Tasty Tuesday: Skillet Chicken Thighs

Weekly, if not daily, The Stay At Home Chef posts recipes that even my tasteless palate is drooling over. And every so often I get up the guts to try a new recipe. I had it on good authority that chicken thighs are quite tasty, so I hauled our family out of our boneless-skinless chicken breast comfort zone to try Skillet Chicken Thighs and we were not disappointed.

The recipe is simple and straightforward. I felt awesome when I plated the chicken, as most of the time when I cook this way it either ends up burned or underdone. I followed the recipe exactly (other than forgetting to turn down pan #2* to medium heat at one point) and I was totally successful!

Everyone liked it except one kid (who is not a meat eater unless it's bacon, a hot dog or a burger.) And the only comment on flavor other than "yummy!" was that maybe I should have spiced under the skin as well as on top. That may have been my error. I plan on asking the chef. :)


* I cooked 4 thighs in 2 separate pans to feed our family of 6.
 

Tasty Tuesday: Chicken and Asparagus Skillet

A few weeks ago, my sister shared this recipe with me that she got out of Better Homes and Gardens Special Interest Publications "Chicken Dinners" Spring 2012--(previously published as Ultimate Chicken 2010).

I like asparagus, I like chicken, so I made this for dinner Sunday night. It was really tasty! Not only that but everyone actually ate most of what they were served (except for Littlest Miss picky pants, but that was no surprise). 

Chicken and Asparagus Skillet
Better Homes and Gardens Special Interest Publications "Chicken Dinners" Spring 2012, with **additions by Alyssa A.


Ingredients
4 slices cooked bacon, coarsely chopped

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (Freeze for 1 hour and slice into ½ inch thick cutlets while semi-frozen.)
 Salt & ground black pepper
McCormick garlic herb seasoning**

1 14.5 oz can chicken broth
2 TBS all-purpose flour
½ lemon’s zest

1 lb asparagus spears, trimmed and cut into 1" pieces
1 yellow summer squash, halved crosswise and cut into 1/2" slices

Lemon wedges

Instructions
1) In large skillet, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. Remove, drain on plate w/ paper towel. Drain all but 1 TBS of bacon grease from pan.

2) Season chicken w/salt & pepper, and McCormick garlic herb seasoning. Cook chicken in hot drippings over med-high heat for 1-2 minutes or until brown. Remove; keep warm.

3) Prepare a large bowl of ice water. In large saucepan, cook asparagus in boiling water for 3 minutes or until crisp tender; drain. Immediately plunge in ice water to stop cooking. Set aside.

4) In a medium bowl whisk together broth, flour and lemon peel.

5) Chop Bacon and Slice Lemon wedges.

6) Cut squash. Add squash to skillet, cook 3 minutes.

7) Add broth mixture to skillet. Cook broth mixture, stirring until thickened & bubbly. Add chicken and asparagus. Cook 6 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink. Sprinkle with chopped bacon. Serve with lemon wedges.

*Freeze chicken breasts for 1 hour and slice into ½ inch thick cutlets while semi-frozen. Season and let thaw while the bacon cooks.
 
Another version: http://www.bhg.com/recipe/chicken/chicken-and-asparagus-skillet-supper/
After dinner, we decided it would have been nice to have some rice or pasta with it, to fill it out as a meal. And I agreed with my sister in that the McCormick Seasoning helped boost the flavor.

 

A Pinterest Recipe Review: Slow Cooker Chicken

Source: get-on-the-floor-0.blogspot.com via Amy on Pinterest

First of all, let me say that the original link to this recipe seems to be bogus, but the details are in the pin itself so I went with it.  When I cooked it, It DID NOT look like the pin photo. In any way. At all. (The pin chicken obviously had been browned in some way, grilling or something. That does not happen in a slow cooker.)

See:

And it doesn't have a very descriptive name, so I added a word to it.

 My Review:
The flavor of the sauce is good, but the chicken did not really need to cook for as long as it did. My chicken was dry-ish. If it was bone-in or full chicken breasts, maybe it would need that long to cook.
That could have been because I just put frozen tenders in the slow cooker. I am going to make this again with fresh chicken and cook it less time.

I also may make a second batch of the sauce and simmer it to serve with the chicken. The sauce left in the slow cooker looked kind of gross. :) (See above photo)

My kids found it to be just okay. I want to try it again with the above mentioned tweaks.

The recipe/pin had no title, just the ingredients and basic instructions.
I fleshed it out a little but this is the recipe as given in the pin.

 Slow Cooker Sweet Chicken

1 cup pineapple juice
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup light soy sauce

2 pounds chicken breast tenderloins

Whisk first 3 ingredients in a small bowl to combine.
Add 2 pounds chicken breast tenderloins (I use 2 -3 tenders per person I am serving) into the slow cooker.
Pour sauce over the chicken in the slow cooker.
Cover and cook on low 6-8 hrs.

 Serve with rice.

Feel free to pin this recipe from here to start a new pin with a link that works. :)

I served this with homemade Fried Rice that my friend DeLaine gave me the recipe for.



Delaine’s Fried Rice

2-4 cups precooked rice (leftovers work well) 
2-3 Eggs
Oil
Green onions, diced
¼ tsp garlic powder
Vegetables (diced carrots, peas, broccoli, pineapple etc.)
5 TBSP Soy Sauce divided
1 TBSP Oyster Sauce
1/8 - 1/4 tsp Asian Chili Sauce

Scramble 2-3 seasoned eggs.
Add 2 tbsp oil and sauté green onions, ¼ tsp garlic, carrots, peas, and broccoli and 1 tbsp soy sauce.

Add cooked rice, then make a funnel in the center of the rice and pour in 3-4 tablespoons of soy sauce, about a tablespoon of oyster sauce and a little squirt of Asian Chili Sauce.  Cook at medium high heat stirring frequently until lightly browned.

*Amy's notes:
  I don't have a wok, which is highly recommended (apparently) for fried rice. To make enough for my family I have to do my batches in a large pot. Mine always ends up kind of steamed and the veggies overdone while I am trying to get the rice to brown up. I have made small batches for lunch that work fine in a frying pan. Also, taste the rice and add more of the sauces to taste. More rice = more sauce. (Ask me how I know. :P)