Tag: chicken

Categories
Main Dish

With tamale casserole, mi ‘masa’ es su ‘masa’

Chicken tamale casserole gives you all the traditional flavors and textures of tamales without all the time and effort in the kitchen.
Chicken tamale casserole gives you all the traditional flavors and textures of tamales without all the time and effort in the kitchen.

One of our friends likes to say that he won’t order foods from a restaurant that are easy to make at home. Instead, he tries to order dishes that he would never make for himself.

The list includes plenty of time-consuming, delicious meals.

For me, one of those items is tamales.

I did make tamales once. They were awesome. But it was also when we were stuck at home for the pandemic, and time was a little easier to find. Someday, I’ll do it again.

In the meantime, though, I have been satisfying those cravings by ordering tamales from our great local Mexican spots. Except now I have a way to get the same flavor profile with none of the intense work, thanks to a tamale-themed casserole.

This comes from the blog “Life Made Simple.” You can find the original post at https://lifemadesimplebakes.com/chile-verde-chicken-tamale-casserole-9/. I added extra sauce, extra cheese and extra garlic powder in mine.

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Chicken Tamale Casserole

Chicken tamale casserole gives you all the traditional flavors and textures of tamales without all the time and effort in the kitchen.
Course Main Course
Keyword chicken, chile verde, cilantro, corn, enchilada sauce, fresh cilantro, frozen corn, garlic powder, masa harina, Monterrey jack cheese, poblano peppers, rotisserie chicken, tamales

Ingredients

Ingredients

  • 1 rotisserie chicken deboned and shredded
  • 1 cup chicken broth or stock
  • 19 ounce can chile verde enchilada sauce divided
  • 1/4 cup fresh cilantro chopped (plus more for serving)
  • 2 teaspoons garlic powder
  • 4 cups shredded Monterey jack cheese divided

Tamale Dough Ingredients

  • 3 cups masa harina
  • 3 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 12 tablespoons cold butter cubed
  • 3 cups frozen corn thawed, divided
  • 1 roasted poblano pepper deseeded and diced
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 2 1/4 cup chicken broth or stock

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Prepare a nine-by-13-inch deep baking dish by spraying it with cooking spray, and set it aside.
  • Add the chicken, broth, half of the sauce, cilantro and garlic powder to a large skillet. Heat it over medium-low, stirring occasionally, while you prepare the tamale layers.
  • Add the masa, sugar, baking powder, butter, two cups of corn, the poblano, salt and pepper to a food processor or blender. Process until everything is in coarse crumbs. Add the broth and process until the mixture is smooth and thick. Fold in the remaining corn.
  • Spread half of the tamale mixture evenly across the bottom of your baking dish. Sprinkle about one and one-fourth cup of cheese over that. Add in all of the chicken mixture, spreading it out over the cheese layer. Add another one and one-fourth cup of cheese. Spread the rest of the tamale mixture on the top.
  • Pour the rest of the enchilada sauce on the top, and then finish with the rest of the cheese.
  • Cover the dish with aluminum foil, and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 10 minutes.
  • Serve topped with more chopped cilantro. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

This was absolutely delicious, and it reheated phenomenally. (Thank goodness, because it makes a ton of food.) All of the flavors of a good, chicken tamale were there, and we will definitely be making this again—much sooner than I’ll probably be making traditional tamales.

As a side note, I roasted my poblano by placing it under the broiler until it was charred on all sides and then placing it in a glass bowl with plastic wrap on top to steam for about 10 minutes. Then, I could scrape off the skin, scoop out the seeds and dice it up. Easy peasy. If you’re nervous about a poblano being too spicy, try an Anaheim pepper instead.

Now that I have a good copycat for tamales, I’ll have to explore some other tough dishes at our local restaurants. I’m looking at you, mole.

This piece first appeared in print Sept. 12, 2024.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Main Dish

This dishy pizza bake can really wow a crowd

Deep dish pizza bake is a new take on pizza, using dinner roll dough and lots of great pizza toppings in a large pan to create a meal with leftovers for days or a great crowd-pleasing meal.
Deep dish pizza bake is a new take on pizza, using dinner roll dough and lots of great pizza toppings in a large pan to create a meal with leftovers for days or a great crowd-pleasing meal.

We have homemade pizza night most weeks at our house.

At this point, it’s down to a science. I mix up the dough while Joey sautes some veggies or debones a rotisserie chicken, and then we work together to assemble the pie before popping it in the oven.

It’s a quick, delicious meal, and with plenty of options out there for sauces and toppings, we never get bored with it.

That being said, Joey sent me a video not long ago of another type of pizza he wanted to try. It was from a creator online who often has to cook for a crowd, and since I was just gifted a very large baking pan, it was the perfect time to see if the recipe was as good as it looked.

This comes from Kevin Ashton, who is on Instagram @oldscoolkevmo. I changed his method a little on my version below.

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Deep Dish Pizza Bake

Deep dish pizza bake is a new take on pizza, using dinner roll dough and lots of great pizza toppings in a large pan to create a meal with leftovers for days or a great crowd-pleasing meal.
Course Main Course
Keyword basil pesto, breakfast casserole, crowd-pleaser, deep dish, easy dinner, fresh mushrooms, frozen rolls, green bell pepper, marinara sauce, meal for a crowd, mozzarella, onion, pepperoni, pizza, vegetarian

Ingredients

  • Cooking spray
  • 1 48- ounce bag frozen yeast dinner roll dough
  • 3-4 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1-2 cups pizza sauce we used pesto
  • Your favorite pizza toppings precooked
  • 32 ounces shredded cheese we used a combo of mozzarella and Mexican blend

Instructions

  • Spray a large 12-by-18-by-2-inch pan with cooking spray. Spread the entire package of frozen dough evenly over the bottom and spray them with more cooking spray. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and set it aside for the dough to thaw and rise. This will take about three hours.
  • In the meantime, cook any toppings that are raw (ex. hamburger, sausage, etc.) that you’ll want to add to your pizza bake, and set those aside.
  • When the dough is about doubled in size, remove the plastic wrap. Drizzle the rolls with olive oil, and then gently squish the dough to flatten it and eliminate seams. Add salt and pepper, to taste, since the bread has not been seasoned at all to this point.
  • Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
  • Spread the sauce over the top of the dough. (You don’t have to avoid the edges. There is no “crust” with this.)
  • Add your toppings and any additional seasonings you like on your pizza, and finish off with a healthy layer of cheese.
  • Bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes or until the bread is completely baked and everything is heated through.
  • Let the pizza bake rest for five to 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

This was really good. It was also a lot of bread, so if that’s not really your jam, I’d suggest only using half of the dough from the package instead of the whole thing. You can easily adjust all of this for a smaller pan, too, if you don’t want a huge one to eat on for several days. (Or, keep this in your recipe box for when you need to feed a big crowd.)

I can tell you, though, this reheated really well and was very nice for a week where we were meeting ourselves coming and going. Leftovers are a blessing for times like that.

It was kind of a deep dish pizza/casserole hybrid, which I really liked. We packed ours with sauteed onions and peppers, chicken, turkey pepperoni, fresh mushrooms and lots and lots of cheese, along with a pesto base.

I think this recipe will make it into the “pizza night” rotation every so often, although I’ll probably make a smaller version in the future. While I don’t really mind eating the same thing for several meals in a row, it’s better to mix things up. After all, variety is the spice of life.

This piece first appeared in print on June 6, 2024.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Main Dish

‘Lei’ the foundation for a delicious grilled chicken

Spatchcock Polynesian chicken can be made on the grill, in the smoker or in the oven and features a slightly sweet sauce that turns into a fabulous glaze.
Spatchcock Polynesian chicken can be made on the grill, in the smoker or in the oven and features a slightly sweet sauce that turns into a fabulous glaze.

As soon as the weather starts to warm up, it’s time for Joey and me to start going through all the grilling recipes he sent me over the winter.

The first one up is this week’s recipe, which features a Polynesian-inspired sauce over a spatchcock chicken.

If you’re not familiar with spatchcocking, it’s a technique for cooking whole chicken that lets you flatten the bird out, and it cooks more evenly and quicker. It feels a little weird to do the first time—like you’re performing some sort of surgery—but after you cook a chicken that way the first time, you’ll be sold.

The recipe we tried comes from the Sanderson Farms company page and was created as a collaboration with a couple influencers, “The Grill Dads.” You can find the original recipe and their video at https://sandersonfarms.com/recipes/spatchcock-polynesian-chicken/. I added extra garlic in my version.

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Spatchcock Polynesian Chicken

Spatchcock Polynesian chicken can be made on the grill, in the smoker or in the oven and features a slightly sweet sauce that turns into a fabulous glaze.
Course Main Course
Keyword barrel smoker, brown sugar, ceramic grill, chicken, fresh garlic, fresh ginger, garlic powder, grill, ground ginger, honey, lemon juice, lime juice, pellet smoker, Polynesian, smoked meat, smoker, soy sauce, spatchcock, whole chicken

Ingredients

Chicken Ingredients

  • 1 whole frying chicken
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 2 teaspoons garlic powder
  • 2 teaspoons ground ginger
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil

Sauce Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons lime juice
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 1 tablespoon fresh ginger grated (or ginger paste)
  • 8 cloves garlic minced
  • 2 green onions thinly sliced
  • 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes

Instructions

  • To prepare the chicken, pat it dry with paper towels and then flip it to breast side down on a large cutting board. Using a sharp knife or kitchen scissors, starting from the tail side of the chicken, carefully cut out the backbone by cutting closely on both sides of it. Set the backbone aside for another use or discard it.
  • Flip the chicken back over, and using the heels of your hands, press down in the middle of the chicken, right on the breast bone, to make it flatten out. (You should hear a little pop.)
  • Place the chicken onto a large, rimmed baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. In a small bowl, mix the salt, sugar, garlic powder and ground ginger.
  • Rub the spice mixture over the whole bird, making sure to get in crevices and even getting some under the skin, if you can. Place the chicken, uncovered, in the refrigerator over night or for at least eight hours. (We want the skin to dry out a bit so it will crisp up.)
  • The sauce can be made now or while you wait for the chicken to cook the next day.
  • Combine all the sauce ingredients in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, and bring the mixture to a low boil. Let it continue to boil for about 15 minutes, stirring regularly. Once the sauce is reduced, remove it from the heat and set it aside.
  • To cook the chicken, preheat your grill, smoker or oven to about 350 degrees. Rub the chicken all over with the olive oil, and then place it, breast side up, directly on the grate of your grill or smoker or on the rimmed baking sheet in the oven and bake for 25 minutes or until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the breast registers 140 degrees.
  • Using a basting brush, coat the exterior of the chicken in the sauce, and continue to cook the chicken for about 15 more minutes, basting every 5 minutes, until the meat thermometer reaches 165 degrees.
  • Pull the chicken from the oven, and let it rest for at least 10 minutes before slicing. If you have leftover sauce, use that for serving, and serve the chicken along with the sides of your choice.

This was slightly sweet and had a nice, crispy skin on it from our smoker. Joey and I agreed that it would have been delicious out of the oven, too, though, so if you’re not much for outdoor cooking, definitely try it inside.

We ate our chicken with some brown rice, and it was really good. We also had plenty of leftovers, which was nice.

And now that it’s officially grilling season, I’ll have to go digging back through my summer recipes to see what other experiments I can sweet talk Joey into.

This piece first appeared in print on April 18, 2024.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Main Dish

You have to try this delicious ‘mein’ dish tonight

Chicken lo mein is a delicious dinner with tons of flavor and plenty of fresh, sauteed vegetables over yummy Asian noodles.
Chicken lo mein is a delicious dinner with tons of flavor and plenty of fresh, sauteed vegetables over yummy Asian noodles.

An article from “Eat This, Not That” by Cheyenne Buckingham breaks down all the differences between Italian and Asian noodles.

I started wondering a bit this week, after I bought a package of lo mein noodles and the finished product really didn’t look a whole lot different from spaghetti, so of course, I had to do a deep dive on the subject.

There is a difference, it turns out. Buckingham interviewed Chef Chris Barch, who said ingredients are the main variation.

“For example, soba uses buckwheat, lo mein uses eggs, rice noodles use rice,” he said. “Italian pasta essentially has two main pasta doughs: egg dough and non-egg dough.”

So, yeah, you totally could use spaghetti instead of lo mein noodles, but you’re probably not going to get the full flavor and texture you’re looking for. So even if they’re a little tougher to find, when you try this week’s recipe, I highly recommend traditional Asian noodles.

The recipe I tried comes from the blog “Dinner then Dessert” by Sabrina Snyder. You can find the original post at https://dinnerthendessert.com/chicken-lo-mein/. I added extra garlic in my version and left out the bean sprouts.

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Chicken Lo Mein

Chicken lo mein is a delicious dinner with tons of flavor and plenty of fresh, sauteed vegetables over yummy Asian noodles.
Course Main Course
Cuisine Asian
Keyword cabbage, carrots, chicken, Chinese takeout, fresh ginger, garlic, green onions, lo mein, red bell pepper, sesame oil, sesame seeds, soy sauce

Ingredients

  • 10 ounces lo mein noodles
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil
  • 3 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil divided
  • 2 large chicken breasts cut into thin strips
  • 1 red bell pepper cut into thin strips
  • 1 large carrot cut into thin strips
  • 1/2 cup green onions thinly sliced
  • 1 teaspoon fresh ginger minced
  • 4 cloves garlic minced
  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 1 tablespoon oyster sauce or fish sauce
  • 1/2 cup cabbage shredded
  • sesame seeds and/or green onions for garnish

Instructions

  • Cook the noodles according to the package instructions; drain them and toss them with the sesame oil. Set aside.
  • In a large skillet, heat two tablespoons of vegetable oil over medium-high heat.
  • Saute the chicken in batches, cooking four or five minutes on each side until it is cooked through. Remove the chicken from the pan to a plate for now.
  • Add the pepper, carrot and green onion to the skillet and saute until they are cooked through to your liking.
  • Add the ginger and garlic to the vegetables. Saute for one to two minutes or until the garlic is very lightly browned.
  • In a small bowl, mix 3/4 cup water, soy sauce, cornstarch, one tablespoon vegetable oil and oyster sauce, and then pour it into the skillet. Also add the cabbage. Let it cook for just a couple minutes, stirring constantly, until the sauce thickens and the cabbage wilts.
  • Add the chicken and noodles back to the pan, and stir to coat everything in the sauce. Turn the heat to medium-low. Once everything is heated back through, serve, topped with sesame seeds and freshly sliced green onions, if you like.

On her blog, Snyder notes that this is a lot like takeout Chinese food, and I have to agree. It was a fabulous dinner, and then it heated up for leftovers about as well as normal Chinese restaurant leftovers do. We served ours with some fried rice (Joey accused me of stacking carbs), and it made for a great dinner.

When you do this, make sure to thinly cut your vegetables and really try to get a consistent thickness on your slices. That will help everything cook quickly and evenly.

And don’t forget to get the right noodles for the job. Spaghetti is great in a lot of applications, but in this case, lo mein is a must.

This piece first appeared in print on Jan. 18, 2024.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Main Dish

A hearty pot pie is a ‘crust’-try recipe this time of year

Mushroom and leek chicken pot pie is hearty and delicious. Even better, it can be made using lots of Thanksgiving meal leftovers.
Mushroom and leek chicken pot pie is hearty and delicious. Even better, it can be made using lots of Thanksgiving meal leftovers.

For a recent meal with friends, I made a cherry pie to share, and since I knew I sometimes get carried away with lattice pie crusts and run out before I’m done weaving, I made one extra crust, just in case.

Of course, once I was done making pie, I wrapped the crust up, determined I would use it for, well, something.

When Joey spotted it, he suggested something I, amazingly, have never tried making before: a chicken pot pie, pointing out that people might have leftovers around Thanksgiving that would be perfect for such a meal.

I did a lot of digging to find just the right pot pie to try and finally landed on one from the blog “Brooklyn Supper” by Elizabeth Stark. You can find the original post at https://brooklynsupper.com/mushroom-and-leek-chicken-pot-pie/. I changed things up to include more veggies in the pot pie and added extra seasonings in my version.

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Mushroom and Leek Chicken Pot Pie

Mushroom and leek chicken pot pie is hearty and delicious. Even better, it can be made using lots of Thanksgiving meal leftovers.
Course Main Course
Keyword bay leaves, black pepper, black peppercorns, carrots, celery, chicken, chicken legs, chicken thighs, fresh mushrooms, leek, meat pie, pie crust, pot pie, potatoes, puff pastry, Thanksgiving leftovers, yellow onion

Ingredients

  • 1 medium yellow onion diced
  • 2 large carrots diced
  • 2 large celery ribs diced
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 20 to 30 peppercorns
  • 1 pound bone-in chicken thighs or legs
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • extra virgin olive oil
  • 8 ounces mushrooms I used baby bellas, sliced
  • 1 leek thinly sliced
  • 2 medium potatoes diced (I used Russet)
  • 1/3 cup flour
  • 1 sheet thawed puff pastry or one pie crust
  • 1 egg

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
  • In a Dutch oven or stockpot with a lid, add four cups water, onion, carrots and celery. Put the bay leaves and peppercorns in a tied-up cheese cloth or a tea infuser, and place that in the pot, too. (If you don’t have that, put the bay leaves directly in the water and just put freshly ground pepper, to taste, in the pot.) Turn the heat to medium, and place the lid partially covering the pot, letting the water start to simmer gently.
  • Prep the chicken by sprinkling it with salt and pepper, to taste.
  • Heat one to two tablespoons olive oil in a large, oven-safe skillet (I used cast iron) over medium heat. When it’s hot, add the chicken, searing on all sides until it is golden brown.
  • Once the chicken is golden on all sides, add it to the simmering water and put the lid back on, partially covering the pot. Let the chicken simmer until it reaches 165 internal temperature, and then carefully debone it, chopping it into bite-sized pieces as you go.
  • While the chicken cooks, add another tablespoon or two of olive oil to the skillet if there isn’t much fat in the pan, and add the mushrooms and leeks, sauteing over medium heat until the leeks are soft and the mushrooms are just starting to crisp up a bit. Stir in the potatoes and the flour, continuing to saute until the flour is no longer white and all of the vegetables are evenly coated—five to 10 minutes or so.
  • Remove the bundle of seasonings (or the bay leaves) from the broth pot, and begin spooning the broth into the skillet (along with the veggies), about one-half cup at a time, stirring well and giving the gravy time to thicken in between. Once all of the broth is in the skillet, and you’ve given the gravy time to thicken up, add flour, a sprinkle at a time, if you feel like it’s too runny.
  • Finally, stir in the chicken and more salt and pepper, to taste.
  • In a small bowl, beat the egg and have it and a pastry brush ready for the next step.
  • Roll out the puff pastry or pie dough into a circle large enough to cover the entire skillet. Carefully place it onto the top of the skillet, folding over any overhang back into the skillet.
  • Brush the crust with a quick egg wash, sprinkle it with salt and pepper, and cut at least two slits in the top of the pie.
  • Bake for 20 minutes, turn down the heat to 350 degrees and then bake another 30 to 35 minutes or until the crust is nicely browned and the filling is fully heated through.

This was really delicious, and it was amazing as leftovers, too.

As for using Thanksgiving leftovers, you’ll want to have about three cups of chicken or turkey broth that you’ll simmer the vegetables in, along with a couple cups of shredded turkey. Basically, you’ll just skip the step of sauteing the chicken and making your own broth.

And even if you don’t end up with enough leftovers to make pot pie, put this on your “to try” list. It’s hearty, filling and a great cold-night dinner.

I imagine it would be pretty fabulous with a side of leftover cranberry sauce or mashed potatoes, too.

This piece first appeared in print on Nov. 23, 2023.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Main Dish

Don’t tarry(yaki), and make this chicken dish today

Chicken teriyaki has a rich sauce that is easy to make and is perfect to eat over fried or white rice.
Chicken teriyaki has a rich sauce that is easy to make and is perfect to eat over fried or white rice.

On evenings where there isn’t much on television and we can’t decide on something to stream from the myriad of services we subscribe to, Joey and I will often find ourselves scrolling through our respective social media feeds, sending each other funny or interesting videos from our spots across the couch from one another.

Quite a few of them tend to feature new recipes. I send him videos of delicious food to make on a smoker or grill, and he sends me a variety of dishes he thinks I ought to try.

Such was the origin of this week’s recipe. After watching the video for this dish probably 20 times, I finally had the ingredients and the procedure figured out, so the good news for you is that it’s all here now, in writing.

This came from an online video by Gideon General. You can find him on Instagram @gidsgids. I added extra garlic to my version.

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Chicken Teriyaki

Chicken teriyaki has a rich sauce that is easy to make and is perfect to eat over fried or white rice.
Course Main Course
Keyword chicken, chicken thighs, garlic, ginger, rice vinegar, rice wine, rice wine vinegar, sake, sesame seeds, soy sauce, teriyaki

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons oil divided
  • 2-4 boneless chicken thighs
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 2 tablespoons fresh ginger minced
  • 6 cloves garlic minced
  • 1/2 cup rice vinegar
  • 1/2 cup sake rice wine
  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 3 tablespoons water
  • 1 tablespoon sesame seeds

Instructions

  • Trim any excess fat from the chicken thighs and season them with salt and pepper.
  • In a skillet with a lid, heat one tablespoon of oil over medium heat. Add the chicken thighs and cook for five to 10 minutes or until the chicken is nicely browned on one side. Flip the thighs over and saute for another five to 10 minutes, with the lid on, until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees.
  • While the chicken cooks, add the other tablespoon of oil to a saucepan over medium heat.
  • Add the ginger and saute for three to five minutes. Toss in the minced garlic and saute for a few more minutes until it is very lightly browned.
  • Add the rice vinegar, sake, soy sauce, half-cup water and sugar to the saucepan. Stir to combine, and raise the temperature to medium-high to bring the mixture to a boil.
  • In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch with three tablespoons water.
  • Once the mixture in the saucepan is boiling, stir in the cornstarch. When it is again boiling, remove the pan from the heat and stir in the sesame seeds.
  • Pour the sauce in the skillet with the chicken (lid off), and let it cook down a bit to thicken the sauce, making sure to baste the chicken in the sauce as it cooks. After a few minutes, serve the chicken, along with extra sauce. We had ours over fried rice.

The leftovers we had from this were also out of this world. Those we ate over white rice, and it was a great combination, too. We also sauteed some bell peppers and mushrooms to go into the sauce with our leftovers, and it was an excellent addition, so I highly recommend doing that if you want to stretch your meal a little further.

And I finally got something good out of social media for a change, which I appreciated. The only drawback to trying to glean a recipe from a video, though, is after watching beautiful, perfectly cooked chicken over and over and over again, you get pretty hungry.

This piece first appeared in print on June 1, 2023.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Main Dish Soup

This creamy chicken soup was fabulous, ‘gnocchi’dding

Chicken gnocchi soup is a creamy, Italian-style soup that features tons of flavor from fresh vegetables, lots of garlic, chicken and soft, pillowy gnocchi.
Chicken gnocchi soup is a creamy, Italian-style soup that features tons of flavor from fresh vegetables, lots of garlic, chicken and soft, pillowy gnocchi.

This past weekend, Joey found whole chickens on sale and proceeded to put three on his smoker.

I told him I wanted to try a different way to make stock from the bones, once he was done pulling the meat, and he graciously put the pieces into my large crockpot for me.

Normally, we make stock on the stove, but after seeing several people online make it in their crockpots, I wanted to give it a shot, especially since the last time we made stock, our entire kitchen felt a bit like a sauna from all the boiling liquid. That’s a less-than optimum feeling when you’re staring at May on the calendar.

So, I covered the bones in water, snapped on the lid, and let everything cook on high for four hours. Then I set it to low and went to bed.

When I tell you that I woke up to the most beautiful stock I have ever seen, please believe me. It was dark and flavorful and amazing.

I immediately knew that a soup was in order, so I decided to try a recipe I had my eye on that uses lots of fresh veggies—all of which just happened to be in my fridge.

This comes from the blog, “Tornadough Alli.” You can find the original post at https://tornadoughalli.com/olive-garden-chicken-gnocchi-soup/. I added tons more garlic and some other seasoning in my version.

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Chicken Gnocchi Soup

Chicken gnocchi soup is a creamy, Italian-style soup that features tons of flavor from fresh vegetables, lots of garlic, chicken and soft, pillowy gnocchi.
Course Main Course, Soup
Cuisine Italian
Keyword black pepper, carrots, celery, chicken, chicken broth, chicken stock, creamy soup, garlic salt, gnocchi, minced garlic, onion, parsley, spinach

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 4 tablespoons butter
  • 1 small onion diced
  • 3 to 4 medium carrots diced
  • 2 stalks celery diced
  • 16- ounce package potato gnocchi
  • 6 to 8 cloves garlic minced
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 6 cups chicken broth
  • 2 cups milk
  • 3 teaspoons dried parsley
  • garlic salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 pound chicken cooked and shredded
  • 1 cup fresh spinach chopped
  • 1 tablespoon corn starch mixed with 1 tablespoon water

Instructions

  • In a large stockpot or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil and butter over medium heat.
  • Once the butter is melted, add the onion, carrots and celery, and saute until the onions are translucent.
  • While your veggies cook, boil the gnocchi according to package instructions, drain it, and set it aside.
  • When the vegetables are cooked through, add in the garlic and saute for just a couple of minutes.
  • Stir in the flour, and let it cook for about a minute before adding the chicken broth and milk to the pot, stirring well. Be sure to scrape the bottom of the pot to get any stuck-on goodies mixed in.
  • Raise the heat to high and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring regularly. Once it reaches a boil, reduce the heat to low to keep it at a simmer, and add in the seasonings, chicken, spinach, gnocchi and corn starch mixture. Stir well, and keep stirring occasionally until all the ingredients are heated through and the soup is just slightly thickened.
  • Serve.

This was creamy and flavorful and had lots of great textures between the chicken, gnocchi and vegetables. It also made a nice, big pot of soup, so we were able to put some leftovers in the freezer for another night.

And the best part is I still have eight cups of stock in my refrigerator, ready to go into another creation. After seeing how well my crockpot worked out, I’m not sure if I’ll make stock the old way ever again.

This piece first appeared in print on May 4, 2023.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Main Dish

Get ready to ‘chowder’ down on some hearty soup this week

Chicken potato chowder is hearty and delicious. It’s great for feeding a crowd, for leftovers or for storing in the freezer for a busy night when there’s no time to cook.
Chicken potato chowder is hearty and delicious. It’s great for feeding a crowd, for leftovers or for storing in the freezer for a busy night when there’s no time to cook.

We always host friends at our house for the NFL playoff games—especially if the Chiefs are still in the race—and the recent AFC Championship game was no exception.

Along with having folks over to yell at the TV with us, we try to put out a good spread of food for everyone to enjoy. While we were shopping for the party, Joey announced that he was going to get a big pack of bone-in chicken thighs to cook on the smoker and that I might want to think about a soup to make with the end result.

Challenge accepted.

I landed on a chicken potato chowder recipe that turned out to be absolutely fabulous—especially because Joey not only deboned the chicken thighs for my soup, he also boiled the bones to make a great stock for the recipe, too.

So, if you or someone else in your household are good at smoking meats, I highly recommend trying that process for the chicken for this recipe.

But even if that’s not in your wheelhouse, cook up some chicken on the stove or grab a pre-cooked rotisserie and still give this a try. You won’t be disappointed.

This recipe comes from the blog “Fearless Dining” by Sandi Gaertner. You can find the original post at https://www.fearlessdining.com/chicken-potato-soup-recipe/. I added extra seasonings in my version.

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Chicken Potato Chowder

Chicken potato chowder is hearty and delicious. It’s great for feeding a crowd, for leftovers or for storing in the freezer for a busy night when there’s no time to cook.
Course Main Course
Keyword bacon, celery salt, chicken, chicken broth, chicken stock, chowder, cold weather meal, garlic powder, immersion blender, potatoes, shredded cheese, soup, winter soup, yellow onion

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil
  • 1 medium-sized yellow onion diced
  • 6 slices bacon cut into half-inch pieces
  • 5 cups potatoes cut into one-inch pieces
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 4 cups chicken broth or stock
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon celery salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
  • black pepper to taste
  • 2 to 3 cups cooked chicken cut into one-inch pieces
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1/3 cup cheese I used Monterrey jack and colby

Instructions

  • In a large pot or Dutch oven with a lid, heat the oil over medium heat. Add in the onion and bacon and saute until the bacon is cooked through and the onions are soft.
  • Add the potatoes to the pot, along with the flour. Mix to evenly coat everything with the flour.
  • Add the chicken broth, salt, celery salt, garlic powder and black pepper, and stir to combine.
  • Stir in the cooked chicken and place the lid on the pot. Let it come to a slow boil and leave it for about 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to a simmer and let it cook for another 10 minutes (with the lid still on).
  • Stir in the heavy cream and simmer for five more minutes with the lid off.
  • Remove the pot from the heat and blend about one to two cups of the soup with either an immersion blender or by pouring that portion into a traditional blender. (The goal is to get more of a chowder consistency at this point while still having nice big chunks of potato and chicken.)
  • Stir in the shredded cheese until it is melted, and serve immediately.

We made this the day before our get together and then reheated it in the crockpot for the game, and let me tell you: it was delicious. We had a big loaf of Italian bread to go with the chowder, and it was hearty and such a great belly-warmer for a cold day. Also, it reheated really, really well again for more leftovers.

And, on top of the great food, we watched the Chiefs advance to the Super Bowl. If you make this soup for your own sports get-together, I can’t guarantee it will result in a win for your team, but either way, your stomach will be happy.

This piece first appeared in print on Feb. 2, 2023.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Main Dish

Creamy chicken and tortellini is ‘pasta’tively perfect for dinner this winter

Creamy chicken and tortellini is actually a pretty easy dish to make but it has lots of wow factor with an out-of-this-world sauce, perfectly cooked chicken and cheesy pasta.
Creamy chicken and tortellini is actually a pretty easy dish to make but it has lots of wow factor with an out-of-this-world sauce, perfectly cooked chicken and cheesy pasta.

I have officially reached the hibernation stage of winter.

Once I’m home from work, I am constantly clad in my fleece pants, thick socks and carrying a fuzzy blanket for our schnauzer and me to curl up under on the couch.

On top of that, I’m mostly attracted to meals that are warm and carb heavy.

This week, I finally gave into my temptation for a cheesy, high-calorie meal, and it was absolutely fabulous. It was the perfect thing to fill us up on a cold night, and it was easy, too.

This comes from an online video by Luke Brown. You can find him on reels on Facebook. I added extra seasoning to my version of his recipe below.

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Creamy Chicken and Tortellini

Creamy chicken and tortellini is actually a pretty easy dish to make but it has lots of wow factor with an out-of-this-world sauce, perfectly cooked chicken and cheesy pasta.
Course Main Course
Keyword 30-minute meal, chicken, chicken breasts, chicken broth, easy dinner, garlic, garlic powder, heavy cream, oregano, paprika, parmesan cheese, red pepper flakes, sun-dried tomatoes, thyme, tortellini

Ingredients

  • 2 large chicken breasts cut into bite-sized pieces
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 2 tablespoons garlic minced
  • 1/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes mostly drained and chopped
  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1 cup parmesan cheese grated
  • 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 1 teaspoon oregano
  • 1 teaspoon thyme
  • 19 ounces frozen tortellini

Instructions

  • In a large plastic bag, combine the flour, paprika, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Toss in the chicken, seal the bag, and shake until the chicken is well coated in the flour mixture.
  • Heat a large skillet with a lid over medium heat and add in the olive oil and butter. Add the chicken and saute until it is golden brown and the internal temperature of the largest piece is 165 degrees.
  • Remove the chicken from the pan and set it aside for now.
  • Add the minced garlic and sun-dried tomatoes to the pan and saute for about one minute. Pour in the chicken broth and heavy cream, being sure to scrape the bottom of the pan a bit as you stir to get all the good bits off the bottom.
  • Add in the parmesan, red pepper flakes, oregano and thyme, and stir until the cheese is melted and everything is well combined.
  • Add in the frozen tortellini (Don’t bother stirring at this point. The frozen pasta will just make your parmesan clump back up.), and place the lid on the pan. Turn the heat down to low, and let the pasta cook for about five minutes.
  • Stir to coat the pasta in the sauce, and then add in the chicken. Give the whole dish a good stir to coat everything in the sauce, and serve immediately.

This was amazing. It was cheesy, creamy and definitely filling. It could have benefited from a big piece of garlic bread to go along with it, too.

The only problem with it was that it immediately made me want to go take a nap—I’m pretty sure it counted as carbo-loading.

As much as I wish I could eat these big heavy meals all winter, I know I’ll need to stick to healthier options most of the time. But that doesn’t mean this fantastic pasta dish won’t make another appearance at some point while I still have my cold-weather blanket in tow.

This piece first appeared in print on Jan. 26, 2023.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Main Dish

Spicy, wing-inspired casserole is ‘Buffalo’-key delicious

Buffalo chicken casserole combines alfredo sauce and pasta with Buffalo wing sauce and chicken to create a cheesy, spicy dish that comes together quickly for dinner.
Buffalo chicken casserole combines alfredo sauce and pasta with Buffalo wing sauce and chicken to create a cheesy, spicy dish that comes together quickly for dinner.

I was gone for a few days last week, and while Joey and I were catching up on our respective adventures from when we were apart, I learned that he made homemade Buffalo wings. Without me.

Now, I’ll forgive him his betrayal, because in his defense, I am normally not a huge fan of eating meat off the bone. But chicken wings tend to be a bit of an exception.

I love the spiciness of Buffalo sauce along with some crispy celery or some cool ranch dipping sauce. Wings are just pretty darn great all the way around.

I kept thinking about how I missed out, when I remembered I had a recipe featuring Buffalo sauce that I’ve been meaning to try. I hoped it would be just the trick to finally kick my craving.

The recipe I tried comes from the blog “Back For Seconds.” You can find the original post at https://backforseconds.com/buffalo-chicken-alfredo-bake/2/. I changed up the amounts of several ingredients and used breaded chicken instead of rotisserie in my version.

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Buffalo Chicken Casserole

Buffalo chicken casserole combines alfredo sauce and pasta with Buffalo wing sauce and chicken to create a cheesy, spicy dish that comes together quickly for dinner.
Course Main Course
Keyword Alfredo sauce, Buffalo sauce, chicken, easy dinner, mozzarella, penne pasta, quick dinner

Ingredients

  • 16 ounces pasta cooked (I used penne)
  • 1/3 cup buffalo sauce plus more for drizzling
  • 2 cups cooked chicken diced (I used frozen chicken patties)
  • 16 ounces alfredo sauce
  • 12 ounces mozzarella cheese shredded
  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  • While you boil your pasta, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a three-quart baking dish by spraying it with cooking spray and set it aside.
  • When draining your pasta, reserve about one-third cup of the cooking liquid.
  • In a bowl, combine the buffalo sauce and chicken and stir to coat evenly.
  • In another bowl, combine the alfredo sauce, pasta and about one-fourth of the cheese. Pour the reserved pasta water into the empty alfredo jar, put on the lid, and shake it to loosen any leftover sauce in the jar. Pour it into the bowl, as well. Add salt and pepper, if desired. Stir to mix it well.
  • Spread half of the pasta mixture into the prepared baking dish. Evenly spread the chicken over that, and then finish off with the other half of the pasta mixture.
  • Top with the remaining cheese.
  • Cover the baking dish with a lid or foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the covering and bake for another 10 minutes or until the cheese is lightly browned.
  • Let the casserole sit for about five minutes, drizzle with a little Buffalo sauce, and serve.

I was really happy with how this turned out. It was a bit spicy with lots of good cheesy flavors mixed in. I also was happy with my decision to cut up chicken patties to use in this instead of deboning a rotisserie chicken. It took way less time, and I liked the added flavor of the breading in the casserole.

It’s not quite a complete substitute for Buffalo wings, but it definitely did a good job of featuring the main flavors.

Joey will probably still have to make it up to me by cooking some wings again sometime in the near future, but I think this will hold me over for now.

This piece first appeared in print on June 30, 2022.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

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