Brussel sprout Chicken skillet

I had no clue what I was going to do for last night for dinner. All I know is I had made up some potato salad and figured it would go well with grilled marinated chicken... Except the only chicken I had in the freezer were whole birds, and the gas grill was out of propane. So, I asked my boyfriend to pick up chicken breasts on his way home from work -though by the time he got in, it was to late to do much with them (b/t/w, never send a hungry man to the grocery store). So, I just threw something together right quick, and it tasted fabulous. And, since I made it up, I'm naming it Brussel Sprout Chicken Skillet.

This is all I did:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Sprinkle 3-4 chicken breasts on both sides with salt, pepper, and smoked paprika. Set aside.
Parboil some halved brussel sprouts for about a minute in salted water.
Heat up a cast iron skillet with bacon grease (approx. 3 tbsp.), and brown 1/2 a medium onion and 2 cloves of garlic in it.
Add the drained brussel sprouts to skillet. Cook/fry them up for 4-6 minutes.
Push brussel sprouts to sides of pan, and add chicken in the middle.
Sear chicken for 1-2 min. per side.
Place skillet in oven until chicken reaches 155 degrees internal temperature (20-30min.)
Rest chicken for 5 minutes before serving.

Parmesan Crisps

I know that Parmesan Crisps are meant to be appetizers, however I am turning them into an ambitious dinner plan (more on that after the recipe)... I think they will add some light fun to dinner on another snowy day.  Yet another Alton Brown inspiration, and of course, super easy for a busy household....

Parmesan Crisps

3 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Freshly ground black pepper, smoked paprika, or cayenne, optional

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.

Grate cheese on the small hole side of a 4-sided box grater into a small bowl. 

Using a tablespoon measure, place cheese in mounds onto a nonstick silicone pad or greased parchment paper-lined cookie sheet. 

Flatten out mounds with the back of a spoon, making sure mounds are at least 4 inches apart. 

Season with pepper, paprika, or cayenne, if desired. 

Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 5 to 6 minutes or until golden.

Now, the fun part about this recipe from Mr. Brown that he does not recount in his instructions, is that once the Parmesan crisps come out of the oven they are still slightly malleable. This means, they can be hardened over common upturned objects creating a little bowl shaped Parmesan vessel! Nifty, huh? Thus, my ambitious dinner plan tonight is to make these little cheese cups and fill them with some julienne veggies with a bite size piece of fried chicken (or maybe the left over coconut curry chicken)... Lately I feel as though I am using the same ideas/recipes for chicken constantly, and think this is a great idea for something new! I reckon it's the same thing as just eating a lot of appetizers for dinner, but it will at least feel fun and taste nummy!


Speaking of running out of chicken recipes and ideas, please feel free to post a comment with your ideas or recipe links! I would definitely appreciate any and will post them myself after trying them out :)

CrockPot Coconut Curry Chicken

Tonight's dinner is Coconut Curry Chicken done in the crock pot. If the sauce is any indication it is going to be so yummy! The idea for this recipe came to me right before falling asleep last night, and thanks to the wonders of the internet, there was an actual recipe for it! I intend to serve it over rice, and I also omitted the carrots as no one in the house will eat them cooked.Oh, and it's also an excuse for me to use my new rice maker for the first time!

CrockPot Coconut Curry Chicken

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil 

4 boneless skinless chicken breast half 

8 oz. red potato, peeled and chopped 

2 large carrots peeled and chopped 

1 medium onion, sliced 

1 (14 ounce) can light coconut milk 

1/2 teaspoon salt 

1/2 teaspoon black pepper 

1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder (or to taste) 

1 teaspoon hot sauce (optional, more if desired) 

1 cup chicken stock 

1 (10 ounce) package frozen peas, thawed

 Directions:

1 Heat oil in a medium fry pan.
2 Add chicken breasts and brown on both sides.
3 Place potatoes, carrots, and onion in crock pot.
4 Place chicken breasts on top.
5 Combine coconut milk, salt, pepper, curry powder, hot sauce and chicken broth in a bowl and stir thoroughly.
6 Add to crock pot.
7 Cover and cook on low 6 to 8 hours.
8 One half hour before serving, add peas on top of chicken mixture.
9 Just before serving, stir mixture thoroughly

New freezer and chickens

So, we went out and bought a new, bigger freezer yesterday to hold all of our chickens for the up-coming year. My boyfriends family raises meat birds, and we had the annual family chicken processing day this past weekend. In celebration of this, I roasted a chicken with fresh herbs from the garden (rosemary and thyme) salt, pepper, then rubbed them into the skin with olive oil, sliced garlic cloves placed under the skin, and stuffed with Bell's stuffing. Home made from scratch stuffing is so over-rated - I love Bell's! Plus, Bell's was created in Boston - how perfect is that?! For sides we had Yukon Gold Mashed potatoes, biscuits, and cranberry jelly (yes, from a can... perfect for sandwiches later in the week).