Mediterranean Chicken with Lentils and Rice

There is a restaurant in Hell's Kitchen that my boyfriend Keith and I love. It's called Hummus Kitchen. They have amazing falafel and the Moroccan wrap is awesome. Yesterday, we stopped in for lunch after the gym, and the server brought to our attention that since we were ordering two appetizers, if we spent another $1.95, we could get a third. We, of course, said yes, and I opted for the rice and lentils.

It was delicious.

I decided to come home and build dinner around the rice and lentils experience, and I did! It was cheap, easy, and so damn delicious.

Mediterranean Chicken with Lentils and Rice

2 chicken breasts cubed
1/4 bag of lentils
2 tomatoes
8 cloves garlic diced
1 naval orange
1 Belgian endive chopped
1 jalapeno diced
1 bunch cilantro minced
1/2 teaspoon cumin
2 tbsp hot sesame oil
1/4 cup manzanilla olives with juice
1 lb spinach
1 cup jasmine rice
1/4 tsp rosemary
1/4 cup Patis (fish sauce)
1 medium red onion diced
2 ripe avocados


First, put a pot of water on to boil for the lentils. Put the lentils in right away. Add half of the garlic and half of the onion into the water. Once the water begins to boil, cover the lentils and reduce the hit but leave the lid off slightly. Allow to cook for 20-25 minutes. When done drain most of the water and set aside. Once the lentils are done cooking and the water has been drained add half of the cilantro and stir it all together. The heat from the lentils will soften the fresh cilantro.

Cook the rice and set aside.

In a large skillet or wok, heat the sesame oil. Once the oil is hot add the cilantro, onions, jalapenos, and garlic and cook until the onions are translucent. Then add the chicken. Brown the chicken for about 5 minutes on medium high heat and then add all the rest of the ingredients except for the spinach and avocado (don't mix in the lentils and rice...sorry if I am stating the obvious). Cut the orange in half and squeeze the juice from the orange onto the chicken. Keep the mixture stirring and cooking for another 10-12 minutes. Just before the chicken is completely cooked, add the spinach and cook, mixing it all together for another 3-5 minutes.

Serve the chicken over a plate of rice and lentils and voila!

This recipe will feed a family of four (with seconds and thirds) for $12-$15.

PS This was the first time I have ever cooked with endives. I am now a HUGE fan.

Chicken and Peppers Stew

Some like it hot! Lord knows I do. And this multi-layered flavored stew is going to start out sweet and end with fire on your tongue...but the kind of fire that keeps you dipping back into the pot. The subtle Caribbean flavors melded with a touch of the Phillipines and a dash of La France....makes me want to say Salamat Po Gracias Adios Bon vie bon!



Pepper Chicken Stew

1 whole chicken cut up
1 Poblano chili pepper sliced
3 cherry chili peppers diced
2 jalapeno peppers diced
1 Sweet Red Bell Pepper sliced
1 tbsp sliced fresh ginger
1/2 large red onion diced
1/2 cup diced basil
4 to 6 red potatoes cubed
4 cups red wine
2 cups green beans
4 limes
Dash of red wine vinegar

The lovely thing about stews is that they are 1) delicious and 2) easy to make. First, in just a little bit of olive oil, sautee the ginger, onions, and hot peppers for about three minutes. This unlocks their flavors and sets the tone for the rest of the dish. Once this is done add all of the rest of the ingredients to the pot.

Cook on high heat until the stew starts to simmer, and then cover it, reduce the heat to low, and let it stew for an hour to an hour and a half. The longer you can resist the pot, the better it is going to taste.

Serve it as a stand alone dish or with rice. This pot of stew will feed 10 people at one time or a family of four for several meals. The entire cost of this meal is $10-$12 depending on the price of the chicken.

Adobo Chicken Puerto Rican Style (Pollo Adobado del estilo boricano)

This past Labor Day weekend, I played host to two of my favorite people in the entire world: two of my four sisters. My sisters Jasmine and Shannon came to NYC to visit me for the weekend.

In my family, the only person I would never go head to head with during a cooking contest would be my sister Jasmine. Let me tell you about this woman. First of all she is gorgeous. Last Saturday night, we cooked a family dinner, and I had some of my friends over. Jasmine and Shannon showed up to my apartment dressed to go out on the town. They both came in looking like beauty queens. Jasmine had on a tight blue cocktail dress, come do me leather high heels, and was made up to heaven. That didn't stop her from putting on an apron, tying back her hair, and laying down some fierce sinigang (a soup from the Philippines that is tangy and delicious).

The left on Sunday, and since then I have been in the kitchen experimenting with Puerto Rican and Pinoy flavors. The cuisines of both countries are related, in some respects, due to their shared history as Spanish colonies. One type of dish loved by both nations is the tradition of adobo. Adobo is Spanish for stewed, and the techniques for cooking Puerto Rican adobo and Filipino adobo are related.

Tonight, I made a dish that combines some of the flavors from both types of adobo. And I almost ate the entire damn pot.

Chicken Adobo (Stewed Chicken) Puerto Rican/Pinoy Fusion Style

Two leg/thigh chicken pieces cut into quarters (including the leg)
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1 jalapeno minced
1 medium red onion diced
5-6 cloves of garlic minced
1/3 cup oil
1/4 cup Goya Adobo seasoning
1/3 cup soy sauce
1 bunch scallions diced
2 tsp paprika
2 tbs patis (fish sauce)
1 packet Goya Sazon con Azafran (optional but adds a helluva flavor)

This dish is best when it is cooked in a dutch oven. Though any good pot will do. Combine all of the ingredients into your dutch oven. Using a large spoon make sure that the chicken is evenly coated with all of the ingredients.

Cover the dutch oven, and over a medium high heat bring it to a boil. Once the adobo starts to boil, reduce the heat to a simmer, and cook covered for 30 minutes stirring occasionally to continue marinating the chicken. Do not worry about liquid as the ingredients combined with the liquid already present in the chicken will create a rich broth.

After 30 minutes, uncover the pot and allow the chicken to simmer, uncovered for another 30 to 45 minutes. Basically, you want to let the chicken cook until about half of the liquid that was in the pot when you uncovered it is gone. The sauce will thicken, and this will be an amazing topping for your rice.

After simmering uncovered for 30-45 minutes, turn it off, and serve it over your choice of rice (I had mine with a mixture of leftover jasmine rice mixed with short grain brown rice served with a side of black beans...perfection!)

This amazingly savory dish will run you no more than $7 and, if you aren't a greedy monster like me, will easily feed four people.

Brandon's Julia Chicken

This week's creation goes out to Mrs. Julia Child. Last week, David and I watched Julie and Julia, and I once again found a deep love for Meryl Streep. This evening, I was thinking on Julia and her love of French cuisine and the fact that I can't even make French Fries.

So I decided to experiment with some ingredients that are classic to French cuisine. In the end, this treat turned out very well because I remembered, at the last minute, after tasting my uber bland creation that Julia says that butter makes everything better. I added butter to the recipe, and I literally considered licking the pan. Butter is evil, but it tastes soooo delicious.

Here is my homage to Julia Child. Bon appetit!

Brandon's Julia Chicken

1 large boneless skinless chicken breast
1 large portobello mushroom
2 cups white wine (may I suggest Pinot Grigio)
3 cloves garlic diced
1 jalapeno minced
1/4 large yellow onion diced
1 tsp dried basil
2 tbs salted butter
1 tbs olive oil
salt

This was a great leftovers recipe. I had already baked, en masse, chicken breasts that had been cut into serving size portions. I used two of these (roughly one half of one full breast or one whole breast as you would buy them in a package of boneless skinless breasts, I got mine from the butcher so they gave me the actual breast of the bird and not what we normally think of us the breast).

If you don't have already baked chicken breasts hanging around the fridge, the first thing to do is to bake your chicken breasts. In small greased (or sprayed) baking pan, bake your chicken breasts for 30-40 minutes at 400 degrees or until cooked. Remove from the oven and slice the cooked breasts width wise into eatable slices (imagine the breast is a portobello mushroom and cut it how those delightful mushrooms are often cut). Set the breasts aside.

Next, pour the wine into a medium size mixing bowl. Add the chicken to the wine and add a couple pinches of salt to the bowl along with the dried basil. Let that soak for about a half an hour at room temperature.

I served this dish with red potatoes that I boiled with broccoli, which gave a wonderful contrast. If you are inclined to do the same, start your potatoes and broccoli to boiling now.

About 20 minutes into your marinating session, heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Once your oil is nice and toasty, add the garlic and the onions to the pan. Saute the onions and garlic until the onions begin to soften. Do not brown the garlic. After about four minutes, add the chicken and white wine to the sauce pan. Then add the jalapenos and the mushrooms. Allow the dish to simmer, stirring occasionally. After about 10 minutes, add the butter to the pan. Allow the butter to melt and stir slowly the entire time it is melting. As the dish continues to simmer, the white wine and butter will thicken a bit making a rich sauce. You can add a dash of salt to the dish during this last bit of cooking. After about five minutes, remove from heat and serve with your delicious potatoes and broccoli.

This is one of my new favorites, and it is divine. I even managed to stay on my portion size, and I have plenty of leftovers. This little dish can be cooked (use three buck chuck from Trader Joe's if you can for the wine) for anywhere between $6 and $15 and will easily serve four people.

Pan Roasted Chicken Breast with Rosemary Marinara

So, thanks to a bought of major pharyngitis which managed to have me both afraid to swallow and afraid to be more than 10ft from a bathroom for almost two weeks, I have dropped about 5 to 7 pounds. If there is any side benefit to a stomach and throat bug it is an involuntary yet appreciated Mary Kate moment.

But you all know that I love food, so not being able to enjoy my food and having no appetite are also cruel and unusual punishment where I am concerned.

So in my quest to keep off the weight I lost, yet wanting to eat something healthy and delicious, and I am desperately trying to teach myself portion control while also continuing to cook efficiently by making sure I cook enough food at one go for at least two meals.

I also had several odds and ends in the kitchen that I wanted to finish up. There was a bottle of red wine that was 2/3rds empty, two frozen chicken breasts in the freezer that were in danger of some serious freezer burn, and a bunch of fresh rosemary that I purchased yesterday for use in my dinner. All of these things combined with some delicious crushed tomatoes is how I came up with this week's recipe.

Pan Roasted Chicken Breast with Rosemary Marinara

2 boneless and skinless chicken breasts cut in half
1 large can of crushed tomatoes
1/4 cup diced fresh basil
1 large sprig of rosemary cut in half
1/2 package of fresh button mushrooms
1/4 cup diced red onion
1/4 cup red wine
2 cloves fresh garlic or 1 tsp garlic salt
1lb of your favorite pasta
1 tbs olive oil
Salt
Crushed Red Pepper

First, in a large frying pan, over high heat, heat your olive oil. Once the oil is hot add the red onions and garlic. Cook the garlic and onions until the garlic and onions soften and the garlic starts to brown, but do not let it brown completely. Next, reduce the heat to medium and add the chicken breasts.

Brown the chicken breasts lightly. Make sure the surfaces of both sides are cooked. This helps to make sure that the chicken locks in some of the flavors and also that it cooks thoroughly. Next, add the red wine. Allow the red wine, chicken, garlic, and onions to simmer for a minute or two.

Next add the crushed tomatoes, basil, rosemary, and mushrooms. You don't have to slice the mushrooms, as they will shrink to edible size through the stewing process. Add a pinch or two of salt. Also add red peppers to your particular spice tolerance and taste. Then stir the sauce to make sure the breasts are thoroughly covered. Reduce the heat to low.

Allow the breasts to simmer in the sauce for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Serve the chicken and sauce over your favorite pasta and enjoy!

This recipe should run you somewhere between $8 and $12, and it will feed four people comfortably.

Down Home Chicken Soup

I have spent the last week basically unconscious or on the toilet. I had a fight with the flu and for most of the last seven days, the flu was kicking my ass.

The worst part of the ordeal was that everything tasted like the rancid mucus flavor that seemed to ooze from the back of my throat. G-R-O-S-S.

But, I am happy to report that after making my magic chicken soup last night, my taste buds are back, and I am feeling tip top.
So, i thought I would share the recipe here with you. Please note, I do not like noodles in my chicken soup. But, if you do, you can easily add in egg noodles to this recipe once the soup is done.

Down Home Chicken Soup

1 Whole Chicken
6 Red Potatoes diced
5 cloves garlic minced
1 tbsp grated ginger
1 cup celery
1 cup basil
1 cup cilantro
1 cup red onion
1/2 cup scallions
1 package button mushrooms chopped or whole as you like
6 cups fresh spinach
3-4 chicken bouillon cubes
1 jalapeno
2 tsp seasoning salt

First, add the garlic, basil, and cilantro to a large stock pot of water along with the entire chicken. Boil the chicken for two to three hours until the meat starts to fall off of the bone. Continuously add water to the pot to keep the chicken covered.

Remove the chicken from the pot and place in a strainer. Keep the soup stock and set aside. Run the chicken in the strainer under cold water. While the chicken is cooling add the remaining ingredients to the stock pot.

Once the chicken is cool enough to manipulate, remove the skin and tear the meat from the bones, shredding it with your fingers and add it to the stock pot. Throw out the skin and bones. Return to the soup to the heat and let simmer for another 45 minutes.

Serve this up and enjoy! This meal will run you between $9 to $18 dollars depending on the price of chicken. The soup will easily feed a family of four for two or three meals. This soup is easy to freeze as well and can be kept in the freezer, if well sealed, for six months.

Sweet and Spicy Party Wings

Growing up I lived for my Mama's chicken. Fried chicken, smothered chicken, baked chicken, roasted chicken, if it had chicken in it, I knew it was fixin' to be fierce. Hell, my Mom's chicken was so good, chickens would stop by the house and asked to be cooked up by her.

Now, pale as my Mother is...she cooks soul food better than most black folks that grew up in the South. Her fried chicken was out of control, and her fried chicken wings made you see visions of the Virgin Mary. She also made a baked chicken that she covered in soy sauce and honey, and it would come out sweet, moist, and hot...how many of my lesbian friends like their women.

Seeing as I have tried to stay away from Crisco and its accompanying health problems as an adult, but recognizing that I love me some chicken wings, I decided one day to use my Mom's honey/soy sauce glaze on some wings.

The result was soo good that I had a roommate that would just come home from work with a package of wings and a hopeful smile.

Over the years I have added a bit of this and that to the recipe. For my birthday party this last weekend, I marinated and baked 8lbs of chicken wings for the party. At only $1.99 a pound, I got away with enough chicken for thirty people for less than $20, and there wasn't nary a piece of chicken left up in the house when it was over.

Here's the secret recipe.

Sweet and Spicy Party Wings


1 to 2lbs fresh or frozen chicken wings/drummies
1 Cup Honey
2 Cups Soy Sauce
1 tsp garlic salt
5 or 6 cloves minced garlic
1 tbsp crushed red pepper
1 tsp seasoning salt
1 tbsp ground black pepper

For cheapness sake...buy a couple bags of the frozen wings at Cub or Rainbow and make sure they are thawed out.

Spread them out in a large cake baking dish. Something that has some depth to it.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

In a medium size microwave safe mixing bowl, pour about a cup to two cups of honey...depending on how many wings you want to make.

Nuke that for about 20-30 seconds so the honey melts.

On standby have about two to three cups of soy sauce. Mixed in with the soy sauce you should have some minced garlic...if you mince it yourself mince five or six cloves. If you buy the preminced stuff...buy the stuff in water and not olive oil and use about three heaping table spoons.

Once the honey comes out of the microwave add the soy sauce and garlic to the bowl.

Then evenly pour the honey/soy sauce mixture over the wings in the cooking pan/pans.

Sprinkle the crushed red pepper, pepper, garlic salt, and seasoning salt over the wings.

Then add about a half cup water to the bottom of each pan. This will keep the soy sauce from scorching.

Make sure the wings are thoroughly covered with the sauce....and pop in the oven for about 40 minutes. Check them from time to time to make sure that the soy sauce isn't burning on the bottom of the pan, and add more water to the bottom of the pan if it looks as if it is going to dry up.

Turn the wings about 10 minutes into the deal and then turn them again after 10 minutes.

Pull 'em out and serve 'em up.

This recipe will easily feed six to eight people if eaten as an appetizer. Serve them with brown rice and vegetables for a meal and you can feed four to six people. Either way, the entire cost of this meal should run you about $6-$8.

PS For every pound of wings you add...add another 1/2 up of soy sauce and 1/2 cup of honey. The rest of the ingredients are really to taste.

Pollo con Salsa de Vino Blanco (Chicken with White Wine Sauce)

So, the best thing to go with good food is good friends and family. Last night, I was in charge of making the main meat dish, as my dear David is a pescatarian. If it walked on land...he ain't eatin' it.

So, since Karlo was bringing Puerto Rican beans for dinner, I decided, with his consultation, to make chicken.

It was friggin' divine. This chicken was so moist, so flavorful, and so easy to make it was rather sinful. I had the leftovers for lunch today, and it was still moist...and so good it made me a little moist. This one takes a little bit longer to make, as the chicken needs to marinate for a spell, but it is worth the wait.

Please note, in the recipe I advocate buying chicken breasts with the skin on. It takes moments to pull the skin off, and it literally saves $2 a pound in unit price if you buy it with the skin and pull the skin yourself.

Pollo con Salsa de Vino Blanco
2 Large Split Chicken Breasts with Skin On
1/2 cup butter/margarine/butter substitute
3 cups white wine
1 tbsp garlic powder
1/3 cup scallions diced
1 large red bell pepper diced
2 tbs olive oil

First, de-skin your chicken breasts. Lay them in a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, heat your butter in the microwave for 20-30 seconds...just until it melts. Pour the butter over the chicken breasts. Then, add the white wine to the bowl. Sprinkle the garlic salt on top of the breasts. Swirl the marinade around in the bowl until the chicken has been covered with a layer of marinade. Cover the bowl with tin foil and leave to sit out on the counter for 1.5 to 2 hours.

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add to it the diced scallions. Mix the scallions around in the olive oil and allow to sizzle for about 2 minutes. To that add your chicken breasts including the marinade. Add the chicken to the pan and pour the marinade over top. Let cook for 3 to 4 minutes uncovered, then, place a cover over the pan keeping the heat at medium. Every 5 to 7 minutes, remove the cover from the pan, and turn the chicken. You want to cook the chicken slowly so that it retains its moisture. About 15 minutes in, cut each chicken breast in half. This will allow the chicken to cook faster and ensures that the chicken cooks all the way through. Turn again after 5 to 7 minutes. Keep covered. After about 35 minutes, add the sweet red bell pepper to the pan. Keep the chicken uncovered and cook for another five minutes. Remove from the heat and serve! Salt to taste.

Let me tell you, if you get you a bottle of 3 buck chuck from Trader Joe's this recipe is going to be cheap as hell. Chicken breasts are pricey but the benefit to your health is better than doing this with dark meat, though you most certainly could. The price, depending on the type of wine you use, should run you $11-$16 and will easily feed four people.

PS The picture here is also credited to Karlo Colon!

Summer Pasta

So, this evening, I decided I wanted to make something light and tasty for dinner. I still had some leftover fresh veggies, it was too hot to have soup for dinner, and I thought a break from brown rice would do us good.

So here is what I concocted in the kitchen. Note, I was in the store and I found some new egg noodles that I hadn't encountered before. They are egg noodles made with just egg whites. While they are much lower in cholesterol and also are 99% fat free, they are also 102% less tasty than regular egg noodles. Since I believe in eating foods in moderation and certain foods, such as pasta, no more than once a week, I think you will be fine with regular egg noodles (which are also three times cheaper). If, though, you have to watch your cholesterol or your fat intake, the egg white only egg noodles will probably have a better taste than the blended whole wheat egg noodles that I also saw on the shelf today.

PS I made this dish with and without chicken. For a veggie version simply leave the chicken out.

Summer Pasta

1 lb egg noodles
1 large red bell pepper
1/2 cup fresh basil minced
1 shallot minced
4 garlic cloves minced
1/2 lb button mushrooms
1/3 cup cilantro
1 jalapeno
1/3 cup olive oil
7-8 plum tomatoes
4-6 cups fresh spinach minced
2 large boneless/skinless chicken breasts
1 tsp crushed red pepper
Parmesan cheese

First boil your noodles until they are al dente. Drain the noodles and run cold water over them to keep them from sticking. Set aside.

Make sure that all of your veggies are minced, chopped, etc, and set aside.

If you are making this dish with chicken, slice the breasts into medium size chunks. In a large skillet, heat the oil and add the jalapeno, garlic, and shallots. Add the chicken and cook for 7-8 minutes over high heat until they are mostly but not fully cooked. Reduce the heat to medium. Add to the pan all remaining ingredients save the parmesan cheese. Also, at this time, add the noodles. Stir the pasta, chicken and veggies together for another seven or eight minutes, until the chicken is thoroughly cooked.

Serve and enjoy.

If you are making the meatless version...heat the oil and add all of the ingredients to the pot at once. Cook until the mushrooms are ready to eat, and then serve it up.

This dish is light and refreshing, and it was thoroughly enjoyable. It also, without the chicken, will cost roughly $4-$6 and will easily feed four people a couple of helpings. With the chicken, the price is $10-$12, and, again, will easily feed four people.