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Chicken Thighs with Spinach

For all the complainers who complain about my lack of food photos.

I tend to waste a lot of time watching other people cook on YouTube. But every now and then I actually make a dish I’ve watched someone else make and say to myself, this is a keeper.

“I make simpler things in a simpler way, now—as you get older your metabolism changes and you want something simpler, without embellishment.”

Jacques Pépin

Chef Jacques Pépin got through the pandemic with kitchen utensils, a video camera, and a great wardrobe — https://thecounter.org/rewrites-covid-19-chef-jacques-pepin-facebook-recipe-cookbook/

Salt, pepper, garlic, chicken thighs, and fresh spinach. That’s it. No added fats. Some rice or potatoes on the side and you have dinner on the table in 45 minutes or less. Check out the video.

I learned a lot by watching Jacques Pépin make chicken thigh. Incredible technique.

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Chef’s Nectar, “ Creamy Lemon Chicken Piccata” — Chefs Nectar

Mouth watering delicious, Chicken is dredged in finely grated parmesan cheese, then served in a lemon and parmesan cream sauce with fragrant garlic, which make this dish more palatable and delicious. Ingredients for making the Chicken For The Chicken: 2 large boneless and skinless chicken breasts halved horizontally to make 4 2 tablespoons flour (all purpose or plain) 2 tablespoons finely grated […]

via Chef’s Nectar, “ Creamy Lemon Chicken Piccata” — Chefs Nectar

I’m re-blogging this recipe for future reference.  The recipe is a tad bit different than my version which is probably still in my head.

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Iki Marinade 2.0

Iki Marinade 2.0

1/8 C. olive oil

1/8 C. canola oil

1/4 C. light thin Thai soy sauce

2  1/2 T. light brown sugar

2 T. apple cider vinegar

2 1/2 T. ketchup

1/2 T. granulated garlic powder

1/2 T. onion powder

Dash red pepper flakes

The Story Behind Iki 2.0

For the story behind Iki 1.0 the original click here.

Ever wonder how two cooks can make the same recipe and they come out different?  One cook makes the dish and it tastes good.  The original cook makes the same dish and for some reason no one wants to explain, it doesn’t just taste good it tastes great.  Wonder no more!  The secret is simple.  The original cook uses certain brands of ingredients and also changes the recipe.  A digital cookbook is the perfect place to document such changes.  As always I leave the original alone and highlight what changes I’ve made.

What Changed

I moved away from all olive oil to a mixture of olive and canola oils.  The soy sauce I use comes from Thailand and is the Happy Boy Thin variety.  While I prefer this brand you may not be able to find it in your local Asian grocery.  Also be aware that MSG is listed as an ingredient so avoid if you have any sensitivity to this substance.  Both of these changes lighten the marinade.  Kikkoman which is found almost everywhere is an example of a dark soy sauce.  The amounts of brown sugar and ketchup are a little higher than in the original.  Thus, this version is a slight bit sweeter.  Finally, garlic powder subs for fresh garlic and I’ve added onion powder to the marinade.

Why Change?

Why not?

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Food & Water Watch Wants USDA to Halt Chinese Chicken

Source: Food & Watch Watch Wants USDA to Halt Chinese Chicken

Source: Chinese Chicken Shipments Already Endangering Public Health | Food & Water Watch

This blog started as a repository for family recipes.  Over the years since inception this thing has become a mash up.  I’ve spent the better part of my working life learning about what kills people.  My other blog didn’t feel like the right place for stories like this.  So if we’re passing along article links about food you’ll find plenty here.

I hope readers find this type of information useful.  I’m not going to discourage anyone from eating nasty fried fast food chicken nuggets processed in China from unsanitary chickens raised and slaughtered in Chile.

It’s your personal choice.

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China Completes Paperwork for Poultry Export to U.S. | Food Poisoning Bulletin

And yet another reason to never eat another chicken nugget unless you know where that nugget comes from.  Yikes!

via China Completes Paperwork for Poultry Export to U.S. | Food Poisoning Bulletin.

The food safety scandals in China have ranged from companies adding melamine to milk to increase its nitrogen content and hide dilution, which sickened 300,000 babies; to plastic added to bubble tea; to pork blood pudding made with formaldehyde and industrial salt. And jerky pet treats imported from China into the U.S. have been linked to thousands of sickened and killed pets.

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Poached Chicken

  • 2 bone-in, skin-on chicken breast halves
  • 1 medium carrot, French cut style
  • 1 medium rib celery, French cut style
  • 1/4 large onion, thickly sliced
  • 1 T dried parsley
  • 2 T dried thyme
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 1/2 lemon, sliced
  • 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
  • 1 teaspoon salt

  1. Place chicken in a pot just large enough to hold chicken breast halves and add enough water to barely cover.

  2. Add carrot, celery, onion, lemon, parsley, thyme, bay leaves, white pepper, and salt.

  3. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat.   When the liquid is almost to a boil, reduce heat to low.  Cover and continue to simmer for around 20 minutes.  If the breasts are large, simmer an extra five minutes.

  4. After 20-25 minutes, turn off the heat.  Leave the cover on the pot and allow the chicken to cool in the broth for around 15-20 minutes.

  5. You’re done.  Remove the breasts from the broth.  Debone, skin, and slice.

I thought it would be fun to document my thought process when deciding upon what to make for a meal.  We were completely out of milk so I had to go to the store.  Note the date of this post.  We are less than a week away from November and the temperature was damn near 90 degrees.  It might have even topped 90.  Despite having reservations for brunch, we had to wait for our table today.

“Would you like a table outside?”

 

“Thank you but Hell No.”

I digress.  So I’m at the store and I pass by the bagged salad section.  Remember, it’s nearly November.  Stacked up and looking fresh were a bunch of salad kits seductively named Endless Summer.  I kid you not. 

Chicken breasts bone-in were on sale for $1.99 a pound.  Dinner. Done.

I guess the title of this recipe really should be Bagged Salad with Chicken.

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White Chicken Chili

“I’m not dressed.  Could you water the front patio plants?”

“Yes dear.”

It was rather cool outside this morning.  Fall is definitely in the air and the morning chill made me think of chili.  Since I had just finished breakfast, chili was not an option this morning.  We were leaving on a short road trip in about an hour.  No time to make chili.

I decided to add another chili recipe to the blog!  For years I’ve made a white chili culled from two different recipes.  One recipe definitely came from the NY Times while the source of the second is unknown.  One recipe called for tomatoes; the other recipe didn’t.  So in my grand tradition of never following recipes exactly I have had to pull out two separate recipes to make this chili.  Fading memories instruct me on what to put in and what to leave out.  Fearing the worst, I figured I better write this down before I forget.

Tips:

This chili tastes better without tomatoes but if you like tomatoes in your chili, add a can of diced tomatoes.  It won’t be white anymore.  It will be pink.  Pink chili???

I prefer boneless thighs to boneless breasts but either works well.  If you’re using fresh cilantro, add it as a condiment at serving time.

This chili, like most chili dishes, tastes better the second day.

This chili also tastes better when you drink a good craft beer while cooking it.

I’m serious.

White Chicken Chili

Ingredients

  • 1 to 1.5 lbs boneless chicken cubed
  • 1/4 C seasoned flour (salt pepper)
  • 3 T extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 large Sweet onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1 4 oz can chopped green chilies
  • 1 green pepper, diced (optional)
  • 1 C chicken broth
  • 1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes (optional)
  • 1 Tsp dried cilantro
  • 1/2 tsp cumin
  • 1/2 tsp oregano
  • red pepper flakes, dash
  • Tabasco or your favorite hot sauce, to taste (optional)
  • 1 16 oz can organic white kidney or Great Northern beans, drained
  • Salt and pepper
  1. Combine flour and salt, and pepper in a gallon size plastic baggie.  Add the chicken, close the bag, and shake well until all of the chicken pieces are well coated with the flour mixture.
  2. Heat 2 T olive oil in a large stock pot over high heat.  When the oil is hot, add the chicken pieces and brown on all sides.  Lower the heat to medium high to avoid burning the chicken.  You will get pieces of flour and chicken stuck on the bottom of the pan.  This is OK.  Remove the chicken from the pot and set aside.
  3. Reduce heat to medium-low.  Add 1 T olive oil, onion, garlic green pepper, cilantro, cumin, and oregano.  Saute 5 minutes.
  4. Add chicken broth and scrape the brown pieces from the bottom of the pot.
  5. Add chicken, green chilies and simmer uncovered for about 25 minutes.  If the mixture starts to get too thick, thin out with more chicken stock.
  6. Five minutes prior to serving, add the beans.  Simmer for an additional 5 minutes or until the beans are warmed through.
  7. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
  8. Serve with your favorite hot sauce, peppers, grated cheese, etc.
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Citrus Marinade

  • 1/4 cup fresh lime juice (about 3 limes)
  • 1 medium Valencia orange, juiced
  • 4 garlic cloves, smashed
  • 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon dried cilantro
  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/4 cup canola oil
  • Salt and pepper

For Father’s Day I had to fire up the grill but I didn’t want to repeat the Iki Marinade which we use more than frequently.  I got online and started searching “Lime Marinade”.  Use this search term if you want to get instantly overwhelmed by the number and variety of lime juice based marinades. So I gave up and made my own.  I’m sure if you search far and wide enough I’ve probably “stolen” most, if not all, of the ingredient list from some other food blogger trying to make a living stealing recipes from other food websites, changing one ingredient, and calling it an original.  So if you feel this marinade is your property I apologize up front.  Any resemblance to your recipe is a pure coincidence.

I marinated some petite sirloins and boneless chicken thighs.  I think this marinade works better with chicken.

The propane tank ran dry before I finished cooking the meats.

TIP:

If you have a propane gas grill, keep a stove top grill or griddle around.  You can always finish the grilling indoors which is what I had to do.  Try fresh cilantro.  I used dry because I didn’t have any fresh on hand.  If you like your marinade a little sweeter, add another tablespoon of brown sugar.

 

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Chicken Meatloaf

Chicken Meatloaf

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 green pepper, seeded, small dice

1 carrot small dice

1 onion, diced
2 teaspoons (about 3 cloves) chopped garlic
1 pound ground chicken and 1 pound bulk Italian chicken sausage
2 eggs
3/4 cup Panko bread crumbs moistened with a little milk
1 cup grated Parmesan
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons chopped basil leaves
1 tablespoon chopped parsley leaves
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a medium saute pan over medium heat and add the peppers, onions, carrot and garlic. Saute until just soft, remove to a plate and cool.
  3. When the vegetables are cool, combine all of the remaining ingredients together.  Start with the Panko and moisten with milk.  (Any milk will do. I used 2%).  Beat in the eggs next.  Add the meats and toss everything else in the pool.  Blend well with your hands.
  4. Form the meat mixture into 2 loaf (brain) shapes on an oiled oven tray or baking dish.
  5. Bake for approximately 50 to 60 minutes. Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes. Slice and serve.

 

At one of the local stores I kept seeing ground chicken on sale.  There were also packages of bulk Italian seasoned chicken sausage.  It was fairly obvious that the plain chicken was a combination of white and dark meat while the sausage looked to be more dark meat.  I bought a pound of each with absolutely no idea what to make.

A little voice in my head said “Meatloaf, stupid”.

So I thought why not?

You’ll notice the seasonings are nearly identical to my Italian Meatloaf.  But you will discover using chicken and Italian chicken sausage gives this meatloaf an entirely different flavor profile.  The Italian Meatloaf is tasty.  This Chicken Meatloaf is YUMMY.

Yes, YUMMY.

Remember, I hated meatloaf as a kid.