Monday, April 26, 2010

Teriyaki Chicken Legs

8 chicken legs/drumsticks
1 1/2 cups (12 oz) teriyaki sauce
pepper
3 TB sesame seeds
1 cup chicken stock
3/4 cup water
vegetable oil
1 cup rice
1 bunch broccoli, trimmed and cut into pieces
salt
1/2 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 bunch scallions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 inch ginger, grated or minced (I used about 1-2 tsp ground ginger)

1. Place chicken in resealable bag with teriyaki sauce & let marinate 4 hours or overnight.
2. preheat oven to 400
3. Place a cooling rack over a baking sheet (you may want to line your baking sheet with foil for easier cleanup). Arrange chicken on cooling rack. Season liberally with pepper.
4. Cover with foil and roast 20 minutes. Turn legs and roast 10 minutes more. Remove foil and roast 5-8 more to darken & crisp. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.
5. While chicken cooks, cook the rice in the stock with 1 TB veg oil, simmering covered about 18 minutes. Fluff with fork.
6. Original recipe suggested to blanch the broccoli, so you can if you want, but I like mine crisp.
7. Heat 2 TB oil in large skillet, add broccoli and cook about 5 min then add red pepper and scallions. Stir fry a minute or two then add garlic & ginger, cooking 1 minute more.
Serve chicken legs with rice & stir fry

Original recipe: www.rachaelrayshow.com/food/recipes

Monday, April 19, 2010

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Everyone has their favorite, stand-by chocolate chip cookie recipe. I like chewy cookies, not crunchy and this is my new favorite recipe. Yes, it's shortening instead of butter, but it's so good and freezes really well and stays chewy after freezing/thawing.

1. Cream together:
1 cup shortening (I used butter flavored)
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar

2. Add 3 extra large eggs and mix for 5-7 min (if you dont have XL eggs beat a 4th large egg in a separate bowl and add about half of it to the mix. and yes 5-7 minutes! just set a timer)

3. Add & mix in 1 TB hot water

4. Add & mix in:
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 tsp baking soda

5. Add & mix just until combined:
3 1/2 cups flour
chocolate chips

Bake in preheated 350 degreee oven for 10-11 minutes until barely browned on the edges. Don't overbake! They won't be chewy if you overbake them and the chewiness of these is what makes them so good!

Source: http://www.melskitchencafe.com/ Aunt Alecia's Chocolate Chip Cookies

Monday, April 12, 2010

Baked Greek Chicken

1 whole broiler/fryer chicken about 5 lbs (I just bought one in a pkg already cut up)
3/4 tsp salt
2 lemons
3 cloves minced garlic
1 TB fresh oregano (I used dried)
pepper
olive oil
1 fennel bulb, trimmed, cored & sliced (no fennel at my store! I used a couple stalks of celery)
1 cup dry orzo
1/3 cup pitted kalamata olives, halved
1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese

1. Preheat oven to 425. Pat chicken dry. Loosen skin & sprinkle some salt under skin.
2. Grate zest of 1 lemon, then cut lemon in half and juice. In small bowl stir together 2 tsp of zest, 2 TB of the lemon juice and 1/2 tsp salt, the garlic, oregano & pepper. Tuck half of this mixture under skin of chicken.
3. Cut the peel off the 2nd lemon and chop the fruit into pieces.
4. Add 1 TB olive oil to remaining herb mixture in bowl. Toss with sliced fennel and chopped lemon. Transfer to large baking dish and top with chicken pieces. Bake at 425 for 40 min. or until chicken is done.
5. Meanwhile, cook orzo according to pkg. Drain & transfer to bowl.
6. When chicken is done transfer the pieces to a platter. Spoon the fennel into the bowl with the cooked orzo along with 1 TB of pan drippings, the olives and feta. Stir to combine and serve alongside the chicken.

Source: Family Circle magazine, March 2010 page 181

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

BBQ Chicken Braid

Don't let all the dough rising and braiding scare you! This isn't hard and it's so yummy!

*Note: the amounts of chicken, onions, barbecue sauce, and cheese in the recipe can be altered based on your preference – simply add more or less to your liking.

*Makes 2 large braids

1 recipe French Bread Rolls
2 cups shredded, cooked chicken
1 red onion, sliced into thin half moons
1 1/2 cups barbecue sauce
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
After the french bread roll recipe has gone through the first rise, split the dough into two parts. Lightly cover one portion and set aside. Roll the other portion into about an 11X17-inch rectangle (I roll mine out directly on a silpat liner to make for easy transfer to the baking sheet and oven). Using a pizza cutter or knife, cut 1-inch wide strips in towards the center, starting on the long sides. There should be a solid strip about 3 inches wide down the center, with the cut strips forming a fringe down each side.

Spread half of the barbecue sauce down the center strip. Top with the chicken, onions and cheese. Fold the side strips over filling, alternating strips from each side and pressing them into the dough on the opposite side, forming a braid. Pinch or twist to seal.

Place the braid on a lined baking sheet (or simply transfer the silpat liner to a baking sheet) and let rest for 15 minutes. While it is resting, follow the same steps above for the second portion of dough.

Bake the first braid for 15-20 minutes (while the second braid is resting), until golden brown and bread is baked through. Remove from oven and bake the second braid.

Let the braids rest for 5 minutes. Using a serrated knife, cut braid into sections and serve warm.
Braid How-To With one half of the french bread roll recipe, flatten or roll the dough out to about 11X17 inches. I roll it out directly on my silpat baking mat for easy measuring and then transferring to a rimmed baking sheet. If you don’t have a silpat liner, use parchment paper or press the dough directly onto a lightly greased rimmed baking sheet.
After the dough is rolled out, start cutting strips along each side, leaving a wide strip, about 3-inches across, in the middle. I use my pizza cutter to speed through this step.

After the strips have been cut, layer all of the ingredients down the center strip and start braiding by folding alternate strips across and pressing them down to stick.As you get to the end, you’ll likely be wondering how to finish this whole thing up.
Keep braiding like normal until you have two final strips extending one from each side.
Fold one side over and press it into the other strip.Grab the final extending strip and bring it over to lay across the bottom of the braid and gently press it into the dough on the other side. It won’t look perfect, but that’s ok.Then, using your fingers, pinch the dough together to seal the long seam at the bottom of the braid and any other small seams you may see. It may look a bit lumpy but I promise you won’t care once it is baked to golden perfection.Finally, pick up the silpat or parchment paper and transfer it to the baking sheet. Ready to bake!

What I did: Two braids was plenty for my family! (2 adults & 2 toddlers) Although, I was suprised that it reheated well in the oven the next day- I was afraid the bread would be soggy. But if you also have a small family, maybe make 1 braid and then make the rest of the dough into rolls then bake them and freeze them for another day.

Source (including photos): www.melskitchencafe.com

Friday, April 2, 2010

French Bread Rolls

This is not my favorite roll recipe, BUT it is very simple and seems to be pretty foolproof, so it would be good practice if you haven't made bread or rolls very much. It's also great b/c there are no eggs, milk, or honey - so you can have fresh rolls even when you are out of those things or are allergic to them.

My next post is going to be a recipe that uses this dough also.

French Bread Rolls
adapted from allrecipes.com
*Makes about one dozen rolls

1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups all-purpose flour

In a large bowl, stir together warm water, yeast, and sugar. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.

To the yeast mixture, add the oil, salt, and 2 cups flour. Stir in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough has pulled away from the sides of the bowl. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl, and turn to coat. Cover with a damp cloth, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.

Deflate the dough, and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into 12-14 equal pieces, and form into round balls. Place on lightly greased baking sheets at least 2 inches apart. Cover the rolls with a damp cloth (or greased saran wrap), and let rise until doubled in volume, about 40 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

Bake for 12-13 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown.

*Can freeze the rolls after baking – microwave on high for 2 minutes before serving.

What I did: I used about 1/2 whole wheat flour and half white flour. This makes 12 very large rolls - like for sandwiches. So if you want them more for dinner rolls, just make them smaller - maybe 18 rolls instead of 12?

Source: www.melskitchencafe.com