Oven Baked Chicken Thighs and Veggies

Yes, another chicken recipe, but this time using most flavorful part of chicken, the thighs. They take much, much longer to cook then a breast but they are also so much more flavorful.

With the exception of mushrooms and chicken, of course J, all other ingredients that formed the sauce were from my garden: onion, eggplant, red and green peppers, tomatoes and garlic. Prep time is reasonable 20 minutes or so of chopping and slicing. As is the case with all of my recipes amounts given are for 2 people plus good leftovers for next day lunch. I served it with orzo (rice shaped dry pasta) but it can be served with any other dry or even fresh pasta, boiled potatoes, mashed potatoes or rice.

Ingredients

4 chicken thighs (bone in and skin on)

1 Tbs. olive oil
1 Tbs. butter
1/2 medium onion
1 Oriental eggplant or 1/2 regular eggplant
1 red pepper
1 green pepper
2 Roma tomatoes
1 cup sliced cremini or white mushrooms
3 cloves garlic, smashed
2 tsp. olive oil
2 tsp. butter
Salt and pepper
1 tsp. dried basil or 2 tsp. fresh chopped basil

 Preheat oven to 350 °F and place rack in middle.

Generously sprinkle salt and pepper on all sides of chicken thighs and set aside.
Slice or chop onions, eggplant, tomatoes and peppers.
In oven-proof skillet (avoid non-stick pans) heat oil and add butter. When the foam subsides place thighs skin side down and cook until skin starts to brown little bit. Turn the chicken thighs over and cook another 3 minutes. Remove to plate and cover with foil.

In the same skillet, drop in onions and cook until they start to caramelize, scraping the bottom of the pan to loosen any browned bits.

Add eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, garlic and mushrooms and stir to mix all vegetables.
Return the chicken thighs with accumulated juices back into skillet, cover and place in the oven. Check every 15 minutes if there is any juice left. If it looks too dry add white wine or chicken stock.

Meanwhile, cook your side (pasta, rice or potatoes).

After 30 minutes remove the cover from skillet and raise the oven temperature to 400 °F. Add the basil and cook for 10 more minutes or until the chicken skin is gold and crisp.

Serve immediately.

Chicken Breast Strips with Vegetables

All the veggies I used in this recipe were from my garden and it did taste very fresh. From start to finish it took just little under 30 minutes.

Main thing is to do all the prep first, start boiling water for pasta and you are on a roll. Also, I just do not like mushy vegetables, texture is terrible, they are tasteless and void of any vitamins, so I cook them just until they are al dente or “soft to the tooth”. Same goes with the chicken breasts, they are so easy to overcook. I just cook them till juices run clear when pierced with sharp point of knife or if there is no pink meat when you cut half way in.

I served this meal with wide noodles but I could have used gnocchi, rice or even potatoes with this sauce.

Ingredients

2 chicken breasts cut into 1” strips across

3 shallots or 1/2 medium onion, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 cup of chopped eggplant

2 red peppers, seeded and chopped

3 tomatoes, chopped or small can whole tomatoes

1 tsp. dry basil or 1 Tbs. fresh chopped basil

1 Tbs. balsamic vinegar

Salt and pepper

2 Tbs. olive oil

Wide noodles or gnocchi, rice or even potatoes

Season the chicken breast strips with salt and pepper and coat with 1 Tbs. of olive oil. (I like to use small but deep stainless steel bowl.)

Cook pasta, toss in tablespoon of butter and keep warm.

Heat remaining oil in medium hot frying pan or skillet, drop in the chicken strips and cook on all sides. Test if they are done and remove to bowl. Set aside and keep them warm.

In the same skillet sauté shallots and garlic until shallots are translucent and garlic is fragrant, then add eggplant, peppers and tomatoes and cook on medium high heat until peppers feel soft, about 5 minutes.

Add basil and balsamic vinegar and stir to mix.

Add pasta, chicken strips and mix till pasta is coated with the sauce and chicken and pasta are reheated.

Serve on warm plates and garnish with extra basil.

Chicken and Mushroom Risotto

Last few days I had craving for nice creamy risotto so I checked my posts to see what kind I cooked last time. I was very surprised that I didn’t post any regular rise risotto recipe, none at all!

Risotto is so versatile. You can prepare it with so many different meats and vegetables and mix them right in risotto at the end of cooking or serve them on top. Since I bought King Oyster Mushrooms and farm fresh chicken breasts I wanted to use these two ingredients as a main topping. I just love these mushrooms for their taste and texture. Also, since I do have saffron on hand at all times, the risotto I have made was classical “Risotto alla Milanese”.

Ingredients

3 tsp. olive oil

3 Tbs. butter

2 1/2 cups fresh mushrooms, sliced

2 skinless chicken breasts

1-1/2 cups Arborio rice

3 shallots

4 garlic cloves, crushed

1/2 cup dry white wine

Pinch of Saffron

4-1/2cups chicken stock (heated)

1/2 cup of freshly grated Parmigiano cheese

2 Tbs. chopped fresh parsley

Oil

Salt & pepper

Directions

Heat 1 tsp. of oil and 1 Tbs. of butter in skillet. Add mushrooms and toss to coat all slices. Cook till mushrooms show nice color (do not move them too much). When done, remove to bowl and keep warm.

Preheat oven or toaster-oven to 375 °F. In the same skillet where you cooked mushrooms, add 1 Tbs. butter and 1 tsp. oil and cook chicken breast for about 3 minutes on each side or until both sides are golden brown. Sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper, place in baking dish (I use steel pie plate) and roast in oven for about 15 minutes or till juices run clear when pierced with sharp pointed knife. Do not overcook! Remove from oven, cover with foil and let the breasts rest but keep warm.

In the same skillet that you cooked mushrooms and chicken, sauté shallots and garlic in remaining butter and oil until shallots are translucent. Add the rice and stir until the rice turns opaque, about two minutes.

Add the wine to the rice and stir frequently until the wine has been absorbed into the rice.

Add 1/2 cup of the heated chicken stock and stir until absorbed. The rice and stock should bubble gently.

Continue to cook the rice, adding chicken stock 1/2 cup at a time and allowing the rice to absorb it before adding the next 1/2 cup. Taste for seasoning and adjust.

Cook rice until al dente, about 25-30 minutes.

With the addition of last batch of stock add the grated parmesan cheese and 2 Tbs. of butter and stir thoroughly.

Remove from heat when the risotto is thick and creamy.

Serve on pre-heated plate or bowl, top with mushrooms and slices of chicken breast and garnish with freshly grated Parmigiano and parsley.  

Serve immediately.

Where is the Food?

I have just realized that I didn’t publish any food posts for 3 weeks now! Last post was on July 24^th, that’s the longest since I have started blogging. Not that I haven’t cooked anything interesting, I did, but the time is surely at short supply this time of the year.

Anybody who cooks for 2 people knows how hard it is to prepare just enough so that in one week you don’t end up with fridge full of leftovers. Not that there is anything wrong with leftovers, mind you, some leftovers when re-done with other fresh ingredients can be better than the original meal. Take spit roasted whole chicken on BBQ, for example. I grilled one last week, together with grilled carrots, potatoes, onions and long beans. The onions were stuffed in the chicken and whole bird was seasoned inside and out with sea salt, freshly ground black pepper and Herbes de Provence and rubbed with olive oil. In 2-1/2 hours of roasting on a rotisserie spit at 350°F the chicken was nice and moist and skin was golden and crisp.

Meal #1:

Roasted chicken leg and wing, potatoes, onions, carrots and beans.
That left rest of the chicken, 1 roasted potato, about ¾ cup of beans and 1 cooked onion.

Meal #2:

Next day all the leftover vegetables and one chicken breast were chopped and mixed with chopped, seeded and drained tomatoes, 2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped pickle (gherkin), pepper and mayo and Dijon to bind it all together. This Chicken Salad  was served with toasted baguette slices and fresh tomatoes. There was enough salad left for a nice light lunch.

Meal #3:

I had 1 chicken breast and meat from around cage left. This went into a pasta bake. I cooked about a cup of pasta shapes (sea shells, again), sautéed 1/2 onion, 2 small eggplants, 6 cherry tomatoes (seeded and squeezed dry) and 2 cloves garlic.

Time to assemble. Coarsely chop the meat and mix it with pasta, onion, eggplant, garlic and tomatoes. Mix in 3 beaten eggs, 1 cup of grated cheese (I used 1/2 cup Provolone and 1/2 cup Parmigiano). Mix till well combined and pour into buttered baking dish. Bake uncovered in 425°F oven till top is crisp and golden brown, about 40 minutes.
This will make supper for 2 plus another 4 meals served at room temperature together with salad and pickles. Of course, it has to be stored in the fridge.

One chicken, 4 days and 7 meals. Not bad J!

Thai Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce

This was very first time that I have prepared this Thai classic and after tasting it I felt really sorry for people with nut allergies, they are deprived of such an incredible dish.

Few days ago I bought a bunch of lemon grass knowing that I will use it with a chicken. Then, I was asked to get some peanut butter for breakfast and suddenly I remember reading a recipe that used chicken, lemon grass and peanut butter: the famous Peanut Butter Chicken Satay. The marinade is quite easy to prepare if you have a mini chopper (one of the most useful tools in kitchen). The marinade can be made day or two ahead and stored in fridge.

I served this with cellophane noodles tossed with mixture of fish sauce, honey, lime juice and sesame oil.

Ingredients:

8-12 skinless and boneless chicken thighs

Bamboo skewers 8” long

Marinade:

1/4 cup minced lemongrass

2 shallots OR 1 small onion, sliced

3 cloves garlic

1-2 fresh red chilies, sliced, or 1 tsp. Sriracha sauce

1 thumb-size piece ginger, thinly sliced

1/2 tsp. dried turmeric

2 Tbsp. ground coriander

2 tsp. cumin

3 Tbsp. dark soy sauce

4 Tbsp. fish sauce

5-6 Tbsp. brown sugar

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

Directions:

Soak bamboo skewers in water

Cut chicken into thin strips and place in a bowl.

Place all marinade ingredients in a food processor or chopper. Process well.

Taste-test the marinade - you will taste sweet, spicy, and salty. The strongest tastes should be sweet and salty in order for the finished satay to taste its best. Add more sugar or more fish sauce (in place of salt) to adjust the taste. You can also add more chili if you want it spicier.

Pour the marinade over the meat and stir well to combine. Allow at least 1 hour for marinating, or longer (up to 24 hours).

When ready to cook, thread meat onto the skewers, stopping about 3” from end.

Grill the satay on your BBQ, or on an indoor grill, basting the chicken each time you turn the skewers. Depending on how thin your meat is, the satay should cook in 5 to 10 minutes.  Do not over cook!

Serve with rice, rice noodles or cellophane noodles and a bowl of Satay Peanut Sauce for dipping.

Lemon Grass Shrimp and Chicken Breast

To be honest with you, I am getting tired of preparing food that is perfect for rainy and cold days. This so called Spring is getting so depressing and I just can’t wait for nice warm sunny days when salads and lightly grilled food will be on my daily menu. Yesterday, I wanted to prepare grilled chicken breast strips and shrimps that were marinated in lemon grass, lime zest and juice, fish sauce and Sriracha mixture but because of steady rain I had to stir fry them instead. It would have been so nice if they were grilled and served with crispy lettuce leaves, rice noodles and fish sauce/lime juice dipping sauce. Since this meal was stir fried I added bok choy, red pepper and fresh shiitake mushrooms and garnished with corriander (cilantro).

Update of The Weekly Menu – April 10, 2011

Monday

Western Beef Stir-fry.

The rice was cooked like a regular fried rice with vegetables but the beef steak was cook in a hot frying pan till medium rare and then sliced into 1” wide strips on bias and then tossed with BBQ sauce. Since no knife is necessary in order to eat it, it makes it a good branch meal where all you need is a fork or chopsticks.

Tuesday

BBQ Chicken Wings.

Yah, I know, I had it last week and maybe week before that but hey, they are so good! Sweet and hot and sticky…heaven on the plate. As is usual for me I served it on bed of chopped Napa cabbage.

Wednesday

The Chicken Vegetable & Rice Soup.

This was a nice light lunch. It was just a previously made chicken stock with meat, carrots, celery, potatoes, garlic, tomatoes, rice and topped with Parmigiano cheese. I put a Parmigiano cheese rind in the stock and simmered it for 30 minutes and it gave the soup such a complex flavor! Since I have so much rind from the cheese I will use it in every soup base.

Thursday

Seafood-Mix Risotto.

Rice was the last staple that I didn’t use with frozen seafood mix. Week ago I saw on Food Channel tip for using frozen scallops and squids. As anybody that used them knows that they have a sort of metallic after taste that is hard to get rid off. I think it was on America’s Test Kitchen, they suggested to use lemon juice. I went one step farther: I have marinated the mix with grated zest and juice from 1 lemon. Did it work? Not a trace of any chemical preservatives. Not exactly like fresh stuff but pretty good. This trick will be in my repertoire from now on.

Friday

Risotto Cakes with Bocconcini.

Many restaurants cook risotto for a sole purpose of having it for cakes and I can understand why. When you bite into one first sensation is the super crispy Panko coating. Then you feel the cheesy and creamy rice followed by melted, stringy Mozzarella Bocconcini. Then you take a bite of crispy Napa cabbage. Wow! This is not a leftover meal, this is a meal worthy to be on a banquet menu. I did make one change since I cooked my last risotto: before forming the patty or cake, I mixed in a lot of grated Parmigiano cheese to help in binding it and hold shape. Great move! After all, I bought so much cheese at a basement price J !

Saturday

Stove-top Chicken Teriyaki.

In my opinion this version is so much juicier, tender and quicker to prepare then traditional cooking method over barbecue. Even though I have marinated for 6 hours skinless and boneless chicken thighs cut into 1 inch strips, I am not sure that it is necessary when cooked in non-stick frying pan. The chicken pieces are basically sauted in the marinade and when I turn then over after about 10 minutes I add the green onions and cook another 10 minutes, partially covered. At the end of cooking time the marinade turns into a thick sauce. Served over rice along with cucumber salad makes it a summer delight.

The Weekly Menu – April 10, 2011

Rice Terraces

Last week was fairly light as far as food is concerned. When I went over the pictures I have realized that we had rice every day. Mind you, I did use 3 different types. Arborio (short grain) for Seafood Mix Risotto and Risotto Cakes, Japanese Shirakiku (medium grain) for Stovetop Chicken Teriyaki and Thai Jasmine-scented rice (long grain) for Western Beef Stir-fry, Chicken Vegetable & Rice Soup and as a side dish for Barbecue Chicken Wings. Since every meal was so different from each other I didn’t even notice that we had rice every day!

Arborio was soft and creamy, Shirakiku soft and sticky and Thai rice had a nice bite. I guess that this is just a preview of things to come. In warmer months we eat lot of rice and light Oriental noodles like Rice noodles, Cellophane or Mung beans noodles, Japanese Soba and Sōmen among others. Many of them are served at room temperature or cold in salads. I will be posting a lot of noodle recipes.
Here are the pictures of the dishes. More detailed descriptions will follow in next few days.

Western Beef Stir-fry.

BBQ Chicken Wings.

The Chicken Vegetable & Rice Soup.

Seafood-Mix Risotto.

Risotto Cakes with Bocconcini.

Stove-top Chicken Teriyaki.



 

Yakitori Chicken – My Way

For a while now I was craving Yakitori Chicken after reading about this traditional

Japanese street

food. If done right, the meat is tender, juicy, sweet and salty with crunchy green onions.  When Yakitori is eaten with rice and cucumber salad on side, it turns the street food into good dining. Since I was at Poultry Specialties two days ago I picked up some chicken thighs, besides couple of bags of chicken feet for my Ultimate Stock that I have posted earlier.

Unfortunately, when I have decided to finally make it, the BBQ was out of question because of 40km/hour wind and I didn’t want to use broiler for 6 short skewers. Then it hit me: I’ll do it just like duck breast in cold skillet. If it works for duck with skin then why not for chicken thighs? The meat was already cut into strips and lightly marinated (just a 1 Tbs. of Yakitori sauce for 4 thighs). I coated bottom of a skillet with 1/2 tsp. of peanut oil with few drops of sesame oil, put the thigh strips skin side down in a skillet, placed the pan on my large gas burner and turned the heat on medium high. I shook the pan almost continuously to make sure that the skin doesn’t stick to bottom. If it does, just move it with spatula.

When the skin got nice color, turn over and cook for another 4 – 5 minutes. Pour in 1/2 cup of Yakitori sauce, move the meat around and reduce the sauce until it is thick.  Never raise the heat above medium hot. Remove to serving plate and enjoy.

Yup, it was that good!

Chicken Fried Rice

Another fried rice recipe, this time chicken tenders (part of chicken breast) being main ingredient. This is very similar to Fried Rice with Char Siu recipe posted last February. Major difference is omission of shrimps and use of chicken tenders in place of Char Siu.

Here is my version of this dish.

Ingredients:

1 cup chicken tender strips, cut in half lengthwise

1 carrot, julienned

3 Chinese mushrooms

2 green onions, chopped

1/2 cup green peas

1” piece ginger, chopped

Garlic, 1 clove chopped

2 eggs

3 cups leftover and refrigerated rice

2 Tbs. peanut oil

1 tsp. sesame oil

1/2 tsp. white pepper

Preparation (mise en place):

§    Soak mushrooms in a 1:1mixture of hot water and dark soy sauce, for at least 1/2 hour. Remove stems and cut into 1/4” slices. Reserve 1/4 cup of the water.

§    Marinate chicken strips, in 1 Tbs. of rice wine, 1 Tbs. dark soy sauce,1/2 tsp. salt, 2 tsp. sugar and 1/2 tsp. white pepper.

§    Peel and julienne carrots into 1/4” pieces. Parboil for 1 minute in boiling salted water. Drain and plunge into cold water. Drain again and set aside.

§    Cut green onions diagonally into 1” pieces and separate white and green parts.

§    Soak frozen green peas in salted hot water for 1/2 hour, drain and set aside.

§    Beat eggs in a bowl with fork, add salt and white pepper and set aside.

§    Crush and chop ginger and garlic and set aside.

§    Break up clumps of cold rice till you have individual grains. Set aside.

Sauce:

1/4 cup mushroom soaking water

1 Tbs. of Oyster sauce

1 Tbs. of Hoisin sauce

Stir together all ingredients till well combined.

Directions:

§    Heat a wok and add 1 tsp. of oil and spread with steel spatula till sides are well coated. When wok is very hot add eggs and scramble lightly. Remove to preheated bowl, break up the eggs, set aside and keep warm.

§    Wipe the wok clean, add 1 tsp. of oil and spread with steel spatula till sides are well coated. Sprinkle 1 tsp. of salt and drop in the rice. Stir till rice is evenly coated and grains are separated. Remove to bowl with eggs.

§    Wipe the wok clean, add 1 tsp. of oil and spread with steel spatula till sides are well coated. Add chicken with marinade and stir-fry for 2 minutes or till cooked through. Remove to bowl with rice and eggs and keep warm.

§    Wipe the wok clean, add 1 tsp. of oil and spread with steel spatula till sides are well coated. Add garlic and ginger and stir-fry for few seconds then add mushrooms and stir.

§    Add previously prepared green peas, carrots and white parts of green onions. Stir-fry till well combined.

§    Add reserved rice, shrimps and eggs and mix well till all ingredients are very hot.

§    Pour sauce on side of wok and stir.

§    Serve immediately in individual preheated bowls and garnish with green parts of onions and coriander (optional).

Teriyaki Chicken Stir Fry

This is so easy and fast to make that it will be my favorite standby on a busy days in any season. When I say fast I mean fast, provided that you have teriyaki sauce on hand.

Ingredients:

4 skinless and boneless chicken thighs, cut into bite sized pieces

4 green onions (scallions) cut into 1” pieces

4 fresh or 8 canned water chestnuts, halved and sliced

3 Tbs. Teriyaki sauce.

2 cups rice

Directions:

Marinate the chicken pieces in teriyaki sauce and keep refrigerated.

Steam the rice, fluff it up and keep warm.

When rice is ready, heat up dry wok or non-stick frying pan and when very hot drop in marinated chicken. Stir to cook on all sides for 2 minutes.

Add green onions and water chestnuts and stir fry for additional 3 minutes.

Remove to preheated plate or bowl and serve with rice.

Nice addition to this meal is simple cucumber salad consisting of 1/2 an English cucumber sliced thin and tossed in dressing made with 1 Tbs. Mirin and 1 Tbs. seasoned rice vinegar.

Chicken Wings – Char Siu

I buy all my chickens and chicken parts at local Poultry Specialist store. Every Wednesday they sell the freshest chickens. Yesterday, among other parts, I bought their huge chicken wings. They are big and very meaty and take 2 hours to bake at 350°F! I can only eat 3 at a time and since I made a big batch of char siu sauce that is what I have used. Sticky, delicious heaven.

Chicken Breast with Gnocchi and Sundried Tomato Sauce

To describe this dish that I have created for Marjo tonight on a whim would be “Pan fried and roasted chicken breast with sweet and Russet potato gnocchi served over smooth sauce made from roasted red peppers, sun dried tomatoes, chopped tomatoes and cream”. Yup, a real mouthful but it pretty well describes what I did. According to her it was incredibly light despite 1/4 cup of 35% cream that finished the sauce. I used store bought sun dried tomatoes and grilled red peppers in the sauce. These gnocchi were the lightest I have ever eaten.
I’ll post recipe if there is any interest.

Chicken Thighs with Orzo and Peas

Another quick and painless comfort food. Just one pot for boiling orzo and frying pan for chicken thighs. The meat seasoning could be anything that you feel for, like Herbes de Provence, Italian seasoning or just plain ground black pepper, salt and paprika. As usual with poultry and pork I brine the meat for about 4 hours (1/4 cup salt to 2 cups water) and then pat dry on paper towel..

As usual, to serve 2 with leftovers (maybe J)

4 chicken thighs, bone and skin on

1-1/2 cup orzo

1/2 cup frozen peas, heated in boiling water

Seasoning to your taste

Olive oil, 2 T.

Preheat oven or toaster oven to 350 °F.

Heat stainless steel frying pan, add oil and fry chicken thighs skin side down till golden (don’t move them), about 3-5 minutes. Turn over and cook for 3 more minutes. Remove them to pie pan if using toaster oven (my option) or place frying pan in preheated oven on middle rack. (The reason I use stainless steel instead of non-stick is that you will need those brown bits at bottom of pan to flavor the orzo.) It will take about 40 minutes for the chicken thighs to be fall-off-the-bone tender and skin nicely crisp and golden brown with very little fat, if any, left.

While the thighs are in the oven start cooking the orzo. Just boil salted water and when at rolling boil drop orzo in, lower the heat and cook for about 10 minutes or so. It should be just al dente, not mushy. Move chicken thighs to another hot pan and keep hot. Drain chicken fat from frying pan and/or pie pan from toaster oven. Add steaming orzo to pan and scrape all the fond (brown bits) with spatula and mix with orzo. Of course, the frying pan has to stay hot at all times. Add green peas and mix till well coated. Serve the orzo on plate with thighs on top and garnish with julienned pimentos, sectioned or sliced tomato and lengthwise sliced pickle.

Paprika Chicken (Paprikás Csirke)

Beside Hungarian Beef Goulash this must be best known Hungarian meal. It is just too bad that I can’t have it more often because it is so obscenely rich. And because of that, is it ever tasty! Original recipe calls for whole chicken cut up. I use chicken thighs that I consider the very best part of the bird, there is so much flavor and it can be cooked in so many ways from soup through BBQ to slow stewing. Paprika Chicken is just that, a stew. It can be served with noodles, rice or potatoes but back in Czech Republic we always had bread dumplings. They really soak in that wonderful rich sauce!

Lets get down to business.

To serve 2 with leftovers J.

4 large chicken thighs, chopped in half (8 pieces)

3 T. lard or veggie oil

1 large onion, finely chopped

4 cloves of garlic (or more if you are like me)

2 or 3 T. sweet Hungarian paprika

1T. hot Hungarian paprika

1-1/2 cup chicken stock (canned is fine, I use it)

1-1/2 cup sour cream (stay away from light stuff, light sour cream is an oxymoron)

2 T. flour

Preheat oven to 300 °F.

Pat the chicken pieces dry with paper towels and salt and pepper generously (I always brine my chicken so I skip the salting).

In a Dutch oven heat the lard or oil until light haze forms over it. Add the chicken pieces skin side down and shallow fry them till golden brown, about 3 minutes.

Turn them over and cook for another 3 minutes.

Remove to a bowl and pour off all the fat, leaving only a thin film.

Lower the burner to medium heat and add onions and garlic and sauté until lightly colored.

Remove from heat and mix in sweet and hot paprika until the onions are well coated.

Return to heat and add chicken stock and bring to boil. Return pieces to pot, cover and place on middle shelf in oven. After one hour the chicken should be fall-off-the-bone tender. Remove from oven.

Remove the chicken to the same bowl as before and skim all fat from surface of the pot. (I use hot spoon and then strips of paper towels to really remove all the fat. I mean, we’ll be adding quite a bit of fresh fat in form of sour cream in next step.)

In a mixing bowl with wire whisk mix the sour cream and flour until smooth and then add about a cup of hot sauce into sour cream to temper it.

Stir the mixture back into pot, return the chicken with all accumulated juices to the pot and bring it slowly to simmer. Do not boil or the sauce will separate! After 3 minutes remove from heat and serve.

Bread dumplings are basically bread dough loaves that are boiled. They are very soft and soak up sauces like a sponge. It is almost daily staple at Czech table just like pasta is at Italian table.

Chicken Tenders with Gnocchi

In this recipe I used frozen Gnocchi. Just drop frozen Gnocchi in boiling water and cook same way as fresh. Do not thaw or they will stick together.

Sauté chicken tenders or skinless and boneless chicken breast cut into strips for about 3 minutes on each side, steam or microwave broccoli, heat up tomato sauce. Toss Gnocchi in the sauce and serve with chicken and broccoli flowerets on the side. Sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese. Meal is ready in 15 minutes.

Chicken and Rice (Arroz con Pollo - my way)

There are so many versions of Arroz con Pollo in Spanish speaking countries that it is very difficult to pick. So, why not to add to the general confusion by creating my own version. I did just that and here it is.

Ingredients (will serve 2 - 3):

2 chicken legs, cut up

1 T. bacon fat or oil

1 cup Arborio rice

1 cup chicken stock

1 can - 8 oz. crushed tomatoes

1 small onion or 6 shallots

1 stalk celery

1 carrot

1 red pepper

1 green pepper

1 roasted red pepper and

few sprigs of coriander for garnish.

Brown chicken pieces in bacon fat on all sides in a hot preheated Dutch oven, remove to bowl and keep warm. Pour off all accumulated fat except 1 tablespoon. Put all vegetables into pot and sauté for few minutes.

Put chicken pieced back in the pot and add chicken stock and tomatoes and bring to simmer. Cover and simmer for about 40 minutes.

Add rice, stir till combined, cover and lower the heat to slow simmer.

Check for liquid level after 15 minutes. If too dry, add some water or stock.

Keep tasting the rice to make sure it will not be over cooked.

Remove the chicken pieces, debone and keep warm. Place roasted red peppers in pot to heat through.

Serve the rice on plate with red peppers on top, then deboned chicken and garnish with coriander (cilantro).

Note: This is stovetop version but can be done in 350 °C oven. Also, you can use long grain rice but you will have to adjust the amount of liquid by about 25%.