Pinching pennies to pay for gas and hold on to homes, hungry Americans bought enough chicken biscuits, sweet tea and dollar menu items to send McDonald's 2nd quarter sales up 6.7 percent, the Oakbrook, Il.-based chain said.

Shares of the world's largest restaurant chain rose $3.50 to a record $65.36.

Americans aren't the only ones getting frugal on food. McDonald's attributed its 21st consecutive quarterly increase to extended store hours and growing worldwide demand.

Mickey D's global sales rose 8 percent, almost double the 4.5 percent increase analysts forecast. Europeans gobbled up the most double cheeseburgers of three regions, followed by the U.S., then the pineapple cheeseburger eating region called Asia Pacific/Middle East/Africa.

The home of the Big Mac said stores in Latin American stores experienced "double-digit" increases, but did elaborate further.

The world's number two and three food chains are not all the enthused about McDonald's growth. Shares of Burger King slid 1.1 percent closer to the peasantry, while Wendy's moved closer to Raggedy Ann territory, falling 14 percent in the same period.

Here it goes..

Ingredients :-

Chicken cut into medium sized pieces - 1/2 kg
Red Onion Sliced - 250 gm
Tomato chopped- 200 gm
Garlic paste - 2 tsp
Ginger chopped- 1 inch piece
Chilly powder - 3-4 tbsp (You can also use 2 tbsp kashmiri chilly + 2 tbsp red chilly )
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - 2 sprigs
Coconut oil - as needed
Salt - to taste

Method:-

Clean the chicken pieces and mix it with chilly powder,turmeric powder and salt.Add little water and cook it covered in a medium heat.Keep it aside.Heat oil in another pan and throw onion slices into it.Saute it until onion turns translucent.Add ginger,garlic,curry leaves and tomato into it and fry it until tomato turns soft and oil seperates.Now add the cooked chicken into the gray and stir well.Add 1/2 cup of water and let it come to a slow boil.Simmer it until the gray thickens.Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with roti/rice.

Recipe Coutesy :- Ummi Abdulla (Vanitha Pachakam)

Gourmet is the Playboy of food mags.  Well known and long established has the dirty pictures, but is also filled with brilliant articles from heavy-hitting chefs and writers.  Comparatively, Bon Appetit is the Maxim.  It has the suggestive, glossy pictures.  It has articles and recipes, though much of the pages follow a strict graphic form.  It is incredibly current, and with features added recently, seemingly catering to the Starbucks-hip crowd.  It falls flat in comparison to Gourmet --  a little formulaic, sometimes redundant.  Solid, but uninspired recipes seem to fill the pages; the current issue has a recipe for whole-wheat tubular pasta with sardines and onions… but a couple months earlier their cover photo was from a recipe for hollow spaghetti with anchovies and breadcrumbs! I realize different ingredients change the recipe and often make daily cooking and dining more interesting… but it does not make for very intriguing reading.  I’m sure there could be a very long discussion of why this magazine has this strategy – brand distinction and target audiences broken down by socio-economics, their media consumption, and if possible, skill in the kitchen.  But I have not done that study, and don't have that data. Though I often find and follow recipes to the tee, more often than not I use the mags for inspiration – variations on a pasta or simple meat dish is what I do to keep cooking easy and still fun while I am busy, but seeing the first recipe is enough to get the creativity flowing, and the later incarnations superfluous.

I don’t know if everyone feels this way, but once when working a slower shift  at the aforementioned coffeeshop, I had my perspective affirmed.  I had a moment to pull out a magazine to read and while I was flipping through the pages a regular customer had showed up at the counter.  He cleared his throat, and I jumped to attention while hastily trying to mark my page with a cardboard cup sleeve.  Instead of being upset, he started laughing and while I made his coffee he told me a story about his back issues of Gourmet and Bon Appetit.  His wife had given him an ultimatum:   he must get rid of his years backlog of food magazines – they are cluttering the house for godssakes!  Unwilling to leave them behind completely, he started going through them, trying to rip out anything he might want to reference later.   And he was finding it impossible.  I said something to the affect of,  “Well she doesn’t even know what she is asking you!  Those magazines aren’t there just for the recipes!”  I had already given him his regular coffee drink, but, it seemed he was so excited to find someone who felt the same way that he did not even notice it.  Those magazines are so have a use since I find them essential to dreaming, formulating.

And  as much as I just spoke poorly of Bon Appetit, and ideas, I bow down.  I received my newest edition in the mail a day or so ago and was so pleased.  It is the restaurant issue, and for once, the research team got it right!.   The recipes provided are along a restaurant narrative, but still fit the home cook, with just a little left to be in fantasy land.   This issue is provocative without being scary or elitist as wont Gourmet. – taking restaurant food and making it accessible to the daily cook.   This is how I remember Bon Appetit when I first started reading it.  We have Rachael Rays of the world around to show us how to make the same-meal the-but-different over and over again. But, maybe, that’s my printed word bias coming out again…

I will save this issue, it has a recipe for me to dream about - KFC – Keller Fried Chicken.  I don't have the resources now, (for now the recipe probably should be left in the hands of someone who will cook Keller despite obstacles), but hopefully, I will someday.  Eventually the recipe will be posted on epicurious, but I will save the issue and hope my partner never asks me to dispose of my archived materials. If there is an ultimatum, this fried chicken recipe would make the cut.

Plantains
Plantains look like bananas but are more firm and aren't as sweet as bananas. They require cooking, and Ayikarley's Kitchen fried some up to start off the meal. It was hard to resist snacking on these things.

Peanut butter soup with crab and smoked fish
This was probably my favourite dish of the evening. The soup was light, but filling, and I somehow managed to have a whole catfish head in my serving. Mmmm fish heads are yummy!

Okra stew with goat and rice
Made with onions, tomatoes, scotch bonnet peppers, egg plants, okra and spices. Oh and goat. Goat tastes basically like tougher lamb. The flavour was good with this dish, but I didn't care for the okra too much as it was a little mushy. I think that's more of a personal preference though, as I'm not fond of mushy vegetables.

Black-eyed bean stew and plantains, also known as red red
A mix of tomatoes, onions, and scotch bonnet peppers, black-eyed beans and spices. Great dish. I forgot to ask if these beans were the same thing as black-eyed peas.

Jollof rice and baked spicy chicken
Spinach stew with beef
By this time I was getting extremely full. I managed to find enough room for some chicken, as well as a taste of the rice and spinach stew. The chicken was fantastic; the meat melted off of the bone. And the spinach stew had wonderful flavours too. The rice was a good way to cool you off after eating all the spicy food.

I hadn't realized how much spicy food there was in that culture. It must be related to the weather somehow, as it seems to me that Asian food is always spicier when it originates from hot climates. Not that all the food I had that night was spicy; some dishes were hot and some were mild.

I would definitely recommend Ayikarley's Kitchen to anyone looking for an alternate to the old roast beef/sandwiches kind of catering. It's a unique experience that I'm looking forward to trying sometime in the future.

Thai Gingered Chicken CP

3 1/2 - 4 Lbs Chicken Pieces ( thighs & drumsticks)

2 Tbs Cooking Oil

1/3 Cup Soy Sauce

2 Tbs Brown Sugar

2 Tbs Water

1 Clove Garlic, minced

1 tsp Ground Ginger

1/4 Slivered Almonds (for garnish)

In large skillet over medium heat, brown chicken in oil on both sides. 

Transfer to slow cooker.   In mixing bowl, combine soy sauce, sugar,

water, garlic and ginger; mix well then pour over chicken in crock-pot.

Cover and cook on High for 1 hour, turn down to Low and cook for 4 - 5

hours longer.  When done, transfer to serving bowl, then garnish with

almonds.

Note:  You can thicken the cooking liquid into a gravy if you wish to

serve it with the chicken, over rice or noodles.   Just use a slurry

made with cold water and corn starch.

I found this on the Recipe Du Jour list.

I think this is my new favorite chicken marinade, and it's only got four components! Kramer grilled the chicken perfectly, too, so that didn't hurt either. I served this with some Spanish (I know it doesn't really go together but work with me here) from Fresh and Easy and broccoli. Go ahead and make this for dinner tonight - it'll take no time at all! Recipe after the jump.

Soy sauce, garlic (I buy this pre-minced garlic from Spice World and it's amazing), olive oil, and thyme.

Place your cleaned chicken in a tupperware container or a ziploc bag.

Add your olive oil.

Add your soy sauce.

Then add your thyme and your garlic and marinate for at least 4 hours (I marinated mine for about 8 hours and it was delicious).

Then just throw the breasts on the grill and cook until they're no longer pink inside and at least 165 degrees F. After that, go on and eat up!

Soy-Marinated Chicken Breasts
from Cooking Light July 2008

2 chicken breasts
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons fresh chopped or dried thyme
2 cloves of garlic, minced

1. Combine the soy sauce, olive oil, thyme, and garlic in a tupperware container or a ziploc bag.
2. Add the chicken breasts to the marinade and let sit in the fridge for at least 4 hours (up to 24 hours).
3. Heat the grill to medium-high. Discard the marinade and place the chicken on the grill and grill for about 4 minutes on each side or until the chicken is at 165 degrees F.

Vegetarian note: You could easily substitute tofu for the chicken by cooking it in a grill pan and brushing it with the glaze.

Ingredients:

Noodles:

7 oz (1/4-inch-wide) dried rice-stick noodles (rice vermicelli)

2 T canola or vegetable oil

2 medium carrots, cut into matchsticks

1/4 lb Chinese long beans or regular green beans, cut into 1-inch lengths

4 chicken breasts

1/2 cup chopped scallions (optional)

2 cups coarsely torn mixed fresh herbs such as mint, cilantro, and basil

Glaze:

2 tablespoons hoisin sauce

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

Sauce:

1/4 cup soy sauce

3 tablespoons Chinese black vinegar (balsamic will also work)

2 teaspoons Sriracha (Southeast Asian chile sauce)

1 1/2 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar

2 teaspoon Asian sesame oil

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

Serve noodles topped with chicken breast and scattered with fresh herbs.

Ingredients:

- one head broccoli
- 1/2 pound of ziti or farfalle or fusilli or similar
- two boneless chicken breasts
- big glug olive oil
- 3-5 cloves garlic
- salt and lots of fresh-ground black pepper
- Parmesan to sprinkle
- Red pepper flakes to taste

To cook:

- Start your pasta water boiling. Cut the broccoli into medium-sized florets. Cut chicken into medium-sized chunks.
- In a large frying pan, put a goodly amount of olive oil (the oil will be for the pasta, too) and the chicken chunks over low heat.  Cook very gently, stirring occasionally. When done, take off the heat and add crushed garlic, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes.
- Put the broccoli into a pot with an inch of water over high heat and cover. Steam until tender, but don't overcook.
- Add cooked pasta to the chicken, stir well. Add broccoli. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan (don't let me catch you using anything out of a green canister).

Gorgeous.

Serves four. Good leftover (gets more garlicky). Good with a dry white wine.

I am a huge fan of BBQ chicken of any description so I raided my stash in the freezer and thawed out a beautiful corn-fed free-range bird.  While the coals were "cooking" and getting to the desired state (glowing, with a coating of ash), I wiped the bird dry, stuffed a small lemon into the cavity with some seasoning, rubbed it with olive oil and sprinkled on some salt and pepper.  Very simple.

Then, all I did was lay the bird breast-up on the grill, whacked on the lid and left things alone for 45 minutes while the Weber did all the hard work.  At the 45 mark, I put in a parcel of mesquite smoking chips and put the lid back on for another 20 minutes.  The smells that were coming out at this point were making me drool.

Unable to resist peeking, I looked under the lid and - as the bird was a deep burnished brown already - removed the smoking wood and checked the bird with a thermometer.  Yep, it was done.

As I'd overestimated the amount of briquettes required, I still had a lovely fire going so I quickly defrosted my cured pork belly, refreshed the smoking wood, and whacked it on the grill.  Finally!  After not being able to hot smoke it because of a fire ban ages ago, it's now sitting out there getting a fantastic colour. 

I can hardly wait to see how that turns out.  Yum yum yum!!!!

(Oh, and today, I also finished painting the spare room, went and got a car-load of mushroom compost for the garden, and found where Victoria's Basement was hiding and bought two sets of cocktail glasses and some assorted bar-ware.  Roll on SUMMER!!!!!)

]]> http://jazzjune.wordpress.com/?p=112 Fri, 08 Aug 2008 05:33:22 +0000 Morgan http://jazzjune.wordpress.com/?p=112 You can make this either with just the chicken, or just the eggplant, or with both. They are both so good! This is 100% gluten free, but you could make it with normal bread crumbs if you so desired. This also has the ability of being vegetarian. Woohoo!

:Ingredients:

• 1 lb chopped or ground white-meat chicken
• 1 medium eggplant, sliced to 1 cm in thickness
• olive oil
• 2 cups crushed Glutino pretzels
• 1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp fresh or dried basil
• 1 tsp fresh or dried parsley
• 1 tsp salt
• 1.5 tsp fresh ground pepper
• 2 shallots, chopped
• 1 jar of your favorite tomato sauce (or use my tomato sauce recipe!)

Make patties from the chicken-- 4-6 oz each and about four inches in diameter. On a greased baking sheet (or two), lay out chicken patties and eggplant slices. Sprinkle with Extra Virgin Olive Oil and a little bit of salt and pepper, then place under the broiler set on high. Leave under broiler until the eggplant has begun to brown and wrinkle at the edges, and the chicken is sizzling.

In a bowl, combine pretzel crumbs, cheese, egg, herbs, salt, pepper, and shallots. Feel free to knead the mixture with your hands to get it to the correct consistancy. When the texture is right, you should be able to pack a small amount of the mix into a ball with your hands. Remove the eggplant and chicken from the broiler. Cover the top of each slice or patty with a mound of the crumbs mix, and then return the tray to the broiler. Broil until the cheese has melted and the crumbs on top are golden brown in color.

Serve with a dollop of tomato sauce over rice or pasta.

]]> http://thebestrecipes.wordpress.com/2008/08/08/zesty-cheesy-crumbed-chicken/ Fri, 08 Aug 2008 05:17:00 +0000 theflyingchef http://thebestrecipes.wordpress.com/2008/08/08/zesty-cheesy-crumbed-chicken/ I must confess I have been so busy lately that I have not had time to think about preparing food so I have taken on extra recipes from the zaar recipe swap I am in to make as I then only have to write the ingredients down and when I come to post apart the picture and this little bit of writing I can copy paste the recipe and method on how to make it. I know it is kind of a cheat but I have not had time to sit and write my recipes out on full. I have been making many and I will get round to posting some over the weekend. I will have to as I was going through them last night and I have some really good ones and a few I have already lost the piece of paper I wrote the instructions down on:(

This recipe was very good however I did not make with Gouda slices I used fresh Gouda cheese and a soft cheese with truffle aroma which were wonderful. I cut the two cheeses into chunks and laid them on the breasts, I don't know amounts as I cut from the block of cheese I had. I did do to slices of each cheese about 1cm in thickness and about 11/2 -2 inches in length to give you a rough idea. I also used panko flakes instead of breadcrumbs as I find they crisp up better and I always use them, in fact since finding these a few years ago I hardly use breadcrumbs for anything, only when it is specific. Anyway the chicken was really good and it was wonderful when you cut into it and the cheese was just oozing out.

If you have been keeping up with the progress of my beautiful handcrafted camphor laurel chopping, cheese boards and Mezzaluna Boards. My official site is finally finished and live so to see my full collection please click here.

Ingredients

4 Skinless chicken breasts
4 Slices Gouda cheese ( I used a block of Gouda and a soft cheese with truffle aroma.)
1 Egg
1/2 Cup all-purpose flour
1/2 Teaspoon salt
1 Teaspoon black pepper
1 Tablespoon key lime juice
1 Cup whole wheat bread crumbs (I used panko flakes, Japanese breadcrumbs)
1 Tablespoon key lime zest
2 Teaspoons dried cayenne chili pepper flakes

Method

1. Pre-heat oven to 180°C.

2. Slice chicken in half longways, being careful not to cut all the way through and open out like a book.

3. Cover in plastic wrap and pound chicken until less than 1/2 inch thick.

4. Place 1 piece of cheese on each chicken breast and fold over to enclose. Secure with toothpicks, and set aside.

5. Combine flour with salt and pepper, spread out on a plate.

6. Whisk egg with lime juice, place in bowl.

7. Combine breadcrumbs with lime zest and cayenne pepper flakes, mix well. Spread out on plate.

8. With one chicken breast at a time, cover with flour, shaking off excess.

9. Cover chicken with egg mix, shake off excess and put breast in crumb mixture. Turn to coat well and press crumbs onto chicken.

10. Grease an oven proof dish (or spray with non-stick spray). Add chicken to dish and place in oven for 60 minutes (I found 40 Min's to be ample and probably 30 Min's if you were cooking small breasts.), turning halfway through cooking time.

All photos taken by me unless otherwise stated.

This ... is ... souvlaki.

Here's one of my most requested recipes, just before the summer runs out. The Buffalo News video of me making it is here.

This recipe is for the Greek classic souvlaki, or kebabs, with tzatziki, yogurt-cucumber sauce flavored with fresh dill and garlic.

You have to drain the yogurt and squeeze the juice out of the shredded cucumber, or it'll be too watery. But get the tzatziki right, with good whole-milk yogurt, and you'll see what all the fuss is about.

Tzatziki recipes can be the source of arguments - too much garlic, not minced finely enough, the whole dill-or-no-dill divide.

Souvlaki recipes, on the other hand, varied little in the Greek and Macedonian houses where I've enjoyed hospitality. The meat was usually pork, marbled chunks from the shoulder, never loin. Garlic, onion powder, oregano, salt, pepper, olive oil and fresh squeezed lemon, to taste.

Beef or chicken tenders will work as well.

Greek-style beef kebabs (souvlaki) with dill-yogurt sauce (tzatziki)

Souvlaki recipe:

2 pounds beef sirloin, cut in 1 to 1 1/2 inch chunks

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/8 cup dry red wine(optional)

1 1/2 teaspoons granulated garlic

1 1/2 teaspoons onion powder

2 teaspoons dried oregano

2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary (optional)

1/2 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper

2 teaspoons salt

Combine ingredients and mix to coat meat evenly. Thread onto skewers, and leave alone in the fridge overnight, or for at least two hours. Grill over medium high heat to desired level of doneness.

Tzatziki recipe:

2 32-ounce containers plain whole-milk yogurt (or 2 500-gram containers Fage strained yogurt)

2 large cucumbers

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

3 to 6 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup fresh chopped dill leaves, loosely packed

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons cider or white vinegar

Salt and pepper to taste

The night before, line a colander with a linen dish towel or several layers of cheesecloth, and pour in the yogurt. Let it drain for 8 hours or overnight, until half its original volume (or use Fage strained yogurt).

Peel, seed and grate the cucumbers. Gather the shreds in a dish towel and wring out to remove moisture.

Add the cucumber and all other ingredients to the strained yogurt and mix well. Taste after an hour and adjust salt-sugar-vinegar-oil as desired. (Resist the temptation to add more garlic until 24 hours have passed and the garlic flavor blooms.)

Serve alongside, or atop, grilled souvlaki, with toasted pita bread and salad.

More Hot Peper Jelly

I was busy canning another batch of red pepper jelly tonight for a loyal Justopia.com viewer that made the request last week. I didn't want to put it off, so as soon as I returned from my afternoon out, I headed to the kitchen with my bag of Whole Foods goodies for tonight's dinner and began prepping the jalapeños and bell peppers and got the jelly going. We'll have photos tomorrow.

Chicken, Baked Potato and Roasted Asparagus with Parmesan and "Truffle & Salt"

Tonight's meal was DEElicious! It was simple one, but full of flavor and not too heavy. The chicken was cooked to a juicy tenderness and the skin was so crispy! That grill has been so worthwhile. I swear I feel like I am eating food cooked on a charcoal or gas grill.

After dinner I read the only entry that I received for the next installment of the Tenten mystery. Peekers wrote this installment and it's another great chapter that kept us wanting more. I am looking forward to the next installment and if I can carve out a little bit of time, I might just have to type away at the ending I just came up with.

So, while JTV is broken and down for the count tonight and the dishwasher is taking care of the dishes, why don't you relax, pull up a chair and read the next installment of the Tenten mystery while I go leaf through recipes to come up with a fabulous 8.8.8 menu for tomorrow night's Olympics Opening Ceremonies.

The Tenten Mystery

Then all of a sudden.... something on the coffee table in the living room caught his eye.

There was some mail on the coffee table under an ashtray and empty bowl that contained un-popped popcorn kernels. He knew there must be a clue in the pile of mail that would give him a hint as to the whereabouts of his neighbor. When he moved the bowl the leftover rancid butter, that coated the inside of the bowl and most of the outer part, coated his fingers. He was about to grab a piece of the obvious garbage mail, you know the kind of stuff that the address is to Occupant, current Resident or from the dreaded coupon clipper magazine that uses Valued Reader, and wipe his fingers on them when he saw a dish towel laying on the glass top kitchen table.

He picked up the towel but as he grabbed it each of his fingertips hit the table leaving a perfect greasy imprint of each of his digits whorls, loops and arches. After he wiped his fingers off on the towel he headed back to the coffee table to rummage through the mail, when he heard a muffled voice coming from the room down the hall. It was a woman’s voice. He thought huh oh the neighbor is home and here I am roaming through her home. He called out the neighbor’s name. There was no reply. He then called out ‘Hello? Is anyone there?” There was no response. He heard the muffled voice again.

Tenten finally warily walked down the hall towards the voice. He turned the door knob to the door of the first room he came to. He opened the door and glanced in to see that it was a bathroom. The second door was slightly ajar so he pushed it open and it looked like a guest bedroom. He finally made down to the end of the hallway where there were two more doors. He stopped and listened to each door. There was no sound at either. He decided to open the one on his right. As he began turning the knob to the door he heard the voice again. It was coming from the other room. He turned quickly grabbed the door knob, turned it and threw open the door. The door crashed against the wall and the knob left a hole in the wall where it hit.

Tenten looked into the room to see that it was the home office. He saw a computer. The monitor and speakers were situated on the desk. He looked into the monitor to see none other than Justopia. There she was cooking one of her fabulous DEElicious meals. He noticed an on/off timer next to the monitor and it was set for the time same time Justopia would be on. The timer automati cally turned on the computer each day during the Justopia cooking show.

Tenten thought hmmm he never knew his neighbor even owned a computer let alone, out of all the websites on the ‘internets’ that she would enjoy the same cooking show he has so many months. He noticed that the chat was scrolling by at the happy pace it always does with Justopia answering and commenting to the viewers in the chat. He noticed that there was a name logged into the site. The neighbor must have it set that when she enters Justopia’s kitchen that her user name is automatically logged in and displayed.

He reaches for the mouse to move the chat screen down low enough to see the screen name. He left clicks and grabs the chat screen and rev eals that his neighbor is none other than………………J

Rumor has it that McDonald's has a new commercial out. Obviously I am not watching TV for a year, so I can barely confirm this, but thought I would mention it.

Anyway, yes, rumor is, that McDonald's is now using fitness models/actors in their latest commercial. Why you ask? Well it seems they are trying to pass of these actors/models as the type of people who would eat a chicken buscuit for breakfast. Funny! I do not recall a chicken biscuit being part of a well balanced breakfast for a young, urban,health conscious professional or any athlete for that matter.

Well, you have to give them credit for trying.

As for me, I just found out that I need to incorporate some more iron in my diet as well as B- 12 and Folate. I wondered why I had been so weak lately.

Here is a list of real whole healthy foods that would help if you find yourself feeling sluggish, YOU MAY NEED MORE VITAMINS TOO!

• FLAX SEED
• TUNA
• SEAWEED
• PUMPKIN SEEDS
• BRAN
• SALMON
• AVOCADO

I thought I'd end the day with a quick link to sopmething we just don't get to do enough of: name that chicken.

The good folks over at Urban Sprouts are holding a contest online for us to name their chickens.  They have five different chickens to name, all from different breeds.  You should check it out and take part.

Urban Sprouts describes itself as " a nonprofit using school gardens to help youth actively engage in school, eat better and exercise more, and connect with the environment and each other."  Sounds like a worthwhile cause.  Kids in cities need to more access to green spaces and a deeper knowledge of how their food is grown. Plus, gardening is great exercise and encourages eating more veggies.  

That's something most of us could use more of, as we wrote in previous posts here, here and here.

What is this?

This is a signature dish that Bruce has been making for us for years now - in or out of the kitchen! It's healthy and always hits the spot - whether we eat it on a warm summer evening or in the brisk winter season.

I think the greatest thing about this chicken, aside from the moist and tenderness, is the delicious scallion-ginger sauce. The flavors are fresh and vibrant with just enough spice and seasoning - it makes a great topper over the chicken and rice.

My stomach is grumbling just writing about this! Try making this dish this weekend, you won't be sorry!

Steamed Chicken with Scallion-Ginger Sauce
Makes 6 servings

Steamed Chicken
2-3 lb Chicken (whole)
About 1/4 cup of salt

Scallion-Ginger Sauce
10-12 stalks of green onion (super finely minced)
2 teaspoons of ginger (super finely minced or grated)
1/2 – 1 cup of vegetable oil
1 teaspoon of soy sauce
Salt to season

Place a metal rack in the cooker so you can have the chicken suspended a couple of inches off from the bottom of the pot. Add about an inch of water to the pot. Place the chicken on the rack and heavily season the chicken with salt. For a 3 lb chicken, we used a little less than a 1/4 of a cup of salt. Don’t worry about over salting the chicken; the steam will dissolve most of it.

Set the rice cooker to cook and steam the chicken for 75 minutes. Periodically check the amount of water in the cooker to make sure you maintain an inch of water in the cooker at all times.

While the chicken is steaming, prepare the sauce. Combine the scallions, ginger, oil and soy sauce a bowl; mix well. Add salt to taste.

Once the chicken is fully cooked, set aside and let it rest to room temperature. When cool, halve the chicken and then chop into large, bite-sized sections. Serve with rice and top with Scallion-Ginger Sauce.

Note: If your cooker can’t fit a whole chicken, you can use half of a chicken or even cut the chicken into quarters and set them in a steam rack if need be. Also, the left over water used to steam the chicken makes great rice. The fat along with the salt seasons the rice nicely.

Like this post? Got feedback, tips or comments? Leave us an email at livingroomchef [at] yahoo [dot] com.

I'm finally getting around to making some hopefully fabulous Crockpot Indian Chicken Curry in my 6qt crockpot right now.

It's still got about another 5 hours of cooking to go, but I'll go ahead and tell you all some changes I made in the recipe.

1. The recipe calls for 2 tablespoons of curry powder (yes, that's not a typo). Since my husband and I like our curries spicy, what I did was add 1 tablespoon of regular curry powder and 1 tablespoon of Hot Madras Curry Powder. For those of you unfamiliar with curry in general, this is curry powder with a *KICK*. Since I am using regular and not light coconut milk with this recipe, I think the spice will still be more subdued, but I'm banking on it being more noticeable than with just regular curry powder.

2. Instead of green bell pepper, I used red. Since I don't like green bell peppers (not to mention they don't like me), I used the next best thing.

3. I threw in a bit more chicken than what the recipe calls for -- only because with the Thai Curry Chicken I was somewhat disappointed in how the chicken sort of played second fiddle to the rest of the ingredients. Mind you, I still thought the recipe was fantastic overall, and will try and remake it so my husband doesn't break out in hives. Also, having more chicken will result in more leftovers for lunches in the future. :)

4. The Crockpot 365 lady served her curry with brown rice. I'll be serving ours with Basmati rice as any good curry should be.

Results and Thoughts

Very very good. I haven't had something this tasty since I lived with Sobhan and Sharmi and they are INDIANS who know how to cook real Indian food!

Two Three thoughts:

1. I think, like the Thai Chicken Curry, this could stand to be cooked, refrigerated and then eaten for the first time the next day. I think that would maximize the overall intensity of the flavors. Not that the flavors aren't intense now, but curry dishes seem to always be better "left over." Sort of like lasagna.

2. I forgot that to the Thai Chicken Curry, I added a small amount of cornstarch to thicken up the sauce. I think I might add a bit to the Indian leftovers we now have, and so the next time we have some, the sauce will be thicker.

3. Right now, it's not apparent that the Hot Madras Curry Powder made the curry that much spicier. I wouldn't say that this is a spicy dish at all, but that's ok. Something to shoot for next time!

I'm very pleased how this came out. Then again, so are the guinea pigs (who ate the guts of the red bell pepper) and the rats (who get the cooked chicken thigh bones to gnaw on). :)

Recently I have really enjoyed reading other people's blogs and I love the thought of writing my thoughts out.  It's not something that I have done enough of in my life.  There have been so many instances in my life when I have tried to start journal writing, and it usually lasts about a week.  It's very disapointing.  Especially now when I wish I could go back and read them.  I have random blurbs of middle school life, and it is completely ridiculous and only slightly entertaining.

I am determined to make this blogging relationship work.  I may need encouragement.

If you are wondering about the title of my blog.  Chicken just happens to be my most favorite food in the world.  I could eat it for every meal for the rest of my life.  My heart and passion lie towards Africa and the people there, and I haven't even been yet!!  I have plans to go next summer after I have graduated from college.  Please pray that God would open the doors for me to be able to go.

So.  Let this be the first of many blogs.

Well, not only did it serve its purpose of getting much needed nutrients in my body, but it was great. No frills; it was just what I needed. And besides, it only took an hour and its a healthy alternative to any canned product out there.  This makes about one gallon; enough to have leftovers to freeze for the next time you feel the need for some comfort food.

You will need:

Baking dish

heavy bottomed stock pot

chef knife

cutting board

vegetable peeler

wooden spoon

measuring spoons

liquid measuring cup

Ingredients

1/4 cup olive oil

3 carrots, peeled and sliced

3 celery ribs washed and chopped

2 medium onions, peeled and diced

1 bay leaf

1/2 to 1 tbl. coarse grind black pepper

1 1/2 heaping tbl. chopped garlic

8 cups chicken stock or broth

2 tbl. chopped parsley

6 oz. ( 1/2 bag) No-yolks egg noodles

3 each large chicken breasts, or 5 large chicken thighs ( about 2 - 2 1/2 lbs.)

Salt and pepper

Wash and trim chicken of visible fat. Season chicken on both sides and bake in 350 degree oven until done. Let cool, then remove skin and discard. Pull chicken off bone; discarding any addition fat and skin. Cut into bite-sized pieces and  store in separate container.  Refrigerate.

Heat olive oil in heavy bottomed pot over medium heat. Add carrots, onions and celery and saute for 6-7 minutes, or until tender and aromatic. Add garlic and bay leaf; cook for an additional 2 minutes.  Add stock or broth. Bring to a boil. then reduce heat to simmer. Let cook for 30 minutes, skimming surface of soup for any fat or impurities.

Add egg noodles, pepper, chicken and parsley. Let cook until noodles are done; about six or seven minutes. Serve in warm bowls with crusty bread.

Note: I purposely omitted salt from the soup, because of the aforementioned reasons. If you feel you would like to add more seasonings, do so. Make this soup your own.

4 to 5 lbs. chicken

2 tablespoons oyster sauce

1 talbespoon light soy sauce

1 teaspoon dark soy sauce

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon MSG

1-1/2 teaspoon black peppercorn

1/2 teaspoon white vinegar

1 (2 inches branch of ginger) / slice into thin strip

1 stalk lemon grass grass / chop

2 pieces of garlic clove / crack

3 shallots / chop

1 stalk celery / chop

1 carrot / chop

2 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

2 pinches of salt

2 tablespoons water

2 lime leaves / rip to bits

PREPARATION:

Clean chicken well with salt and rinsed thoroughly.  Add all tlhe ingredients and rub the sauce into the chicken.  Pre-heat oven to 375 degree, and bake for about 2 - 1/2 hours.

Although this wasn't exactly bursting with flavor, it tasted good and makes a fantastic comfort food.  We only used half as much chicken and took the leftover rice and veggies for lunch the next day.  Yum!

I'm tempted to try this with brown rice, but don't know whether that'll affect the baking time.  Anyone??

1 can Campbell's cream of chicken soup
1 1/3 c water
3/4 c uncooked long grain white rice
1/2 tsp onion powder
2 c frozen mixed vegetables
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 c shredded cheddar

Stir the soup, water, rice, onion powder, and vegetables in an 11 x 8-inch baking dish.  Top with the chicken. Season the chicken as desired. Cover and bake at 375° for 45 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and the rice is tender. Top with cheese and let stand for 10 minutes. Stir rice before serving.

If chicken eggs may think about something, they would be thinking about to become a cute little chickens.

The very last thing to think of would be to appear in between two crappy pieces of bread and be eaten by someone who is "horizontally challenged" in McDonalds.

References:
1. McDOnalds road banner belongs to McDonalds;
2. 'Little chicken' photo belongs to 'djkubik'.

The chicken was perfectly cooked, very juicy! The steamer bag brown rice was really good, and even the pseudo-Asian salad proved tasty.

The Bad:

Bland, bland, bland chicken. In retrospect, this marinade required no heat, no fruit -- nothing that condones flavor. With a little extra pepper and salt, it wasn't bad. But when the 'salad kit' serves up more flavor than your hour-long-marinated-then-hour-long-baked-chicken you can't help but feel a bit dissapointed.

This recipe shall be blacklisted in the Ain't Cooking Again category, unless I can think of a way to recreate it more flavorfully.

chicken drumsticks, about 6 to 8

new potatoes, halved

bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces

spanish onion, chopped

yellow pepper, chopped into large pieces

garlic, 4 cloves halved

kosher salt & fresh cracked pepper

olive oil

sauce: 1 egg, cup of half and half, tbspn butter, nutmeg, salt & pepper

Start by getting a large sautee hot over high heat. Liberally season the chicken with salt and pepper. Add
a glug of olive oil to the pan and sear the chicken on both sides. Add potatoes, garlic, and onions around the chicken and let cook over medium heat for about 7 to 10 minutes. The potatoes should be small enough to cook through in this time. If not you may need to cut into smaller pieces. after about 10 minutes or so add the chopped yellow pepper.

Then begin working on your carbonara sauce. I like to cook it in a small saute or sauce pan over low heat. Add your butter first and once it starts to melt add your cream and a pinch of nutmeg and salt. Beat up one egg and to the warmed cream, stirring constantly. You want the heat just hot enough to lightly cook or heat through the egg... barely a simmer. The last thing you want is chinks of egg in the sauce... should be a creamy mixture.

At this point your chicken should be cooked through. It and your potatoes should be a ice golden brown. Stack 2 drumsticks up on 1 half of the plate and pile the potato bacon mix on the other... then ladle some of the carbonara sauce over all of it. Enjoy.