Fire and Lemon Chicken

OK, this is probably Mark's favorite dish when it comes to chicken, but it is a Sat/Sun dish since it takes a bit of time to marinate and a bit of time to cook. But trust me, this is SO worth the time and wait!!

1 small whole chicken (Perdue oven roaster size)
12 to 15 lemons
2 to 3 Tablespoons red pepper flakes
1 Tablespoon olive oil
Salt/Pepper to taste
1 or 2 shots of premium tequila

Take the chicken and cut out the back bone. Turn the chicken over and press down to break the breast bone. Cut off the popes nose.

Slice 1/2 lemon into thin slices, work 2 to 3 slices between the breast meat and skin. Juice the remaining lemons, add the pepper flakes and olive oil. Drink a shot of tequila.

Feel tender?

Marinate the chicken in the lemon juice mixture for at least 4 hours and up to 8, in the fridge.

Preheat a gas grill to a high temperature, 500 degrees. Turn off 1 side of the burners and create a indirect spot for cooking the chicken.

Place the chicken skin side up on the indirect spot of the grill and close the lid, cook 2 to 3 hours based on the size of your chicken. Make sure the chicken is to temperature and the juices run clear. The skin should be crispy and the lemons should melt into the breast meat.

Drink the 2nd shot of tequila.

Cut the chicken in half and serve with a wedge of lemon a 3rd shot of tequila in your favorite margarita. You'll both be tender and spicy.

Enjoy!!

Garlic Chicken - Crock Pot Style

I'm not sure how I got this recipe. But I do know that the house smells wonderful of roasted garlic when you walk in after a long day at work.

8 to 10 chicken thighs (skin removed).
1 onion sliced into half rounds
1 jar peeled garlic cloves
Broth/Stock/Wine or any combination of

Season the chicken, I use a basic italian seasoning blend or herbs de provence and put them in the crock pot.

Put the onion and garlic over the top of the chicken

Add liquid about 3/4 of the way up the sides of the ingredients

Low for 6 to 8 hours.

Serve over rice.

The garlic comes out like oven roasted garlic and the chicken is fall off the bone tender.

I Feel Like Chicken Tonight!!

So day two of the 7 days of chicken....

Chicken breast in a pretzel crust with a mustard dressing.

I love using pretzels as a breading, they always make such a great crispy crust. This recipe is done in the oven but could easily be adapted to the stove top, just make sure to pound the chicken into cutlets and fry over medium high heat

Here is the recipe for the oven version.

Oven temp is 400 degrees.

Mustard dressing / dipping sauce

1/2 cup olive oil (you can substitute canola if you want)
1/2 whole grain mustard
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/4 cup water
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Put all the ingredients in a food processor or blender and blend well.

1/2 pound pretzels (use hard pretzels like sourdough for extra crunch)
3 teaspoons fresh thyme

Put ingredients in a food processor and process until you have a mix of coarse and fine crumbs

6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

Pour about half the dressing in a shallow bowl and add the chicken turning to completely coat. Dredge in the pretzel crumb mixture and put the breasts on a wire rack sitting over a rimmed baking sheet. Bake in the upper third of the oven for 20 to 25 minuets. Serve with remaining dressing for dipping.

Sometimes I make a 1/2 batch of the dressing and serve a sharp cheddar cheese sauce for the side. Mustard, pretzels and cheese in every bite.... YUM!!

Smothered Chicken

Chicken is a protein that shows up more and more frequently on our tables. The big question I hear is "anyone have anything new to do with chicken?" Well, I don't have anything new, but maybe something you haven't done in a long time or haven't thought about how to throw a twist on and create something new and fresh. I give you.... smothered chicken.

Smothered chicken is a main stay in the south. Usually a cut up chicken, skin removed, dredged in flour and browned. Sometimes sausage is added to spice things up a bit. Then the chicken is "smothered" in vegetables and gravy and left to braise until fall off the bone tender. I'm a big fan of the dish and love the endless twists and flavor combinations you can do.

For a classic southern style you will need the following:

1 chicken cut in 8 parts and skin removed
All purpose flour
about 1/2 pound fresh sausages, casings removed
1 onion finely chopped
1 or 2 ribs of celery chopped
1 green pepper, seeded and chopped
1 medium size tomato, seeded and chopped
2 cups or so of a low sodium chicken broth
Salt and pepper to taste

The technique is simple, dredge the chicken in flour seasoned with salt and pepper. Heat a few tablespoons of oil in the bottom of a large skillet or brassier and brown the chicken on all sides, about 8 to 10 minutes total and remove that to a plate.

Pour off excess oil (leave about 2 tablespoons) and brown the sausage well, breaking it up as you go. After it is browned remove it to a plate and pour off all but about 1 tablespoon of fat and add the vegetables (not the tomato, it is a fruit). Brown the vegetables for about 8 minutes, add a couple tablespoons of flour, coat the vegetables and continue to cook until the flour is browned. Then slowly whisk in the broth.

Return the chicken and sausage to the pan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for about 40 minutes, stirring on occasion. Check the chicken for doneness. Sprinkle the tomato over the top and let it heat through, about 5 more minutes.

Serve over rice.

So the variations?

Try adding herbs de provence to your flour, replacing the vegetables with onions, garlic and artichoke hearts. Add a glug or 2 of white wine to the stock and top it off with crumbled feta.

Or, season the flour with Italian seasonings, use spicy Italian sausage, add rounds of eggplant to the vegetables and top it all off with fresh grated parm or melt fresh mozzarella over the chicken and serve the gravy on the side.

Smothered chicken is a comfort food that is great in weather like this. Warm, rich, aromatic and done in a single pan. Enjoy!!

Spaghetti Squash Spaghetti

So by this time of year we have had our bellies filled with fresh green vegetables, vine ripened fruits and given thanks to God for the blessings of the harvest. But what do we do with all the squash that now fills the farm stands????

Spaghetti Squash Spaghetti

Take a smallish size (2- 3 lbs) and trim the stem off and slice in half lengthwise. Place both halves face down in a baking dish, fill the dish about 1/2 full of water and cover with aluminum foil.

Bake for 45 minutes in a 375 degree oven. Remove the foil, turn the squash face side up and recover, bake an additional 15 minutes or until tender when pricked with a paring knife.

Once tender, remove the seeds from the center pull the spaghetti strands free from the peel.

While the squash is baking, chop some garlic, grill some eggplant slices... prepare something you like in your spaghetti.

NOW the good part... 2 to 3 tablespoons of butter (4 in my house and it is farm fresh) melted and hot in a non-stick skillet. Add the squash strands, your favorite additions, some fresh herbs that have been chopped and GENTLY toss it together until hot all the way through.

Season with salt and pepper and grate some good parm over the entire dish!!

It gets NO better than this!!

Enjoy!

Beef Stew

This is one of my all time favorite stew recipes. With the fall weather quickly approaching this is hearty and delicious. It cooks a long time so make it on a weekend and reheat it during the week.

2 T vegetable oil

2 pounds stew meat

1 large yellow or white onion sliced into 1/2 inch half rounds

1 clove garlic, minced

4 cups boiling water

1 T salt

1 T fresh lemon juice

1 t sugar

1 t worcestershire sauce

1/2 t paprika

1/2 t fresh ground black pepper

1 bay leaf

dash of allspice or cloves

1 pound baby carrots

6 medium russet potatoes, scrubbed, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes

Brown stew meat over medium heat in the vegetable oil, brown it slow, at least 10 min. Add onions and cook an additional 5 minutes.

Add remaining ingredients except carrots and potatoes, bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cover. Simmer for 2 hours.

Add carrots and simmer 10 min.

Add potatoes and simmer an additional 45 min.

Thicken with a slurry of 1/2 cup water to 1/4 cup flour. Bring stew to a boil and it will thicken.

Serve with a big hunk of crusty bread and enjoy.

Coconut and Pecan Cake

Hi,

This is my mom's recipe. This was the cake my Dad would take to his office on his birthday every year. I recently have been making it cup cakes for church events and committee meetings when there is a special occasion. By the way, I consider any gathering of friends a special occasion and I'm blessed to have such good friends on the committee I serve on.

My friend Doris, LOVES these cupcakes and asked for the recipe so here it is.

1 batch cake batter

1 batch frosting

1 batch topping

Cake Batter

1 package yellow cake mix (get the good stuff)

1 small package Vanilla Instant Pudding Mix

4 eggs

1/4 cup oil

1 1/2 cup water

1 1/2 cup flake coconut (toasted in the oven)

1 tsp Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla (again, get the good stuff!!)

Blend cake mix, pudding, water, eggs and oil in a bowl or stand mixer. Beat at medium speed for 4 minutes. Stir in the coconut and vanilla. Pour into prepared cupcake liners, 2/3 full and bake according to time/temp on the mix box. Be sure to do the toothpick test to check for doneness.

Let cupcakes cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.

Frosting

1 8oz package cream cheese (softened)

1 pound powdered sugar

1 stick butter (softened) AGAIN - Get the GOOD stuff!!

2 tsp Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla (see previous hints about the good stuff)

Topping

1 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup flaked coconut

1 to 2 tablespoons butter (I'm not telling you again)

Once the cupcakes are cool, blend the frosting ingredients on medium speed until light and fluffy.

To make the topping, melt the butter in a small nonstick skillet and gently toast the pecans and coconut until just slightly browned. (The butter is going to continue to brown the coconut and pecans so pull it off early... otherwise you will be making more topping.) Let this cool.

Frost the tops of the cupcakes with the cream cheese frosting and dip into the cooled topping.

*** If you want to make this as a layer cake, divide the batter between 3 11-inch square pans that have been prepared and bake according to box time/temp. Make extra frosting and topping so you can put frosting between the layers and pack the topping on the sides and the top.

So BUY THE GOOD STUFF - a lot of times people say theirs didn't taste the same. It really is all about the ingredients. For this recipe I buy a cake mix that has pudding in the mix and add the box in the recipe as well. I only use farm fresh eggs in anything I cook. I use farm fresh butter as well but when I can't get it, I go for the name brand and never use margarine or shortning. Vanilla is a weakness of mine and trust me once you have had the best you'll not be happy with any other. Nielsen-Massey is the brown bottle you see on most cooking shows, it is available at most better gourment and cooking shops, and the family are dear friends of mine.

So that is the recipe for the day. Doris I hope you make it to share with your family but remember when it comes to church events we attend together.... you find something else to bring!!