Chicken Balsamico Casserole

The home ec teacher at the school where my husband works made this amazing casserole for us when our daughter was born. I told Bill he had to get me the recipe since we both loved it so much. Turns out it's a Campbell's Kitchen recipe that she simply modified into a casserole. You can find the original recipe here, but if you want to make it into a casserole, follow the directions below.

Ingredients

1-1/2 cups rotini or penne pasta (use whole wheat or multigrain for extra nutrition)

2-3 boneless skinless chicken breasts

1-2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1-2 tsp Greek spice mix (recipe below)

1/2 cup chopped green pepper

1/4 cup chopped white onion

1 large clove garlic, minced

3 tbsp balsamic vinegar

3/4 cup water

1 can Campbell's Condensed Cream of Chicken soup

1 cup diced tomatoes

1/2 cup diced pitted kalamata olives

1/2-3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

salt and pepper to taste

Greek Spice Mix

equal parts of dried parsley, thyme, marjoram, and oregano

1/2 a part of coarse black pepper

Method

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Bring several cups of water in a large pot to a boil, season with salt, and add pasta. Cook to al dente (don't overcook as it will finish cooking in the oven and you don't want the pasta to be soggy).

Drizzle the chicken breasts with olive oil and season with the Greek spice mix and either fry in a pan or bake in a 350°F oven until cooked through. Chop into bite-sized pieces.

While the chicken and pasta are cooking, heat a bit more olive oil in a large skillet or saucepan over medium high heat and sauté the onion and green pepper until just tender, about 2-3 minutes. Add the minced garlic for the last minute, just to soften it up a bit. Add the balsamic vinegar and water, cook and stir for 1 minute. Add the soup, tomatoes and olives, and heat to a boil, stirring constantly to ensure the soup breaks down and mixes well with everything.

Once you've drained the pasta, combine it with the chicken, feta, and sauce (in the skillet if there's room, or combine all in a large bowl).

Transfer to a large casserole dish, cover with tin foil, and bake in oven until heated through and bubbling, about 20-25 minutes.

Serve hot alone or with a green salad. Quick, easy, and delicious!

Note: I made this with pork once and it was just as delicious.

Greek-style Chicken in Phyllo

This recipe is from an awesome cookbook entitled The Best of the Best, given to me by my dear friend Janine. She made this dish for me once and I loved it so when she also gave me the cookbook I couldn't wait to try it. As usual, I changed it a bit to suit my tastes, and here is what I came up with. I've made this well over a dozen times in the past couple of years, in spite of the work involved, because it's just so delicious. And it's always a hit with company, so if you're looking for something to try out with guests, give this a whirl. This recipe makes 8 servings. Men (or women!) with hearty appetites will eat 2, so keep that in mind when you're deciding how many to make.

Greek-style Chicken in Phyllo

Ingredients

8-16 sheets phyllo pastry sheets (I buy them frozen at Safeway; be sure to thaw before using)

1/4 cup butter, melted

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, halved

salt to taste

1-2 tbsp Greek spice mix (recipe below)

1 bunch or half a small bag of fresh spinach leaves, stems removed (important)

1 bunch of fresh basil leaves, chopped (dried won't cut it)

1 large red pepper, cut into strips

1 cup feta cheese, crumbled

Greek Spice Mix

equal parts of dried parsley, thyme, marjoram, and oregano

1/2 a part of coarse black pepper

Method

Preheat oven to 375°F. Place rack in the middle of the oven.

It is VERY important that you prepare all of your ingredients before you begin assembling them in the phyllo dough. Phyllo dough is finicky, and can't be left out for long periods of time, so you want to have everything ready to go and within easy reach before you take the dough out of its packaging. I make an assembly line in the following order and it works really well: on the far left, the package of phyllo dough, then a bowl with melted butter and a pastry brush, then a plate with the chicken breast halves, then three small bowls - one with salt, one with greek spice mix, and one with the chopped basil, then the a bowl with the spinach, a plate with the red pepper, and finally, a bowl with the feta cheese. Leave enough counter space in front of your assembly line for the actual assembly. If you don't have a long enough counter, work around a corner, or use your dining room table.

Note: the easiest way to assemble these is with your hands and since you have to work quickly, you're going to be handling raw chicken, then the other ingredients, so only prep what you need. Anything extra will have to be thrown out due to cross-contamination.

Once your assembly line is ready to go, set out 1-2 baking dishes or cookie sheets with sides (depending on their size and how many servings you're making) at the end of the line and cover with a damp towel. This will prevent the rolled phyllo servings from drying out as you make the rest.

Now you're ready to begin putting these tasty packages together. Take out 1-2 sheets of phyllo dough per serving. I like to use two to help prevent tearing the dough while rolling, but if you don't want the corners where the dough is concentrated to be doughy, then only use one sheet. Once you've done this a couple of times you can assemble two at once, but I'd recommend just doing one at a time to being with.

Fold the phyllo sheet(s) in half (not lengthwise) and brush melted butter on the edges. Place a piece of chicken in the middle, near the bottom (or side, depending on how you have the dough positioned) of the phyllo. Season with salt and greek spices by sprinking some on with your fingers. Then add some of the chopped basil (I do about 1/2 tsp per serving). Next layer on the spinach leaves (6-8 per serving) and red pepper (3-4 slices per serving), and finish by sprinkling a healthy portion of feta on top of it all. Roll the chicken and phyllo over once, then fold edges toward the middle and continue rolling to form a small rectangular package. Use a bit more melted butter to help the dough stick if necessary. Place the finished package in the baking dish, brush with a little butter, and cover with the damp towel while making the others.

Once they are all prepared, remove the towel and bake for 25-30 minutes, until golden brown and chicken is cooked through. Serve hot with lots of Greek salad (see my next post for a killer Greek salad recipe). Absolutely scrumptious!

Marinated Fried Chicken with Warm Potato Salad

My husband loves fried chicken and I've been on quest to find the perfect fried chicken recipe. This past weekend, we were visiting his family in the Edmonton area and one afternoon my sister-in-law and I were watching the food channel. On one show, Art Smith's recipe for friend chicken was featured and I knew I had to try it. (For those of you who don't know - as I didn't - Art Smith was Oprah's personal chef for 10 years.) I didn't expect to find the recipe online since he serves it at his Table Fifty-Two restaurant in Chicago, on Sundays only, and charges about $24 for it. I remembered the basic process from the show and thought I'd just wing it, but after an online search, I found several recipes for fried chicken claiming to be Art Smith's. I'm not sure which, if any, is authentic; my guess is they're all close, but the real recipe remains a secret. Regardless, I knew the basic process of brining and marinating in buttermilk would be delicious, so I attempted my version of it for my hubby's birthday. Here's the recipe I followed and below is exactly what I did. My recipe is for 4 pieces of chicken (2 servings) so simply double if you're using a whole chicken to serve 4-6 people.

Marinated Fried Chicken

Ingredients

1/4 cup sea salt

8 cups cold water

2-3 sprigs fresh rosemary

2-3 sprigs fresh thyme

4 pieces of skin-on chicken (I used thighs because they're my hubby's favourite)

2 cups buttermilk

1 tbsp Tabasco sauce

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tbsp baking powder

2 tsp garlic powder

2 tsp onion powder

2 tsp coarse ground pepper

2 tsp dried thyme

1-2 tsp sea salt

1/4-1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Canola, or other frying oil

Method

In a large bowl with a lid, dissolve the salt in the water (I dissolved it in about a cup of hot water, then added the rest of the cold water). Add the sprigs of rosemary and thyme, then submerge the chicken. Put the lid on the bowl and place in the fridge for 12-24 hours. Make sure you brine the chicken for at least 12 hours - this is super important for moist, tender chicken. If you really want the flavour of the herbs to get into the meat, brine for the full 24 hours.

After chicken has brined for the appropriate amount of time, drain and rinse the chicken. Reserve the herbs. Transfer chicken to another bowl (or the same one rinsed) or a large ziploc bag. (I prefer a ziploc bag because you can usually get away with a little less marinade.) Add the buttermilk, Tabasco and reserved herbs. Refrigerate and marinate for at least another 12 hours.

Once your chicken is fully brined and marinated, it's time to prepare the breading. This is where I got frustrated because the recipe I used called for Old Bay seasoning which I cannot find anywhere. Perhaps they don't sell it in Canada? I don't know, but if you know where to find it, please fill me in! I did find a "make your own Old Bay seasoning" recipe online, which I will make before I try this chicken again, but I didn't have all the necessary spices on hand. I think that the Old Bay would really make the chicken taste better, as both Bill and I found the breading a little bland. It wasn't bad; it just needed a bit more a kick. SO - if you want a really flavourful breading, try adding some of your own spices to what I've listed above, or use Old Bay or make your own (recipe here).

Combine the flour, baking soda, and spices of your choosing in a shallow bowl. Remove chicken from the buttermilk mixture, shaking a bit to remove excess moisture, and put aside,within reach. Remove the herbs from the buttermilk and transfer buttermilk to a bowl if you were marinating the chicken in a ziploc bag. If you want to, whisk an egg white into the buttermilk to help the breading stick to the chicken. I didn't do it, and it worked okay, but the breading didn't adhere to the chicken as much as I would have liked, so I'd add the egg white next time. If you've added the egg white, dip each piece of chicken in the buttermilk mixture, then dredge in the flour. Then - and this is really important for crispy chicken - dip the chicken in the buttermilk again and re-dredge in the flour. Double dipping is the best for fried chicken!

If you are fully immersing your chicken to deep-fry it, get the oil heating in a large dutch oven on the stove over medium-high heat or in a deep-fryer if you have one, before you begin breading the chicken. If you are going to fry the chicken in a large cast-iron skillet, wait to heat the oil until your chicken is prepared so it doesn't get too hot (and smoke or start a kitchen fire). Once your oil is hot enough for frying, you can begin cooking your chicken.

If you're frying the chicken in a skillet, use about an inch of oil and fry chicken for about 6 minutes on each side (12 minutes total). If you're using a dutch oven on the stove-top, like I do, make sure you immerse the frying basket in the oil before you add the chicken so it doesn't stick to the basket. Fry the chicken for about 12 minutes, keeping the heat on medium-high to maintain the temperature of the oil. For both of these methods, heat oil to about 375°F. If you don't have an appropriate thermometer for this, a couple easy ways to ensure your oil is hot enough is to either drop a couple popcorn kernels in the oil - they'll pop when the oil's hot enough for frying - or place a wooden spoon handle in the oil - if bubbles run up the handle, the oil's hot enough. If you're using a deep-fryer, follow its directions for use.

Once the chicken is fried (you may have to do 2-3 batches - the chicken really plumps up from the brining and double-breading, so you won't be able to fit a lot of pieces in your deep-frying container), drain it on a paper-towel covered plate let it rest for 5-10 minutes before serving. Then prepare to be amazed at how moist, tender, and delicious this chicken is. SO GOOD. (Yes, I'm stealing that tag from KFC because this friend chicken is so much better than KFC's. And I feel I have a right to make that claim, having worked at KFC for 5 - yes, 5! - years.)

I served the chicken with the most delicious Warm Potato Salad, taken from a Company's Coming cookbook entitled Choosing Sides. Of course I've put my own twist on it, adding some ingredients to increase the flavour. Again, this recipe is for 2 generous portions - double it if you're serving 4-6 people. Here's the recipe and method:

Warm Potato Salad

Ingredients

1 lb (half a bag) baby potatoes, quartered

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1-2 tsp cajun seasoning

1/2 large red pepper, cut lengthwise

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup sour cream

1 large clove garlic

2-4 sliced green onions

2-4 bacon slices, cooked crisp and crumbled

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Method

Preheat oven to 400°F

Place red pepper cut side down on a pie plate and place in oven on top rack, roasting for 25-10 minutes, until tender. The skin will turn black in spots; this is fine. When red pepper is done, place in a small bowl and cover with saran wrap. Let sweat for about 10 minutes, until cool enough to handle. Then remove and discard the skin. The skin should just peel right off. Chop the pepper.

Toss cut potatoes with olive oil and cajun seasoning until coated. Spread in a single layer on a baking sheet with sides (to prevent spillage). Place in oven with red pepper, but on the bottom rack and roast until tender, about 30 minutes. When they're almost done (and red pepper is done and taken out of oven), turn off the oven, but leave potatoes in there to keep warm, but for no more than 10 minutes, otherwise they'll dry out.

While potatoes and pepper are roasting, fry bacon in a skillet, cool, and crumble. Or alternately, cut bacon into small pieces before cooking and then you don't have to crumble it afterwards. Combine the bacon pieces with the remaining ingredients in a large bowl. When potatoes and red pepper are done, add them to the bowl, combine well, and serve immediately, while still warm. Delish! Makes a perfect side for fried chicken.

Also, if you're concerned about the fat content of this meal, use low-fat mayonnaise and sour cream for the salad and call it good. Some foods just have to be fatty to taste their best! And trust me, this food is worth every gram of fat in it.

Walnut & Parm-Crusted Chicken with Vegetable Quinoa

I wasn't very inspired to make dinner tonight, and this looked fairly quick and easy, so I put my own twist on these recipes for Walnut-Crusted Chicken Breasts and Quinoa with Veggies. Both of my modified recipes below make 2 servings, since I was just cooking for my hubby and myself; simply double it if you're making this for a family or company.

Walnut & Parm-Crusted Chicken

Ingredients

2 chicken breasts

1 egg

1/4 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup walnuts

2-3 tbsp parmesan cheese

1/4 cup breadcrumbs

1/2 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp coarse black pepper

Method

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Beat egg with a whisk, then whisk in the buttermilk. Place in shallow bowl and add the chicken breasts. Turn the chicken so both sides are coated with the egg & buttermilk mixture. Allow the chicken to sit in the mixture while you prepare the walnut breadcrumb mixture. You can just use egg whites if you're concerned about cholesterol or you want a lighter taste, but I like the added layer of flavour provided by the richness of the yolk.

Put walnuts and parmesan cheese (I just use Kraft parmesan grated cheese) in a food processor and chop/grind until a fine breadcrumb-like mixture is achieved. Then add the breadcrumbs, oregano, salt and pepper and process a bit longer until all ingredients are well mixed. Put mixture in a shallow bowl or on a plate.

Remove chicken from egg and buttermilk, allowing excess to drain off. Then press chicken into the walnut parm mixture, turning to coat the whole breast.

Now comes the "secret" to baking it perfectly. I have to credit Rachael Ray for this trick. Place your cooling rack on top of a cookie/baking sheet and place the chicken on the the cooling rack; this ensures your chicken gets crispy all around, not just on top.

Place chicken in the oven and bake for about 20 minutes, until coating is brown and crispy and chicken is cooked through. Serve on top of Vegetable Quinoa.

Vegetable Quinoa

Ingredients

1/2 cup quinoa

1-2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

3 small cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 green or red pepper, chopped

1/2 large carrot, chopped

1/4 medium white onion, chopped

1/4 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp oregano

salt and pepper to taste

Method

Cook quinoa as you would rice. I use my rice cooker, using twice as much water as quinoa. Since I was adding veggies and spices, I didn't add any flavourings to the quinoa before I cooked it, but I often use chicken or vegetable broth instead of water when I'm cooking quinoa.

As quinoa is cooking, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add minced garlic (I used a garlic press) and cook to soften and mellow the garlic (about 2 minutes, but watch carefully and stir often so garlic doesn't burn). Then add the chopped pepper, carrot, and onion. I used my hand-held food chopper from Pampered Chef, which I love, but you can use a food processor or chop them by hand if you prefer larger pieces of veggies in your quinoa. You can also use any combination of veggies that you choose or have on hand. I'd try celery, red pepper, red onion, zucchini, etc. Sauté veggies until soft, about 5 minutes, then add cumin, oregano, and salt and pepper. Stir and cook about a minute longer. Add veggie mixture to cooked quinoa and combine.

Spread the vegetable quinoa on a plate, and top with walnut & parm-crusted chicken breast. Serve hot, with optional lemon wedges (I didn't have any fresh lemons but I think a splash of fresh lemon juice would taste good on both the chicken and quinoa).

Both my husband and I enjoyed this meal and I'm sure I'll make it again. What's not to like about a dish that's easy to make, tasty, and nutritious?

Greek Pizza

Tonight I made the most delicious pizza and I'm very proud of it because it's entirely my own creation. Two years ago, my husband Bill and I went to Greece for our honeymoon and we've been obsessed with Greek food ever since. I have a signature Greek meal that I put together once we got home from Greece, based on how the Greeks prepared food for us. I make this meal pretty much every time we have company and it's amazing, if I may say so myself. Don't worry; I'll be sharing that meal with recipes next time I make it.

But back to the meal at hand. For awhile now, I've been thinking of taking some of the elements from my Greek meal and putting them on a pizza. Namely, I wanted to include flavours from Chicken Souvlaki and Greek Salad as well as the Greek spice mix that we discovered in Greece. So I marinated some chicken in my souvlaki marinade, added the spice mix to the dough, and made Greek salad ingredients my main pizza toppings (minus the cucumbers, of course, because that would be gross).

This is what I came up with:

Greek Pizza Crust

(The base for this recipe comes from my mom - it's in the cookbook that the home ec department from my old high school recently put together.)

1 cup warm water

1 tsp sugar

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp instant yeast

2 1/2 cups white flour, split in half

2 tsp dried parsley

2 tsp dried oregano

2 tsp dried marjoram

2 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp coarse black pepper

Put the first four ingredients in the mixing bowl of your stand mixer (if you don't have one, just use a large bowl and a hand-held mixer). Add the yeast and 1 1/4 cups of the flour to the wet ingredients and beat for 5 to 6 minutes in your stand mixer, using a beater or paddle attachment. Once it's done beating, switch to your dough hook and add the remaining 1 1/4 cups of flour and the spices and knead the dough in your mixer until the dough is smooth and elastic. If it seems too dry, add a splash of water while it's kneading, but be careful not to add too much.

Remove the bowl from the mixer, cover it with a damp towel (this is important so the dough doesn't dry out) and let the dough rise until it doubles (about an hour). I like to put it by a heat register so it rises better. Once the dough has doubled, punch it down, shape it into a round ball, place it on a lightly floured surface, and roll it into the shape of pizza crust you desire. I just roll my dough out right on my pizza stone so I know exactly how big to make it. If you like a lip on your pizza, make sure you roll out the dough a bit bigger than you want it to be and then roll up the edge to create a ridge. Prick the dough several times with a fork and set aside to let it rise again (about an hour). Once it's the thickness you like, bake it in a 350°F oven for 10-15 minutes, just to set the dough before you pile on the toppings. (You can also make the dough ahead of time, and freeze it at this point; just make sure you thaw it completely before you add toppings and bake the pizza.)

Greek Pizza Toppings

Souvlaki Chicken

juice of 1 lemon

3 large cloves of garlic, minced

2-3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1/2 tsp salt

2-3 tsp of Greek spice mix (see below)

2 chicken breasts, chopped into small bite-size chunks

Combine the first five ingredients in a bowl. Place chicken pieces in a sturdy plastic zip bag, add the marinade and close the bag. Knead and/or toss until all of the chicken is coated in the marinade. Place in the fridge for 2-5 hours. Once the chicken is marinated, heat a small frying pan over medium high heat. Add the contents of the bag to the pan and cook the chicken in the juices for several minutes until the chicken is no longer pink. Then drain the liquid and put the pan back on the heat for a few minutes so the chicken browns a little.

Greek Spice Mix

equal parts of dried parsley, thyme, marjoram, and oregano

1/2 a part of coarse black pepper

I usually keep a small container of this mixture in my spice cupboard for easy Greek seasoning.

Sauce

1/2 can of tomato sauce

1/2 can of tomato paste

salt and pepper to taste

I didn't want to add any spices to the sauce, since there were already spices in the crust and on the chicken. If you don't like things very salty, you may want to skip putting any salt in the sauce since there's already some in the tomato sauce and a lot of the toppings are salty as well.

Toppings

about 1 cup chopped fresh spinach

1/4 red pepper, chopped

1/4 green pepper, chopped

1/4 red onion, chopped

about 1/3 cup chopped fresh kalamata olives (canned won't taste the same)

1/2-3/4 cup crumbled feta

1-2 tbsp capers (optional)

about 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1 tomato (I like vine-ripened), sliced

Method

Spread tomato sauce over the crust - I like to use a large silicone pastry brush or a spatula. Next spread the chopped spinach onto the pizza and then layer the browned chicken over top of the spinach. Sprinkle on the peppers, onions, olives, feta, and capers if using them (I didn't add them because I was out of them, but they are commonly used in Greek salad and I think they'd be a nice touch on this pizza). Then smother everything with the mozzarella cheese.

Bake the pizza in a 350°F oven for about 20 minutes, until the cheese starts to brown and the crust is nicely browned on the bottom (I used a spatula to lift the edge of the crust so I can take a peek under there). Once you've taken your masterpiece out of the oven, arrange the fresh tomato slices on top of the pizza, and then let it sit for at least 10 minutes before you cut and serve it so the ingredients can set and so the pizza can cool a bit. You might want to just leave the kitchen for those 10 minutes, because really, it will look and smell so delicious, you'll have a hard time waiting. But it'll be worth the wait, I promise. Otherwise, your pizza will leak liquid and you'll likely burn your mouth biting into it.

Doesn't that look delicious?! If you decide to make this, I'd love to hear your (and your family's) reactions to how it tastes. Both Bill and I loved it and I will definitely be making this again. Soon. YUMMY!