Two Glazes for Chicken Wings

I've been on a wings kick recently and have concluded that we like them enough to have them on a weekly basis.

A few advantages to wings:

1) Versatile
2) Hard to mess up
3) The bones make good chicken stock!

In general I parboil them first, then brush on a glaze and stick them in the oven to finish up while making the side dishes. We have done some more traditional crispy ones as well as a sticky teriyaki-like variation.

Going back in for seconds...

Above are the two most recent flavors I tried making (from Better Homes and Gardens "New Cookbook"):

On the left: Chili-barbecue glaze (indexed as "Oven-Barbecued Chicken")

How to Make Lemon Mushroom Chicken

I was looking for a dish with this exact combination of flavors, and it hit the spot! The ingredient list is not long and the technique is not very complicated. Pounding and flouring the chicken makes it retain the juices, and the little bit of lemon in the sauce makes it very flavorful. We don't always have the best quality meat here, so I'm always impressed when chicken breast turns out well.

Definitely could be a "fancy" dish if you are serving to mushroom/chicken lovers. It's also a stovetop dish if you are looking for something to cook in warmer weather.

Tender and juicy with a pop of flavor!

Unfortunately, I still couldn't convert my husband, as he would rather his mushrooms be more fried/crunchy as opposed to thick and juicy. You can still make the chicken in the lemon sauce, but it won't have that same flavor kick. Adding garlic gives it a boost.

Another tiny note: I used homemade chicken broth, so I had to add a little more salt...but I'd sauteed the mushrooms in salt, too. So adjust flavorings based on your specific ingredients. And I used regular (unsalted) butter, too.

You can find the recipe here. 

How to Make SHAVERMA! (Shaurma): Basic and Loaded

I guess it's about time I posted a "Russian" (it's actually more middle Eastern) recipe on here!

Shaverma is a favorite street food in St. Petersburg, not sure about other parts of Russia. It's the local version of various ingredients wrapped in a bread product and topped with a sauce! Gyro.... tortilla... kabob... nope, SHAVERMA! It's common to deny liking this popular dish, as the ingredients may be of unknown origins...but come on, it's delicious! All the more reason to make it at home without that stigma.

ALSO (see photo), Andrei and I discovered another version which is called "Shaverma on a plate." I'll call it "loaded" Shaverma here. We (he) recreated it at home, and it's awesome!

What's so yummy about shaverma? First of all, the meat is flavored nicely. And then, the sauce really ties it all together. It's sort of a homemade ranch dressing. Details below!

"Loaded" Shaverma (sans pita)...I can't get enough of that sauce!

Recipe after the jump...

How to Make Bacon-Wrapped Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Bacon Chicken stuffed w/ Spinach

This is a pretty easy recipe, and also fairly versatile, in my opinion. The original recipe I used as a guideline didn't have the bacon, but it did have breading. The filling can also be made with different combinations of spinach or fresh herbs and cheeses and seasonings.

The dish is simple in a way, though the assembly takes a bit of coordinating. But if I could handle it, anyone can!

Here's the basic recipe:

Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts
4 strips of raw bacon*
1-2 garlic cloves, minced
1 small onion
Olive oil or butter or vegetable oil for sauteeing
16 oz frozen or fresh spinach
1 cup (combined) cheeses**

*If you omit the bacon, you could coat the chicken in bread crumbs or flour and some seasoning. With the bacon, do not salt the chicken. I made this mistake and it was a bit salty for my taste.
**Cheese possibilities: Feta, cream cheese, parmesan, cheddar, etc./any combination that you think would work well

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 350, grease baking pan.
2) Saute spinach with garlic and onion and whatever other seasonings you'd like (be careful how much salt you add if you're planning on using bacon).
3) While spinach mix is sauteing, thinly slice/pound chicken. Spread pieces out in baking pan.
4) Add cheese to the spinach mixture.
5) Put a dollop of spinach in the middle of each chicken piece. Roll up and secure using toothpicks and/or bacon strip. Try to seal it so that the mixture doesn't run out during cooking and start burning.
6) Bake for approximately 30 minutes (start checking after 20 or so).

These look pretty sliced into pinwheels, too.

Meals we had, May 6-12

Not the most successful week culinarily (apparently that's not a word but I'm using it anyway). There were some interesting ideas with so-so results. I've had texture issues with chicken breasts lately. Sometimes I think it's my cooking skills that are the problem, but then again I've made decent chicken dinners before. So I'm thinking it might just be the "quality" (freshness?) of the meat itself, and I'm not sure I want to actually speculate as to why, but one thing is that a lot of water comes out of them when they start cooking. Does that mean I should cook them more? Less? Use a different technique?

Meanwhile, I had a big chunk of pork in the freezer but I didn't really know what cut or the best way of cooking. So I cut it into chunks and tried to have it turn into a sort of goulash. It never really got tender, though. When meat is tough I'm never sure if it's over or under-cooked. I think I probably should have given it some more time.

Monday: Chicken breasts stuffed with bacon and feta, potatoes, brussels sprouts

Tuesday: Pizza from scratch

Wednesday: Chicken-veggie-rice mix tossed with cheese and "southwestern" spices

Thursday: Same thing but with buckwheat this time!

Friday: Didn't write anything down for some reason

Saturday: Pizza (made by friends)

Sunday: Pork stewed in the oven, buckwheat

Meals we had, April 22-28

New series! I don’t always have time to edit and post recipes, but I’m going to do a little retroactive menu “planning” and just type up what we ate all week, to use for meal ideas in the future.

Note: My in-laws generally deliver groceries and some cooked meals to us regularly. I organize the week’s meals around those ingredients, along with using up leftovers. If we are having a repeat combination then I try to change the presentation. If I want to use a particular recipe then I start with something we already have and buy the rest of the needed ingredients. But I try not to buy a lot of additional groceries if we already have something in the refrigerator that needs to be used.

Breakfasts: Eggs
Lunches: Homemade soups with sour cream and fresh herbs; bread with cheese or a slice of meat

-Monday dinner: Fried potatoes (Russian-style) with sliced pork and steamed broccoli
-Tuesday dinner: Scalloped potatoes with cubes of pork
-Wednesday dinner: Boiled pelmeni with sauteed green beans
-Thursday dinner: Eggless meatballs (we ran out of eggs) and boiled potatoes
-Friday dinner: Homemade popcorn chicken with angel hair pasta (we just make plain and garnish with cheese/butter)
-Saturday dinner: Pizza made with this crust and using leftover meatballs/popcorn chicken as toppings
-Sunday dinner: Chicken-bacon-cheese bake with boiled buckwheat and sauteed bell pepper

Looks like we need to add more veggies to the menu. Got any recipes to recommend?

How to Make Tender Chicken Morsels

I really want to keep up with this blog, but it's SO hard to find the time! We'll see how it goes. Here is a chicken success I had recently.

Somehow I got the idea of looking for recipes for "popcorn" chicken. I think it was after I experimented with wings (I'll get around to posting that, too).

It can be hard to keep chicken breast moist, but this method works. Note that the chicken bites are baked, not fried.

The technique is a combination of these two recipes here and here: the "shake and bake" flavoring idea mixed with a baking technique.

Kid-friendly, but could be jazzed up?

How to Make Italian Tomato Soup

I'm not sure what makes this "Italian," but it makes it sound sophisticated, at least. :)

I'll confess, I really hate chopping vegetables for soup. Lately I've been making use of the frozen, pre-chopped ones. But here's a recipe that uses just a few ingredients. It has the potential to be made completely from scratch, if you like to avoid canned ingredients. Or you can use some short-cuts, like I did.

Ingredients:
2 cans chicken broth (or chicken pieces for making broth)
1 can peeled, diced tomatoes
1 can white kidney beans
1 medium-sized onion
2 cloves of garlic
fresh or dried herbs
Additional: more vegetables, pasta, other kinds of beans

Directions:
1) Boil chicken with bay leaves, carrot/onion/whatever you like to make the broth flavorful.
2) Remove chicken from broth.
3) Add beans, tomatoes to broth, bring to a boil, and allow to simmer (add additional veggies or pasta if using).
4) Saute onion and garlic, then add crushed herbs and stir for a few seconds.
5) Shred chicken from bone and add back in, along with onion, garlic, and spices.

How to Make Melt-in-Your-Mouth Chicken Cutlets

This is more of a tip than a recipe. I love tender slices of chicken breast, which can be used for chicken parmesan and other dishes.

Of course, grocery store chicken breasts can be pretty tough. To get them really tender, I first slice the breasts thinly, then pound, then soak in kefir (buttermilk or regular milk would work, too) for 30 minutes or even leave them overnight.

Before cooking, I usually dip them in egg and milk, then into a plate of bread crumbs or flour mixed with spices (the lighter pieces in the photo were dipped in flour and the orange pieces were dipped in store-bought bread crumbs). See ranch chicken, which is a nice flavor combination.

Could be baked as a healthy alternative.

How to Make Chicken Curry Burgers

Obviously, I like chicken. :)

I even buy ground chicken instead of beef. I won't go into details, but it seems like the safer choice.

This recipe comes out nice and moist, and the curry is just one flavor option.

How to Make Ranch Chicken (Guest Post)

Here's another tantalizing recipe from my sister...

*See update at bottom of post for my modifications, with photo!

Now, I'm not sure how readily available Ranch Dressing is here in Russia. So I did a quick search and found a dressing recipe at allrecipes.com: Ranch Dressing. The ingredients look similar to my Russian Peasant Dip, which has a tasty flavor.

In fact, the recipe might even be tastier with the homemade dressing.

Check it out after the jump.

How to Marinate Chicken for Fajitas

This is an easy, tasty marinade. Definitely a staple!

How to Make Teriyaki Chicken Drumsticks

This is a nice comfort food recipe to have in your repertoire. The sauce is pretty all-purpose and can be used for different cuts and types of meat, even for grilling.

Works well served with rice and veggies.

The drumsticks even taste good cold-a picnic option?

What would I do without Recipezaar? (Recipe below)

How to Make Basic Chicken Salad

Just a snack or meal standby that you can tweak to fit your personal taste.

I crave tuna every once in a while, but it's hard to find here. So I have to substitute with chicken (of the land). Oh well, at least I don't have to worry about mercury...

Recipe after the jump:

How to Boil Chicken For Various Recipes

This isn't so much a recipe (although I included mine down below) as a tip.

I have so much trouble finding high quality meat (especially boneless) that comes out nice and tender. My solution is to boil a whole chicken, use the meat for a variety of purposes, and use the broth to make soup. It's economical, convenient, and the kitchen smells wonderful while it's cooking! The meat turns out tender and flavorful every time.

Some dishes requiring cooked chicken:

How to Make Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

This dish took awhile to make, but maybe that was because I had to make the tortillas, chicken stock, sauce, etc. from scratch. So if you have those around, you are on your way to a fairly quick dinner! Some assembly required...


But honestly, if you can multi-task, it won't take so long...