Chicken Nuggets

Homemade Chicken Nuggets

Makes 20-24 nuggets

1.5 lbs or so boneless, skinless chicken - I used tenderloins (Remember if you plan to freeze these nuggets, it's best to use fresh chicken to start with instead of buying it frozen)
1/2 cup oats
1/4 tsp parsley
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
Dash of seasoning salt
If desired, 3 TB minced onion and 1 clove minced garlic
3/4 cup panko bread crumbs

1. Preheat oven to 375º F.
If using, onion and garlic, saute 2-3 min. in olive oil, and let cool.
2. Place the first 6 ingredients in a food processor, and process until chicken is finely chopped and all ingredients are combined. If using, add sauteed onion and garlic, and pulse a few times in processor to mix in.
3. Place the bread crumbs in a shallow bowl or dish.
4. With moistened hands, rolls 2 TB of chicken mixture between your palms and flatten to create a "nugget" shape.
5. Gently press the nuggets into the bread crumbs, making sure both sides and edges are covered.
6. Place nuggets, spaced a little apart, onto a greased baking sheet (I lined our pan with foil before greasing).
7. Lightly spray nuggets with olive oil cooking spray.
8. Bake for 16 minutes, flipping nuggets halfway through cooking time.

*If you want them more golden in color, put them under the broiler for 1-2 minutes after cooking them.

Nuggets can be frozen after step 5. Place on a baking sheet, and put in freezer for 1 hour. Nuggets can then be put (touching) into a freezer bag or other container.

Cajan Jambalaya

Ingredients

• 12 medium shrimp, peeled, deveined and chopped
• 4 ounces chicken, diced
• 1 tablespoon Creole seasoning, recipe follows
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped celery
• 2 tablespoons chopped garlic
• 1/2 cup chopped tomatoes
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon hot sauce
• 3/4 cup rice
• 3 cups chicken stock
• 5 ounces Andouille sausage, sliced
• Salt and pepper

Directions

In a bowl combine shrimp, chicken and Creole seasoning, and work in seasoning well. In a large saucepan heat oil over high heat with onion, pepper and celery, 3 minutes. Add garlic, tomatoes, bay leaves, Worcestershire and hot sauces. Stir in rice and slowly add broth. Reduce heat to medium and cook until rice absorbs liquid and becomes tender, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes. When rice is just tender add shrimp and chicken mixture and sausage. Cook until meat is done, about 10 minutes more. Season to taste with salt, pepper and Creole seasoning.

Per Serving: Calories: 402; Fat: 16g (Saturated Fat: 4 grams); Protein: 24g; Carbohydrates: 38g; Sugar: 4g; Fiber 0g; Cholesterol: 97mg; Sodium: 800mg

Emeril's ESSENCE Creole Seasoning (also referred to as Bayou Blast):

• 2 1/2 tablespoons paprika
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 2 tablespoons garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon dried thyme

Combine all ingredients thoroughly.

Yield: 2/3 cup

From Food Network

Cheesy Chicken + Wild Rice Casserole

Ingredients:

3 TB olive oil

1 medium onion, finely diced

3 stalks celery, finely diced

3 carrots, peeled and diced

2 TB fresh minced garlic

2 cups shredded, cooked chicken breast

2 cups steamed white rice

2 cups prepared wild rice

1 tsp. kosher salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1/4 tsp. garlic salt

Cheese Sauce

4 TB butter

1/4 cup all purpose flour

1/4 tsp. kosher salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

2 cups chicken broth

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Top with 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Heat oil in medium dutch oven/pot over medium heat. Saute onion, celery, and carrots until softened, about 10 minutes.  Stir in garlic, and cook for 1 minute.  Stir in chicken, rices, salt, pepper, and other spices.  Reduce heat to low.

2. To prepare cheese sauce, melt butter into a medium saucepan over medium high heat.  Whisk in flour, salt, and pepper; then slowly pour in chicken broth whisking continuously.  Whisk until thick and nearly boiling then stir in cheese until melted.  Pour cheese sauce into rice mixture, and then transfer to a 9 x 13 inch baking dish.  Top with additional cheddar cheese and bake for 25-30 minutes or until cheese is melted through.  Serve.

Makes 8-10 servings. 

Notes: I omitted the celery, suggest adding broccoli (already cooked), and also thyme, savory, parsley, celery salt, and a dash of rosemary.  It turned out great though, and all who ate it, enjoyed it.

From: Picky Palate

Chicken + Artichoke Casserole

This is one of my childhood favorites...

Chicken Artichoke Casserole

Serves 4-6

3 lb chicken parts (I use tenderloins)

1 1/2 teas salt

1/2 teas paprika

1/2 teas pepper

6 TB butter - you can lessen this a little, but don't do so too much as it will mess up the sauce

1/2 lb mushrooms

2 cans artichoke hearts

2 TB flour

2/3 cup chicken broth

3 TB sherry

Season chicken with spices.  Brown in 4 TB butter and place in prepared casserole dish (9" x 9" or 9" x 13" works great!).  Saute mushrooms in remaining butter for 5 minutes.  Sprinkle flour over mushrooms; stir in broth and sherry.  Cook for 5 minutes to thicken, stirring often.  Drain artichoke hearts and arrange them between chicken pieces in dish.  Pour mushroom sauce over all.  Cover and bake at 350 for 1 hour.

Serve over rice or another grain.  Enjoy!

Super Easy Green Curry

1 can coconut milk (I use the 'lite' kind)
1 cup chicken/veggie broth
1/2 - 2 TB green curry paste - depending on how spicy you like it
1-2 TB brown sugar
1-2 TB fish oil
1-2 TB lime juice

1-2 cups veggies - I've used fresh, frozen, and canned... you pretty much can do whatever.  If you use frozen, let thaw in cold water first, and then drain out any liquid

Meat/Tofu/Seafood/more veggies! - whatever amount you want

Mix all ingredients together in a large pan or saucepan.  Start small with the amounts - you can add more as you go to make it the flavour you want.  Bring mixture to a simmer, and simmer for 5-10 minutes to thicken.  Add meat + veggies and poach for 10 - 20 minutes.  Depending on type of meat used depends on cooking time.  Do not let sauce come to a boil!

Serve over rice.

Chicken + Barley Soup

::This recipe could easily be made Vegetarian::

Olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 lb chicken breast, cut into small chunks

Salt + Pepper
1/2 teas. white pepper
1 teas. thyme
1 teas. parsley
1 teas. rosemary
dash of cayenne pepper/red pepper flakes
bay leaf
6 cups vegetable broth

2 bell peppers, chopped
1.5 cups barley (not quick cook)
1.5 cups frozen spinach


Heat oil in 6 qt. (or bigger) stockpot/saucepan.  Saute onion 4-5 minutes. Add garlic and saute another minute or so.  Add chicken and quickly brown all sides.  Add rest of ingredients except spinach.  Bring soup to a boil.  Then, lower temperature and let soup simmer 45-50 minutes.  In last five minutes, add spinach.  Remove bay leaf.

A Different Kind of Chicken Soup

Well, it's been quite awhile since anything has been posted in here, so here's a recipe to break the "fast" from posting.

I added the changes I made at the bottom of the recipe.

Ingredients


Olive Oil

2 chicken breast filets (I used frozen ready-made, because I’m lazy)

2 small onions

2 tbsp curry

5 handful fresh spinach or the equal amount frozen

½ tsp powdered nutmeg

3 chicken bouillon cubes

1 liter/34 oz. water

Salt & Pepper

Egg noodles

Directions:

1. Heat a pan over medium heat. Pour olive oil in the pan, just enough to cover the surface. Add the chicken filets and brown the fillets about 5 minutes on each side. Remove the fillets from pan.

2. Cut the 2 onions in slices and heat up a separate pan on medium heat. Add 1 tsp olive oil and the fresh, washed spinach. Add the nutmeg and stir untill the spinach has wilted. Put aside. (If you use frozen spinach, just thaw in a casserole with some water over low heat)

3. In a medium sized pot, pour in olive oil to cover the surface and warm at medium heat. Add the sliced onions and stir from time to time. After 3 minutes add the curry powder and mix well with the onions. Turn down heat to low and let sit about 5-10 minutes untill the onions are soft. Stir now and then.

4. In a casserole add water and put in the chicken bouillon. Turn on heat to medium. The cubes will dissolve in about 10 minutes

5. While the chicken bouillon cubes are dissolving, pull the chicken apart in small chunks

6. Add chicken and spinach to onions and stir well.

7. Add the chicken bouillon water and bring soup to a boil. Simmer for about 2 minutes.

8. Add the noodles and let cook as said on the package directions. Add salt and pepper if needed.

*Step 3:  I also added a medium potato cut up into chunks.  In between steps #6 and #7 I added half an apple cut into chunks.  I added at least 3-4 cups of chicken broth, too!

Lastly, right before serving the soup, I stirred one spoonful of Greek yoghurt into each bowl.

Chicken Parmigiana

Chicken Parmigiana
Recipe courtesy of Bobby Flay w/ commentary from: misadventuresofmub


I found that I needed to leave my chicken in the oven for about 25-30 minutes for the cheese to get truly brown and bubbly and the chicken to be cooked all the way through.
Ingredients

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, pounded thin
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 cups all-purpose flour, seasoned with salt and pepper (You do NOT need two cups of flour to dredge chicken breasts in... I used a half a cup for two breasts and probably still could've done two more)
4 large eggs, beaten with 2 tablespoons water and seasoned with salt and pepper(Four eggs?! Serious overkill. One large egg should be enough)
2 cups panko bread crumbs (1 cup is plenty)
1 cup vegetable oil or pure olive oil (You aren't deep frying the chicken, so I have no idea why this calls for so much oil. A couple tablespoons in the bottom of the pan is more than enough)
Tomato Sauce, recipe follows
1 pound fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced (This is actually just about right, fresh mozzarella is heavy!!)
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan
Fresh basil or parsley leaves, for garnish

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Season chicken on both sides with salt and pepper. Dredge each breast in the flour and tap off excess, then dip in the egg and let excess drip off, then dredge on both sides in the bread crumbs.

Divide the oil between 2 large saute pans and heat over high heat until almost smoking (Honestly, I think dirtying up two pans for this step is silly, if your meat doesn't all fit just do it in two batches). Add 2 chicken breasts to each pan and cook until golden brown on both sides, about 2 minutes per side (I pounded the chicken REALLY thin, and my oil was hot, so 2 minutes per side would've resulted in very burned breaded chicken- 30-45 seconds per side was better). Transfer to a baking sheet.

Top each breast with some tomato sauce, a few slices of the mozzarella, salt and pepper, and a tablespoon of Parmesan. Bake in the oven until the chicken is cooked through and the cheese is melted, about 5 to 7 minutes (7 minutes was just right for mine). Remove from the oven and garnish with basil or parsley leaves.

Tomato Sauce:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large Spanish onion, finely chopped (The all knowing interwebs inform me that a "Spanish" onion is a regular old yellow onion)
4 cloves garlic, smashed with some kosher salt to make a paste
2 (28-ounce) cans plum tomatoes and their juices, pureed in a blender
1 (16-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1 small can tomato paste
1 bay leaf
1 small bunch Italian parsley (I have no idea how much a "small bunch" is, so I used a handful which isn't really any more of an accurate measurement than "small bunch" is, sorry!)
1 Cubano chile pepper, chopped (This doesn't exist... I figured out that they probably meant a "Cuban pepper" which eventually led me to a cubanelle pepper. I couldn't seem to find one of those either, so I substituted a yellow bell pepper which is supposedly somewhat similar.)
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Heat olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onions and garlic and cook until soft. Add pureed tomatoes with their juices, crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, 1 cup water (I wouldn't add this next time), bay leaf, parsley, Cubano pepper, and bring to a boil. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Reduce heat and cook until slightly thickened, about 30 minutes (I let mine simmer for an hour or so because I like a thicker sauce). 

White Chicken Chili {Crockpot}

1 lb. chicken (breasts or tenderloins)
2 cans cannelini beans, rinsed and drained
1 onion, chopped
2 apples, cut in chunks
1 small can green chiles
3 T butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp thyme
1 tsp cumin
salt and pepper
3 cups chicken broth

shredded cheese, sour cream. and fresh cilantro


1.) Cut chicken in small chunks, and brown in a little olive oil.  Drain oil.
2.) Place butter in crock pot first.
3.)  Then put in browned chicken, apple, onion, garlic, beans, and chiles.
4.) Add spices and broth.  Stir together.
5.) Cover and cook on low for eight hours or high for four to five.
6.) Serve with shredded cheese, sour cream, and fresh cilantro.

Super Easy Crockpot Salsa Chicken

The Ingredients
--6-9 chicken thighs, or equivalent body parts
--1 can rinsed black beans
--1 cup chunky salsa
--1 cup frozen white corn 
--1 small can green chilies
--salt, pepper, crushed red pepper, sazon, and any other spice you feel fits in
The Directions

Put your chicken in the crockpot; add spices. Top with the rinsed black beans, salsa, and corn.

Cover and cook on low for 6-9 hours, or on high for 4-5. Cooking time will vary depending on whether or not your chicken is frozen, and how big the pieces are.

If you decide to use breasts, increase your salsa by 1/2 cup. Breasts are drier than thighs.


Serve with rice, quinoa, or another grain.




Original recipe found here, with additions/changes made by me.