Buffalo Chicken Popovers

It's been a while since I posted so I'm trying to get caught up on the back log from last season.

These little gems were something I made for the playoff game tailgate in January. They were gone in 10 mins so I didn't get a good picture of them. Also the picture was taken with my cell phone so its not the best quality.

Ingredients:

1 lb of boneless skinless chicken breast
1 cup of chicken broth
3-4 tbsp of Frank's red hot wing sauce
Tastefully Simple Cheesy Chive Mix
Blue cheese dressing
2 packs of crescent rolls
1 pack of shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

In a slow cooker cook chicken and broth for 5-6 hours on low or until you can shred the chicken easily with a fork. Take the chicken out and drain the broth.

For the tailgate I did this overnight and shredded it in the morning before heading out. Once the chicken is drained I added the wing sauce and cheesy chive mix. I did a little at a time until it was spicy but not too spicy. If you love hot sauce then add more. Just make sure its not dripping just coated.

Separate the crescent rolls and scoop a little in the middle. Add some shredded cheddar cheese on top of each bit of meat. Fold the crecsent over.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Cook in the oven for 10-15 mins or until the roll is golden brown the and insides are bubbly.


I used the Camp Chef Oven during the tailgate so I cooked them a little longer since it was propane and not gas/electric powered. Serve with a little blue cheese dressing on the side for dipping! Enjoy!

Chicken Piccata

Shoprite had a super sale on boneless chicken a few weeks ago.  It was something ridiculous like $1.69/lb.  It was like the chicken was taunting me and saying...please come buy me and make me into something delicious.

Found this recipe on foodnetwork.com.  I've had chicken piccata at restaurants a few times and enjoyed it minus the capers.  Is that what the hell they're called?  They might as well have just called them crappy little green balls that are masquerading as a pea wanna-be.

Can you tell I'm tired and have been up all night?  :-)

Anyways the original recipe is here.

Ingredients:

2 skinless and boneless chicken breasts, butterflied and then cut in half (I just cut in half and beat them with a meat tenderizer to make them thin.  To each his own)

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

All-purpose flour

6 tablespoons unsalted butter   (I used 4 tbsp...6 seemed a little much to me)

5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

1/2 cup chicken stock

1/4 cup brined capers, rinsed (you know my stance on capers...I didn't use them)

1/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped

 Little bit of minced garlic (not in the original recipe but I love garlic)

 

Directions:

 

Combine flour, salt and pepper in a tray or bowl.  Mix well.

 

Coat the chicken in it on both sides.

 

Heat a skillet and put in the olive oil and butter.  Melt the butter.

 

Add the chicken and fry on both sides until slightly brown.

 

 

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9x13 pan.  Place chicken in the pan.

 

Take the leftover juices in the skillet and add chicken stock, parsley, garlic and lemon juice.  Mix and cook for about 5 mins on medium/low until slightly reduced.

 

Pour the skillet mix onto the chicken.

 

 

 

Bake for approximately 20-30 mins until chicken is down all the way through.

Grilled Honey Lime Chicken Skewers

Saw this recipe originally on the blog Cooking Classy.  I adapted it for the skewers since I love using them for tailgates since it means no plates or utensils needed.

Loved the taste of these.  They went down very smooth and the chicken was really tender.

The original recipe can be found here.

Ingredients:

• 1.5 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast halves
• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice (I used the lime juice in the little green container so I guess I cheated a little)
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil  (Iused plain olive oil since I was out of EVOO)
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp packed light-brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder or 1 clove finely minced garlic
• 1/8 - 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (I used a little less than 1/8 tsp but I don't like spice)

 

Directions:

 

Cut the chicken into strips.  Soak wooden skewers if using them.  If metal ones are used no need to soak in water so carry on! :-)

 

 

 

Throw ingredients and chicken into ziploc bag and marinade for 30 minutes.

 

 

 

Take chicken out and thread onto skewers.

 

 

 

Cook on grill on low heat for approximately 10 mins or until cooked through.

Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole

This past weekend we had stopped at BJs and the boneless skinless chicken was $1.89 a pound.  Now to find something to make with it since the package was pretty big.

Found a recipe for Slow Cooker Chicken Cordon Bleu but I didn't have the time for that so I adapted it for a 9x13 pan and only an hour of time.

The original recipe was on allrecipes.com.  The link is here.

Ingredients:

• 4-5 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• Deli ham slices
• Swiss cheese slices
• 1 can of cream of chicken
• 1 cup of milk
• 1 package of Stove Top chicken stuffing
• 1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 cup of butter (melted)

Directions:

Take the chicken and cut off the fat and chop into cubes. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9x13 pan.

Place the chicken on the bottom of the pan.

Mix the milk and soup in a bowl and pour evenly over the chicken.  Layer the ham.  Then the swiss cheese.

Sprinkle the stuffing on top and drizzle the melted butter.  I added a few chunks of butter for good measure.

Cover and bake for 50 mins.  At this point it looked about done but the stuffing on top was hard in spots because there wasn't enough moisture. 

So I sprinkled the mozzarella cheese on top and baked another 5-10 minuutes. 

 

Still seemed hard so I drizzled a tiny bit of water on it.  That seemed to do the trick.  I cut into chunks and served.

 

 

 

 

 

7UP Grilled Chicken

I saw this recipe on food.com and thought it was interesting.  7UP in a chicken marinade...hmmmm...I was curious.  The original recipe is here.

I modified it since soy sauce always seems to make it too salty for my taste.

The results were a grilled chicken that was moist and yummy.  It didn't dry out on the grill like a lot of chicken breasts do when cooked.

 

Ingredients:

• 4 pieces of boneless skinless chicken
• 1 can of 7UP or other lemon-lime beverage
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 cup of soy sauce (original called for 1/2 cup but I didn't want all the saltiness)
• 1/2 cup of canola oil

Directions:

Preheat grill.

Throw all the ingredients and chicken into a bag and marinate for 30-60 minutes (or longer).

  

Throw the chicken on the grill and grill until cooked without any pink inside.

 

 

Grilled Italian Chicken Skewers

While we were camping I was loving grilling things on sticks.  I used a tried and true recipe.  Its so simple and tastes great.

I've done these many times for tailgate.  I just marinate everything ahead of time and throw it on the grill when we get there.  Super easy!

Ingredients:

• Bottle of Italian dressing
• 4-5 boneless skinless chicken breasts (cut into strips)
• Wooden Skewers

Directions:

2-3 hours before grilling time.  Take the chicken strips and marinate them in the Italian dressing.

Preheat the grill

Thread chicken on to wooden skewers.  It will help if you soak the skewers in water for a bit before grilling so they don't burn.

Cook on grill until done.

**NOTE:  The picture shows the Peanut Dipping Sauce for another recipe.  The Italian skewers are the ones at the top of the picture on the right. **

Bacon Wrapped Chicken Kabobs

Found this recipe here at Six Sisters Stuff blog.

First let me just say that I'm not a big kabob fan.  Why you might ask...because its a pain in the ass to keep the meat on the stick and to turn it on the grill without frying the hairs off my hand.

But this recipe looked so good I couldn't turn down an attempt at it.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup cider vinegar
• 2 Tbsp honey
• 2 Tbsp oil
• 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into chunks
• 1 package of bacon (cut into 3rds)

Directions:

In a large bowl...mix together the soy cause, vinegar, honey and oil.  Put the chunks of chicken in and stir to coat them.

Cover the bowl and place in the fridge for an hour or more.

Preheat the grill.

Wrap each chunk of chicken in bacon and slid on the skewer.  Brush with the leftover mixture from the bowl.

Put the kabobs on the grill and cook about 15-20 minutes until they are cooked and the juice is clear.  Make sure you turn them over occasionally.

Oh and it goes without saying but make sure you take them off the skewers before eating.  :-)

Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken

So I had some chicken breasts that needed to be used soon so I did this recipe.  Turned out ok.  I shouldn't have cooked that long though because I was out and didn't get back in the recommended time.  Oh well...next time...still good even an hour over the recommended cook time.

The original recipe is from A Year of Slow Cooking blog.  The link is here.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 to 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs (4 or one thigh per family member)
• 3 garlic cloves, smashed and chopped
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 cup soy sauce (La Choy or Tamari wheat-free are gluten free)
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1/3 cup honey

Directions:

 

Use a 4-quart slow cooker (if using a 6-quart, this will cook faster. Check after 3 hours on high, 5 hours on low).
Put the chicken into your cooker. In a small bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients, then pour evenly over the top. -- Yeah I just poured it in and didn't combine first. 
Cook on low for 6 hours

Copycat PF Chang's Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Love PF Chang's food but the closest one is 20-25 minutes away.  There are also some folks in the tailgate that are on the Atkin's Diet so I was looking for a recipe that didn't have a lot of carbs.

Found this recipe on the web when I did a google search for "Lettuce Wraps from PF Changs".  Thought I would give this a shot.  I modified the original recipe that I found.

I've got to say its similar to PF Chang's but not exactly the same.  But it was really really good.

Ingredients:

Marinade

• 1 tsp cornstarch
• 2 tsps red wine
• 2 tsps water
• 2 tsps soy sauce

Filling Ingredients

• 1.5 lbs of boneless skinless chicken breasts, diced small
• 5 tbsp of vegetable oil
• 1 tsp of ground ginger
• 2 tsp garlic, minced
• 1 cup of shittake mushrooms
• Few shakes of minced onions
• 1/2 can of bean sprouts (drained)
• 1 can (8oz) of water chesnuts (drained)

Cooking Sauce

• 1 tbsp hoison sauce
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp red wine
• 2 tbsps oyster sauce
• 2 tbsp water
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 tsps cornstarch

Lettuce leaves (washed)

Directions:

Mix all the ingredients for "cooking sauce" and set aside.

In bowl, combine marinade ingredients and mix well.  Add chicken and stir to coat.  Stir in 1 tsp of oil and set sit for 15 mins.

Heat wok or frying pan over medium-high heat.  Add 3 tsp of oil.  Add chicken and stir fry for 3-4 mins.  Set aside.

Add 2 tsp of oil to the pan.  Add ginger, garlic and minced onions. for a minute or so.  Add mushrooms, bean sprouts, and water chesnuts.  Stir and cook for 2 mins.

Return chicken to the pan.  Add cooking sauce to the pan.  Cook until thickened and hot.

To serve, pour the mixture into a lettuce leaf and eat like a burrito.  (NOTE:  make sure that the mixture is drained a little before putting in the lettuce leaf or it will get soggy)