Chicken A La King

I got this recipe off of another food blog called get off your butt and bake! go check it out for more detailed instructions. It was delicious and so easy to throw together. There are so many options you can pretty much add whatever your family likes. And we just served it over hot biscuits since I didn't have puff pastry. So yummy! We will definitely be trying this again.

CHICKEN A LA KING SAUCE:

1/3 Cup Butter melted

1/4 Cup Cornstarch dissolved in 1/2 Cup COLD water.

1/2 Cup Chicken Broth

1/4 tsp. Salt

1/4 tsp. Pepper

1 teaspoon granulated Sugar

2 cups Milk

1 1/2 cups Grated Cheddar Cheese or other

*I also added:

1/4 tsp. Cracked Red pepper flakes (opt)

1/4 tsp. Onion powder (opt)

1/4 tsp. Celery Salt (opt)

Add to the prepared Sauce:

Diced or shredded cooked Chicken breasts and steamed veggies of your choice.

*This is also a great way to use leftover turkey or ham

DIRECTIONS:

In medium saucepan over medium heat, add the butter and stir while it’s melting. Add the broth, seasonings, Milk and the Cold water and Cornstarch mixture. Stir continuously over heat until sauce has thickened. Turn to low heat, and add the grated cheese. Do not let the sauce boil. It it seems too thick, simply add a bit more milk or Chicken broth to the sauce. Add the diced chicken and steamed veggies of your choice. *If you are adding frozen peas, make sure that they don’t have a build up of ice around them. It will thin your sauce.

Fill your puff pastry shells with the chicken sauce, and top with a bit more grated cheese. You can also use this sauce on top of Toast, biscuits, Toasted English muffins, etc.

apricot chicken.

this is suuuuper simple and the chicken turned out really moist and flavorful. i'll definitely be making this again.

ingredients:
1 small jar apricot preserves
1 envelope onion soup mix
1 {8 oz} bottle French salad dressing
8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

directions:
preheat oven to 350. place chicken in shallow baking dish. mix apricot preserves, onion soup mix, and French dressing in bowl. mix well. pour mixture over chicken. bake in oven for one hour and serve.

BBQ Chicken Pizza Soup

from the Picky Palate

I saw this recipe a few months ago and finally got around to trying it.   We really liked it, hope you will too.

Ingredients
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 Tablespoons fresh minced garlic
11 oz can corn with peppers, drained
2 12 oz cans Swanson’s Chicken, drained  (I used frozen, shredded chicken)
1 1/2 Cups Chicken Broth
1/2 Cup BBQ Sauce
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
1/4 teaspoon Lawry’s Garlic Salt
1/2 Cup fresh cilantro leaves, chopped


1. Heat oil into a medium pot over medium heat. When hot, saute onions for 5 minutes or until softened. Stir in garlic, corn and chicken breast; mix to combine. Pour in chicken broth, BBQ sauce, salt, pepper, garlic salt and cilantro leaves. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes or until ready to serve. Garnish each bowl with a fresh sprig of cilantro.

4-6 servings

Easy Chicken Cordon Blue

Brady especially loves chicken cordon blue, but I'm not always up for all the pounding, breading and rolling that regular chicken cordon blue involves.  So, in my effort to dumb it down, I stumbled upon this beauty and we were pretty pleased with how it turned out!

You Need:

4 chicken breasts, thawed
1 box chicken flavored stuffing, prepared according to box directions
1 can cream of chicken soup
4 slices of ham
1 tbsp sour cream or dijon mustard
1 cup of shredded mozzerella cheese or 4 slices of swiss


To Do:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Place the chicken in the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish and salt and pepper it.
Place the ham slices on top of the chicken.
Mix the cream of chicken with the sour cream/dijon mustard.  (I don't like dijon so I just substituted sour cream) and pour it over the ham.  Spread it out so it covers evenly.
Top with prepared stuffing.

Place in oven for approx 25 min or until the chicken is cooked through. 
Pull it out and top with the cheese, put it back in the oven until the cheese is melted.

Enjoy!

Sweet Salsa Chicken

I got this recipe out of one of my favorite recipe books called The Domestic Art: A Collection of Fine Recipes - a book my sister in law gave me a few Christmases ago.  It seems almost every recipe I've tried out of this book has been a success and new favorite.  So I'm pleased to share yet another recipe from it . . . super easy Sweet Salsa Chicken.

ingredients
1 pkg. taco seasoning
4 chicken breasts
2 T. oil
1 c salsa
1/4 c apricot jam (I used apple)
1/4 c water
1 T cilantro
1 T lime juice
1 (15 oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained

instructions
Cut chicken into bite size pieces.  In large skillet heat oil; add chicken and taco seasoning and cook until juices run clear.  Add salsa, apricot jam, water, cilantro, and lime juice.  Bring to a boil.  Stir in beans, reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes.  Serve over rice.

Alfredo-Sauced Chicken and Rice

I had just returned from a weekend at my aunt and uncle's house when I got the new cook's challenge. It was perfect. We were laughing over the weekend because our meals were all chicken based. This challenge goes right along with the weekend. So I emailed my aunt for the meal I liked best from the weekend and made it tonight for friends.

Let me warn you, this makes a lot of food. Even with friends over, I still have lunch for at least 2 weeks (most of the leftovers are now in the freezer.) Also, I put the changes I made to the recipe in italics if you want to try my adaptations...

Alfredo-Sauced Chicken and Rice

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups COOKED wild rice
1 1/2 cups COOKED regular long grain rice
1 Jar (17 oz.) Alfredo sauce (I made my own Alfredo sauce, recipe follows if you like)
1/2 t tarragon
1/2 t marjoram
1/8 t pepper
6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (and I halved each chicken breast so had 12 pieces)
1/4 to 1/2 t seasoned salt
1 1/2 c cut-up asparagus (the casserole dish was too full with with everything else, so I just steamed the asparagus and served it on the side.)
1 1/2 c sliced mushrooms (4 oz.)
1/3 c sliced roasted red bell pepper (from 7 oz. jar) (I opted for a chopped whole red pepper, and also a green pepper)

Instructions:
Cooked the rice. While the rice cooks, sprinkle the chicken with seasoned salt and brown in a skillet.

Heat oven to 350. Mix wild rice, regular rice, 3/4 c of the Alfredo sauce, 1/2 t tarragon and 1/8 t pepper in an ungreased 13X9 baking dish. Place chicken on rice mixture. Sprinkle the marjoram and spread the asparagus (remember I didn't have room so cooked it separately), mushrooms and peppers over the chicken. Pour the rest of the sauce over the top.

See how full it is?
That's why I cooked the asparagus separately.

Cover and bake 1 hour until juice of chicken is no longer pink. (I only cooked for 40 minutes because I browned the chicken for so long.)

Alfredo Sauce (this is doubled to be enough for the dish)

Ingredients:

1 stick (1/2 c) unsalted butter

2 c heavy cream (I use half-and-half)

3 c freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese

2 large egg yolk, lightly beaten

Instructions:

Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Add cream and cheese. When cheese has melted all the way, add egg yolk. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove from heat.

B liked it
(I know, I know, she hasn't even taken a bite yet in the photo.
But she asked to take home some leftovers,
I don't think she would have asked if she didn't like it.)
=)

Enjoy

chicken madeira

yes people it tastes just like cheesecake factory's chicken madeira. even if the pictures leave much to be desired.

Recipe
1 tablespoon olive oil

4 boneless chicken breast

8 asparagus spears

4 slices mozzarella cheese
Sauce2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cups fresh sliced mushrooms

3 cups Madeira wine (you have to go to your local liquor store)

2 cups beef stock

1 tablespoon butter

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
Directions
Cover chicken breast with plastic wrap; pound to 1/4-inch thick.
Sprinkle each fillet with salt and pepper.
Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in frying pan over medium-high heat.
Saute fillets 4-6 minutes per side until done and browned just a bit.
Remove from pan and wrap in foil to keep warm while you make the sauce.
In chicken pan add olive oil and sliced mushrooms; saute for about 2 minutes.
Add Madeira wine, beef stock, butter, and pepper.
Bring to boil then reduce heat; simmer 20 minutes until reduced to about 1/2 original volume. When sauce is done it will be thick, and brown.
While sauce is reducing, bring a pan of water to boil for your asparagus.

Set oven to broil.
In baking dish arrange chicken, cross 2 asparagus stems over each piece of chicken and top with a slice of cheese.
Broil until cheese melts.
Put chicken on plate.
To serve, top with 3-4 tablespoons sauce on each piece. (or just drench it in sauce like i do.)

Cook Challene: Chicken Cuisine

This quarter's challenge is pretty simple: cook a new chicken dish to share with us.  Don't have one?  Get creative and make your own, or use google. ;)  No matter how you do it, come up with an authentic tasty chicken dish we and our readers can salivate over as we prep for fall. :)

Challenge rules:
- Must be a NEW chicken dish, one that isn't already on this blog.
- Must be labeled "Cook Challenge: Chicken Cuisine"
- Must be completed by deadline: September 30th.
(Not a cook author, but want to share your awesome chicken cuisine?  Post your recipe on a comment link, or link us to your food blog!)

Do you accept this challenge?  Get ready, get set . . . start cooking!