Chicken

Ingredients
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size cubes
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 inch fresh ginger, minced
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 ¹⁄₄ teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon sherry
1 tablespoon sesame oil
¹⁄₃ cup chicken broth
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 pound broccoli, cut into florets and stems cubed
Freshly ground black pepper

Instructions
1. Toss the chicken pieces, half the garlic and ginger, soy sauce, sugar, 1 teaspoon cornstarch, 1 teaspoon salt, sherry, and sesame oil in a bowl.  Marinate at room temperature for 15 minutes.  Mix remaining cornstarch with chicken broth in a small bowl. 

2. Heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a large skillet over high heat.  Add broccoli, remaining garlic and ginger, and 2 tablespoons water.  Stir-fry for 3 minutes until bright green and still crisp.  Transfer to a plate and season with salt and pepper. 

3. Add remaining vegetable oil to skillet and heat over high heat.  Add the chicken and marinade.  Stir-fry until the chicken begins to brown, about 4 minutes.  Return broccoli to skillet and stir to heat through.  Stir in cornstarch mixture and bring to a boil to thicken.  Serve with rice. 

Comments
Food Network’s How to Boil Water cookbook is my current favorite recommendation for new cooks.  The descriptions and photographs of techniques are great and all the recipes I’ve tried have been simple yet flavorful and tasty.  This recipe certainly followed the trend.  I served this with brown rice since I’m working on transitioning to brown rice instead of white rice.  Except for risottos.  So far I’m liking the change.

How to Boil Water

Ingredients
1-2 cups small pasta (I used penne.)
2 tablespoons olive oil
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into small pieces
1 small onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes with juice
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
¹⁄₄ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
¹⁄₄ teaspoon kosher salt
¹⁄₄ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¹⁄₄ cup bread crumbs
¹⁄₄ cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 400*F. 

2. Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until just tender, stirring occasionally, about 1 minute less than recommended by the package. Drain pasta and place into a large mixing bowl.

3. Meanwhile, put the olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook for 3 minutes. Add the onions and garlic, stirring to combine, and cook until the onions are soft and the chicken is cooked through, about 5 to 10 minutes more. Put the chicken mixture into the bowl with the cooked pasta. Add the canned tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, parsley, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine. Place the mixture in a buttered or greased 8 by 8-inch baking dish. In a small bowl mix together the bread crumbs and the Parmesan cheese. Sprinkle over the top of the pasta mixture. Dot the top with small bits of butter. Bake until the top is golden brown, about 30 minutes.

Comments
This recipe is from Giada De Laurentiis and I first made it when I needed simple dishes to make in other people’s kitchens.  This recipe is very basic and simple, but it’s also hearty, warming, and filling.  Any small pasta will work and I recommend using a baking dish with high sides.  You could add more seasoning by using diced tomatoes that have spices added, or adding some Italian seasoning, or anything else that you’d like.

Internet - Giada De Laurentiis

Ingredients
6-8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into pieces
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 cup flour
Olive oil
2 tablespoons kosher salt or 1 tablespoon table salt
1 can (12 ounces) frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed (I used Minute Maid No Pulp, use something that isn’t very pulpy.)
6 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar (I used some exotic honey vinegar balsamic, but any would work well.)
6 tablespoons ketchup

Instructions
1. Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper.  Dredge the chicken in flour and shake off the excess.  Heat olive oil in large skillet and brown the chicken on all sides.  (The chicken does not need to be fully cooked, that will happen in the slow cooker.)

2. Place the chicken in slow cooker.  In a small bowl, mix together kosher salt, orange juice concentrate, brown sugar, balsamic vinegar, and ketchup.  Pour sauce over chicken and toss gently to coat. 

3. Cover and cook on LOW for 5-6 hours or HIGH for 3-4.  Serve with rice. 

Comments
This recipe is from A Year of Slow Cooking and I was worried, as I was putting it together, that it was going to end up being entirely too sweet.  Thankfully, it wasn’t at all!  The flavor was nice and I’d say this is one of the better slow cooker recipes I’ve made in the recent past.  I served it with rice and some sautéed broccoli. 

I did find that the recipe generated quite a lot of sauce.  Maybe next time I should use more chicken?  Or reduce the sauce ingredients?  There was way too much sauce.  I also felt that a few of the chicken pieces were overcooked.  I think this might be resolved by stirring during the cooking or by cooking for less time.

Internet - A Year of Slow Cooking

Ingredients
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
1 egg
1 ¹⁄₂ teaspoons salt
Pinch freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon sesame oil
¹⁄₂ cup cornstarch
¹⁄₄ cup flour
Oil for frying (Peanut or vegetable oils both work well.)

For the Sauce
10 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons lemon zest
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons honey
2 ¹⁄₂ teaspoons salt
²⁄₃ cup water
4 teaspoons cornstarch

Instructions
1. In a large bowl, mix together the egg, salt, pepper, and sesame oil. Mix well. Stir in the chicken pieces.

2. In medium bowl, stir together the flour and ¹⁄₂ cup cornstarch. Add to the chicken pieces, stirring to coat.

3. In a small bowl, combine all sauce ingredients and set aside. 

4. Heat oil for deep frying in a wok over medium-high heat.   Add the chicken, small batches at a time, and fry for 4-5 minutes until browned and crisp. When done remove the chicken from the oil with tongs (or Chinese strainer) and drain on paper towels or in a sieve over a bowl.

5. Add sauce to wok or large skillet and heat over high heat until sauce thickens, stirring constantly.  Add chicken and toss well to coat.  Serve with rice. 

Note: If you’d like to add vegetables, stir-fry them in a tablespoon or 2 of vegetable oil at the beginning of step 5 before adding the sauce to the same skillet or wok. 

Comments
This is another one of those “simple aside from the frying” chicken (recipes that I found on the internet.  This one is from the blog Beyond Kimchee.  The original recipe had a pretty complex looking (and time-consuming at that) method for coating the chicken before frying so I decided to skip it and use the method in my Orange Chicken recipe instead.  This worked out well and the dish was delicious.  Lance found it a little too lemony, but I thought it was perfect so this just means more of the leftovers for me! 

It’s probably worth noting that all of these sorts of (recipes can be made without coating and deep frying the chicken.  If you want to skip that part, just stir fry the chicken cubes in the wok or skillet before adding the sauce.

Internet - Beyond Kimchee

Ingredients
¹⁄₃ cup Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried tarragon
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup onion, chopped
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
16 ounces frozen artichoke hearts

Instructions
1. Add mustard, garlic, tarragon and chicken to the slow cooker and toss to coat.  Layer vegetables on top.  Cook on LOW 6-8 hours (or HIGH 4 hours) or until chicken is tender. 

2. Serve with starch of your choice. 

Comments
I’m not sure where I found this recipe but, being a lover of artichokes, it sounded good. 

It wasn’t. 

Sometimes my cooking experiments fail.  I’m actually tempted to toss the leftovers. 

I’m honestly not sure this even had enough merit to revisit and try to improve.  I would definitely wait to add the artichokes hearts until closer to the end, I was not thrilled by the way they turned to mush during the cooking time.  I might also use marinated artichoke hearts instead of the plain frozen ones which would give the dish more flavor.  But, seriously, I don’t think I’m game to try.  If you’re brave enough to try, let me know!

Unknown

Ingredients
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into small pieces
4 tablespoons rice wine (Mirin)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 egg, lightly beaten
¹⁄₃ cup cornstarch
6 garlic cloves, minced
4 tablespoons fresh ginger, minced
Oil for frying
1 bunch green onions, sliced

Sauce
6 tablespoons soy sauce
6 tablespoons rice wine (Mirin)
3 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch

Instructions
1. Place chicken pieces in a large bowl.  Add soy sauce and rice wine, let marinate for 30 minutes.  Add egg and cornstarch, stir to coat chicken. 

2. Heat oil to 375*F in Dutch oven.  Fry chicken in batches for 4-5 minutes or until golden brown and crispy.  Drain in sieve or on paper towels. 

3. Mix sauce ingredients in a small bowl. 

4. Add 1-2 tablespoons oil to wok or large skillet and heat over high heat.  Add garlic and ginger and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 15-30 seconds.  Add sauce and bring to a boil.  Stir in chicken pieces until coated.  Top with green onions and serve over rice. 

Note:  If you’d like to add vegetables, which I did, stir-fry them in the wok or skillet before adding garlic and ginger.  Continue the rest of the recipe as described. 

Comments
I found this recipe at Blog Chef and it looked pretty tasty.  It certainly lives up to its name!  The chicken was very gingery and garlicky, and yummy!  This isn’t my favorite of the Chinese chicken dishes I’ve posted, but it was a great change and delicious.  I’ll remember it when I want to try something different than the usual.

Internet - Blog Chef

Ingredients
For the chicken
6-8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
1 egg, lightly beaten
¹⁄₂ teaspoon salt
¹⁄₄ teaspoon pepper
¹⁄₂ cup cornstarch
¹⁄₄ cup all purpose flour

For the sauce
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
1-2 teaspoons sriracha (I used 1 teaspoon, which was nice.)
¹⁄₄ cup honey
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons white sugar
¹⁄₄ teaspoon sesame oil
¹⁄₄ cup water
1 tablespoon cornstarch

Oil for frying (Peanut oil and vegetable oil both work well.)
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, diced

Instructions
1. Toss chicken with egg in large bowl.  Mix salt, pepper, cornstarch, and flour in a small bowl and add to chicken mixture.  Stir well to coat chicken. 

2. Heat 1-inch of oil in large pot over medium-high heat.  (I use a Dutch oven for this.)  Once oil is hot, working in batches, fry chicken until cooked through and crisp, about 8-10 minutes per batch.  Be careful not to crowd the chicken in the pot and allow the oil to heat fully between batches.  (My chicken took 5-6 batches.)  Drain chicken on paper towels or sieve and set aside. 

3. Mix all sauce ingredients, stirring well to dissolve sugar and incorporate cornstarch. 

4. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add onion and garlic and sauté, stirring, until onions have started to soften.  Stir sauce to recombine and add to saucepan.  Stir until thickened and add chicken.  Stir until chicken is well coated and serve over rice and/or vegetables, as desired. 

Note: If serving with stir-fried vegetables, cook the veggies between steps 3 and 4.  Once vegetables are cooked, remove to bowl.  Add vegetables back to sauce when you add the chicken in step 4. 

Comments
This is another great recipe inspired by the fantastic Crepes of Wrath.  The flavors in the dish, thanks to the honey, remind me of the sesame chicken I’ve gotten in restaurants.  The recipe came together very easily, the frying is the most time consuming part of the meal. 

I make a number of recipes that start off with frying coated chicken.  I know, from my earlier experiments with Orange Chicken, that I can fry the chicken the day before and keep it in the fridge until ready to use with no degradation in flavor.  I’m beginning to wonder if I could fry up a large batch of chicken and freeze it in recipe-sized containers.  Then I could just pull out a container and skip right to the sauce/vegetable part of the dish.  Hmm..

Internet - Crepes of Wrath

Ingredients
For the brine
1 quart cold water
¹⁄₄ cup salt
¹⁄₄ cup sugar
6-8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in half crosswise (You can also use bone-in, skin-on chicken pieces.)

For the batter
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup cornstarch
5 teaspoons pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
¹⁄₂ teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 ³⁄₄ cups cold water

3 quarts peanut or vegetable oil

Instructions
1. Whisk water, salt, and sugar in large bowl until sugar and salt dissolve. Add chicken and refrigerate for 30-60 minutes.

2. Whisk flour, cornstarch, pepper, paprika, cayenne, baking powder, salt, and water in large bowl until smooth. Refrigerate batter while chicken is brining.

3. Heat oil in large Dutch oven over medium-high heat to 350*F. Remove chicken from refrigerator, pour off brine, and pat dry with paper towels. Rewhisk batter. Transfer 3-4 pieces of chicken to batter. One piece at a time, remove chicken from batter (allowing excess to drip back into bowl) and transfer to oil. Fry chicken, adjusting burner as necessary to maintain oil temperature between 300 and 325*F, until deep golden brown and white meat registers 150*F (175*F for dark meat), 12 to 15 minutes. Drain chicken on wire rack set inside rimmed baking sheet. Bring oil back to 350*F and repeat with remaining chicken. Serve. 

Comments
I’m always trying to find good recipes for fried chicken that do not require skin and bones.  Why?  Because I just don’t like dealing with those things.  Boneless, skinless chicken is much easier.  This recipe, which is from the 2009 Cook’s Country Annual, seemed appealing because I figured the batter might make a nice coating even without skin on the chicken. 

And it did!  All three of us greatly enjoyed the chicken!  It was nice and crunchy and very flavorful.  I served it with some honey-mustard and barbeque sauces.

Cook’s Country 2009

Ingredients
3-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
1 egg
1 ¹⁄₂ teaspoons salt
Pinch freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon sesame oil
Oil for frying
¹⁄₂ cup plus 1 tablespoon cornstarch, divided
¹⁄₄ cup flour
3-4 cups broccoli, cut into florets
1 tablespoon ginger, minced
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
¹⁄₂ teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 bunch green onion, chopped
1 tablespoon rice wine (Mirin)
¹⁄₄ cup orange juice
Zest of 1 orange

For Orange Sauce
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons orange juice
¹⁄₂ cup sugar
¹⁄₂ cup rice wine vinegar

Instructions
1. In a large bowl, mix together the egg, salt, pepper, and sesame oil. Mix well. Stir in the chicken pieces.

2. In medium bowl, stir together the flour and ¹⁄₂ cup cornstarch. Add to the chicken pieces, stirring to coat.

3. In a small bowl, combine all sauce ingredients and set aside.  

4. Heat oil for deep frying in a wok over medium-high heat.   Add the chicken, small batches at a time, and fry for 4-5 minutes until browned and crisp. When done remove the chicken from the oil with tongs (or Chinese strainer) and drain on paper towels or in a sieve over a bowl.  

5. Remove all but 1 tablespoon of the oil from the wok.  Heat wok over high heat.  

6. Add broccoli to wok and stir for 2-3 minutes.  Add the ginger and garlic and stir try until fragrant, about 10 seconds.  Add the red pepper flakes and green onions, then the rice wine, stirring for a few seconds.

7. Add the orange sauce and bring to a boil.  Stir the remaining 1 tablespoon of cornstarch into the orange juice, add this mix to the chicken and heat until the sauce has thickened.  If the broccoli is not yet tender, cover the wok during this step to allow the broccoli to steam briefly.  

10. Add the cooked chicken to the wok, stirring until well incorporated.  Turn off the heat and stir in the orange zest.  Serve over rice.

**
Tips for making ahead for a crowd**
Normally I’d avoid a recipe like this for company since my wok is only so large and the recipe involves a lot of time in the kitchen with the frying and everything.  There are steps that you can take to make this for a group. 
_
The day before:_
1. Complete steps 1-3 of the recipe.  I.e., coat the chicken, fry the chicken, and assemble the sauce.  Store the chicken and sauce separately in the fridge. 

2. Cut the broccoli and store it in a container in the fridge. 

3. Mince the ginger and garlic and store them together in a small container in the fridge. 

4. Cut the green onion and store it in a container in the fridge with the red pepper flakes. 

5. Store the orange zest in a container in the fridge. 

6. Mix the cornstarch and orange juice in a container and store in the fridge – you’ll need to stir it at the last minute before adding it. 

To cook:
1. When you’re ready to cook the meal, get the rice going.  Heat oil in the wok over high heat and stir fry the broccoli until tender-crisp, working in batches depending on how much you’ve got.  Place broccoli in large bowl and set aside. 

2. Add a bit more oil to wok and then add ginger and garlic, stirring until fragrant.  Add the green onions and red pepper flakes, stirring for a few seconds before adding the mirin. 

3. Add the orange sauce and bring to a boil – this might take a bit if you’re doubling or tripling the recipe, since you’ll have more sauce.  Stir the juice and cornstarch again and add to the wok.  Stir until thickened. 

4.  Add the chicken from the fridge and stir until coated with sauce and heated through.  Add the chicken and sauce to the bowl with the broccoli, add orange zest, and toss well to combine.  The rice should be ready by now, or close to being ready, and voila.  Easy meal to make when company is over assuming you invest the time the day before to get everything all ready!

Comments
Orange chicken is another dish I’ve never had in a Chinese restaurant.  I’ve heard that it’s not actually very orange-y.  This recipe rectifies that!  I juice the orange after zesting it and, if it doesn’t give me enough juice for the recipe I top it off with some Simply Orange.  This is a fantastic dish and you can easily control the heat level by increasing or reducing the amount of red pepper flakes.  This recipe is one of our many favorites.

I have updated the recipe with make ahead instructions, since it turns out it’s fairly easy to prepare this for a crowd and get almost everything done the day before!

Unknown

Ingredients
1 (3 ¹⁄₂- to 4-pound) chicken, backbone removed and butterflied (My chicken was about 5 pounds.)
3 tablespoons lemon zest (From 3 lemons.)
¹⁄₃ cup lemon juice (From same 3 lemons.)
1 teaspoon sugar
Salt and pepper
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon cornstarch
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, finely chopped

Instructions
1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 475*F. Pat chicken dry with paper towels and place in roasting pan. Combine lemon zest, sugar, and 1 teaspoon salt in small bowl. Rub 2 tablespoons zest mixture under skin of chicken at the thighs and breasts. Season chicken with salt and pepper. (Seasoned chicken can be refrigerated for 2 hours.)

2. Whisk broth, 1 cup water, lemon juice, and remaining zest mixture in 4-cup liquid measuring cup, then pour into roasting pan. (Liquid should just reach skin of thighs. If it does not, add enough water to reach skin of thighs.) Roast until skin is golden brown and thigh meat registers 170 to 175*F, 40 to 45 minutes. Transfer to cutting board and let rest 20 minutes.

3. Pour liquid from pan, along with any accumulated chicken juices, into saucepan. (The recipe says you should have 1 ¹⁄₂ cups, I had closer to 2 ¹⁄₂ cups.)  Skim fat, then cook over medium-high until reduced to 1 cup, about 5-15 minutes. Whisk cornstarch with remaining water in small bowl until no lumps remain, then whisk into saucepan. Simmer until sauce is slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Off heat, whisk in butter and parsley and season with salt and pepper. Carve chicken and serve, passing sauce at table. 

Comments
Have I ever mentioned that I love roast chickens?  I do!  And I was scared of them for so long since they just seemed complicated and time consuming!  What a fool I was.  This recipe is from the 2009 Cook’s Country Annual and it’s a bit non-traditional since it involves butterflying the chicken for even cooking.  And it worked!  The lemon flavor was also very powerful in a perfect sort of way.  The sauce was wonderful and the three of us devoured most all of the chicken in one sitting.

Cook’s Country 2009