Beer-Braised Chicken

I have been absolutely dying to share this recipe with everybody.

I found this recipe for Beer-Braised Chicken when I was at the end of my pregnancy, right around the time that I became too exhausted to blog.  I'm pretty sure that it came from Food Network Magazine but I can't remember now.  But I can tell you that the half page I ripped out from where ever is tattered and covered in oil spatter.  And after the birth of my second son, when the majority of what we were eating came from previously frozen foods, I still found the time to make this every couple of weeks. 

Beer-Braised Chicken

1/4 lb slab or thick-cut bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
8 skinless, boneless chicken thighs (about 2 1/2 lbs)
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
All purpose flour, for dredging
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 12-oz bottle beer (preferably brown ale)
1 cup frozen pearl onions, thawed
1/2 lb small red-skinned new potatoes, halved
2 tbsp whole-grain mustard
2 tbsp packed dark brown sugar
1 tsp thyme (or 4 springs fresh)
3 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

1. Heat a large pot over medium-high heat.  Add the bacon and cook until browned, about 5 minutes.  Remove with a slotted spoon and transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate.

2.  Season the chicken with salt and pepper and dredge in flour, shaking off excess.  Add the olive oil to the drippings in the pot.  Add the chicken in batches and cook over medium-high heat until golden on the bottom, 6 to 7 minutes, then flip to sear on the other side, about 1 minute.

3.  Add the beer, onions, potatoes, mustard, sugar, thyme and 1 cup water to the pot and stir, making sure the chicken is fully submerged.  Simmer until the chicken is cooked through, about 15 minutes.  Discard thyme if using fresh and stir in bacon and parsley.

The Verdict:  This is one of my top five all-time favorite recipes.  Love, love, love it.

The whole family is in agreement that this is a great, flavorful home-cooked meal.  There's the rich and malty taste of the beer paired with the sweetness of the brown sugar and onions, mixed with the grainy flavor of the mustard.  So many deep flavors going on in this dish, all the while not being overly fussy.  And speaking of fussy, the preschooler will eat this dish every time I make it.

I always use turkey bacon in all of my cooking and this recipe is no exception.  It works just fine. 

This dish is great when paired with a nice crusty bread or a crisp salad.

I'm a new mom, so time is of the essence.  While this dish isn't ridiculously time consuming, it's also not a toss together and serve dish either.  Cooking the bacon, as well as dredging the chicken in flour and browning it, takes time.  So if you don't have at least 45 minutes to put into it, wait until a weekend to make it.  But make sure you do--this one is a keeper.

Tuscan Summer Stew

If any of you are regular readers of my blog, you know about my relationship with my slow cooker.  So many people sing the praises of their crock pot: they can't live without it, it's so convenient, food is so juicy from it, etc. 

I try.  I try so hard to be a disciple of crock pottery, but again and again, I fail to feel the love.  What seems like 9 times out of 10 the recipe turns out too wet, or too stringy, or too gloppy, or just...yucky.  The apogee of irritation was the time I had not one but two slow cookers going, making a big batch of coq au vin.  It was delicious, but not because of the slow cooker.  It was for the 90,000,000 steps I had to take afterward to turn chicken soup into classic French stew. 

So when I saw this recipe for Tuscan Summer Stew with its happy little green beans and succulent chunks of sausage, my heart fell when I learned it was a crock pot recipe.  Should I even bother?  Will this turn into another gloppy pot o' water?  Could I try to use the basic recipe idea and make it in a Dutch oven?  Damn you, Family Circle* magazine, August 2011 issue!Oh, the indecision was killing me.  (OK, it really wasn't.) 

(* And yes, I now have a subscription to Family Circle.  A second child has seriously cramped my cool factor.)

In the end, I decided to dig out my adversary and see what happened.

Tuscan Summer Stew

Stew
1 package (20 oz) sweet Italian turkey sausage
1/2 lb green beans, trimmed and cut into 2" pieces
2 lbs tomatoes, cored, seeded and cut into 1" chunks
1  tsp chopped fresh rosemary
1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar
2 ears corn, kernels cut from cob (2 cups)
1 tbsp instant polenta
   Fresh basil to garnish (optional)

Polenta
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup polenta
2 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

1.  For the stew: Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add sausages and brown on all sides, 4 minutes.  Transfer to a slow cooker.

2.  Top sausages with green beans, tomatoes, and chopped rosemary.  Whisk balsamic together with 3/4 cup water.  Pour into slow cooker.  Cover and cook on HIGH for 6 hours or LOW for 8 hours.

3.  For the polenta:  Just before slow cooker is finished, bring 2 cups water and the salt to a boil.  While whisking, add 1 cup instant polenta in a steady stream.  Continue to cook, whisking, for 5 minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in Parmesan cheese.

4.  Uncover slow cooker.  Carefully remove sausage to cutting board.  Stir corn kernels and 1 tablespoon instant polenta into slow cooker.  Cover.  Slice sausages and stir into stew.  Serve stew over polenta; garnish with fresh basil, if desired.

The Verdict:  Hold onto your hats, folks, because you aren't going to believe what I have to say. 

I liked this recipe.  I liked it a lot.

When the cook time was nearly over, I dutifully cooked the polenta as well as added the tablespoon into the crock pot.  At that moment, I was rather skeptical because, per the usual, the contents were very soupy.  But the added corn and polenta seemed to thicken it just enough, and in this instance, the broth was a wonderful accompaniment to the cooked polenta. 

I am a big fan of balsamic vinegar.  I love the syrupy bite that it brings to foods.  I was clueless as to what white balsamic vinegar is, though, and didn't really care to investigate the matter beyond a quick Google search.  White balsamic vinegar, apparently, is milder and (not surprising) is a lighter color than its cousin, therefore not staining foods.  I'm going to surmise that it means the difference is slight.  If you, like me, have the holy cow gigantic jug of balsamic vinegar from Trader Joes, don't feel the need to run out and buy white balsamic vinegar just for this recipe. 

If I were to make this again, I would definitely reduce the cook times.  They seemed a bit long and, after actually making it, really was.  Your fresh green beans lose their crispness and the sausages that you "carefully remove" don't really need a trip to the cutting board as they fall apart with the nudge of a spoon.  I don't think it ruined the recipe, but it would have been more pleasant if it were a little less soft. 

Speaking of the sausage, this recipe could easily be made vegetarian by using a soy sausage or even leaving the sausage out all together and adding a little fennel seed and sage. 

But before I can stamp this as a success, I do have to give voice to the other members of my family who ate this as well.  My three-year-old has changed very little in the past three months of my absence.  While he ate every speck of sausage on his plate and even ate a wandering tomato bite, the polenta was met with disdain.  His first good natured bite was quickly spit out.  The second, which I nearly lost my breath with arguments and begging, also joined the first bite as he let it slide off his tongue and back into his plate.  My poor husband probably wanted to do the same with his polenta, but of course, he ate an hour after us.  Polenta, my friends, is not a good sit-and-wait food.  It becomes a gelatinous mass that does nothing for the food it is accompanying it.  Perhaps my husband just really didn't like the dish, but I feel like the cold polenta really biased his review.  He told me he'd give it three out of five stars.   

Kinaymans, yet was shot down by the male contingent of eaters.  Bummer.

Crock Pot Coq au Vin

Before the birth of my newest child, I spent a great deal of time cooking and freezing food.  If you follow this blog you already know this.  I have a good recipe for coq au vin, as well as a new one from a Good Housekeeping cookbook that's cooked in a crock pot.  It was a giant cooking conundrum.  I know and love my recipe for coq au vin, but thought that since it is slow-cooked in the oven, wouldn't a crock pot work just as well or better?  My gut told me not to fool with the French and use a Dutch oven.  But laziness overruled and I decided to go with the crock pot recipe instead.

Crock Pot Coq au Vin

3 slices bacon, cut crosswise into 3/4-inch pieces
1 package (10-oz) mushrooms, cut in half
2 cups frozen pearl onions
1 cut-up chicken (4 lbs) skin removed from all pieces except wings
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1 medium onion, chopped
1 large carrot, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup dry red wine
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 bay leaf
3/4 cup chicken broth

1.  In a 12-inch nonstick skillet, cook bacon over medium heat until browned.  With slotted spoon, transfer bacon to paper towels to drain; set aside.

2.  Meanwhile, in a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker, combine mushrooms and frozen pearl onions; set aside.

3.  Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper.  In skillet with bacon fat, cook chicken (in 2 batches, if necessary) over medium-high heat until browned, 10 minutes.  Place chicken over vegetables in slow cooker.

4.  Discard drippings from skillet.  Reduce heat to medium; add onion and carrot, and cook 2 minutes or until onion softens, stirring frequently.  Stir in garlic and cook 1 minute.  Add wine, tomato paste, and bay leaf; heat to boiling, stirring to dissolve tomato paste.  Pour wine mixture and broth over low setting 8 hours or on high setting 4 hours.

5.  To serve, discard bay leaf.  With large spoon, transfer chicken and sauce to deep platter; sprinkle with bacon.

The Verdict:  Damn it!  I hate crock pots!

The funniest part of this story is that I made a double batch.  And, of course, all that chicken didn't fit in my crock pot so I borrowed a second one from my friend across the hall.  So I've got dueling crock pots going in my kitchen, taking up half my counter space.  Now, the reason I was so hesitant to use the crock pot in the first place was because it turns to a giant vat of liquid.  Coq au vin is not supposed to be a broth-based soup.  So I prepared myself: I did research and learned that to reduce liquid you should put your crock pot on high for the last hour and cook with the lid off. 

Did it work?  Of course not!

This means that I'm standing in front of my stove, covered in sweat, while ladling cup after cup of liquid into roux to form a sauce.  Which was so convenient. 

After making the sauce, the finished product was delicious.  Lots of flavors with nice, moist chicken.  But unless you're willing to create the sauce "by hand," I wouldn't try this recipe.  Or use it and cook it in the oven instead.  While the crock pot allows you to leave the house, it also doesn't make real coq au vin, which kind of defeats the purpose.

We have a giant bag of this left in the freezer and I'm looking forward to digging into it.  But I'll certainly think about my loathing for crock pots the entire time I eat it.  Harumph.

Crock Pot Chicken Pasta

Wow.  Now that I'm nearing the end of this pregnancy, I'm really relying on the crock pot.  But don't get it twisted; I'm not singing its praises.  I'm still not sure how much I love his device.  Still, it makes an easy, hot meal that I don't have to mess around too much with. 

So that's why I decided to give this chicken pasta recipe a try.  It's again from Fix-It and Forget-It, Our Best Slow Cooker Recipes 2010 which claimed that this was a "kid-friendly" meal.  That didn't hurt when choosing it, though of course my son's current pickiness isn't easily quelled by a label. 

Chicken Pasta

1 1/2 lbs boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 large zucchini, diced
1-oz envelope chicken gravy mix
2 tbsp water
2 tbsp evaporated milk or whipping cream
1 large tomato, chopped
4 cups cooked macaroni
8 oz smoked Gouda cheese, shredded

1.  Place chicken in slow cooker.

2.  Add zucchini, gravy mix, and water.  Stir.

3.  Cover and cook on high 1 hour and then on low 4 hours.

4.  Add milk and tomato.  Cover and cook on low 20 minutes more.

5.  Stir in pasta.  Top with cheese.  Serve immediately.

The Verdict:  Reminds me of tuna noodle casserole.  And before you clap your hands in glee that I'm telling you it's a comfort food, let me tell you about tuna noodle casserole.

My mom used to make it about twice a year.  And quite a few times I talked them into letting me watch The Brady Bunch reruns on tuna noodle night.  While the Brady's doled out advice like, "Mom always said, don't play ball in the house!" I would surreptitiously scrape my plate behind the couch because my dog wouldn't eat the stuff.

So when I took my first bite or two and thought of tuna noodle casserole, I knew I'd hate it.  And a few bites more confirmed it.  My son hated it, too.  My husband thought it was fine, but this is the guy who, when we first started dating, told me over the phone he was eating his dinner of cereal and milk powder.  He's come a long way, baby.

I'm not saying you wouldn't like it.  I'll bet it really does have a homey, comfort food appeal to some people.  For me, something about the grittiness of the chicken and the gravy, the creaminess of the the cream and the hot macaroni just doesn't do it for me.  All together, it makes me...want to scrape it behind my couch.  But since I'm the one who'd have to clean it up, I probably won't.  I just won't make it again.

Apricot Stuffing and Chicken

Time to dig out the old crockpot again.  I've mentioned in a couple of previous posts that I'm looking for easier recipes now that I'm getting ridiculously pregnant and don't want to spend as much time in the kitchen and generally the slow cooker heeds the call.  And where I'm not a giant fan of "cream of dinner", I was kind of excited to try this recipe out as it calls for four...count 'em...four ingredients, none of them being a cream of something soup.  I found this dish from Fix-It and Forget-It, Our Best Slow Cooker Recipes 2010.

Apricot Stuffing and Chicken

6-oz pkg. cornbread stuffing mix
1/2 cup butter, divided
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
6- to 8-oz jar apricot preserves

1.  In a mixing bowl, make stuffing using 4 tbsp butter and amount of water called for in package instructions.

2.  Cut chicken into 1-inch pieces.  Place in bottom of slow cooker.  Spoon stuffing over top.

3.  In microwave or on stovetop, melt remaining 4 tbsp butter with preserves.  Pour over stuffing.

4.  Cover and cook on high 3 hours or cook on high 1 hour and then on low 2 hours or until chicken is tender.

The Verdict:  I think my cat could make this recipe it's so easy, but it's so good you'd never believe it was so stupidly simple.

There's a recipe that I recently posted for creamy chicken and stuffing casserole that's very similar.  It's a bit of an old standby, but I do believe it's been pushed out of the roster by this new recipe.  The combination of cornbread stuffing, sweet apricot preserves, and tender chicken is just awesome.  Just sweet enough without rendering the chicken a sugary mess.  Perfect.

I did run into a conundrum while making the stuffing.  The recipe tells you to make the stuffing as directed on the package, and the package that I used (Pepperidge Farms) called for an additional two ingredients: diced onion and chopped celery.  Zut alors.  This means that my four ingredient recipe would then become a 6 ingredient recipe.  And is that what they meant by following the package directions?  It's rather weird that I'm sometimes so literal as I consider myself to be pretty creative.  So as usual, I suggest you do whatever you want to do.  I added the onions and celery and am very happy that I did.  The stuffing was "let's have seconds" good.

Yes, that's a good way to put it.  Let's have seconds.  In fact, let's make two more crockpots of this concoction and have have thirds.

Chicken with Curried Fruit

Even when I was single, I loved to cook.  I did my share of takeout and restaurant dining, but mainly for things that I can't claim to cook well like Chinese and Indian food.  Otherwise, I always felt like there was no reason to eat well, even if I were dining alone that particular evening.  So I remember that I was really excited when I found a copy of The 15-Minute Single Gourmet cookbook by Paulette Mitchell for about 50 cents at the local thrift store.  Perhaps its previous owner got married and decided the cookbook was no longer necessary, but I decided to hang onto it.  Not because I plan to be single again someday, but because a good recipe idea can be changed to accomodate different tastes, different needs, and even a different number of diners. 

This recipe for Chicken with Curried Fruit sounded really delicious, so I did just that: cooked enough for my entire family.  Unfortunately, the suggested fruit to be curried was peaches and peaches aren't in season at the moment.  So I went with a can of cling peaches instead.  Feel free to substitute with pears, pineapples or apricots--frozen, canned or fresh.

Chicken with Curried Fruit

1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup water
1 tbsp curry powder, or to taste
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch cubes
1/2 cup orange juice
2 tbsp light brown sugar
2 peaches at room temperature, peeled, pitted and cut into 1/4-inch wedges

1.  Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Add the water, stir in the curry powder, and heat until bubbly.

2.  Add the chicken and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is lightly browned and cooked through, 8 minutes.  Meanwhile, in a measuring cup, combine the orange juice and brown sugar, stirring until the sugar is dissolved.

3.  Remove the chicken from the pan; place in a bowl and cover to keep warm.  Reduce the heat to low.  Add the peach wedges and orange juice mixture to the skillet; stir until the fruit is lightly cooked and the sauce buhbly, about 2 minutes.  Stir in the chicken and heat for 1 minute.  Taste; adjust the seasonings.

The Verdict:  Not bad.  Easy, flavorful.  But not nearly as good as Indian take away.

To be honest, I was surprised how the curry sauce was prepared.  Not that there's a better way to do it; I've just never made it before and was slightly surprised when I read that you first add oil, then add water.  But it works!  You suddenly have a skillet full of fragrant sauce.  And let me tell you, fragrant might be an understatement.  Our house smelled like curry for days afterward and if I were to rate recipes on a scale of one to five stars, it would definitely lose one for that factor. 

I also think I would wait for fresh fruit to be in season.  The cling peaches were a little blah.  Or I would have at least used frozen. 

I will say that it's very quick to prepare and is a fairly healthy meal.  And it's not bad alongside brown rice.  I apologize that this one doesn't have a picture to accompany it.  It was a night of everyone being tired and hungry, so the priority was food on the table.  All in all, it was good but not the best chicken dish I've done.  But again, I might try it with seasonal fruit.  And maybe some onion bhajis on the side, you know, to negate all the healthy aspects of the recipe.

Sweet & Savory Chicken Tidbits

The original recipe, from Rachael Ray Magazine, called for chicken wings.  And while chicken wings are a fun and occasional treat, I can't remember the last time I actually made any.  They tend to be extremely fatty and high in calories in comparison to others parts of a chicken since they're mainly skin.  Not to mention that with a toddler, a piece of meat made up of 2/3rds bones just seems like a bad idea.  So I decided that instead of wings, we'd try Sweet & Savory Chicken Tidbits, made from cut up boneless, skinless chicken breasts.

Sweet & Savory Chicken Tidbits

1 cup pineapple juice
1 cup soy sauce
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 1/2 oz lemon-flavored gelatin
2 tbsp poppy seeds

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  In a large bowl, combine the pineapple juice and soy sauce.  Add the chicken and let marinade for 15 minutes. 

2.  On a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet, arrange the chicken in a single layer.  Pour 1/2 cup of the marinade over the chicken, then sprinkle with about 1/3 of the gelatin; bake for 15 minutes.  Flip and sprinkle with another 1/3 of the gelatin and the poppy seeds, then bake until browned, about 15 additional minutes. 

The Verdict:  I can understand why the wings would be tastier as the chicken pieces dry out a little bit.  Aside from that, this dish tastes pretty good and is easy enough to make.

I really love to cook with pineapple.  I like pineapple alone, but in foods it has a great sweet-tart flavor.  When combined with the soy sauce, it gives it a fun Polynesian vibe.  The gelatin makes the chicken slightly sticky, creating a feeling of finger food that's fun like wings.

Be really careful when sprinkling the poppy seeds on the chicken.  Because the gelatin makes the chicken instantly sticky, if you pour too many seeds at once they'll clump unattractively on the chicken. 

We all liked the taste, but I don't think anyone was particularly bowled over.  If anything, I'd use the actual wings and use this as an appetizer for something like a Super Bowl party or a game night.  They'd be a little more moist and more fun to eat.  But since we won't be hosting the next Super Bowl bash, I'm guessing this recipe will get lost among the "just OKs."

Easy Beef Enchiladas

So in my quest for easy recipes, I dug this one up from my friend Carolyn.  She made these for us when my son was first born to freeze, though hers were chicken.  They're a cinch to make, a must for my current 33-week pregnant self.

Easy Beef Enchiladas

2 cups cooked stir fry beef strips
1 cup chopped green bell pepper
1 8-oz package cream, cubed
1 jar (16 oz) salsa, divided
8 flour tortillas
1 package shredded Mexican cheese blend

1.  Stir beef, bell pepper, cream cheese, and 1/2 cup salsa on low heat until cream cheese is melted.

2.  Spoon 1/3 cup beef mixture down center of each tortilla; roll up.  Place, seam-side down, in a lightly greased baking dish.

3.  Pour remaining salsa down the center of tortillas in baking dish.  Top with cheese.

4.  Bake at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

The Verdict:  Chicken! Chicken! Chicken!

I love this recipe, but I definitely recommend making it with the chicken.  Chicken will stay a lot more moist, whereas the beef having to go through two cooking times, turns into shoe leather.  And while I'm sure there's some way to cook the beef so that it stays on the medium to medium-well side, I'm thinking that might take work.  And people, we're not into work these days.

Still one of my favorites, though.

Creamy Chicken & Stuffing Casserole

My family is currently down for the count.  If you're a regular reader, you might have noticed that I haven't posted for a while.  I am nearly eight months pregnant and dealing with all kinds of musculoskeletal fun and my husband has the flu.  The toddler is a wizard at plastic food preparation, but reminds us all as we delight in his dishes, "Mommy, Daddy, don't weally eat it, it's just patend."  Therefore, we can't count on his Iron Chef abilities.

So I dug into the freezer this week and we ate the frozen lasagna I'd made extra a couple of weeks ago.  I also made the Southwest Cheese & Pasta recipe from months back, which we all love and takes minutes to prepare.  There wasn't much kitchen creativity happening this week.  In fact, my menu planning over the weekend included all recipes that are easy to prepare.  This following recipe for Creamy Chicken & Stuffing Casserole is one of them.  It's a cream of dinner, generally something I hate, but I like this one.  Can't remember where this recipe comes from; I've been making it for a long time now.

Creamy Chicken & Stuffing Casserole

1 pkg (6 oz.) chicken-flavored stuffing mix

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (5-6 oz each), cut into cubes

2 zucchini, cut into ½” pieces

8 oz mushrooms, sliced

1 green pepper, chopped

1 onion, chopped

1 can (10.75 oz) reduced-fat cream of chicken soup

1.  Combine stuffing mix (and seasoning packet, if included) with 1/2 cup water until just moistened in a large bowl.  Set aside.

2.  Mix chicken, zucchini, mushrooms, bell pepper, and onion in another large bowl.  Stir in soup.  Transfer half of the chicken-vegetable mixture in a 4-quart or larger slow cooker.  Spoon half of the reserved stuffing on top.  Repeat layers.

3.  Cover.  Cook on low for 5 to 6 hours or on high 2 1/2 to 3 hours, or until vegetables are tender.

The Verdict:  As the cook, I love this recipe because it's deliriously easy and quite tasty to boot.  My husband thinks it's pretty good.  The toddler thinks it's rubbish, but will eat the chicken.

My son is driving me crazy with his current dislike of 99% of vegetables.  It's really ironic, as I went out of my way when he was an infant to introduce him to a plethora of foods.  I made them myself and spiced them quite liberally.  By that rationale, he should be a super-foodie, but no. 

Anyway, I love stuffing but we never eat it.  This is a quick way to enjoy it, as well as to eat a bunch of vegetables (if you aren't 2 1/2).  And aside from chopping the vegetables, you can't find a quicker recipe.  This recipe is fantastic for potlucks.

Chicken with Mushroom Hash

Why is it, when I think of hash, I think only of grated potatoes browned in a pan?  When I found this recipe in the Food & Wine 2006 cookbook, my first reaction was "yum" and my second was "whatever you say."  Because the hash in this recipe is cubed potatoes, mushrooms, and pears.  In my limited little brain, that's not hash.  But apparently, I'm wrong as I found approximately one billion recipes afterwards that defy my definition of what hash is.  (And by the way, don't research the subject with Google searches like "what is hash?"  You will learn more about the pasty marijuana substance than you ever needed to know.)

Chicken with Mushroom Hash

Four 8- to 10-oz bone-in chicken breast halves
Salt and freshly ground pepper
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 baking potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
8 oz. sliced white mushrooms
1 tsp thyme
1/2 cup water
2 Bosc pears, cored and cut into 1/2-inch pieces

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper.  In a large, deep skillet, heat 3 tbsp of olive oil  until shimmering.  Add the chicken, skin side down, and cook over moderately high heat, turning once, until browned, about 6 minutes.  Transfer to a baking dish.  Roast the chicken for 15 minutes, or until the juices run clear when the breasts are pierced.

2.  Meanwhile, in the same skillet, heat the remaining 1 tbsp oil until shimmering.  Add the onion and cook, stirring, until barely softened, 3 minutes.  Add the potatoes, mushrooms and thyme and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes; season with salt and pepper.  Add the water, cover and cook until the potatoes are browned, about 7 minutes.  Add the pears, cover and cook over moderately low heat until crisp-tender, about 3 minutes longer.  Transfer the chicken to plates and serve with the hash.

The Verdict:  Perfection!

This dish is wonderful in many ways.  The first is that it's a visual feast.  It's stunningly beautiful with an autumn palate of golden browns, russets, and yellows.  And not surprisingly, the taste matches the beauty of the plate.  Crisping the chicken skin then roasting it in the oven allows for a lovely, crispy skin that envelops a juicy breast.  And that breast is a perfect combination with the hash.  The hash has soft, almost buttery potatoes, earthy mushrooms and sweet pears.  I wasn't sure that adding a half cup of water while cooking the hash would do anything for the taste.  I was tempted to add chicken broth, but no need.  The water helps to break down the ingredients, creating a very moist composite of fruit and vegetable.  Not anything like the hash I'm used to--and so, so, so much better.

The original recipe calls for shiitake mushrooms.  I'm sure that makes the dish even more decadent, but while I was shopping, I didn't like how the shiitakes at the market looked.  So I went with plain white mushrooms and they were fantastic.  Use either.  Also, they suggest fresh thyme.  As I've written before, I don't use many fresh herbs, especially during the winter.  The dried thyme tasted great, but if you have fresh, you might want to give it a try.  Add two springs and discard before serving.

Make this dish during the fall or winter then have people over.  I promise they'll think you're some kind of kitchen savant. 

Spicy Chicken Shawarma

We don't do many sandwiches, but this one from Cooking Light sounded not only delicious, but easy.  The other thing that drew me to it was the mish-mash of ingredients: chicken, cucumbers, tomatoes, yogurt sauce.  Even if my son wouldn't pick up the sandwich to eat it, I was certain he'd pick his way through it and get a healthy meal.

Spicy Chicken Shawarma

2 tbsp finely chopped parsley
1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper

1/4 tsp ground cumin

1/8 tsp ground coriander
5 tbsp plain low-fat Greek-style yogurt, divided
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice, divided
1 lb skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, thinly sliced
2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 tbsp tahini
4 (6-inch) pitas, halved
1/2 cup chopped cucumber
1/2 cup chopped plum tomato
1/4 cup prechopped red onion

1.  Combine the first 6 ingredients in a large bowl; stir in 1 tbsp yogurt, 1 tbsp juice, and 2 garlic cloves.  Add chicken; toss to coat.  Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add chicken mixture to pan; sauté 6 minutes or until browned and done, stirring frequently.

2.  While chicken cooks, combine remaining 1/4 cup yogurt, remaining 1 tbsp lemon juice,  remaining 1 garlic clove, and tahini, stirring well.  Spread 1 1/2 tsp tahini mixture inside each pita half; divide chicken evenly among pita halves.  Fill each pita half with 1 tbsp cucumber, 1 tbsp tomato, and 1 1/2 tsp onion.

The Verdict:  While it's a good sandwich, it's not shawarma.

And how could it be?  Shawarma is meat that's been cooked on a vertical spit for hours and hours at a time.  When you order your sandwich, the meat is shaved off in thin slices.  There's a place that I adore in Central Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts called the Falafel Palace.  I haven't been in years, but I just get moony dreaming of their lamb shawarma, nice and juicy, accompanied with a yogurt sauce and pickles.  They aren't filling your lavash bread with chicken that's been cooked in a pan.

Oh, lavash bread.  If you have access to it and want to make this sandwich, I'd suggest it.  Easier roll up your ingredients rather than stuff it in a pita.

Anyway, for what the sandwich is, it's good.  I browned the chicken meat as directed but would advise against that step.  Cook your chicken until it's done.  Browning, while it makes it more visually like real shawarma, makes the chicken dry. 

To save time (as in, doing what you can during nap time), you can make the sauce ahead of time.  I don't have tahini in the house, so instead I used a tablespoon of almond butter and a teaspoon of sesame oil.  Not quite as good, but it was fine.

I served the sandwiches with grapes.  As I'd predicted, my son picked at his plate.  He first ate the grapes, of course, then went on to the whole wheat pita, then the chicken, then the cucumbers.  So even though he didn't eat the sandwich the way I did (which actually fell apart in my hands, so maybe he took the smarter route), he did eat well. 

It was fun to eat a sandwich instead of the traditional main course.  If you prefer, you can fill your pita/lavash with tabbouleh instead of the salad fixings.  You can also add some pickle slices.  Or you can skip this recipe and go with me to Falafel Palace, where I think I'll be visiting very soon...

Maple-Glazed Chicken with Apple-Brussels Sprout Slaw

I was looking for a chicken recipe when I came across this one in my pile.  I guess maple made me think winter which gave me a warm and cozy feeling.  And my son loves cole slaw and I love Brussels sprouts, and we all love apples, so I thought this Cooking Light recipe might be a win-win.

Maple-Glazed Chicken with Apple-Brussels Sprout Slaw

8 (2-oz) chicken cutlets
1/2 tsp kosher salt, divided
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper, divided
2 tbsp olive oil, divided
3 tbsp red wine vinegar, divided
2 tbsp maple syrup
8 oz Brussels sprouts
1/4 cup dried currants (I used raisins)
1 medium Fuji or Gala apple, cut into 1/8-inch-thick slices

1.  Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Sprinkle chicken with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.  Add 1 tablespoon oil to pan; swirl to coat.  Add chicken to pan; cook 3 minutes on each side or until done.  Remove from pan; keep warm.  Add 2 tablespoons vinegar and syrup to pan; bring to a boil.  Cook 1 minute or until reduced to 3 tablespoons.  Return chicken to pan; turn to coat with glaze.

2.  Cut Brussels sprouts in half length-wise; thinly slice crosswise.  Place remaining 1 tablespoon oil, 1 tablespoon vinegar, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a large bowl and whisk together.  Add Brussels sprouts, currants, and apple; toss to combine.  Serve slaw with chicken.

The Verdict:  This is one of those recipes that tastes and looks like it was really hard to make, when in fact you can whip it up in record time.  Score!

Everyone really loved the chicken.  It has a great flavor that's not too sweet.  Honestly, I made more glaze than was suggested in the recipe.  I wanted my chicken slightly gooey.  The slaw was, in my opinion, amazing.  The dressing was simultaneously sweet and tart and the mix of sprouts, apples and (in my slaw) raisins was a fantastic mix of flavors and textures.  But the slaw was also a bit like Goldilocks and the Three Bears: Mama Bear thought it was wonderful, Papa Bear thought it was OK but isn't a raving fan of Brussels sprouts and Baby Bear wanted to know what the hell you smeared all over my apples and raisins?  And what are these bitter green things?

So if you're feeding a table of picky eaters, you might want to skip the slaw.  (Sniff, sniff.)  But the chicken was a hit. 

Raspberry-Balsamic Glazed Chicken

To my friend Carolyn: if you're reading this, this recipe post is for you.  We discussed this one a few weeks back; she'd said it sounds good and I promised I'd make it and post about it so that she could have the recipe.  (Before you think I'm a jerk because I didn't just invite her to dinner, she lives 6 hours away.)  It's appropriate for me to post it for her as she's a newlywed and I secretly think of this as "romantic chicken."  It originally ran in Cooking Light many, many years ago.  I actually made this dish for my husband on our second date.  I used the fancy grill at the beach house where I was staying, despite the fact that I'm pretty terrified of barbecues.  At one point, the intense heat fanned up toward my face, and in a panic, I began blowing on the grill like a moron.  I have a feeling it's then that my husband fell in love with me.

Raspberry-Balsamic Glazed Chicken

1 tsp vegetable oil
1/2 cup chopped red onion
4 (4-oz) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1 1/2 tsp minced fresh or 1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/3 cup seedless raspberry preserves
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1.  Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium high heat.  Add onion, sauté for 5 minutes.  Sprinkle chicken with thyme and 1/4 tsp salt.  Add chicken to pan; sauté 6 minutes each side or until done.  Remove chicken from pan, and keep warm.  Reduce heat to medium-low.  Add preserves, vinegar, and 1/4 tsp each salt and pepper, stirring constantly until preserves melt.  Spoon raspberry sauce over chicken.

The Verdict:  Yummmmmmmm.

This raspberry-balsamic sauce is to die for.  Balsamic vinegar is great on it's own with it's sweet yet tart taste and slightly syrupy consistency.  Added to the raspberry preserves, it creates a thick and caramel sauce that just oozes over the chicken.  You could use any type of preserves that you wish, but let me tell you the raspberry is magical.  I don't bother with the preserves needing to be seedless.  Unless the seeds bug you, you can use either. 

We don't eat pork in our house, but I can imagine that this would taste pretty good over a pork chop as well.

I served this with simple french fried potato wedges and edamame.  I'd suggest keeping your side dishes simple as the chicken itself is so packed with flavor.

This was the first time that my son ate this chicken and he loved it.  So that means that we will be eating raspberry-balsamic chicken for a long time.  Like, until death do us part. 

Cream Cheese Chicken

It's another attempt at crockpot cuisine--with a can of soup to boot.  I've had the recipe for a while and I'm not really sure where it came from.  So I figured it was as good a time as any to give it a go.  According to the directions, the dish can be frozen when cooled in a gallon freezer bag. 

Cream Cheese Chicken

1 frying chicken, cut up (or use 3 lbs boneless, skinless breasts)

2 tbsp melted butter

salt and pepper to taste

2 tbsp (1 package) dry Italian salad dressing

1 can condensed chicken soup

8 oz. cream cheese cut into cubes (low-fat is fine)

1 tbsp onion minced or 1 small shallot, minced

Brush chicken with melted butter and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Place in a crockpot and sprinkle Italian dressing mix over all.  Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours.  About 45 minutes before done, mix soup, cream cheese, and onion in a small saucepan.  Cook until smooth.  Pour over chicken.  Cover and cook remaining time.

Serve with rice, pasta, or potatoes

The Verdict:  Awesome taste, but if you're feeding a small child, go with the boneless skinless breasts.

Instead of a cut up fryer, I used breasts and whole chicken legs.  Toward the end of the cooking, the moisture of the chicken and the heat of the crockpot cause the "meat just falls off the bone" phenomenon.  This would be great if the bones the meat were falling off were huge--not things like tiny ribs.  In fear of the little one choking (or maybe even one of us big ones), I spent a good 15 minutes picking out the bones and adding the meat back into the crockpot.  That was annoying. 

Other than the bone issue, I am pleasantly surprised to be able to report that this recipe--despite its canned soup and dry dressing--was delicious.  The Italian seasoning is perfect and the sauce that the soup and cream cheese mixed with the juices of the chicken was creamy without being goopy and very tasty.  We really liked it served over mashed potatoes.

Where this is a freezable meal, I think I just might make a batch or two to keep in the freezer for a quick meal.  Well, who woulda thunk I'd give my seal of approval to a "cream of dinner"?  Julia Child would probably roll over in her grave, but for what it is, it was tasty.

Tuscan Chicken Stew

Here's another easy, one skillet meal. When I chose the recipe, I felt like I'd made it before, but once it was done, I didn't recognize it at all. So it ended up being something new for everyone to try out. I don't know where the original recipe came from and it doesn't matter; it was really poorly written and I found myself bumbling through cooking. I was afraid I'd left out ingredients. Even if I did, the stew came out perfectly.

Tuscan Chicken Stew

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch pieces

1/2 tsp dried rosemary, crushed

2 tsp olive oil

2 tsp smashed garlic

1/2 cup reduced-sodium fat-free chicken broth

1 (15 1/2 oz) can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained

1 (7-oz) bottle roasted red bell pepper, drained and cut into 1/2-inch pieces

3 1/2 cups baby spinach

1. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and rosemary; sauté for about 6 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté for an additional 1 minute.

2. Add the broth, beans, and peppers; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 10 minutes or until chicken is done. Stir in spinach; simmer 1 minute. Serve with drop biscuits.

The Verdict: Very flavorful and fragrant. I loved the use of roasted red pepper instead of the diced tomato you might have expected. And, as usual, I loved that it was an easy, one-pot meal.

My husband enjoyed it as well; our son tolerated it with his distrust of obvious vegetables. But it had chicken and beans, and a meat and a legume will always work when it comes to him.

In addition to the stew, we also had Pillsbury Simply...Buttermilk Biscuits. These might only be available in the States, but let me tell you, I was quite excited about this find. I largely dislike pre-packaged foods, especially baked goods as they're chock full of transfats. While these have no wheat flour, something I prefer, they don't have transfats, high fructose corn syrup or artificial colors. It begs the question why they can't do this for everything; why there has to be a separate line of foods that cost more. But regardless, I was happy to find them. My apologies for singing the praises of different food products lately; I just feel like if there's a good thing out there, we should all know about it.

But the chicken stew: fast, delicious, easy. A nice stew for a cold night.

Ginger-Soy Chicken Thighs with Scallion Rice

Knowing that I had a package of frozen chicken thighs in the freezer to use up, I searched my recipes for something to use them with. The original Ginger-Soy Chicken Thighs with Scallion Rice, which appeared in the November 2010 Cooking Light, called for a 1/2 cup of ginger preserves. Ginger preserves? They must have known there would be a collective, "Huh?!" from their readers, as they give the apricot preserves and grated ginger substitute I write in the recipe below. If you happen to be the super-foodie who has unlimited access to ginger preserves, go for it, but otherwise, this is an easy switch.

Ginger-Soy Chicken Thighs with Scallion Rice

1 cup cooked rice

2 tbsp thinly sliced green onions

1 tbsp olive oil

8 (2-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken thighs

1/2 cup apricot preserves

2 tsp grated, peeled fresh ginger (I use 2 tsp jarred grated Ginger People ginger)

2 tbsp soy sauce

2 garlic cloves, minced

1. Prepare rice. Fluff and gently stir in green onions. Set aside.

2. As the rice cooks, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add chicken; cook 5 minutes on each side or until done. Remove from pan; keep warm. Add preserves, ginger, soy sauce, and garlic to pan; bring to boil. Cook sauce 2 minutes or until reduced to 1/3 cup, stirring occasionally. Return chicken to pan; turn to coat with sauce.

The Verdict: Guess who's keeping a jar of apricot preserves on hand to make this whenever chicken thighs are on sale? Did you guess me? Ding! Ding! Ding!

The simple description of this dish is: oh my god, this stuff is good. As I ate it, swooning the whole time, I tried to place the taste. Finally it dawned on me that it tastes exactly like General Tso's chicken, without the breading and deep frying. And I loves me some General Tso's chicken. It's salty, sweet, savory, and sticky all at once. My husband liked it, too, but my son was a fanatic like his mom. His entire chicken thigh was gone within five minutes. If that.

The original recipe called for boil-in-bag rice but I don't see any point. It might be faster, but I can't think of a fix-it-and-forget-it food that's easier than rice. You're then free to cook whatever kind floats your boat. I only had a handful of my favorite Basmati left, so I mixed it in with brown rice. The result was very sticky, but still good.

I really can't say enough about having Ginger People jarred minced ginger on hand if you find your recipes often call for ginger. It's cheap and lasts forever, and the taste is fantastic.

Anyway, this chicken cooks up in about 10 minutes. You can't beat a tasty meal that's that easy to prepare. Hasta la vista, General Tso. I've discovered your cheaper, healthier cousin and we're now good friends.

Chicken Tandoori

A host of winter malaise has settled upon our household which has thrown a wrench into the cooking schedule. Chicken tandoori was appointed for Tuesday night, right when the apogee of illness struck. Good news: if you marinade these chicken thighs longer than the 15 minutes recommended in this Rachael Ray recipe (let's say for, oh, 23 and 3/4 hours longer) they are not ruined.

Chicken Tandoori

8 skinless boneless chicken thighs (about 2 1/2 lbs)

juice of 1 lemon

kosher salt

1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp plain yogurt

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1/2 small red onion, roughly chopped

3 cloves garlic, smashed

1 2-inch piece ginger, peeled and roughly chopped

4 tsp tomato paste

2 tsp ground coriander

1 1/2 tsp ground cumin

1 3/4 tsp hot paprika

2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

1. Preheat broiler. Make shallow cuts in the chicken thighs with a sharp knife. Toss the chicken with the lemon juice and 1 1/2 tsp salt in a large bowl.

2. Pulse 2 tbsp yogurt, the vegetable oil, onion, garlic, ginger, tomato paste, coriander, cumin, 1 1/2 tsp paprika and 1/2 tsp salt in a food processor to make a paste. Toss the chicken in the mixture and let marinade 15 minutes.

3. Place the chicken on a foil-lined broiler pan. Broil, turning once, until slightly charred and a thermometer inserted in the center registers 165 degrees, 5 to 6 minutes per side.

4. Meanwhile, combine the remaining 1/2 cup yogurt and 1/4 tsp paprika, the cilantro and a pinch of salt in a bowl. Top the chicken with the yogurt sauce and serve with rice, if desired.

The Verdict: Lots of complex flavors that work well together. It's not what I immediately recognize as tandoori chicken, but it's still extremely delicious and has an Indian taste to it.

Probably the best part of this recipe was the lack of red. Often times if you go out for Indian and order chicken tandoori, a plate of bright red chicken comes to the table. I don't have a problem eating the red chicken, I have a problem cooking it. If you visit an Indian grocery and pick up a package of tandoori spice, it comes as a powder. As you mix it, the red becomes a stubborn dye that, until cooked, will turn your kitchen into a crimson craft project. No thanks. I'll take a nice flavor over endless scrubbing any day.

I think the writers of this recipe are about spot on as to eight chicken thighs equaling 2.5 lbs of chicken. However, I found it impossible to find packaged chicken to equal this quantity. So instead of cooking ten thighs (tandoori inundation!), I cooked five instead. The only difference is that fewer thighs end up with more paste on each, making the caramelizing from the broiler more difficult. You may end up, like we did, with less charring and a little more wetness. Tasted just as good. Oh, and in my haste to feed the family, I forgot to top our chicken with the yogurt sauce.

By the way, I didn't use a meat thermometer. Chicken thighs without bones are fairly thin, so under high heat they cook within about 5 to 7 minutes.

This recipe is great the day after the Fall Vegetable Curry recipe. We had lots of leftovers from that meal, so it made a perfect side!

Jerk Chicken Thighs

I don't know all that much about Jamaican cuisine, so in order to write about jerk chicken, I thought I should do a little online research. Otherwise, I blindly enter my kitchen with my best guess being that jerk chicken is the chicken in the barnyard who tells sexist and racist jokes. And for some reason, I thought that probably wasn't correct.

And it isn't. According to WiseGeek.com, "jerk" comes from ways to prepare and spice dried meat, or jerky. I'm not sure if this is true or not, but jerk spice is best known from Jamaican culture. It's a blend of spices, best known as a dry rub (though it can be a wet/marinade) that almost always includes allspice and hot peppers. Other common ingredients include garlic, onions, clove, cinnamon, nutmeg and/or salt. Jerk cooking almost always happens by way of grilling over a wood-chip fed flame.

This recipe lacks many of these elements. Jamaican food, including jerk seasoning, often includes Scotch bonnet peppers. This recipe didn't call for any peppers at all. If you wanted to add heat, you could add a pepper if you wish. Just be careful with a Scotch bonnet--it's one of the hottest peppers in the world. I wouldn't recommend it unless you know what you're in for. Also, the cooking method suggested is either grilling or broiling. Since we live on the second floor of a condo in the city and it's the beginning of December, grilling was out. Broiling is fine, but it doesn't give your chicken a very authentic jerk look; it's pretty anemic, which is maybe appropriate for Caribbean chicken cooked by a white woman in New England.

Grilling or broiling, the cook time is about 4 minutes per side. This is another discrepancy, and probably why Cooking Light chose to call this recipe "Jerk Chicken Thighs" and not "Jamaican Jerk Chicken Thighs." On Jamaicans.com, one writer says, "To ensure that the meat is properly cooked BBQing should be done in Jamaican time...nice and slow." Oh well. Without further ado, here's the recipe for lightening-quick, not-hot jerk chicken.

Jerk Chicken Thighs

1 tbsp ground allspice

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground nutmeg

4 garlic cloves, crushed, or 2 tsp bottled, minced garlic

8 (4-oz) skinless, boneless chicken thighs

1. Combine first 4 ingredients, 1 teaspoon black pepper and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a small bowl. Rub chicken with spice mixture.

2. Preheat broiler or grill.

3. Place chicken on grill rack or broiler pan coated with cooking spray; cook 4 minutes each side or until done.

The Verdict: It's an unexpected taste for the uninitiated.

With my first bite, I felt like the rub was a little too muddy. As I continued to eat it, the flavors became more distinct and I began to enjoy it. My husband's reaction was a bit perplexed; he couldn't figure out what he was eating. "It tastes like chocolate," was his response. I asked if he meant that in a good or bad way and he said good; that the flavor combination was "sweetish, like chocolate."

I'm always a fan of quick dinners and dinners that can be whipped up with pretty much what you have on hand, so this recipe certainly fits the bill. But I think I might play with the spices a bit more before committing this as a must-save, go to, quick meal. I saw one homemade jerk rub that included brown sugar and thyme, as well as pepper. But since no one in my family is a great fan of scortchingly-hot food, I'm thinking a finely diced jalapeño. Seeds removed.

Chicken Soup with Alphabet Pasta and Meatballs

The original recipe, which appeared in the now defunct Cookie magazine, called for star-shaped pasta. But if this is supposed to be a kid-friendly chicken soup, I can't think of anything more fun than alphabet-shaped pasta. Of course, you can use any tiny pasta that you wish, even orzo. (And I think of my sister-in-law trying to find Turkish alphabet pasta with a collection of ç and ö characters.)

Chicken Soup with Alphabet Pasta and Meatballs

2/3 cup finely grated fresh Parmesan

3/4 pound ground turkey or lean ground beef

1/2 small onion, finely chopped

1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs

1/2 cup cooked, squeezed dry, and chopped spinach

1 large egg, lightly beaten

coarse salt

2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

8 oz alphabet-shape pasta (or any small pasta)

4 cups chicken stock or broth

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

2. Set aside 4 tablespoons of the cheese.

3. Combine the ground meat, onion, bread crumbs, spinach, egg, 3/4 teaspoon of the salt, and the remaining cheese in a medium bowl. Shape into 30 meatballs, each 1 inch in diameter.

4. Heat the oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat until hot but not smoking. Reduce heat to medium-low; add the meatballs and cook, turning, until lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer meatballs to a large saucepan.

5. Meanwhile, add the pasta to the boiling water and cook according to package directions; drain.

6. Add the chicken stock to the browned meatballs and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until the meatballs are just cooked through, about 5 minutes. Stir in the pasta and salt to taste.

7. Ladle the soup into bowls and sprinkle with the reserved cheese.

The Verdict: Despite the simplicity of the recipe, it tastes like chicken soup that you put some actual effort into making. Even my toddler, who is pretty leery of soup, enjoyed it.

One of the reasons my son liked the soup, I think, is that I cooked a little extra pasta to add to the broth. That way, the parents got more broth, while he got more pasta and meatballs. If you go this route, be sure to have extra stock on hand if you end up with leftovers as the pasta will suck up the extra liquid.

The original recipe says that the meatballs can be added to tomato sauce and eaten with pasta. While they're very tasty, they did fall apart a bit. Which was fine for soup; I think it added to the recipe to have some bits of meat, spinach and onion floating in the broth. I suppose the same could hold true of meatball detritus in sauce, but classic meatballs are, well, balls.

My son has come down with a bit of a nasty cold, so this soup wound up on my weekly menu on exactly the right night. It was warming and filling; a great cool-weather dinner that was easy enough to whip up quickly.

Chicken in Lettuce Cups

It was Thanksgiving here in the U.S. yesterday, which meant for this American I could be thankful for not having to cook. My aunt, with the help of my uncle, roasted a giant turkey for ten of us. It came out beautifully brown and incredibly moist. Add to that lots of fall sides like mashed turnip and succulent stuffing, it was a Happy Thanksgiving indeed.

But before the holiday, we here at our house tried a new recipe that first appeared in Good Housekeeping: Chicken in Lettuce Cups. It's a simple stir fry served in large leaves of Boston lettuce. My ingredient amounts differ slightly from the original recipe.

Chicken in Lettuce Cups

3 tbsp reduced-sodium soy sauce

2 tsp grated peeled fresh ginger

1 tbsp honey

2 tsp toasted sesame oil

1 1/4 lbs chicken tenders, cut into 1/4-inch chunks

1 cup frozen shelled edamame

2 medium stalks celery, chopped

12 large Boston lettuce leaves

1. In cup, combine soy sauce, ginger and honey. Set aside.

2. In a 12-inch nonstick skillet, heat sesame oil on medium for 1 minute. Add chicken chunks and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Add edamame to chicken in skillet; cook 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in celery; cook 3 minutes longer. Add soy sauce mixture; cook 2 minutes or until chicken is cooked through; stirring occasionally to coat chicken in sauce.

4. Arrange lettuce leaves on dinner plates. Divide chicken mixture among lettuce leaves, about 1/4 cup per leaf. Fold leaves over chicken mixture and eat out of hand.

The Verdict: Fun, delicious and easy!

My husband and I both liked the taste of this simple stir fry and loved the idea of wrapping the chicken around a lettuce leaf. My son's hand were too small to successfully eat the stir-fry wrapped in the lettuce and I don't think he was into the idea of eating a big green leaf anyway. No matter, the stir fry itself had lots of edamame and celery, giving him plenty of vegetables.

I didn't bother to divide the lettuce leaves among our plates. Instead, I just brought a plate of lettuce and the stir-fry in a bowl and served it family style.

This was much better than Chinese take out!