Basil chicken

First off SERIOUSLY I KNOW THE PICTURE RIGHT! It doesn't look good. But y'all have you ever tried to make green sauce look good on film? Good luck with that. But trust me this taste fucking amazing and if you don't try it, well you will spend the rest of your life having never tasted the best basil creamy chicken ever on the planet. And then really, your life would be void.

This recipe was an accident. A few years ago for Christmas my mom got me cooking classes at this quaint little school here in Reno. The final class we made real tempura (not powder out of a box) then tempura'd (so not a word) some chicken. After that we made this raging good green curry and coconut sauce. We Then put the tempura chicken in the curry sauce. To offset the heat our final recipe was the most amazing basil sauce ever. Unfortunately in the move I lost my recipe books from there. Anyway Sunday night I'm at the store and I see this bag of basil. Right now basil is mostly shitty so when I looked up and saw these HUGE GIANT leaves of organic basil for an amazing price I nearly shit myself. I opened it, smelled it and it was like sex in a bag. I fucking love basil. Right away I said I wanted to make that chicken. I knew my husband wouldn't go for curry so I figured I would just make the basil sauce. Problem was I had no idea what was in it. So I winged it.

Anyway if any of you are wondering how I really honestly cook I'll tell you now. FIrst I threw about a cup of basil in the blender with about a cup of spinach. I used the spinach because it would keep the green color and it's healthy. I was chopping garlic to marinate the chicken in so I threw in about a clove of that. Then I tossed in some salt, pepper, and a half cup of water. I pushed blend but it wasn't enough water. In went another half cup. During this time I was also instant messaging my friend Mathers here is our conversation:

Shannon: the sauce needs something and i can't place it

Mathers: nutmeg

Shannon: im thinking lemon juice

Mathers: that was my next thought some acid
a dash of vinegar may be good too
beause of the spinach

Shannon: mmm good...i might have got heavy on the vinegar but good

So. As you can see I added in a splash of lemon juice and a dash of red wine vinegar. It was good but something was still missing. I thought perhaps some cream. I threw it in a sauté pan, let it reduce, tossed in some cornstarch because I was inpaitient and mulled over it. After getting all mad that my verdant green turned to a pee soup green I thought MILK! Normally I would use heave cream or half and half but I had neither so whole milk it was. Then I thought, what would Pioneer Woman do? So I did the only logical thing. I dumped a pound of cream cheese in there (half cup). Added in some milk, whisked it up and HOLY SHIT THAT SAUCE WAS BLOWING MY FUCKING MIND!

So now you know. When I cook I just wing it. I taste and discuss it, and then when all else fails...I add toss in some good ole cream cheese (or butter, or bacon or.....you know FLAVOR).

My husband devoured this. And he doesn't like fancy food. I poured my sauce over sautéd mushrooms and then spent the night upset that my stomach got full because I had to stop eating, but oh man am I counting the hours until lunch tomorrow.

With out further ado, the worlds best basil chicken ever in the world!

2 pounds boneless skinless chicken
1 Cup fresh basil
1 Cup fresh spinach
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
5 cloves garlic chopped)
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp corn starch
1 cup water plus 2 tbsp water
4 oz cream cheese
3 tbsp whole milk (heavy cream and half and half will work)
5 tbsp olive oil

In large baggy combine chicken 4 cloves garlic and olive oil. Marinate for about 20 minutes. Preheat grill and place chicken on grill on low. In blender combine spinach, basil, garlic, salt, pepper, lemon juice, vinegar, and water. Blend until smooth. Check your chicken, if it easily lifts off the grill it is time to turn. Pour your sauce in a sauté pan and stir over low until it begins to bubble. Combine cornstarch and 2 tbsp cold water in a small bowl and add to your basil sauce. Simmer and then add cream cheese. Whisk until combined. Add milk, whisk and allow sauce to simmer on LOW. Remove chicken from grill and place it in sauce. Turn to coat it and serve.

Right here is where you add in a giant hunk of creem cheese. The color will change but fuck it taste good.

Oh baby I could eat you on a spoon

See those grill marks. That is because I left the chicken alone until it was ready to flip, I didn't fiddle fuck around with it.

Printable version click to enlarge

Fried Chicken

2 pounds chicken bone in skin on
2 cups buttermilk
3 tbsp hot sauce
1/2 cup flour
1 tsp cayenne
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder
a whole fucking lot of oil

In large zip lock mix buttermilk and hot sauce. You want the milk to turn pink. Add chicken and marinate refrigerated for up to 5 hours, at least a half hour. Combine flour and seasonings on plate and set aside. Heat about 3/4 of an inch of oil in a deep skillet. You want to cover at least half of the chicken. Keep in mind when you add the chicken the oil will rise, make sure the pan is deep enough to compensate for that. Heat the oil over medium heat until it starts to ripple. I like my oil not screaming hot otherwise it will burn the outside and leave the inside raw. Remove the chicken from the fridge and allow it to warm to room temperature. Dredge each piece of chicken into the flour. I like to add a bit of the flour to the oil and see if it starts SLOWLY bubbling. If so, toss in the chicken. Cook until that side begins to turn golden brown (about 8-10 minutes) and then flip. Once the other side is brown cut open the largest piece to make sure the juice runs clear. Remove and drain on a paper towel. Serve and enjoy.

I know this is gory, but a great way to know when to flip it the first time is when you see blood start to run out of the top, that means the center is cookin! Also, if you notice the outside cooking faster then the inside, toss the chicken covered in the oven for about 10 minutes at 500 and it will even right out!

Lightly dredge it, don't go soaking it or you get bread crumb like texture

Printable version below click to enlarge

Cupid clusters

I was reading Parents Magazine last month when I came across this recipe. I knew right then and there I had to make this for Brandon's Valentines party. The recipe calls for the Strawberry yogurt Cheerios and dried strawberries. However, there is a boy in the class allergic to strawberries so I also bought some vanilla yogurt Cheerios (and made his in a separate bowl), and subbed out strawberries for cherry craisins. They are SO GOOD!

Ingredients

• 3 cups Yogurt-Burst Cheerios
  
• 1/2 cup cherry Craisins
  
• 1-1/2 cups white chocolate chips

Directions

1. Place paper liners in 24 mini muffin cups. Toss the cereal and Craisins in a medium bowl. Melt the white chocolate in a microwave on high for a minute, stirring it frequently. Combine with the cereal and Craisin mixture. Spoon into prepared cups and refrigerate until the clusters are firm, about 5 minutes.

Mine aren't as pretty but they sure taste damn good!

Printable version, click to enlarge

How I make rice

Someone wrote in asking me how I make my rice. The truth is...I cheat. I use a rice cooker. When I married my husband I had one of these that I used as a vegetable steamer. I never knew that it would become something I would use 3-4 times a week. This is actually our 4th rice cooker because we use them so much we wear em out. There are a few tips I will give you.

First, when I met my husband I had no idea you had to rinse the rice. Apparently YOU MUST RINSE THE RICE. So. I do. I fill it with water, swish it and drain. Lather rinse repeat. Also, for 1 cup of rice you are supposed to put 1 cup of water. However, I feel it works better to put just over a cup. Or two cups of rice and just over two cups of water. Finally, before you scoop it out, it works best if you get the scoop wet.

Add your rice

Rinse

Drain

Fill with water just over the line

Push cook

Wait fifteen minutes and BAM!

Fluffy white rice every time!

No need to fuss with the silly pans!

Amazing chicken

2.5 lbs bone in skin on chicken
6 slices bacon sliced in half in pieces
1 medium onion diced
5 cloves garlic diced
1/2 cup flour
1.5 tsp lawrys seasoning salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp black pepper
1.5 tsp garlic powder
2 tbsp olive oil
1 cup tomato sauce
2 cups chicken stock

In small bowl combine flour, seasoning salt, cayenne pepper, black pepper and garlic powder. In large pot or dutch oven add olive oil over medium low heat. Toss in bacon and allow it to render. While bacon is cooking lightly coat chicken with a portion of your flour mixture on all sides. Once bacon starts to crisp remove it from oil and set aside. Add chicken to pan and allow it to brown. While chicken browns take remaining flour mixture and coat your diced onions lightly. Once chicken has browned remove it and set it aside. Add onions to pan and stir around to loosen some of the bits off the bottom of the pan. Cook for about 3 minutes stirring often and add garlic. Cook for about 1 minute (you do not want the garlic to brown) and add in the tomato sauce. Using your spoon scrape the bottom of the pan to deglaze and pick up all of the bits from the bottom for intense flavor. Add bacon back into sauce and stir to combine. Add chicken back in pan and stir around to coat. Reduce heat to low. Add in 1/2 cup of chicken stock at a time allowing sauce to thicken as the chicken cooks. Once the sauce begins reducing if your chicken is not done add in more stock and let it continue simmering, stirring often and making sure to scrape the bottom of the pan. Once chicken is done, and the juices run clear serve chicken and sauce over a bed of rice.

Note: I used about 1.5 cups of stock during cooking because my chicken was cooking pretty slow. You can also use the broth to adjust for consistancy I wanted a rich sauce but not a heavy thick one so I went heavy on the sauce. If you prefer a thick chunky one go light on it.

Printable version click to enlarge