25 posts tagged “chicken”

The other day I posted an entry for Mochachocolatarita’s Chinese Take-Out Party…(if you guys haven’t checked out her party yet, get over there!  There are tons of delicious dishes to be had!)…Of course, once the round-up was posted, my fingers couldn’t click the mouse fast enough to get to her site.  There are main dishes, rices, noodles, appies, soups and desserts.  There were a couple (ok, ok *more* than a couple!) of dishes that really caught my eye.  The Kung Pao Chicken entries were especially insistent with the powers that be within my grumbling stomach.  Kung Pao Chicken is basically chicken and peanuts, stirfried in a delicious brown sauce.  But take this simple dish and add a bunch of ginger and vegetables, and you have elevated it to something sublime.  The entries on Rita’s page inspired me to go out and make some Kung Pao, go and see what inspires you!

For the Kung Pao Chicken recipe, please visit: http://canarygirl.com/?p=183

Giz and Psychgrad over at Equal Opportunity Kitchen are hosting a blogging event called Tried, Tested and True. 

The event is basically a roundup of our favorite recipes, the ones that are always in rotation, that get rave reviews from our families, friends and anyone else that is lucky enough to dine at our tables! ;)  I have quite a few recipes that fit this description, but the one I thought of immediately was Parmesan Crusted Chicken with Broccoli and Fusilli.  Originally, one of my best friends in the whole wide world, Elle at Elle’s New England Kitchen,  shared this recipe with us gals, and I couldn’t WAIT to go out and get the stuff to try it.  I mean, jeez!  It’s got all of my favorite stuff in there!  Chicken, greens, gaaaaahlic, freshly grated Parmiggiano-Reggiano, a delicious lemon pepper vinagrette…and the pasta…holy dear Lords of pasta, this is just amazing….her recipe began with bow-ties, but I’ve since switched to fusilli (the twisty, spiraly lookin stuff).  Broccoli is probably one of my favorite vegetables, throw in some more parm, toasted pine nuts, lemon and garlic–OH and butterrrrr and you have me swooning with delight.  Elle’s recipes *always* rock my world.  And I mean ALWAYS.  What can I say?  The girl can cook, folks. 

Now, the perfect accompaniment to this meal IMNSHO, is the Broccoli and Fusilli. Also Elle’s recipe.

recipes are here:  http://canarygirl.com/?p=164

So, um, HIIIIII!!!!!  Jeez I’ve missed you guys!  :D  My parents’ short visit is now over, and it’s time to get back to daily life.  We had a great time eating, drinking, swimming and generally playing around for the whole time they were here.  I have a couple of new recipes to share…stuff that I made up especially for Mom and Dad, and I can’t wait to share them with you.  This is one of those recipes. :)  Let’s start with the title: Fiery Buffalo Chicken Burgers….

According to the American Heritage Dictionary of the American Language:

“Adjective: 

Consisting of or containing fire.
Burning or glowing.
Using or effected with fire.
Easily ignited; flammable.
Feverishly hot and flushed: fiery cheeks.
Being in an inflamed, usually painful condition: a fiery boil.”

Buffalo wings are one of our favorite party foods.  Hot and spicy, perfect with a beer.   Everybody loves Buffalo wings, right?  So I got to thinking…We love chicken burgers, why not try to make a Buffalo version?  Wonderfully delicious, tangy and spicy, with a little blue cheese and celery to cool it down just a touch…This particular recipe might burn the roof off of your mouth if you’re not that into nuclear holocaust hot, so keep that in mind if you do decide to try these. lol  The heat can easily be scaled back by using Frank’s rather than Tabasco, and leaving out the extra cayennes.  But why on Earth would you want to do that?  ;)

recipe is here: http://canarygirl.com/?p=161

buffalo-burger

Elle.  She is SUCH an amazing cook, and one of my very bestest friends in the whole wide world.  We met long, long ago at a recipe site, and have been friends ever since.  She’s like my internet sister.  I mean really, we have so much in common it’s scary.  Well, not *scary* really, just uncanny.  lol  So, I’ve posted many times about my dear friend’s recipes, and am SO happy that she’s finally started a blog of her own to share her amazing recipes and photos.  Last week, she posted a recipe that made me want to run–not walk–to my grocer to buy the ingredients, like, right then.  Seriously.  But, since my food budget had already gone over for the week, I had to wait until this week to make her recipe.  MAN that sucked to have to wait, but you know what?  It was SO worth it.  This one is going into regular rotation, folks.  It’s quick, easy and absolutely fabulous. I made a few slight changes to the recipe, as noted below.

my version is here: http://canarygirl.com/?p=159

wine recommendation: I'm thinking a lighter red, maybe something from La Rioja, crianza...thinking Paternina Banda Azul.

Elle's lazy girl's cordon bleu

There are so many awesome Greek food bloggers out there on my regular reading list…Peter, Elly and Valli spring immediately to mind….seeing all their delectable dishes, and hearing wonderful stories of Greece and the Greek language spark my desire to visit the idyllic islands even more….Greece is my dream vacation spot…I have wanted to go for years and years….and will probably have to wait years and years before I actually get the chance to go. :(  In the meantime, reading all about these lucky folks and their fabulous food, I’ve been craving Greek.  While this is certainly not Greek, it does have Greek flavors….the idea was to use Spanakopita filling nestled within a chicken breast.  The pictures this time are disappointing…I’m still adjusting to the new kitchen, and am finding it more and more necessary to get to work constructing a photo box, because the dreary overhead fluorescent light and the auxiliary halogen lamp are just not cutting it. :P  I miss my kitchen window!  Wah!  Ok, ok….enough whining for this post. lol  The rice is something I just threw together….sort of like a pilaf, I guess…sauteed garlic, onions, bay and oregano with rice, chicken broth and sliced almonds…a little lemon juice squeezed on to serve and there you have it.  I hope in spite of the photos the recipe will appeal to you guys as much as it did me….even my picky pants kids loved it!

Recipes are here: http://canarygirl.com/?p=153

Wine recommendation?  Pinot Grigio of some kind, I think.  I had it with plain old white table wine..ok, but not great. LOL

spinach and feta stuffed chicken3

pilaf

So, as most of you already know, yesterday was Chinese New Year.  While I’m not Chinese, I must admit I’ll look for any excuse to celebrate! LOL  So, I made some Asian treats in honor of this special day.  Chuck over at Sunday Night Dinner posted his mom’s top secret recipes for Nuoc Cham (dipping sauce) and Cha Gio (Spring Rolls) recently, and I just couldn’t go another day without making some of my own…my Gawd that stuff is good!  It’s also been a while since I’ve made fried rice, and my dear hubs really loves a chicken curry version that I do, so it was set…spring rolls and fried rice would be our menu for the day.  I realize that my menu doesn’t have all of he traditional elements of a Chinese New Year menu, but heck, it’s the sentiment that counts, right? lol  I decided to do a step by step for the spring rolls, like Chuck (sheesh I’m such a total copycat!), for those of you who might not have rolled them before…I know that before I tried to make them the first time I was a little intimidated by the idea.  But, it’s really very simple, as you’ll soon see. Go and check out my site for the step by steps and recipes: http://canarygirl.com/?p=147

First of all, the Curry Chicken Fried Rice:

curry chicken fried rice

And now the Spring Rolls (Cha Gio)….I was much inspired by Chuck’s recipe, though I just had to make some changes (you know me!)…I sort of morphed his mom’s recipe with mine, and the resulting roll was just fab.

Not long ago while making my blog “rounds” I was struck by a post by Kevin at Closet Cooking.  As you may recall, I have been trying to come up with a recipe similar to my old boss’, but to no avail.  The sesame chicken dishes I’ve made are good, but not Cam’s.  With Kevin’s help, I think I’m getting a little closer!  WOOHOO!  Kevin added pineapple juice and honey to his recipe…and that is what was missing from my other attempts, I think.  I didn’t follow his recipe exactly, but this recipe was definitely inspired by his. :)  And while it’s still not quite there yet?  I’m one step closer to cracking that sesame chicken code, baby.

Recipe is here: http://canarygirl.com/?p=141

For the It's all about food & wine foks...let me recommend a fruity white for this, a Riesling, perhaps? 

sesame chicken

So there’s this train of recipes just patiently waiting to be posted on my site…but the thing is, is that I’ve been busy with the aftermath of the kids being home.  Yes, I am *still* finding remnants of those twisty tie things they so abundantly fasten kids’ toys with today in the strangest of corners.  The aftermath of the holiday vacation has been keeping me busy…everything seems to be out of place.  Like, why on Earth is that sock hanging from the door handle?  Why are *all* of the dvd’s out of their cases?  And OH!  Watch out!  Remote control car on the loose!   So.  My sweet little recipes are all waiting patiently in line at Flickr.  Asking which one gets to be first….”Pick me!  Pick me!” they say.  Hopefully I will be able to post them all over the next week (supposing that I can keep up with the newer things I plan to make, and not perpetuate the queue! haha).  This recipe comes to us from my Mom, Carla.  She made a similar one over the holidays and sent me the recipe.  It sounded SO good!  And dang…it sure was!  It makes a huge batch, though, so if you’re not feeding a large family or an army, you might want to scale it back a bit.  I sort of took the “idea” of her recipe and ran with it, I looked at the ingredient list added some stuff, subtracted some stuff, and winged it.  This is one of those soups that is a whole meal in itself, hearty, satisfying and oh, so good.  I hope you like it as much as we did!

For the folks at It's all about food & wine, I'm going to suggest a rosé for this...something not too dry, not too fruity, with just a hint of a bubble, but not quite.  El Coto Rosado is my choice...

Recipe is here: http://canarygirl.com/?p=135

zuppa di pasta alfredo

Yesterday was one of those lucky days that I was able to make it to my Asian grocer.  Man I love that place.  They have the freshest produce at the lowest prices.  Huge bunches of baby bok choy, scallions, cilantro, spinach, basil and bean sprouts for a mere 90 cents each (that’s euro cents, but in US dollars it works out to about 1.35 I guess?).  And the Napa Cabbage…Wow…a humongous bunch for a buck.  You can’t beat that.  This week they also had fresh tofu, which will show up hopefully tomorrow (we celebrate Thanksgiving day on Friday here, so the hubs can join us).  With the abundance of fresh produce and some lovely chicken breasts that my local grocer had on sale this week, the obvious choice was a stir-fry.  Don’t be frightened by the lengthy ingredient list here…just change it up according to your tastes, and what you have in the fridge.  It’s all good. :)  The possibilities for this recipe are virtually endless, to make it vegetarian/vegan, change the chicken to tofu and substitute vegetable broth for the meat based, or mix it up a bit with beef, chicken and shrimp or other seafood.

MEK had mentioned that perhaps including a wine suggestion with my posts would be helpful, so for this particular entry, I'd suggest a fruity white, or even a rosé...preferably a young Rioja. :)

For the recipe, please visit:  http://canarygirl.com/?p=119

chicken and veggie stir fry copia2

The other day, my good friend LeeAnn shared a fantastic recipe for chicken cutlets and skillet gravy.  This week I picked up the ingredients and gave it a whirl…Wow.  Simply, Wow!  I did modify the recipe a bit (can’t follow a recipe to save my life), so I’ll post as I made it here.  This is a great alternative to fried chicken, not quite as greasy and a bit more calorie friendly, yet still every bit as satisfying.  It’s darned quick and easy, too, which is always a bonus.  :)  The cutlets were great served with mashed potatoes and steamed peas. (ps this recipe could easily be made gluten free by substituting gf bread crumbs for wheat based and cornstarch for the flour)

Recipe is at: http://canarygirl.com

chicken cutlets with skillet gravy