Chicken Mozzarella

Savory sauce and juicy chicken...topped with cheese...and broiled...

This is my variation of chicken Parmesan. My husband I really like the tomato flavor in the sauce--the sugar tempers the acidity of the canned tomatoes. Spices like cumin and nutmeg and herbs like basil and parsley dress it all up. But this is not a complicated meal to make.

I found that 1/2 of a chicken breast (or half of a chicken breast half, if you want to be technical*) was a good serving size for me. Thus, I think this meal will serve up to 4 people with smallish appetites or 2 people with hunger pangs.

*Technically, a chicken has a breast (singular), and that breast is chopped into two halves and sold that way. So, technically, when you generally buy chicken breasts, those pieces of chicken are actually chicken breast halves. Apparently, though, misuse of the term has lead to the phrases "a chicken breast" and "a chicken breast half" being interchangeable, with both referring to the same portion/piece of a chicken. This I just learned after a bit of research. Since it's uncommon to find a whole chicken breast in supermarkets, I'm not going to bother with technicalities. I'm going with the general phrasing (no "halves" for me here).

Side ideas: Egg (or "no-egg") noodles, steamed green beans, steamed or grilled Brussels sprouts.

Chicken Mozzarella
Estimated total time: 1 hour
Oven temperature: 400 degrees F
Serves: 2 - 4

Ingredients

• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 8 fresh basil leaves
• Fresh parsley leaves (to make 1 tablespoon chopped)
• 1/4 cup + 1/8 cup all purpose flour
• Salt
• Freshly-ground black pepper
• A dash of ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic (about 2 cloves, minced)
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 2-1/4 cups crushed tomatoes (canned)
• 1/4 teaspoon sugar
• A dash of ground nutmeg
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• Dry egg noodles--2 to 4 servings worth (I used about 6 cups) for an optional side

Instructions

1. Rinse and dry fresh parsley. Chop enough parsley to make 1 tablespoon when chopped. Set aside.

2. Rinse and dry the basil leaves. Make a chiffonade of the leaves by placing them in a stack, rolling up the stack of leaves from the stem end to the tip, then chopping the roll into 1/8-inch slices, generally. Then chop these thin strips crosswise. Set aside.

 

 

3. Flatten the chicken breasts by placing them in a sturdy, sealable (airtight) plastic bag and pounding them with the side of a large can (or a meat mallet, if you have one). You want the chicken to be a more uniform thickness (about 1/2") throughout each piece.
4. Remove the chicken from the bag, rinse each piece, and pat them dry with a paper towel.
5. Trim any excess fat from the chicken.
6. Place 1/4 cup of flour in a wide bowl. Dredge one side of one chicken breast in the flour. Then sprinkle salt and freshly-ground black pepper, along with a dash of ground cumin, on the un-floured side.

7. Turn the piece of chicken over, and dredge the other side in the flour. Remove this piece of chicken, gently shaking off excess flour.

8. Add about 1/8 cup of flour to the wide bowl. Repeat steps #6 and #7 with the other chicken breast piece.
9. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
10. Place 1 tablespoon of butter in a straight-sided saute pan set on medium-high heat. When the butter melts, tilt the pan to swirl the butter, coating the bottom of the pan.

 

11. When the butter is hot and bubbly, add the chicken to the pan. Cook for three minutes on one side.

12. Meanwhile, set a large pot of water on high heat to cook the egg noodles (if desired), according to the package directions.
13. After the chicken has cooked on one side for three minutes, turn both pieces over and cook for about 4 more minutes until done.

14. Remove chicken from the pan and place in a 8" x 8" or similar baking dish.

15. To the saute pan, add 1 tablespoon of minced garlic and turn the heat to medium. Stir the garlic around the pan, scraping up some of the juices from the bottom of the pan.

16. When the garlic is fragrant and sizzling (but not burning), add a splash of white wine to the pan--about 1/4 cup. Stir.

17. Keep cooking and stirring over medium heat, allowing the liquid to reduce by half. This will take about 2 minutes.

18. Add about 2-1/4 cups of crushed tomatoes.

19. Stir in 1/4 teaspoon of sugar, several twists of freshly-ground black pepper, and a dash of ground nutmeg. Cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring often.

20. When the tomato mixture is bubbly, add the chopped parsley and basil. Stir for 1 minute. Remove from heat.

21. Carefully pour the tomato mixture over the chicken in the baking dish.

22. Sprinkle 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese over the chicken.

23. When the pasta water has begun to boil, you may add the egg noodles. Follow their package's directions and remove and drain the water when they are cooked sufficiently.
24. Place the dish in the center of the preheated oven and bake for about 8 minutes--until the cheese is melted well.

25. When cheese is melted, turn the oven broiler on and broil for about 3 minutes. Watch the dish carefully--avoid burning the cheese.

26. When the cheese is nicely golden brown, remove the dish from the oven.

27. Serve the chicken mozzarella with egg noodles and steamed green beans.

Enjoy!

Savory Chicken Fajitas

Yummy and good for you, too...

Chicken marinated in a mixture of lime juice, soy sauce, red wine vinegar, cumin, and chili powder is then sauteed with sliced bell pepper, onion, tomato, and some garlic. It's quite the combination of flavors. When the chicken is cooking--ah, the scent of lime and spices!

Be sure to slice the bell pepper quite thinly so it will cook quickly along with the onion and become nicely tender.

The tomatoes are added late in the cooking process because they need only to heat through--too long a saute-time will cause quite the mush.

Toppings: Plain yogurt, salsa, hot sauce, lettuce, shredded cheese.

Sides: Applesauce, rice, quinoa, tortilla chips and salsa.

Savory Chicken Fajitas
Estimated time: 45 minutes (plus extra time for marinading, if desired)
Serves 2 - 4

Ingredients

• 1 pound boneless skinless chicken
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon lime juice
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 bell pepper
• 1 large onion
• 1 medium tomato
• 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
• 4-8 whole wheat tortillas
• Optional toppings:
• Plain yogurt (optional topping)
• Salsa (optional topping)
• Shredded cheese (optional topping)
• Shredded lettuce (optional topping)

Instructions

1. Rinse and pat the chicken dry with a paper towel. Slice the chicken into bite-sized pieces then transfer them to a medium bowl.
2. In a small bowl, mix together the soy sauce, red wine vinegar, and lime juice. Pour over the chicken pieces. Sprinkle the cumin and chili powder on top, then stir thoroughly to combine. Cover and set aside as you prepare the other ingredients (or cover and refrigerate for up to 2 hours prior to cooking).

3. Rinse and dry the bell pepper. Slice it into very thin strips. Set aside.

4. Cut the onion into thin slices. Set aside.

5. Halve the tomato and cut it into thin slices.

6. Add 2 teaspoons olive oil to a large, straight-sided skillet and heat over medium-high heat until the oil flows easily if the pan is tilted slightly.
7. Carefully add the marinated chicken and the marinade sauce to the pan. Cook for 5-7 minutes, turning the pieces occasionally.

8. Add the minced garlic, sliced peppers, and sliced onion to the pan. Cook 5-7 minutes, stirring often, till the onions are tender.

9. Add the tomato slices, stir gently, and cook the mixture for 1 more minute, until the tomatoes are also heated through.

10. Serve on whole grain tortillas with toppings like plain yogurt, shredded cheese, and shredded lettuce.

Enjoy!

Slow-Cooker Pulled Chicken BBQ

 A fun spring or summertime meal...

Ever since I first made my Slow-Cooker Chicken & Sun-Dried Tomatoes, I had been wanting to come up with a variation on the pulled pork barbecue sandwich--using chicken instead of pork. Why? The chicken in the sun-dried tomatoes dish turns out so tender, juicy, and quite sandwich-toppable. I envisioned a savory hot sandwich--like those served up at bbq restaurants everywhere, only healthier, homemade, and still easy.

My husband and a friend together polished off 4 sandwiches worth of this stuff. My, it sure tasted good.

This recipe requires so little effort to prepare: dice two Roma tomatoes (or any smallish tomatoes), measure out the rest of the ingredients, put it all in a slow-cooker, and leave it alone till about an hour before mealtime. At that point, take two forks and pull apart the chicken, essentially ripping it to, well, shreds. Then allow it to cook for about an hour longer to allow the shredded chicken pieces to soak up the flavor some more. (It's not critical that you shred it an hour before mealtime; you can wait until just before, and it'll still be tasty.)

I used frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts, but you can use any type of boneless skinless chicken: white or dark meat that is frozen, thawed, or somewhat-thawed. Just be sure to remove as much excess fat as possible.

About rolls: Since the idea is to make a sandwich, you'll want to have large rolls of some sort--store-bought or homemade. I made these bread machine rolls I found on allrecipes.com. The recipe worked very well, and it was easy because the dough mixes up and rises the first time in the bread machine.

These are some alterations I made to the recipe, along with some tips:

• Add 1/2 teaspoon onion powder after adding the salt.
• Use 2-1/4 teaspoons bread machine yeast (about equal to a .25 oz package of active dry yeast)
• I had to add 2 tablespoons warm water to the machine as it was mixing because the dough was still too dry
• The recipe is intended to make 12 smallish dinner rolls, so to make sandwich rolls, separate the dough into 8 pieces instead of 12 when the instructions say to do so.
• Let the 8 pieces rise on the greased (buttered) baking sheet for over 1 hour instead of just 40 minutes.
• Optional: After the 15 minutes of cooking time, I lightly brushed the tops of the rolls with melted butter and then baked them for 4 more minutes. This worked just fine, but I wasn't a fan of the extra saltiness added by the butter. I'd recommend either following the recipe's suggestion to brush the tops of the rolls with a water-egg-white mixture or serving the rolls plain.
• Slice the rolls in 1/2 before serving them with the pulled chicken bbq.
• Note: My bread machine's dough cycle is 1.5 hours long. Based on that, and with the second rising (proofing) time and prep time included,  I recommend allowing at least 2 hours and 45 minutes for making these rolls.

And back to the BBQ...
This slow-cooker pulled chicken recipe is a great recipe to play around with, adding spices and liquids that sound good to you. If you don't have spices like turmeric and paprika, don't use them--add something else, if you want to. Use the barbecue sauce that you like the best, and add more of it if you want. Have fun!

A final note: When you shred the chicken, especially if you do so before the end of the cooking time, try to work as quickly as you can. Moisture will escape from the bowl for as long as you have the lid off of it.

Side ideas: Steamed corn, fresh corn on the cob, salad, baked beans.

Slow-Cooker Pulled Chicken BBQ
Estimated Time: 20 minutes prep + 5 hours slow-cooking
Serves 4-6

Ingredients

• 4-6 Sandwich rolls or hamburger buns
• 4 frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 2 ripe roma tomatoes, diced small
• Generous amount of freshly-ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon molasses
• 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
• 1 tablespoon light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1/4 cup of your favorite barbecue sauce (I used KC Masterpiece)
• 1 teaspoon spicy brown mustard

Instructions
1. Place boneless skinless chicken breasts in slow-cooker bowl.

2. Sprinkle diced tomatoes on top of chicken.

3. Grind a generous amount of black peppercorns into the bowl.
4. Measure and add the minced garlic.

5. Add the molasses, turmeric, onion powder, and paprika on top of the ingredients in the bowl.
6. In a medium bowl or large (2 or 3 cup) measuring cup, combine the Worcestershire sauce, red wine vinegar, Tabasco sauce, light brown sugar, ketchup, barbecue sauce, and spicy brown mustard. Stir together well, then pour over the top of the ingredients already in the slow-cooker bowl.

(Image depicts mixture after an hour or so of cooking.)

7. Place the lid on the slow-cooker and cook on HIGH for 4 hours.
8. After 4 hours on HIGH, remove the lid and use two forks to pull apart the meat, shredding it well. Work quickly to avoid losing much moisture into the air.

9. Place the lid back on the slow-cooker and cook on HIGH for 1 more hour (or longer for a more tender meat).

{Total cook time should be at least 5 hours on HIGH.}
10. Serve while warm on sandwich rolls.

Enjoy!