Coconut Chicken El Diablo!

Once you finish making and eating this dish, I think you'll agree that the title of this dish needs more "!" in it. I was down in south Texas a few years back and I wanted something spicy. Living in a college town at the time, I had access to huge portions of food at very cheap prices but little of it had any spice. Mostly mass produced food on the cheap for starving college kids. I went to the local market and came upon some Chipotle chilies. Basically they're smoked Jalapeno peppers, and the kind I picked up had them packed in Adobo sauce, a red spice sauce.

Now racking my brain, what would go good with these en masse that I could make? I wasn't about to put an entire can of this stuff on a burger, I may have wanted spicy but I wasn't THAT far gone. I decided on Chicken!

I took a couple of Chicken breasts and cut them into 1 inch squares and browned them in a pan with a little non stick spray and added the Chipotle peppers. It was exceptionally hot, delicious, and almost unbearable after 5 pieces of Chicken. Chipotle is one of those peppers that builds the more you eat on an almost exponential scale. I needed something to tame the heat somewhat so I could still enjoy my dish. My next trip to the store I wandered a bit further up the ethnic isle and noticed Coconut Milk in the Asian spice area. I pondered for a few moments, and picked up a can.

From here, I browned the chicken on all sides in a pan, turned down the heat to very low, just barely a simmer and added the Coconut Milk in, scraped the brown bits off of the bottom of the pan, and let it bubble for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then, I added in... the peppers.

Tiny peppers of delicious death!

I added in a bit of salt, and about 2 tsp of Sugar to help bring out the flavor of the Coconut Milk. I let this bubble away for another 5 minutes and turned off the heat. My eyes weren't completely watering at this point, so I knew I had curbed the heat in the peppers. I didn't break or chop open the peppers in the container this time. The first time I did, and I paid for it later.

This dish is mildly sweet, Coconutty, and quite warm. If you're looking for a night of hot food, this will definitely slake your need for it. I highly recommend a bowl of ice cream nearby to cool your tongue, or perhaps a beer to help tone down the heat as you eat this. While not as hot as say, a habanero pepper, these pack enough of a punch for just about anyone who likes heat. If you're feeling bold, eat one of the peppers, just be careful as all the ones I've ever eaten out of the can are concentrated with heat and seeds. They are quite tasty!

1 can Chipotle peppers in Adobo sauce
2-3 Chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch squares
1 can Coconut Milk
1/2 tsp Salt
2 tsp Sugar

Brown cut Chicken on all sides on medium heat in a non stick, or non stick sprayed pan. Lower heat to lowest setting, add Coconut Milk and scrape all the brown bits off of the bottom of the pan, simmer 5 minutes. Add Chipotle peppers, Salt, and Sugar. Simmer another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve!

Chicken Noodle Soup

With cold and flu season already here, it's time to break out that elixir of health: Chicken Noodle Soup!

With the depth of flavor, warm brothyness (yes that's a word now) and just plain goodness, it's hard to go wrong with a bowl of piping hot Chicken Soup. 

First, the ingredients: Thyme, Pepper, Bay leaf, Salt, Chicken Bullion, and Chicken stock

I made a mirepoix of half a large Onion, 3 Carrots, and 3 Celery stalks, all diced. If you don't like Onion, just double either the Celery or Carrots.

Over medium heat, I sweated the mirepoix for about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. While the mirepoix is working it's magic in the stock pot, I cubed up 2 large Chicken Breasts. If you like smaller cubes, go for it. Tip: If you're having a hard time cutting flimsy chicken, freeze it for a few hours first. You don't want it frozen solid, just semi-frozen. It's easier to work with, just take your time when cutting.

Next comes 1Qt of Chicken stock:

Then the Spices, and Chicken:

2 Bay leafs in this pot please!

Once the Spices and Chicken are added, you can gage how much water or extra Chicken Stock you'd like to add. I personally put in 3 cups of water, as I like mine fairly soupy. Add more Chicken bullion for a stronger Chicken flavor if so desired.

Now, you may notice that after about 10 or so minutes, there's a white film on top of the bubbly soup.

Not to worry, just take your time and use a spoon to gently skim this layer off. Use a small bowl, and transfer the skimmed parts into the bowl to make more of a clear soup. It doesn't have to be perfectly skimmed, but you can see the difference between the two pictures.

After about 15-20 minutes on a slow boil, you can add in your noodles. Be careful with adding to many in! The noodles will soak up a lot of broth. If you like it noodly, knock yourself out. 

Now for the recipe:

1 Qt Chicken Broth

3 Cups Water

1 Tbsp Chicken Bullion

1 Tsp Thyme

1 Tsp Salt

1 Tsp Pepper

2 Bay Leaves

2 Chicken Breasts, cubed

1 Cup Noodles

3 Carrots, diced

3 Celery Stalks, diced

1/2 Onion, diced

Add Celery, Carrots, Onion into 5qt stock pot on medium heat. Allow to sweat until translucent, or about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add Chicken Broth, Thyme, Salt, Pepper, Bay, Chicken Breasts, and Chicken Bullion. If you have the squares of Chicken Bullion, just use one of the squares. Slow boil on medium heat for 20-25 minutes. Add Noodles and boil for another 10 minutes. 1 Cup Noodles is a fair amount, but if you like more, add in about a half a cup more. 

Blackened Chicken

As I'm sure you can tell thus far, I like food. I like good tasting food, and I don't like to add a lot of unnecessary fat or calories to food if I can help it. If it tastes just as good with 1 tbsp butter vs 4, why use 4? So I started dabbling a bit in one of my favorite Cajun dishes, blackening. I will expand more as time goes on, but one dish that struck me was one I've had while in Waco Tx for a while at a restaurant called Buzzard Billy's. It was here I first discovered Blackened Chicken Fettuccine, and boy was it good! So I started trying to make Blackened Chicken. While this may not be traditional, it's quite tasty!

First, I take some olive oil (about 3 tbsp) and 1 tbsp butter and mix the two in a pan

My chicken breasts (bone in works quite well here as well) are already seasoned with Blackening seasoning, available in just about any major grocery store. What kind you use, is up to you and your personal tastes. If you're looking for a hint, try Emeril's, or Zatarans. 

Now, normally in Cajun cooking, folks like to get a thick cast iron pan red hot, slap the butter into it quickly followed by your meat or fish. I consider this to be more of an easy, or "poor-man's" way of doing it, minus the whole potential for fire and burning down your house. Once the butter and olive oil are fully integrated (takes about 3 minutes or so, you'll notice when the butter is gone and you start to get a "foam" from the butter) add the seasoned chicken.

Now, one of my friends asked me once about fried foods that she was mangling in the pan. When she thought the food was done she would try and pry it up from the pan, resulting in the food being mangled and not looking all that pretty. Here is kind of the same idea, along with grilling that I passed on. When you place something down to be grilled, fried or pan fried, let it sit for a while where it is. This helps develop crust (ohhhh so tasty!) and more flavor. If you try and pry up your item, it will come to pieces and look very amateur. You can give it a gentile push with a fork or spatula. Once it is ready, the item will fairly easily come up on it's own time.

I'm seeing double noms!

So, you've probably noticed that the chicken here, while delicious, cannot possibly have been finished after 3 minutes on each side. You would be correct! From here, I pull the chicken and place it in a 425 degree oven for 15-20 minutes covered with foil. 

After it's been in the oven for 15 or so minutes, I cut the thickest part of the chicken and make sure it's done.

Now, from here you can eat it as is, add some more blackening seasoning, cut it up and add it to a salad, pasta, coffee (it's that good... well maybe not with coffee).

1 lb Chicken Breasts

Blackening seasoning (to taste)

4 tbsp Olive Oil (enough to coat the bottom of your pan)

1 tbsp Butter

Coat your chicken breasts with Blackening seasoning. Preheat oven to 425. Combine Olive Oil and Butter together in a thick pan (cast iron, calphalon or the like). Once oil/Butter mix is combined and starting to smoke, place chicken in pan. Be aware of potential splattering hazard, if you have a splatter shield, it wouldn't be a bad idea to employ it. Cook Chicken 3 minutes on each side without fussing with it. Move to another oven safe pan, cover with foil, place in 425 oven for 15-20 minutes. Enjoy!