Slow Cooker Lemon Thyme Whole Chicken

I finally bought myself a crock pot. After having borrowed Mama's for almost a year, I figured it was time to give it back to her and get my own. Plus, hers is the enormous, feeds an army size and I need something that will fit snuggly on teeny tiny counter space.

Now that I have my own, I've been trying to find tons of recipes that allow me to use it as often as possible. The latest one is this Whole Chicken recipe. I put the whole chicken in the crock pot with chicken stock, lemons, thyme and garlic and just let it cook. It turned out great. It was moist and fell apart and with a veggie and mashed potatoes, would make a nice mid-week meal.

Slow Cooker Lemon Thyme Whole Chicken

1 whole chicken
2 lemons, sliced
6 sprigs fresh thyme
3 large garlic cloves sliced thin
salt and pepper
Trader Joes Everyday Seasoning or a poultry seasoning blend

To prepare chicken, remove the insides (eww) and I like to rinse it off and pat it dry with paper towels.

In my crock pot, I poured about a cup of chicken stock, then placed the chicken, breast side up into the crock pot.  Pull the skin up away from the chicken breast and slide 1 sprig thyme,  2-3 slices of lemon and 3-4 slices of garlic onto each breast under the skin. Place the remaining slices of lemon, garlic and sprigs of thyme over the chicken on top of the skin and around the chicken. I roughly chopped a couple more cloves of garlic and tossed them in too for a more enhanced garlic flavour. 

Season with salt and pepper, and the everyday seasoning.  Cover your crockpot and cook according to manufacturer's directions. I cooked mine on high for about 4 hours. Check to make sure that your chicken has reached a temperature of 165 degrees. Serve with a salad, or veggies and potatoes.
I served it on a bed of garlic butter spinach.

Slow Cooker Shredded Chicken

I never saw the need for a slow cooker. I never registered for one when I got married and I've never bought one. To me, a slow cooker was something you only used to make beef stew, which I detest. However, a dear friend of mine asked if I could come up with some recipes for her slow cooker. And since she is now a proud mama, I think her slow cooker might come in handy a lot in the future. So for her, I borrowed my Mama's slow cooker.

Since it's warmer weather, I decided not to start with a soup or stew. After much scanning of the web, I discovered that one can cook a lot of chicken in the slow cooker and use it for a bunch of recipes. I decided to try cooking chicken breast and then shredding it.

This recipe was AMAZING! The chicken came out tasting like a southwestern rotisserie chicken. It was so moist, it just fell apart. I had no idea such delicious chicken could come from a slow cooker!

Slow Cooker Shredded Chicken

2 - 3 lbs of boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup favorite Italian dressing (I used Trader Joe's Tuscan Dressing)
1 cup chicken broth
1 1/2 Tbsp Adobo Seasoning
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp lemon pepper seasoning

In a bowl or large glass, mix together the dressing, broth and spices.

Place chicken breasts in your slow cooker and pour the dressing mixture over the top of the chicken.

Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours. I cooked it for about 7 hrs.

When chicken is fully cooked, remove from slow cooker and shred.  To shred it, I take two forks and pull them in opposite directions  through the meat. As I said, it will be so moist and tender that it will fall apart.

Okay, so now I am left with 3 lbs of shredded delicious chicken...now what?
The first thing I made with it was Chicken "Tostadas". I also made BBQ chicken sandwiches. I will link both recipes to this one.

The chicken is also fabulous on salads or eaten plain, and it makes a great chicken salad. Add a little mayo, salt, lemon pepper seasoning, scallions and chopped celery.

For the two of us, this recipe made enough chicken for three days of lunches and dinners. I may have to go get myself a slow cooker...we'll see.

Vacation Grilling

The view from our balcony

 This isn't so much an exact recipe post. It's more of a "what we ate on vacation" kind of post. But the weekend was filled with such delicious foods (mostly made by my husband) that I had to share it.

Since we didn't go away this summer, we took a long weekend this month and went to the beach. It turned out to be a fabulous weekend with near perfect weather and, since it's off-season, no crowds. We rented a small ocean front condo with a full kitchen and with the full view of the ocean right on your balcony, who wants to go sit inside a restaurant for dinner? There also happens to be a grill...

As I have said before, our current housing situation lacks any outdoor space and with that is included a serious lack of anywhere to grill (except on my grill pan on the stove, but it's just not the same). Mike also happens to be spectacularly proficient at grilling without the ability to indulge in this expertise as much as he'd like. Therefore, when presented with breathtaking ocean views and a grill, he grills.

The morning we left, I marinated chicken in olive oil, rosemary, thyme and garlic. (This marinade idea was given me by two good friends who happen to be some of the best cooks I've known.) We also bought steak and packed them and the chicken in the cooler (we drove, obviously, or this would never have worked) I also packed bruschetta, really excellent Parmesan cheese, grapes, apples, olives, bread, salami, wine, potatoes, and vegetables.

When we arrived that first night, I sliced up the potatoes length-wise and thinly and brushed them with olive oil and seasoned them with rosemary , salt and pepper. I also sliced up a couple of bell peppers and an onion (in large slices so they won't fall through the grill grate) and Mike grilled them, the potatoes and the chicken. It was delicious. The chicken had great flavour, the potatoes were like steak fries but better and the peppers and onions had that great charred taste. It was a delicious way to start our little vacation.

Potatoes in olive oil and spices

The following day, we ate lunch in too. It was really an assembling of things we had bought (not made) but it was still delicious and we still had the beautiful view.

Lunch! (Olives are in a separate bowl b/c I hate them and they pollute the other food)

One of the other nights we were there,  we grilled the steak...

Before grilling them, Mike brushed each side with butter and then seasoned it with salt and pepper. I made mashed potatoes with garlic and rosemary and we grilled more veggies. It was sensational! The steak was unbelievably delicious.

That's Parmesan cheese in the background, not butter

We did manage to save some to have steak and eggs the next morning; also delicious.

Sorry there aren't any real recipes, but since it was so good, I wanted to share it anyway. We had an excellent time and were properly refreshed for the upcoming autumn months. I already have a plan to get back into some serious cooking. Cranberry season is coming so I am planning on making cranberry sauce. I also want to try out a few more soups as the cold weather comes upon us. If I like any of them, I will definitely post them, hopefully sooner rather than later.

Spinach Strawberry Salad

A few weeks ago, we ate at this little hotel restaurant with barely anyone in there and no front door. You actually had to go into the hotel entrance and down a long hallway to even get to the restaurant. I was not expecting much. But since it was late, we were staying at this particular hotel, and we did not feel like driving all over, we ate there. More proof, if proof were needed, that you shouldn't judge a restaurant by it's entrance. It was incredibly delicious and super fast. Their portions were also enormous and forewarned by our friendly waitress, we easily split an appetizer and entree between the two of us.

On a side note: This is our standard we're-not-that-hungry or let's-save-money-but-still-eat-out strategy. If you both have similar tastes, this works especially great when away on vacation or at restaurants that serve huge portions.

Anyway, the appetizer we ended up getting was a spinach and strawberry salad with pecans and goat cheese. It was so tasty and looked so simple that as soon as I got home, I tried it myself. The only difference is that I added chicken. It is just as delicious and such a simple and quick, but still healthy meal that I had to share it.

Strawberry Spinach Salad

1 bag baby spinach
10 large strawberries, washed and sliced
1/2 cup pecan pieces
2 chicken breasts, cooked and sliced
1 small log goat cheese, broken up into bite size pieces
Trader Joe's Champagne Vinaigrette or favorite light vinaigrette


After dividing the spinach onto two separate plates, line each plate with strawberries. Any extra strawberries place on top of spinach bed (or eat them yourself).

 
Place chicken pieces on top of each spinach bed, followed by pecans and goat cheese pieces. Lightly pour vinaigrette over the top. Enjoy.

Notes: I cooked the chicken on the grill pan with a little bit of olive oil, basil, rosemary and thyme, salt and pepper; 3-4 minutes per side until cooked through. It is packed with flavour and so easy to make that I make a bunch of it at once and use it in everything. Also, goat cheese is creamier than feta so it doesn't really crumble, just so you know.

Mediterranean Pizza

 
Summer weather started here a few weeks ago; 90 degree weather and 100% humidity. Oh, and did I mention that the AC isn't working super well either? Out the window goes the idea of cooking with the oven. A small kitchen heats up surprisingly quickly. There goes any idea of casseroles and baked dishes.

At the same time, I found a recipe that called for marinating chicken in Greek yogurt before grilling it. I thought that sounded like a great idea but needed some additional ingredients to make a fabulous and quick meal. Adding spices to the yogurt before adding the chicken and letting the chicken marinate for at least 3 hours gave the chicken a wonderful moistness and great flavor. A few other ingredients that I had on hand made it into a spectacular and quick weeknight meal.

4 thinly sliced chicken breasts
1 small container plain Greek yogurt
1/2 tbsp cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne
1 tsp coriander
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tbsp olive oil
naan bread
hummus
1 large cucumber, sliced
basil, if desired
pepper

In a container of your choice with a lid, combine the Greek yogurt, spices, garlic and olive oil and mix well. Add the chicken being sure to coat both sides of each chicken breast with the yogurt mixture. All to marinate happily in the fridge for at least three hours.

Attractive, isn't it?

(As I lack the delightful outdoor cooking experience known as the charcoal or gas grill, I have to be satisfied using my grill/griddle pan thing.)

Spray grill pan liberally with olive oil spray. Heat  according to manufacturer's directions.  Scrape excess marinade off each chicken breast. When hot, add chicken and grill until cooked through, flipping chicken breasts once. Depending on the thickness of each chicken breast this should be a few minutes on each side. (I always slice into the thickest part of each piece just to be sure it's cooked through) When cooked through, remove chicken to a plate to cool slightly.

On the same grill pan, add the naan bread and cook until warm and golden brown on each side. Remove naan bread to a plate, spread with a thin layer of hummus. Slice a chicken breast (my husband insists that the chicken breast is sliced from north to south. This does not sound right to me but I can't remember the cooking term for how I sliced the chicken so in lieu of the proper terminology: with the chicken breast sitting on the cutting board horizontally slice from north to south)....on second thought, slice the chicken breast however you would like. This is too much thought for what is supposed to be a quick meal!

Anyway, with the unbelievably important decision of how to slice one's chicken out of the way, crumble feta cheese all over the layer of hummus, lay slices of chicken on top of the cheese and lay the cucumber slices on top of the chicken.  Sprinkle with fresh ground pepper and basil if desired. I don't add salt since the feta is already salty.

Serve immediately so it's still warm.

You could add tomatoes to this too. Since I made a tomato salad I didn't add them this time, but I think that would be good. Also, this chicken was so delicious that I marinated a large batch of chicken, grilled it and kept it in the fridge to be used for sandwiches, fajitas and snacking.

A Better Chicken Noodle Soup

As I have previously mentioned, I don't like chicken noodle soup. Mike does though and sometimes one makes things one does not like for a person one loves. I figure if I really don't like what I made, I can always eat toast with jam for dinner like his grandmother used to.  The traditional carrot-celery-onion-chicken-in-broth soup recipe is frightfully boring so I started throwing in stuff that I saw in other soup recipes. I figured that all the ingredients came from soup recipes so they should all taste good together. I do realize that this method of cooking does not always work out for the best. I have first hand experience with the times that it has failed miserably. However, in this case, it worked beautifully. I even thoroughly enjoyed it.

Better Chicken Noodle Soup


olive oil
one yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 c white wine
1 small can diced tomatoes
8 cups chicken broth or 8 cups water with bouillon cubes (follow package directions)
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked and cubed (I baked the chicken in garlic-Parmesan olive oil at 350 for 30 minutes)
3 zucchini, cubed
4 carrots, sliced into rounds
fresh or dried thyme
fresh or dried rosemary
salt and pepper, to taste
1 large can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 cups noodles of choice (I used pappardelle)
1 bag fresh baby spinach
grated Parmesan cheese

Coat the bottom of a large pot with olive oil; heat over medium heat. When oil is heated, toss in onions. Cook, stirring occasionally until onions are translucent and beginning to brown. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about a minute. Add white wine and cook for another minute or two. Add tomatoes and continue to cook, stirring occasionally.

Add broth, carrots, zucchini, chickpeas and herbs (I had fresh thyme and rosemary from another dish I made but if you only have dried I'm sure that will work too. I used three stems of thyme and one stem of rosemary. The rosemary I chopped up but I just picked the thyme leaves off the stems and threw it in without bothering to chop it. If you are using dried, I would use about 2 tsp of each.) Continue to cook until zucchini and carrots are soft, about ten minutes. Stir occasionally. Add noodles and cubed chicken.

*Note: I used pappardelle noodles from Trader Joe's because they looked very pretty in the package. However, because these noodles are so wide and long, they need to be broken into smaller pieces. I suggest that you do this in your hands over the soup pot. Do not try to cut dried noodles with a knife on a cutting board. The noodles break into little noodle shards that rocket all over the kitchen.

After adding the noodles, I left the pot on the stove, cooking on very low heat, for about twenty minutes more until we were ready to eat. Just before serving, add spinach and stir well so that the heat from the soup wilts the spinach.

Serve in bowls topped with Parmesan cheese.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

 
Winter seems to have finally arrived and soup season has begun. Mike loves soup and I don't make nearly enough of them since I'm not really a fan of the broth-based soup. Now, cream-based - broccoli cheddar, baked potato, New England clam, tomato even - those I love. More proof, if proof were needed, that if it's terrible for me, I love it. If it's good for me, it's probably not my favorite. However, I decided to make this soup, even though it's broth-based, because Mike would enjoy it. I'd only have to eat it once and then I could send the rest with him for lunches. I was wrong again. This soup was delicious. As in, still craving it delicious. There are so many dimensions and flavors going on and it's fresh tasting but still warm and hearty and just what is needed on a wintery or rainy day. It was fairly easy as well, which is also right up my alley.

Chicken Tortilla Soup
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 32 oz cartons of chicken broth or 8 cups water and 6 chicken bouillon cubes
3 large cloves garlic, crushed
2 jalapenos, minced (remove the white part and seeds if you want it to be less spicy)
half white onion, chopped
2 tsp ground coriander

2 tsp cumin

1 tsp paprika 

1 tbsp Goya Adobo spice mix

salt and pepper to taste

4 large tomatoes, roughly chopped

1 medium bag frozen corn kernels

1 small can black beans

1 tbsp fresh lime juice

tortilla chips

ripe avocado

shredded cheddar cheese

Pour chicken broth into a large stock pot and bring to a boil. Add chicken breasts, garlic, jalapenos, onion and spices and simmer for about fifteen minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Remove chicken from broth and allow to cool slightly.  Roughly chop or shred chicken breast. 

Add tomatoes, corn and black beans. Cook for another ten minutes. Return chicken breast to pot and continue to cook until chicken is reheated. 

 

To serve,  roughly crush a handful of tortilla chips into the bottom of each soup bowl. Add soup over the top and sprinkle with a little lime juice and cheddar cheese. If desired, add a couple of slices of avocado on top and garnish with tortilla chips. Enjoy!

Sorry for the lack of photos in this post. I forgot to take them while I was cooking and only remembered right before we sat down to eat.

Buffalo Chicken Wontons

Yum, yum, yum!

Confession: I have a minor obsession with Buffalo sauce. I love it, whether it be on chicken wings, pizza or nachos, I love it. Recently, my husband and I sampled this delectable vehicle in which to enjoy copious amounts of buffalo sauce. I mean, what could be better then a fried little pouch of creamy chicken-y goodness with just the right amount of buffalo sauce? I simply had to recreate this while on vacation and did so with the great help of a junior cook.  And it was definitely worth it. They were a huge hit with everyone in the house and completely disappeared quickly. Even the most picky of the group loved them.

Buffalo Chicken Wontons
Filling:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and cut into quarters
3/4 cup cream cheese
1/2 cup blue cheese crumbles
2 - 3 tbsp ranch dressing, plus more for dipping
1/4 cup - 1/2 cup Frank's Red Hot Sauce
salt and pepper to taste

Other ingredients:
oil for frying
1 package wonton wrappers
ranch or blue cheese dressing for dipping

Combine ingredients in a food processor and pulse until mixture is of desired consistency. It shouldn't be overly mushy or the consistency of soup but it shouldn't be overly chunky either. Sneak a taste, or two, about now to determine if you want to add more hot sauce, ranch dressing, salt or pepper.

Perfect consistency

In a large saute pan, heat oil over medium heat. There should be enough oil in the pan to come up the sides of the pan about an inch.

Retrieve a wonton wrapper and fill it with a heaping 1/2 tbsp of filling.

Seal the edges of the wonton by rubbing all edges with a little warm water, using your fingers, then fold the wonton in half to resemble a triangle and press edges down well.

Drop wonton triangle in oil and fry for a couple of minutes, turning once to ensure browning on both sides. Remove from oil and allow to drain on paper towels. Repeat with remaining wontons.

Serve warm with your choice of dipping sauce. Enjoy these. I am.

Homemade Chicken Nuggets with Dipping Sauces and Fried Plantains

Recently, we went to an electronics/media/appliances superstore. While wandering aimlessly about in the appliances section (day dreaming about what great things I could make with all these new kitchen gadgets) I stumbled across a fairly expensive oven. I was so shocked when I looked at the 'control panel' part that I took a picture of it.

Notice the top middle button?

What kind of society are we living in that we have to have a button on our oven for frozen chicken nuggets? Seriously? When I showed Mike, he said I should do a blog post of homemade chicken nuggets and corresponding dipping sauces.


Shortly thereafter, while talking to a friend of mine, she told me that her eleven year old son wants to eat nothing but fast food chicken nuggets and fries. So I told her about Mike's idea for a chicken nuggets blog post and I told her I'd post it ASAP for her son. Maybe he'll appreciate the homemade more than the fast food. Not only is it better for you but you can play around with making your own personal dipping sauces too.

Instead of the traditional french fries that goes with chicken nuggets, I made fried plantains. Plantains are those dark green large bananas in the grocery store. I had these at a Cuban restaurant once and immediately came home and tried to make them myself; they were that good! Why not try them instead of fries? Maybe the kids will like them even better. And if not, well, more for you.

I did add a salad to this dinner, to counteract the fried foods.

Homemade Chicken Nuggets

1 package organic chicken breast tenderloins
1/2 cup flour
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 sleeve of Ritz Crackers
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
olive oil

In a heavy saute pan, add enough oil to cover the bottom. Heat on medium low heat.

In a food processor, add Ritz crackers, onion and garlic powders and cayenne pepper. Pulse until crackers are small crumbs. Pour crumbs into a shallow dish or bowl.

In another bowl, add flour and in a third bowl, add the eggs.

Remove chicken tenderloins from package and cut them in half. Coat each chicken piece in flour first, then egg, then cracker crumbs. When each piece is completely coated with cracker crumbs, place piece carefully into saute pan with hot oil. Repeat with all chicken pieces.

Cook chicken until golden brown on each side and fully cooked through. This will vary depending on your stove, pan and thickness of the chicken.

Remove chicken to a plate covered with a paper towel and allow to drain off excess oil.

Serve with your choice of dipping sauces.

Sweet Chili Dipping Sauce

1/2 cup white wine vinegar
1/4 cup orange flavored vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
2 large garlic cloves, crushed
1/2 tbsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp chili powder

In a saucepan, combine vinegars and sugar (if you don't have the orange vinegar, you can use 1/4 cup of white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar instead). Heat to boiling, then turn heat down and allow to simmer about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and add garlic, red pepper flakes and chili powder. Stir well.

Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce

5 tbsp honey
3 tbsp Dijon mustard (I like Grey Poupon)
2 tbsp white wine vinegar

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Mix extremely well.

Spicy Ketchup

1/2 cup ketchup
1 or 2 tbsp of your favorite hot sauce

Combine both in a bowl and mix well.

Fried Plantains

2 plantains, peeled and sliced into 1/4 inch rounds
olive oil
salt

First off, the way you peel a plantain is this: cut off each end. With a sharp knife, slice one side of the plantain just through the skin from top to bottom. Using your finger nails or the tip of a knife, pry apart the skin and peel off.

Add enough olive oil to a frying pan to coat the bottom. Heat on medium heat. When oil is hot, carefully add sliced plantains to pan. Cook 2 minutes on each side.

Cover a cutting board with paper towel. Remove plantains from oil and arrange on cutting board. Cover with paper towel. Using a mallet, flatten each plantain. Return flattened plantains to hot oil for 1 minute on each side.

Remove to a plate covered with paper towel to drain excess oil and sprinkle with salt.

Enjoy.