Chicken Pot Pie-2

Recipe number two for chicken pot pie. I liked it better than the first recipe. I roasted the chicken with the Roast Chicken with Herbs recipe and saved the drippings. The topping for the pie was gluten-free. I got that recipe from Silvanas Kitchen. Here is my best guess as to how I made the filling.

1 small onion, chopped
2 stalks of celery, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
6 mushrooms, chopped
1/2 C frozen peas
Other veggies
2 C cooked chicken, cut into small cubes

Saute onions, celery, and carrots till the onion is slightly transparent. Add chopped mushrooms and saute just a bit. Then add frozen peas and any other vegies you want. I added some left over roasted potatoes cut into cubes. Then add your cooked chicken. Pour this into a baking dish.

Preheat the oven to 375F.

1/4 C chicken drippings (from your roasted chicken) or butter or oil
1/4 C GF flour mix
3 T corn starch
3 C vegetable stock

Mix the flours and fat together over medium heat till smooth. Then add the vegetable stock. Bring to a boil, then simmer till thickened. Add to the vege mixture.

GF Crust for topping

1¾ cups (245g) Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour Blend
¼ teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (117g) butter, cut into small pieces
1 egg (58g), lightly beaten, plus 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash

In a food processor, combine the flour blend, salt and butter and pulse until coarse crumbs form. Add the beaten egg; pulse until the dough almost forms a ball. Remove the dough and gather it into a ball.

Place a piece of plastic wrap on a clean surface. Lightly dust with flour blend and place the dough on top, sprinkle with more flour and cover with another piece of plastic wrap. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough into a shape that will cover your baking dish. Remove the plastic wrap on top of the dough. Flip the dough on top of the pie filling and remove the plastic wrap. Trim any excess dough, crimp crust edges together. Brush the dough with the egg wash and make 3 slits on top. Place on a baking sheet (to catch any drips); bake until golden, about 1 hour.

**I forgot to take a photo before we dove in. This is my favorite chicken pot pie so far.

Rosemary Chicken Comfort Food

This recipe comes from the cookbook, Glorious One-Pot Meals. It is a great cookbook for busy folks- essentially you pile the food (in order) in a dutch oven, stick it in the oven and you're finished. This recipe is a favorite of my youngest. I have amended the recipe a bit, but not significantly.

1/4 onion, cut into 1 inch slices
2 pieces boneless, skinless chicken breasts
salt and pepper to taste
6 - 8 small potatoes, new or boilers- I used Russets, cut into smaller chunks
1/2 small acorn squash, cut into 1 inch cubes - I used a winter squash- not acorn
5 - 10 mushrooms, thickly sliced
15 - 20 green beans, trimmed, cut into thirds - I left out this step with the intention of steaming them
4 - 6 sprigs rosemary or 1/2 teaspoon dried - do NOT use dried- use fresh!

Preheat oven to 450°F. Spray inside of 2-quart Dutch oven and lid with a high heat oil.
Separate onion slices and place in a layer on bottom of pot. Rinse chicken pieces and place over the onions. Lightly salt and pepper. Stab each potato multiple times with a fork and drop into pot above the chicken. Arrange cubes of squash in gently. Add mushrooms and cover with final layer of green beans. Lightly salt and pepper. Tuck sprigs of rosemary into crevices. Cover and bake for 45 minutes, or until 3 minutes after the aroma wafts from the oven.

 Here it is going into the oven- you can see I used dried rosemary. Not a good idea- they end up like little toothpicks in your meal. I salted and peppered it after the photo was taken.

 **Delicious- the chicken was tender and moist. The winter squash was a bit mushy, but acceptable. I have a dollop of my cheeky plum sauce that I canned earlier this summer with it.

Spicy Turmeric Chicken

I've been reading about the healing properties of turmeric- so I thought I'd give this a try. I found this recipe in the Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Recipes for Entertaining and here on line. It has been suggested that you wear rubber/plastic gloves. However, you can always use a brush to brush the marinade on.

Turmeric Marinade:

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 tablespoon paprika

1 tablespoon ground turmeric

1 ½ teaspoons red chile powder

½ to 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper or red chili pepper

1 to 1 ½ teaspoons freshly ground black pepper to taste

2 ½ teaspoons of salt

2-3 cloves of garlic, mashed

6 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice  

One 4 to 4 ½ pound chicken 

Coat the inside of the slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray.

Making the marinade is easy in a glass or stainless steel bowl that will not stain. Turmeric will stain everything, so use caution. Simply combine all of the spices along with garlic and lemon juice. Stir.

Coat the chicken with the marinade mixture covering the entire surface of the chicken. Place in the crock pot (it will also stain a lightly colored crock). Cook on HIGH for 4-5 hours or cook on LOW for 7-9 hours. Chicken is done when the meat falls easily away from the bones.

**OK- the top photo doesn't look that great, especially since both legs had already been taken off. (ha ha). And there is one of the legs on the picture below with the roasted vegetables! Very easy dish, very tender chicken.

Roast Chicken with Herbs

This recipe comes from a cook book I received as a wedding gift, many moons ago. It is published by Sunset, called Easy Basics for Good Cooking. I used to make the roast chicken as a meal for new mothers. I'll try it again and see if the reality of today matches my memory of it. My intention is to put the chicken on a rack in a roasting pan and fill the pan with vegetables for roasting. If you don't want to do that, then save the drippings and use them as a base for your roux for chicken pot pie.

1 frying chicken (3-4 lbs)
3 cloves garlic, halved
2 bay leaves
3 T butter, melted
1/4 t each salt and pepper
1/4 t each ground sage, dry basil, thyme, oregano, and marjoram leaves
2 bay leaves

Remove giblets, etc.

Rub skin of chicken with 1 clove garlic; then put all garlic and bay leaves into the body cavity. In a small bowl, stir together all other spices with the butter. Spoon 1 T of this mixture into the cavity. Truss now (if you want to.)

Brush skin generously with the rest of the butter mixture. Place chicken, breast side up, on a rack in a shallow roasting pan. Bake uncovered, in a 375 oven for 1 to 1/1/2 hours or deep thigh reaches 185.

Baste occasionally with any remaining butter mixture or pan drippings during last half-hour of roasting. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

 **Delicious and so easy! You can see I added potatoes, sweet potatoes, and carrots to the roasting pan  as well.

Chicken pot pie-1

I ended up bagging the stock from the chicken soup earlier this week and freezing it for later. I cut the chicken up into bits for this dish. I found this recipe on food.com. I have amended the recipe below.

• 1 package pie crust, thawed and rolled for top
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour (spelt)
• 1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 3/4 cup milk
• 2 3/4 cups cooked chicken (cut up)
• 2 cups mixed vegetables-I used cooked carrots, sweet potatoes, and frozen peas.

Directions:

1. Thaw crust according to package directions-or make your own.
2. Heat butter in large saucepan. Cook onion in butter until tender-crisp.
3. Add flour and seasonings, mixing until smooth.
4. Gradually stir in broth and milk. Cook, stirring constantly, over medium heat until mixture comes to a boil and is smoothly thickened.
5. Stir in chicken and vegetables.
6. Cool slightly. Spoon into baking dish.
7. Place rolled out puff pastry on top and make slits for steam to escape.
8. Bake on lower rack in oven @ 375*F. until filling is bubbling and crust is puffed and golden brown. 30-35 minutes.

**this is a super easy dish to make. However, I didn't think it was flavorful enough. Next time, I'll up the spices and make sure to include a bit of sage and rosemary.

Quick chicken strips

This is the easiest thing to make when you get home late. My daughter loves them. My sister taught a "Kids in the Kitchen" cooking class and used this recipe. If the chicken breasts are somewhat frozen when you start, it will be easier to cut them into strips. By the time you have finished cutting them, they will be thawed enough to handle the 'breading'.

Preheat the oven to 375 F.

2 (or more) semi-frozen chicken breasts, cut into strips.
A good 4 or 5 handfuls of corn tortilla chips crushed. You can do this in the food processor or get your kids to help you smash them inside a ziplock with a rolling pin.
Add a tablespoon or so of taco seasoning to the corn chips.

Roll the chicken strips in the seasoned tortilla mixture and put on a cookie sheet.
Bake for about 10 minutes or until done.

**Tasty and super easy!

Pressure cooker chicken soup

Last week I happened to catch a part of Dr Oz. He was exploring health myths. One of them had to do with the efficacy of using chicken soup during a cold. His conclusion? Not a myth- chicken soup really does help. Last week, I caught a cold from my daughter. Ugh. So out came the chicken from the freezer (they were on sale at Whole Foods the week prior- so I bought two) and down came the pressure cooker... I pulled this recipe from the internet- the Boston.com site. I have adapted it below.


Pressure-cooker chicken soup
Serves 6
6 carrots (leave whole)
2 medium onions, chopped
6 stalks fresh parsley 
3 celery stalks- top with the greens
1 bay leaf
4 peppercorns
1 chicken (3 1/2 pounds), cut in half (you could do quarters if it fits better in your pressure cooker)
1 tablespoon kosher salt
12 cups water (or as much as you can safely put into your pressure cooker)


1. In a pressure cooker, lay the carrots, onions, parsnip, parsley, bay leaf, and peppercorns in the bottom. Add the chicken pieces with the neck and gizzard, extra breasts, and salt. Pour in the water.
2. Lock the lid and set over high heat to bring the pressure up. Adjust the heat to maintain medium pressure and cook for 15 minutes exactly. (Important: do not leave the kitchen while the pressure cooker is on; modern cookers are perfectly safe, but you still need to babysit.)
3. Let the pressure cooker sit for 5 minutes. Carefully carry the cooker to the sink and run very cold water onto the top to bring the pressure down. You'll hear the valve make a big sigh. When it's safe to remove the lid, lift it off.
4. Let the soup cool for 20 minutes. With tongs, transfer the chicken to a large bowl. Put the vegetables into one container, tip the broth into another. Discard the parsley, bay leaf, and peppercorns. Let everything cool.
5. Refrigerate the broth. Remove the meat from the chicken bones and transfer the meat to the vegetables. Refrigerate.
6. Remove the fat from the broth. Tip the broth into a soup pot. Add the vegetables and chicken. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Adapted from "The Way We Cook"

**Oops. Forgot to take a photo. Tasted good. I still have the cold. 

Roast Chicken with root vegetables

What a perfect night to have this dish! Cold and dark, wind blowing, snow trying to form. I haven't made a roast chicken for a long time, so I thought I'd give it a go. I have a standby recipe I usually make, so I was pleased to try this one from Jamie Oliver. I like how nonchalant his recipes are and this one is just the same. I got the chicken from Whole Foods. I've amended the recipe below. If you want to know how to carve your chicken and make gravy, go to the link above.

• 1 x approximately 4 lb chicken, preferably free-range, organic or higher welfare
• 2 medium onions
• 2 carrots
• 4 potatoes
• turnips
• olive oil
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 lemon
a small bunch of fresh thyme, rosemary, bay or sage, or a mixture (I used thyme from my garden)

To prepare your chicken
• Take your chicken out of the fridge 30 minutes before it goes into the oven
• Preheat your oven to 475°F
• There’s no need to peel the vegetables – just give them a wash and roughly chop them 

• Pile all the veg and garlic into the middle of a large roasting tray and drizzle with olive oil
• Drizzle the chicken with olive oil and season well with salt and pepper, rubbing it all over the bird
• Carefully prick the lemon all over, using the tip of a sharp knife (if you have a microwave, you could pop the lemon in these for 40 seconds at this point as this will really bring out the flavour)
• Put the lemon inside the chicken’s cavity, with the bunch of herbs

To cook your chicken
• Place the chicken on top of the vegetables in the roasting tray and put it into the preheated oven
• Turn the heat down immediately to 400°F and cook the chicken for 1 hour and 20 minutes
• Baste the chicken halfway through cooking and if the veg look dry, add a splash of water to the tray to stop them burning
• When cooked, take the tray out of the oven and transfer the chicken to a board to rest for 15 minutes or so

**The top photo is the chicken going into the oven. It turned out beautiful, juicy and tender.

Chicken Tortilla Soup- Slow Cooker

What a great way to use green chiles, the last of the tomatoes from the garden,  and some leftover corn tortillas from last week. I used this recipe as a starter but I've amended the recipe below.

1 pound chicken breasts 4-5 fresh chopped tomatoes 1 medium onion, chopped Good amount of chopped green chile 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 C chicken broth 1 teaspoon cumin 1/2 teaspoon chipotle chili powder 1 teaspoon salt 1 (10 ounce) package frozen corn-make sure it is organic! Corn tortillas- white is best to stay GMO safe

Directions:

1.	Place chicken, tomatoes, onion, green chiles, and garlic into a slow cooker. Pour in chicken broth, and season with cumin, chili powder, and salt. Stir in corn. Cover, and cook on Low setting for 6 to 8 hours.
2.	Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
3.	Lightly brush both sides of tortillas with oil. Cut tortillas into strips, then spread on a baking sheet.
4.	Bake in preheated oven until crisp, about 10 to 15 minutes. To serve, sprinkle tortilla strips over soup.  **I have yet to do the tortilla crisping. My husband just put chips on his. I ate it plain. This was a great soup. Very easy and tasty.

Lime marinated chicken kabobs

I made this recipe back in May during graduation week. The leftover chicken in marinade got frozen. It has been a nice treat to pull it out of the freezer, thread it on the skewers and grill it. Here is the recipe on-line.

For 6 chicken breasts cubed:

• 4 tablespoons honey
• 2 T olive oil
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• juice & zest of one lime
• 2 cloves garlic

Blend honey, soy sauce, lime juice and zest and garlic. Put chicken in baking dish or large Ziploc bag, and cover with the marinade. Marinade in refrigerator for 4 hours up to overnight.

 **Great marinade. Easy to make. Works well frozen.

Pasta with chard, garlic, tomatoes and grilled chicken

I was inspired to make this recipe based on a piquant pasta recipe from my New Zealand Vegetarian Adventures cookbook. The tomatoes were brought home from our LPO work share- unfortunately they had been split on the top so couldn't be sold. Lucky for us!

1 lb pasta, cooked
3 garlic cloves, crushed
3 tomatoes, cubed
2 bundles Swiss chard, stemmed and cut into small pieces
1/4 C fresh basil, cut into pieces
1/4-1/2 C freshly shredded parmesan
Grilled chicken

Cook the pasta in a separate pot. Drain when finished.

Warm olive oil in a separate skillet, add garlic and begin to saute. When just fragrant, add the tomatoes. Simmer for a bit and then add the chard. Mix the chard into the tomato garlic mixture well and let simmer for a few minutes. Add the basil on top and take off the heat. Let the basil wilt a bit and then add the drained pasta.

Slice the grilled chicken.

**Delicious! It was especially flavored because I used the olive oil from my marinated sun dried tomatoes which was infused with garlic, salt, and thyme.  A great way to use your greens.

Caesar Salad with grilled chicken

Got the dressing recipe from the smitten kitchen blog. I've copied it directly below.


Caesar Salad Dressing
Because I created this for me, me, me, my Caesar salad dressing is raw egg and anchovy optional, and I swear you won’t miss them. But if this offends the Caesar purist in you, I’ve given options for both. Now can’t we all get along?

2 tablespoons mayonnaise – or – 1 egg
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 small garlic clove, minced
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce, plus a drop or two more, to taste
1 oil-packed anchovy fillet, finely chopped (optional)
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Whisk all except last together. Gradually whisk in 1/4 cup olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. (Dressing can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature and rewhisk before using.)

**I used romaine lettuce, shaved the parmesan cheese, marinated the chicken in Newman's organic Tuscan Italian salad dressing before grilling, and topped the salad with the last of the kalamata olives from the previous night's pizza. We used the egg instead of mayo in the dressing. I would add one more anchovy next time to better balance the garlic.

Braised Chicken with Swiss Chard, Tomatoes, and Balsamic Vinegar

This looked like a nice recipe- using up some more of the chard that I have. I found it online at an interesting site called Meals Matter. They are interested in better and more nutritious meal planning and offer tools for folks.

8 Bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (about 3 pounds), trimmed of excess fat and skin
Table salt and ground black pepper
1 tablespoon Olive oil
1 Large onion , halved and sliced about 1/4 inch thick (about 2 cups)
1 tablespoon Tomato paste
3 cloves Garlic , minced or pressed through garlic press (about 1 tablespoon)
1 Anchovy fillet , minced (about 1 teaspoon)
1 can (14 1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes , drained
2 cups Low-sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup Dry red wine
1/4 teaspoon Red pepper flakes
1 1/2 tablespoons Chopped fresh thyme leaves
1 Bay leaf
12 ounces Swiss chard , washed and dried
1/2 cup Balsamic vinegar

Preparation

1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position; heat oven to 350 degrees. Sprinkle both sides of chicken thighs with salt and pepper. Heat oil in nonreactive Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering but not smoking; add chicken thighs skin-side down and cook without moving them until skin is crisped and well browned, 10 to 12 minutes. Using tongs, turn chicken pieces and brown on second side, about 5 minutes longer; transfer thighs to large plate.
2. Pour off all but 1 teaspoon fat from pot. Add onion and tomato paste and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally and scraping bottom of pot with wooden spoon, until tomato paste begins to darken, about 4 minutes (if bottom of pot becomes very dark and sticky, stir in 1 to 2 tablespoons water). Add garlic and anchovy and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in tomatoes, chicken broth, and wine, scraping up browned bits with wooden spoon. Add red pepper flakes, thyme, and bay. Remove and discard skin from chicken thighs, then submerge chicken bone-side up in liquid, adding any chicken juices accumulated on plate. Increase heat to high, bring to simmer, cover, then place pot in oven. Cook until chicken offers no resistance when poked with tip of paring knife but meat still clings to bone, 40 to 55 minutes.
3. While chicken cooks, trim stems from Swiss chard. Cut stems crosswise into 1/4-inch pieces; halve leaves lengthwise, then cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick strips. Set stems and leaves aside separately. Also while chicken cooks, simmer balsamic vinegar in 8-inch nonreactive skillet over medium-high heat until thick, syrupy, and reduced to 1/4 cup, 3 to 5 minutes (begin measuring volume when vinegar begins to cling to sides of saucepan). Set vinegar reduction aside.
4. Using slotted spoon, transfer chicken to plate and tent with foil; discard bay leaf. Bring liquid in Dutch oven to simmer over medium-high heat; add chard stems and cook, stirring occasionally, until almost tender, about 8 minutes. Add chard greens and cook until wilted, about 2 minutes. Stir about 1/3 cup sauce into balsamic reduction to loosen, then stir mixture into sauce; adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Return chicken and accumulated juices to sauce, cook until heated through, about 2 minutes, turning chicken once or twice. Use slotted spoon to transfer chard to serving dish or individual bowls; place chicken thighs on chard, then spoon sauce over. Serve immediately.

**I will be skipping step number one and making modifications since I will be using skinless, boneless chicken thighs. This dish is very tasty!

Chicken Tenders

It feels a bit silly to post this because it is so easy. It is a great recipe for little kids and we are still eating it!

 Chicken breast, cut into thin strips
Good handful or two or three of corn chips, crushed in a food processor
1 T taco seasoning- mixed with the corn chips

Dredge the chicken strips into the chips. Place on cookie sheet. Cook for 14-15 minutes on 350. (or until done)

**Yummy.

Spicy Stir Fried Chicken and Greens with Peanuts

Saw this on Epicurious. Looked like a nice fresh way to use our LPO cooking greens.

2 tablespoons soy sauce, divided
2 tablespoons dry Sherry, divided
3 teaspoons Asian sesame oil, divided
2 teaspoons golden brown sugar, divided
1 1/4 pounds skinless boneless chicken breast halves, cut crosswise into 1/3-inch-wide strips
3 tablespoons peanut oil, divided
4 green onions, white parts and green parts chopped separately
2 teaspoons chopped seeded serrano chiles
1 large bunch greens (such as spinach, mustard greens, kale, or broccoli rabe; about 1 pound), thick stems removed, spinach left whole, other greens cut into 1-inch strips (about 10 cups packed)
1/4 cup chopped roasted salted peanuts

Whisk 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 tablespoon Sherry, 1 teaspoon sesame oil, and 1 teaspoon sugar in medium bowl. Add chicken; marinade 20 to 30 minutes.
Whisk remaining 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 tablespoon Sherry, 2 teaspoons sesame oil, and 1 teaspoon sugar in small bowl and reserve.
Heat 2 tablespoons peanut oil in large nonstick skillet over high heat. Add white parts of onions and chiles; stir 30 seconds. Add chicken; stir-fry just until cooked through, about 3 minutes. Transfer chicken mixture to bowl. Add 1 tablespoon peanut oil to same skillet; heat over high heat. Add greens by large handfuls; stir just until beginning to wilt before adding more. Sauté just until tender, 1 to 6 minutes, depending on type of greens. Return chicken to skillet. Add reserved soy sauce mixture; stir until heated through, about 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to serving bowl; sprinkle with green parts of onions and peanuts.

 **I got 3 1/2 C of greens from LPO and added another 1 1/2 C of curly leaf kale from my garden. That is about 1/2 of what was called for in the recipe. I think the dish could have used some more. I used less chicken (1 lb vs 1 1/2 lbs), and I used thighs instead of breast meat. I used 2 green chilis instead of serranos. I thought it was a delicious dish- very easy to make. Another great way to use greens.

Bahamas Chicken

This recipe comes from a book called, Glorious One-Pot Meals by Elizabeth Yarnell. I used to cook from it a lot. She has a method of infusion cooking by layering the food into a dutch oven and then simply cooking it for 45 minutes (no peeking). I used to layer the ingredients frozen, then set the oven timer so it was ready when we walked in the door. You can buy the book from Amazon or on her site. She has a section on recipes, but it isn't interactive. This is a new recipe for me to try.

Serves 2*

1/2 t cumin seeds
2-4 pieces chicken
salt and pepper, to taste
2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 med potato, cut into 1" cubes
1/2 red or orange bell pepper, 1" wedges
1/2 small yellow summer squash, 1" chunks
1/2 C broccoli florets
3 T vinegar, rice or wine
3 T orange juice
1/2 t oregano, dried
1/2 t paprika
1/4 t ground allspice
1/4 t black pepper
1/4 t red pepper flakes

Preheat oven to 450. Spray inside of a 2 quart Dutch oven and lid with oil.
Sprinkle cumin seeds in base of pot. Rinse chicken and place in pot. Lightly salt and pepper. Sprinkle with garlic. Add potatoes on top of chicken. Layer in bell peppers, squash and broccoli.
In a bowl, mix vinegar, orange juice, oregano, paprika, allspice black pepper and red pepper. Pour over top.
Cover and bake in oven for 45 minutes, or until aroma wafts from the oven.

*This will serve us all according to the amount of chicken I put in. I will increase the amount of potatoes. I will substitute carrots for the bell pepper and squash. I might add the rest of the chard I have left and put it in before the marinade. I won't add the broccoli since I am steaming more of it on the side.

 **Delicious and easy to prepare. The carrots and potatoes were cooked to perfection and the chicken was tender. I didn't put the chard on top after all.

Chicken Escalopes

This is a great recipe- easy and fast. I got it from one of my favorite sites in New Zealand, Cuisine.

For the spiced butter:
100g butter, softened (7 tablespoons)
1 T cumin
1/2 t nutmeg
peel of 1/4 preserved lemon, finely diced
juice of 1/2 lemon

For the chicken:
4 skinless chicken breasts
3-4 T flour
1 t sweet smoked paprika
small pinch of chili powder
2 T olive oil

Place the butter in a small bowl and blend in the remaining ingredients and set aside.

To prepare the escalopes, place each chicken breast between sheets of plastic wrap or waxed paper. With a heavy rolling pin, flatten out the flesh evenly to around 1 cm thick (little less than 1/2 inch). Set aside.

Sieve the flour, paprika and chili powder together to make a pink dust. Set aside.

Place the olive oil in a heavy frying pan and add half the butter mixture. While it heats, dip 2 chicken breasts in the paprika flour, shake off any excess and immediately fry for 2 minutes in the foaming butter. Turn over and cook on the second side for 1 further minute. Remove to a warmed dish and cover while you fry the other 2 escalopes.

Place the chicken on a serving platter and melt the remaining butter on it.

 ** This is a quick dish. Very tasty. Don't skimp on the salt. I didn't add more of the seasoned butter at the end.

Chicken Tandoori

This recipe came from a magazine- it might have been Bon Appetit.

8 skinless, boneless chicken thighs (about 2 1/2 lbs)
Juice of one lemon
1/2 C plus 2 T plain yogurt
1 T vegetable oil
1/2 small red onion, roughly chopped
3 cloves garlic, smashed
1 2-inch piece ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
4 t tomato paste
2 t coriander
1 1/2 t cumin
1 3/4 t hot paprika
2 T chopped fresh cilantro

Preheat the broiler. Make shallow cuts in the chicken thighs with a sharp knife. Toss the chicken with the lemon juice and 1 1/2 t salt in a large bowl.

Pulse 2 T yogurt, the vegetable oil, onion, garlic, ginger, tomato paste, coriander, cumin, 1 1/2 t paprika and 1/2 t salt in a food processor to make a paste. Toss the chicken in the mixture and let marinate 15 minutes.

Place the chicken on a foil-lined broiler pan. Broil, turning once, until slightly charred and a thermometer inserted into the center registers 165, 5-6 minutes per side.

Meanwhile, combine the remaining 1/2 C yogurt and 1/4 t paprika, the cilantro and a pinch of salt in a bowl. Top the chicken with the yogurt sauce and serve with rice, if desired.

Per serve: 237 calories; 9g fat (2 g saturated), 115 mg cholesterol, 1266 mg sodium, 8 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 30 g protein.

**Great flavor. Very easy to make. I let it marinate for several hours. Loved the fractal broccoli by the way! The rice was left over from Sunday.