Baked Chicken

Things that go “Bumpily” into the night…

~ Gary Bechard ~ Leave a comment

I know it has been a while, for those of you that follow this blog, and I apologize for not being more diligent in my writing endeavors. However, today I have a couple of things that I have been researching which are now ready for “prime time” that I would like to share. The first thing, and I will state this up front, no, the featured picture is not of Martian pyramids discovered by the NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover nor are they sound proofing material or a sadistic mattress pad. The picture is of a silicon baking sheet which is dishwasher safe and helps create a nice crispy outer layer on those items which could be fried (chicken wings, breadcrumb coated chicken breasts, etc.) only without the oil and related slipperiness associated with deep-frying stuff. The sheet also works for items such as zucchini strips or eggplant cubes you may want to serve as appetizers for your next big shindig. The sheet fits in the bottom of a regular cookie sheet or can be trimmed to fit smaller cookie sheets. I got this one at Bed, Bath and Beyond for not a whole lot of cash.

Next, have you ever wondered what in the world you can do with the grocery store rotisserie chickens after the regular meal? Well, we had some leftover chicken I had deboned  from a previous meal and was getting hungry for lunch when I was trying to figure out what to do with the cup and a half of shredded leftover chicken. Not wanting to go down the traditional chicken salad route, I decided to do a taziki sauce to mix with the chicken to make the chicken salad.  Doing taziki sauce instead of mayonnaise helps eliminate the “I’ve got a bowling ball in my stomach” feeling especially during warmer weather. Below is the recipe for a simple taziki sauce which does not have the traditional garlic (you could add a couple of minced cloves if you want to or even a hint of mint) which worked great for this recipe.

I started with 1 1/2 cups of shredded chicken then…

Simple Taziki Sauce

Ingredients:

1/2 – Medium cucumber, peeled, seeded and very fine diced (you can also use an ½ an English cucumber if you are not in a seeding kind of mood)

8 oz (1 cup) – Cold plain Greek yogurt (either full fat or fat free will work)

1 tbsp – chopped dill, fresh

1 tbsp – Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 1/2 Tbsp – freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 1/2 a lemon) in case you are thinking otherwise, please squeeze a real lemon, you’ll thank me for it)

1/2 tsp – salt, or to taste (some of us are saltier than others)

1/8 tsp – Coarse ground black pepper

A pinch – Red pepper flakes

Construction Instruction:

In a large bowl, combine all of the ingredients and whisk together until all the ingredients are evenly distributed. Cover the mixture and place in the refrigerator to chill before use.

This sauce is good for a wide variety of uses from dips to garnish even making chicken salad.

Enjoy!

The Well Fed Cyclist

Gary Bechard

Everyone needs a quest…

~ Gary Bechard ~ 1 Comment

First, I have to apologize for not posting last week.  I was not prepared as I had too many recipes which had not been converted to electronic format and the food notebook is well, for lack of better words, something that looks like the rants and scribblings of a lunatic.  The notes do not translate well (kind of like seeing Swahili for the first time) and are not electronic.

Now I believe that everyone needs a quest or something to strive for.  Is it wrong that my current culinary quest is to stuff  everything in the cabbage family?  I have been looking at Savoy cabbage for quite some time, not in an inappropriate way mind you, and have been wondering with what I could possibly stuff it. I wanted to have something lighter than regular stuffed cabbage which leaves you with that, I don’t know, feeling that you just ate a bowling ball. I decided on chicken because the boneless – skinless breasts take on flavors well and are easy to work with and frankly, I have already done the “shrimp thing”.  Finally, I cannot lay claim to thinking of the Frank’s Sweet chili sauce as a topper for these beauties because my wife came up with the idea during her heating them up for lunch the next day.  Without further delay, here is the recipe.  Mind you, this recipe is a bit labor intensive but so very worth the effort. I shared this with some of the ladies at work and they loved them!

Putting on the Savoy

(Chicken stuffed Savoy cabbage)

(Serves 4-6)

The Well Fed Cyclist – Gary Bechard

Ingredients:

2 – Chicken breasts, boneless – skinless, baked, shredded and fine diced (I went ahead and did 3 with one of them becoming an awesome chicken sandwich the next day)

1 1/2 cups – Basmati rice, about 4 servings (I used Uncle Ben’s for simplicity) prepared according to package instructions.

1 – Small head of Savoy cabbage

1/3 cup – Green onions, chopped (Stuffing mixture)

1/3 cup – Mushrooms, fine chopped, I used cremini mushrooms (baby portabellas) (Stuffing mixture)

For the roasting of the chicken:

1 tsp – Kosher salt

1 tsp – Coarse ground black pepper

1/2 tsp – Smoked paprika

6 sprigs – Thyme leaves

1 tbsp – Rosemary leaves, fine chopped

1/4 cup – Chicken stock

Preparation – Take the chicken breasts and place in a small baking dish in which you have put the chicken stock, season with the salt, pepper, smoked paprika, thyme and rosemary. Bake them at 350 degrees for about 35 to 40 minutes or until they are done (internal temperature 165 to 170 degrees) and set aside to cool. Note: you can always do the chicken a day ahead if you would like to cut down on preparation time on the day you are stuffing the cabbage.

While the chicken is doing its thing in the oven, core the cabbage head by taking a 3 to 4 inch deep cone around the stem of the cabbage. The cone should be about the same length as a good paring knife. Place the cabbage head in water topside down and boil for about 35 minutes (nifty it is the same amount of time as the baking time on the chicken, eh?) or until the leaves begin to soften. Once the cabbage head is done, take and set in a colander to drain and cool.

Construction Instruction –

Rice – I used Uncle Ben’s rice because it is easy and only takes 10 minutes. Cook the rice according to the package directions drain well and set aside.

Stuffing Mixture – Take your chicken and fork shred and fine dice and toss into a very large bowl. Next add, cooked rice, green onions and mushrooms. Now you are ready to fold everything together until all the ingredients are thoroughly combined.

 

Creating the stuffed leaves – First, make your “production line” in a pretty large working area of the kitchen with the colander that contains the cabbage, then the stuffing bowl, a large flat plate on which to stuff and fold the cabbage leaves then your baking dish. In the baking dish (a deep 9” X 13”) or similar dish (the one that I use is about 2 ½ “ to 3” deep) put about a ¼ inch (about a 1/3 cup) of chicken or mushroom stock in the bottom to keep the leaves moist during the baking process. Working from the outside of the cabbage head take a leaf and place on the plate with stem side toward you, spoon about a couple of tablespoons worth of the mixture in the center. The amount of mixture will vary with the size of the leaves.Then, take the stem side and fold over top of the mixture so that the end is at the edge of the pile of mixture, next, fold each side to the center and finally take the far end and fold toward you. Take the completed packet and place with the smooth side up in the baking dish. Repeat, this process until you have a layer of packets along the bottom of the baking dish. Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees and bake for 35 to 40 minutes.

 

Plating – I plated these 2 to 3 per person and allow each person to put the amount of Frank’s brand sweet chili sauce they desire on top. I served this with a double helping of stir-fried vegetables.

 

Enjoy!

The Well Fed Cyclist

 

 

There’s a conflict in the kitchen?

~ Gary Bechard ~ Leave a comment

I need to explain myself regarding the title. There is this small outdoor restaurant in Pittsburgh called “Conflict Kitchen” which does recipes native to a place that is in conflict with the United States.  They do the recipes for usually 3 to 4 months and then change to another area of the world with the same criteria.  The latest place was Cuba and the recipes were awesome! Perfectly cooked black beans and rice, shredded pork done in their “Mojo” marinade and shredded beef done in tomato sauce, and other yummy flavors of course, which was to die for.  I applaud the chefs who put this food out and I have to say the food was better than what I had in Miami.  This restaurant was the inspiration for my Mojito marinade.

Sorry there was no post yesterday but it was the last leaf roundup before winter sets in up here and it took a bit of time.  If you have been following the latest posts, I told everyone  that I was working on a new pork (and chicken for those who roll that way) marinade based on the rum drink the Mojito.  Little did I know that another name for “Mojo” marinade is “Mojito” marinade and everyone has pretty much the same take on it.  I wanted to do something different, my own spin, so to speak. The result is a marinade that is kind of a marriage of the rum drink recipe and a traditional Mojo marinade.  I used the marinade on boneless pork chops which I seared off in a pan before popping them in the oven at 325 degrees for about 45 to 60 minutes.  I served them with black beans and rice and a nice cucumber salad.  Without further delay, here is the recipe.

Not Your Mama’s (Mojito marinade for pork and chicken)

Covers 1 ½ to 2 lbs of meat

Gary Bechard – The Well Fed Cyclist

Ingredients:

1/3 cup – Extra virgin olive oil

1 oz – White rum or you can substitute 1 tsp of rum extract

8 to 9 – Mint leaves, chopped

1/8 to 1/4 cup – Cilantro, chopped

2 to 3 limes – Juiced, (the limes I used were pretty large as limes go so you may have to use more as you want to have about 1/4 cup of juice)

1/2 cup – Orange juice

1 tbsp – Brown sugar ( I used a minimally processed sugar)

5 – Garlic cloves, chopped

1/2 tsp – Ground cumin

1 1/2 tbsp. – Dried oregano leaves

1 1/2 tsp – Lemon peel

1 tsp – Coarse ground black pepper

1 tsp – Kosher salt

Construction Instruction:

Combine all ingredients in a large glass bowl, whisk until thoroughly combined. Cover the mixture tightly with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for at least 30 minutes. You are really going to want these ingredients to become intimate. Once this mixture has set for the requisite amount of time put your pork or chicken in a large plastic bag that seals very well, add the marinade and allow the combination to set in the refrigerator for at least an hour. The longer you marinate the better the flavors are going to be.

Enjoy!

The Well Fed Cyclist

Sometimes life gets in the way…

~ Gary Bechard ~ Leave a comment

I would love to have this post be upbeat and funny but there are just some times that it just does not work out that way especially when you have a loved one in the hospital and they are not expected to leave. Unlike some folks, I love my in-laws as they have always been wonderful to me. My father in-law loved my cooking and I even created recipes for him.  He is one of the reasons that my recipes do not have a lot of added salt.  I will be thinking of a recipe which I will dedicate to him here when I have it completed. I want it to be a monument to his personality and one that will bring us all wonderful memories of a great man every time I make it. I love you Bill, even though out of respect I had a difficult time calling you that and see, I did take care of your daughter. In the interim, here is a post from the old site that was almost lost.  It is a very, very easy recipe but awfully delicious.

Desperate times call for…

Some of the best things can be born out of desperation and this recipe is an example of one of them. I was in charge of cooking dinner one night for me and the children but had not had any time to go to the grocery store to pick up anything specific. I knew I had chicken in the freezer (Who doesn’t?) but that was about it. I did not feel like serving the kids fast food because heaven knows that they will eat enough of that stuff in the course of their lives. So, I rooted around in the pantry and found a small jar of pineapple preserves and from the fridge a half bottle of teriyaki sauce and some soy sauce. I combined them together in this recipe which was so easy I recreated it with a pork tenderloin. (same steps and ingredients except for replacing chicken with pig)

Fast Hawaiian Chicken
(makes 4 servings)

Ingredients:
1 – Small, jar of pineapple preserves
½ a bottle or less of low sodium teriyaki sauce
1tsp – powdered ginger
1 tsp – coarse ground black pepper
2 tbsp – low sodium soy sauce
4 – Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1tsp – dried basil leaves
1tsp – dried parsley flakes
Sesame seeds
¼ cup of peanut oil
9 X 13 baking dish

In a small bowl mix peanut oil, teriyaki sauce, soy sauce, parsley and basil and whisk together. Set this mixture aside for a moment. Spray baking dish with Pam or some other cooking spray and add about 1/4 cup of water to the bottom of the dish. You can even use rice wine as a liquid if you would like. (Less, if you are using a smaller pan or have reduced the recipe) Arrange chicken in the bottom of the pan and evenly sprinkle (distribute) ginger and black pepper over the top of each piece, kind of pressing the herbs into the chicken with your fingers. Take the teriyaki mixture which had been set aside and slowly pour over chicken. Spoon pineapple preserves evenly on each chicken breast so that each has its own layer. (It’s kind of like adding a blanket to each of the chicken breasts) You can add fresh pineapple slices around the outside of the chicken because it kind of looks nice (and tastes pretty good too when it’s done). Take sesame seeds and kind of “salt” them over top of everything before you put it in the oven.
Bake in an oven that has been pre-heated to 350 degrees for 40 minutes making sure to gently (you do not want to blast the pineapple from the top of the chicken) baste chicken about every 10 minutes with mixture from bottom of baking dish.

I served this with pineapple jasmine rice and green beans dressed with ginger salad dressing.

Enjoy!

There is a plot twist…

~ Gary Bechard ~ Leave a comment

You would think that there is some nefarious murder mystery going on with the title and all but it is just about the food and as always, everything is about the food. And, I know, I know, I am flip flopping more than a politician during election season, and I even posted a fish recipe in the midst of what should have been “chicken week”  but I consider this recipe a kind of “two-fer” so possibly it could count for both? So, I guess, in a way, this entry is kind of a plot twist.

This was not a recipe born of desperation or the result of my CADD but was the result of figuring out what to do with a ¼ pound of 31 to 40 count shrimp. That amount of shrimp does not really make a meal for 2 people and is more annoying sitting in the freezer partially open than being used in a recipe. The way I thought of it is I figured that if the Japanese steak houses can serve hibachi chicken and shrimp together, I could combine the two in one easy to carry package (not that you would want to carry it but you could). It does not take a whole lot more effort than the Bay Watch chicken breasts but it does have a distinctly different flavor and you really do not need a sauce.

Shrimp Stuffed Chicken Breasts
Asian style
(makes 3-4 servings)

3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 – Green bell pepper fine diced
1/2 (or less) – Red bell pepper fine diced
1/3 – sweet onion, fine diced
5 – Cloves garlic, fine diced
2 oz – Fresh chopped ginger root
1/4 lb – Shrimp, fine diced
4 – Shitake mushrooms fine diced
2 sticks – Celery fine diced
Coarse ground black pepper (to taste)
Small handful fine shredded fresh parsley (use dried if you must about 1 ½ tablespoons)
7 – Basil leaves fine chopped (use dried if you must about 1 ½ tablespoons)
Peanut or Canola oil
Soy Sauce and/or Teriyaki Sauce

Filling:
In a large skillet, cover bottom of pan with peanut or canola oil and over low/med heat sauté peppers, onion, garlic and celery until softened and onions become translucent. Add mushrooms and ginger root, sauté on low heat for about 2-3 minutes, season to taste with pepper. Add shrimp and go until the shrimp pieces turn pink, then season with teriyaki and soy sauce (remember that there is a lot of salt in those sauces so be sparing). After shrimp is done, add parsley and basil and keep on heat for another 2-3 minutes while mixing these ingredients in. Turn off heat and set aside to cool.
Stuffing it:
Take chicken breasts and, from the side, make a pocket by cutting the long way the entire length and almost all the way through (should look like a pita pocket). Take a spoon and stuff chicken with filling (do not overfill) enough so that edge can be closed with a toothpick, cooking string or skewers. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes (add a bit of water or chicken stock to bottom of baking dish to keep moist).

This was served with sushi rice but can also be served with pineapple jasmine rice in addition to snow peas with mushrooms and almond slices. I also always serve a green salad with ginger dressing.

Enjoy!

The grand pistachio experiment…

~ Gary Bechard ~ 3 Comments

Trying to have an understanding of how I end up with ideas for recipes, is for the most part, a mystery. Last we heard from our hero, he was eating a bagel, having some yogurt and dreaming of chicken.  Ah, a grand creative process you are thinking, right? Well, not the most exciting, I know, but it worked for me. I had been thinking of stuffing some chicken breasts for a while with something different than the one in my “Baywatch Stuffed Chicken Breasts” (large and swollen with stuffing, you could say, though not bouncy) Since the yogurt I was eating was of the Greek variety, my thoughts immediately turned to feta cheese and naturally spinach and mushrooms which play very nicely with that type of cheese. I also wanted to do a sauce and figured that I would do it with Greek yogurt since I never tried that before and I understand that it works, when done correctly. When I got my ingredients back to the house, I believed that I needed a bit of texture in the stuffing, the crunch factor, for lack of a better phrase, and decided to see what pistachios and feta tasted like together.  All I can say is, yum! and to paraphrase the commercial, “Wonderful pistachios!” (and, oh, I did get crackin’).  At first, I thought that maybe the combination was a mistake but on the second try, it still tasted as good so they ended up in the stuffing. You will notice that in this recipe there is no salt listed as an ingredient and that is because there is plenty in the chicken stock, feta cheese and pistachios so add salt at your peril. I hope you try this and let me know how it turns out. I would love to hear from you.  Now on to the recipe!

Enjoy!

The Well Fed Cyclist

Pistachio “Feta’sh”

Stuffed Chicken Breasts

(makes 3-4 servings)

Ingredients:

3 to 4 – boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Filling:

5oz bag – Fresh baby spinach

1/2 cup – Feta Cheese crumbles

1/3 cup – Roasted pistachio meats, fine chopped

1/4 cup – Sweet onion, diced fine (about 1/4 a medium onion)

1/3 cup – Mushrooms, diced fine

1/4 cup – Fresh parsley, chopped fine

4 to 5 cloves – Garlic, fine diced

Extra Virgin Olive Oil – A few good turns around the pan will do

1/2 cup – Chicken Stock (to wilt the spinach)

Coarse Ground black pepper to taste

Oregano – Dried and ground (to dust chicken before going in the oven)

Cinnamon – Ground (to dust chicken before going in the oven)

Sauce:

¾ cup – Plain Greek yogurt (I used Fage)

1 tbsp – Honey

1/4 cup – Mint, chopped fine

1/4 cup – Chicken stock

1 to 2 pats – Unsalted butter

1 – Lemon (the juice of)

Extra Virgin Olive Oil – About 1/4 cup more or less

Filling:

First, wilt spinach in a 4 to 5 quart pot with a tight fitting lid. Put chicken stock in the bottom and put over medium heat turning the spinach every so often until wilted. Take spinach out and let cool in a colander while it drains.

Next, in a large skillet, do a few good turns on the bottom of pan with olive oil and over low/med heat sauté onion and garlic until softened and onions become translucent. Add mushrooms and sauté on low heat for about 2-3 minutes, season to taste with pepper. Add parsley and keep on heat for another 2-3 minutes. Turn off heat and set aside to cool.

Note: Make sure that your spinach and your skillet mixture are cool because you do not want them to melt the feta when you put them together.

Now, get out your large bowl campers because there is some mixing to do. Take your spinach and squeeze as much water out of it as you can (I use cheesecloth) and finely chop before putting it in the bowl. To the bowl, add the skillet mixture, feta cheese and pistachios. Fold all of the ingredients together making sure that all of the items are evenly distributed throughout the mixture. Take the bowl and put in the refrigerator to cool for about 10 minutes.

Take chicken breasts and, from the side, make a pocket by cutting the long way the entire length and almost all the way through (should look like a pita pocket). Take a spoon and stuff chicken with filling (do not overfill). Place in a baking dish and dust each chicken breast with oregano and cinnamon. Bake at 350 degrees, uncovered for 40-50 minutes (add a bit of water to bottom of baking dish to keep moist).

Sauce:

Using a shallow skillet, do a couple of good turns around the pan with olive oil, add the pats of butter and honey and bring up the heat to just below medium. When the butter has melted, add the chicken stock and lemon juice and stir until mixed together (only about a minute or two). Next, lower the heat and add in the yogurt and fresh mint and whisk together. Heat until the sauce is warm. WATCH THAT PAN AND DO NOT CURDLE YOUR YOGURT, sorry to yell but I did that with the first batch of sauce that I made and had to throw it out.

-Meal served with basmati rice and a steamed carrots, broccoli and cauliflower floret mix.