Chicken That Makes Its Own Gravy

Chicken That Makes Its Own Gravy

Can one have too many chicken recipes?  I think not, especially when it's as simple and flavorful and as comforting this one.  This is one of those mom meals that make adult children pine for childhood Sunday dinners at Grandma's.  The aroma alone while it's baking will have you hanging around the kitchen anxiously awaiting mealtime.

I originally saw this recipe in a cookbook which I love (and one of two cookbooks that I own two of because I love them so much) entitled Best Recipes from the Backs of Boxes, Bottles, Cans and Jars by Ceil Dyer.  Originally the recipe was included on the back of the back of the Carnation evaporated milk in the early 60's and became much beloved.  I can our voices to the chorus of praise for this meal; Sweetie-Pie and I raved about it for hours after.  Yep, it's a keeper in my files.

I made a couple of small changes to the recipe for my ease of preparation, portion, and method of seasoning, but otherwise followed the recipe.

CHICKEN THAT MAKES ITS OWN GRAVY

3 to 3 1/2 pounds frying chicken pieces (I used 2 thick breasts cut in half)
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup melted butter
2/3 cup undiluted evaporated milk
1 (10 3/4 ounce) can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup (4 ounces) grated American processed cheese (I used real cheddar)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 medium sized onion, diced
1/4 pound mushrooms sliced or some small can mushrooms drained
dash paprika

Preheat over to 425* Fahrenheit.  Melt the butter and add to the bottom of  a casserole dish.  Add the chopped onion.

Coat chicken with flour.  (I put the flour, salt, pepper, and paprika in a plastic bag with the chicken pieces and shook the chicken in the mixture until well covered, to improve the flavor of the chicken.)
Arrange the chicken in a single layer in the casserole dish atop the onions.  Bake uncovered for 30 minutes.  Turn, bake and bake another 15 to 20 minutes until brown.

Remove from oven; reduce heat to 325* Fahrenheit.  Pour of any excess fat.

Combine the undiluted evaporated milk, cream of mushroom soup, mushroom slices and cheese and pour over the chicken.  Give it a little stir to combine with the onions.  Cover the dish with foil and return to the oven and bake for another 15 to 20 minutes or until chicken tests done (is easily pierced with  fork or has an internal temperature of 165* Fahrenheit with a meat thermometer.)

The gravy goes especially good with mashed potatoes, though noodles would be equally good.

COOK'S NOTES:  The original recipe called for the seasonings to be added with the cream of mushroom soup, but when I've done that with similar past recipes, the chicken tends to be bland.  The chicken needs to be seasoned before baking to enhance its flavor.  Also the recipe called for a one pound jar of drained onions, which I never have on hand (must've been a pantry staple back in the 60's), but I do always have fresh onions, which I used as a substitute.

Best Chicken Fajitas Ever (Just My Humble Opinion)

Best Chicken Fajitas Ever

I think we all know by now that Mexican food is not the food of my people, but I do gleefully declare that my people love Mexican food, and we love fajitas, and these fajitas in particular. 

I've eaten a good number of fajita at chain restaurant and loved them, but it wasn't until we moved here that I figured out I could make them at home.  Now my first couple of attempts were pretty darned dismal; I kid you not.  No flavor, the vegetables and chicken were soupy or limp, just disagreeable all around.  Sometimes meals are better in restaurants.  Sigh.

But good fortune smiled on me, and I happened to be scrolling around Cooks.com looking at recipe reviews for ideas and I saw they had a fajita recipe that received numerous, numerous positive reviews.  Mmm, okay, I'm skeptical of any recipe calling itself "the best" because the concept of being best is subjective, but I decided to give it a whirl, and after the first bite I knew we had a winner.

I've shown you my fajita without all the fixings, and it definitely should have had a few more veggies for presentation, but regardless, this is deeee-licious.  I've served it to family members who are New Englanders, guests who are life-long Tusconians, and we all agree, these are fabulous.

There's a little marinating time involved, so plan ahead.  The wait will be worth it!  MMM mmm!

CHICKEN FAJITAS
 Original recipe from Cooks.com is found here.

MARINADE
1 clove garlic, minced
1 1/2 teaspoon season salt
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 1/2lb chicken, sliced in strips as for fajita

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and marinate for at least 2 hours, stirring as necessary to ensure that the chicken is well marinated.

FAJITA
3-4 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup sliced onion
1/2 cup chopped green onion
1 c sliced red bell pepper (or a combination of colors)

8 warmed large flour tortillas
1 sliced avocado
Salsa
Sour Cream
Shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Quickly saute the onions and peppers in oil on high heat until lightly browned.  Remove from pan and set aside.

Using a slotted spoon, move the chicken strips to the pan and saute, about ten minutes.

Toss in the vegetables to reheat and to allow them to pick up some of the marinade flavors.

Spoon into warmed flour tortillas and top with toppings of your choice,

COOK'S NOTES:   I make the marinade as stated in the recipe but for the fajita portion of the recipe I add mixed colors of peppers, use an entire onion, and omit the green onion (scallions).  Nowadays a lot of our chicken sold in supermarkets seems to be injected with flavorings (to make it juicier they say) but unfortunately it also makes for a lot of juice in the pan when quickly sauteing it.  I dump out the extra juices exuded from the chicken and might add back a couple teaspoons of the marinade to make up for what was lost and diluted.  The idea is that the chicken should be dry (if you know what I mean) and not soupy, which I think is a gross quality in a fajita.

My fajitas were served with refried beans and Mexican rice, which you can see peeking out.  One of these days, if I can get a decent picture of either one, I'll share the recipes.  One of my new friends here, a life-long Tusconian swears I make the best refried beans she's ever eaten.  I don't know about that.  Friends sometimes can be effusive with their compliments, but I will say they are pretty good.  But as I said, that's for another day.  Something to look forward to.  Grins.

Chicken Croquettes

Chicken Croquettes

Oh boy, does this bring some memories of Sunday dinners at my beloved Grandmother's house.  No one noticed she lived in a tiny two-room house, because once you were there all you felt was love.  Her love for family filled every nooky and cranny and filled every pan and filled every dish.  My beloved grandmother was what would describe as a "plain cook," and no wonder as she endured the Great Depression..  There were no fancy sauces, but there was good white gravy seasoned with salt and pepper; no double baked loaded potatoes, but she could make a mash without lumps, loaded with sweet butter and fresh cream; and her nod to modern day living--canned peas

And then there was the old Howard Johnson restaurant-hotel chain. Growing up, it was a big night out to dine at the Howard-Johnson (Ho-Jo's).  That orange roof with cupola could be seen from the road and beckoned many a traveler and promised good fare.  Many people wax nostalgic about their fried clams.  My Sweetie-pie and I, to our mutual surprise, learned we both loved the chicken croquettes there.  

It's taken me a long while to find a recipe I love.  Past attempts were pretty disastrous, with the food falling into the goopy or tasteless departments.  Ugh!  Disappointments abounded.  And then this.  Some may turn their nose up at the use of canned cream soup and packaged bread stuffing, and bless your heart, I respect that.  I ride that high horse sometimes, too, grins.  However, back in my real world, those products are made for ease and convenience in a life that is sometimes too busy, and like canned peas, can make a difference.

I can see why this was a Sunday meal.  This recipe takes some time; I start it in the morning to have it for dinnertime.  Mostly the time is the time spent in the refrigerator, the flavors getting to know each other and becoming all happy.

Chicken Croquettes  
(original recipe is found here:  http://www.food.com/recipe/easy-chicken-croquettes-253952)
2 cups shredded, cooked chicken**
1 (10 1/2 ounce) can cream of chicken soup (low sodium is good here)
1/4 cup milk
1 6-ounce box seasoned stuff mix (or your own homemade bread stuffing)
1 egg
1/2 small onion, finely chopped
1 stick of celery, finely chopped
unseasoned breadcrumbs in a separate plate, for dredging
1/4 cup oil or enough oil to have about 1/4 inch deep in pan, or skip the oil if baking

In a good sized bowl, combine the first seven ingredients together.  Give it a pretty good mushing and then put it in the fridge to get all happy, for at least three hours.   

About a half an hour before you think you want to serve these, remove the mixture from the refrigerator and shape.  

• Using about 3/4 of a cup mixture for each, you can shape the mixture into patties (the easiest and fastest), roll into a log shape, or the traditional cone shape.  
• If you opt for the cone shape, which is fun but a little trickier to cook, first make the log, something about three inches long and two inches wide.  From a little height (we're talking only three or four inches, you don't have to drop it from the ceiling to the floor, for example)  just drop the end onto a plate.  The force of its own weight should flatten and spread out the bottom.  I pinch the top a little to define the shape a little more.

Gently roll each croquette in unseasoned breadcrumbs.  From this point you have a couple of choices.  You can freeze up to two months for later use (and these freeze beautifully and taste as good as the day you made them); refrigerate to serve following day, bringing to room temperature first; or proceed with cooking.

The easiest method is to bake them for 25 to 30 minutes at 350*F, if fresh, 45 to 50 minutes if baking from frozen. I baked the ones pictured above.  These were good, but truthfully, a tad dry.  I spooned a bit of oil on top of each one before baking and they were still dry-ish.

For flavor, we greatly prefer frying these.  Patties are the easiest to fry of course and take the least amount of time and oil.  If you chose the pyramid shaped croquettes, have enough oil in the pan to reach a depth of 1/4 inch.  Heat oil over medium heat and gently lower the croquettes into the pan.  The pyramid shaped ones are a little trickier because you're trying to keep the conical shape, gently turning and rolling it about in the pan with a spatula, being careful not to break them, and then standing them on end to make sure the bottoms are cooked.  They're going to take about 15 to 20 minutes to cook.  If you lose control of your croquette, try not to splash yourself with the hot oil.  I found it was best to let each side reach a golden brown color before turning to the next side.  If you need to cook these in batches, keep them warm in a 200*F oven.

COOK'S NOTES:  This is a good way to use up leftover chicken, or if you're of a mind, store-bought rotisserie chicken.  For us, I poach boneless, skinless chicken thighs with a generous amount of my DIY onion soup mix and a half teaspoon of chicken bouillon to up the chicken flavor a bit.  I drain off the liquid, let cool, and proceed with the rest of the recipe.

I'm fortunate enough to have a mini food processor so I pulse the onion and celery in it.  I'm looking for a fine dice, not puree.  Same thing with the chicken.  I give it several good pulses.  The packaged stuffing mix I buy is cut into bread cubes, and I think would be too chunky for this.  So, once again, I give it a couple of whizzes through the food processor.  I'm not looking for bread dust here, just smaller pieces.  Once all the ingredients are mixed together, the stuffing breaks down even further, hence the caveat to keep the stuffing at a smaller-medium size, if that makes any sense.

I made my own white gravy.  I do it by sight, so no exact recipe and no thrills, no frills.  Over the lower end of medium heat, add three or four heaping tablespoons of flour and a good sized gob of butter, maybe half a stick.  Stir, stir, stir, stir.  Once it starts to get all bubbly, add a good splash of milk as you stir,  stir, stir, stir.  It's going to seize up and be a glop. Don't despair and don't give up. Stir, stir, stir.  Add another good splash of milk and stir, stir, stir, repeating until the gravy loosens up and is a consistency you like. You can't rush it, and you can't quit stirring and you can't despair.  This is going to need some flavoring, so a generous amount of freshly grated pepper is good here.  And my secret ingredient for my chicken croquette gravy:  chicken bouillon.  I use Knorr brand but I suppose they're all good.  The Knorr I like it because it's a powder, not a pressed cube, so I have more control over it.  Better Than Bouillon is a great brand too and would be equally as good. (Not an endorsement of either product, just observations of my own experience.) Whatever you choose, I think bouillon can be pretty salty, so I started with maybe a 1/4 teaspoon or less, tasted and then ever so carefully added more grains.  The gravy can easily and quickly become overpowered with salt and chicken flavor.  Remember you can add but you can't take away.

Got lumps?  I use a flat whisk but recently purchased a round collapsible one and it seems to work really well.  If all else fails, do as one of my good friends does, strain the gravy through a strainer to remove any lumps.  It works!  No one's the wiser and her gravy is silky smooth.  Just don't strain it down the sink drain as she did when she was first learning to cook.  HA!