A Pretty Little Bird Told Me...: chicken

Showing posts with label chicken. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Thai-Style Chicken Noodle Soup

So I finally have a moment to upload a recipe! I'm moving back to school tomorrow so I'm a bit disheveled and upset at having to move away from Ethan and out of the big city, but it's time to graduate! Anyhow, I'm quite proud of this recipe because it was spur-of-the-moment and COMPLETELY from memory. I like referencing other recipes for specific portion sizes and what not, but I just put a bunch of ingredients together based on what I know about Thai food and scribbled down how much of each I used. I've had to write down specifics for all these recipes and I HATE IT. For the last couple weeks I've been making dinner, eyeballing everything, and not writing anything down; this is completely normal, but now I don't have the recipes to share. Alas. Recording all these measurements is tiring! Lazy cook.

I thoroughly enjoy Thai food. Japanese, Chinese, Thai and Italian are some of my favorites. I frequently make Chinese dishes, and I can make a damn nice Pad Thai when I have the money. I've been laying off the Italian lately because of money and too many carbohydrates. And when I move, I'm planning on putting more Japanese food into my diet. The best news about this recipe I invented is that it's not expensive nor difficult to make. Plus, you could make a lot of it and keep it in the fridge for up to two weeks. Yummy lunches and dinners when you're lazy. Who doesn't like a good bowl of chicken noodle soup, anyway?? ;)

As you know, I LOVE spicy food, so I left all the seeds in the two jalapeños. Feel free to take them out for a milder dish. I look so silly cutting hot peppers--lately, not covering my hands = insane burning for hours. I don't know why it started happening this summer but I DO NOT LIKE IT.

Additionally, I didn't have any fish sauce in the pantry, so I made do with oyster sauce. The next time I make this recipe, I think I'm going to lessen or completely omit the oyster sauce, add fish sauce, and add more lime juice (I ran out!). I want to see if it helps the flavor, or at least makes it closer to Thai-style soup. This recipe was delicious, I'm not gonna lie, but it can always get better!

I'm tired and distracted, so I'm going to stop ranting and shut up already!

Thai-Style Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients:
-10 c. water
-2 chicken-flavored bouillon cubes (low-sodium preferred if you can)
-large handful fresh string beans, ends removed
-1/2 medium yellow onion, sliced thin
-1 stalk celery, thinly sliced/julienned
-1 large chicken breast, pounded out and sliced very thin
-2 jalapeño peppers, sliced
-3/4 c. roughly chopped fresh basil
-1 8oz. can sliced water chestnuts, drained
-1 tbsp. each: garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper
-1/4 c. oyster sauce
-generous squeeze lime juice
-4 to 5 oz. flat rice noodles, soaked in water for 10-15 minutes (not necessary, but I find that it aids in faster cooking)

1. Boil water with bouillon cubes to create a basic broth. When water is bubbling, add string beans, onion, and celery. Reduce heat a little and let simmer for ten minutes.

2. While soup is cooking, pound out the chicken until it is nearly flat, then slice into thin pieces. Turn heat back up and bring the pot to a boil again. Add the chicken and jalapeños to the broth and stir. Chicken should cook almost immediately.

3. Add remaining ingredients and stir. Keep hot and let noodles finish cooking.

Happy Eating!

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Carb Conundrum and Whole Wheat Onion-Rosemary Focaccia

Carbs are the bane of my existence. Every and all type of carbs needs to be in my stomach. Potatoes, bread, oatmeal, cereal, pasta, rice, tortillas, etc. etc. etc. However, I find that as I'm getting older and my metabolism is getting worse and worse, I can only process so many carbs and sugar products at a time. Ethan can pretty much handle anything, so I like to make bread and rice products for/with him. Eating a plate of chicken and veggies without a side of rice or pasta practically depresses me. It's pathetic. When I was in London in spring, I was incredibly good at cutting out carbs and didn't miss them at all, but toward the end of the semester, I gave in...and the trend continued. That's probably why I gained so much weight in London. I suppose I want to have my cake and eat it, too...literally.

Yesterday, I had a craving for a realllly good sandwich for dinner. I didn't want to use the whole wheat bread we have in the pantry, so I decided to go for some focaccia. This version has been "healthified" using whole wheat flour rather than all-purpose flour (I haven't had anything at home with all-purpose flour for about two months, which seems absurd to me), and onion and rosemary were mixed in. I've been on a rosemary kick recently (and still wishing I had fresh rather than dried, but since I already bought the bottle, why bother? Poor college student decisions!), and this herb is incredibly common for focaccia bread. I added the fresh onion for a bit of extra flavor and texture, and I think it was a nice touch. I wanted to make Ethan a delicious dinner (which was accompanied by healthy-ish Cottage Cheese Brownies, a recipe I found online that I'll be posting soon), so when I got home from Central Park, I got to work in the kitchen!

Whole Wheat Onion-Rosemary Focaccia

Ingredients:

-1 tsp. sugar

-1 packet active dry yeast

-1/3 c. warm water

-2 c. whole wheat flour

-1 tsp. garlic powder

-1/2 c. onion, diced

-2 tbsp. dried rosemary

-olive oil

-plenty of fresh cracked black pepper

-sea salt, to taste

1. Preheat oven to 475 degrees F.

2. In a bowl, combine sugar, yeast, and water. Let sit until smooth, around 10 minutes.

3. Add flour and stir well. Spoon in more water, 1-2 tbsp. at a time, until dough comes together in a nice ball. Pour onto a lightly floured surface and knead for a minute or two. Be careful not to over-knead!

4. Oil a larger bowl and place the dough inside. Flip it around a few times to lightly coat it with the oil. Cover with a damp towel or a couple damp paper towels and let rise for about 30 minutes or until doubled in volume. Make sure you place it in a warm area so it can rise properly.

5. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead it again briefly, adding garlic powder, diced onions, and 1 tbsp. rosemary. Make sure the ingredients are combined well.

6. Flatten to desired thickness and place on oiled baking sheet. Brush with a little olive oil. Sprinkle the other tbsp. rosemary on top and lightly press to ensure it won’t fall off. Crack fresh black pepper and salt over the top. Bake for 10-12 minutes.

If my focaccia looks like there's too much black pepper on top, always remember that you can adapt it! Not only do I love black pepper, but my grinder broke open while I was grinding and all the peppercorns and "pepper debris" fell out onto the dough...that's the third time in the last few weeks! Grr!

Oh, and the sandwich I ended up creating? Oven-roasted chicken breast, extra sharp cheddar, tomato, lots of basil, red onion and lettuce, plus light mayo combined with pepper, onion powder, garlic powder and sweet chili sauce. Mmmm!

Happy Eating!

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Garlic-Lemon Chicken

I decided to do something else Asian-inspired for dinner tonight. Like always. My parents, though not Asian, made a lot of Chinese food. Oh, I'm also Korean, in case you're wondering.

So I had originally planned on making good old lemon chicken, but thanks to my obsession with garlic, I decided to try that instead, and I'm definitely happy I did!

This recipe uses whole wheat flour breading because it's the only flour we have in the apartment, but it turned out wonderfully just the same. You can't really tell once the sauce is all over it, anyway. Regardless of the actual benefits, I felt healthier for it. The unhealthiest part of this whole meal is the oil you fry it in...but you really don't need too much, and you can very easily bake the chicken instead.

I hope you enjoy it! It's a recipe I love!

Garlic-Lemon Chicken

Ingredients:

-2 ½ tbsp. corn starch

-1 c. whole wheat flour

-1 egg

For the Chicken:

-olive oil for shallow pan-frying

-1/2 lb. boneless chicken breast, cut into medium-small chunks

-1 tsp. salt

-1/2 tsp. black pepper

-1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper

For the Sauce:

-1 tbsp. olive oil

-1/2 c. low-sodium soy sauce

-juice of 1 lemon (make sure to keep a couple slices for garnish!)

-3/4 c. water

-3 cloves garlic, minced

-1 tbsp. honey

-1 tbsp. brown sugar

-1 heaping tsp. fresh ginger, grated

-1/2 tbsp corn starch

-green onion for garnish

1. Separate corn starch and egg into two different bowls (make sure the bowls are big enough to fit all your chicken!). If you have a large paper bag (Ziploc or big tupperware are also great), pour the flour, salt, pepper and cayenne in.

2. Pour the chicken chunks in the corn starch bowl and mix around, making sure that you get every piece coated. There should be little to no corn starch remaining in the bowl. Next, pour the chicken into the egg bowl and coat well. Continue to make sure the pieces are separated. Lastly, pour the chicken into the flour-filled paper bag, close the bag up, and shake, shake, shake! Open up the bag and separate the pieces if they’re stuck, then close the bag and shake one more time.

3. In a large saucepan, add the olive oil for frying. When the oil is hot, add the chicken. When the bottoms have browned and crisped, flip the chicken (or do what I did and wait a couple minutes, stir everything around, and repeat).

4. While chicken is cooking, heat up a medium-sized pot. Add olive oil, soy sauce, lemon juice, and water. When it begins to warm up, add the honey, brown sugar, garlic and ginger.

5. In a small cup, combine corn starch with a little bit of water. Stir with a fork until dissolved. Add to sauce and stir until thick.

6. Pour sauce over chicken and keep hot, stirring to coat every piece.

7. Serve with white rice or plain noodles. Top with lemon and green onion slices for garnish.