Citrus Soy Chicken Drumsticks

Tags

Asian, chicken, citus, lemon, orange, soy sauce

Happy Spring! Even though it’s felt like spring pretty much all winter, but that’s beside the point! Today is kind of a cold, overcast day for the first day of spring. Not really a barbecue sort of day, but perfect for baked chicken with a little citrus flair to brighten the day! The fun thing with drumsticks is that you get to use your hands, and really get into your food. 🙂 Plus, I personally prefer dark meat, which makes drumsticks that much better! This chicken has a nice Asian twist that combines soy sauce and sake along with ginger, garlic, and citrus. All in all, it makes for a nice, light chicken dish. I served these with garlic miso chicken as well, for a sort of drumstick sampler. I thought it made dinner a little more fun! 🙂Citrus Soy Chicken Drumsticks

8 chicken drumsticks (about 2 pounds)
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
½ tablespoon garlic, minced
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup sake
¼ cup fresh orange juice
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
¼ cup chopped green onions, for garnish

Rinse the chicken and dry with paper towels; place in a re-sealable plastic bag. In a small bowl, combine ginger, garlic, salt, sake, citrus juices, sugar, and soy sauce. Add marinade to the chicken and toss to coat. Marinade for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place drumsticks in a 13×9-inch baking dish, pouring marinade over the top. Bake for 30 minutes or until chicken is fully cooked through, flipping chicken pieces halfway through baking. Serve immediately, sprinkling green onions over chicken.

Source: Adapted from Cooking Light

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Chicken and Dumplings

Tags

carrot, celery, chicken, dumplings, onion, soup, stew

The time change is this weekend, which means that spring is nearly upon us. Yet I’m still making soup, and I will continue probably through summer! But at least this soup isn’t a super heavy one, so it could work even in summer! I did make some tweaks to it, though, which is bound to happen after making it 3 times in a couple months. 🙂 The first time I tried making chicken and dumplings, it came out bland and not very good at all. I just assumed that’s how all chicken and dumplings must be, but boy was I wrong! This has definitely come to be one of my favorite soups (or stews… whatever you want to consider it), and I’m so glad I gave chicken and dumplings another chance.

Since I love to have leftovers, I found I needed to up the chicken broth or else it all got absorbed while sitting in the frig. And it never hurts to have some more broth in your soup! My husband and I also found the dumplings in the original recipe to taste a little off, so I went with my own favorite dumpling recipe. Of course, if you have your own, go ahead and use it. It will only make the soup taste that much better!Chicken and Dumplings

Chicken Stew:
3 pounds bone-in chicken thighs
Salt and pepper
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 small onions, chopped fine
2 carrots, peeled and cut into 3/4‑inch pieces
1 celery rib, chopped fine
¼ cup dry sherry
7 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley

Dumplings:
2 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons melted butter
¾ cup milk

To make the stew: Pat chicken thighs dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Heat oil in Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add chicken thighs, skin side down, and cook until skin is well browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Using tongs, flip chicken pieces and brown on second side, 5 to 7 minutes longer; transfer to large plate. Discard all but 1 teaspoon fat from pot.

Add onions, carrots, and celery to now-empty pot and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 7 to 9 minutes. Deglaze the pan with sherry, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot; stir in broth and thyme. Return chicken thighs, with any accumulated juices, to pot. Bring to simmer, cover, and cook until meat is cooked and tender, but still clings to bones, 45 to 55 minutes.

Remove pot from heat and transfer chicken to cutting board. Allow broth to settle 5 minutes, then skim fat from surface. When chicken is slightly cooled, remove and discard skin. Using fingers or fork, pull meat from chicken thighs and cut into 1‑inch pieces; return meat to pot.

To make the dumplings: Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt in large bowl. Add melted butter and milk and stir with rubber spatula until just incorporated.

Return stew to simmer, stir in parsley, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Scoop dumpling batter by the rounded tablespoon over top of stew, spacing about ¼-inch apart. Wrap lid of Dutch oven with clean kitchen towel, keeping towel away from heat source, and cover pot. Simmer gently until dumplings have doubled in size and toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, about 13 to 16 minutes. Serve immediately.

Source: Adapted from Annie’s Eats

Crock Pot Italian Chicken

Tags

cheese, chicken, Italian, slow cooker, tomato

Looking for a super easy and super tasty chicken recipe? Then look no further! This recipe consists of dumping everything in your slow cooker, then walking away for 8 hours. Come back, and dinner is ready!! It’s flavorful, easy, and leaves you with lots of leftovers for lunches at work or dinners. I’ve only tried it over pasta, but this past time I made it, I was thinking that it might even work as a sandwich. Throw some chicken on a french roll, melt some mozzarella on top and you have a delicious Italian chicken sandwich. Definitely going to have to try that next time I make this, which I’m sure will be fairly soon!Crock Pot Italian Chicken

4 chicken breasts
½ cup light Italian salad dressing
1 (24-ounce) jar tomato sauce
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon dried basil
½ tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried parsley
Mozzarella and Parmesan cheese for topping

Place all ingredients in crock pot except cheeses and cook on low for 8 hours. Shred chicken with fork. Serve over pasta of your choice; top with mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.

Source: Adapted from Ryan Bakes

Lemon Brown Sugar Chicken

Tags

brown sugar, chicken, lemon, paprika

Chicken is a meat I always have in my freezer, because it’s so quick to prepare and cook up. And there is so much you can do with it! Take for instance, chicken with brown sugar. Sure it sounds odd, but add in some paprika for a spicy-sweet combo. Then maybe some lemon for a touch of sour. That’s three taste buds being stimulated with just one dish! And seriously, people, as weird as this combo may sound, you will never believe how good it is until you try it for yourself! Time for a little foodie adventure! 🙂

Lemon Brown Sugar Chicken

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
¼ cup lemon juice
½ cup flour
2 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon salt
1½ tablespoons canola oil
2 tablespoons brown sugar, packed
1 tablespoon lemon zest (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the flour, paprika and salt in a shallow dish. Place chicken breasts in the flour mixture and toss until coated completely.

Heat the oil over medium high heat in a large skillet. Place chicken breast in the skillet and cook until browned on both sides. Remove chicken breasts and place in a casserole dish.

Add the lemon juice in the skillet to deglaze the pan, scraping up any browned bits into the juice. Pour the juice over the chicken. Sprinkle the tops of the chicken breasts with the brown sugar and lemon zest, if using. Bake for 30 minutes, or until internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F. Serve immediately.

Source: Adapted from Blog is the New Black

Garlic Miso Chicken

Tags

Asian, chicken, garlic, Japanese, mirin, miso, soy sauce

It feels like it’s been forever since I last posted! Not entirely sure where my time has gone… Anyways, I realize that Valentine’s Day is coming up, but I’ve never really been one to celebrate it all that much. My husband is a sweetie, and he’ll get me flowers or candy, but I don’t do much. I think one year I made a nice dinner for us, and sometimes I’ll make some sweets for friends. Maybe it’s just too girly of a holiday for me, with all the pinks and reds, the hearts and lace… We’ll just have to see if I’m inspired to make anything festive by Tuesday. 🙂

In the meantime, I’ll stick with something not so festive but oh so delicious! I’ve been wanting to make this chicken for quite some time now, along with so many other recipes on Nami’s blog. I used chicken drumsticks, but you can use any part of the chicken that you like. I like being able to mix it up a little, and having drumsticks instead of breast meat was a welcome change. The chicken was moist and delicious, and the flavors were subtle but all melded so wonderfully. We had the chicken for dinner, along with another type of Asian drumsticks, and served them with steamed rice and zaru soba (another wonderful recipe from Just One Cookbook). Yeah, we’re not so big on the veggies, or at least I’m not, so a lot of meals get served without. 🙂 Besides, how yummy does that plate look, all stacked high with chicken drumsticks!!Garlic Miso Chicken
Note: If you use other parts of chicken like chicken thigh or breast, bake at 425 degrees F for 30 minutes, flipping the chicken halfway through the cooking process.

10 chicken drumsticks
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons miso paste
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons mirin

Rinse the chicken and pat it dry with paper towels. Place the chicken in a Ziploc bag; set aside.

In a small bowl, combine the garlic, miso, soy sauce, and mirin. Add mixture to the Ziploc bag. Seal the bag and toss everything together, rubbing the sauce into the chicken. Refrigerate for at least 4 to 6 hours, preferably overnight.

Preheat the broiler on your oven. Line a broiler pan bottom with aluminum foil and spray the broiler rack with cooking spray. Place the chicken on the broiler rack, skin side down. Broil for 10 minutes, or until nicely browned, then flip the chicken and broil for another 10 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through. Serve immediately.

Source: Adapted from Just One Cookbook