Chicken Piccata

Our rock the vote was so close I decided to make this recipe as well! Ok, I really wanted to make it anyways, but can you blame me? Look at this thing! It is just one of those classic Italian dishes. As summer comes to an end I wanted to fit this one in before it is soup season. It is just so bright, fresh and simple, I love it. Not a lot goes in to this dish, but you can fool anyone to think you put in a ton of effort. Another bonus is most of the ingredients (besides the capers) you probably have on hand, so it wont break the bank. My friend Liz who is always hooking us up with sweet stuff, gave me her subscription to Cooks Illustrated. I have really liked it so far. This recipe is from their website, which has a bunch of good recipes and how to videos.

Summer Chicken Salad

Summer meals are hard for me. I can always think of lots of warm, comfort food type dishes, but in the summer heat I'm at a loss for what to prepare. With all the delicious produce in season, you would think it would be easy. Just goes to show my food creativity is totally lacking.

A few weeks ago as I was preparing our meal plan I sought inspiration from the cooking blog goddess, Pioneer Woman, and she delivered! We've had this meal several times now (just had it tonight!) and it always proves to be refreshing and delicious!

Chicken Tikka Masala

I have always loved to experiment with food. I'm always finding new recipes to try and share with all of our faithful readers. I'm sure you have wondered some time or another, "Do they eat like this every day?" The answer is no. Like everyone else we have some simple cheap things we eat on an almost weekly basis. We must eat spaghetti at least once a week if not more. Another super cheap, super easy Coats dinner staple is Chicken Tikka Masala. Don't be fooled by this fancy sounding curry, it is a 30 minute life saver. We bought an easy curries cook book way back in the day at Ross. Holli brought up the point that this is the first recipe in the book and the only one we have made. Haha, maybe I will have to try another one some day.

Photo by Holli Coats

Buffalo Chicken Wing Soup

With the Super Bowl coming up I thought I would post a Super Bowl-esque recipe. My mother-in-law went to a cooking class a few years ago and it was geared toward cooking Super Bowl food. In this class she learned how to make a Buffalo Chicken Wing Soup. She posted this recipe on her blog lovinfromthebarneckoven.blogspot.com. We have been making this soup for a few years and love it every time! We started when I was on a big wing kick and would try anything with buffalo wing sauce in it. I also think you could cut out most of the chicken stock and add extra Velveeta cheese and make a dip if you shredded the chicken. But that is just a thought. This soup is really easy and will warm you up on a cold day. It is a winning recipe for any wing lover!

Buffalo Chicken Wing Soup

1 small onion, diced

1 stalk celery, diced

1/4 cup (4 Tbs) butter

1/4 cup flour

3/4 cup milk

14 oz. Can chicken broth

2 cups cooked & diced chicken (1 used 3 breast)

4 oz. Velveeta cheese

1/4 to ½ cup Franks Red Hot or Franks Buffalo Wing Sauce

1/4 cup sour cream

Bleu Cheese Crumbles (if desired)

Cook onion and celery in butter until tender, stir in flour. SLOWLY whisk in milk and chicken broth. Add chicken. Add velveeta and stir until melted. Add hot sauce, sour cream and sprinkle with bleu cheese to your taste preference. Cook low, stirring constantly until heated through and bleu cheese is melted. SERVE!

This make enough for about 4 people. It is a big hit and the pot is usually scraped clean.

You may use rotisserie chicken from the grocery store if desired.

Tandoori Chicken and Curried Couscous Salad

Ok I want to do a quick food blog post before we put up pictures of the baby and tell the birth story and all that jazz. I guess this post would be the first chapter in the birth story as this dinner was only a few hours before Holli went into labor. I came to the realization that my culinary adventures might be slowed down a bit with a baby in the house. I decided to throw one last nice dinner and we invited our friends the Soffes. I don’t cook a lot of Indian food and I thought it would be fun to shake things up. We had a wonderful dinner and a lot of fun with the Soffes. They have a son Mack who is almost one so they couldn’t stay too late and they went home at about 7pm. We cleaned up the kitchen, watched some TV and went to bed. The Indian food wasn't spicy, but it must have done some sort of magic because Holli went in to labor 5 hours later.

Everything was really easy to make, but it just took a little time. The chicken marinates overnight and you just stick it in the oven. The couscous just required chopping some stuff up and making up a dressing and roasting some cauliflower. The Naan and Hummus were store bought (I’m not that hardcore). I did cut the curry powder down in the couscous so it’s a little milder.

Tandoori-Marinated Chicken with Cucumber, Lime, and Chiles

Active Time: 20 minutes

Total time: Up to overnight

Serves 4 to 6

1½ teaspoons whole cumin seeds

1 teaspoon whole coriander seeds

½ teaspoon whole fennel seeds

1 onion, coarsely chopped

2 large garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons minced ginger

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

½ teaspoon ground turmeric

½ cup Greek yogurt

Coarse salt

1 whole chicken (about 4½ pounds)

Cucumbers, lime wedges, and chiles (such as Serrano)

1. Toast cumin, coriander, and fennel seeds in a skillet over medium heat until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Grind into a fine powder.

2. Purée onion, garlic, and ginger. Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion mixture. Fry until translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in spice mixture and turmeric. Let cool.

3. Stir yogurt into onion mixture. Season with salt.

4. Place chicken, breast side up, on a rimmed baking sheet, and tuck wings under. Tie legs together with kitchen twine. Pat chicken dry with paper towels. Gently separate skin from breast of chicken, and rub some of the yogurt mixture under the skin on each side. Cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 8 hours or overnight.

5. Preheat oven to 450°. Uncover chicken, and season with salt. Reduce oven temperature to 400°. Add chiles and limes to pan. Roast chicken for 30 minutes.

Remove from oven, and tent loosely with foil. Return to oven, rotating sheet. Roast until juices run clear and an instantread thermometer inserted into the thickest part of a thigh reaches 165°, about 30 minutes more. Let rest for 10 minutes before serving with cucumbers, lime wedges, and chiles.

Curried Couscous Salad

Ingredients

Cauliflower:

• Vegetable oil cooking spray

• 1 medium head cauliflower, trimmed and cut into 1/2 to 1-inch pieces

• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Salad:

• 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth

• 1 1/2 tablespoons mild curry powder (I used ½ tablespoon)

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 (10-ounce box) couscous

• 3/4 cup dried cranberries

• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped, roasted and lightly salted cashews

• 1 (4-inch) piece cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped into 1/2-inch pieces

• 1/3 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

• 1 large lemon, zested

Dressing:

• 1/3 cup Greek yogurt

• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

• 1 1/2 teaspoons mild curry powder (again I used ½ teaspoon)

• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Cauliflower: Put an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a baking sheet liberally with vegetable oil cooking spray. Set aside. In a medium bowl, toss the cauliflower and olive oil together until coated. Put in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Roast until golden and tender, about 25 to 30 minutes. Set aside to cool for 10 minutes.

Salad: In a medium saucepan, bring the chicken broth, curry powder and salt to a boil over medium-high heat. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the couscous. Cover the pot and allow the couscous to absorb the liquid, about 5 to 7 minutes. Fluff the couscous with a fork and transfer it to a large serving bowl. Stir in the cooked cauliflower, cranberries, cashews, cucumber, parsley, and lemonzest. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Dressing: In a small bowl, whisk together the yogurt, olive oil and curry powder until smooth. Whisk in the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Just before serving, add the dressing to the salad and toss well to coat.

Arroz con Pollo

I had a hard time making a meal plan for this last week. I love to cook and I love food, but for some odd reason when it comes to planning meals for the week I hate it! I had one day left and was having difficulty knowing what to make and then it came to me. Arroz con Pollo! It’s a classic Latin American dish that you can find variations in almost every country in Latin America and Spain. Its Latin American comfort food and I can get down with that! Most recipes I found used saffron which is the most expensive spice and I just didn’t want to drop that kind of money so I kept looking. I decided to look at my go to blog www.simplyrecipes.com and see if they had a recipe. They did and theirs did not use saffron. My suggestion for this recipe is use only thighs or thighs and legs and not breasts. The breasts turned out a little dry. Other than that I think this was a home run.

Arroz Con Pollo Recipe

INGREDIENTS

Chicken

3 Tbsp olive oil

2 1/2 to 3 pounds of chicken thighs or breasts, bone-in, with skin on, rinsed and patted dry

1/2 cup of flour for dredging

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Paprika

Rice

2 tablespoons olive oil (can use up to 1/4 cup)

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

2 cups of medium or long-grain white rice

3 cups* chicken stock

1 heaping tablespoon tomato paste or 1 cup of diced fresh or cooked tomatoes, strained

Pinch of oregano

1 teaspoon salt

*Check the instructions on the rice package for the proportions of liquid to rice. They can range from 1:1 to 2:1. If your rice calls for 2 cups of water for every cup of rice, then for this recipe, use 4 cups of stock for 2 cups of rice.

METHOD

1 Heat 3 Tbsp olive oil in a large skillet (a skillet that has a cover) on medium high heat. Put the flour in a wide bowl, mix in a generous sprinkling of salt, pepper, and paprika. Dredge the chicken pieces lightly in the flour mixture and put in the pan to brown. (You can skip the flour dredging part if you want. It just makes a nicer coating for the chicken.) Cook a few minutes on each side, just enough so that the chicken has browned. Use a slotted spoon to remove from pan and set aside.

2 Add the rice to the pan to brown. Add a little more olive oil if necessary. Stir first to coat the rice with the olive oil in the pan. Then don't stir too much or you will prevent it from browning. Let it brown and then stir a little to let more of it brown. Then add the onion and garlic. Cook the onion, garlic and rice mixture, stirring frequently, until the onions have softened, about 4 minutes.

3 Place the chicken pieces, skin-side up, on top of the rice. In a separate bowl, mix together the stock, tomato, salt, and oregano. Pour the stock mixture over the rice and chicken. Bring to a simmer, reduce the heat to low, and cover. Let cook for 20-25 minutes, depending on the type of rice and the instructions on the rice package, until the rice and chicken are done. Fluff the rice with a fork. If you want you can sprinkle with some peas. Add more salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 4-6.

Honey-Teriyaki Chicken

We tried this one last week and it was wonderful for three reasons. 1) It took little to no effort. 2) It took only about 40 mins. 3) It was delicious! By now you know I love to cook. I also like to make fancy complicated things, but I don't have the time to do that every day. This was the perfect weekday meal without compromising the flavor that I love. Plus I love chicken thighs!

Honey-Teriyaki Chicken

Ingredients
1/2 cup honey
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons peeled and finely grated fresh ginger
Coarse salt and ground pepper
8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (about 3 pounds total)

Directions
1.Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil. In a large bowl, mix honey, vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, 1 tablespoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Add chicken and toss to coat. Transfer chicken and sauce to baking sheet.
2.Bake chicken, skin side up, basting occasionally with pan juices, until well browned and cooked through, 25 to 30 minutes. Serve chicken drizzled with pan juices.

Chinese Please!

No need to get take out Chinese when you have this recipe. One day I was looking to use up a bunch of produce I had wasting away in the fridge and I came across this recipe. I have to say it exceeded my expectations by a lot! If you don't believe me ask Kathryn and Steve, they were there. I have made it a few times since then and it always impresses me! It isn't too hard or time consuming, but it does take some time to fry the chicken. Well worth your time. I wouldn't lead you astray!

Orange Chicken

Ingredients:

Chicken-

2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts (cut into 1-1/2” cubes)

1 ½ cups all purpose flour

1 eggs (beaten)

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

Oil (for frying)

Orange Sauce-

1 ½ cups water

2 tablespoons orange juice

¼ cup lemon juice

1/3 cup rice vinegar

2 ½ tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon orange zest (grated)

1 cup packed brown sugar

½ teaspoon ginger root (minced)

½ teaspoon garlic (minced)

2 tablespoons green onion (chopped)

¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes

3 tablespoons cornstarch

2 tablespoons water

Step 1: Combine flour, salt, and pepper. Dip chicken in egg mixture and shake in flour mixture to coat. Deep fry chicken in batches at 375 degrees in a deep fryer (or use a wok or a large pot) until completely cooked.

Step 2: Meanwhile, in a large saucepan combine 1 ½ cups water, lemon juice, orange juice, rice vinegar, and soy sauce. Blend well over medium heat for a few minutes. Stir in brown sugar, orange zest, ginger garlic, and onion. Bring to a boil.

Step 3: Combine 3 tablespoons of cornstarch with 1/4 cup of water and mix thoroughly. Slowly stir cornstarch mixture into sauce until it thickens. Pour sauce over breaded chicken, and if desired add red pepper flakes and garnish with green onions. Enjoy.

Quick and Easy!

I made this one last Monday I think. Holli has had no appetite and that has made it hard to cook because I am essentially cooking for myself. On the other hand we have had a lot of leftovers. The favorite thing I made this week was One-Pot Chicken and Brown Rice. I gave Holli a list of the meals for the week and asked which one sounded better. She said this recipe sounded the best. The problem is I had planned this recipe for Sunday so the chicken wasn't defrosted. By the time the chicken defrosted and all was said and done it was 9 PM. This was so easy to make and most of the ingredients we already had! Plus very little dishes and clean up!

One-Pot Chicken and Brown Rice

INGREDIENTS

Serves 4.

1 tablespoon olive oil

4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (6 to 8 ounces each)

Coarse salt and ground pepper

1 large yellow onion, cut into 8 wedges

2 celery stalks, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces

2 medium carrots cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces

1 bay leaf

1 cup brown rice

DIRECTIONS

In a large Dutch oven or heavy pot, heat oil over medium-high. Season chicken with salt and pepper and place, skin side down, in pot. Cook until golden brown on both sides, 10 to 12 minutes total. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon fat from pot; add onion and celery. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook 20 minutes.

Add carrots, bay leaf, and 1 3/4 cups water; stir in rice and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low. Cover and cook until rice absorbs almost all the liquid, 40 to 45 minutes. Let stand, covered, for 10 minutes before serving.