Mexican style pulled chicken

My house smells amazing right now. A while back Magnus moved and I inherited parts of his pantry, and since he was a foodie who regularly got care packages of ingredients from his home on the coast, there was some cool and unusual stuff in it you cannot get here. One cool item was a 7 oz can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. I finally found a can of fire roasted tomatoes when I went shopping last and so I was determined to make something new with them. I settled on some kind of mexican pulled chicken...since I love pulled chicken but have never actually made it before ever for some reason...
I modified a few ideas i found on the interwebs, and you could use a slow cooker but I just used my dutch oven since I was home. It's hothlike out (with the wind it is -34C. Meh) and sunday so I am not going anywhere today! Turned out so tasty I want to write it down before I forget.

Chicken breasts (I used 3)
Chicken broth (~ 2 ish cups)
1 15 oz can fire roasted tomatoes
1/2 of a 7 oz can of roasted chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (4 peppers plus half the juice)
One large yellow onion sliced up
1/2 t cumin
1/2 t italian seasoning (was going to use oregano but was out of it)
1/4 t chili powder
Few shakes salt

In the dutch oven I put 3 full, skinned chicken breasts and added just enough chicken broth to cover them, and then added the rest and stirred it all to mix and then recover the chicken. I brought the pot to boil and turned it down to simmer for 1 hour with the lid on. The house smelled heavenly! The broth cooked down about half into a yummy thicker sauce.

At that point I turned the heat off and removed the chicken and shredded it with 2 forks on a plate. I took 3/4 c (about half) of the remaining juice and used it as half the water in my rice maker to make 1 cup of long grain white rice. Then I put the chicken back in the pot and stirred it all together into one yummy mess to let the remaining sauce soak into the chicken. I plan to have the chicken and rice in a wrap with some beans, grated cheese and perhaps some sour cream once J gets home. I will definitely be making this again...and I need to find a place to get more of those chipotles...I may be begging Magnus (please sir can I have some more?) to mail me some now that he's back home again!

Baked almond chicken fingers

My favourite way to make chicken is to sort of "schnitzelify" it, with my own twist...I cut a chicken breast into thin finger strips, dip in flour, egg wash and then a crunchy mix of roughly equal amounts of coarsely ground up roast salted almonds (done in food processor)and Panko flakes, with some spice added (pepper, cumin, Mrs.Dash, oregano). I used to fry them in a pan in about a cm of oil to golden brown, but I haven't made them in a while as they really aren't the healthiest. They are incredibly amazing tho - the almonds and Panko make for crunchy tasty chicken. So good.
Last night I had an idea - bake them.
So I prepped them the same as usual and then put them on a non-stick cookie sheet in a 375 degree oven for about 35 minutes, flipping every 10 minutes or so until the chicken was cooked and the coating started to brown up. They were amazing! Incredibly tasty and crunchy but not greasy. Score.

To go with them I served one of my favourite sides: I cooked up a spaghetti squash in the microwave and sauteed some garlic, green onion and red pepper (~1/8 c each) with some oregano and pepper in some olive oil. I took the cooked spaghetti squash and added the sauteed veggies with it, with just enough flavoury oil and herbs to sort of break up the spaghetti squash, tossing it up together and coating it a bit for flavour.
That with the chicken?
Divine :)

Greek style chicken taco wrap...things

On the way home from work on Saturday I had an idea so I picked up a few things and went home to experiment and came up with my version of what a Greek taco would be like. They also took less than 15 minutes to make- bonus.

You'll need:

2 small chicken breasts, cubed up
1/4 c white wine
~3 T lemon juice
1/2 t Greek spice (Cavendish low salt)
1t oregano
3 cloves crushed garlic
ground pepper to taste (~1/2 T)
splash olive oil

Toss all this in a pan and saute the chicken until all liquid is absorbed and it tastes tangy and spicy and yummy. Resist the urge to eat it all then and there.

Next dice up:
1 large tomato
1/3 garden cucumber (about 3/4c)
1/4 c red onion
Toss together in a bowl with a splash of greek seasoning, 1T of lemon juice or a bit of balsamic vinegar.

Then get the rest of what you need:
Shred up about 1c of lettuce
1/3 c crumbled feta
Tzatziki (~1/3c)
1/4 c balsamic and fig dressing (Kraft)
5-6 whole wheat wraps

In each wrap put chicken, topped with a few T of tzatziki and a tiny bit of fig dressing, then cheese and a generous scoop of veggies and some lettuce. Wrap up and eat, making groany noises....

Experimental success! These are definitely going on the monthly food list of yummy fast meals. :) We had a bit of white wine with them and felt absolutely posh...

stuffed chicken breasts with roasted garlic cheddar mashed potatoes

Last night's supper was to involve phyllo somehow, but I forgot it in the freezer, so I made up a meal with what I had on hand and whoooo boy. You have to try it. Delicious!
It looks tricky but it is rather simple to do and worth the extra time

Chicken:
2 large chicken breasts
1/2 package frozen spinach thawed and drained well by squeezing in a towel
1/2 c crumbled feta
1 lemon
1tb alsamic vinegar
1t greek salad dressing
3 black olives
1 green onion
4 large mushrooms, diced up small
1/4 c diced red pepper
2 cloves garlic
1/2 T oregano and pepper
1/2 c bread crumbs

Potatoes:
4-5 red potatoes
1 toe garlic
olive oil
1/2 c grated old cheddar cheese
1 T butter

Warm the oven to 350.
Take a toe of garlic, cut off the top and drizzle a T or so of olive oil on it and wrap it in tin foil, with the cut off part facing up. Place it in the oven for ~20 minutes until roasted to softness. You'll need it for the potatoes later.

Take 2 large chicken breasts and pound flat and thin. Set aside.
In a bowl, add spinach, feta, green onion, red pepper, mushrooms, olives (cut up small), garlic (crushed) and oregano and pepper,vinegar and dressing (olive oil of you don't have it). Mix the filling together well.
Divide the filling in half, and place it on the chicken breasts, folding the breast around it and holding it shut with a few toothpicks as best you can. You just need to keep it together for baking - nothing perfect. There might be some leftover filling that won't fit in- just sprinkle filling on top of the dish once it is in the pan. Roll the stuffed chicken in breadcrumbs as best you can.
Take a lemon and cut one half of it into 4 slices. Place the 4 slices on the bottom of a small baking dish. Place the two stiffed chicken breasts on top of this. Squeeze the juice of the remaining half of lemon over the chicken. Drizzle with a bit of olive oil. Sprinkle remaining topping on top of the chicken.
Bake for 25-30 minutes, until chicken is done and the top is turning golden. Overbaking will make it a bit dry, so pull it out as soon as it looks done. Serve immediately with a steamed veggie of your choice and the potato side I did last night - roasted garlic cheddar mashed potatoes.

For the potatoes:
While your chicken is baking, you can make the potatoes easily. You'll need to boil up the peeled red potatoes, cut into smaller pieces to speed cooking. Once cooked, drain and add 1T butter. Take the toe of roasted garlic you made with the chicken and squeeze in the yummy baked garlic (1/2 of it - all of it, depending on your love of garlic. Roasted garlic is very mild, so put in a bit more than you think you need to. I used it all). Then add about 1/2 c grated old cheddar cheese and 1/4 t fresh black pepper. Mash/puree the potatoes with a hand mixer into a yummy cheesy garlic goo.

Enjoy with a glass of your favourite white wine.
Go on...:)

Feel Like Chicken Tonight?

Or beets, or carrots or figs?

Like many working class people, I usually cook an evening meal with the next days mid-day meal in mind. Boredom and revulsion with and toward ones own cooking can quickly ensue so there is a need to experiment and try new things regularly. Chicken, rice and roasted veggies. Sounds potentially boring, but the meal I made last night was quite exciting and was even more so today.

The essentials:
-Two chicken thighs. (skinless in my case)
- Chioggia beets (also known as candystripe or bull's eye beets) and eastern carrots. (purple, white, yellow and red in colour)
- 2 cups brown rice.

Put the vegetables and fresh chopped parsley in an oven pan and rub them in olive oil, dark balsamic vinegar along with black pepper/grains of paradise, a small amount of smoked paprika and halved dried figs. I set my oven for 375° and usually roast for at least 50 minutes. Your oven is probably different so adjust accordingly.
I took two cups of long grain brown rice and cooked it in 3 cups of water and tossed in about 2 1/2 tblsp of white balsamic vinegar and a pinch of course salt. Cook that until done and keep it separate.
As for the chicken, I sauteed two cloves of crushed garlic and 1/2 of a naga pepper together in a small bit of olive oil. I then sautee the chicken and add a marinade of this description:

- 1/8 of a cup of red wine (I have been drinking Malbecs from Argentina of late)
- 1/8 of a cup of dark balsamic vinegar
- 1/16 a cup of water (something like that, what the hell do I remember about fractions?)
- 1 tblsp of honey
- 1 tsp of Dutch cocoa (although I would use another variety of cocoa for the health benefits, as the Dutch process apparently destroys the antioxidants I was hoping for)

Shake this all up quite well and add to the pan once the chicken has been seared on both sides. How much you use is up to you, I used it all. I also sprinkled ground grains of paradise over top.
The sweetness of the roasted vegetables really compliments the robust, dry, hot flavour of the chicken and the generally neutral flavoured rice.