SMOTHERED CHICKEN

I cook smothered chicken often. For me it's quick and easy. I hope you find it that way too.

First, I rinse my chicken, blot it dry and lay it on waxed paper. I season the chicken on one side, cover it with flour and pat the flour on the chicken to help it stick. Flip the chicken and repeat the seasoning and flouring. Use the flour that has accumulated on the waxed paper to cover the sides of the chicken. If you have alternatives to how you'd like the chicken, perhaps using a favorite fried chicken coating, feel free.

Next, fry the chicken just enough to brown it and you don't need a lot of oil for this, just enough to brown it. Experiment with different oils. Consider using peanut oil and olive oil.

Remove the chicken from the skillet and place in a baking dish. Next, make your gravy. I drain most of the oil from the skillet leaving just enough to moisten the bottom of the skillet. I use gravy flour and sprinkle it over the bottom of the skillet. Gravy flour is fine and doesn't clump. Let the flour turn the color brown you would like for your gravy. Add seasoning now or later when it boils. While the flour is browning I turn on the hot water and let it run then fill a glass with the hot water. When the flour has turned the color brown you want slowly add in the hot water, stirring it with a spatula.


It's better to start out with half a glass of water and add water as needed for the consistency you want. As it boils the flour will thicken. Add water OR more flour as needed for the consistency you want. My sister uses chicken broth. I've heard some people use milk.

For this recipe I used sliced onion, bell peppers and some sweet peppers in a jar I found at the 99 Cent Store. It added a spicy kick to the chicken. Cook the gravy for a while and season to taste. I use seasoning salt, pepper and garlic powder.

When the gravy is nice and gravy look (smile), pour it over the chicken in the baking dish. Cover and bake.


I'll admit I never know how long to cook chicken and usually tend to over-cook it but it the gravy it doesn't matter and is still nice and moist.


You can serve the smothered chicken with whatever sides you like. In this instance I made a fresh salad and some Rice A Roni.

CHICKEN & CHEESE TORTELLONI

Another quick item to cook is Chicken and Cheese Tortelloni. This is another "cheat" recipe. The market sells pre-made shells with just cheese or chicken and cheese. You can also buy a jar of whatever sauce you like. I chose a jar of garlic and onion pasta sauce but I "doctored it up."

I chopped a little onion, red and green bell pepper and a mushroom as well as an olive. I sauteed it in a little olive oil and then added it to the sauce in a sauce pan to cook while the tortelloni was cooking. For cooking the tortelloni just follow the instruction on the package. One thing I do is add a little seasoning, a little salt and garlic powder to the water. I also add a little seasoning the the pasta sauce.

I can never stress enough that to me cooking is all about taste. Don't be afraid to taste and season while you're cooking. By the way, that's seasoning salt sprinkled on the tortelloni in the photo above.

Make it yours and make it what YOU like. Add a garnish, add a little parmesan cheese, whatever.

BAKED CHICKEN (STORE BOUGHT)

Most markets carry chickens already baked and ready to eat. I usually buy one when I go to the market because I can use it for anything I might want to cook. Sometimes I just slice it and make sandwiches. Sometimes I take half of the chicken and make chicken fajitas. Sometimes I make chicken pot pie or I can slice it off and use it for dinner with sides of garlic noodles and string beans or anything else I might feel like.

If you're like me and you don't have a lot of time when you get home, the chicken is already cooked and usually all you have to do is add to it. You don't have to worry about cooking the chicken plus, they make great sandwiches or you can pull a little off and add it to a salad.

CHICKEN POT PIE

Chicken Pot Pie is another relatively simple dish to make, especially if you don't really mind working with a pie crust. I'm no pro at pie crusts, as you can see by the photos. LOL! The thing is it doesn't have to be picture perfect to taste great.



All you need is chicken, a family size can of cream of chicken soup, a bag (or can) of peas and carrots or whatever veggies you'd like in your pie, and your pie crust whether you make it from scratch or from a box like me. I actually used a whole page of peas, carrots and string beans. I cheat (sort of), by buying a whole baked chicken from the market, already cooked. I consider it a staple since I can cook anything with the chicken or just slice pieces to make a sandwich. I only used half of the baked chicken in this recipe but you can use more or less depending on how YOU want your pie to come out.



I'll bet you can figure this out without me telling you but here goes. Dump the can of Cream Of Chicken Soup into a large pot. Add in the veggies and let it start to cook. Here's a tip I learned after the fact. Using precooked chicken, don't add the chicken until the veggies are about done in the soup otherwise the chicken will shred from the stirring and seasoning.

Season to taste. I added pepper, garlic powder and a little seasoning salt. Thought the soup probably has enough salt, once you add in the chicken and veggies it might need a little more depending on YOUR taste preferences.


While the soup is cooking you can start your pie crust. I like to have a top and bottom crust so I have to split the dough into two balls making sure that the one for the bottom is a larger ball than the first because it will need more dough to come up the sides of the pan I'm using for the pie.


Tip, if you're not used to making pie crusts: 1) If the dough starts to get sticky and is sticking to the rolling pin sprinkle a little flower on the dough and rub a little on the rolling pin. You can repeat that as needed to keep it from sticking; 2) Hold the pan you're using for the pie over the crust to see how big the bottom crust should be. It should measure the bottom of the pan plus enough come up all sides of the pan.

You don't have to super cook the soup because it will also cook in the oven. You'll want it hot enough so you can judge the consistency. I add a little water to the soup but not a lot because you don't want it too watery. It should be on the thick side.

Pour the soup mix into the pan on top of the bottom pie crust. Sit it aside and then work on the top crust. A variation of the tip above - pick up the pie crust and hold it over the pan to see if it is big enough the cover the top of the pie plus about an inch.

I use waxed paper to roll out my pie crust on because it doesn't stick much and it's easy to work with. When I put the crust on top it is easy to turn it upside down, lay it across the top of the pie and then peel the waxed paper off. It takes a little practice. Try not to leave any holes when you lay the top because the soup will bubble when baking and come through the holes.

I didn't worry about being too pretty when I baked this one. I could have made the edges prettier but I was in a rush and had some other things to do.

If its not the prettiest thing when you're done, who cares. I'll bet it tastes great and remember, practice makes perfect... or at least better (smile).

Happy cooking!

CHINESE FOOD or JAPANESE FOOD

Actually, I don't know if you'd consider this Chinese food or Japanese food because I thought of cooking this after a trip to Benihana's with my sister and we sat there wondering if we could do it. Turns out... we could! And it's not as difficult as you might think and my sister and I have our Friday evening cook-outs and have been mastering our skills at this.



It's best to have all of your items ready to go before you start cooking so read through this before you begin cooking.


FILET MIGNON OR RIB-EYE STEAK, CHICKEN, SHRIMP
(YOUR CHOICE - ONE, TWO OR ALL)
ONE LARGE ONION
GREEN ONION (SHALLOTS)
MUSHROOMS
SQUASH
ZUCCHINI
BEAN SPROUTS
SESAME SEED OIL
ONE OR TWO EGGS
PEAS & CARROTS (ABOUT 1/2 CUP)

We start with the stir-fry veggies. We use mushrooms, squash, zuchini (I can never remember how to spell it), onion and bean sprouts. You can add or subtract whatever you like. Perhaps you'd like some broccoli. Add it! Chop up your veggies and dump them in a skillet with a little oil and butter. I use regular cooking oil and just a little sesame seed oil. TIP: Sesame seed oil is what give it the unique Asian food taste but a little goes a long way. It can be an overwhelming taste if you use too much.



Filet mignon is, of course, the best and most tender but also the most expensive. I would suggest rib-eye as an option. Other meats may be less expensive but they have a tendency to be a little tough, they don't cook as quickly and you're likely to be disappointed unless you've pre-tenderized. Again, use a little oil, sesame seed oil and butter for flavor. Also, season with pepper, garlic power and your choice of salt.

For the shrimp, the trick is the butter and garlic. Saute your shrimp in butter, a little oil and sprinkle with garlic powder.


Now for the fried rice. Prepare your rice and don't overcook it. It should still be moist because when you fry it, it will loose some moisture. Have your shallots, peas and carrots and eggs ready. With a little oil, sesame seed oil and butter, saute your green onion and peas and carrots. Break your eggs into the skillet and mix in the onion, peas and carrots. When just about done, dump in your rice. Mix together and add soy sauce. The soy sauce gives it color and flavor. Don't be shy about tasting as you cook. Add some pepper, garlic power and salt or more soy sauce.

If it's a little dry, add a little water for steam. You can also add a little cooking oil and sesame see oil BUT remember, sesame seed oil is strong and a little goes a long way. Use too much and you might not like the results.

I hope I didn't leave anything out.

CHICKEN FETTUCCINE

I never really thought about making Chicken Fettuccine but I found an easy way to make it and will be making it more often. The market I love to go to is WinCo. They should have one everywhere. The deli department sells chicken fajita strips by the pound, all ready cooked. $4.99 a pound. So, I buy a pound. I also buy a jar of Mushroom Alfredo sauce and fettuccine noodles. It only takes a little while to boil the noodle. I heat the Alfredo sauce in a pan and cut the strips into chunks and drop them in the sauce. A short while later and Wholla! Chicken Fettuccine.

I doubt that it takes fifteen minutes to make and it's quite yummy!