Garlic Cheddar Chicken

"GCC" has been popular for at least a year now on the forum I check out... Someone found the recipe on "allrecipes.com" - http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Garlic-Cheddar-Chicken/Detail.aspx

Original recipe follows:

INGREDIENTS 1/2 cup butter 4 cloves garlic, minced 3/4 cup dry bread crumbs 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese 1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese 1/4 teaspoon dried parsley 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper 1/8 teaspoon salt 8 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - pounded thin

DIRECTIONS Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat, and cook the garlic until tender, about 5 minutes. In a shallow bowl, mix the bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, Cheddar cheese, parsley, oregano, pepper, and salt. Dip each chicken breast in the garlic butter to coat, then press into the bread crumb mixture. Arrange the coated chicken breasts in a 9x13 inch baking dish. Drizzle with any remaining butter and top with any remaining bread crumb mixture. Bake 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear.


My changes:
Since Matt doesn't like cheddar as much - I use mozzarella instead.

I also halve it since it is too much for the two of us.

Finally, I put a cookie rack on top of a baking pan so the breading will get much more crispy instead of sitting in the butter and being soggy on the bottom.

Japanese curry

Anyone that lived in the valley has to have been to E.E. Cafe on Reseda and Nordhoff. Well, these people know what I am talking about when I say their curry was to die for. Imagine my surprise and sadness when the restaurant closed!! Never had I found a curry that I liked ... until E.E. Cafe! After a couple years of missing the curry, I set out to find a recipe and try to re-create the magic! I daresay I did pretty damn well!! The only thing was that this recipe wasn't as sweet as E.E. Cafe's was. Other than that, the smell, the texture, etc was right on!!

Notes:

-You have to make "curry roux" for the recipe. (recipe is below) I suggest making this after you've started the curry recipe and it is in the 40-50 minute cooking stage.

-This is the chicken curry recipe. If you want to use beef (hamburger), just exchange the soup boullion for beef and put in beef instead of chicken. Easy enough.

-I also love crispy chicken in this curry (pan fry chicken coated in panko crumbs)!


Recipe found at japanesefood.about.com


INGREDIENTS:
4 cups steamed Japanese rice (I used regular white rice. Next time I'll try Japanese rice!)
1 onion
2 potatoes
2 carrot
1/4 lb Japanese curry roux* (I used the entire pan full of roux.. what else was I going to do with it?)
3 1/2 cups water
1/2 lb chicken (I used 2 large chicken breasts)

PREPARATION:
Cut potatoes, carrots, and pork into bite-sized pieces. Slice onions.Heat a deep pan and saute the pork. Add onion, potatoes, and carrots in the pan and saute together. Add water in the pan and bring to a boil Turn the heat down to low and cook for 40-50 min. Add curry roux in the pan and simmer for 10 min. Serve the curry over rice.



*Japanese curry roux

INGREDIENTS:
1 tbsp curry powder
2 onion
2 tbsps flour
3 cups water
2 cubes soup bouillon
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
1 tsp grated garlic
1/2 tsp garam masala
2 tbsps butter

PREPARATION:
Heat water in a pan and add soup bouillon to make soup.
Slice onion thinly.
Heat butter in a pan and saute onion slices slowly until they are brown for 15-20 minutes.
Add garlic and ginger in the pan and saute well.
Add flour and curry powder and saute over low heat.
Pour soup in the pan little by little, stirring quickly.
Simmer the curry roux until thickened, and add garam masala last.

Curry Roux

The first stage of the curry

The final stage of the curry.

Try it!! It's different but sooo good!

Enchiladas. Yummy.

One of my college BFFs shared this recipe with me after Matt and I had gone up to her family's house one weekend and Matt fell in love with the meal.

I've stayed true to the recipe with a little modification. I shred the chicken and mix it with the rice before filling. It makes for a much easier prep.

Ingredients:-
1 box mexican rice
3-4 chicken breasts cooked and cut into 1/2 inch strips or bit-sized pieces
Grated cheese (about one big package)
Ggreen enchilada sauce - a big can, short and fat, 30 or so oz-
Tortillas (I buy the 8 pack - big burrito size)

9x13 pan
Tin foil

Cook rice as instructed to.
Cook chicken and cut into pieces when done.
In an ungreased 9x13 pan pour green enchilada sauce, just enough to cover the bottom of the pan a thin layer.
Roll in tortillas cheese, rice, and chicken.
Place in pan.
About 6 should fit.
Pour remaining can of sauce over enchiladas.
Sprinkle cheese on top of enchiladas.
Cook in 350 degree oven until it bubbles around the edges and cheese is melted on top.
Last few minutes take off foil.

Boiling chicken..

Cooking a box of Mexican rice (I use Rice a Roni Spanish Rice and make sure my tomatoes have jalapeno in it!)


The chicken has been shredded up and mixed in with the rice.

The bottom of the pan has been coated with green enchilada sauce.

My prep station is set up and ready to go!
Filling the tortilla..

Look at them all folded up!

Sauce and cheese on top.. yum yum. Cover with foil at this point and bake!

After 30 ish minutes in the oven!

After the last 10 minutes without foil in the oven

Stuffed Chicken

This isn't my favorite, but it's good to have every once in a while. I found the recipe from allrecipes.com and tweaked it after trying the original.
(The original was pretty good!)

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Stuffed-Chicken-Valentino/Detail.aspx

INGREDIENTS
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1 (6 ounce) jar roasted red bell peppers, drained
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives
4 tablespoons shredded mozzarella cheese
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Slice a chicken breast in half lengthwise, leaving the halves attached on one side: opened and laid flat, the chicken breast should resemble a butterfly. Place between two sheets of plastic wrap, and pound flat. Repeat with remaining chicken breasts.
Combine Parmesan cheese with Italian seasoning and chives, and sprinkle over chicken breasts. At one end of each breast, place 3 strips of roasted pepper. Top with 1 tablespoon shredded cheese. Roll each breast up, starting on the side with the peppers and cheese. Insert a toothpick in each roll to prevent unrolling. Place in prepared baking dish. Season rolls with salt and pepper to taste, and drizzle with olive oil.
Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Set oven to broil, and continue cooking for 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven, slice to display the colorful filling, and serve.

For this version, I replaced the roasted red peppers with proscuitto and basil.





Tah-dah! A bit salty - so be sure to have something sweet afterwards!

Caramelized Baked Chicken

On the forum I check almost daily, someone (Kayte) recommended caramelized baked chicken from allrecipes.com - thought it wouldn't hurt to give it a try.

DELICIOUS. I drool thinking about it even 2 weeks later!

The original recipe is:

INGREDIENTS
3 pounds chicken wings
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 cup honey
1 clove garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
Place chicken in a 9x13 inch baking dish. Mix together the oil, soy sauce, ketchup, honey, garlic, salt and pepper. Pour over the chicken.
Bake in preheated oven for one hour, or until sauce is caramelized.

-----------------------
We aren't big on bone-in chicken, so I substituted breasts for wings. (Approximately 1 1/2 lb worth) ... and reading the reviews, we decided to modify the recipe as follows-

- Cooked the sauce on the stovetop for about 15 minutes and added a cornstarch slurry (equal amounts of cornstarch and water) to thicken the sauce a bit.

- Poured the sauce over the chicken in a FOIL LINED pan.

- Baked at 400 for 20-25 minutes.



Delicious. I apologize for the lack of photos - I was on the mend and all I wanted was food. :) Next time we make it, I'll snap pix.

Enjoy.

Herbed Mustard-Coated Chicken

I found this recipe in a cookbook a few years ago... Can't remember which one! It's been a favorite in the years since.

Herbed Mustard-Coated Chicken

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Lightly grease a pan.

2 TBSP mustard (any kind.. I've done dijon, honey mustard, plain mustard..)
2 TBSP italian salad dressing
Optional: Garlic... I usually add about 1-2 TBSP minced

Mix together in a bowl - put aside.

Combine the following in a separate bowl:

1/2 cup bread crumbs
2 TBSP Italian Parsley, chopped (I usually resort to the dried stuff.. about the same measurements)
1 TBSP thyme, chopped (use it dry as well.. same measurements)
A few grinds of black pepper





I use a package of thinly sliced chicken breasts. If you're anal, 1 pound should do the trick. Thin or thick, your preference. I personally think thin tastes much better. (and takes less time to cook!)

Cover the chicken breasts in the mustard mixture. Lay in pan.




Equally spread out the bread crumb mixture on top of the chicken.



Melt 2 TBSP butter and pour over the top of the chicken.



Bake at 425 for 15-20 minutes.



Note: the original recipe called for mixing the butter with the bread crumbs - I find this way (pouring butter on top) makes it more crispy. The choice is yours.

Serve with sides (green veggies and pasta work great!) and ENJOY!