Report from the TWiT Army Mess Hall - Chicken Piccata with Capers and Pine Nuts

I know that the recipe below calls for veal scallops but this works equally well with chicken scallops (this slices of chicken breast)

 

Posted via web from Dr. Mom's Posterous

Recipe from the TWiT Army Mess Hall - Chicken Parmesan Heros

For best results start these early in the day so that the crust has time to set up properly before cooking. Also if you're in a rush later on just use a good quality jarred marinara sauce instead of making your own.

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 2garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 (28-ounce) cans whole tomatoes in purée, puréed in a blender until smooth
• 2 teaspoons <
• ¾ teaspoon black pepper, fresh ground
• 6 skinless boneless, skinless chicken thighs(2 lb total)
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 ½s (from firm white sandwich bread), lightly toasted
• 1 cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (3 ounces)
• 5 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 cups vegetable oil
• 4 (12-inch-long) loaves halved lengthwise I use Panera's rolls
• 1 lb fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced, this is much easier to do if you freeze the cheese first

Preparation:

Make tomato sauce:
Heat olive oil in a 4— to 5-quart heavy saucepan over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then sauté onion, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and sauté, stirring, 1 minute. Add tomato purée, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened, about 30 minutes.

Prepare chicken:
Gently pound chicken to ⅓-inch thickness between 2 sheets of plastic wrap using a flat meat pounder or a rolling pin. Season with salt and pepper.

Stir together flour, remaining ½ teaspoon salt, and remaining ½ teaspoon pepper in a shallow bowl, then stir together bread crumbs and Parmigiano-Reggiano in another shallow bowl.

Dredge chicken slices in flour, shaking off excess, then dip in egg, letting excess drip off, and dredge in bread crumbs until evenly coated. Transfer chicken to sheets of wax paper, arranging slices in 1 layer.

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Heat vegetable oil in a deep 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then Fry chicken 3 pieces at a time, turning over once, until golden brown and just cooked through, about 6 minutes per batch. Transfer with tongs to paper towels to drain.

Arrange bottom halves of bread loaves on a large baking sheet and tops on another large baking sheet, all with cut sides up. Spread ¼ cup tomato sauce on each top and bottom. Divide chicken between bottom halves. Top each (open-faced) sandwich with ¼ cup tomato sauce and one fourth of mozzarella.

Bake open-faced sandwiches in lower third of oven until cheese melts, about 3 minutes. When cheese begins to melt, put tops of loaves in upper third of oven and bake until edges are golden, 3 to 4 minutes (watch tops closely; they burn easily). Put tops on bottoms to make sandwiches, then slice into serving pieces.

Recipe from the TWiT Army Mess Hall - Thai Chicken and Shrimp Noodle Salad

This is a great cold salad for warm summer evenings and can be made ahead and just assembled at the last minute

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce* (such as nam pla or nuoc nam)
• 2 tablespoons Asian sweet chili sauce*
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 9 ounces (250 grams) bean thread noodles**
• 12 cherry tomatoes, halved
• 12 cooked peeled deveined medium shrimp
• 1 1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken
• 1 1/2 cups bean sprouts (about 3 1/2 ounces), rinsed
• 1/2 English hothouse cucumber, very thinly sliced (about 1 cup)
• 1/2 cup lightly packed fresh mint leaves
• 1/2 cup lightly packed fresh basil leaves, torn if large
• 1/2 cup lightly packed fresh cilantro leaves
• 1/3 cup thinly sliced shallots
• 1 red jalapeño chile with seeds, sliced into thin rings
• 2 tablespoons chopped toasted peanuts
• 1 lime, cut into 6 wedges

*Available in the Asian foods section of most supermarkets and at Asian markets.
**Clear dried noodles (also known as cellophane or transparent noodles); available in the Asian foods section of some supermarkets and at Asian markets.

Preparation:

Whisk first 5 ingredients in large bowl to blend. DO AHEAD Dressing can be prepared 2 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.

Place noodles in another large bowl. Cover with boiling water. Let stand until softened, about 4 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold water to cool; drain well. Insert scissors into noodles; cut several times. Transfer to bowl with dressing.

Add tomatoes and all remaining ingredients, except peanuts and lime wedges, to noodles; toss to coat.

Divide among 6 plates. Sprinkle with peanuts; garnish with lime wedges.

Recipe from the TWiT Army Mess Hall - Moroccan Chicken with Green Olives and Lemons

Ingredients:

• 2 Meyer lemons or regular lemons if you can't find the Meyers
  
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 large onion, halved, thinly sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, pressed
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 cups low-salt chicken broth
• 1 4 1/2-pound chicken, cut into 8 pieces, skin removed or 4 pounds of bone-in skin off chicken pieces such as breasts and thighs
  
• 1/2 cup green olives

Preparation:

Cut 1 lemon into 8 wedges. Squeeze enough juice from second lemon to measure 2 tablespoons; set wedges and juice aside. Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and sprinkle with salt and pepper; sauté until golden brown, about 8 minutes. Add next 5 ingredients; stir 1 minute. Add broth; bring to boil. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper; add to skillet. Add lemon wedges. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until chicken is cooked through, turning occasionally, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer chicken to platter. Add olives and 2 tablespoons lemon juice to skillet. Increase heat to high; boil uncovered to thicken slightly, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Pour over chicken.

Recipe from the TWiT Army Mess Hall - Classic Chicken Soup

Here's another recipe from my Passover Dinner (Seder) coming up next Thursday night.

Ingredients:

• 5 - 6 lbs of bone-in, skin-on meaty chicken parts such as thighs
  
• 4 qts of cold water, the quality matters here, bottled may be better than fresh if your water is very hard
• Kosher salt to taste
• 2 large onions, one peeled and quartered, one trimmed and quartered but left unpeeled (the peel is part of what colors the soup golden)
• ½ lb parsnips, skinned and cut into chunks
• Celery root about the size of a lemon cut into chunks, if you can't find celery root use 3 stalks of celery
• 1 lb carrots, skinned and cut into chunks
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled
• 6 sprigs of fresh parsley
• 1 parsley root, scraped and cut into chunks
• 1 parsnip root scraped and cut into chunks
• 2 large leeks, washed well and white parts cut into pieces, save the green leaves for later
• 10 peppercorns
• 1 bay leaf

Preparation:

Day 1:
Roast the chicken parts in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes, save all the pan juices. Put the chicken, pan juices and water into a large kettle along with ½ tbl. of salt. Bring heat to medium and start simmering the soup. Here's where the work starts. You really need to spend a lot of time now skimming the soup until the broth is complete clear (Important, DO NOT LET THE SOUP BOIL or it will be cloudy forever). Add all the rest of the ingredients except for the leek leaves and continue to skim until there is absolutely no more scum. Now cover with the leek leaves (if you don't have enough use some romaine leaves also). Cover with the pot and let simmer for at least 6 hours but overnight is better. Use a crock pot at this point if you're not comfortable leaving an open flame all night.

Now you can taste the soup and add salt as needed. Remove the chicken and save the meat for other uses such as chicken salad. Remove as much of the vegetables as possible and then strain the soup through cheesecloth. Squeeze the cheesecloth to get as much of the soup out as possible.
Refrigerate the soup overnight and then skim any congealed fat.

Reheat the soup before serving.

N.B. You can make this up to 3 to 4 days before using, just keep it refrigerated until ready to heat and eat

Recipes from the TWiT Army Mess Hall - Spicy Chicken Paella

Here's a good way to use up leftover chicken or turkey. If you don't have enough leftovers you can 'nuke' some dark meat poultry (it has more flavor than white meat) to make up the difference. It's not a 'real' paella in the sense that it's made up in a classic paella pan over an on a stove top but it's still very good

Ingredients:

• 12 ounces spicy smoked sausage (such as linguiça, andouille, or hot links), cut into 1/2-inch slices
• 1/4 cup garlic-flavored olive oil, you can 'fake' this by adding a chopped garlic clove to the pan when you heat the oil (that's what I do sometimes)
  
• 2 large yellow onions, chopped
• 1 large red bell pepper, chopped
• 2 cups long-grain white rice
• 1/4 teaspoon saffron
• 4 cups low-salt chicken broth
• 4 large plum tomatoes, quartered
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 4 1/2 cups cooked leftover turkey, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1 cup frozen peas

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°F. Brown sausage in large skillet over medium-high heat, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

Heat olive oil in 6 1/2-quart pot over medium-high heat. This is a big pot and will look to large at the start but you need the space for the rice to expand and to create a 'dutch oven' effect. Add onions and cook until golden, stirring often, about 12 minutes. Add bell pepper; cook 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in rice and saffron, then next 5 ingredients. IMPORTANT, do not stir the dish after this point. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium; cover and cook 15 minutes. Add sausage, turkey, and peas to rice mixture. Bake paella 10 minutes and serve.

Recipes from the Twit Army Mess Hall - Chicken Kiev

Ingredients

• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
  
• 1 tablespoon chopped tarragon
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus extra for seasoning chicken
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus extra for seasoning chicken
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
• 2 large whole eggs, beaten with 1 teaspoon water
• 2 cups Japanese bread crumbs (panko), plus 1/4 cup for filling
• Vegetable oil, for frying

Directions

Combine butter, parsley, tarragon, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, you'll probably need a hand mixer to make sure this is blended well. Place mixture on plastic wrap or waxed paper and roll into small log; place in freezer. Do not skip this step, this butter must be firm or this will never work. N.B. This seasoned butter is also good for steak & if wrapped air tight will keep for several months so it may be worth your while to make a large amount and freeze it for further use.

Place chicken breasts, 1 at a time, between 2 pieces of plastic wrap. Squirt chicken lightly with water and squirt the top of the plastic wrap as well. Pound to no less than 1/8-inch thickness. Don't try and skip this step, you need the thin pieces for this to work. Also, don't use the thin chicken scallops which are available they aren't large enough to work. Season each piece of chicken with salt and pepper.

Lay 1 chicken breast on a new piece of plastic wrap and place 1/4 of the compound butter and 1 tablespoon bread crumbs in the center of each breast. Using the plastic wrap to assist, fold in ends of breast and roll breast into a log, completely enclosing the butter; roll very tightly. Repeat with each breast. Place chicken in refrigerator for 2 hours, or up to overnight.

Place egg and water mixture in 1 pie pan and 2 cups of panko on a piece of foil with the edges turned up to form a shallow pan.

Heat 1/2-inch of vegetable oil in a 12-inch saute pan over medium-high heat until oil reaches 375 degrees F. That's shimmering but not smoking.

Dip each breast in the egg mixture and then roll in the bread crumbs. Gently place each breast in oil, sealed-side down, and cook until golden brown, approximately 4 to 5 minutes on each side, until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F. Remove to a cooling rack set in sheet pan and allow to drain for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

Recipes from the Twit Army Mess Hall - Baked Chicken in Salsa

This is a 'down & dirty' quick recipe for when you want a hot meal & there is no time to cook.

Ingredients:

1.5 lbs boneless, skinless chicken (I keep a sack of breast tenders in the freezer just for this but you can use anything)
2 c. of salsa (again, any type you want but don't use a fresh, or 'raw' salsa. If your salsa is extremely smooth I'd suggest adding some corn or chopped tomatoes to it to add some texture) I use Whole Foods 'Roasted Corn Poblano' salsa
1 c. shredded, mexican style cheese, optional
sliced black olives, again optional

Preparation:

Put the chicken in a pan large enough to hold it in a single layer, pour over the salsa & then the cheese & olives, if using. Bake in a 350 degree oven until done. About 25 minutes for breast pieces & 30 - 35 for thigh meat.

Serve.

Easy isn't it.

Report from the Twit Army Mess Hall - Braised Chicken with Celery Root & Garlic

Ingredients:
3 lbs bone in, skin on chicken pieces, even if you remove the skin later you need it for flavor in the dish when cooking
1.25 lbs of celery root (check at your local asian or Whole Foods type market), cut into 3/4 inch cubes. N.B. you can't substitute celery for this, you need to find the real celery root
1 whole head of garlic, cloves separated but left unpeeled
1.5 c. chicken broth
1 tbl. olive oil
1 tbl. unsalted butter
2 sprigs of thyme

Preparation:

Heat the oil in the pan & brown the chicken pieces. Put aside in a dish or bowl (if you want to skin them, now is the time after the flavor from the skin has gotten into the pan drippings.

Browning the chicken pieces

Pour out all but 1 tbl of the drippings from the pan and melt the butter. Saute the celery root & garlic until browned, about 5 minutes.

Browning the celery root & garlic

Add the broth & thyme to the pan, bring to a boil & deglaze the pan (i.e. scrape up all the browned bits from the bottom of the pan so that they mix with the sauce). Add the chicken, cover & cook until done, about 25 minutes depending on the thickness of the chicken pieces.

Remove the chicken & vegetables, cook down the sauce to the desired consistency (I usually boil it until it reaches the consistency of heavy cream, about 2 minutes).

Serve with crusty bread.

Finished dish ready to serve

Report from the Twit Army Mess Hall - Beer-and Onion-Braised Chicken Carbonnade

Ingredients

2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) unsalted butter
4 large chicken thighs with skin and bones
3/8 teaspoon ground allspice
1 pound onions, thinly sliced
3 teaspoons (packed) dark brown sugar, divided
4 small bay leaves
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 cup dark beer (use a belgian beer if possible)
1/2 cup beef broth
1 to 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar

Preparation
Melt butter in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle chicken with salt, pepper, and allspice. Add chicken to skillet and sauté until brown, about 4 minutes per side; transfer to plate.

Add onions and 2 teaspoons brown sugar to skillet; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover and sauté until deep golden brown, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Mix in bay leaves, mustard, and remaining 1 teaspoon sugar. Add chicken, skin side down, then beer, broth, and 1 teaspoon vinegar. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium. Simmer, covered, 10 minutes. Uncover skillet and simmer until chicken is cooked through and sauce thickens, turning chicken occasionally, about 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and more vinegar, if desired.

Serves 4

This is a chicken version of a classic beef stew. Warm & comforting for a cold night.

Report from the Twit Army Mess hall - Chicken & Rice, Latin Style

Ingredients
2 pounds chicken thighs with skin and bone
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into bits
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, chopped (2 cups)
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup medium-or long-grain white rice, I use Basmati
1 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
3/4 cup water
1/4 teaspoon crumbled saffron threads
1 Turkish or 1/2 California bay leaf (Make sure you check, Turkish bay is much milder than California bay leaves)
1 cup frozen peas (not thawed)
Garnish: chopped flat-leaf parsley

Preparation
Pat chicken dry and season with 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper (total). Heat butter and oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet (at least 2 inches deep) over medium-high heat until foam subsides, then brown chicken, turning once, about 10 minutes total. Transfer chicken with tongs to a plate.
Pour off all but 2 tablespoon fat from skillet. Cook onion and garlic with 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper over medium heat, stirring, until golden, about 6 minutes. Add rice and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add broth, water, saffron, and bay leaf and bring to a full boil. Nestle chicken in rice, keeping as much rice around (rather than under) chicken as possible, and add juices from plate. Simmer, covered tightly with lid, over low heat until chicken is cooked through, rice is tender, and most of liquid is absorbed, about 25 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in peas. Cover with a kitchen towel but keep the towel off the food and then lid and let stand until all of liquid is absorbed, about 15 minutes. Discard bay leaf and serve.(very important, a bay leaf is actually sharp enough to perforate the intestines).

Serves 4

This is easy to make but must be served as soon as cooked, you can't keep it for the next day

Recipes from the Twit Army Mess Hall - King Ranch Casserole

Ingredients
4 chicken thighs, skinless & bonless
1 onion, chopped
1/2 c. water
1/2 c. chicken broth
1 pkg. corn tortillas, cut into strips
2 c. grated 'mexican style' cheese
1 can tomatoes & green chiles
1 can cream of chicken soup
Black olives, slices

Poach chicken & onions in broth & water, when done remove chicken, cool & shred, leave the onions with the broth.
Measure broth & add additional water to bring total vol to 1/2 cup, add tomatoes & soup and heat to simmer.
Line bottom of deep dish pie with 1/2 of tortilla strips. Then over that add 1/2 of chicken, a layer of 1/2 of the cheese. Pour over 1/2 of the sauce, Repeat layers but this time add the sauce first & then the cheese so the cheese is on top. Dot with sliced olives.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Serves 4 - 6

Report from the Twit Army Mess Hall - Chicken Enchiladas

This is a great 'do ahead & freeze' recipe which will also use up leftover roast or rotisserie chicken.

Ingredients
Red Sauce (if you don't have time canned 'Old El Paso' enchilada sauce will do, use 2
2 Tbl of olive oil (or you can use lard but I don't)
2 tbl flour
1/4 to 3/4 c. chili powder (I use Penzy's medium salt free)
2 c. chicken broth, if you poach chicken for this dish use the poaching water

Heal oil in a saucepan & then brown the flour. Mix chili powder in the broth until smooth & then add to the flour/oil. Simmer for 30 minutes & taste, add more chili if you want. At this point you can freeze the sauce for up to 6 months or just continue with the recipe.

Enchiladas

12 corn tortillas (not flour they will get soggy)
2 lbs cooked chicken (leftover is fine & what I normally use)
1 medium onion, chopped
3 c. grated cheese (mexican mix is fine or use Jack &/or longhorn cheddar not regular cheddar)
1 can black olives, sliced
2 c. Red sauce or canned enchilada sauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Corsely shred the chicken, put about 1 tbl of oil in a pan & cook the onions until soft but not browned, add the chicken & sauce, simmer for 3o minutes. Remove the chicken & onions from the sauce, put a strainer over the sauce pot and allow the sauce to drip off the chicken & back into the simmering red sauce.

Let the chicken/onion mix cool to room tem & mix with an equal volume of cheese

Heat tortillas in the microwave (10 seconds per tortilla so 3 will take 30 seconds layered between paper towels). Dip the tortillas in the sauce and fill with about 3 tbls of meat/onion/cheese mixture, roll and place seam side down in a 9 x 13 pan. Fill all the tortillas and place in pan (at this point you can freeze the dish & keep it for about 6 months). Pour the rest of the sauce over the enchiladas, cover with the rest of the cheese & dot with the sliced olives.

Bake in oven for 30 minutes until hot & bubby.

Serves 4 - 6

Red Sauce recipe adapted from Jean Butel's Tex-Mex Cookbook

Recipes from the Twit Army Mess Hall - Chicken Stuffed with Almonds & Olives

4 boneless chicken thighs
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup whole almonds with skins
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Preparation
Pat chicken , Stuff the cavity where the bone was with 1 1/2 teaspoons olives, then season with salt and pepper and reroll the thigh (secure with toothpicks if necessary but I normally don't.
Heat 1 tablespoon butter in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over moderate heat until foam subsides, then toast almonds, stirring often, until a few shades darker, 5 to 8 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to a cutting board to cool (do not clean skillet).
Increase heat to moderately high, then add chicken to butter remaining in skillet and sprinkle with remaining olives. Sauté chicken browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Turn chicken breasts over and cook, covered, over moderate heat until just cooked through, 5 to 7 minutes more, then transfer with tongs to plates.
While chicken is cooking, chop almonds.
Add remaining tablespoon butter and 3 tablespoons water to skillet and heat, stirring, until butter is melted. Stir in almonds, parsley, and pepper to taste. Spoon sauce over chicken.

Serves 4

Recipe from the Twit Army Mess Hall - Chicken Saltimbocca with lemon caper sauce

Ingredients:
1 lbs of thin sliced chicken breasts - if not available use boneless, skinless breast and pound them to 1/4" thickness
Prosciutto - 2 thin slices per breast
Sage leaves - 1 large or 2 thin per breast
1 c. flour
1 tablespoon butter
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons dry white wine
1/2 cup low-salt chicken broth
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, about 1/2 of a fresh lemon
1 tbl. capers

Place flour in a shallow pan or on a foil sheet, salt & pepper as desired but I find that the prosciutto makes it salty enough.

Press sage leaves onto one side of chicken breasts, lay a slice of prosciutto on each side and press to adhere. Dredge in flour and knock off the excess, you only want a thin coating of flour.

Melt butter in a saute pan & add the oil. Brown the chicken on each side staring with sage side down (about 3 -4 mins per side depending on thickness of chicken to make sure that it is cooked all the way through). Remove the chicken to a serving pan. Mix 2 tsps of the dredging flour into the wine and whisk to blend. Add to pan dripping and brown flour lighlty. Add wine, chicken broth and boil to desired thickeness (this should only take about 2 minutes). Add capers and stir, add lemon juice stir and pour over chicken.

Server with rice or a pasta like orzo to sop up the sauce (you could try mashed potatoes but I don't think this sauce goes very well with them)

Serves 4