Mother Clucking Feta Florentine Stuffed Chicken

By now, you all know that I have a chicken obsession so it should come as no surprise that I created a new chicken recipe yesterday.  I combined my love of chicken with my husband’s love of spinach and came up with Mother Clucking Feta Florentine Stuffed Chicken.  All kidding aside, I think I can say that this is easily my husband’s favorite thing I have ever made.  Ever.  EVER!  I cannot even count how many times he told me, “This is so good!” while we were eating dinner. (I served mine with a side of rice and fresh homemade cornbread.)

In our house, we normally only eat two meals on Sundays.  It is not a conscious decision we made.  It is just something that happened all on its own and we have gotten used to it.  For that reason, or Sunday dinner is a bit bigger than most dinners we would consume and we eat it mid-afternoon instead of in the evening.  Because of this, Mother Clucking Feta Florentine Stuffed Chicken works really well for us.  It makes a meal that is filling enough to last through the evening.

I do not often post recipes that require another recipe as an ingredient.  Mother Clucking Feta Florentine Stuffed Chicken is one of the few that does.  If you do not feel like making your own Creamed Spinach to use in this recipe, you can always use the frozen brick variety available at most grocery stores instead.  If you have the time, though, I recommend making it from scratch.  You will not be sorry if you do!

Mother Clucking Feta Florentine Stuffed Chicken was not something that I planned out in advance.  It was getting on to mid-afternoon when I walked into my kitchen and, aside from knowing that I wanted to do something with the chicken I picked up at the grocery store the other day, I did not know what I wanted to make.  I looked in the refrigerator and saw what I had on hand and came up with it then. 

While it might be a little messy to make, it is pretty easy and fun to do so.  –Any meal you can prepare that involves the use of a kitchen mallet is fun!  While I am not a big fan of eating plain feta cheese, I am convinced that some sort of magic occurs when you combine it with spinach.  The resulting combination is a new form of crack and I just cannot seem to get enough of it.

Mother Clucking Feta Florentine Stuffed Chicken

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 4 chicken breasts –boneless, skinless
• 1 recipe CreamedSpinach or 3 - 4 serving package of frozen creamed spinach, cooked
• 2 – 4 ounces crumbled feta cheese
• Salt to taste
• Garlic powder to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. Place chicken breasts between two sheets of plastic wrap and pound with the smooth side of a kitchen mallet until chicken is ¼ – inch thick.
3. Remove top layer of plastic wrap and flip chicken breast so smoothest side is down.
4. Sprinkle with salt and garlic powder to taste.
5. Spread one quarter of creamed spinach onto chicken. (No need to spread it completely to the sides.  It will squish to the sides all on its own when you roll it up.)
6. Sprinkle one quarter of crumbled feta over chicken.
7. Carefully roll chicken lengthwise, starting at widest end and ending at smallest end.
8. Transfer to 9 x 13 – inch baking pan, seam side up.
9. Bake at 375°F for 35 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
10. Serve hot.

Have you ever walked into the kitchen without a recipe in mind beforehand?  Comment below and let me know!

Island Spiced Chicken

 Guess what?  It is chicken night again in my house!  Whole chickens were on sale when we went to the grocery store the other day so I picked one up.  At the time, I was not sure what I wanted to do with it but where I live, 99¢ a pound is a pretty good deal so I could not pass it up. 

I thought about the flavors that I was in the mood for and I decided on something with a Jamaican/island-type flavors.  What I came up with was Island Spiced Chicken.  At first, I wanted to add a little rum to the recipe but when I dug through my cupboards the only thing I came up with was a bottle of tequila that had been left at our house by a friend when we lived in Montana about 5 years ago.  It only had about 1/8^th of a cup of liquid left in it then and it only had 1/8^th of a cup of liquid left in it when I started the recipe.  I used it all and fortunately, it was the exact right amount for my recipe.

Unlike the recipe that I posted the other day, my recipe for Island Spiced Chicken does contain a small amount of salt.  I thought it might be worth mentioning that when I use salt in a recipe, I like to get the most bang for my buck so I generally use seasoning salt.  For a long time, I used a national brand of seasoning salt but a few years ago, I found out that a childhood friend of my husband manufactures and sells his own brand of seasoning salt:  Alden’s Seasonings.  I was very skeptical at first because I had been using the same brand of seasoning salt for my entire life.  I decided to give Alden’s Seasonings a try.  I immediately knew that I had stumbled upon something special – something that my kitchen would never again be without.  The quality and flavors are out of this world and the prices are comparable to what I had been paying for the national brand.  Alden’s Seasonings has multiple blends of seasoning salt but my favorite is the Pink Himalayan blend.  If you are interested in Alden’s Seasonings, contact Alden via his Facebook page for more information on pricing and ordering.

Island Spiced Chicken

Ingredients

• 1/8 cup tequila
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 (3 pound) whole chicken
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions

1. Combine tequila, lime juice, brown sugar and all spices in a small bowl and mix well.  (This should be the consistency of loose mud.)
2. Clean chicken, rinse inside and out with cold water then pat dry with a paper towel and place chicken breast up in a roasting pan or dish.
3. Separate the skin from the chicken breast, leg and thigh by sliding hand between the skin and meat, being careful not to tear the skin.
4. Using your hand, spread the spice mixture between the skin and meat.  Use any remaining spice mixture to rub into skin.
5. Tuck wing tips up and over, behind the back and truss together chicken legs with a bit of kitchen twine.
6. Cover chicken and allow to marinate in the refrigerator for at least an hour or up to overnight.
7. Preheat oven to 325°F.
8. Uncover chicken and drizzle with olive oil.
9. Place in oven and allow to bake for about 90 minutes, until the juices run clear or until a meat thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the thigh reaches 180°F.
10. Allow the chicken to rest for 10 minutes before carving.

What is on your table tonight?  Comment below and let me know!

Cheater Paella

As the days are gradually becoming longer and warmer, I find myself craving more seafood but I still want bold flavors.  After hemming and hawing over what to make for Sunday dinner this week, I settled on Cheater Paella.  I call it “Cheater” because I do not use the traditional cooking method – outdoor over a gas or charcoal grill or over a wood fire.  I also do not use a proper paella pan – I do not even own one.  Instead, I cook my Cheater Paella on my stove in my 12-inch sauté pan and a standard 10-in stock pot.  Last, some of my flavors are just a smidge off traditional and I use whatever rice I have on hand instead of searching out that medium-grain, rounded Spanish rice.  Even still, my Cheater Paella retains the essence of traditional paella with the convenience of cooking with what you have on hand in your home.

Paella is the type of dish that one looks at and thinks it is incredibly difficult to make because it has a long list of ingredients.  This could not be farther from the truth.  In fact, it is actually quite easy to make and alter according to your wants and needs. 

The one thing that I cannot stress enough is that it is absolutely OK to alter a recipe such as Cheater Paella.  Sometimes I do not have a specific ingredient on hand so I skip it or use an alternative ingredient that I already have in my cupboard.  Seriously, make use of what you have on hand!  If you have food allergies or picky eaters, make substitutions for those items so the resulting dish fits your needs. 

I often do not bother with exact measurements when throwing a recipe together.  In the case of my Cheater Paella, I use the measurements for the meats more as guidelines than as requirements.  My original recipe called for 2-pounds of chicken breast, 1-pound of shrimp and 1-pound of kielbasa.  At my grocery store, the kielbasa and shrimp came in 12-ounce packages, and I picked up a 1 ½ pound package of organic, free-range, hormone and antibiotic-free chicken breast.  Though the meat ingredients I picked up only totaled roughly two thirds of the amount called for in the recipe, the resulting dish was not lacking in any way.  Likewise, if I had felt like it, I could have substituted regular pork sausage or chorizo for the kielbasa, and clams for the shrimp.  Or, I could have substituted in all seafood instead of including chicken and kielbasa.  No matter what, it would have turned out delicious.

The evening before I planned to make my Cheater Paella, I took a few minutes to cut the chicken into 1-inch chunks and mix up the marinade.  Then, I mixed them together and stored them in a covered glass mixing bowl in the refrigerator overnight.  Seriously simple.  Immediately following that, I decided that I had enough time to clean my shrimp so when the time came to use it the next day, I could just grab it and toss it into the pan.  Easy peasy.

When you are getting ready to actually cook your Cheater Paella, I find it easiest to start by dicing your red pepper and onion, chop one bunch of fresh parsley, zest two lemons and mince three cloves of garlic and set them all aside so everything will be ready to add at the appropriate time.  Once you have done that, it is easy sailing.  Everything comes together in a snap and you end up with an incredibly simple dish that will have your family begging for more. 

Allow your rice to form a nice crust on the bottom!

 Cheater Paella

Serves 8

Marinade Ingredients

·           2 tablespoons olive oil

·           1 tablespoon paprika

·           2 teaspoons dried oregano

·           Salt to taste

·           Pepper to taste

Other Ingredients

·           2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch pieces

·           4 tablespoons olive oil, divided

·           2 cloves garlic, minced

·           1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

·           2 cups uncooked medium-grain white rice

·           ½ bunch Italian flat leaf parsley, chopped

·           1 quart chicken stock

·           2 lemons, zested

·           1 medium onion, diced

·           1 red bell pepper, diced

·           1 pound kielbasa or other sausage

·           1 pound raw shrimp, peeled and deveined

Directions

1.     In a medium bowl, mix together all marinade ingredients.

2.     Chop chicken then add to marinade and mix well, making sure to coat all pieces.  Cover and rest in the refrigerator for at least one hour, though longer is better.

3.     Heat 2-tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.

4.     Add garlic, red pepper flakes and rice and cook, stirring to coat rice with oil for 2 – 3 minutes.

5.     Add parsley, chicken stock and lemon zest and bring to a boil then cover and reduce heat to medium-low.  No need to stir.  You want it to form a nice crust on the bottom.

6.     Simmer for 20 minutes.

7.     Meanwhile, heat 2-tablespoons of olive oil in a separate skillet or pan over medium heat.

8.     Add marinated chicken and chopped onion and cook for 5 - 7 minutes. 

9.     Add kielbasa and chopped bell pepper and cook for 5 minutes.

10. Add shrimp and cook until they are cooked through and no longer translucent.

11. Top cooked rice with meat, seafood and vegetable mixture and serve hot.

Note:  I did not want to waste my lemons after completely zesting two of them so I sliced what was left and added it to a couple of pitchers of water.

What is your go-to recipe when you crave seafood?  Comment below and let me know!

Garlic Rice

Last week, I promised to post my recipe for Garlic Rice.  This is one of those recipes that is widely consumed in the Philippines.  Every family seems to have their own recipe for it and it is commonly eaten alone as a breakfast item.  The garlic flavor is just enough to be pleasing without detracting from any accompanying dish if you choose to serve it with one. 

Garlic Rice is another one of those recipes that is quite easy to make.  Since I was serving mine as a side to Filipino Barbecue Chicken, I reserved a small amount of chicken, finely chopped it and seasoned it with salt pepper and garlic powder and let it rest in the refrigerator overnight.  You do not need to season and rest the chicken for this recipe.  However, since I already needed to allow the chicken for my Filipino Barbecue Chicken to marinate overnight, I went ahead and let this rest along side it.  Additionally, if you are serving your Garlic Rice as an accompaniment for a pork or beef dish, you can substitute pork or beef in place of the 2-tablespoons of chicken.  If you are a vegetarian or if you just do not feel like adding any meat, by all means, just omit the meat from this recipe altogether.  In other words, do not be afraid to alter the recipe to fit your ingredients and needs.  It is that simple.

Cook the garlic until it is golden brown.

Garlic Rice

Serves 4

Ingredients

·        2 tablespoons vegetable oil

·        1 ½ tablespoons minced garlic

·        2 tablespoons finely chopped chicken

·        4 cups cooked white rice

·        Garlic salt to taste

·        Ground black pepper to taste

Directions

1.   Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.

2.   Add the garlic and chicken and stir until the garlic is golden brown.

3.   Add the cooked white rice and stir well.

4.   Season with garlic salt and pepper to taste and stir well.

5.   Cook until rice is heated through.

How do you feel about eating a dish like this as a breakfast item?  Com

Day of Valor - Philippines

This week, we are observing Araw ng Kagitingan (Day of Valor) which is a public holiday in the Philippines.  It marks the day in 1942, in the Japanese occupied Philippines, that Major General Edward P. King, of the US Army, was forced to surrender more than 76,000 Filipino, Chinese and American troops to the Japanese.  The surrendered soldiers were made to hike 90 miles to Camp O’Donnell, during which, thousands of prisoners died due to starvation, disease and dehydration.  Despite the hardships, this event played a pivotal role in preventing the Japanese from taking control of all US bases in the Pacific during WWII and it eventually led to the liberation of the Philippines.

After celebrating Easter last weekend and Día de Malvinas last week, I decided that I have had more than enough pork to last for quite some time.  Therefore, when searching for Filipino recipes, I wanted to find something that was chicken based.  I was having a hard time deciding on what to make when I came upon a Filipino barbecue recipe on myfilipinorecipes.com.  The recipe I found was actually written for barbecue pork skewers but I decided to substitute chicken.

Filipino Chicken Barbecue is an incredibly easy recipe to make and it requires very little hands-on time.  You do want to set aside some time the evening before so you can mix everything up and allow the chicken to marinate overnight.  I mixed all of the marinade ingredients in a standard 8-cup mixing bowl and combined well with a whisk.  Then I cut the chicken into strips and mixed them in with the rest of the ingredients.  From there, it went into the refrigerator to sit for 24 hours and soak up all of the yummy flavors.

It is worth mentioning that this recipe is not for vampires or someone who does not like garlic.  Also, if you have a big presentation to make at work or school the next day, you may want to wait and make this another day.  If you have to work closely with people you don’t like very well, go ahead and make this.  They will probably keep their distance.  Additionally, if you are like me and you LOVE all things garlic, this recipe is definitely for you.  It calls for one head of garlic, crushed – Not one clove, ONE ENTIRE HEAD OF GARLIC!!!  Anything made with that much garlic is A-OK in my book.

I also want to note the importance of pre-soaking the bamboo skewers in water for at least 30 minutes.  Your recipe will still come out fine if you forget to pre-soak.  If you do soak your bamboo skewers prior to grilling on them, they will not turn to charcoal on your grill and the meat will be easier to remove from them when it comes time to eat.  Obviously, this is not an issue if you use metal skewers. 

We absolutely loved our chicken skewers.  By marinating for a full 24 hours, the flavors were able to fully develop and mingle.  I served ours with a side of Garlic Rice (recipe to come).

Filipino Chicken Barbecue

Serves 6 – 8

Marinade Ingredients

·        1 head garlic, crushed

·        ½ cup soy sauce

·        ½ cup banana ketchup or tomato ketchup

·        ¼ cup 7-Up, Sprite or other non-diet lemon lime soda

·        3 tablespoons lemon juice

·        ¼ tablespoon ground black pepper

·        3 tablespoons brown sugar

·        2 tablespoons peanut butter

Other Ingredients

·        2 pounds chicken thighs or breasts, cut into strips

·        8 Bamboo skewers, pre-soaked in water for 30 minutes

Marinate for at least 24 hours.

Directions

1.    Mix all marinade ingredients in a bowl, whisking to make sure that the peanut butter is fully incorporated. 

2.   Reserve 1/3 cup of marinade and store in a covered container in the refrigerator.

3.   Add chicken to the remaining marinade and stir to make sure all pieces are fully coated and submerged.

4.   Place marinade/chicken mixture in the refrigerator and allow to rest for at least 24 hours.

5.   Preheat and clean grill.

6.   Using the pre-soaked bamboo skewers, skew the chicken.

7.   Discard the marinade that the chicken rested in.

8.   Place chicken skewers on the grill and baste with the reserved marinade as they cook.

9.   Serve hot.

Ready for the grill

What is your favorite cuisine?  Comment below and let me know!

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!

  

I had a bit of heavy cream left over from when I made the Salted Caramel Cream Sauce last week and I did not want it to go to waste.  Fortunately, I was able to find another recipe that called for the exact amount of cream that I had left:  Chicken Breasts Baked in Cream (1956 Betty Crocker Picture Cookbook).  I am not normally one who enjoys a lot of sauces on foods.  I would much rather taste the food itself.  That being said, I found Chicken Breasts Baked in Cream to be a wonderful surprise.

My local grocery store was out of organic, cage-free, hormone-free chicken breasts so I simply substituted a whole chicken which I cut up myself.  It was a bit of an ordeal as I managed to break one of the finger rings on my kitchen shears in the process.  For me, the loss of a pair of shears was worth it to have the organic, cage-free, hormone-free chicken over the standard, cheaper chicken available.

Making the chicken was quite easy, though it did require two hours to bake.  That gave me plenty of time to do the dishes and relax before whipping up a batch of Spinach Provençale to pop in the oven for the last 25 minutes of baking.  My husband, who absolutely loves anything involving a nice sauce or gravy, raved about the chicken and was happy to eat it again when I served leftovers for dinner the next night. 

The combination of the chicken drippings and the cream made a wonderful gravy and I found that I only had to season it a little bit when I added the flour.  It was creamy and velvety (not surprising, considering the ingredients) and it does not overpower the natural flavor of the chicken.  When dinner was done, I just put all of the leftover chicken and gravy into one bowl and tucked it away in the refrigerator to be warmed up another day.

Chicken Breasts Baked in Cream Sauce

Serves 6 – 8

Ingredients

·        1 – 2 tbsp butter or other cooking fat

·        3 lbs chicken breast

·        ½ cup chopped onion

·        1 clove garlic, minced

·        2 cups cream

·        2 tsp salt (I only used 1 teaspoon of sea salt)

·        1/8 tsp pepper

·        1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

·        2 – 4 tbsp flour (depending on desired thickness of gravy)

·        ½ cup water (I omitted this as I felt the gravy did not need it)

Ready for the oven!

Directions

1.   Preheat oven to 300°F.

2.   Melt cooking fat in a skillet and brown chicken on both sides.

3.   Transfer to 9 x 13-inch baking dish.

4.   Evenly sprinkle chopped onion and minced garlic over and around chicken.

5.   Mix cream, salt, pepper and Worcestershire sauce in a small bowl then pour over chicken.

6.   Bake at 300°F for 2 hours or until chicken is cooked through.

7.   Remove from oven and remove chicken to a serving plate.

8.   Add 2 tablespoons of flour (and water) to cream still in pan and whisk thoroughly.  If you wish, you can add an additional 2 tablespoons of flour and whisk thoroughly.  Keep in mind that the gravy will thicken quite a bit as it cools.

9.   Serve chicken hot, topped with gravy.

Set chicken aside while you make the gravy.

Do you generally prefer your food plain or with sauce?  Comment below and let me know!

Gravy will thicken as it cools.