TFF: Chicken with Apple Cider Sauce and Rice Pilaf
Hi, remember me?
I think there’s been a time warp.
Somehow, the last five weeks or so have flown by in a blur.
We’ve been on puppy duty and fully immersed in ironing out all of our new routines. Here’s my big girl at 13 weeks old. She’s already getting so big, she’ll be a full size Great Dane in no time it seems. I swear she grows visibly every single day!
I’ve hardly been in the kitchen at all the last five weeks. Heating up cans of soup or grabbing cold pizza out of the fridge wouldn’t count I don’t think. I’ve only actually made something twice and both of those times I was cooking and baking out of… a box. *Gasp!* Anyway, I’ve really missed it. It was my “me” time and something I just naturally did without putting too much thought into it.
So this week I’m back with Tyler Florence Fridays after my little unplanned hiatus. Maybe only halfway because I’m actually kind of cheating, this recipe is one I’ve had saved in my drafts for a while. I made this back in January and never posted it because I felt I couldn’t take a decent picture of it to save my life. But this Apple Cider Chicken was so GOOD and I thought it should be shared since apple cider season is getting into full swing. I also had made Tyler’s Rice Pilaf as an afterthought, just kind of throwing it together using dried herbs I had on hand.
Some of the Food Network reviews complained about the Apple Cider Sauce and how it never got thick enough. I paid attention to this complaint and cooked the sauce on high heat for the recommended time. Doing it this way, I didn’t have any problems at all.
The chicken had a great flavor and was slightly sweet. I will make this again without a doubt, especially now that apple cider is starting to pop up everywhere again. I can’t look at apple cider anymore without thinking back to Tyler and this chicken recipe. Mmmm!
Tyler Florence’s Chicken with Apple Cider Sauce
Show: How To Boil Water Episode: Make It Tonight
Ingredients
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (about 1 pound)
2 teaspoons kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup apple cider
1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
Click here for directions
Tyler Florence’s Rice Pilaf
Show: How To Boil Water Episode: Make It Tonight
Ingredients
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 shallot, thinly sliced
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 cups basmati-style long grain rice
3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 bay leaf
1 sprig fresh rosemary
Click here for directions
Chicken with Apple Cider and Rice Pilaf marks my 19th post for Tyler Florence Fridays, a group with the freedom to make any recipe of Tyler’s that they choose and then share their experiences every Friday.
It feels good to get back to the blog. Until next time…
TFF: Bring on the cookout
This week for Tyler Florence Fridays I was ready to get the cookout started.
I chose to make Grilled Chicken with Peach Barbeque Sauce and Tolan’s Mom’s Potato Salad, both from the book Tyler’s Ultimate.
Of course I had big plans to use my outdoor grill but then realized we were out of propane… kind of an important part to the whole gas grilling thing. Now I live directly behind a huge shopping center with tons of stores and restaurants selling most everything I could ever need, but I avoid shopping like it’s the plague. Laziness and an unwillingness to go shopping usually leads to some alternative thinking for me. I got to looking around on foodnetwork and saw that Tyler’s BBQ chicken recipe there had you grilling for a few minutes and then transferring to a 350 degree oven for the remainder of the cooking time. I figured with those instructions, me and George (Foreman, that is) could still get this whole grilled chicken thing worked out.
If you look on foodnetwork.com at Tyler’s Top 100 Recipe list you will find that the majority of this list are chicken dishes, tons with 5 out of 5 ratings. So I knew going in that I pretty much was going to get something great. I wasn’t let down. The chicken is brined for two hours prior to cooking and doing it this way it turned out really moist. Cooking on the Foreman grill and then in the oven worked like a charm. The Peach Barbeque sauce was AMAZING. It was sweet, smoky and had a fresh flavor burst from white wine vinegar. I was so happy with it I’m not sure I’d bother looking for any other BBQ sauce recipe to try out this summer.
The potato salad was so different than what I’m used to, which is a good thing. I’ve never been a huge fan of potato salad but would tolerate it if I had to. This one had eggs, red onions, dill pickles, pickle juice and capers – some things you might not expect to see and things that made me interested in testing it out. I liked how he had the eggs cooking with the potatoes, that was a nice shortcut. Wasn’t disappointed here either, this was one of the best potato salads I’ve ever had.
Both of these dishes made up the perfect dinner for me and the boyfriend this past Memorial Day. Neither one of us had any complaints and there wasn’t anything leftover.
Now all I need is to add a few more Tyler dishes to the list alongside this BBQ chicken and potato salad and I’ll have the perfect cookout menu. Oh… and I guess I better get some propane, too.
Tyler Florence’s Grilled Chicken with Peach Barbeque Sauce
Ingredients
Brine:
2 quarts water
2 tablespoons kosher salt
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 garlic cloves, smashed with the side of a large knife
4 sprigs fresh thyme
2 (3 1/2 to 4 pound) chickens, quartered (I used chicken breasts)
The Ultimate Barbecue Sauce:
1 slice bacon
1 bunch fresh thyme
Extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 cups ketchup
1 cup peach preserves
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
2 tablespoons red or white wine vinegar (I used white wine vinegar)
1 tablespoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon ground cumin (didn’t have any, left it out)
1 teaspoon paprika or smoked paprika
Freshly ground black pepper
Click here for instructions!
Tyler Florence’s wife Tolan’s Mom’s Potato Salad
Ingredients
2 pounds small Yukon gold potatoes
2 large eggs
Kosher salt
1/2 bunch sliced scallions, white and green parts
2 tablespoons drained capers
1 cups mayonnaise (foodnetwork.com lists as 2 cups – only use 1!!!)
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1/4 cup finely chopped dill pickles with 1/4 cup juice, about 2 pickles
1/2 small red onion, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/2 bunch dill, chopped
1/2 lemon, juiced
Freshly ground black pepper
Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
Click here for directions!
Grilled Chicken with Peach BBQ Sauce and Tolan’s Mom’s Potato Salad marks my fourteenth post for Tyler Florence Fridays, a group with the freedom to make any recipe of Tyler’s that they choose and then share their experiences every Friday.
Chicken Piccata
We’ve done a total overhaul of our eating habits over the last month, something that desperately needed to be done. We were spending an obscene amount of money between the two of us on Starbucks (every day… eeek!), lunches and dinners out constantly. The plan was to find the store that consistently has the best sales week to week, which turned out to be the oldest store in our town that always has an empty parking lot while shoppers buzz in and out of a new fancy mega-store right across the street. We watch the circulars and plan our meals around what’s on sale and walk through the aisles in peace with no one getting in our way. We don’t even have to wait in line when we’re ready to pay. Things are on a system now and under control AND extra money is padding our accounts…sweet!
Due to this change though, I was a bad Barefoot Blogger last month. I missed both recipes, something I’ve never done. My apologies to Tara and both Rebecca and BMK who picked great recipes that I just couldn’t get completed.
I’m back this month though and ready to go.
Lindsey of Noodle Nights and Muffin Mornings has selected Chicken Piccata for the first March recipe. We’ve made this dish at my house before and it went over well, so I was happy to make it again.
This is a quick and easy dinner that’s delicious. Boneless chicken breasts are pounded thin and dredged through a flour mixture, an egg mixture and finally seasoned bread crumbs. The chicken is browned in olive oil on the stovetop and then baked in the oven for a few minutes. Everything is covered with a lemon, wine and butter sauce and then topped with fresh parsley and lemon slices. Sounds good, huh? It is.
This would be the perfect dinner to whip up at a moments notice or after a long day at work. It really takes no time at all and there aren’t a lot of ingredients or steps to stress over. The lemon flavor is pretty strong in this recipe, which I love, but just be aware.
Thanks to Lindsey for a wonderful choice.
Ina Garten’s Chicken Piccata
Show: Barefoot Contessa Episode: It’s Friday Night Again
Ingredients
2 split (1 whole) boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 extra-large egg
1/2 tablespoon water
3/4 cup seasoned dry bread crumbs
Good olive oil
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature, divided
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons), lemon halves reserved
1/2 cup dry white wine
Sliced lemon, for serving
Chopped fresh parsley leaves, for serving
Click here for directions!
And since it’s been lemon my last couple of posts I thought it was the perfect time to give a big Thank You to Michelle of Big Black Dog who gave me this Lemonade Award on one of her recent posts (Chocolate Cupcakes with Brown Sugar Bubble Frosting… mmmm).
Thanks Michelle, it really made my day when you let me know. 
Coq au vin
According to Wikipedia: Coq au vin, a classic French stew, translates to “rooster in wine”.
This dish presented many new firsts for me. I had heard of it (sounded pretty fancy for my cooking skill), but never tasted it. Actually, I don’t think I’ve ever cooked a French dinner dish before. I know I’ve never cooked with such a large amount of wine! And I had never cut a whole chicken into pieces (It wasn’t easy for me, I felt absolutely terrible about it. I really renewed my appreciation for Perdue Short Cuts chicken today). I’d say this was a definite learning experience.
I saw a post over at Workout then Cook! about adapting this recipe for the crockpot. This was a perfect alternative for me as I realized I didn’t actually have the Dutch Oven that is needed. I put everything in the crockpot at one time (except the wine) and cooked on low for about 6 hours. I then added the wine and finished up on the stove for a little less than an hour. Side note: I’m kind of coming in late to this blog but I just recently found A Year of Crockpotting. The author’s 2008 New Year’s resolution was to cook a new recipe everyday in her crockpot and then blog about it. She’s kept up with it all year and has done pretty much anything you can think of (and stuff you’d never think would work). Wonder if she’ll continue through 2009??
Anyway, Coq au vin is not the most photogenic dish out there, but we liked the taste. I liked it more than my boyfriend, he had some issues with what he thought was a strong red wine flavor. I’m not much for red wine, but the taste didn’t bother me. The chicken fell right off the bone and actually got a little stringy when I stirred. This is one of the things Ina mentions in her new book Back to Basics that is avoided when using her reworked cooking method using the Dutch Oven. I guess I have to also put a Dutch Oven on my Christmas list… my list is getting LONG!
Ina Garten’s version of Coq au vin was selected by Bethany of this little piggy went to market for the December 11th recipe for the Barefoot Bloggers group. The recipe can be found here on the Foodnetwork site. Next up for the BB’s is Pappa al Pomodoro, an Italian tomato/bread soup. I’ve had my eye on it since I got Back to Basics.
Barefoot Bloggers: Mexican Chicken Soup for My Birthday!!!
31. Wow, I can’t believe it. I thought 30 was huge… and it was. But now that 30 has already flown by, I’m into this new territory of slowly inching further up the scale. 31 leads me to 35. 35 to 40. And so on and so on. All of us deal with age differently. Some care, some don’t, some wish to be young again, others would never dream of going back in time. Getting older scares, comforts, and amuses me all at once.
I have a lot of friends in their 40′s and 50′s, and I’ve learned I have to watch how I word my birthday feelings. With them, there’s generally no sympathy for me on this matter. ”You think 31 is bad, try 50!” or “Stop your whining, you’re still in your prime! Look at me, I’m all but used up!” Then I have the opposite side of the spectrum…. my Mom started having kids again when I was in middle school so I’m 12 and 15 years older than my siblings. To them, you’d think I’m ancient. “Karen… you’re so… OLD… I’m totally serious… you’re freakin’ OLD”.
Gotta love it, right?
I spent my birthday how I wanted for the most part. The boyfriend and I had lunch downtown at my new favorite cafe and then did some shopping (I got myself some presents: two pairs of new boots and Oil of Olay to help ward off impending wrinkles). We then came back home and watched my new Scooba (you know, the floor washing robot…. eeeee!! I’m so excited!!!) wash the hardwood floors in our living room. Since J was on call for his job we decided to hold off going out to my traditional fancy birthday dinner until next weekend. The last thing we wanted was to be in the middle of our eight course tasting menu if he had to rush off to take care of something three hours away. We decided to stay in and make this Mexican Chicken Soup for my Barefoot Bloggers assignment instead.
I had no issues about trusting Ina Garten with my birthday dinner, even if it was just a soup. I’ve been a huge fan of all of the soups of hers I’ve tried in the past (especially the Cheddar Corn Chowder and the Butternut Squash Apple). I knew it would be good. I’m still waiting for that first Ina Garten recipe to come along (either through the Barefoot Bloggers or just trying her stuff on my own) where I think “eh whatever, this isn’t that great…”. It just hasn’t happened yet. And I’m no butt kisser, I would say if I didn’t like something… the “Great Contessa” or not.
One thing I LOVE about Ina is that she dislikes cilantro as much as I do. While she recognizes that it has it’s place in certain recipes, she always makes it an optional ingredient. And I will always exercise the “No” option. Cilantro is just vile to me. I can eat it and live through it, but I think it’s taste ruins most of the dishes it a part of. Now, this recipe did have ground coriander seeds which seem to be the fruit of the cilantro plant. I don’t have anything against coriander since it tastes more lemony than anything. So it was invited into my soup with open arms.
We used a traditionally seasoned rotisserie chicken as a shortcut to roasting chicken breasts in the oven for 40 minutes first. We also went the pre-shredded carrot route as well as store bought chicken stock. These shortcuts made for a pretty fast dinner from start to finish. Ina suggests starting with one tablespoon of salt depending on the saltiness of the stock but I cut it down drastically. I only ended up using less than 1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt (we did use low sodium chicken broth as well) and it was seasoned just fine for us. One thing I noticed was that the corn tortillas totally disappeared into the soup. They were nowhere to be found. I’m going to trust they add something superb flavor wise. If not, I now have about 30 more six inch tortillas to figure out what to do with for no good reason. I liked Tostitos chips with a hint of lime as part of the garnish along with sour cream and cheddar cheese. We did get avocado but I think I picked the unripest one in the barrel – the inside was as hard as a rock. Oh well, they all looked green, what can you do?***
This soup was a success and held up to my highfalutin’ birthday dinner standards.
Thanks to Judy of Judy’s Gross Eats for choosing the Mexican Chicken Soup as the second November recipe for the Barefoot Bloggers group. Make sure you stop by her blog to see what she thought of her choice.
Mexican Chicken Soup recipe can be found on Food Network here!
***I researched avocado ripeness detecting and a good one should feel like what pressing on the end of your nose feels like. Ok, I think I understand. Thanks, ehow!
My Kitchen, My World: Greece
This week, the My Kitchen, My World bloggers went to Greece. Susan of She’s Becoming doughMESStic bestowed upon me the wonderful opportunity to choose the country for Week Six. Without hesitation, I knew that Greece was my choice.
When I was about fifteen, I lived with my best friend and her Greek family for a little less than a year. I was having troubles at home and they took me in with no questions asked and treated me like I was one of their own. I have many great memories from this time from being exposed to so many of the family’s Greek customs, traditions and ways of daily life. I eventually learned how to follow the language, they mostly spoke only Greek at home and I got good at being able to understand conversations even though I couldn’t speak the language very well myself.
And, of course, I was exposed to the cuisine.
At the young age of 15, I had never experienced foods like Grape Leaves, Lamb, Feta Cheese and even Olive Oil. So it was a great experience to try so many new and unheard of things. My favorite meal would hands down be Chicken and Potatoes with Lemon and Herbs. Especially the potatoes. You just can’t go wrong there. And that’s what I decided to make for this week’s event. It’s a simple recipe, but it tastes great. And it brings together traditional Greek ingredients such as Olive Oil, Lemon and Oregano in just the right way. I haven’t had this dish in almost fifteen years, that just doesn’t seem right!
Update: Don’t cook and serve your chicken upside down like I did. I’m just sayin’.
Greek Lemon Chicken and Potatoes
1 whole chicken
3/4 lemons
half a cup of olive oil
2/3 pinches of oregano
Salt & pepper to taste
4/5 potatoes cut in half
Click here for directions and to see where I originally found the recipe.
And dinner just wouldn’t be complete without dessert, now would it? And my favorite Greek dessert is Rice Pudding. So of course I had to make that, too.
Ryzogalo (Rice Pudding)
1 1/4 cups of water
3/4 cups of short grain rice
2 1/2 cups of whole milk
3/4 cup of sugar *
3 3/4 tablespoons of cornstarch
3 egg yolks
For the topping: ground cinnamon
Click here to see the directions.
Things I learned this week: I’ve always been a fan of the boneless, skinless chicken breast variety so I had never cooked an actual whole chicken before. I will say that it was kind of strange and I felt kind of guilty as I was preparing to cook it. Now that it’s all said and done, I guess it wasn’t that bad.
Thanks again to Susan of She’s Becoming doughMESStic for starting this awesome blog event. Both weeks that I’ve participated have challenged me in the kitchen in different ways. See you next Saturday for the next installment of My Kitchen, My World. For now, head on over to the MK,MW site to see all of the Greek dishes the other bloggers created.
Barefoot Bloggers: Parmesan Chicken
It’s time for another Barefoot Bloggers selection. This time, Parmesan Chicken was chosen by Megan of My Baking Adventures. I have never made this sort of recipe at home before so I was really looking forward to testing it out.
I really waited until the last minute with this. Even though I read the posting date quite a few times, I thought I had until the weekend to get it done but that wasn’t right. Hmm. But that’s kind of normal for me to mix up days, the passage of time is very strange to me. A lot of times, I am not sure what day of the week it is. Or what week of the month it is. Sometimes, I get the month right… sometimes not. And, I’m embarrassed to say, sometimes I even talk about the wrong year… and not just right after the turn of the New Year when it’s acceptable. My co-worker is the one who sees this flaw of mine on a regular basis and catches most of my mistakes and quickly corrects me. She’s just accepted that I’m a little off with the concept of time and doesn’t make fun of me *too* much. Unless we’re in a large group of people, of course.
Anyway, good thing this Parmesan Chicken was ridiculously fast and easy to make because I made it tonight as soon as I got home from work. And I got off work late.
The boyfriend is out of town so I only made one chicken breast for myself. I pounded out the chicken with a rolling pin until I thought it was thin enough. Next, I got the three plates together with the flour, egg and breadcrumb mixtures and got to dipping. Then it went right in the pan. I cooked for a few minutes each side while putting together the salad. Within about 6 minutes dinner was done. Making spaghetti from a boxed pasta and a jar of sauce takes longer than this. It was really good and I would make it again for sure. I really liked the addition of the lemon vinaigrette salad although my first instinct was to leave it out. I’m glad I didn’t. Thanks Megan for such a wonderful choice!
Parmesan Chicken
featured on the Barefoot Contessa show Mystery Guest
4 to 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 extra-large eggs
1 tablespoon water
1 1/4 cups seasoned dry bread crumbs
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan, plus extra for serving
Unsalted butter
Good olive oil
Salad greens for 6, washed and spun dry, 1 recipe Lemon Vinaigrette
Lemon Vinaigrette:
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons)
1/2 cup good olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Click here for directions!
Please stop by and check out all of the other Barefoot Bloggers takes on Parmesan Chicken here.
