Recipe #99 - Chicken & Smoked Sausage Gumbo

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Sprinkle the chicken evenly with 2 tablespoons of the Poultry Magic (or 1 tablespoon plus 1 tablespoon of Meat Magic) and rub it in well. Let stand at room temperature while you dice the vegetables.

Note: Adjust the seasoning if desired with additional Poultry Magic or Meat Magic.

But, be warned, this is what happens when you shake the chicken in the baggie without sealing it all of the way. Yea, it was a mess!

Combine the onions, bell peppers and celery in a bowl and set aside.

Combine the remaining Poultry Magic (or Meat Magic) with the flour in a paper or plastic pag. Add the seasoned chicken pieces and shake until the chicken is well coated. Reserve 1/2 cup of the seasoned flour.

Heat 1 1/2 inches of oil in a large, heavy skillet over high  until very hot (375-400 degrees F), about 6 to 7 minutes. Fry the chicken until the crust is brown on both sides and the meat is cooked, about 5 to 8 minutes per side. You may have to fry the chicken in batches. Drain on paper towels. Carefully pour the hot oil into a heatproof glass measuring cup, leaving some of the brown bits in the pan, then return 1/2 cup of hot oil to the pan.

Return the pan to high heat and gradually whisk in the reserved 1/2 cup seasoned flour. Cook, whisking constantly, until the roux is dark red-brown, about 3 1/2-4 minutes, begin careful not to let it scorch or splash on you skin. Remove the pan from the heat and immediately add the vegetables, stirring constantly and scraping the pan bottom well until the vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring the stock to a boil in a 5 1/2-quart saucepan or Dutch oven. Add the vegetables mixture by spoonfuls to the boiling stock, stirring between each addition until the roux is dissolved. Return to a boil, stirring and scraping the pan bottom often. Reduce the heat to low, stir in the Andouille and garlic, and simmer uncovered for 45 minutes, stirring often toward the end of the cooking time.

While the gumbo has cooked for 45 minutes, stir in the chicken.

Serve immediately. To serve as a main course, mound 1/3 cup cooked rice in the center of a low soup bowl, and ladle about 1 1/4 cups gumbo around the rice. For an appetizer, place 2 heaping tablespoons cooked rice in a cup and ladle about 3/4 cup gumbo on top.

This seriously was the best roux I've ever made. It was perfect! If I changed one thing, it would be to cut the chicken up into smaller pieces. Other than that - like I said - perfect!

Rating: 10 (easy)
Time: 2 hours (easy)
Serves: 6 main dish servings or 10 appetizer servings
Ingredients:
1 pound boneless chicken (breast or thighs or both)
2 tablespoons, plus 2 teaspoons Chef Paul Prudhomme's Poultry Magic or 2 tablespoons Chef Paul Prudhomme's Meat Magic (see note)
1 cup onions, finely diced
1 cup green bell peppers, finely diced
3/4 cup celery, finely diced
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
Vegetable oil for frying
7 cups chicken stock
1/2 pound Andouille smoked sausage, diced into 1/2-inch cubes
1 teaspoon fresh garlic, minced
2 cups hot cooked white rice

Recipe #94 - Pesto Chicken Thighs with Italian Creme Sauce Over Parmesan Couscous

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I can't believe I found this website at the very end of my Year of 25. It's called Picky-Palate.com: Original Family Style Recipes for Even Your Pickest Eaters.

Place chicken and pesto into a large ziplock bag, seal and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place chicken thighs onto a large baking sheet that has been greased. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes, until chicken is cooked through.

Place cooked couscous, olive oil and parmesan cheese into a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring to combine. Cook until heated through, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to low.

Warm Philadelphia Italian Cheese and Herb Cooking Creme into a small saucepan over medium-low heat until warmed. Reduce heat to low.

To serve, place couscous onto a serving plate and top with chicken. Drizzle with warm cooking cream.

Now me, I prefer to have all the extra veggies, but my picky father and siblings loved this dish!

Rating: 7
Time: 2 hours
Serves: 4
Ingredients:
1 pound boneless chicken thighs, fat removed
1/2 cup prepared pesto sauce
2 cups cooked couscous
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cups freshly shredded Parmesan cheese
1 cup Philadelphia Italian Cheese and Herb Cooking Creme (can be found in the cream cheese section at your local grocery)

Recipe #90 - Chicken Thighs with Mushroom Cream Sauce

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I found this recipe on EatingWell.com while searching for a health recipe for my brother (who is trying to eat better).

Season chicken with salt and pepper on both sides.

Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook, turning once or twice and adjusting the heat to prevent burning, until brown. Transfer to a plate and tent with foil to keep warm.

Add shallots to the pan and cook, stirring, untili fragrant, about a minute. Add mushrooms; cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 2 minutes. Pour in vermouth (or wine like I used); simmer until almost evaporated, scraping up any browned bits, about 3 minutes.

Pour in broth and cook until reduced by half, 2-4 minutes. Stir in cream and chives (or scallions); return to a simmer.

Returen the chicken to the pan, turn to coat with sauce and cook until heated through, about 1 minute.

Place the chicken on a plate, coat with sauce and serve with a veggie of your choice (I used fresh steamed green beans!)

This was delicious! I thought it was interesting to make my own mushroom cream sauce rather than using it out of the can like I have been for the last 25 years of my life. I never really thought about making it from scratch, but am glad I did. I like the more large chunks of mushrooms in the sauce. (Though I know that over half the people I cooked it for did not! Lol. I ended up eating all the mushrooms they were picking out.... so wrong!)

Rating: 9
Time: 40 minutes
Serves: 4
Nutrition, per serving: 275 calories | 15 g fat | 84 mg cholesterol | 5 g carbohydrates | 25 g protein | 1 g fiber | 373 mg sodium | 370 mg potassium
Nutrition Bonus: Selenium (34% daily value).
Exchanges: 1 vegetable | 3 lean meat | 2 fat
Ingredients:
4 5-ounce boneless, skinless chicken breasts (or thighs like I used), trimmed and tenders removed
1 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoon canola oil
2 medium shallots, minced
2 cup thinly sliced shiitake mushroom caps
4 tablespoons dry vermouth, or dry white wine
1/2 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
4 tablespoons heavy cream
4 tablespoons minced fresh chives, or green scallions

Recipe #79 - Chicken Spaghetti

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Our house keeper's assistant, Morgan, recommended this recipe to me. She is a college student and made this recipe for group of her friends. They all loved it. Listening to her explain it reminded me of my college cooking experience and thought this would be a fun way to relive a few of those moments.

Heat a little oil in a cooking skillet. Add chicken and cook until no longer pink.

Add onions and cook until transparent.

Stir in cheese, rotel, and cream of mushroom until cheese is thoroughly melted.

Serve over a bed of thin spaghetti noodles. You may add a little water if the sauce is too thick.

Rating: 7
Time: 15 mins
Serves: 6
Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds chicken
1 large onion
2 cans rotel
1 10-ounce can cream of mushroom
1 block Velveeta
Thin Spaghetti nooodles

Recipe #66 - Chicken Curry with Veggies on Whole-Grain Couscous

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Because I love curry...

Combine the oil, onion, ginger, garlic, turmeric, curry powder, and brown sugar in a large skillet and cook over medium heat until onions turn clear and smell sweet, about 5 minutes.

Add the sliced chicken breasts and cook until the meat is done, about 5-7 minutes.

Add 1 cup of water along with the broccoli, cauliflower, and carrot. Cook for about 15 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender. Add water as needed to maintain a saucy consistency.

Serve over hot, freshly cooked couscous.

Rating: 6
Time: 45 minutes
Serves: 2
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
1 tablespoon peeled and chopped ginger
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 (5- to 6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breasts, sliced into 1-inch pieces
1 floret broccoli, chopped
1 small floret of cauliflower, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 cup whole-grain couscous, prepared according to instructions on the box

Recipe #62 - Moroccan Chicken Stew w/ Sweet Potatoes

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"Cinnamon and ginger complement the sweet potatoes in this easy but exotic-tasting chicken stew. Fluffy couscous absorbs the aromatic sauce." - Everyday Food

Place flour in a wide, shallow bowl. Season chicken with salt and pepper; dredge in flour, shaking off excess.

In a 5-quart Dutch oven or heavy pot, heat oil over medium-high. Add chicken and cook until browned, 4-6 minute per side; transfer to plate.

Add onion, ginger, and cinnamon to pot. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion starts to soften, 2 to 3 minutes.

Return chicken to pot. Add broth, sweet potatoes and, if using, saffron. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer until chicken is cooked through and sweet potatoes are tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Discard ginger and cinnamon. Stir in lemon juice, and season stew with salt and pepper.

While stew is simmering, prepare couscous according to package instructions. Serve chicken stew with couscous garnished with cilantro, if desired.

Rating: 8
Time: 45 minutes
Serves: 4
Ingredients:
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 1 1/2 pounds)
Coarse salt and ground pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 piece fresh ginger (2 inches long), peeled
1 cinnamon stick
1 can (14 1/2 ounces) reduced-sodium chicken broth
2 medium sweet potatoes (about 1 pound total), peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
Pinch of saffron, (optional)
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 cup couscous
Cilantro springs, for garnish (optional)

Recipe #61 - Spicy Orange Chicken Stir-Fry

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Cook rice according to package directions. Cover to keep warm; set aside. 

Meanwhile, whisk soy sauce and cornstarch in a medium bowl until cornstarch dissolves. Mix in orange peel.

Heat oil in large wok or nonstick skillet over high heat. Add onion, garlic, and crushed red pepper. Stir-fry 30 seconds.

Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Add to wok and stir-fry until is crisp-tender and chicken is just cooked throughly, about 4 minutes. 

Add broccoli and juice mixture. Toss until sauce thickens and comes to boil and broccoli is crisp-tender, about 2 minutes. 

Season with salt and pepper. Serve with rice.

Rating: 8
Time: 20 minutes
Serves: 6
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups jasmine rice or long-grain white rice (10 to 11 ounces)
3/4 cup orange juice
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 teaspoon finely grated orange peeled
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small red onion, halved, thinly sliced
Large pinch of dried crushed red pepper
1 1/2 pounds chicken cutlets, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces
1 head of broccoli

Recipe #56 - Buffalo Chicken Sandwich

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This is the first of two of my sister's regular recipes. 

Take the chicken breasts our of the package and trim any fat if necessary. Fill a large pan of water just so that it covers the chicken. Keep on high until the water is boiling with the chicken. Turn down to a simmer and let the chicken poach for 10 minutes or until longer pink in the middle. 

Use two forks to shred chicken into tiny pieces. Make it so that it resembles strips of pulled pork.  

In a  casserole dish mix the melted butter, red wine vinegar and buffalo sauce.  The amount of buffalo sauce you use depends on how spicy you and you guests like it.  I only used one cup, but half the people (Dad and Teresa) ended up putting more on their sandwiches later. 

Put your shredded chicken in the pan with the buffalo mixture and stir until all of the meat is evenly covered. Put pan into the oven and let the mixture simmer for up to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. This will re-heat the chicken that has cooled while being shredded and infuse the flavors of the mixture with the chicken.

Toast the bun either in the oven that is still hot or on a skillet on the stove top.  Scoop desired amount of chicken onto the bun and top with your choice of blue cheese or ranch dressing.    

* The celery is completely optional and can be chopped up and mixed in with the chicken mixture after you reheat it, or it can be served on the side as a garnish. 

Rating: 7

TIme: 35 minutes

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

8 Bonless Skinless Chicken Breasts

1-2 Cups Frank's Buffalo Sauce

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon butter or margarin

1 Package whole wheat hamburger buns

Ranch or Blue Cheese dressing

3 stalks of celery (optional)

Recipe #40 - Buffalo-Ranch Chicken Dip (aka Mich's Dip)

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Every time my girlfriends and I get together Michelle has made it a tradition to make this Buffalo-Ranch Chicken Dip. I'm not sure exactly how she came across the recipe, but I'm sure glad she did. The second it comes out of the oven the nine of us gather around the table, chips already in hand. It literally doesn't last 10 minutes in our midst. It's one of my favorite parts of our reunions. 

So I choose to make it for my family this 4th of July. Mainly because I can't wait till the end of July for our next union to have some of this delicous dip. When I was finished, I posted a picture of the end result on Facebook and it turned out that three of the other girls made this recipe for their friends and family on the 4th of July as well. It really is just too good not to share with everyone!

So, there are two different ways to go about putting together this recipe: some people mix all the ingredient up in a large bowl and let it melt together, others (like myself) prefer to layer.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a 9x12 cooking pan, coat the bottom with the cream cheese. This works best if at room temperature.

Removing the skin in the process, shred the chicken in small bite size pieces. Then place in a medium size bowl.

Mix in the buffalo wing sauce and ranch dressing. Let sit for 10 minutes or so to absorb the flavors.

Spread chicken over the cream cheese.

Finally, sprinkle the cheddar cheese then the mozzarella cheese over the chicken mixture. Then place in the oven for 30 to 40 minutes.

The amazingness is ready for your mouth! Serve out some onto a plate or (like us dainty girls do) eat straight from the dish. Enjoy with some tasty tortilla chips or celery.

This is one of the most addicting dishes you will ever taste. I can promise you that!

Rating: 10

Time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

1 traditional rotisserie chicken

1 cup buffalo wing sauce (I use Pete's Buffalo Wing Sauce)

1/2 cup ranch dressing

2 - 8 ounce blocks of cream cheese 

3 cups cheddar cheese

1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese