What's Cooking?
Vegetable Stuffed Chicken Thighs
It's always a challenge to find new and flavorful ways to prepare chicken, beef, fish, and vegetables; and to have all the flavors be different and complementary, When cooking I am inspired in the moment and by what I have in the refrigerator and the pantry and therefore I rarely write anything down and hardly ever make the same thing the same way twice. Let's just say its a happenstance situation. But now, we are cooking together so I'll be writing things down.
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What you'll need:
Equipment/Tools
1 medium cast iron frying skillet
meat mallet or rolling pin
1 large freezer bag or plastic wrap
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Oven
350°
Ingredients
2 large chicken thighs deboned
Salt
Pepper
1 small onion thinly sliced
2 large carrots sliced thin and chopped
1 large green pepper sliced thin
2 large florets of broccoli chopped
¼ cup sliced almonds
1 Cup of Flour
3 large eggs
½ Cup of Panko breadcrumbs
¼ cup of grated Parmesan cheese
Step 1.
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Grease cast iron skillet and place into the over at 350° on the center rack
Step 2.
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Place 1 thigh at a time into a freezer bag and pound with the mallet until you make approximately 1/8 inch thick paillard (patty)
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Step 3.
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Coat the top of each piece with a thin layer of olive oil and season with salt and pepper and set aside ( I use Lawry’s Garlic Salt and McCormick’s Montreal Steak Seasoning.
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Step 4.
To Make Vegetable Filling take
1 small onion thinly sliced
2 large carrots sliced thin and chopped
1 large green pepper sliced thin
2 large florets of broccoli chopped
¼ cup sliced almonds
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Heat 2 tablespoons of peanut oil in a medium sauté pan
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Sautee onions until translucent
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Add carrots, pepper, and broccoli and sauté and stir until just tender
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Add almonds and continue to sauté until almonds cook
Remove iron fry pan from oven and place on a potholder or heatproof counter
Step 5.
Prepare Three plates or wide shallow bowls
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Bowl 1- 1 Cup of flour
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Bowl 2 – 3 eggs well stirred
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Bowl 3- ½ cup panko breadcrumbs and ½ cup Parmesan mixed
Step 6.
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Spoon vegetable mixture into the center of paillards and roll tucking ends in
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Take rolled paillard and roll in the floured, then the egg and finally into the bread crumbs and Parmesan
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Place into a greased iron fry pan and surround the chicken thighs with remaining vegetable filling
Step 7.
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Turn oven up to broil
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Place filled cast iron skillet pan on the cooktop over a medium flame for 5-7 minutes
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Then place the iron fry pan into the oven on the middle rack and broil for 12-15 minutes (until chick reaches 165°.
Step 8.
Serve and Enjoy!
Sous Vide Lime Porkchops with Mango Sauce
Video Episode: https://youtu.be/6yU91Cuj5Zs
I love cooking Sous Vide. Sous Vide is French for “under vacuum” and is cooking foods in sealed or vacuum-sealed plastic bags and submerging them in a temperature-controlled water bath until they reach the desired temperature. There are some great advantages. The food, in this case, pork chops, cooks all the way through and once it reaches the desired temperature it won’t overcook. It comes out tasty and juicy. In this video, I’ll give you a few sous vide tips. A Sous Vide system is well worth the investment. Once you get the hang of it you’ll use it all the time for meat, poultry, vegetables, and even liquor infusions. It’s easy, cleanup is easy and you can find tons of wonderful recipes online including this one for Lime Pork Chops with Mango Sauce.
You’ll need:
Equipment/Tools
Sous Vide Cooking System- I use the SousVide Supreme®.
A Food Vacuum Sealer- I use a FoodSaver®
2 Food grade plastic vacuum bags
Small food processor/chopper (I use a KitchenAid® Chef Chopper) or potato masher
Cast Iron Skillet (I love my Lodge) or Fry Pan
SousVide Temperature
140°
Ingredients for the Dry Rub*
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2 1-inch pork chops
½ cup of dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons of dry ground lime (I use Sadaf)
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon McCormick Montreal Steak Seasoning
1 teaspoon of kosher salt
*Are you grilling? You can use this dry rub for grilling pork chops as well. To do this increase the ratio of your ingredients a bit, coat the pork chops thoroughly in the dry rub, and leave in the refrigerator overnight. Once out of the fridge let them get to room temperature before grilling.
Let’s Get Started!
Step 1
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Set the Sous Vide Temperature to 140°
Step 2
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Combine all the ingredients thoroughly
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Rub the mixture thoroughly into the pork chops on both sides and the edges
Step 2
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Seal each pork chop in a separate bag
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Completely submerge the bags in the water bath when the temperature is at 140°
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Cook for 2 hours (just to be sure)
Step 3
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As the pork chops are nearing completion prepare your mango sauce
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Ingredients for the Mango Sauce
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2 tablespoons canola oil
1 large ripe mango
1 clove fresh garlic chopped
3 green onions sliced thin
2 tablespoons of minced dried onion
1 tablespoon of dried ginger
2 quick splashes of Tabasco sauce (or to taste)
Step 4
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Skin and cut the mango into small cubes
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Set aside a mall amount of cubes
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Pulse the remaining mango into a rough puree (or smash until the same result)
Step 5
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Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in your skillet
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Sauté garlic until fragrant
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Add and sauté green onions slightly (don't overcook)
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Add pureed mango and sauté
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Add minced onion and dried ginger and cook until puree is hot
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Add a couple of splashes of Tabasco
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Remove from skillet and cover to keep warm
Searing the Pork Chops
Step 6
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Heat 2 tablespoons of canola oil in the skillet on high. The smoke point is 400° so you want to get it just under that.
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Remove the Pork Chops from the Sous Vide
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Cut the bags and remove the chops and plat on a plate
Step 7
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Place the pork chops into the oil to sear for 3 minutes on each side
Step 8
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Serve and Enjoy!
Gourmet Chicken (or Turkey) Salad with
Sourdough Parmesan Toast Squares
Video Episode: https://youtu.be/OQ9DgWiorCE
I love getting creative with leftovers. As far as spices and things like raisins and nuts I keep a well-stocked pantry. There’s always leftover chicken and however it was prepared, I take those flavors into consideration when it’s time to prepare a second delicious experience. There really is no measurement or chemistry in this recipe, which makes it so easy and so fast. But, I have put some suggestions below. You’ll have to watch the video to get the fast hang of it and you’ll be off and running.
What you’ll need:
Chef’s knife
A large mixing bowl
A Mixing spoon
Serving platter
Oven with broiling pan or toaster oven
For the Chicken Salad*
Leftover barbeque or roasted chicken cut or shredded
1 large cucumber skinned and cut into small cubes
1 large sweet Vidalia onion thin sliced or diced depending on your preference
The seeds of 3 cardamom pods
ground nutmeg to taste
sliced tomatoes
¼ cup pine nuts
½ cup of mayonnaise or more if you love mayonnaise
salt and pepper to taste (I use Lawry’s Garlic Salt and McCormick’s Montreal Steak Seasoning)
Romaine or Iceberg lettuce
Paprika
*You can also use leftover turkey or duck
For the Sourdough Toast
Olive oil
Kosher salt
Sourdough Bread
Parmesan cheese grated
Paprika
GOURMET CHICKEN SALAD
Step 1. Prep
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Dice or shred leftover chicken
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Skin and cube cucumber
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Thinly slice or dice the onion
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Crack the cardamom pods and extract the seeds
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Slice one large tomato
Step 2. Mix
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Combine chicken, cucumber, onion, mayonnaise, cardamom, and nutmeg and mix well
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Salt and pepper to taste
Step 3. Present
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Create a bed of lettuce on your service platter
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Spoon chicken salad on to the platter
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Dust with Paprika
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Garnish with sliced tomatoes and sourdough toast squares
For the SOURDOUGH TOAST SQUARES
Step 1. Prep
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Cut sourdough bread into 2 in by 2in squares. I use San Luis Sourdough Bread https://amzn.to/3q6cPdp
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Put olive oil into a plate or bowl for dipping or if preferred you can use a brush
Step 2. Prepare Bread
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Dip or brush each side of bread with olive oil. Do not soak.
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Sprinkle the tops with a pinch of kosher salt
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Sprinkle the tops with parmesan cheese
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Lightly sprinkle the tops with paprika
Step 3. Toast
I find it best to use a toaster oven and set on medium toast. That way both sides of the square get toasted. I love my KitchenAid https://amzn.to/2VglFqB. You can also use a standard oven to bake at 350° but watch carefully.
KitchenAid® Dual Convection Countertop Oven https://amzn.to/2VglFqB
San Luis Sourdough Bread https://amzn.to/3q6cPdp
Lawry’s Garlic Salt https://amzn.to/36cQ0g2
McCormick’s Montreal Steak Seasoning https://amzn.to/3mex1Hv
Easy, Tasty and Fun Orange Flavored Chicken
Video Episode: https://youtu.be/fd2NtYnQmMI
I absolutely love orange chicken. I have some great and not so great. Sure it’s easy to run off to Panda Express, but I wanted to find a way to make it at home- and you can too!! If you fry chicken and have orange marmalade, white vinegar, and salt…you are in business! It’s best to have an at-home deep fryer for this but you can do the chicken in a frying pan or Dutch oven but you’ll need to turn it several times. Since the ingredients aren’t exactly precise you can decide how much you want to make
What you’ll need:
Equipment/Tools
Breading Pan Set https://amzn.to/2K7mSOL
T-Fal Deep Fryer https://amzn.to/36II4SV
Tongs
Frying temperature
375°
Ingredients
1 gallon of canola oil for the fryer
2 large deboned skinless chicken breasts
2 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
4 large eggs
2 tablespoons whole milk
2 ½ cups of panko bread crumbs
2 tablespoons dried red chili peppers (optional)
2 tablespoons of cornstarch
18 oz. jar of orange marmalade
¼ -1/2 cup white wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
Step 1. Preheat Oil
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If you are using a fryer, preheat it to 375°
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If you are using a Dutch oven preheat oil to 375°. Make sure you have enough oil to cover the chicken completely.
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If you are using a frying pan make sure is deep enough so that the oil is at a level where it is deep enough so that the chicken has room to float. You will need to flip the chicken over during cooking.
Step 2. Prep Your Chicken
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Cut the chicken breasts into small bite-size pieces about 1.5-inch “cubes” but make your shapes irregular and set them aside in a large bowl
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Prepare a large plate or bowl lined with paper towels
Step 3. Prepare the Orange Sauce
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Spoon the marmalade into a medium saucepan and heat on low flame. Do not bring to a boil but warm the marmalade enough so that it retains its thickness
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Slowly stir in white wine vinegar to taste. Remember you can always add more but not less. The more vinegar the thinners the sauce so be careful.
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Salt and Pepper to taste
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Keep warm on the lowest flame possible
Step 4. Prepare Your Fry Coating.
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Using three separate breading pans or shallow bowls place the following.
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Bowl 1. 2 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
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Bowl 2. 4 large eggs and 2 tablespoons of whole milk well beaten
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Bowl 3. Combine 2 1/2 cups Panko breadcrumbs, 2 tablespoons of dried chili peppers, 2 tablespoons of cornstarch, 1/8 tsp. of salt, and 1/6 tsp. of pepper.
Step 5. Bread the Chicken Pieces for Frying. Do the following in order:
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Dredge and coat the chicken piece completely in flour
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Roll the chicken in egg and coat thoroughly
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Roll the chicken in the breadcrumb mixture and make sure it is coated and set aside. (While you will be frying in batches you can coat all the pieces ahead of frying)
Step 6. Fry
It is always a good idea to fry a test piece or two just to see how long it takes. Depending on the size of your pieces it can take 2-4 minutes. Careful not to overcook or they will come out dry.
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If you are using a fryer, don't load up the basket and then lower it in because the pieces may stick to the basket. Lower the basket first and then using your tongs carefully drop the pieces into the oil. Watch out for splashing. You may want to poke them or even turn them with your tongs. When done lift the basket and let them drain, then let them drain again on a paper towel.
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If you are using a Dutch oven the same technique applies without the basket.
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If you are using a frying pan you’ll need to turn the pieces until done.
Step 7. Toss and Serve
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Once the oil has drained from the pieces, throw them into a bowl add the orange sauce and toss. Taste to see if you’d like to add more salt or pepper.
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Enjoy!
