chicken Archives - 2 Sisters 2 Cities

Posted by Meaghan Barry on April 29, 2013

Baked Panko Chicken Tenders {from 2 Sisters 2 Cities}

As promised, here is a post with another toddler-friendly recipe! Every couple of months I try to make a huge batch of chicken tenders and freeze them. I can then just pull out a couple and reheat them for a quick lunch or dinner for T. I usually serve them with a small bowl of homemade ranch dressing or ketchup and a side of steam veggies. I’ve tried a lot of various recipes for chicken tenders, but this one for Baked Panko Chicken Tenders seems to be the biggest hit with him. I prefer baking versus pan-frying them since it’s usually easier to cook and clean up a large batch of baked chicken tenders.

While I’ve categorized this recipe for baked panko chicken tenders as a toddler and kid-friendly recipe, I will admit my husband and I both heavily “sample” the tenders as soon as I pull them out of the oven. These chicken tenders could easily be converted to an “adult meal” by serving them on top of a mixed greens salad dressed with the aforementioned ranch dressing.

If you’ve ever made any kind of chicken or fish that is dunked in buttermilk or an egg wash, then flour, then the liquid, and then another layer of breadcrumbs, you may have encountered what I like to call “monster hands.” All four layers stick to your fingers and after repeating this process for a few times, your fingers look like they have contracted elephantiasis. To avoid this, I recommend dunking your fingers (or tongs) in a bowl of warm water each time to rinse off all the layers. This will help keep each individual bowl somewhat clean as well and prevent huge clumps of ingredients falling off your fingers and into each bowl.

Baked Panko Chicken Tenders {from 2 Sisters 2 Cities}

Baked Panko Chicken Tenders

Prep time: 20 mins

Cook time: 20 mins

Total time: 40 mins

Ingredients

-2-3 pounds chicken tenders (or chicken breasts cut into tender-sized strips)
-1 and ½ teaspoons kosher salt, divided
-1 and ¼ teaspoons ground black pepper, divided
-2 cups buttermilk
-2 cups eggs
-1 cup all-purpose flour
-4 cups panko (Japanese style breadcrumbs)
-1 teaspoon thyme
-cooking spray
-bowl of warm water

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Prepare two or three baking sheets with foil sprayed with cooking spray.
Lay out chicken on a large platter or cutting board. Season both sides of chicken with ¾ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon ground black pepper. Prepare three bowls for chicken to be dipped into and add the following ingredients:
) buttermilk and egg, whisked together
) flour, ¾ teaspoon salt, and ¾ teaspoon ground black pepper, mixed together
) panko and thyme, mixed together
Dip each individual chicken tender into the buttermilk mixture (1), the flour mixture (2), once again into the buttermilk mixture (1), and finally into the panko mixture (3.) Lay the covered chicken tender onto the prepared baking sheet. Once you fill up a tray of chicken tenders, spray the top of the chicken tenders with a light layer of cooking spray.
Cook for 15-20 minutes until chicken tenders start to turn golden and the internal temperature of each piece of chicken reaches at least 160 degrees F. Continue to prepare and cook the remaining chicken tenders.
Serve chicken tenders warm with ranch dressing or ketchup. Alternatively, allow baked panko chicken tenders to cool and place them in gallon-sized freezer bags. To serve, take out the desired amount of chicken tenders and reheat in the oven or microwave until warm.

Source: Adapted from The Picky Palate Cookbook and Recipes for Baby and Toddler: 365 Quick & Healthy Dishes

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Posted by 2 Sisters 2 Cities on January 21, 2013

Chicken Fajitas

These Chicken Fajitas are one of my main go-to meals that I have been making since I started cooking for myself in college. The recipe has come along over time and matured (just like me!) I no longer need my George Forman to cook a piece of chicken like I did in college. I have moved on to making chicken in my Le Creuset cast iron skillet and it comes out so juicy and tender.

They key to not overcooking with the cast iron skillet is to cut the chicken breast (which can be so huge!) into thin pieces that are around the same thickness. I use my instant read thermometer to know when the chicken is done so there is no overcooking. I then prepare some fresh sliced bell peppers and onion in a large frying pan with a small amount of oil until they onions are cooked and then stir in some fresh cilantro, lime juice, and cayenne pepper. I serve the sliced chicken and veggies in a warm whole wheat tortilla topped with salsa and light sour cream. Since my boyfriend and I are trying to eat healthier, the fajitas have been making it into our menu line-up most weeks.

Ingredients

1 red pepper
1 green pepper
1 yellow pepper
1 onion
Juice from 2 limes
2-3 tablespoons Cilantro
8 oz. of Chicken Breast, butterflied into two
½ tsp. Cayenne Pepper
2 tsp. Olive Oil
Salt and pepper, to taste
Light Sour Cream
Salsa
Whole Wheat Flour Tortillas

Instructions

In a medium bowl, marinade the chicken with 2 tablespoons of lime, 1 tsp. olive oil, ¼ tsp. cayenne paper, salt and pepper. Allow chicken to marinade for 20-25 minutes while chopping vegetables.
Cut the peppers and onion in thin slices.
Heat a skillet on medium and cook the thin chicken breast until cooked, registering a 160 degrees on a meat thermometer.
Heat the remaining olive oil in a large frying pan. Sauté vegetables until the onions are cooked. Once cooked, take off heat and stir remaining lime juice and cayenne pepper and all of the cilantro into veggies.
Slice the cooked chicken.
Warm tortillas in the microwave between two pieces of paper towel.
In the middle of tortilla place a few slices of chicken, some peppers and onions and then top with salsa and light sour cream to your liking.

What is your favorite recipe that you have been cooking for a long time and that you have improved over time?

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Posted by 2 Sisters 2 Cities on January 14, 2013

Roast Chicken with Garlic, Lemon, and Parsley

I recently tried this recipe for roast chicken with garlic, lemon, and parsley and I just had to share it on 2S2C. My husband’s Aunt N gave me this recipe a few years ago and I had filed it in the chicken section of my recipe binder. Last week, I was looking to make a dinner recipe for someone who recently had a baby and I wanted to be able to serve our family the same dinner that evening. This roast chicken recipe actually calls for two whole chickens so I figured it would work out well.

The chicken turned out really delicious. I highly recommend starting off with a higher-quality whole chicken, such as Bell & Evans. While they are definitely a bit more pricey than standard grocery store whole chickens, we could really taste the difference in the quality of the meat. The garlic, lemon, and parsley marinade also added the perfect punch of flavor as well.

The original recipe for this chicken is from the Hamersley’s Bistro in Boston’s South End. I read a story that they have been serving this chicken on the menu for over twenty years and no matter what placement it gets on the menu, it sells out almost every night. When we lived in the city, we always walked by this restaurant and I have no idea why we never went. Now I am definitely intrigued and I want to pay it a visit (although now I can always make this chicken at home!)

I ended up serving this with garlic rice pilaf and a mixed green salad with walnuts, crumbled goat cheese, and dried cherries (which is just a different variation of toppings used in the apple, walnut, and blue cheese salad.) Both of these recipes are quite easily doubled if you are looking to make a full dinner for your family and share with another.

roast chicken

Roast Chicken with Garlic, Lemon, and Parsley

Author: 2 Sisters 2 Cities

Prep time: 2 hours 5 mins

Cook time: 2 hours

Total time: 4 hours 5 mins

Serves: 8

Ingredients

1 bunch fresh Italian parsley, leaves picked off and stems discarded
3 garlic cloves
3 shallots
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons ground black pepper
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Grated zest of 1 lemon
2 whole chickens (I prefer Bell & Evans brand), 4 pounds each

Instructions

To prepare the marinade, place parsley, garlic, shallots, mustard, salt, pepper, olive oil, and lemon in food processor and process until smooth. Meanwhile, remove chicken from packaging, remove giblets, and blot dry with paper towels. Place chickens side by side on a rack within a roasting pan. (Make sure your roasting pan is large enough for there to be some space between the two chickens so air can circulate. Otherwise, you may need to use two pans.) Rub the marinade all over the chickens and cover the chickens with a layer of plastic wrap. Allow to marinade 2-24 hours.
Once chicken is done marinating, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook chickens for approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes to 2 hours. Remove chicken from oven and allow to cool once it reaches 165 degrees F in the thickest part of the thigh. Cooking time can vary greatly from oven to oven- I highly recommend investing in a good-quality thermometer to ensure that the chicken reaches the proper temperature. Allow chicken to cool for approximately 20 minutes before carving.

Source: Adapted from Bistro Cooking at Home by Gordon Hamersley

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Posted by Meaghan Barry on March 28, 2010

One of the other classes I recently took at the Boston Center for Adult Education has been the Basic Cooking and Knives Skill class with Chef Lars. I took a couples cooking class at the Cambridge Culinary Institute with husband M a little while back, but I did not love that particular class (deadlines, did not know where anything was in the kitchen, people running everywhere, etc). However, I really enjoyed this class at the BCAE. While I cook almost every night, I have never taken a class in proper knives skills (by the way, it’s pretty funny to tell someone you are going to a knives class and not specify cooking…it sounds like you are trying to learn how to stab someone). I learned a lot of good new techniques and was able to modify my current way of using a knife to the proper way. Each night, we made some really delicious food. I just so happened to have brought my lunch in tupperware containers, so I was able to bring some extra food to an appreciative Husband M each night.

Here is an easy recipe we made on the night we learned how to cut up a whole chicken (something which I have done before, but not properly). I made this the other night and it was a very easy meal to put together. This recipe is pretty lax in that you can add or take away ingredients if you have them on hand or not.

Basil and Lemon Chicken:

Ingredients:
-1 whole chicken, cut into pieces
-8 basil leaves (cut chiffonade style …I know how to do this now!)
-3 or 4 green onion, sliced
-juice of 1 lemon
-salt and pepper
-2 cloves garlic, minced
-4 tablespoons olive oil
-1/3 cup white wine

Set the oven to 380 degrees F. In a roasting pan, mix the basil, spring onions, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic and white wine (I just eye-balled most of these measurements as they do not need to be exact…I also had some chopped up Italian parsley on hand so I threw this in). Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper. Put chicken into the pan and cover with the marinade. Roast the chicken for 30-40 minutes based on the pieces (with my oven, it was closer to 45 minutes). Serve the chicken with the sauce from the pan. I served the chicken with grilled zucchini and white rice (which nicely soaked up the lemon sauce).

Once I finish my weekly digital photography class, I am thinking about taking Basic Cooking 1,2, and 3 as I learned quite a bit in the class and I imagine could learn a great deal more.

-m