Chicken Cacciatore

Chicken has been on sale a lot lately, and according to CBC my poor female brain can’t resist a good sale.  Especially when it is something useful I don’t even have to justify the purchase.  So now with a freezer full of chicken, it’s time to start cooking but with my family variety is a must.  If I make baked chicken breasts every time we have chicken, I am going to be getting the look of disapproval  ಥ_ಥ.  Traditionally cacciatore is made with mushrooms as it is considered a hunter dish but we don’t like mushrooms so there will be no mushrooms here.

Chicken/Turkey Pastries

A few weeks ago, I made a very large amount of turkey stock which became soup and pie filling (which I froze for later use).  I made two pies with the pie filling and wanted to do something different with the remainder.  I have never tried to make pastry before and was not about to start at 8pm on a Sunday night, so I bought some frozen pastry to speed things up.  For this venture, I thought I’d make individual sized pot “pie” pastries.  They turned out light, flaky and rich.  Some day I may try my hand at pastry dough to see if I can top this.

Chicken & Bacon Ragu Penne

Winter is coming and along with that comes heartier food, which can mean fattier food and bigger meals.  In my house, where pasta is always a favourite, it is time for some heartier pastas and sauces.  I decided to make a leaner ragu sauce using ground chicken instead of beef, and the not-lean-at-all bacon instead of pancetta.  If you really want to cut down on the fat, don’t add the bacon.  Though Matte would argue if you want to stay warm this winter, bacon will help you.  He’s always so helpful.

Oven Fried Chicken Drumsticks with Asparagus & Lemon Mayonnaise

Our daughter has been requesting chicken drumsticks for supper all week which left me with the decision “crispy or saucy?”  I chose crispy as the better companion to a side of asparagus and I am glad I did.  I stumbled upon the best breading I have ever made for oven-fried chicken, partially from laziness.  I did not feel like making the breading in the classic “flour, egg, bread crumbs” way.  It seemed like way too much effort mid-week.  Instead I used a egg and milk combo and then breading.  This means the breading went on lighter and was thin enough to get crispy, really crispy in the oven.

Chicken Stuffed with Cheese & Broccoli

We are always trying different stuffed chicken breast recipes but this is one of our favourites.  Of course we love cheese so this is no surprise.  This recipe is still in experimental stages so I will give some tips for improving the technique I used in this recipe.

Chicken Parmigiana

This is one of my favourite dishes to eat but I am never satisfied with this dish when I order it at a restaurant as either the chicken isn’t very good or the pasta sauce is bland or the whole thing is just overcooked.  I have attempted this dish several times but I believe this is my best effort to date.  This is a very hearty meal so bring lots of appetite.