Arugula, Chicken, and Rice Salad - Betsy (from Food Everyday)

Ingredients

2/3 cup rice

3 cups packed mixed fresh herbs – we used oregano and basil – the recipe calls for basil and parsley.  Also, we used half herbs, half baby spinach.

2 Tablespoons olive oil

3 Tablespoons red wine vinegar

salt  and pepper

5 ounces arugula

4 cups shredded cooked chicken

2 scallions

2 med tomatoes, cut into ½ “ wedges

  or cut cherry tomatoes in half.

Directions

1.     Cook rice.  In a blender, blend herbs, oil, and vinegar.  Add ¼ cup cold water, if necessary.  There was enough water left on the spinach and herbs that we did not need to add water.  Blend until dressing is smooth.  Season with salt and pepper.

2.     Toss arugula with some dressing.  Toss rice, chicken, scallions, with dressing.

3.     Place arugula on plate, top with chicken, then tomatoes

Comments

We adjusted the sauce per our proportions of ingredients on hand.  It’s like a pesto really.   This was really tasty with the arugula.

From Food everyday (I can’t believe I bought a Martha Stewart magazine)

Altered by Nava and Betsy

Easy Thai Chicken Coconut Curry

Ingredients
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 Tablespoon butter
1 14oz. Can light coconut milk
1 Tablespoon Thai Kitchen Green Curry Paste
6 boneless skinless chicken thighs cut into bite size pieces
1/2 yellow onion cut in medium chunks
1 red bell pepper sliced thick
Chopped fresh basil for garnish
1 stalk Lemon grass sliced thin (optional)
Other vegetables as available (snow peas, frozen peas, bok choy, etc.)

Directions
Sauté onion in large frying pan with 1 Tablespoon olive oil
Add red bell pepper once onions are about 1/2 cooked
Once peppers are about 1/2 cooked, with pan on high,
Add butter, melt, then add chicken pieces
Brown chicken turning twice to get both sides, then turn down the heat to low
Add coconut milk
Stir in curry paste
bring to a simmer
Add salt and pepper and lemongrass (if using)
Cover pan and simmer for 30 minutes

Start rice.

When rice is done, serve curry over rice and garnish with chopped basil

Implements
Large frying pan with lid

Comments
Can add chicken broth, and other vegetables - don't overcook vegetables. Add to curry while cooking.

Serves 2 people with small lunch portion leftover.

Total preparation time - 45 minutes

Dark Meat Chicken with Saffron, Pecans and Dates (a Wendy Galson creation)

Ingredients
3 pounds skinless dark meat chicken parts, on the bone

Marinade:
½ cup olive oil
½ cup white vermouth
2 cloves garlic
½ tsp red pepper flakes
grated fresh ginger or dried ginger

Sauce:
½ cup white vermouth
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup wine vinegar
½ cup capers
1+ cup chopped dates, or any other dried fruits, such as dried cranberries

Couscous:
1 ¼ cup couscous, whole wheat if available
2 pinches saffron threads
1 ¼ cup boiling water
2 tbsp chopped parsley
2 tbsp butter, or less.

Toppings:
½ cup chopped toasted pecans
chopped cilantro

Directions
Marinate chicken overnight in olive oil, vermouth, garlic, red pepper and ginger.
Remove from marinade and bake for 30 minutes at 400 degrees in a flat casserole.
Heat vermouth, sugar, vinegar, fruit and capers to boiling.
Separately, add saffron to boiling water and soak 20 minutes.
Melt butter.
Add parsley, salt, pepper and couscous.
Add the saffron water, and allow the mixture to sit, covered, until water is absorbed (around 5 minutes).
Remove chicken from casserole.
Place couscous and fruit solids in casserole and stir into the pan drippings.
Arrange the chicken pieces on top. Pour over ½ of the fruit liquid. Cook for 30 minutes more, adding the remaining fruit liquid at 10-minute intervals.
Top with chopped cilantro and toasted pecans.

Serve with peas and roasted carrots.

Implements
Flat casserole
Frying pan
Small sauce pan
Containers for marinating chicken

Comments
Adapted from a recipe in the newspaper. Won raves.

Pollo Con Naranja (Chicken with Oranges) (Betsy and Paul)

Ingredients
1 3- pound chicken, cut up
1-2 cups chicken broth, as desired
2 Tbs Flour
1 tsp Salt
4 Tbs olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 cup orange juice
½ cup raisins
¼ cup almonds, slivered or ground
¼ tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp cloves

Directions
Dust chicken with flour and salt. Saute onions for several minutes then add chicken pieces. When chicken is browned, add remaining ingredients. Cook gently, covered, about 40 minutes until chicken is tender.

Hi-Ho Chicken (Diane)

Ingredients
6-8 chicken thighs

½ Cup Soy sauce – low sodium
1/8 cup brown sugar (optional)
2-3 cloves garlic – crushed
1 tsp sesame oil
1 stalk green onion minced (optional)

1 tube HiHo or Ritz crackers

Directions
Mix all ingredients (except chicken crackers) together to form a marinade.

Rinse chicken parts and pat dry. Put in marinade. Leave from 1 hour to overnight.

Pre-heat oven to 375 deg.F

Crush crackers in 2 quart plastic bag.

Drain marinade from chicken, Shake chicken in bag with crumbs.

Lay chicken pieces on rack in roasting pan or tray.

Bake at 375 for approximately 1 hour. Less if in convection oven.

Comments
Should expressly sing tunes from sleepy beauty and the seven dwarfs – Hi Hooooo! while preparing this dish.

Moroccan Chicken and Chickpea Tagine (Ed and Eva)

Ingredients
2 Tbs corn or canola oil
2 Tbs butter
1 large onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves of garlic crushed
salt a pinch of nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp black pepper
11/2 to 2 cups tomatoes, drain excess liquid from canned (I don't)
4 cups chickpeas, drain and rinse (I don't)
1/2 cup raisins or chopped pitted dates
1/2 vanilla bean
8 chicken thighs or 4 leg-thigh pieces cut in two
chopped cilantro or parsley leaves

Directions
Put oil and butter in a large casserole that can be covered later, and turn the heat to medium high. When butter melts, add onion and cook stirring occasionally until softened about 5-10 minutes. Add garlic and spices. Cook ,stirring for about 30 seconds. Add tomatoes, chickpeas, raisins and vanilla and bring to a boil. Taste, and add salt if necessary.

Sprinkle chicken with salt and nestle them into the sauce. Cover and adjust the heat so mixture simmers steadily. Cook until chicken is very tender, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Adjust seasonings, then garnish and serve

Chicken Pandora with Sun-dried Tomatoes and Artichoke Hearts (Betsy and Paul)

Ingredients
½ cup red-wine vinegar
½ cup plus 1 T. olive oil
½ cup fresh oregano
¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped
1 head fresh garlic, peeled and pureed
Kosher salt and pepper to taste
3 bay leaves
1 cup pitted olives, halved
5 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, halved
¾ cup brown sugar
1 cup red wine
8 shallots, chopped
1 T margarine
1 cup sun-dried tomatoes, halved
2 16-ounce cans artichoke hearts, drained

Directions
1. In a 9 by 12 inch baking dish, mix together vinegar, ½ cup oil, oregano, parsley, garlic, salt, pepper, bay leaves, and olives. Marinate chicken overnight in refrigerator.

2. Sprinkle with brown sugar and red wine. Bake for 1 hour, covered, at 350 degrees. Cool.

3. Remove chicken and cut into bite-size chunks and return to dish.

4. Sauté the shallots in margarine and remaining oil. Add tomatoes and artichoke hearts.

5. Pour sun-dried mixture over the chicken and reheat in 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes. Discard bay leaves and serve.


Implements

Comments
One time, I did not have red wine, so I used white wine vinegar and white wine-superb also. I usually use a little less sugar and have been known to use white onions if shallots did not make it into my shopping bags.

from Jewish Cooking in America, Joan Nathan

Turkey Chestnut Stuffing (Caroline and Dan)

Ingredients
1 lb peeled chestnuts, cooked and very finely chopped
1 large onion, finely chopped
The liver from the turkey, chopped small (this ingredient is optional)
4 oz smoked streaky bacon (we think this is normal American bacon), finely chopped
1 oz butter
4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
¼ teaspoon ground mace
8 oz best-quality pork sausage meat, or finely minced pure pork
1 egg, beaten
Salt and freshly milled black pepper

Directions
Melt the butter in a large frying pan and cook the onion, bacon and chopped turkey liver for 10 minutes or so, until the onion looks transparent and everything is tinged gold at the edges. Now tip the contents of the pan into a large mixing bowl and add all of the remaining ingredients. Season with salt and pepper, and mix thoroughly.

Put stuffing in neck end of turkey and secure skin with skewers.

Comments
In 2003 we celebrated Thanksgiving with Allen and Nirelle. Allen asked for Caroline’s turkey chestnut stuffing recipe – so here it is. When Caroline was a child, part of the run up to Christmas was sitting around the kitchen table peeling piles of chestnuts. Now we can buy them ready peeled and vacuum packed, and as we take advantage of this “progress”, our children will not have this memory.

This is the old-fashioned way to prepare a chestnut. Make a slit in the outer skin of the chestnut with a sharp knife. Place chestnuts in a pan of boiling water for 3-5 minutes. Lift out a few at a time and peel off both the brown and inner skins, making sure that you remove all those fiddly bits of the inner skin.

Duck, Chinese Style (Ed and Eva)

Ingredients
Duck
Red wine
Soy sauce
Salt and pepper

Stuffing:
Small white onions
Pitted prunes
Apricots
Figs

Duck coating:
3 Tbs Soy sauce
2 Tbs honey
¾ cup orange juice
¼ cup rice vinegar
(usually too much liquid, recommend reducing the amount of vinegar and orange juice)

Directions
Duck Preparation: Remove duck giblets, freeze and save for future soup. Save the liver. Serve lightly salted & fried for a high cholesterol, simply delicious cracker snack when served with sherry, in front of a fire while listening to beautiful music.

Duck Drying: The night before the meal is to be served, separate the skin from the flesh, using a very sharp small knife. Do not pierce the skin. Use you finger inserted between the skin and flesh to complete the task. Dry the duck inside and outside with paper towels. Paint the inside with red wine into which salt and pepper has been mixed. Paint the outside with soy sauce. Hang the duck in the cellar. I use a string tied under the wings and connected to an electric conduit in the basement joist space. Every serious duck cook should have a permanent duck string hanging in the basement for this significant step. Place a pan under the duck to catch the drippings. I like to check the duck before I go to bed to be sure no one has spirited the duck away and that the drippings go in the pan and not on the floor. Next morning the duck skin will be dry.

Coating: mix soy sauce, honey, orange juice, and rice vinegar (refer to Joy of Cooking, pg 621.)

Baking: Place duck on rack in pan with two cups water to prevent fat from smoking. Pick a small rack so if you are baking potatoes they can sit in the fat and not be raised above it on the rack. This will impart a nice brown color to the potatoes. Stuffing can be added at this point. Set in lower part of oven. Bake @ 425oF, breast up 20 minutes and breast down 20 minutes. Remove duck from oven. Remove the fat with a baster. Do this several times so the duck does not smoke or juices overflow in the pan. Using a sharp short knife cut slits through the skin without piercing the flesh. Do this where the fat is thickest. The purpose is to provide an easy way for the fat to escape. Continue cooking at a reduced oven temperature of 350oF. The total oven time, including the first 40 minutes is 2 hours. Alternate breast up and down at about 20 minute intervals. If the skin is getting too dark, build an aluminum foil tent over the bird. After removal from the oven, allow the juices to redistribute for 10 minutes before carving.

Implements

Comments

Thanksgiving Turkey (Ed and Eva)

Ingredients
Turkey
About Size.
A 20# turkey served 21, subsequently 12, then two for a total of 35 people meals. It is always nice to have a second big meal including the turkey, stuffing, and gravy. After the 2006 Thanksgiving repast, we checked these figures by weighing the after dinner weight of the turkey remains and found that with 20 people eating the turkey, 7 pounds remained which works out to 0.65#/person eaten. If you subtract those little people and severely dieting adults who barely touch the turkey, the amount consumed by “eating guests” was 0.75#/person.

Oil
Salt and Pepper

Stuffing (see recipes in Bread section)


Gravy
Pan drippings from turkey
4 cups chicken broth/turkey gravy/giblet soup
3 Tbs fat from turkey or vegetable oil or butter
3 Tbs flour

Directions
About sewing the turkey.
Tying the legs was required to prevent them from projecting beyond the pan. Loosely tie the legs. If you tie them tight to the body, the dark meat, which takes more time to cook than the white meat, will be underdone. Pin the cavities closed.

Preparation
Wash and dry the turkey. Rub the bird with a mix of oil, salt, pepper. Expose the bird to room temperature for 30 minutes before putting in the stuffing, which should be at room temperature.

Cooking time and temperature
Heat oven to 450F. Cook turkey at this temperature for 15 minutes, then turn oven to 350F and cook at that temperature for the rest of the time.

The table below lists cooking times for different weights:

12-14 # 3 to 3-3/4 hrs
14-18# 3 3/4 to 4-1/4 hrs
18-20# 4 1/4 to 4-1/2 hrs

Add 15-20 minutes if turkey is stuffed.

Cover with foil or cloth till the last hour. Baste frequently. However, basting is not always required. The last turkey, a Plainville Farm fresh turkey, came with instructions that basting was not required. After two hours, remove the drippings from the pan. Let the fat rise to the top and remove it. Use the defatted liquid for gravy.

Measure the turkey and stuffing temperature with a thermometer. Stuffing is done @160F, bird @170F. After the bird is completely cooked, it should be covered with aluminum foil and allowed to rest for 20-30 minutes before carving. This will result in a 10F rise in temperature as the warmer outer layer evens out the temperature within the bird. Take this temperature rise into consideration when measuring the temperature of the bird.

Gravy
If there are not enough drippings, use butter or some of the liquid prepared for the gravy. The liquid poured over the turkey will be recovered when gravy is made from the dripping in the pan while the cooked turkey is resting for a half-hour after removal from the oven. Cook the giblets to make soup. Use part of this for making the gravy and part could be used for the stuffing.

Melt the butter, add flour while continuously stirring over a small flame. After the mixture is smooth, add the liquids and giblets. Stir until mixture boils. When the turkey is resting add the pan dripping to the gravy. We have augmented the gravy with Plainville Farms Gravy, but it is not as tasty as chicken stock. The object is to have enough gravy for subsequent meals. In 2008 the kosher turkey had little fat which makes extra gravy even more desirable.

Chicken Satay (Paul and Betsy)

Ingredients
1 lb boneless chicken breast

Marinade:
1 sm. onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 inch fresh ginger, finely chopped
4 Tbs soy sauce
1 tsp coriander
2 tsp brown sugar
2 tsp lime juice
1 Tbs vegetable oil

Peanut Sauce:
11/4 cups coconut milk
4 Tbs crunchy peanut butter
1 Tbs Thai fish sauce
1 tsp lime juice
1 Tsp chili powder
1 Tbs brown sugar
salt and pepper

Cilantro
Lime wedges

Directions
Step 1: Soak bamboo skewers, if using, for 30 min. Cut chicken into thin strips. Blend marinade ingredients together. Stir with chicken, cover with plastic and refrigerate for 2 hours, turning occasionally.

Step 2: Make the peanut sauce. Blend coconut milk with peanut butter, fish sauce, lime juice, chili powder and sugar. Cook gently for 5 min, then season with salt and pepper.

Step 3: Thread chicken onto skewers. Cook for 8-10 min. in broiler or barbeque, turning and brushing with marinade. Garnish with cilantro and lime wedges and serve with sauce.



Comments
-from simple thai & Chinese step by step

Salsa Couscous Chicken (Ed and Eva)

Ingredients
3 cups hot cooked couscous
1Tbs olive or other oil
1/4 c coarsely chopped almonds
2 minced garlic cloves
8 skinless chicken thighs
1 cup garden pepper or chunky salsa (use crushed tomatoes)
2 Tbs dried currants
1 Tbs honey
3/4 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Directions
While couscous is cooking, heat oil in large skillet over medium heat until hot. Add almonds & cook 1-2 minutes until golden brown. Remove almonds and add garlic . Cook and stir for 30 sec. Add chicken & cook 4-5 minutes or until browned turning once. Combine tomatoes and remaining ingredients except almonds & mix well. Add to chicken and cook 20 minutes or until chicken is fork tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in almonds. Serve over couscous

Serves 4

Blackcurrant Chicken (Deb and Phil)

Ingredients
1 jar blackcurrant jam
equivalent amount of catsup
equivalent amount of cream sherry
Chicken pieces (I usually use “on the bone”)

Directions
Mix the jam, catsup, and cream sherry together in a sauce pan (To measure just empty the jar of jam and refill with catsup, and then sherry). Place chicken pieces into pan skin side down. Cover with some of the sauce. Cook at 350 ˚F for 45 min basting with the reserved sauce every 15 min. Then flip chicken pieces over and broil 15’, basting with sauce every few minutes. Serve with rice.< Comments
Very delicious, but cleaning the pan afterwards isn’t easy!

Lemon/lime Marinade for Boneless Chicken Filets (Diana and Hanne)

Ingredients
crushed garlic
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 Tablespoons good mustard
1/4 cup cider vinegar
juice of lime and lemon
6 Tablespoons olive oil

Directions
Marinate chicken overnight
grill/bake

Lemon Chicken (from Ed’s podiatrist) with additions and comments

Ingredients
1 skinless boneless chicken breast cut into 1” cubes and lightly floured
3 Tbs olive oil
1 clove of minced garlic
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 c chicken bouillon
1/2 c white wine
1 Tbs parsley

Directions
Brown chicken in oil and garlic. Add lemon juice, bouillon, white wine, and parsley.

Serve over fresh pasta.

The Windle-Galson Chicken Snakes

Ingredients
6 boned and skinned chicken breast halves, cut into long strips each about ½ inch wide, or precut chicken tenders
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon curry powder
½ cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons peanut butter; any kind will do
½ cup fresh lime and/or lemon juice
2 pressed garlic cloves
crushed dried red chili peppers to taste

Directions
Combine all ingredients except chicken to make marinade
Thread the chicken pieces on bamboo skewers, one or two pieces per skewer, weaving skewers in and out of the meat lengthwise to create a serpentine design
Marinate the skewered chicken for at least two hours, or as long as overnight
Cook over medium hot coals or under a broiler, turning several times and basting with the marinade, until crispy on the outside but still moist inside, about 6 to 8 minutes.

Implements
Bamboo skewers
Charcoal grill or broiler

Comments
Serve with couscous and curried carrots or a salad. Garnish with fresh cilantro leaves. The marinade is also good on larger pieces of unskewered boneless skinless chicken breast.

(adapted from Chicken Sate with Peanut Sauce from Chicken by James McNair; Chronicle Books, San Francisco, 1987.)

Betsy’s Fried Chicken

Ingredients
Chicken breasts
Milk
Flour
Egg
Breadcrumbs (try the oriental crumbs)

Directions
Flatten chicken breasts with the back of a knife, as grandma did, or with the flat side of a mallet. I cheat and slice them in half to make them thinner. Dip into milk, then flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs. Fry!

Comments
This recipe for fried chicken is quite basic, but I thought I’d include it because I learned how to make this from my grandmother Greta Moster, while visiting her in Israel. Whenever I prepare this I am right back in her kitchen watching her cook. I cook it frequently because it’s one of those dishes that everyone loves.