Garden Bounty

We harvested the rest of the garden yesterday, since a huge snowstorm is forecast to roll in tonight. So what do I do with a ten pound cabbage? Well, first I cut a chunk off, about a fourth of it. Then I gathered up some of the carrots that we dug yesterday. Then I made this yummy stew.

CHICKEN CABBAGE STEW

1 1/2 pounds coarsely cubed raw chicken. (I prefer boneless thighs.)

1 small cabbage cut in bite sized pieces (Or 1/4 of a monster)

1/2 large onion, quartered and sliced

2 T butter, divided

4 carrots, coarsely sliced

Chicken stock, preferably organic or you could make your own

2 tsp Kirkland organic no-salt seasoning (If this isn't available, use your preference)

2 T potato starch

1 cup cold water

Salt and pepper

Cook onion in 1 T butter on medium heat until transparent. Add cabbage and carrots. Turn down heat and cover. Saute until cabbage is starting to cook down. At the same time Brown the chicken in the second tablespoon of butter. Salt and pepper to taste. When chicken is mostly done dump unto the pot with the cabbage, juices and all. Pour chicken stock over mixture-just until you can start to see it. Cover and simmer until everything is tender, about a half hour. Mix potato starch with cold water and stir into stew to thicken.  Serve over potatoes, rice, or my favorite-mung bean threads.

Chicken Chipotle

Stan and I have a favorite Mexican restaurant in our area-Fiesta Mexicana.  These folks are from Jalisco and are super nice.  (And excellent cooks!)  Stan has been ordering their Chicken Chipotle and loving it.  This morning I got the bright idea to make the dish myself.  Google and I explored for a while and I grilled Stan on what was in the dish at the restaurant.  What I came up with is not a lot like what Fiesta makes, but excellent anyway, not to toot my own horn or anything!

Chicken Chipotle

2 canned chipotle peppers with a bit of the juice from the can

1 cup heavy cream

8 oz cream cheese

1/4 tsp cumin

1 tablespoon lime juice

2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

2 tsp honey

Salt and Pepper to taste

2 pounds boneless chicken thighs, cubed (breasts will work, too)

1/2 onion, sliced

1 green pepper, sliced.

2 tablespoons oil

Salt and pepper the chicken and brown in the oil on medium high.  Lift out of the pan and cook the onion and pepper in the pan drippings.until the onion is tender and the pepper is tender-crisp.  While this is cooking, place the chipotle, cumin, lime juice, cilantro and honey in a food processor.  While the processor is running slowly pour in the cream.  When onion and pepper are ready, turn the heat to low medium and add the cream mixture to the skillet.  When it gets hot, add the cream cheese and stir until the cheese is melted.  And the chicken and cook until everything is heated through.  Taste and add more salt if needed.  Serve.

I served mine with rice that I cooked in chicken stock with a bit of cilantro, and refried black beans-one of my favorites.  Tortillas are nice, too, of course.

You can add more chipotles if you like, I might next time.  Stan likes his hotter than I do-I thought it was perfect, but I might be nice to him next time.  If you want to make it a little lighter you could substitute half and half and light cream cheese for the full fat stuff.  I don't think it would hurt the flavor at all.  It wasn't entirely allergy-friendly, there is a bit of tomato in the chipotles, but as long as it's cooked and I don't have too much at a time I can get away with it.  And the rice is something I usually don't eat, but this was a non-GMO rice so once again I allowed it.  I probably won't eat the rice again for a while but it was sure yummy tonight!  Oh, and I picked out the green peppers and gave them to Stan.  I'm not allergic, but my tummy isn't fond of them.

Savory Chicken Thighs

Sometimes, being allergic to so much, I run out of dinner options. Thawed out a bunch of boneless thighs today, and put this together to use them:

Savory Chicken Thighs

2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs
1/2 cup chopped celery
cumin
coriander
Salt and pepper
2 tsp butter
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 T potato starch
Cold water
1/4 cup heavy cream

Season chicken with cumin, coriander, salt and pepper. Melt butter in skillet and shake a few more seasonings over, add celery. Cook until celery starts to soften, push to one side and brown chicken in same pan. Spread the celery evenly around the chicken, sprinkle cilantro over and pour chicken stock over it. Cover and simmer til tender-20 minutes or so-turning once. Remove chicken from pan. Mix water and potato starch, stir in cream. Bring liquid in pan to a boil and whisk in the starch/cream mixture. If it thickens too quickly, add water, a bit at a time until it has a nice gravy like consistency.

Serve chicken and gravy with starch of your choice. We had potatoes but rice or pasta would be heavenly.

There is enough chicken and sauce left that I think I'll make gluten free tortillas tomorrow for chicken enchiladas. I'll just add a chopped jalapeno pepper.

Winter Chicken Soup

A perfect supper when the weather is totally unseasonable for October. (Cold!) I made gluten-free biscuits to go with it and it was very satisfying. I almost didn't miss the noodles.

Winter Chicken Soup

2 large chicken breasts, cubed in 1/2" pieces (about 1 1/2 pounds)
Salt
Pepper
1 tsp Herbs De Provence (I made the Emeril recipe from Food Network but you could use any recipe)
1 tsp celery seed
1 T dried parsley
1 can organic chicken broth (label reading is important with this ingredient)
1/2 pound mushrooms, sliced
1/2 pound sliced carrots
3 large stalks chopped celery
Potato starch
Olive oil
Butter

Season chicken with salt, pepper, herbs, celery seed and parsley. Brown in 1 T olive oil and 1 T butter. Add celery and brown for a few minutes. Add broth, carrots, and additional water to cover; bring to a boil and simmer at least 2 hours until flavors are blended.

Stir 2 T potato starch into a cup of cold water and stir into soup. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally until mixture is thickened. Makes about 8 generous servings.

Baked Chicken Recipe

Most of the time I dislike chicken breasts. They tend to be dry and get that way fast in that short period between done and overdone. I developed this recipe last week when I needed something for a church potluck that I could eat, too. I didn't let anyone know it was "special" and it was gone in a hurry.

Baked Chicken Breasts

4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
2 T butter
1 T olive oil
1/2 cup potato starch
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp celery salt
1/4 tsp ground coriander
Salt and pepper

Cut chicken pieces in half, season with salt and pepper. Pound with the flat side of a meat mallet between two sheets of wax paper. Mix together potato starch, paprika, celery salt and paprika. Dredge chicken in mixture and brown in butter/olive oil. Lay pieces in a casserole dish. Stir water into leftover dredge, pour in skillet. Whisk until smooth, adding more water if necessary to make a smooth sauce. Pour sauce over chicken and bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Serves 4.