Well, we made it through the second day back to school. Phew!  I’m still not in the groove, still working out the kinks, but dinner was a no-brainer with this simple Cheesy Chicken and Broccoli dishthat I threw together in the crockpot.

I served it with brown rice, but it would taste equally good over white rice, noodles, or even a baked potato.
This recipe features  canned condensed soup which contains a lot of sodium. Slow cooking makes food taste saltier.
I suggest waiting until the dish is done before adding additional salt.
 
 
Cheesy Chicken and Broccoli
1 can Cheddar & Broccoli condensed soup
1 cup …read more

Another baked chicken recipe using basic ingredients found in your pantry and fridge. One of them is actually a salad dressing. I love simple yet delicious dinners like this.
INGREDIENTS :
3-4 chicken pieces (thighs, legs or quarters)
juice of 1 lime
3 tbsp of Red Wine Vinaigrette salad dressing
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp of Worcestershire sauce
sprinkle of black pepper
sprinkle of dried parsley
sprinkle of red pepper flakes (optional)
Except the chicken, combine everything in one bowl and whisk together. In a container with a cover, put the chicken in, then pour the marinade in, coat both sides to incorporate the marinade on the chicken pieces. …read more

I had about a cup left of the Lawry’s Lemon-Pepper marinade so I decided to use it all up for this lemon-pepper chicken with chick peas and black olives dish. I must say that all the flavors I combined along with a sprinkle of star anise seasoning worked well with the chick peas and black olives. My husband was impressed. Sometimes I really amaze myself with my cooking experiments.
INGREDIENTS :
6-8 pcs of chicken (thighs, legs)
3/4 cup of Lawry’s Lemon-Pepper marinade
2 cups of water
1 can of chick peas, drained
1 sm can of sliced black olives, drained
a sprinkle of …read more

I moved from the comfort of my home with my California-transplant parents in Memphis to the somewhat small town of Montgomery, Alabama to pursue an after-college career in newspaper. I knew no one in that town and to make friends I did what any good Southern girl would do – I started attending church. Since I wasn’t raised practicing religion, I knew very little of the differences between Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist and so on. In my ignorance, I would choose churches to visit based on proximity to my apartment and detail of architecture. For a young liberal in a highly …read more

I’ve used the spicy mustard and panko bread crumbs combination on pork chops quite a few times before and it always turned out delicious. I figured today I’d use chicken. But instead of the regular boneless chicken breasts, I decided to slice them in strips to impress the kids.
INGREDIENTS :
5 boneless chicken breasts, slice in strips
1/2 cup of spicy mustard
3 tbsp of water
3 cups of panko breadcrumbs (find it at Asian/Oriental stores)
1 cup or more flour
Italian Seasoning
garlic powder
salt & pepper for seasoning
oil for frying

Food & Wine magazine takes on the original white meat this spring with the release of Quick from Scratch Chicken Cookbook. I received a review copy, and this one is definitely a keeper!  There are hundreds of chicken cookbooks out there, so what makes this one special?

For one thing, the seasonings.  Food & Wine has made sure that even classic chicken dishes that made it into this book have the very best, very most up-to-the-minute spices and seasonings and techniques used to bring out the best in the flavors.  I made the Chicken Provencal (page 134) the first night.  Boring, …read more

Who doesn’t like a good chicken dish? Chicken is hearty in the winter and a light entree in the summer. It can be prepared braised, grilled, sauteed, roasted…in sandwiches, salads, pastas, and as a stand-alone entree. Almost every cuisine features at least one spectacular chicken dish. That is the premise of “Food + Wine’s” latest cookbook, “Quick from Stratch Chicken Cookbook.”

The 185-page volume is divided into sections based on different cooking methods, such as braising, grilling, stir-frying, and roasting. Each recipe is matched with a luscious, color photograph of the prepared dish. Selections include examples from …read more

Watermelon and feta are a perfect summer food combination. They combine the juicy fruit with the creamy and slightly salty cheese. Julie Biuso, the author of “Sizzle,” shares her recipe for chicken skewers on watermelon and feta salad with us. “Sizzle” emphasizes the barbecue cuisine of New Zealand, using mostly fresh ingredients.

Chicken Skewers on Watermelon and Feta Salad
Fresh and juicy, with a salty lick of feta, this dish is perfect for lunch on a hot summer’s day or for a shared platter with friends on a balmy evening.
Serves 6, approximately 24 skewers
Chicken Skewers
2 yellow bell peppers, cored, seeded, cut …read more

Last weekend I tried a new North Carolina barbecue sauce, tonight I got to try another new sauce, Denny Mike’s BahBQue sauce. I have to say it was another superb sauce.

I tried the sauce on chicken this time. One of my favorite things to cook on the grill is chicken, so I slathered on the sauce and fired up the grill. The sauce had a wonderful spicy flavor.
I can’t wait to try some of the other flavors, they have rubs for pork, poultry, and fish. I can see I’ll have more grilling to do, good thing it’s grillin’ season!

It used to be that whenever I make fried chicken I get frustrated with the end result. The outside part of the chicken were cooked (sometimes the lower side is burnt) but the meat inside is not. I actually have to make a cut on the chicken while frying to cook the meat evenly with the skin side.
Things have changed. Thanks to an episode of Big Daddy’s House on Food Network, my fried chicken are now cooked to perfection. By the way Big Daddy aka Aaron McCargo Jr is the current winner of The Next Food Network Star.
Here’s the …read more