal. For any weight watchers out there, this is 5 points per serving.

Ingredients
20 oz. uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 1/4 oz. pkg. reduced sodium taco seasoning
1 C. salsa
2 T. cornstarch
1/4 C. light sour cream

1. Place the chicken in the crockpot. (If it’s going to cook all day I put it in frozen)
2. Sprinkle the chicken with the taco seasoning and top with salsa.
3. Cook on low 6-8 hours.
4. Remove chicken from crockpot.
5. Dissolve cornstarch in 1/4 C. of water and stir into the salsa mixture. Stir in the sour cream and heat a few minutes until thickened. Serve over the chicken. Serves 4

Beer and Rosemary Roasted Chicken with Gravy

Beer & Rosemary Roasted Chicken

My husband’s favorite meal is roasted chicken so I thought I would try basting the chicken in this mixture of beer and rosemary. I had dug up one of my rosemary plants and potted it before it got cold so I even had fresh rosemary but dried will work just fine as well! Potatoes baked along with the chicken the last hour so all I had to do was fix a vegetable and we were good to go for dinner.

Ingredients
1 whole chicken (5-7 lbs.)
2 T. butter, melted
1 T. dijon mustard
1 1/2 t. chopped fresh rosemary (3/4 t. dried)
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
3/4 C. dark beer (I used Samuel Adams)
1 onion, peeled and cut into 1/8ths
2 stalks celery, cut into 3 inch pieces
1/2 C. cold water
1/4 C. all purpose flour
chicken broth or stock to make 2 C. when added to the chicken drippings after baking

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Remove and discard the neck and giblets from the chicken cavity. Rinse the chicken inside and out with cold water and pat dry with paper towels. Place the onions and celery in the bottom of a roasting pan and place the chicken breast side up on top of the onions and celery.

2. In a medium bowl, stir together the butter, mustard, rosemary, salt, pepper, and beer. Microwave uncovered on high for a minute or two, stirring every thirty seconds, until well mixed. Brush about a third of the mixture evenly over the surface of the chicken. Fasten drumsticks together with cotton string.

3. Roast uncovered about 20 minutes per pound, brushing the chicken with additional butter mixture and pan drippings every 15-20 minutes. Chicken is done when juices run clear when the thigh is pierced with a fork.
4. Let chicken stand for 15 – 20 minutes for easier carving.
5. Meanwhile, measure drippings and add enough chicken broth or stock to make 2 cups. In a small cup, stir together cold water and flour with a whisk until smooth.

6. Bring the drippings mixture to a boil in a 2-quart saucepan and stir the flour mixture into the boiling drippings. Continue stirring 2 to 3 mintues longer until gravy is thickened and bubbly.

Crockpot Creamed Chicken & Biscuits

Crockpot Creamed Chicken over Cheesy Biscuits

This recipe is pure comfort food and so easy to make!! I threw this in the crockpot on a morning when it was zero outside and came home from work with the house smelling great and a wonderful hot dish on a day where the high temperature was only 14 degrees F. This dish also works for those who are gluten intolerant because Minute tapioca is used as the thickening agent. I adapted this from a recipe on the Better Homes & Garden’s website and have included their recipe for cheesy biscuits that the creamed chicken is ladeled over to serve.

Ingredients
1 red pepper, diced
1 C. carrots, diced
1/2 C. onion, diced
1/2 C. celery, diced
8 oz. fresh mushrooms, quartered
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 t. dried thyme leaves, crushed
1/2 t. dried sage, crushed
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. ground black pepper
2 1/2 T. quick cooking tapioca, crushed
1 lb. frozen, boneless, skinless chicken thighs (using frozen meat allows it to cook all day without over cooking)
3/4 C. chicken stock or broth
1 C. frozen peas or baby lima beans
4 oz. light cream cheese, cut up
Cheesy Biscuits (see recipes below)

1. In a 3 1/2 or 4 qt. slow cooker, combine red pepper, carrots, onion, celery, mushrooms, garlic, thyme, sage, salt, and pepper. Sprinkle the tapioca over the vegetable mixture and stir. Top with the frozen chicken thighs and pour the broth over all.
2. Cover and cook on low for 7-9 hours.
3. Remove chicken from slow cooker and turn cooker to high heat. When cool enough to handle, chop the meat and return to the slow cooker along with the peas and cream cheese. Stir well. Cover and cook another 20 minutes.
4. Serve over cheesy biscuits (See below)

Cheesy Biscuits
1. Preheat overn to 450 degrees.
2. In a medium bowl, combine 1-2/3 C. of packaged bicuit mix (I use Biquick) and 1/2 C. shredded cheddar cheese.
3. Stir in 1/2 C. milk
4. Turn out on a floured surface and knead 10 times. Pat into a 1/2 inch thick rectangle and cut into 6 even pieces.
5. Place bicuits on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden.

Cheesy Biscuits

Jamaican Jerk Grilled Chicken

This is another of my son, Matt’s, recipes. The jerk sauce is made ahead so the chicken can be marinaded. I marinaded the chicken tenders all afternoon but you can leave them overnight if you wish. Matt likes to use boneless chicken thighs with this sauce. When you taste the sauce by itself it tastes pretty hot. The chicken doesn’t come out nearly that hot but you do get a slow build up of heat as you eat them. If you like a lot of heat, save some of the marinade out and use it as a dipping sauce. That’s what my hubby, Ken, did. I liked them as they were off the grill.

Ingredients
3 hot peppers, stems removed (I used jalapenos with the seeds left in them)
1 T. dried thyme
1 T. ground allspice
1/2 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
5-6 large garlic cloves, peeled
1 1/2 medium onions, peeled and roughly chopped
1 T. sugar
1 1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. ground pepper
1/4 C. olive oil
1/4 C. soy sauce
1/2 C. orange juice
1/2 C. cider vinegar

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Save some of the marinade for a dipping sauce. Marinate your meat (boneless pork loin works well, too)for at least a few hours but preferably over night. This makes enough marinade for up to five pounds of meat.

Jamaican Jerk Sauce & Marinade

Grill the meat over medium heat until done.

Grilled Jamaican Jerk Chicken Tenders

Lemon Chicken Soup with Spinach and Dill

Lemon Chicken Soup with Spinach and Dill

With the cool weather arriving here in the midwest, this recipe provides a tasty twist on your basic comfort food – chicken soup! My first taste of this soup took me back to my childhood and a Greek restaurant my family used to frequent. It’s been so long ago that I can’t remember the name of the restaurant but they served a cup of lemony chicken soup as an appetizer which I always loved.
This soup is simple to prepare and is great as a leftover, as well, so you might want to consider making a double batch. It is from The Best of Fine Cooking: Big Buy.

Ingredients
2 T. olive oil
1 large yellow onion, medium dice
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs
4 C. chicken stock (I like Kitchen Basics)
1/2 C. instant rice
1 t. dried oregano
5 oz. (6 C. lightly packed) baby spinach
2 T. minced fresh dill
2 T. lemon juice; more to taste
salt & greshly ground pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a small 3 qt. sauce pan or dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until softened, 5-7 minutes. Add the chicken thighs, broth, rice, and oregano. Cover, raise the heat to medium high, and bring to a full boil; turn off the heat and let stand, covered for 5 minutes. With tongs, transfers the chicken to a cutting board and shred it with a table knife and fork, discarding any obvious fat or gristle. Working in two batches, puree the broth, rice, and onions in a blender until very smooth, 30 to 60 seconds. (I used an immersion blender)

Return the chicken and the blended broth to the pot and bring to a simmer over medium-low heat. Add the spinach and dill; cook until the spinach wilts completely, about 3 minutes. Stir in the lemon juice. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and additional lemon juice. Serves 4-6.

Tomatillo Salsa & Easy Chicken Tacos

Tomatillos have been in abundance at the farmer’s market (even here in the heartland.) I bought a whole basket of them for $2 last week. Having the tomatillos so available made it a perfect time to make this salsa and have chicken tacos! I made a cheese quesadilla for dinner tonight and dipped them in this salsa . . . YUM! My son, Matt, gets the credit for this recipe. He’s a great cook and everyone has been telling me that I need to put it on my blog. So here it is.

Salsa Ingredients
6 tomatillos, husk removed and cut in half
1-2 jalapenos, stem removed
2 thick slices of a large red onion
2 cloves of garlic
2 T. honey
2 T. olive oil
Juice of two limes
A handful of fresh cilantro
Salt & pepper to taste

Grill the tomatillos, jalapeno, red onion, and garlic until cooked through and slightly blackened.

Grilled jalapenos, onions, tomatillos, and garlic before blending

Place all four grilled ingredients in a blender and add the honey, olive oil, lime juice, cilantro, and salt and pepper to taste. Blend until smooth.

Tomatillo Salsa

Chicken Taco Ingredients
1 Rotisserie Chicken, skin removed and the meat shredded or package of grilled chicken strips
flour tortillas
shredded cheese
sour cream
lettuce
diced tomatoes

Assemble the above taco ingredients on a flour tortilla and top with the tomatillo salsa. This salsa is also great over a plate of nachos, with shredded pork tacos, or as a dip for quesadillas.

Sesame Chicken Noodle Salad

Sesame Chicken Noodle Salad

This is one of my favorite summer recipes to take to a potluck so I took it to my Dining for Women meeting this month. It was a big hit, as it usually is. It looks beautiful on the serving platter, too! I have simplified this over the years by using precooked and packaged grilled chicken strips rather than cooking the chicken myself. I also simply buy a bag of coursely grated carrots instead of doing julienned carrots myself. With these modifications, it only takes about 30 minutes to prepare this (not including the time it takes to chill the salad). This can easily be modified for vegetarians and vegans by replacing the chicken with tofu, tempeh, or seitan. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as my family does!!

Ingredients
16 oz. of grilled chicken strips (tofu, tempeh, or seitan for vegetarians)
8 oz. thin spaghetti
1 C. coursely grated prepackaged carrots
2 T. sesame seeds
1/2 C. reduced sodium soy sauce
1/3 C. oil
1 T. sugar
1 t. ground ginger
1 T. white wine vinegar
1/2 t. crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 lb. snow pea pods
4 green onions, cut into lengths

Cut chicken into 2 inch strips. Cook spaghetti. When the spaghetti only has 2 minutes left to cook add the carrots and pea pods to the boiling water to just blanch the carrots and pea pods. Drain it all in a collander and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking.
When it is cooled and drained return pour everything back into the pot. Meanwhile, in a 1 qt. pan heat the sesame seeds until they are golden. Remove from heat and stir in the soy sauce, oil, sugar, ginger, vinegar, and red pepper flakes. Mix well and pour half of this mixture over the pasta mixture and toss to coat the pasta. Pour the rest of the sauce over the chicken. I have made this ahead up to this point and let everything marinate overnight and assemble it the next day. When ready to eat, arrange the spaghetti mixture on a platter with the chicken piled on top. Sprinkle the green onions around the edge of the pasta. Serves 6

Versatile Summer Salad

Cranberry Chicken Pilaf Salad with Toasted Almonds

Do you have meat eating, vegetarian, and vegan friends and family? If so, then this recipe is for you! I’ve adapted it from the Kashi website. For meat eaters prepare it as written. For vegetarians just leave out the chicken. Last, but not least, leave out the chicken and feta cheese for vegans. Any of the options taste great and are healthy!

Cranberry Chicken Pilaf Salad with Toasted Almonds

1 C. Kashi 7 Whole Grain Pilaf
1 11 oz. can mandarin oranges, drained reserving the juice for dressing
1/4 C. lemon juice
1 T. brown sugar
1/8 t. ground pepper
1/4 C. canola oil
1 C. dried cranberries
10 oz. shelled edamame, cooked and cooled
1/4 C. minced sweet onion or green onions
1 C. slivered almonds, toasted
1/2 C. reduced fat feta cheese
1 1/2 C. diced, cooked chicken

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
2. Prepare the Kashi Pilaf according to package instructions; scoop into a large bowl to cool.
3. Add the dried cranberries to the cooling pilaf and mix.
4. Place slivered almonds on a cookie sheet and bake about 7 minutes until they are golden brown.
5. Drain mandarin oranges reserving 1/2 C. of the juice in a small mixing bowl.
6. To the mandarin orange liquid, whisk in the lemon juice, brown sugar, and pepper. While continuing to whisk, slowly drizzle in the canola oil until a dressing forms.
7. Add the onions, edamame, and dressing and mix well.
8. Add the mandarin oranges and mix gently. Salad can be made ahead to this point.
9. Add slivered almonds just before serving so they stay crunchy.

Nutrition Information
Calories 394
Total Fat 15g
Saturated Fat 2g
Cholesterol 15mg
Sodium 97mg
Potassium 329mg
Total Carbohydrates 55g
Fiber 7g
Sugar 4.5g
Protein 13 g

Without the Chicken 365 calories
Without the Chicken and Feta 353 calories

Grilled Curried Chicken with Cherry Sauce

Cherry Sauce Ingredients

When I come home from a trip I like to bring regional specialities home with me to use in my cooking. This recipe uses dried cherries from Traverse City. I brought home 8 pounds of them so I’ve gotta get crackin’ and use some of them. My son, Matt, informed me that I had too many desserts on the blog and that I need to add more main dishes . . . not sure this is what he had in mind but it did turn out great. The cherry sauce has a chutney-type flavor and I served it over grilled curried chicken. The cherry sauce makes way more than you will need for the amount of chicken so save and use with some grilled pork. Because this is so flavorful I serve it with something simple like Uncle Ben’s Wild Rice Pilaf and steamed broccoli.

Cherry Sauce

1 C. dry red wine
1/4 C. diced onion
1 T. chopped garlic
1 C. dried cherries
1 t. powdered ginger
2 C. chicken stock (I use Kitchen Basics)
2 T. butter
1 t. fresh ground pepper

Place the wine, onion, garlic, cherries, and ginger in a large sauce pan. Bring to a boil and reduce the mixture until only 1/4 C. of the wine remains. Add the chicken stock and boil over high heat until reduced by half. Puree in food processor until smooth. Return it to the sauce pan and over medium heat whisk in the butter a little at a time and season with the pepper and with salt to taste.

Grilled Curried Chicken

8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 T. canola oil
1 t. curry powder

Place all three ingredients in ziploc bag and squish around until the thighs are evenly coated with the oil and curry powder. Let marinate a couple of hours. Grill over medium heat until done. Serve with the cherry sauce.