Chicken Breast in Mole

This month at Food ‘n Flix we’re watching Like Water For Chocolate and yours truly is hosting it! There’s still plenty of time to join us. Come get the information about how to participate here. Having both read the book and seen the movie, I thought both were impressive. In the movie there are so many food scenes – for any food blogger to find inspiration.

Tita, a young woman in Mexico, falls in love. However, tradition prevents her from marrying, as her duty in life is to care for her mother. Tita’s love ends up marrying her sister instead, so that he can still be close to her. This creates many tensions in the household, between Tita and her mother, Tita and her sister, and Tita and her love.

Tita is tasked with cooking food for the family. Luckily for the family, this is a strong skill of hers. However, Tita learns that the emotion she has when she cooks the food can make the people who eat the food react. The cake that Tita made for her sister’s wedding made everyone throw up because of her emotions when making it.

Tita helps care for her sister’s infant son, Roberto. At Roberto’s baptism Tita serves mole. When asked for the recipe she answers, “The secret is that when you cook it, you do it with much love.”

Perhaps this is why I never liked mole growing up (or my palate was still immature.) My dad would always order it when we would get Mexican food and tell me to try his chocolate chicken. Being excited I would. And then I would down a bunch of water because I hated the taste. But perhaps the mole was never made with love. I decided to give the recipe a go and I tried to make it with love. I was nervous to taste it due to my prior experiences with mole, but either my tastes have changed or I really did make this sauce with love.

Because the title of the movie is Like Water For Chocolate, I opted to make this chocolate chicken. It was a great dish when made with love.

Chicken Breast in Mole

Ingredients
2 chicken breasts, cut in half
kosher salt, to taste
3 tbsp sesame seeds
3 whole cloves
1/4 cinnamon stick
1/8 tsp caraway seeds
1/8 tsp coriander seeds
1 1/2 dried guajillo chile peppers
1 dried ancho chile pepper
1 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp dried cranberries
1 tbsp pecan halves
1/2 6-inch corn tortilla, cut into pieces
3/4 oz chocolate chips
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
drop of almond extract
pinch of sugar

Directions

1. In a large pot place the chicken breasts. Cover with water. Bring to a boil. Cook until the chicken is cooked all the way through. Set aside and save the cooking liquid.

2. Toast the sesame seeds in a dry skillet for 5 minutes or until brown. Pour into a food processor. In the same skillet add the cloves, caraway seeds, coriander, and cinnamon. Toast for 3 minutes. Pour into food processor.

3. Remove the stems and seeds from the dried chile peppers. Heat 1 tbsp vegetable oil into the skillet. Fry the peppers for 2 minutes on each side. Fill a bowl with water and place the chile peppers in the water. Soak for 30 minutes.

4. In the same skillet add the dried cranberries, pecans, and corn tortilla. Cook for about 4 minutes, until the tortillas are brown. Add everything in the skillet, including the vegetable oil, into the food processor.

5. Once the chiles are pliable, add the chiles and 3/4 cup of the liquid the chiles were soaking in into the food processor. Puree until you get a smooth thick sauce.

6. Heat the remaining vegetable oil in a deep skillet over medium heat. Add the chile sauce and fry for 5 minutes. Add 1 cup of the reserved water the chicken cooked in. Bring to a simmer and let simmer for 20 minutes.

7. Add the chocolate chips, cinnamon, and almond extract, stirring frequently until the chocolate melts. Cook for 10 minutes. Add the sugar and salt to taste. Add the chicken and cook for 10 more minutes.

* serves 2
* Besides Food ‘n Flix I’m sharing this recipe with See Ya In The Gumbo

 

Chicken, Bacon, Artichoke Pasta with Creamy Garlic Sauce

 

This month’s Pasta Please theme is GARLIC hosted over at The Spicy Pear. I love garlic. When a recipe calls for garlic, I most always double the amount of it I actually use in my dish because I love it. It helps that Matt loves it too, because that would make me sad.

To make a garlic pasta dish? YES PLEASE! I feel like garlic gives any dish (or okay, most dishes) a nice element. Please don’t put it in my chocolate cake though.

Anyway – I’ve been busy lately and haven’t been cooking too much due to interviews and work. This dish was easy to make after a Friday at work and tasted delicious. The sun-dried tomatoes definitely helped with that too.

Chicken, Bacon, Artichoke Pasta with Creamy Garlic Sauce
(source)

Ingredients
12 oz noodles in any shape you want
6 slices bacon
1 lb chicken breasts, chopped
salt and pepper, to taste
1 can quartered artichoke hearts, chopped
1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp unsalted butter
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup flour
1 1/2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 tsp garlic powder

Directions

1. In a large pot of boiling water, cook the pasta. Once al dente, drain and set aside.

2. Cook the bacon in a large skillet. Once crispy remove to a plate covered in paper towels. Add the chicken to the bacon grease and season with salt and pepper. Cook until no longer pink. Saute artichokes and sun-dried tomatoes with the chicken for 4 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, melt the butter with the olive oil. Add garlic and then saute for 30 seconds. Sprinkle the flour on top and cook for 1 minute, whisking until smooth.  Slowly poor in the milk and chicken broth, whisking to avoid lumps. Season with salt and pepper and stir, cooking for 10 minutes, allowing the sauce to become bubbly and thick. Add the garlic powder and stir.

4. Cut the bacon into small pieces. Combine the pasta, bacon, chicken mixture, and sauce. Toss to combine.

* serves 6
* besides Pasta Please, this recipe is being shared with  Weekend Cooking

Cheesy Pecan Chicken Casserole

 

It’s been casserole month here at our very own Pantry Party. It’s the day before entries are due and I’m finally getting my own entry published. It’s about time. I’ve been slacking at updating. But I did make a casserole!

From my pantry, it used: pecans and cream of chicken soup. I actually didn’t have to buy very much for this at all. I love having a stocked fridge.

Cheesy Pecan Chicken Casserole
(source)

Ingredients
2 cups cooked chicken, chopped
1/2 cup pecans, chopped
2 tbsp onion, finely diced
1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
1 can cream of chicken soup (mine was herb flavored)
2 tsp lemon juice
1 cup cheddar and sour cream chips, crushed
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

Directions

1. Mix together all the ingredients except the chips and the cheese in a casserole dish.

2. Combine the chips and the cheese together. Sprinkle it evenly on top of the casserole.

3. Bake uncovered for 35 minutes at 375.

* serves 6
* Shared with See Ya In The Gumbo

Mediterranean Chicken

 

This month,the Random Recipes challenge was the GRAB AND RUN challenge. What does this mean? Dom asked us, “If you have 10 seconds to pick one book, which would it be?” I immediately thought Cook Yourself Thin. Since I’ve bought it, it’s been my favorite cookbook. I’ve made many recipes out of it, everything’s pretty easy, and everything’s absolutely delicious. To just top it off, everything in the book is healthy.

I’ve cooked out of this book for Random Recipes before, when I made breakfast sandwiches. This time I opened the book to page 152, which has the Mediterranean Chicken on it. This recipe is actually broken into three smaller recipes: the chicken, the topping (which the book calls the salsa verde,) and the tomatoes.

The topping was SO great. And on top of that, the tomatoes paired perfectly with the chicken and the topping. I couldn’t have picked a better recipe from the book (though, everything’s good in it, so I probably could have picked something as good.)

 

Mediterranean Chicken

Ingredients

CHICKEN:
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tsp dried rosemary
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

SALSA VERDE:
1 cup parsley, chopped
1 cup mint, chopped
2 cups basil, chopped
1/3 cup olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 tbsp capers, rinsed and chopped
4 anchovy fillets, boned and chopped
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/8 tsp pepper

TOMATOES
1 tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
4 medium tomatoes, chopped
splash of balsamic vinegar

Directions

1. In a large plastic ziplock bag, combine all of the ingredients in the chicken category. Place in the refrigerator and marinate for at least a half hour.

2. Next, mix all the ingredients from the salsa verde list in a small bowl. Set aside.

3. When you’re ready to cook the chicken, spray cooking spray into a cast iron skillet. Heat over medium high heat until smoking.

4. Remove the chicken from the  marinade and pat off any excess. Place the chicken in the skillet and cook for 3 minutes per side. Flip the chicken and cook for 2 more minutes. Depending on how thick your chicken is, you may need more time. Make sure you cook the chicken all the way through.

5. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a saute pan over medium high heat. Add the garlic and tomatoes and the balsamic vinegar. Saute for 3 minutes, until the tomatoes are warmed through. Crush lightly with the back of wooden spoon.

6. Top the chicken with the salsa verde and serve the tomatoes on the side.

* serves 4
* this recipe is also being shared with Full Plate Thursday and Showcase Your Talent Thursday

Portuguese Style Rice + White Wine and Paprika Chicken

I announced it already, but to make sure it doesn’t get lost in the rubble, Pantry Party still exists but July and August themes will be combined. What I mean to say in more concise language is that I’m extending the RICE Pantry Party round-up to occur end of August. You now have until August 28th to get your rice recipes in. The rice doesn’t need to be the star of the dish, but it does need to be used.

I’m sure I’ll make more rice before August 28th, because I eat rice a lot. I usually eat it just plain with curry on top of it, but for my theme entry I decided to make something different.

The flavors in the rice and the chicken melded together so well. I was very happy with how this dish turned out. I didn’t really do what I had intended with the rice – instead I took the lazy man route and dumped everything in the rice cooker. While I use the rice cooker frequently, I’ve never used it like this. I was skeptical and was convinced we’d be going to get hamburgers after the rice failed, but it actually came out perfect. I guess lazy works sometimes.

Portuguese Style Rice
(source)

Ingredients
3 slices bacon
1 cup onion, chopped
1 tsp garlic powder
3/4 tsp crushed rosemary
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1 1/4 cups basmati rice
2 tomatoes, chopped
2 cups chicken broth
1 tbsp parsley, chopped

Directions

1. Cook the bacon until crispy. Set on paper towels to drain. In the bacon drippings stir the onion, garlic powder, rosemary, and pepper together. Cook until the onion is tender.

2. Pour everything (including the bacon and the cooked onions) into a rice cooker. Cook according to manufacturer’s instructions.

* serves 6

White Wine and Paprika Chicken
(source)

Ingredients
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 tbsp white wine
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tbsp vinegar
1/2 tbsp apple juice
1/2 tsp salt
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces
1/2 cup onion, diced

Directions

1. Combine the garlic, white wine, 1 tbsp olive oil, vinegar, apple juice, and salt together in a small dish. Pour over the chicken. Cover the chicken and marinate for at least a half hour.

2.  Heat the remaining 1 tbsp of olive oil in a skillet over medium-high. Remove the chicken from the marinade using a slotted spoon. Discard the remaining marinade. Place in the hot oil in a single layer.  Cook for 3 minutes, until browned on one side. Then stir fry for 3 more minutes or until the chicken is cooked all the way through. Remove the chicken from the pan.

3. Add the onion to the pan on medium-high. Cook for 2 minutes, until the onion begins to brown. Spoon the onions over the chicken.

* serves 2

* Besides Pantry Party, this recipe is being shared with Cast Party Wednesday

Sweet and Sour Balti Chicken

I haven’t shared an actual recipe in awhile! In a month things should be different, but I’m expecting this next month to be pretty sparse in terms of updates from me.

This recipe comes from my favorite cookbook, or one of my favorite cookbooks . . . Best Ever Indian Cookbook. I got this at Border’s back when the greatest bookstore on earth was still in existence. You know, I haven’t found a bookstore I like since Border’s went defunct. I liked the organization a lot. But, anyway, I got this book for $9.99 off the clearance table there. Everything in the book, I’ve enjoyed.

I was skeptical about this dish, because while I’ve had Chinese sweet and sour chicken, what on earth is sweet and sour Indian chicken? I don’t even know if this is a thing, but this sauce was a combination of mango chutney which I got at Trader Joe’s, tomato paste, garlic, and plain yogurt. I mean, is this even a thing? Whether or not anyone has ever heard of this before, you should try it, because it’s really good. I served it with some cauliflower which I spiced with cumin and turmeric and basmati rice.

Sweet and Sour Balti Chicken

Ingredients
3 tbsp tomato paste
2 tbsp plain Greek yogurt
1 1/2 tsp garam masala
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp crushed crush
2 tbsp mango chutney (either store bought or homemade)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp white sugar
4 tbsp vegetable oil
1 1/2 lb chicken breast, cubed
2/3 cup water
2 jalapenos, minced
2 tbsp cilantro, chopped
2 tbsp heavy cream

Directions

1. Mix the tomato paste, yogurt, garam masala, chili powder, garlic, mango chutney, salt, and sugar in a small bowl. Mix well.

2. Heat the oil in a skillet. Once hot, lower the heat and add the yogurt mixture. Bring to a boil and cook for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Add the chicken pieces into the sauce and stir until they are well coated.

4. Stir in the water. Continue cooking for 6 minutes, until the chicken is fully cooked.

5. Add the jalapeno, cilantro, and heavy cream. Cook for 2 more minutes over low heat.

* serves 4
* shared with Wednesday Whatsits & Cast Party Wednesday

 

Bacon Crusted Chicken

The idea of meat crusted is not something I ever could have fathomed. It’s also probably something that has vegetarians shivering at the sight of this dish – my apologies! But I saw this recipe posted on PaleoDish and I just had to make it. My confession of the evening is that I don’t even know what the Paleo diet is, I just know I’m probably not paleo, but if bacon covering chicken is some type of delicacy for those that eat paleo, well.. I need to start following some paleo blogs for food ideas or something.

OK – I just skimmed about paleo. I don’t get it. But whatever. Bacon is good in my book.

Word to the wise: I am not paleo, like I just said above. Please be advised, I’m sure my use of all-purpose flour does not fit the diet guidelines and is my own . . . addition. For the real recipe that uses almond flour, go here. I can’t justify buying almond flour. I don’t particularly like it.

In other news, I was just thinking, maybe I shouldn’t have named my blog the Law Student’s Cookbook. Now I’m like, the Law Graduate. Then what? Do I stay at the Law Student’s Cookbook forever? Right now I should be the Bar Slave’s Cookbook or something, because besides cooking, eating, and blogging, the rest of my life has been dedicated to trying to learn things

I may have known at one point, but definitely don’t anymore.

Bacon Crusted Chicken

Ingredients
1 lb bacon
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut in half and pounded out
several tbsp of flour
2 eggs, whisked
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tbsp olive oil

Directions

1. Line a baking dish with aluminium foil. Cover with bacon. Place in a cold oven and turn the heat on to 400. Cook bacon for approximately 20 minutes, or until desired doneness.

2. Drain the bacon and let cool. Once cool place in a food processor and process until well chopped.

3. In a shallow bowl, combine the bacon, flour, and spices. In another shallow bowl, combine the eggs.

4. Dip each piece of chicken in the eggs. Then cover with the bacon.

5. In a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat, heat the olive oil. Once hot add the chicken and cook for 3 minutes per side.

* serves 2
* shared with Full Plate Thursday & Showcase Your Talent Thursday

 

Cheesy Chicken Parmesan (take two)

 

I rarely remake dishes and then reblog about them. I mean, I often make recipes that I’ve made and posted about. But I just don’t usually post about them again, because what’s done is done. Right?

But this month, Cooking Around The World traveled to Italy. Whenever I think about Italian food, I think of chicken parmesan, because that’s what I order when I go to any Italian restaurant. Almost a year ago I posted a blog about my Cheesy Chicken Parmesan dish and have yet to find a chicken parmesan dish I prefer more.

GET THE RECIPE HERE

Chicken Kiev

 

Web surfing drifted up to Frugal in Florida‘s blog, where I found her recipe for Chicken Kiev. For those who don’t know, chicken kiev is a boneless piece of chicken, wrapped around herbed butter, breaded, and then either baked or fried. Seriously, this dish would have been great for either the stuffed or breaded versions of Pantry Party. But alas, I didn’t make it then I made it now.

My only failure with the dish was I think I should have added a hell of a lot more butter to the middle of the piece of chicken. The amount I added was good and super tasty, but it would have been even better with more of my spiced up butter.

This is NOT a recipe to try when you’re rushed for time. It’s not hard, but things need to sit awhile.

Chicken Kiev
(source)

Ingredients
1 stick of butter, room temperature
1 tsp parsley
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 eggs
1 tbsp water
2 cups breadcrumbs
1/4 cup parmesan cheese

Directions

1. With a mixer beat together the butter, parsley, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Mold the butter into a stick and wrap in plastic wrap. Place in the freezer for several hours.

2. Pound each chicken breast to where it will be thin enough to roll.

3. Take the butter out of the freezer and slice into 6 slices. Setting 2 of the slices to the side, place a slice of butter in the center of each chicken breast. On top of the butter add 1 tbsp of breadcrumbs. Fold in the sides of the chicken breast and roll into a log. Place in a dish, seam side down. If the roll will not stay together, use toothpicks to hold together. Cover and place in the refrigerator for 2 hours.

4. In a shall dish beat together the eggs and water. Melt the remaining herb butter and place the butter, breadcrumbs, and parmesan in another shall dish.

5. Heat oven to 350. Dip the chicken in the egg mixture and then into the breadcrumbs, making sure to coat well. Bake for 30 minutes.

* serves 4
* shared with Weekend Cooking

Peri Peri Chicken Breast

The most recent county my kitchen has visited in Portugal. I was first introduced to this chicken dish on myfitnesspal’s message board. Someone has posted a picture of their peri peri chicken and I was intrigued. I decided to google it and find a recipe. Upon googling I learned that peri peri chicken is a Portuguese chicken dish.

From my small amount of research, peri peri made it to Portugual through the influence of North African cuisine. Peri peri is a marinade that can be put on chicken or shrimp. Peri peri is also the name of thebird’s eye chili, the star of the show of this marinade. It’s packed with spices and delicious. Most of the recipes for peri peri I saw barbecued the chicken, but being a woman of ease and simplicity, I baked it instead. This may obviously take away some of the traditional aspect of the dish, but what’s a girl to do! I don’t want to have to light up a grill when I’m trying to study!

I served it alongside broccoli, red bell pepper, and corn. Next time I have this dish I think I’ll just roast up some corn on the cob. The corn tasted absolutely delicious next to this chicken.

In non-food related news, I am now dreaming of torts. And I don’t mean mean tortes, which would be exponentially more fun to dream about. This bar prep stuff is killer.

Peri Peri Chicken Breast
(source)

Ingredients
4 tbsp olive oil
4-10 bird’s eye chili
4 cloves garlic
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tbsp paprika
1 bay leaf
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

Directions

1. In a food processor pulse together  the olive oil, chilies, garlic, lemon juice, paprika, bay leaf, oregano, salt, and pepper. Blend until smooth.

2. Pour half of the sauce over the chicken.  Brush the marinade over the chicken so it’s even. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour.

3. Preheat oven to 425. Place the chicken on a baking sheet covered with aluminum foil. Bake for 15 minutes. Flip the chicken over and baste with the the remaining marinade. Bake for 10 more minutes.

* serves 4
* shared with Mix It Up Monday