Ginger Soy Stir-Fry, AKA Let's Clean Out the Fridge

Yield: 4 Servings

1 T sesame oil

1 T peanut oil

1 T minced garlic

2 T minced fresh ginger

2 chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces

1 small onion, sliced thin

1 red bell pepper, cut into match-sticks

1 bunch asparagus, cut into 2" pieces

1 small head broccoli (or half of a large one), cut into small florets

1 head baby bok choy, chopped (about 4 cups loose)

3 T soy sauce

salt and pepper to taste

steamed rice for 4, follow package directions

Start your rice, follow package directions, and do all of the prep work first. Mince the garlic and ginger, set aside in a small bowl together. Chop all of the veggies except the bok choy and layer together in a large bowl. Chop and rinse the bok choy, set aside in a colander to drain until you are ready for it. 

From here this will go together very quickly, try to keep everything moving. In a large wok, cast iron is best, heat oil over medium-high flame until glistening. Add the ginger and garlic to the oil and cook for 1 minute. Add the chicken, salt and pepper to taste. Stir-fry the chicken in the hot oil until it's almost cooked through, 4-6 minutes. 

Move the chicken to the sides of your pan and add the large bowl of veggies (everything except the bok choy) to the center. Stir-fry, combining the chicken with the veggies for about 4 minutes, until the veg is hot and close to crisp-tender. Add the bok choy and soy sauce to the wok. Combine with other veg/chicken and continue to stir-fry for another 2-3 minutes, until boc choy is cooked through. Pull out a piece of chicken, cut in half and check it for doneness, cook for 1-2 minutes longer if needed. Taste and add additional salt and pepper if needed.

Serve immediately over rice.

Feel free to substitute veggies or protein here. Just remember to add things to the wok based on how long they will take to cook. In the recipe above the bok choy went in last because it's cooks much faster than broccoli, asparagus, and bell pepper. Try Steak + Onions + Peppers + Mushrooms, or Shrimp + Onions + Red Bell Pepper + Pineapple. Add sliced jalapeños, dried chillies, or crushed red pepper for heat.

Spicy Pineapple Chicken Stir Fry

Source: Food52.com
Yield: 4 Servings

8 oz pineapple
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup molasses
3 tablespoons malt vinegar
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tablespoon sriracha
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 teaspoon grated ginger
1 bell pepper, chopped into 1 inch pieces or cut into strips
1/2 medium onion
2-3 broccoli crowns cut into 1 inch pieces
8 oz sliced mushrooms
2 pounds chicken, cut into one inch cubes
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
brown rice, follow package directions for 4 servings

In a blender purée the pineapple. Add the soy sauce, molasses, vinegar, tomato paste, sriracha, garlic, and ginger, and mix well. Cover the chicken with the marinade and leave in the refrigerator for about six hours.

In a large sauté pan or wok, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil until very hot. Place the chicken with the marinade that sticks to it in the pan and fry for about 15 minutes, until chicken is well done and marinade is reduced to a caramelized coating on the chicken. Make sure you do not overcrowd the pan, so you may have to do this in batches. As the chicken finishes, move it to a large, wide bowl or platter. If you have any leftover marinade, deglaze the pain with it and reduce to thick sauce. Pour the sauce over the chicken.

Put the remaining oil into the pan and stir fry the bell pepper, onion, broccoli, and mushrooms until crisp-tender. Again, you may need to do this in batches. As the veggies finnish add them to the top of the chicken

Serve over steamed rice.

Chicken Posole

Source: Cooking Light
Yield: 6-8 Generous Bowls

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 half large onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 carrots, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 teaspoon dried oregano
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
2 bay leaves
1 10 oz. can tomatillos, drained and coarsely chopped
4 c chicken stock
2 c water
2 15 oz. cans white hominy, rinsed and drained
1 rotisserie chicken, picked from the bones and chopped (discard skin)
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 ripe peeled avocado, diced $
4 radishes, thinly sliced $
Cilantro leaves
Preparation

Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook until barely softened, add celery, carrots, and garlic. As the veggies begin to cook, add the spices and bay leaf. Sauté 2 minutes. Stir in tomatillos; cook 1 minute.

Add broth and hominy; cover and bring to a boil. Uncover and cook 8 minutes. Stir in chicken cook until heated through. Remove from heat; stir in lime juice, salt, and pepper. Divide evenly among bowls. Top with avocado and radish. Garnish with cilantro, if desired.

Chicken and Rice Soup

Yield: 6-8 Full Adult Bellies

This is one of the reasons I look forward to fall and winter each year. It's stupid-easy to make and goes together fast enough to have it on a weeknight. Oh, and it doesn't hurt that the ingredients are all standard items. This also makes terrific leftovers the next day. Assuming you have any, that is.

3 Tbs olive oil
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
5-6 carrots
5-6 ribs celery
1 medium onion
2-3 cloves garlic
3 bay leaves
3-4 sprigs fresh thyme
2-3 sprigs fresh rosemary
2 packages Uncle Ben's Long Grain and Wild Rice (not quick-cooking or Ready Rice)
6 cups chicken stock*
6 cups water
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in a large stock pot over medium-high heat. Lightly salt and pepper chicken breasts, add to the waiting oil and brown on each side. Allow them to cook fully through.

While the chicken is doing it's thing, chop the veggies. Dice the onion, slice the carrots and celery. Mince the garlic.

Transfer the cooked chicken, which is a lovely golden brown and just a little crispy around the edges by now, to a cutting board to cool off a bit. Add the onions, celery, carrots, and garlic to the pot you just took the chicken out of. Salt lightly. Add the bay leaves and pepper.

Strip the leaves from the thyme by holding the stem at the top and dragging your fingers against the direction of growth. Do the same thing to the rosemary and mince them together (or just mince the rosemary and leave the thyme leaves whole), add herbs to the pot. Saute veggies until the onions are translucent and the carrots are just beginning to soften around the edges.

Chop or shred the chicken breasts and return to the pot. Open the rice boxes, remove the seasoning packets and set aside. Add the rice to the pot and stir to combine. Add the contents of both seasoning packets, stir.

Add chicken stock to the pot. Add the water a couple of cups at at time until the rice and veggies are well covered. Stir. Cook over medium-high heat until the rice is done, adding additional water or stock to the pot as needed. Add additional salt and pepper to taste. As soon as the rice is fully cooked, you're ready to eat.


*Homemade stock is always best but if it's not available get the good, all-natural stuff in the paper carton. Make sure to choose a low-sodium variety because the seasoning packet that comes with the rice is loaded with sodium. You can always add additional salt if you think it's needed but it's damned hard to take it out.

Chicken Pot Pie - A Users Guide

Yield: Two 9x13 pans

I have a recipe that I downloaded from AllRecipies.com for Chicken Pot Pie. I don't remember which one I have, the search returns 74 unique recipes. It doesn't really matter, I've changed it so much that the original recipe is just a starting point. This is how I make it, and this will make two 9x13 pans of the stuff. That's what I need to feed the crowd that shows up to eat it if I let them know what's in the oven. 

Olive Oil
Chicken Breasts - 2 pounds, boneless/skinless cut into cubes or small pieces*
Frozen Peas, I can't remember if it's a 14 or 16 ounce package, just the normal size
Frozen Sliced Carrots, same size package as the peas
Celery, about 1 cup thinly sliced or chopped
Potatoes, 4-5 small yellow, skin on, wash them good and dice them up small
Onion, diced
Garlic, at least 3 cloves
Thyme, 3 or 4 sprigs fresh
Rosemary, 1 or 2 sprigs fresh
Frozen Puff Pastry, two packages for a total of 4 sheets, thawed
Butter, or close facsimile thereof, one stick
Flour, about 1/3 cup
Can Chicken Stock, 4 of them (homemade is even better and you'll need 6-8 cups of that)

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees and spray the bottoms of your pans with cooking spray.

Open up the puff pastry sheets and carefully unfold them so they are flat. Lay one sheet in the bottom of each 9x13 pan and stick them in the oven for about 12 minutes. Just until they puff up and are golden. Watch them closely, they can go from zero to charcoal pretty quick at that temperature. When they are done, pull the pans out of the oven and set them aside for now.

Put about 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a very large skillet over med heat. Once it's hot, get your chicken into the pan to saute. While that's going, chop your potatoes, celery, onion and garlic. When the chicken is cooked, add potatoes,  celery, onion and garlic to the pan and continue to cook until the onions are translucent. Make sure the garlic doesn't burn, it will get bitter.

Strip the leaves off of your herbs (hold onto the top of the stem and loosely pull down the stem towards the base, most of the leaves will come right off). The time can go directly into the pan, mince the rosemary first. Give it a good stir.

Dump in the carrots and peas, stir after each addition. Add salt and pepper to taste and continue to cook, stirring occasionally. Everything doesn't have to be cooked through but make sure the chicken is done.

Melt the butter in a medium sauce pan over medium heat until golden, then add about a third of a cup of flour to make a roux. Cook the roux until it's starting to turn brown in color and smells a little nutty. Slowly add your chicken stock to the roux and continue to cook, while stirring with a whisk to break up any lumps, until it's thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

Divide your chicken and veggie mixture evenly between the two 9x13 pans, just pour it right over the pastry base that you already cooked. Top this with the sauce, try to pour it evenly over the top of the chicken mixture.

You should have two unbaked pastry sheets left, lay one gently on top of each dish, don't pinch anything closed or the pastry won't puff. Put the pans into the oven and cook uncovered for about 45 minutes. You will probably need to rotate these halfway through so they cook evenly. When it's done the pastry will be golden brown and the insides will be bubbling, better line the bottom of the oven with foil so you don't end up with a mess.

Once these are out of the oven let them sit for about 10 minutes if you can keep people out of it that long. It's not a big deal but it's a little easier to serve that way. I cut each pan into 12 servings.

The Kid always says I never get enough salt and pepper into this dish so he adds more at the table and then eats two helpings. Dig in!

*If you prefer you can poach the chicken in some water with a bay leaf or three, some garlic and an onion and then shred it. If you do it this way, add the meat to the veggies before your start loading the crust. I hope I didn't leave anything out but if you find a misteak or have a question, let me know and I'll fix it.