Chicken in a Dutch Oven

I don't know if this is really necessary as a recipe, but I kind of wanted to remember the specifications for how we did this, because the chicken really came out perfectly.

Ingredients

• 1 Chicken - ours was about 2.5lbs, but you can go up to 5-6 lbs so long as it fits in your (covered) Dutch oven
• 1/2 lemon, sliced thin
• Something onion-y - we used 2-3 shallots, cut in half (root to tip), though you could use onions.
• Celery - we used about 2 stalks worth, cut down so they fit inside a bird.
• Garlic - about 2 cloves, chopped
• 1:1:1 mixture (ish) of sage, rosemary, and thyme, with a bit of salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 250. Yeah, just 250. Wash the bird thoroughly in lukewarm water, including the inside. Then pat dry with a towel, making sure the outside is quite dry. Insert the onion, celery, and garlic into the bird, then fit the lemon slices in under the skin and in the cavity. We then trussed the bird, but that's not really necessary. Coat with some olive oil and sprinkle liberally with the seasoning mixture to coat the bird.

Place the chicken breast-side up in a lightly oiled dutch oven and cover. Place in the oven for about 80-120 minutes, until a thermometer inserted into the breast is just shy of 160 and the thigh is just shy of 175. Then turn on the broiler onto high and uncover the dutch oven. Let the bird cook just a little while longer (flipping it over after a couple minutes) to brown under the broiler. Remove from oven and cover with the dutch oven lid. Allow to rest for 20-30 minutes.

Thoughts: This was really easy. Why don't we do this more often? We prepared this chicken for use in chicken matzo ball soup (we used the carcass and vegetables again afterward to make the stock). It was really delicious. Would make again. Some recipes recommend searing the chicken FIRST and then just baking it, but I thought, well, it's in the oven already. Why not use that? It worked pretty well, but toward the VERY end the oil started to pop inside the oven. Not great. Maybe searing would be better if we want to eat the skin. OTOH, I could still sear individual pieces AFTER carving it. I think that may be my preferred approach, since it's so much more manageable.

Disaster Index: 1/10

B'Stilla

We went off the beaten path for this one, I guess. B'stilla is a chicken almond filo (or phyllo) pie from Morocco. Some recipes incorporate apricots. When I saw the recipe, I was reminded of a dish they serve at Medcaf in Madison, WI, that they call "chicken apricot pie". I think theirs is the same IDEA, but maybe different execution. Nevertheless, this was really delicious. We have some tweaks for next time, though.

This recipe makes TWO small pie-sized dishes.

Ingredients

• Ras El Hanout
• 1/2 tsp aniseed
• 1 tsp fennel
• 8 allspice berries (or, I guess, like 1/2 tsp)
• seeds from 8 cardamom pods
• 8 whole cloves
• 15 black peppercorns
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tbsp sesame seeds
• 1 tsp coriander
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• pinch of red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp dried ground ginger
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• Almond Sugar (seriously)
• 1/2c almonds
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• Apricot Compote
• 8oz dried apricots
• water
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• Filling
• Filo dough
• 2 smallish onions, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 3/4 tsp grated ginger (fresh)
• 1/2 tsp black pepper (or to taste)
• 2 tsp Ras El Hanout
• 2c chicken stock
• 1.5-2 lbs chicken thighs
• 1c bulgur (Could maybe use rice in place of it? Or maybe even oatmeal?)
• olive oil
• salt

So first grind together that huge list of spices to make the Ras El Hanout. You'll be left with quite a lot. If you can figure out how to get the right mixture but with less extra left over, by all means. But it's REALLY interesting, so I'm sure we'll use it in other stuff. It might be good in a bechamel.

Now, do the compote. This takes forever, so you can do it ahead of time. Chop the apricots finely and throw them in a sauce pan with water to cover (generously) and the lemon juice. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer until they're really soft and you basically have jam. It takes like 30-45 minutes. You will probably have to add water part way through a couple times.

NEXT, throw the onions and garlic in a stock pot with some olive oil. Cook until onions are translucent, then add the ginger, pepper, ras el hanout, stock, and chicken thighs. Bring to a boil, stirring, and then reduce to a simmer and cover until the chicken is very tender. Remove the chicken and shred using two forks (or whatever you want, I guess), then return to the pot with the bulgur. (Now would be a good time to set the Filo out to thaw!) Bring BACK to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cover. Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, then turn off and leave covered for another 10 minutes or so. Use your judgement on this one.

While that's sitting, preheat the oven to 425. Grind the almonds with the sugar and cinnamon. Take about three sheets of filo and lay them across a pie tin. Brush the bottom with olive oil, then sprinkle with 1/4 of the almond mixture. On top of it, add 1/2 the chicken mixture. Then another 1/4 the almond mixture. Top with 1/2 the apricot compote, then fold the filo over to form a top crust. Or just use more sheets of filo. Brush those with olive oil (generously). Repeat the process with a SECOND pie tin. You could probably actually do this whole thing in a 9x13 casserole pan and do a couple layers of filo, etc. ANYWAY, bake the suckers for 20 minutes, until the filo is browned. Enjoy! IT TOOK LONG ENOUGH.

Thoughts: This was really delicious, but incredibly time consuming. Or I'm just grumpy because I'm cutting back on my caffeine this week. But next time we thought maybe more layers of filo and stuff. Claire thought a little more salt in the chicken. What else? Parsley. Probably a lot of that could go in here. Claire thought maybe incorporate pieces of dried apricot when you do the chicken, rather than doing apricot jam like we did. I think that is probably wise.

Disaster Index: 1/10 - despite our minor complaints, this really killed it. We accidentally AN ENTIRE PIE IN ONE SITTING. So.

Slow-Cooker Cassoulet

This started out as some kind of slow-cooker chicken and then evolved from there. I didn't use a recipe, so this is completely made up.

Ingredients

• 4 skinless chicken thighs (we used boneless, but whatever) with excess fat trimmed off
• 1 small yukon gold potato, cubed (we used 1/2 of a huge potato)
• 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 1-2tbsp lemon juice
• 4 sprigs of fresh thyme (or equivalent dried?)
• 1tsp dried rosemary (fresh would have been better)
• 2 bay leaves
• a few red pepper flakes
• 1 can cannolini or great northern beans (slow cookers don't get hot enough for dried beans to not be poisonous, apparently)
• 1/2lb smoked beef sausage

To a slow cooker, add the chicken, stock, lemon juice, thyme, rosemary, bay leaves, and red pepper flakes. Set to low and cook for about 4-5 hours. Then add everything else. Cook for another 2-3 hours. Season to taste.

Thoughts: Ridiculously easy, but amazingly delicious. The only problem we had was that once we added everything else, the slow-cooker wouldn't heat up enough. We couldn't get it back to a simmer, so we ultimately had to throw everything in a big stock pot and simmer it for 5 minutes or so to make sure it was done. Even so, worth it. Claire said a touch more salt the second day since the potatoes absorb some salt.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Turkey Gumbo

After Thanksgiving, we went to Jeff's house and had amazing leftover turkey gumbo. Pat & Eleanor had given us the turkey carcass from our own feast, so Claire and I were inspired to try it. The recipe we made was ENORMOUS but good. You will almost CERTAINLY want to alter the amount of stuff in this.

Ingredients

• 1/2c oil or leftover bacon grease or something similar
• 1/2c all purpose flour
• 2 large onions, chopped
• 2 red bell peppers, seeded, chopped
• 4 celery ribs, chopped
• 8 cloves worth of garlic
• 1 tsp cayenne
• 1/4c white vermouth
• 1 tbsp dried thyme
• 4 bay leaves
• 1 28-ounce cans diced tomatoes with juice
• 4-6ish cups turkey stock with turkey
• 1 package (?) andouille sausage (I think about 1 lb), cut into 1/2" slices
• 1 16-ounce packages sliced frozen okra
• 1 lb peeled (tail off) de-veined shrimp.
• Salt to taste
• Gumbo filé to taste

So, it's important to note before you start that we made the turkey stock as follows: chop up the turkey carcass and place in a slow-cooker. Cover with water, and leave for about 24 hours. Fish out any bones. DONE.

In a huge pot, add the grease / oil. Heat until quite hot, then add the flour. Stir around this paste, cooking over medium heat, for about 5 minutes. If you use oil, at least, it's supposed to turn reddish-brown through this process. Ours started out that color, so who knows. Anyway, add the onions, peppers, and celery. Cook until everything is quite soft - about 20 minutes. Then add the garlic and cayenne and cook another couple minutes. Then add the vermouth, thyme, and bay leaves. Turn to high heat and cook for a minute, before you add the tomato, stock, and sausage. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes, then add the okra and simmer for another 10 minutes. Finally add the shrimp and cook until just fully opaque (3-5 minutes). Salt to taste (ours needed quite a lot).

Serve.

Thoughts: Great flavor. Claire and I agree that we could have used more turkey - we could have had more, but we ate a lot of the turkey before we tried this. I think the amount of shrimp and sausage was good, though. We agree that the flavor was great.

Disaster Index: 1/10, but it made so much we'll be eating it for like 2 weeks.

Spicy Black Bean Soup

Wow.

Ingredients

• .75c dry black beans
• 4 strips of bacon, chopped finely
• 1 smallish onion, diced
• 1/2 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 clove garlic
• 1tsp dried oregano
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/4tsp thyme
• 6c chicken stock
• .25c cilantro, chopped
• 2 boneless skinless chicken thighs
• 1 dried chili pepper, MOST of the seeds removed, ground in a mortar & pestle

Cover the black beans with 3 inches of cold water and let sit for about 8 hours.  Drain the water and rinse the beans.

In a soup pot, place the bacon and cook until crispy.  Then add the onion and pepper and the spices.  Cook until the onion is translucent and add the beans, stock, and the chicken thighs.  Stir well, scraping up the browned bits on the bottom of the pot.  Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer.  Simmer for like 2 hours.  After one of those hours has elapsed, remove the chicken using tongs or a slotted spoon and shred using two forks, then return them to the soup.  After about 2 hours, the beans should be very tender.  Add the cilantro.  Serve.

Thoughts: Not only was this amazing - one of our best soups yet - it pretty much left the entire floor of our building smelling awesome.  The chicken was a last minute innovation designed to use up leftovers before we left town, and shredding it seemed like a really easy way to deal with the stuff being too frozen to cut.  Claire declared that all the chicken in our soups should be prepared this way in the future.  Anyway, not much can be said about this soup.  It was awesome.  Maybe next time I'll use 2 chilies.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Mulligatawny Soup

Ingredients

• neutral oil
• 2 onions, chopped
• 4 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 5 cloves of garlic
• 2 1/2 tbsp garam masala
• 2 1/2 tsp coriander
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp pepper
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 c red lentils
• 8 c chicken stock
• 2 c chicken, cooked (optional)
• 1c chopped cilantro (optional)
• 1 can coconut milk
• juice of 1/2 a lemon
• 1c basmati rice, cooked

At some point while you're making the soup, you can cook the rice: wash 1c of rice, then put it in a pot with 1.25c water.  Bring to a boil, then cover and set to very low heat and cook for about 8 minutes.  Then turn off the heat and let it sit (covered) for another 10 minutes at least.

To make the soup, heat a little oil in a pot, then add the onions and carrots.  When the onions are getting translucent, add the garlic and all the other spices (including the bay leaves) and cook for a minute.  Then add the red lentils and toss to coat.  Then add the chicken stock and bring to a boil.  Reduce to a simmer and cook for about 20 minutes.  Take it off the heat and add the lemon juice and coconut milk, then blend until smooth (we used a stick blender).  Stir in the cooked chicken and cilantro and correct seasoning (we had to add more spices and salt).  To serve, put rice in a bowl and pour soup over the rice.

Thoughts: When we first made the recipe, I tasted it before we added the coconut milk and thought that the flavor was fantastic.  The coconut milk really muted the spices, so we needed to add a lot more.  But it was quite good.  It might be nice to only PARTIALLY blend this but leave some of the lentils whole for texture.  Even so, this was quite good.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Hainanese Chicken

Ingredients

• 2-3lb boneless skinless chicken thighs
  
• ~4 cloves of garlic
  
• 1-2 lobes of ginger, minced or grated
  
• 1 onion, chopped
  
• 3 scallions, chopped
  
• 2c rice, thoroughly washed
  
• sesame oil, soy sauce, sriracha, black vinegar
  

In a pot, add the chicken, garlic, and ginger and enough water to just coat the chicken - about 5 cups for us, I think? Depends on the size pot, I guess. Bring the water to a boil, add some salt, and reduce to a simmer. Cook until the chicken is cooked through - about 15 to 20 minutes, depending on whether you started with frozen. The original recipe had you cook for 10 minutes then leave sit for 45, but we weren't too happy with the way it looked, so we just cooked it until it was done.

Remove the chicken to a cutting board and shred. Reserve the broth in a measuring cup. Add the onion to the pot with a little sesame oil and maybe some extra garlic and ginger. Cook until the onion is translucent and softened, then add the rice. Toss that around for a little bit, then add 2.5c of the broth (for us, I think this is all that was left - the closer you can come to hitting the 2.5c mark when you're done with the chicken, the better). Bring to a boil, then reduce to a low simmer and cover, cooking for 10 minutes. Then turn off the heat and let the rice sit for an additional 10 minutes before you uncover and fluff the rice.

Serve the rice topped with the chicken. Sprinkle with scallions and a sauce made of soy sauce, black vinegar, sesame oil, and sriracha. I think we actually ran out of soy sauce so we used "tempura dipping sauce" (which contains many of the same ingredients but it's a little sweeter - it was really good). We also served this with tomato, which I think we agree was kind of unnecessary.

Thoughts: Aside from the fact that you will feel you need more vegetables while eating this, it's really fantastic. I mean, you COULD add carrot, water chestnut, bamboo shoots, or whatever you're interested in and the dish probably wouldn't suffer (I'd cook them with the rice). But it's totally unnecessary. One of the most important factors in this dish is the sauce at the end - you have to do a lot of adjusting to make it just right, but it's really good. As mentioned above, when we decided to make this, we started by boiling the chicken for 10 minutes and then letting it sit. This didn't work at all. Maybe it's because our chicken was frozen? Anyway, I'd definitely consider making this again - it was really easy and quite good. Not all that healthy, perhaps, but who really cares?

Disaster Index: 1/10

Chicken and Tomatillo Chimichangas

Ingredients

• 8 small skinless chicken thighs
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• scant 2 cups drained canned tomatillos (12 oz can works fine)
• 14 oz cooked pinto beans (also from can is fine)
• several large tortillas
• several ounces of grated pepper jack cheese
  
• oil, for frying
• salt and pepper

Thaw chicken. Put in a large pan, and add water to cover. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes or until the chicken is cooked. You can go ahead and skim the schmaltz off the top if you want.
Remove the chicken, transfer to a plate, let cool, then shred. We usually use two large forks for this business.
Heat the oil in a frying pan. Fry onions until translucent, then add the garlic and spices and cook for 3 more minutes. Add the tomatillos and beans. Cook over moderate heat for another 5 minutes. Make sure to be stirring constantly throughout this whole process. It gets pretty sticky.
Add the chicken and the seasoning (salt and pepper, in this case).
Heat the tortillas in a microwave until they're very pliable. This is important. They cannot be chilly or room temperature. They must be either warm or hot.
Spoon a smallish amount of the filling into the center of the tortilla and sprinkle the grated cheese on top. It should take up about 1/4-1/5 of the tortilla.
Fold in the sides, followed by the top and the bottom. Secure with a cocktail stick or a skewer or something. This is actually sort of tricky. Just improvise.
Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the chimichangas in batches until they're crisp. They should get a nice golden color. If the cooked part is pretty dark and the rest of the tortilla is still white, the heat is too high. Turn it down.
Remove them from oil, drain on paper towel, and eat.

Thoughts: Absolutely delicious. I think they could have used a little more salt (possibly in the form of chicken stock). They were pretty easy to make though. I think we should have gotten bigger tortillas. We got small ones, but like, fajita or burrito-sized tortillas would have been better. It was pretty difficult to get them to fold up completely, and even more difficult securing them with a skewer or cocktail stick. Just be prepared for this. They are delicious for breakfast also. Also, we had WAY more filling than we knew what to do with. We only had enough tortillas for half the filling. I would go ahead and use fewer chicken thighs. You could probably go ahead and cut that number in half and you would be fine. Also Dan thought it could probably use some more cheese. He also thinks a mole sauce would work well with it. We actually have some mole sauce in the back of our fridge, but at this point, I wouldn't go near it. Cilantro would also be a good addition. Dan also says maybe we could put zucchini in it, but I'm not convinced.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Chicken Stir-fry with Yams and Red Cabbage

Yes, this dish was just about as weird as it sounds.

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp sesame oil
• 2 yams, peeled, cut into 1/3 " rounds, and cut into sticks.
• 1 medium red onion, sliced
• 8 ounces boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into chunks
• 1 tbsp minced ginger
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
  
• 1 cups red cabbage, sliced into 1/4 " strips
• 3 tbsp hoisin sauce
• fresh or dried cilantro

Heat sesame oil over medium high heat. Add yams and onion and cook until yams are tender. Add water by the tablespoon-full if it starts to dry out. This should take about 12 minutes.
Sprinkle chopped chicken with plenty of salt and pepper and stir to coat. Add chicken to yams and onions. Add ginger and garlic and more sesame oil, if needed. Stir fry for one minute.
Add the cabbage and stir-fry until chicken is cooked through and cabbage is wilted but still a little crunchy. Stir in hoisin sauce. Add cilantro.

Thoughts: This was totally weird. I don't know. I would not make it again. I originally found the recipe because we were trying to find a way to use up the 2-pound head of cabbage in our fridge. It seemed like a good idea at the time. But if I had thought about it for even a second, I probably would have thought better of it. I mean, red onions and sweet potatoes and chicken? What the hell? Not great. IF we were to try to fix this recipe enough to make it again, I would take out the red onions. I would also add a WHOLE MESS of soy sauce. This dish lacked flavor in general. This was one of the worst things we've made in a while, I think.

Dan: I think the sweet potatoes were weird. That didn't fit in at all. I agree that it lacked flavor. Adding some soy sauce helped. It didn't taste BAD, it just didn't taste good. It was really really bland.

Disaster Index: 6/10

Xinxim

Possibly one of the strangest recipes we've done so far.
Ingredients

• 1.5lbs of chicken thighs, cut into thick pieces
  
• 3 limes, juiced
  
• ~4 cloves garlic, crushed
  
• salt and pepper to taste
  
• 1/2lb pre-cooked shrimps (if not pre-cooked, just add them a little sooner. The original recipe called for raw, but we didn't have 'em)
  
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
  
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
  
• 2 large ripe tomatoes, seeded and chopped (why seeded? I don't know.)
  
• 1c chicken broth
  
• ~1/2c dried shrimp
  
• ~1/2c cashews
  
• ~1/2c toasted peanuts
  
• 1 lobe ginger, peeled and finely chopped
  
• 2tbsp palm oil
  
• 1 can coconut milk
  
• (optional) cilantro
  
• 2 spicy sausage links, cut thickly (chorizo would work, we just used "hot italian sausage" we found at the grocery)
  

Mix lime juice, garlic, salt, and pepper. Place chicken and sausage in one bowl and shrimp in another, and put about 1/3 of this mixture over the (non-dried) shrimp and the remaining 2/3 over the chicken and sausage. Stir to coat. Let marinate for 15 minutes. In the mean time, place the dried shrimp, cashews, and peanuts in a cuisinart and crush them down to a fine meal. In a pan, heat some oil with a high smoke point (peanut oil, for example). Put the chicken and sausage in and cook until they're more or less done. Set aside (back in the bowl of marinade, possibly).
In the same pan, add the green bell pepper and the onion and sautee until soft. Then add the tomatoes, chicken & sausage (and all the marinade they were sitting in), and the chicken stock. Let simmer on low for 30 minutes. Add the nuts/shrimp meal and the ginger. Let simmer for another 5 minutes. Then add everything else, stir well, and let simmer another 5-10 minutes. Serve.

Thoughts: Really great. We could use more soup liquid - more stock. The taste really matured after refrigerating a day (leftovers were really great). Dan felt it was a little greasy - maybe less or no palm oil next time. Also, we could chop the peanuts and cashews up a LITTLE more finely than we did. This made a LOT of soup - next time we could cut the recipe in half and still have enough leftovers for a week. Finally, skip seeding the tomatoes. Just use 1 can of chopped tomatoes. This recipe was really complicated, so anything to simplify it.

Disaster Index: 2/10

Deep-Fried Cornish Game Hens

Yes, we deep-fried Cornish game hens. What?
Ingredients

• Cornish game hens (we used 2)
  
• a lot of canola oil
  
• tongs galore
  

There is nothing more harrowing than trying to deep fry Cornish game hens. First thaw the suckers. Then wash them off with water and pat as completely dry as you can, inside and out. Let them sit out for an hour (yes, really). Toward the end of the hour, begin to heat the oil to 350 degrees. You want 1) enough oil to come up about 2-3 inches from the bottom of the pot and 2) not enough oil that it will bubble over when you put the chicken in.

Oil heated, add the chicken. Use tongs or something. Two pair make it easier. Cook it until it's golden brown, turning occasionally to get all the sides. It'll take about 12 minutes. I recommend trying to let it sit for at least 4 minutes on each side without messing with it too much.

Pull the thing out and place it on a wire rack to drain the oil out. Pat dry if need be. Now is a good time to start scrubbing the grease off of everything in your kitchen.

Thoughts: in a word, terrifying. Otherwise, I have to say that while it turned out OK, I wouldn't deep fry again. The done-ness was great, and it was NOT dry at all, but neither was it really flavorful. Next time we try to make it we'll rub it down with herbs and bake it. Advantage to that approach is you don't have to risk horrendous disfigurement or death to eat a chicken.

Disaster Index: 2/10

Chicken & pasta with mango cream sauce

Ingredients

• 16 oz. pasta (rigatoni works well, but whatever)
• olive oil
• 2 skinless, boneless chicken thighs
• 1 onion, sliced and separated into rings
• 1 red bell pepper, julienned
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 tsp fresh ginger, minced
• 1 mango - peeled, seeded, and chopped
• 1 cup whole milk
• salt and pepper
• parmesan cheese, to top

Cook pasta until al dente. Set aside.
Cook chicken with olive oil in a pan over medium-high heat for 10 minutes, or until juices run clear. What the hell does this mean? Who knows?
Cook onion and pepper in olive oil until tender. Mix in garlic, ginger, and mango, and continue to cook for 5 minutes, or until mango is soft. Pour in milk and cook until thickened, about 5 minutes.
Add pasta and chicken, and cook everything for a little bit longer (2-4 minutes), until chicken is all the way done and pasta is not al dente anymore (unless you like that sort of thing).
Eat.

Thoughts: The taste on this dish was pretty fantastic, but we used WAY too much pasta in relation to everything else. I would halve the amount of pasta down to 8 oz next time. Also, it would have been much more awesome if we had blended the cooked onion, pepper, mango, garlic, ginger, and milk together to make a smooth cream sauce. This was just way too deconstructed and uneven, if you know what I mean. If it were a cohesive sauce, there would be some mango flavor on all the pasta. The way we did it, there were huge sections of plain white pasta and some clumps of vegetables and mango. Not great. Not great.

Disaster Index: 3/10. Taste was good, presentation = not so much.

Jambalaya

Ingredients

• 2.5 cups chicken stock
• 1 22-oz. can of whole tomatoes
• 1 chorizo sausage (ours was frozen)
• 2 cups fresh shrimp, tails off, deveined, all that good stuff.
  
• 4 chicken thighs (again, ours were frozen), cut into small chunks
• 1 cup long-grained rice
• 1 very small onion, diced
• 1 tbsp dried parsley
• 1 tbsp beef bouillon
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp savory
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/4 tsp cayenne
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 bay leaf

Thaw the chorizo and cook it until it's mostly done. Set aside.
Thaw chicken and chop it up. Set aside.
Put everything except the shrimp into a stockpot, large soup pot, or, ideally, a dutch oven. In a dutch oven, the rice won't stick to the bottom as it cooks. In everything else, it will.
Bring mixture to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat and set simmer for 20-30 minutes. A minute or two before the time is up, throw in the shrimp. Save the shrimp for very last because they're already cooked. If you put them in too early, they'll get all rubbery. And we don't want rubbery shrimp.
Eat.

Thoughts: This was sort of a complicated recipe, but my goodness, it was hella delicious. We added the chicken to the recipe, which was a fantastic idea (but don't do it unless you have leg or thigh meat). I'm surprised this recipe worked out so well, actually.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Chicken Enchiladas II

We used "enchilada sauce" as a huge shortcut, and it worked very well.

Ingredients

• 1 15oz can "enchilada sauce"
  
• 1lb boneless skinless chicken breast, trimmed
  
• 1/2c water
  
• 1tsp garlic powder
  
• 2tsp cumin
  
• 1/2c chopped cilantro
  
• ~2c shredded monterey jack cheese
  
• ~6 large (10"?) flour tortillas or ~12 6" ones.
  

Combine enchilada sauce, water, garlic, and cumin in a large pot. Bring to a boil, add chicken, cover, and reduce to a simmer. Cook until the chicken is just done through (and a thermometer should read ~160*, though we don't have one) - about 10-12 minutes. If the chicken started out frozen, you'll probably have to remove the chicken after about 8 minutes, cut it into smaller pieces, and then add it back in for another 8 to 10 minutes. When the chicken is done, turn off the heat and remove the chicken to a plate and set aside.

Set the oven to 400 degrees. Shred the slightly cooled chicken using two forks. In a bowl, mix shredded chicken with 1/2 cup of enchilada sauce, 1c of cheese, and cilantro.

Stack all the tortillas on a plate and microwave them for about 40-60 seconds. Add about 1/3c (if you're using small tortillas) or 2/3c (if large) in a line down the middle of the tortilla. Roll tightly, and place seam-side down in a greased casserole pan. Repeat with all of the tortillas. Spray the tops of the tortillas with PAM. Pour the rest of the enchilada sauce evenly over the top, and then top with the remaining cheese. Bake for 20-25 minutes. I recommend using two spatulas to get them out of the pan.

Thoughts: I thought these were delicious, but Claire thought they needed a little more flavor. She prefers vegetables in her enchiladas. To that end, we sauteed some zucchini with some red and yellow onions. When they were done, we gave them the exact same treatment as the chicken (mix with cheese and cilantro, fill enchiladas, top with more sauce and cheese) and they turned out very well. Next time we will probably mix the vegetables in with the chicken. Also, we have some mole sauce, so next time we might make mole enchiladas, too, by pouring the mole over the top at the end rather than the enchilada sauce.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Chicken Fingers

A healthy take on chicken fingers: no deep frying involved.
Ingredients

• about 2lbs boneless skinless chicken breast, trimmed of excess fat.
  
• Brining Solution:
  
  
  
  • 2c buttermilk
    
  • 1tsp garlic powder
    
  • 2tbsp dijon mustard
    
  • 2tsp salt, 1tsp pepper
    
  
  
• Breading:
  
  
  
  • 3c cornflakes, crushed (about 2.5c crushed)
    
  • 3/4c bread crumbs
    
  • salt, pepper
    
  • 1tsp garlic powder
    
  • 1/8tsp cayenne
    
  • 1/2tsp paprika
    
  
  

Thaw chicken and cut into "strips" of appropriate / desired size. Mix all of the "brining" ingredients together in a large bowl. Place chicken strips in bowl and let sit for at least an hour (overnight is better), covered, in the fridge.

When that's done, preheat oven to 400. Mix "breading" components and season to taste. Working one piece at a time, remove a chicken strip and cover in breading mixture, making sure to press the breading firmly into each piece and to cover completely. Arrange chicken strips on a sheet pan, giving a little space between each one. Bake 35-45 minutes, or until golden brown and done in the middle.

Thoughts: Claire and I really enjoyed these (and they're very healthy by comparison. We had to substitute buttermilk for half-and-half + skim + vinegar. It still turned out well, actually. But next time we could try the actual recipe. Also, the breading probably could have used a bit more salt (and pepper).

Disaster Index: 1/10

Chicken Curry with Bamboo Shoots

This is also based off of one of my dad's recipes.

Ingredients

• 1 lb boneless chicken breast
• 1 can sliced bamboo shoots
• 2 tbp red curry paste
• 2 cups coconut milk
• 1 cup fresh Thai basil leaves, torn
• 1 tbp fish sauce
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1.5 tsp brown sugar
• 12 kaffir lime leaves
• 3 segments of lemongrass, bruised.
  

Wash the chicken and cut it into whatever size you want. If the bamboo shoots aren't already sliced, slice them. Usually they come sliced though, so it shouldn't be a problem.
Pour 1 cup of the coconut milk into a pan. The recipe says "wok", so use a wok if you have one. We don't, so we just used a saucepan-type-thing. Bring to a boil over medium high heat, stirring constantly. Add the chili paste. Cook until the coconut milk is reddish. Add the lemongrass.
Add the chicken and saute until the chicken turns white. I don't know how you'll be able to tell, since it's sitting in red sauce. Just do your best. Don't eat raw chicken.
Add the rest of the coconut milk, the bamboo shoots, fish sauce, salt, brown sugar, and lime leaves. Bring to a boil again. Then add the torn basil. Turn off the heat.
Eat.
Steam some rice with this and eat it.

Thoughts: This was totally killer. I could have used another tbp of fish oil, but Dan doesn't really like it all that much. He actually doesn't want to put any fish sauce in it. So we'll have to think about that. Next time Dan also thinks we should steam the rice in a rice basket rather than like, cooking it on the stove top. Jasmine rice would be better too. We just used plain long-grain rice. I would eat this all the time. And it took like, no time at all.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Vegetable Enchiladas

There are several components to this dish. We'll start with the enchiladas themselves.

Ingredients

• extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 medium onion, diced
• 3 garlic cloves, diced
• 1.5 tsp ground cumin
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 cups chicken stock (or veg)
  
• many cilantro leaves, chopped
• 2 small zucchinis, chopped
• small red onion, in rings/slices
  
• salt and pepper
• 6 flour tortillas (medium-large)
• 1/2 pound monterey jack cheese, shredded
• salsa (storebought is fine, but if you want to go all out and make your own, go for it)
  

Preheat oven to 400 F.
Heat some olive oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add chopped onion and cook until caramelized. Add garlic and cumin and cook for another minute.
Add flour and mix very well. Make sure that all the pieces of flour are incorporated. Add the chicken stock right away so the flour doesn't burn. Mix well.
Turn heat down to a simmer and continue to cook the mixture until thickened.
Turn off the heat and set aside.
In another pan, cook the zucchini and onions with some olive oil. Cook until the onions are caramelized. Season with salt and pepper.
When they are done cooking, add them to the flour mixture. Stir well to combine.
Change oven temp to 350 F and begin assembling enchiladas.
Smear some salsa onto the bottom of a baking pan (enough to coat).
This is the easiest way to fill the enchiladas:
Place the 6 tortillas in the bottom of the pan and position them so that they look like hardshell tacos. Then just go down the line and place a bunch of the flour/vegetable mixture on the tortilla, followed by some shredded cheese (use all the flour veggie mixture but save about half of the cheese). Once the tortillas are full, fold them over as best as you can. I don't know how to describe this. Just do what you feel like doing.
Smear the top of the enchiladas with more salsa, then sprinkle on the rest of the cheese.
Bake for about 30 minutes until the cheese is bubbly.
Serve with refried beans, yellow rice (recipe follows), guacamole, and salsa. Or whatever.


Ingredients for Yellow Rice

• 2 cups long grain rice
• 4 cups water
  
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp salt

Put all the ingredients in a pot, stir, and bring to a boil over medium-high/high heat.
Reduce heat to simmer, cover, and let cook over low heat until rice has absorbed water.
Remove from heat and let sit, covered, for 5 minutes.
Fluff with a fork and serve.

Thoughts: The enchiladas were pretty good. In our original foray, we made our own roasted tomatillo salsa, which was super acidic and totally not worth it. So we didn't even include that part in the recipe. Don't even bother. Just use store-bought salsa. Also, the original recipe (Tyler Florence's) called for a roasted deli-style chicken for the filling instead of just vegetables. We were going to use one but we forgot to go to the store and we were already half-way through the recipe SO we just said screw it. But we would definitely use chicken next time because it would make them so delicious. So yes.
As per the yellow rice, we would definitely use chicken stock instead of water because it would make the rice more savory. If you're a vegetarian (why??), you might try vegetable stock because it still might add some extra flavor. Also, Dan suggests that we add to the rice half a green bell pepper and then discard it when we serve the rice. Apparently it adds more flavor. So we'd do that too. Overall, very very delicious.

Disaster Index: 1/10

Matzo Ball Soup

My own recipe

Ingredients

• 1/2c matzo meal
  
• 2 eggs
  
• 2 tbsp olive oil
  
• 1/2c fresh parsley, finely chopped (or maybe 1/4c dried?)
  
• salt and pepper (but mainly pepper)
  
• ~6c chicken or vegetable stock
  
• Whatever vegetables you think go in soup (I tend to use carrots and peas)
  
• 2 chicken breasts, cut into smallish strips or chunks (optional)
  

First, prepare the matzo balls. In a bowl, combine the matzo meal, the eggs, the oil, the parsley, and add a liberal amount of salt and pepper. Now you have to add some water to this mixture so that it will loosen up. ~2tbsp minimum. The more water you add now the fluffier the matzo balls will be later. This is a personal preference thing. Some people like them more compact. You pick. Anyway, once you've mixed up the matzo ball batter, put it in the fridge.

Now, bring the stock to a boil. Add the vegetables and, if you're using it, the chicken. By now, the matzo ball batter should be nicely chilled. Get it out and spoon it into the boiling mixture. I use a small ice-cream scoop with a quick-release, though you could use two normal spoons if you're good. Once you've spooned in all of the matzo balls, turn the soup down to a simmer and cover. This prevents them from drying out on top.

After five minutes, you can check on them. I couldn't tell you when they're done, I just keep looking until they look right. They don't take very long, but also you can pretty much over-cook them as long as you want and nothing too bad will happen. At some point they'll start to fall apart.

Thoughts: I've made this a lot. One thing you can do is add cayenne pepper, paprika, or, hell, I dunno, curry to the matzo balls. Go crazy. One time we put peas in the matzo ball batter itself. I didn't really like that. Anyway, there are a lot of options if you aren't excited about just parsley. Still, this recipe is hard to screw up and if you keep a thing of matzo meal on hand you'll pretty much always have the ingredients you need.

Disaster Index: 1/10 - it's kind of a standard at this point.

Chicken Coconut Curry Noodle Soup

This is adapted from a couple recipes. When we make it, it's sort of "until it tastes good," so this is really just a general guide to how to make it:

Ingredients:

• 4 cups chicken broth
  
• 2 (14-ounce) cans unsweetened coconut milk
  
• 1/2 tablespoon (sweet) curry powder plus or minus a tablespoon to taste
  
• Sriracha to taste
  
• 3-4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
  
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice (say 1 squeeze of half a lime)
  
• 1/2 cup chopped green onion
  
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro (to taste, we prefer more toward 1/2)
  
• 2 packages ramen noodles (just the noodles! Not the flavor packets!)
  
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
  
• Fish Sauce to taste (we go about 1/2tsp, or you can substitute with mushroom sauce or just leave this out entirely)
  
• salt and pepper to taste
  

Bring the broth, coconut milk, and curry powder to a simmer in a soup pot. Add chicken and simmer until it's just barely cooked through, about four minutes. Add the ramen noodles and cook until they're tender (about another minute). You may need to add a little more water at this point. You decide. Now, take it off the heat and add everything else (lime juice, green onion, brown sugar, fish sauce, salt, pepper, and sriracha or other hot sauce, and cilantro). Taste it. Adjust seasoning as you desire. We usually use a lot of curry powder.

Thoughts: This is very good, and hard to mess up. Problem is that it's kind of annoying to cook with meat sometimes. There's a lot of room in this recipe for adjustment to your own taste, as well. Don't be afraid of over-seasoning (except maybe with the salt) - you can always add more stock or water.

Disaster Index: 1/10 - good, hard to mess up.