Baked Yogurt Chicken

As you can see from many of my recipes I eat chicken like it were here, there and everywhere. Sometimes the recipes I choose to make have to do with what I have leftover in the pantry. Other times I love to explore the vast wasteland of gourmet ingredients I have yet to try. After all, food is an exploration in new flavors to tempt and tantalize your taste buds.

The chicken recipe can be found on page 139 that I made in today's blog which came from Best Recipes by Ceil Dyer. This recipe more than likely came from Dannon.

Baked Yogurt Chicken
Serves about 4
1 cut up chicken, 2-1/2 to 3 lbs or more
salt and pepper
6 tablespoons butter or margarine
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons paprika
2 cups Dannon Plain Yogurt (although I used Lit and Fit) Vanilla Flavor instead
1/3 lb fresh portobello mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill or parsley
Wash chicken pieces and pat dry. Salt and pepper. Melt 4 tablespoons of butter in a large pan and brown chicken on a medium high heat. While browning chicken butter a shallow baking dish. As chicken is browned take and place in buttered baking dish. Once all the chicken has been removed add flour and paprika to pan with grease. Mix well, do not leave pan on stove, take on and off frequently while mixing. Add yogurt and mix well on stove on a medium heat. Preheat oven to 325 F. Spoon sauce on chicken in buttered pan. Heat 2 tablespoons of butter in a pan and add mushrooms and lemon juice. Cook for about a minute or so, then take and spoon over chicken and sauce. Cover baking dish and place in oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until chicken is tender.

The chicken is tender and juicy, and slightly sweet due to the flavor of the vanilla.

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English Country Chicken

This meal was wonderful. The hardest prep work was cutting up the chicken. Here it is served with a brown rice pilaf and green beans. I did make a few slight changes to this recipe. I made it with a roaster instead of a chicken (believe it or not the roaster was cheaper). The recipe also calls for a 16-oz jar orange marmalade. Have you ever seen a 16-oz jar of orange marmalade in the supermarket? I found a 12-oz jar and an 18-oz jar, but not 16-oz. So I went with the 18-oz. I also made the sauce right in the pan I baked the chicken in. I figured why waste a pan.

ENGLISH COUNTRY CHICKEN Serves 4
2½ to 3 lb. chicken, cut up and skinned
½ tsp. salt
16 oz. jar orange marmalade
2 tbsp. lemon juice
⅓ c. prepared mustard
½ c. water
½ - 1 tsp. curry powder
2 tbsp. cornstarch
Arrange chicken in 2 quart shallow baking dish. In saucepan heat marmalade, mustard, curry powder and salt until melted. Add lemon juice; pour over chicken. Cover with foil. Bake 375°F for 45 minutes. Remove foil and baste. Bake 30 minutes longer. Remove chicken to platter. Pour sauce into pan. Combine water and cornstarch. Blend into sauce. Cook until thickened. Pour over chicken.

This chicken was a big hit at my house, I hope it is a hit at yours.

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• General Tsao's Chicken
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• The Blues Brothers Funky Chicken
• Toad in the Hole
• Easy Udon Noodles

Easy Udon Noodles

 I have always had an appreciation for Asian flavors. Growing up one of my favorite chefs was Martin Yan. I am absolutely addicted to summer rolls which are Vietnamese. This recipe is definitely not Martin Yan's but is tasty just the same. It has a lovely peanut sauce that is very easy to mix up. Why else would the recipe be called 'Easy'. I substituted Udon Noodles for Soba Noodles because they didn't have any other Japanese noodles available.

I loved the sugar snap peas, broccoli heads and carrots mixed in with the noodles. All the vegetables are cooked with the noodles and the sugar snap peas are added in the last minute of cooking so they are nice and crisp.

I cannot give credit to anyone for this recipe because I do know know where I found it. I have had this recipe for a very long time.

Easy Soba(Udon)  Noodles  
Makes 4 servings
Fresh Japanese soba noodles are found in the refrigerated section of most supermarkets. Fresh fettuccini may be substituted.
½ cup creamy peanut butter
¼ cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
3 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon spicy brown mustard
1¼ to 1½ pounds uncooked fresh soba noodles
2 cups broccoli flowerets
2 carrots, peeled and cut into thin strips
2 cups sugar snap peas, trimmed
1 tablespoon black sesame seeds or toasted
white sesame seeds
Whisk together the peanut butter, soy sauce, lime juice, honey, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, and mustard in a medium bowl; set aside. Bring 3 quarts of water to a boil in a 4-quart saucepan. Add the noodles, broccoli, and carrots. Cook for amount of time indicated on the noodle package. Add the peas during the last 1 minute of cooking; drain. Toss the noodles and vegetables with the peanut butter sauce. Sprinkle with the sesame seeds. Serve warm or at room temperature.

If you are looking for a meal that is easy and different this is a great choice.

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General Tsao's Chicken

I don't remember where I found this recipe but I made it the other night. This is one of my boyfriend's favorite takeout meals. I made this recipe with chicken tenders instead of chicken breasts. 

GENERAL TSAO'S CHICKEN
Prep Time | 20 min Cook Time | 10 min Level of Difficulty | Moderate
You can enjoy this Asian classic once again by sauting instead of deep-frying it. Serve it over rice to sop up every drop of the sauce.
¾ cup canned chicken broth, reduced-sodium
2 medium scallion(s), chopped
2 Tbsp cornstarch
2 medium garlic clove(s), minced
2 Tbsp sugar
½ tsp red pepper flakes, or 1 dried chili pepper, minced
2 Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
1 pound uncooked chicken breast, boneless and skinless,  cut into 2-inch pieces
1 Tbsp white wine vinegar
½ tsp ground ginger
2 cup cooked white rice, kept hot
2 tsp peanut oil
In a medium bowl, whisk together broth, cornstarch, sugar, soy sauce, vinegar and ginger; set aside.
Heat oil in a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat. Add scallions, garlic and pepper and cook 2 minutes. Add chicken and cook until browned all over, about 5 minutes.
Add reserved sauce and simmer until sauce thickens and chicken is cooked through, about 3 minutes.
Serve chicken and sauce over rice. Yields about 1 cup of chicken and sauce and ½ cup of rice per serving.
Chef Tips
We renovated General Tsao's Chicken by:
Cooking the chicken in a small amount of oil, instead of deep-frying it. Eliminating the egg that would have been used in batter-fried chicken. Using reduced-sodium chicken broth and soy sauce.

This recipe was good, but we loved the Kung Pao Chicken I made with sherry. It is still worth a try for anyone who doesn't care to cook with alcohol. 

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Flounder Jeon

This is the light meal I prepared the other night - Flounder Jeon, and it was scrumptious. It is a variation of Aeri's Kitchen Haddock Jeon. It became a variation when I went to the supermarket the haddock was all sold out. I wanted to make the recipe so much I decided to purchase flounder. This recipe is a slight variation from Aeri's recipe which is Korean. I made a few slight changes.


16 oz. Flounder
⅓ Cup Flour
2 Eggs
Some Salt
Some Oil for Frying

Slice the flounder in half, and then cut the half's into thirds.

Sprinkle some salt on each side of the sliced flounder evenly. About 1 pinch of salt for each side will be enough. Set it aside for about 5 minutes.

Mix 2 eggs and 2 pinches of salt together.

Cover the salted haddock with flour.

Cover the floured haddock with the egg mixture. You can also add some finely chopped green onions into the egg mixture if you would like.


Add some oil (about 1 Tbsp) to the pan and place the battered haddock pieces in the pan.

Fry them until the fish is completely cooked and becomes golden brown.

 Here are those beautiful, light and tasty flounder pieces fresh from the pan. These fish are so flavorful you don't need any sauce to accompany these fish.

Thank you Aerie!

Panko-Crusted Salmon

Tonight for dinner I had sockeye salmon for dinner. It was yummy. Here it is...

The original recipe came from Tracey's Culinary Adventures.
Here is the recipe...

Panko-Crusted Salmon

adapted from Barefoot Contessa, How Easy is That? by Ina Garten

⅔ cup panko breadcrumbs	4 (6-8 oz) salmon fillets, skin on
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley	2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
grated zest of 1 lemon	1 tablespoon canola (or vegetable) oil
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil	lemon wedges, for serving

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Combine the panko, parsley, lemon zest, ½ teaspoon kosher salt and ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper in a small bowl.  Add the olive oil to the bowl and stir until all of the crumb mixture is evenly coated with the oil.
With the salmon fillets skin side down on a work surface, use a pastry brush to spread the mustard generously over the tops of the fillets.  Season the fillets with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, then distribute the crumb mixture evenly over the fillets and press to adhere.

Place the fish in a pyrex baking dish. Brown the crust in the oven for about 5-7 minutes.  Take the fish out of the oven and cover the pan with aluminum foil. and place it back into the oven. Bake in the oven for another 5 to 7 minutes or until cooked through. Remove from the oven, and let rest for 5-10 minutes.  Serve with the lemon wedges.

We really enjoyed the dinner. Hands down it was better than last night's Shepherd's Pie.

My First Pork Roast

The time has come for me to make my first pork roast, and that I did.  I thought it looked so beautiful when it came out of the oven. I roasted some potatoes while I cooked it. Here is the recipe I used.

Honey-Ginger Pork Roast

Weathertop Lodge Bed and Breakfast, Waitsfield, Vermont

Ingredients

One 5-pound center cut boneless pork loin

1 Tablespoon freshly grated ginger root

2 Tablespoons olive oil

2 teaspoons ground ginger

2 teaspoons salt

honey

Run knife between fat and meat to form pockets on top of roast. Using a long-bladed knife, insert grated ginger into pockets. In small bowl, mix olive oil, ground ginger, and salt. Place pork in roasting pan and brush with oil, ginger, and salt mixture. Bake at 350 degrees, allowing 30 minutes per pound. About 15 minutes before roast is done, brush meat completely with honey. Allow roast to stand 15 to 20 minutes before slicing.

• You found this recipe on 1st Traveler's Choice Internet Cookbook. (www.virtualcities.com)

I did make a small change to the recipe myself. Instead of using a 5 lb center cut pork loin I used a 2.5 lb mini pork loin.  It took an hour and a half to roast.

 It was scrumptious. You pour honey over the pork once it comes out of the oven. It lends a nice sweet taste to the pork.

 Here it is on a plate. I know -- the vegetables are missing! I ate mixed vegetables on a different plate. I know how important it is to get those greens.


And have you tried salsa and chips from Trader Joe's?

Here is a closer look at the salsa.

What makes it even more appetizing is to see what it looks like in a bowl and with a chip.

 It is so good. I love the flavor of the peaches. I never knew peaches in salsa could be so heavenly until I tried it. It would serve as a wonderful appetizer for Thanksgiving.

Try something new, and whip something up in your kitchen.