Creamed Cheese chicken

 Crunchy and creamy at the same time

I'm not one to experiment while at home, but since I had started defrosting six pounds of chicken, I figured that I needed a big recipe. I looked through the foreign cuisine books first, but not one recipe was good enough to get me out of my cooking rut. 

One of my grandmothers' complained that I don't have Puerto Rican cuisine books ( I have the best cookbooks on speed dial :) ).  One of them in mom's library is called Puerto Rican Cookery by Carmen Aboy Valldejuli. I modified her 'Creamed Cheese Chicken' a little considering the palate of my family and the ingredients available.

The result was a creamy, savory main dish that I'm very likely to repeat on a smaller scale when I come back to campus.

Ingredients

2 lb of chicken pieces (I used boneless tenders)

4 cups water

2 tsp salt

4 tbsp of butter

For the White Sauce

4 tbsp butter

1/4 cup all purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups milk

1/4 cup of shredded cheedar cheese

2 slices of bread

8 oz of Velveeta (or your preferred sliced cheese)

Start by boiling the water and two teaspoons of salt in a large pot. Boil the chicken for 20 minutes.  While the chicken boils, toast the slices of bread until brown and crumble (it should make about a cup of crumbs).

After cooked, dice the chicken. Melt the first four tablespoons of butter on a saucepan and brown the chicken slightly.

Preheat the oven at 350F. To make the sauce, melt the remaining butter in a second saucepan and combine the flour until combine. Add the milk and cheese gradually until the sauce thickens. 

In a deep baking dish, start assembling by placing half the crumbs first. The second layer is the diced chicken. Pour the sauce to cover the chicken as uniformly as possible. Cover with the rest of the crumbs and the sliced cheese last.

Bake for 20 minutes and serve hot.

Chicken Alfredo with Tomatoes (college style)

An interpretation of a dish served at a small Italian restaurant that my boyfriend took me to eat way back in Valentine's Day of this year. It's a deceiving small place with a traditional feel.

The photos do no justice to how gorgeous it actually looked. :'(

Ingredients
2-3 handfuls of pasta
Salt
1/4 cup of cooking oil

1 cup of Alfredo sauce (if not available, there are plenty of easy online recipes!)
2 small boneless chicken breasts (or one normal)
1 tsp butter
All purpose seasoning ('Adobo')
about 1/4 cups of grated Parmesan cheese
2-3 grape or cherry tomatoes.
Parsley and Oregano
Instructions:
Start by boiling the water in a pot and add the salt. Heat up a skillet at medium heat.
 

Defrost the chicken breasts if needed. Once done, cut out as much of the fat as you can and slice into thin, short strips.
 

Once the salted water's boiling, add the pasta and the oil. Let it cook for 8-10 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the chicken with the all-purpose seasoning and parsley.

Melt the butter on the hot skillet and carefully place the chicken strips. Cover and let it simmer until well cooked. Uncover it and let the butter evaporate almost completely. Add enough Alfredo sauce to cover the whole skillet thinly on medium heat. Add a bit more parsley for taste and a handful of Parmesan cheese. Cook for 5 minutes.
 

Once the pasta is cooked, drain completely and bring it back to the pot on low heat. Add about 1/4 cup of Alfredo sauce and a bit of oregano to the pasta and turn it over a few times.
 

When the chicken-Alfredo is creamy but fragrant, mix into the pasta throughly. Add more cheese and let it melt into the pasta.
 

Serve hot with the fresh cherry tomatoes cut in half and cover with Parmesan cheese and parsley.

Chicken and lettuce stuffed dim sum

 Dim Sum with spicy soy sauce

Like I said in the previous post, my mom is most likely a frustrated chef. She has dozens of cookbooks, ranging from local cuisine to general themed to international cuisine. One recipe that has been boiling in my head for a while is the Dim Sum recipe in her Chinese cuisine.

Although Dim Sum refers to appetizers in general, this recipe is the base for soups and made up of several types of dumplings.

This recipe is a home made variation with a savory Italian twist.

Ingredients
Wonton Wrapper
1 egg
3/4 tsp salt
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for flouring
1/3 to 1/2 cup water
1 tsbp of Italian seasoning

Filling
1/2 tsbp of butter
1 can of chicken
1 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp all purpose seasoning
1 tsbp black pepper
2 tbps soy sauce
1 lettuce leaf

Lightly beat the egg with salt. Add 1/4 cup of the water.

Sift the flour into a large bowl and seasoning. Make a well in the middle and add the egg+water mixture. Mix well, adding as much water as needed to make a dough.

Form the dough into a ball and knead for 5 minutes, until it forms a smooth, workable dough. Cover and let it rest for 30 minutes.

While the dough rests, heat up the butter in a skillet.

Drain the chicken completely and season with the all-purpose seasoning, black pepper and paprika. Sautee in the hot butter, and soy sauce until well cooked. Set aside.

Turn the dough out onto a light floured surface. Roll out until very thin and cut into 3 1/2 inch squares.

Using a small melon baller or spoon, scoop the chicken onto the center of the square. Pinch the corners together diagonally tightly, making it nice and air tight.

Boil them in hot water for 5-7 minutes. Serve hot with a dip of soy sauce and a dash of paprika and steamed rice.

Makes 22-24 dumplings

Cross-section of the dumplings, look at that chicken!

Chow Mein with Sautéed Chicken

I made this dish as a farewell gift from yours truly to a departing friend of my boyfriend, to whom I'd cooked for a couple of times. He was always complaining of the lack of a Panda Express in our college town, and I figured my last meal with him should be any sort of Chinese meal.

The original noodle recipe is from the 1996 FamilyFun Cookbook (one of my very first cookbooks).

Chow Mein with Sautéed Chicken

Ingredients

-1 pound of Chinese Noodles (I used Angel Hair pasta instead)

-1/ 4 cup of creamy peanut butter

-1/ 2 cup of hot water

-1/ 3 cup of soy sauce

- 2 tbsp of honey

-1 crushed garlic

-1 tbsp chopped/grated ginger

-4 scallions, cut into 1/ 2 -inch pieces

Sautéed Chicken

-1 tbsp of butter

-2 chicken breasts

-All-purpose seasoning

-Salt and Pepper

In a large bowl, mix the peanut butter with the hot water until creamy. Whisk in the soy sauce, honey, garlic and ginger.

Cut the chicken breasts into bite-size pieces. Season to taste. Melt the butter in a wok until it sizzles and cook the chicken to a golden brown color. Add the noodles, scallions and the mixture to finish.

Serve with toasted bread, and if your guests are particularly daring, wasabi paste.

Serves 6 to 8.

Karaage with steamed rice

Karaage with steam rice
Originally uploaded by bunnyq.lita

A quick, easy and incredibly tasty way to finish up any leftover raw chicken.

Karaage is Japanese-style chicken nuggets, usually served with lemon and eaten all year long and a good bento standby.

The recipe used is from "The Manga Cookbook" by Yoko Ishihara

Karaage
1 lb of boneless chicken thighs
1 1/2 cups of cornstarch/cornflour (or enough to coat the chicken)
1 lemon
1 cup of vegetable oil (or enough to cover the chicken)

For the marinade
1/2 cup of soy sauce
1 tsp of freshly grated ginger
2 cloves of garlic (or 1 tsp of garlic paste)

Steamed Rice
1 1/2 cups of medium grain rice
2 cups of water
1 tbsp of vegetable oil
salt for taste

Place the garlic, ginger and soy sauce in a container with lid to make the marinade for the chicken.

Cut said poultry into bite-sized portions and toss them inside the CLOSED container (unless you want to clean up soy from your kitchen and clothes). Let it sit in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

While the chicken marinades, start boiling the water with the rice, oil and salt for about 20 minutes, making sure to move it along to speed up and completely cook it.

Transfer the chicken into a ziplock bag with the cornstarch (or another container) and shake until the chicken is throuroughly covered.

Heat up the oil in a large pot (I use a wok for my frying) on medium heat and slowly add the chicken. Fry until it's golden brown. Remove from pot and place on paper towels to drain the oil.

Cut the lemon and squirt the juice on top of the chicken to finish!
Note: You can skip the lemon all together, as I did. It will be just as delicious!