Balsamic BBQ Chicken

I know it's been a couple of days since posting a recipe. But I haven't had any opportunity to actually cook the last couple of weeks. I did manage to cook Balsamic BBQ Chicken which is a friends recipe. I can't even remember why she gave it to me, but I'm glad she did.

It's a good recipe. I made rice with it, and any side would go with it. It's like BBQ chicken, but in a pan and with balsamic vinegar. Nummers!

Balsamic BBQ Chicken
Serves 6

• 6 Boneless chicken breasts
• Salt and pepper
• 1 tablespoon Olive oil
• 3 cloves Garlic, chopped
• 1 can Tomato paste
• 1 can Low sodium chicken broth (14.5 oz)
• 2/3 cup Balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons Honey
• 4 Green onion, sliced

Wash and slice green onions, separating tops from white bottoms. Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in a large nonstick skillet. Salt and pepper the chicken to taste.

Add chicken to skillet and brown 1-2 minutes per side. Remove chicken and keep warm. Lower heat to medium-low and allow skillet to cool slightly.

Add garlic and white part of green onions to skillet and sauté for 2 minutes. Stir in tomato pasted and chicken broth and mix well. Increase heat to medium-high; add vinegar and honey and cook to boil.

Reduce heat to low, return chicken to skillet, cover partially and simmer about 30 minutes or until sauce thickens and chicken is no longer pink in the center.

Thai Style Chicken Stir-Fry

This is a recipe from last week. I got a bit behind on my recipe blog. Not that anyone reads it? Is anyone reading this?

In a spur of the moment decision, I had my boss who was here from the UK, over for dinner and made this for her. I had to change it up some because of the ingredients I had on hand but it was quite good. I'd make it again if I ever get around to making a recipe a second time.

Thai Style Chicken Stir Fry
Serves: 4

• 1 1/2 tablespoons Fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon Low sodium soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon Bottled minced fresh ginger
• 3 tablespoons Fresh lime juice, divided
• 1 pound Skinless boneless chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 tablespoon Canola oil
• 2 cups Zucchini, sliced ( added asparagus too since it was on hand)
• 1 cup Onion, sliced
• 4 cloves Garlic, minced
• 2 Jalapenos, seeded and minced
• 1/4 cup Cilantro, minced
• 1/4 cup Sliced fresh basil
• 1/4 cup Chopped green onion

Combine fish sauce, soy sauce, fresh ginger, 1 1/2 T lime juice in a ziploc bag. Add chicken; seal and marinade in refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Remove chicken; reserving marinade.

Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken; stir fry for 2 minutes or until chicken begins to brown. Add zucchini, onions, garlic and jalapeno. Stir fry 5 minutes or until chicken is done.

Add reserved marinade and cook 1 minute - make sure it boils for a minute. Remove from heat. Stir in the remaining lime juice, basil, cilantro and green onions.

Delux, Devine, Chicken Devan

This is a Rachael Ray recipe that she did on a 30 Minute Meals episode. I am a fan of Chicken Devan, and liked the way she adjusted this to not be so casserole-y. (Yes, that's a word). All the recipes I have for Chicken Devan, while good, make a ton. And as a single girl who's not a fan of left overs, they really don't work too well for me.

It should also be mentioned I didn't make the rice the way she suggests below for two reasons: 1) I didn't have any lemon and 2) making rice on the stove lately has been an issue for me so I resorted to a mini rice cooker. Which doesn't mean I couldn't have made it this way in the rice cooker, I just chose to make plain old rice.

Deluxe, Divine, Chicken Devan
Serves 4

• 1/3 cup Sliced almonds
• 1 quart Chicken stock
• 1 Lemon, zested
• 2 sprigs Fresh thyme
• 4 tablespoons Butter, divided
• 1 1/2 cups White rice
• 8 Chicken cutlets
• 1 teaspoon Poultry seasoning
• 2 tablespoons Plus 1/2 cup flour
• 2 tablespoons Olive oil
• 1 pound Fresh asparagus, trimmed
• 7 large Button mushroom, sliced
• 1/3 cup Half and half
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 2 Scallion, chopped

Toast almonds in a small skillet until golden. Set aside. Bring 2 3/4 cups chicken stock, the zest of 1 lemon, thyme sprigs and a tablespoon of butter to a boil in a medium pot with a tight fitting lid. Add rice to water, stir. Return the water to a boil then reduce heat to simmer and cove the pot. Cook 18 minutes or until tender, remove from heat. Remove the thyme sprigs, the leaves will have fallen off in the rice.

While the rice cooks, season chicken with salt, pepper and poultry seasoning. Dredge chicken in about half cup of flour then discard the rest. Heat a large skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan, and 1 tablespoon butter to the large skillet. To the hot butter and oil, add the cutlets and cook 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Remove the meat to a large platter and cover with foil to keep warm.

Bring an inch or 2 of water to a simmer in a shallow pan and season with salt. Add asparagus and cook 4 minutes until just tender but green. Remove and add to chicken platter to keep warm.

Return chicken skillet to the heat and add 2 tablespoons butter. Melt butter, add the mushrooms and sauté for a couple of minutes. Whisk in 2 rounded tablespoons flour. Cook the flour 1 minute then whisk in 1/3 cup white wine, a couple of glugs. Cook off wine, 30 seconds, then whisk in 1 1/4 cups of chicken stock (remainder of the quart) then the half-and-half. When sauce bubbles, stir in mustard and tarragon and let sauce simmer and thicken 2 to 3 minutes.

Stir scallions into rice and fluff with fork. Make a bed of rice on each dinner plate. Top with a serving of steamed asparagus then 2 cutlets of chicken. Cover the chicken with the tarragon sauce, allowing the gravy to spill over edges into asparagus and rice. Sprinkle the plates with toasted nuts.

Green Curry Chicken with Zucchini

I'm a big fan of curry - generally speaking - only I realized I had only tried red curry and yellow curry. So in order to say I'm a "fan" I figured I should try a few more curry types. I'm not brave enough to try something when eating out now days because of cost, but I can cook and try new things.

The green curry is quite flavorful. Its called green curry because of the profusion of fresh hot green chilies in the curry paste. I've heard it's the hottest of all curries, but I'm not convinced just yet. Next time I'll use more curry and make it a bit warmer and a bit more flavorful.

There are a few things in this recipe I had no idea what it was and/or where to get it. So I didn't use them (aka the wild lime leaves).

Green Curry Chicken with Zucchini
Serves: 4-6

• 2 medium zucchini or 2 long purple Asian eggplants (ick on the eggplant - I used zuc's)
• 1 1/2 cups Unsweetened Coconut milk
• 2 to 3 T Green Curry Paste ( I only used about 1 T so not to overheat it...I'll use more next time)
• 1/4 lb boneless chicken thighs or breasts, cut in big bite sized pieces
• 1 1/2 cups Chicken broth
• 2 T Palm sugar or brown sugar (Yah, I have no idea what palm sugar is, so I went with brown)
• 6 to 8 Lime leaves, torn or cut in half (Optional)
• A handful of fresh Asian or Italian basil leaves, plus basil springs for garnish

Cut the zucchini in half lengthwise and then crosswise into 1 inch chunks; set aside. In a medium saucepan or heavy skillet, bring 3/4 cup of the coconut milk to a gentle boil over medium-high heat. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes until it begins to thicken and becomes fragrant. Add the curry paste and cook 2 to 3 more minutes, pressing and stirring to dissolve it into the coconut milk. Add the chicken and cook 2 minutes more, tossing to coat it with the sauce.

Add the remaining 3/4 cup coconut milk, the chicken broth, zucchini, fish sauce, palm sugar, and about half the wild lime leaves, if using, and bring to a gentle boil. Reduce heat to maintain a lively simmer and cook, stirring now and then, until the chicken is cooked and the zucchini is tender but still firm, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the remaining lime leaves and the fresh basil leaves. Garnish with a few sprigs of fresh basil and serve hot or warm.

Serve with rice.

Sesame Noodles with Chicken and Asparagus

Yummy Yum Yummersome! This was a super simple dish - ready in the time it takes to boil noodles and very flavorful. When I do it again, I'll go a little less on the peanut butter as I like just a hint of peanut butter more so than the full flavor of peanut butter.

Sesame Noodles with Chicken and Asparagus
Serves 4

• 2 Boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut crosswise into 1/4 inch pieces
• 1 tablespoon Vegetable oil
• 1 pound Linguine
• 1 pound Asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1" pieces
• 1/3 cup Peanut butter
• 5 tablespoons Rice vinegar
• 1/4 cup Oyster sauce
• 2 teaspoons Chile garlic sauce
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Grated fresh ginger
• 1 1/2 tablespoons Toasted sesame oil

Bring 4 quarts water to a boil in a large pot.

Pat chicken dry with a paper towels. Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Cook chicken until no longer pink, 1-2 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate.

Add pasta to boiling water and cook until just beginning to soften, about 8 minutes. Add asparagus to pot and cook until bright green and pasta is al dente, about 4 minutes. Reserve 1 cup cooking water, drain pasta and asparagus, and return to pot.

Whisk peanut butter, vinegar, oyster sauce, chili garlic sauce, ginger, sesame oil and 1/2 cup pasta cooking water in bowl until smooth. Add peanut butter mixture and chicken to pot and toss to combine, adding reserved pasta water as needed.

Hint: With the asparagus, don't put it in too early. It really doesn't take any time too cook. I slightly over cooked it and I hate mushy asparagus.

Stewed Beef with Rice

So this one I'm not so sure about. I think I may have to do it again and not use so much tomato sauce. Actually I didn't use any tomato sauce, all I had on hand was pureed tomatoes. Which, I think made it too tomato-EE. If you know what I mean...

Stewed Beef with Rice
Serves 2

• 1 small Onion, chopped
• 1 clove Garlic, minced
• 1 T Olive oil
• 1 Beef flank steak (3/4 lb), cut into small pieces
• 2/3 c Tomato sauce
• 2 tsp Red wine vinegar
• 1 tsp Dried oregano
• 2 T Sliced pimiento stuffed green olives
• 2 c Hot cooked rice

In a large skillet, sauté onion and garlic in oil until tender. Add beef; sauté 2-3 minutes longer.

Stir in the tomato sauce, vinegar, oregano and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 30-35 minutes or until meat is tender and sauce is thickened. Stir in olives. Serve with rice.