Chicken Peanut Stew

I've been seeing this recipe a lot over the past couple of years and wanting to try it. But it seemed like one of those things that my family might not like. No real reason, just a feeling. So I kept putting it aside.

Well, let me tell ya, I wish I had tried it a lot sooner! It was SO good!

This recipe is very slightly adapted from JungleFrog Cooking.



Chicken Peanut Stew
1 lb boneless skinless chicken, cut into bite sized pieces
1 lb sweet potatoes, peeled & cut into bite sized pieces
1 lb potatoes, peeled & cut into bite sized pieces
1 onion, diced
1 jalapeño, seeded & diced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 14 oz can diced tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 in piece ginger root, grated
2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp ground coriander
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp sweet chili sauce
3/4 cup peanut butter
2 cups chicken broth
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp oil
chopped peanuts, if desired
skinny chile pepper slices, if desired

Cut the chicken (breast or thighs, whatever you prefer) into bite sized pieces.
Chop the veggies.
Heat oil in a dutch oven. Add onions and jalapenos. Cook until onions are slightly translucent.
Add chicken. Cook and stir a few minutes. Add ginger, garlic, tomato paste, curry, coriander. Cook a few minutes until spices are really fragrant.
Add chicken broth, peanut butter, brown sugar and sweet chili sauce. Stir and cook until well combined. Add potatoes, sweet potatoes and tomatoes. Stir.
Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally for 60 - 90 minutes, or until potatoes are tender. Garnish with chopped peanuts and chile slices. Serve with crusty bread.
Enjoy!!

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Cut up your chicken. I used boneless skinless breasts.


Cut up your veggies.


Sweet Potatoes & Potatoes




Heat the oil in a dutch oven.

Add onions & jalapenos and cook until onions are a little translucent.


Add chicken.


Cook a few more minutes.

Add ginger root, garlic, tomato paste, curry and coriander.


Stir and cook a few minutes until spices are really fragrant.

Add chicken broth.


And peanut butter


Stir until peanut butter is totally mixed in.

Add brown sugar.


Sweet Chili Sauce


And tomatoes.


Stir and add potatoes & sweet potatoes.


Stir, cover and simmer for 60 - 90 minutes or until potatoes are tender.


I had fully intended to garnish this with chopped peanuts & chile slices, but totally forgot to buy them!


Tear off a nice crusty piece of bread and enjoy!!


I didn't tell Jon what was in this, because I thought he'd say that the ingredients didn't 'go together'. That way he had a less biased mind to try it. He is really good about trying everything I make, well... except Rappie Pie... anyway...

We both LOVED this. Bob didn't care for it, but I really didn't think he'd like it. Tawny and Lilly weren't home, and they didn't get to try it, because Jon & I just finished up the leftovers for lunch!

This is a really hearty, thick, flavorful, satisfying stew and I wish I had tried it sooner! I'll definitely be making this again. Give it a try and don't wait as long as I did!

Chicken Philly Sub

The first time I had a Chicken Philly Sub was walking through the food court at the mall. I was walking by Charlie's Grilled Subs and they were giving out samples. I tasted that little slice of sub and went straight to the register. I was hooked!

Then recently I was thinking... I make Steak & Cheese Subs fairly often, why don't I ever make Chicken Philly Subs?

I couldn't come up with a single reason and started making my shopping list!




Chicken Philly Sub
Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts, sliced very thin
Onions, sliced thin
Bell Pepper, sliced thin
Mushrooms, sliced thin
a little oil
Provolone Cheese, slices
Sub Rolls
Mayo
Lettuce, shredded
Tomato, sliced

Slice chicken breast very thin, then cut across too, so you have very small thin pieces.


Slice up your veggies.


While you're slicing veggies, might as well slice the lettuce & tomato too.


Since you're slicing things... slice those rolls too... not all the way through.


Preheat a skillet with a little bit of oil. Add chicken, onions, peppers, and mushrooms.


Cook until chicken is cooked through and veggies are tender.






Meanwhile, spread desired amount of mayo on sliced sub roll. I like a generous slather. Then add tomato slices and shredded lettuce.

Scrape chicken and veggies into a sub roll sized pile and place slices of provolone cheese on top.


Let the cheese get melty.

Now with a long spatula, scoop the chicken & veggies & cheese into the sub roll.


You might be thinking.... "Ummmm... Spryte? Where's the lettuce and tomato?"

Yeah... I totally forgot it! But it sure did look nice on the cutting board didn't it?

Time to dig in. I just love these and my family seems to groove on them too. Even when I forget the lettuce & tomato!

These are wicked fast and easy to make and so much better than any sub shop!

Teriyaki Chicken

I wanted to make Teriyaki Chicken from scratch.

I love that stuff. But everytime I've ever made it, I've used bottled teriyaki sauce.

After making my own, I'll never use the bottled stuff again!



You'll need a batch of Teriyaki Sauce & Marinade
Chicken Breast Fillets

I always use my FoodSaver marinator for marinating! I LOVE it!


Marinate in the refrigerator for 30 minutes up to a couple of hours.

I cooked the chicken on a grill pan on the stove.


I really need a hood/vent for my stove. It gets wicked smokey in the house when I use the grill pan!

Brush with reserved marinade. (not marinade that had raw chicken in it)



I fillet the breasts so they're pretty thin and cook pretty quickly.



That's it!!


Serve it with some Fried Rice and steamed Sugar Snap Peas and it's dinner time!!

Baked Rice with Chicken and Kielbasa

A lighter, more family friendly meal. Bobby is my pickiest eater. But this only has stuff he likes in it. He couldn't really identify the leeks and didn't find them offensive!

This was cool because in addition to eating better, I'm also trying to exercise regularly.

Prep time on this might be 15 - 20 minutes at most. Then it's into the oven for 45 minutes. Enough time to go downstairs and workout while it's baking.



Baked Rice with Chicken and Kielbasa
1 1/2 C jasmine rice, uncooked
3 1/4 C chicken broth, fat free
1 tsp thyme
pinch of saffron, crushed
1 pound chicken breast, skinless
14 oz turkey kielbasa, extra lean
1 leek, sliced thin
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 C frozen peas
salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 400F.
Heat chicken broth, thyme and saffron until very hot.
Cut chicken and kielbasa into bite-sized pieces and put in large casserole dish. Add sliced leeks, minced garlic, peas and uncooked rice. Toss until well mixed.
Pour hot broth over mixture.
Bake uncovered, 45 minutes, or until rice is tender and broth is absorbed.
This makes 8 hearty one cup servings.

Nutritional Info per Serving
Calories: 276.6
Fat: 3.1g
Carbohydrates: 37.5g
Protein: 22.1g

Heat chicken broth, thyme and saffron until very hot.


Cut chicken and kielbasa into bite-sized pieces and put in large casserole dish.


Add sliced leeks, minced garlic, peas and uncooked rice.




Pour hot broth over mixture.


Bake uncovered, 45 minutes, or until rice is tender and broth is absorbed.


Now you have 45 minutes... you can workout if you want... paint your nails... or maybe take your queue from Donna over at My Tasty Treasures and work up more of an appetite!

.... 45 minutes later...

It's dinner time!

Chicken Pot Pie

Well... yesterday was WICKED cold here... like most of the rest of the country. While I sat at my desk, wondering what to make for dinner on such a cold night, Chicken Pot Pie popped into my mind!

My sister teases me all the time that she's picking up chicken pot pies from Harrow's. We have no place remotely like that here in Pittsburgh. (at least not that I know of!) But I decided I was going to make a fabulous Chicken Pot Pie at home!

While thinking it through I got attached to a couple of ideas....

First... I wanted to make individual pot pies. Then everyone gets really good crust, ya know?

Second... I decided I'd just use a rotisserie chicken. That would probably be cheaper than buying boneless skinless breasts anyway. Plus, it's usually tasty, moist and delicious.

Third... I wanted puff pastry on top.

Fourth... I making homemade gravy.

Problem with #1? Yes. I don't have any ramekins. At least I didn't until I stopped at Target on my home last night. I parked, ran to the kitchen stuff, located the ramekins. They had 3 two-packs of nice sized ramekins with plastic tops. SCORE! I'll take all of them. To the express line and back in my car in 5 minutes total!!

Problem with #2? Ummm... No... they usually have rotisserie chickens available at Giant Eagle. They did! YAY!

Problem with #3? Potentially... the Giant Eagle by my house is typically out of Puff Pastry. SCORE AGAIN! They had some!! (I would have used pie dough if they didn't have it... but I would have been pouty about it!)

Problem with #4? Not really... I looked up chicken gravy recipes and they were all pretty much the same. Make a roux, add chicken broth... maybe some spices. Sounds easy enough, why have I never made chicken gravy from scratch??

Ok.... I also picked up veggies to go with my rotisserie chicken and got out of the grocery store and home pretty quick.

No recipe for this. I was winging it as I went along. I'm sure there is probably a more streamlined method to make this. I was combining things, then separating them, then combining them again. Which made perfect sense to me at the time... but now seems kinda like the long way!

Anyway... here we go!!

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First I opened up the Puff Pastry to thaw.


I peeled and cubed a couple of potatoes. It turned out that I only needed one. So the other is in the fridge in water and will probably be samosas tomorrow.


Some onion & garlic & celery




Into the pot with a smidgey of oil


Plus some carrots, mushrooms & potatoes






I added about 2 cups of chicken broth & some thyme


Then I covered that and simmered it until the veggies were tender.

On to the chicken. YUM!!


I pulled all of the meat off of it's little carcass.


Then I added the meat & a handful of frozen peas to the pot to warm through.




Here's where I start separating things I just put together...

So I drained the broth out of the veggies & chicken. I ended up with about a cup of broth.






I wanted to have about 2 cups of broth, so I just added some plain chicken broth.


Now... onto the chicken gravy!!!

4 tablespoons of butter plus 4 tablespoons of flour and whisk!






Darker and darker... doesn't that look good??






Now to add the broth!


I also added some onion powder and paprika.


Ok... can I just say this is the BEST chicken gravy I've ever had and yes, I TOTALLY ROCK!!

My mom makes awesome gravy... not starting with a roux, she uses a shaker of flour & water and pan dripping and ends up with awesome gravy. Whenever I've tried that, I end up with bland yucky gravy. So my gravy method, until last night, had been gravy packets (except for sausage gravy - for biscuits & gravy... that's scratch too!). But I always doctor up the gravy packets. I never added water. I added broths/wines/juices/herbs/spices/pan drippings... and always ended up with great gravy that always got great reviews. But NOW! Who needs a packet??!!! Wooohooo!!!!!!!!!

Sorry....back to the pot pie...

Ok... now the chicken & veggies can go back in!






And into my new ramekins! (yeah... I bought six but there are only four out. There are only five of us and Bobby of course didn't want any.)




Now to top them off. Hmmm... do I cut circles or what? I decided to just cover them and rip and fold the dough to fit.









Now they're all covered. I panicked a little. What now??! Do I brush them with butter? I'm trying to eat healthier, so probably not... EGG WASH!!

And they're ready for the oven!


Mmmmmmm.... I started at 5:57 and wondered if I could have dinner on the table by 7pm. It got there by 7:30ish.... that's about my usual time table... 30 minutes behind schedule!




YUM!!!!