GARLICKY SAUCED PAN~SEARED CHICKEN

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GARLICKY SAUCED PAN~SEARED CHICKEN

INGREDIENTS
♥ 4 T. OLIVE OIL
♥ 1 LARGE PACK OF CHICKEN THIGHS
♥ ½ TSP. SALT
♥ ½ TSP. PEPPER
♥ 2 CUPS SLICED FRESH MUSHROOMS
♥ 1 T. CHILI PEPPER FLAKES
♥ 1½ FISTS OF GARLIC
♥ 2½ CUPS SAUVIGNON BLANC WHITE WINE
♥ ¼ CUP MILK
♥ 2 T. BUTTER
♥ ¼ CUP FRESH CHOPPED PARSLEY
♥ 2 SPRIGS FRESH ROSEMARY

DIRECTIONS
PREHEAT OVEN TO 375°F

HEAT THE OIL IN A DEEP DISH PAN ON YOUR STOVE TOP. (OR LARGE DUTCH OVEN OR CAST IRON POT) CAST IRON WORKS BEST I THINK AND THE DEEPER THE BETTER, YOUR APPLIANCE WILL THANK YOU LATER. SPLASHY GREASE BLAH.

SEASON THE CHICKEN THIGHS WITH SALT AND PEPPER AND PLACE CHICKEN IN THE PAN. SEAR THESE BAD BOYS UP UNTIL GOLDEN AND THE JUICES JUST RUN CLEAR. THEY WILL COOK MORE IN THE SAUCE.

REMOVE THE SEARED CHICKEN FROM THE PAN AND SET ASIDE.

SEPARATE THE GARLIC CLOVES AND PEEL THEM. ADD THE MUSHROOMS, PEPPER FLAKES AND GARLIC CLOVES TO THE CHICKEN PAN AND IT’S LEFTOVER LIQUIDS.

SAUTE UNTIL TENDER AND GOLDEN, BUT MAKE CERTAIN NOT TO BURN THE GARLIC. TILL JUST GOLDEN. GARLIC GOES QUITE BITTER WHEN OVERCOOKED.

ADD THE WINE, MILK, BUTTER AND STIR IN THE PARSLEY.

GENTLY ADD THE CHICKEN BACK TO THE PAN.

ADD THE ROSEMARY SPRIGS AND COVER.

PLACE IN PREHEATED OVEN. BAKE FOR 20-30 MINUTES. TURNING THE CHICKEN OVER HALF WAY THROUGH.

REMOVE FROM OVEN WHEN THE SAUCE STARTS TO REDUCE AND THICKEN UP.

I TRANSFERRED ALL OF THIS TO A HOT FRYING PAN FOR APPEARANCE PURPOSES FOR THIS BLOG BUT YOU CAN CERTAINLY FINISH IT UP IN THE OVEN IF YOU CHOOSE. LESS MESS. HOWEVER IF THE SAUCE IS TOO DRY YOU MAY WANT TO ADD MORE WINE AND LET IT SIMMER A BIT LONGER. THIS WAS DEFINITELY EASIER TO DO ON THE STOVE TOP.

SPOON THE GARLICKY SAUCE OVER THE CHICKEN AND SPRINKLE WITH A LITTLE MORE FRESH PARSLEY AND CHILI PEPPER FLAKES.

SERVED SEARING HOT OVER LINGUINE NOODLES.

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I am needing a large tripod and to get my amazing Canon Rebel T3i camera up and running to do these blog photos now that the “Cooking With Hay” Kitchen is nearing completion!

At the time of making this dish I had cabinets, counters and some lighting in. Oh and the backsplash tile was added but had just been grouted. No appliances, no running water, just a much more appealing place for a food blog photo set.

Regardless, it’s all a vast improvement from the basement temp. kitchen, 2×4 studding and insulation backdrops seen in previous blog photos.

Is ‘garlicky’ even a word ? ? ?

The recipe I was using called for white wine… I have drank wine in the past but by any means, don’t consider myself a wine drinker.

However… GalPal is!

She came to my rescue with some suggestions after I let her know my ingredients and what I was making.

Monkey Bay Sauvigon Blanc from New Zealand was the perfect wine, as this dish was phenomenal. Not too sweet, not to dry. I’m not even going to bother experimenting with other wines.

The bottle… as GalPal mentioned, coordinated nicely with the ingredients needed to make this dish. Thanks for the help Amber!! Guess I should make this for you now hey?!

This pepper tho! Gift from Mother-In-Law and I’ve become quite addicted to it. I use it on my sunny side up eggs in the morning to grilled salmon and everything in between. It’s made just a few hours from my house in Keremeos BC. It’s pepper, onions garlic and herbs and is a great change-up to the regular black pepper or fresh ground peppercorns.

Season the chicken thighs with a little salt and sprinkle of pepper. There is enough flavour coming in the garlic and wine and parsley that not much seasonings are needed on the chicken.

I assure you. This dish packs a savory garlic KA-POW with a mix of fragrant herbs. Absolutely delish my gosh!

My mom is a wonderful cook, and I’ve used many of her recipes to get me into cooking. She got me this gorgeous glazed cast iron KitchenAid dish and this is what I used to pan~sear my chicken thighs. Keeps even heat and kept the splatter in the dish rather than on my stove-top.

I used this dish on the stove top to brown the chicken and saute the mushrooms, chili pepper flakes and the garlic. It also has a lid to cover so this same dish was what I used to baked it up into the perfect saucy chicken while in the oven. From Canadian Tire and I definitely recommend one for your cooking adventures also.

After transferring the chicken, there was a fair amount of liquids, chicken grease and juices, left in the bottom of the pan. I removed most of it and left just a small amount in the bottom to saute the mushrooms and garlic in. Your choice.

Now on the bottom of this dish was a dark golden layer from the chicken juices etc. searing up. Don’t be alarmed… I was thinking to myself… Oh shit, did I ruin this whole thing? Is everything now going to stick and burn?

But the mushrooms and garlic seemed to soften it up and cook together and created such a rich flavourful sauce.

I couldn’t have been more pleased. It is really a good day when things work out for me, haha. I’m sure you’d feel the same. Yay for good cooking. Go me Go. Feel free to do a little booty shakin touchdown dance when things like this happen. It’s all about the simple things in life am I right My Lovelies?! LOL

Adding wine to things like this also acts as a de-glazer for your well cooked pans. Don’t waste that seared liquid. That’s your concentrated flavour right there. Just the same as the bottom of your roaster from your roasts and hams make the best gravies and soup broths.

In this case it’s our deglazer and the base for this sauce. I am not a wino so I will admit that I have always been apprehensive about dishes that are made with wine. If someone made this for me and I ate the whole thing… I don’t think I would have even known it was made with wine. I’m serious! So so so so so so good!

**NOTE: Milk is added for volume. This will help create that thicker fuller sauce to coat the chicken. If you wanted a more concentrated demi-glaze like sauce, you can omit the milk completely. As mentioned in the recipe, you may need to add more wine if you find the sauce to dry when you turn over the chicken half way through cooking.**

Time for the fun! Let’s bring it all together. Gently add the chicken back in once you’ve mixed in the wine, milk, butter and parsley.

Nestle it down in that fragrant garlic bath. Time for these thighs to tantalize.

Cover it with a tight-fitting lid and place it in a preheated oven and bake it up so the sauce can thicken up.

Don’t forget to check it half way through and flip that chicken over. Keep it saucy!

It will look soupy at first. As it continues to cook the sauce will get darker and richer in colour and of course flavour.

Be patient and wait for it. It will look ‘blah’ before it looks ‘ta da’

There it is! TA DA!!!

As mentioned in my recipe, I then transferred my contents of my kitchen aid glazed cast iron dutch oven to a pan for appearance purposes for this blog. LOL

Got to love dirty dishes! LMAO

This pan is worthy of a few photos though. Another splendid purchase from Canadian Tire. I think I’ve gotten every single one of my pans from Canadian Tire over my years. They always have good deals on cookware FYI. Watch the flyers. This is a Heritage Rock Forged Non Stick Pan. It’s got a big capital ‘H’ on the stunning stainless steel handle. My name, being Haley… thus…H-Town bitches…. hahah. Nah my Mommy has one and I used it while at my parents place this spring and of course I fell in love. It having a big ole ‘H’ on it for ‘Cooking With Hay’ is just an added perk. I love this pan so much that I don’t really use any other pans besides The H Rock, this KitchenAid glazed dutch oven or my cast iron dutch oven and griller.

This will be a regular meal cooked in my kitchen. Please give it a try guys! Feedback is always appreciated. As is your SHARES and LIKES on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, etc…. Sharing is Caring and it would really help expand my page! Love you all! Thanks for your support.

There you have it. Garlicky Sauced Pan~Seared Chicken ♥

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Love Haleykins♥♥

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Grilled Chicken with FETA + BASIL SAUCE

FETA + BASIL SAUCE

♥  2 C. FETA CHEESE, crumbled
♥  2 T. FRESH BASIL, chopped
♥  1 HEAPING T. GARLIC, fresh and minced
♥  ½ C. MILK
♥  ½ TSP. CHILI POWDER
♥  ½ TSP. SUGAR
♥  ½ TSP. PEPPER

Boil a couple inches of water in a double boiler, reduce to med-high.

(or set up a small pot with water and bring it to a boil and have all your ingredients in a heatproof glass bowl larger than the pot.  Place the bowl over the pot.  Make sure it doesn’t touch the water, needs to be above the water)

Combine all the ingredients to the upper pot of your double boiler or into your glass bowl.  Mixing and stirring until creamy and fairly smooth.

You may need more milk if it’s too thick.  This is a thicker type of sauce so it’s not going to be thin and runny…  You want to dollop it on top of your grilled chicken.

Who doesn’t love a dollop of anything?  LOL

I have a large square cast iron dutch oven and the lid for it has grills on the underside so lately I’ve been using this heavy duty thing for everything.  I flipped the lid over and heated up the grills and grilled the chicken.

My go to staple is frozen boneless skinless chicken breast.  I buy them in 4 kg boxes or bags whenever they go on sale and usually have 4-5 packs in my deep freeze at any one time.  Chicken breast is high in protein and low in fat.

Season them with a little olive oil and some salt and pepper and grill to perfection.

When cooking chicken without skin, I always baste with a brushing of olive oil.  This will help seal in the natural juices of the meat and keep your dinner from going dry.  Have the grills or your pan preheated to med-high before adding the chicken.  Avoiding moving the chicken once you place it on the grills.  It will stick at first and you know you’ll be tempted to try and move it and “un-stuck it” but don’t!  It will pull away from the heat source on it’s own when it’s ready.  Well for the most part… just be patient alright.  This way you’ll get the perfect sear and grill marks.  Also, avoid turning and turning pieces of meat.  The raw juices cook on one side and then when you flip the piece of meat you allow the cook juices to run down through the rest of the meat helping cook that side through.  Flipping prematurely and back and forth might withhold some of those raw chicken juices and leave the center raw.  RAW!!!!  Don’t want that.

I heard this along time ago.  I only assume it’s true but it makes sense.  So I try to be as patient as I can and cook evenly and properly per side.

The image above includes salt. However my recipe does not.  When I made this, I added salt and found it to be incredibly too salty.  The feta gives this creamy topping enough salt…
Yum!  Look at it in all it’s feta and basil goodness.  I find I don’t cook with a lot of cheese, but feta can be used in so many ways!  I’m loving it.
Now #getinmybelly!

Give this one a whirl guys, it’s super easy and delicious too!

 

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Love Haleykins♥♥

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Chimichurri Chicken

Chimichurri… where has this been all my life? Chimichurri is an Argentinean sauce similar to a pesto with many variations for sure.  Make it your own😉

🌿I’m telling you, amazingly good and I can’t even believe how much I love it.  I had it in Jamaica and had to try it at home.  Fan-freakin-tastic.  I also made it with my Mom a few weeks ago.  We had it on some bbq’d pork chops… Hello melt in my mouth delicious!  I’m already checking the calendar to see when I can make it again!  On steak next time I think… 😊 INGREDIENTS

• 1 CUP FIRMLY PACKED FRESH FLAT LEAF PARSLEY

• 1/2 CUP FIRMLY PACKED FRESH CILANTRO

• 2 TABLESPOONS FRESH OREGANO LEAVES (or you can use 2 teaspoons of dried oregano)

• 4 GARLIC CLOVES

• 1/2 CUP OLIVE OIL

• 2 TABLESPOONS WINE VINEGAR (red or white, I used white)

• 1 TEASPOONS SEA SALT OR KOSHER SALT**

• 1/4 TEASPOON GROUND BLACK PEPPER

• 1/2 TEASPOON CHILI PEPPER FLAKES

DIRECTIONS

1. Pulse the parsley, cilantro, fresh oregano, and garlic in a food processor until it’s a coarse consistancy

2. Scrape down the food processor and get all that good green out into a nice little glass dish

3. Gently stir in olive oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, and chili pepper flakes. 

💡Adjust your seasonings to your liking.  If you won’t be using all the sauce the first night, any chili pepper flakes will continue to make the sauce hotter as they marinate in the oil… Sometimes hotter is better💡

4. Serve immediately or refrigerate. Bring to room temperature before serving. 

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Love Haleykins 

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Another Greek Chicken Recipe

I found a recipe a few weeks ago while searching the interweb for new ideas. I followed it pretty closely but tweaked it just a bit… more garlic, less oil, etc.
I also added a bit more lemon then required and upon taste testing… too much lemon. So stick with this and you can’t go wrong

GREEK MARINADED CHICKEN

INGREDIENTS:
1 + 1/4 CUPS PLAIN GREEK YOGURT,FAT FREE
1 T OLIVE OIL
5 CLOVES MINCED GARLIC (or a frozen premade homemade garlic ball 😉)
I LEMON (the juice and as well the zest)
1 T OREGANO
1 T PARSLEY
FRESH CRACKED PEPPER (at your discretion)
12 CHICKEN LEGS and/or CHICKEN THIGHS🍗🍖
DIRECTIONS:
Combine everything, except the chicken, in a bowl.
Place chicken pieces in a large ziplock bag.
Pour the marinade over the chicken. 🍗
Mix the chicken around in the bag for a consistent coating
Seal and chill in the fridge for at least an hour. I did 4 hours 😋 YUM
Preheat oven to 375
Line a large baking dish with parchment like I did or grease the pan
Bake chicken in the pan uncovered for about 1 hour or until slightly crispy and golden brown

We had this along side a super fresh greek salad with light feta cheese and lemon rice pilaf.

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Love Haleykins

ON TONIGHTS MENU ~ SHRIMP TACOS

I just posted 2 food blogs I figured I might as well put tonight’s meal on the board as well and make it 3 food blogs in one day.  I’m not sure why I’m in love with cooking these days but it’s become one of the fun parts of the day for me.  I’m always looking for something new for me to try and I’m storing all my recipes in a big binder so I can hold on to them forever.  Plus flipping through a book full of recipes that I’ve already determined would be a gooder is great for grocery shopping time and dinner time.

I’m actually made 2 different tacos tonight… the shrimp ones and then fish tacos, chopping up the fish and frying it the same as the shrimp, sub’ing the yogurt, cayenne, lime juice, cilantro, & salt dressing for a chipotle mayo.  I just mashed a chipotle pepper with some low fat mayo and added some of the adobe sauce from the chipotle can.  So 2 different tacos.  I’ve never made these before but they were SUPER SIMPLE just as the recipe claims.

I served them with guacamole & salsa on the side.  Hubby loves his guacamole!

SUPER SIMPLE SHRIMP TACOS

(source: http://cleananddelicious.com/)

Ingredients

1 lb of frozen shrimp, defrosted, peeled, & deveined

6 oz fat free Greek yogurt

¼ cup chopped cilantro

2 tbsp fresh lime juice

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

½ a head of cabbage, thinly sliced (about 5 cups)

8 corn tortillas

4 tsp extra virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Heat tortillas over medium heat in a dry skillet until warm and starting to form small brown spots.
2. Set aside on a plate covered with a clean kitchen towel.
3. Mix yogurt, cayenne, lime juice, cilantro, & salt in a small bowl, set aside.
4. Heat two teaspoons of olive oil in a medium non-stick skillet and add cabbage. Cook for about four minutes or until the cabbage is just barely wilted. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.
5. Cut shrimp into thirds, so you have little bite size pieces. Sauté in two teaspoons of olive oil and season with salt, pepper and a dash of cayenne pepper over medium heat just until done. They cook up in just a few minutes… so be sure to watch them!
6. Build your taco! Place a scoop of cabbage on the warmed tortillas taco, then top with shrimp, and cilantro sauce… enjoy!

Serves 4.

He always makes me smile

Last night hubby and I went downtown.  It’s a bit of a trek for us as we DO NOT drink and drive… therefore we always have to leave a few hours earlier than the event time.  We walk, then bus, then skytrain, then walk or cab some more.  It’s fun though.  Well it’s always fun when were together.  Road Soda’s are a must to fight the long trip.  Start the night out right.  We were on our way to a buddy’s birthday dinner.  The venue was The Italian Kitchen on 1037 Alberni Street in Vancouver.  I had a delicious pasta, Linguini Carbonara and Hubby had a spicy, super tasty Chicken Parmesan.  It was a very nice place and everyones food seemed to be of great quality.  I would hope so as the prices were not that low.

When dinner was done and we said our goodbyes, we started walking… it was a wonderful warm evening, I was in a summer dress, and Vancouver has seen alot of rain lately…. so we walked.  and walked and walked.  We stopped on the gallery steps and people watched…. We enjoyed a bunch of hip hoppers practicing in the below ground Robson arena and found ourselves on Granville, walking the opposite way of the skytrain.  $4 highballs out on the patio of Olympia Bar & Grill…. I think we shall.  Oh and you’ve run out of crappy whiskey so you will substitue with Crown…. sounds great to me!  We talked and drinked and talked and drinked more and decided since it was close to midnight we should head back… althought neither of us wanted to….    It was such a nice and pleasant evening and I just love my man.

Surprise Trip to Seattle, WA with my #1

Just a few weekends ago Hubby whisked me away for a surprise trip down to Seattle, WA.  I was floored!  I ♥ going to Seattle.  We both do. We just always seem to have such a good time there.  Plus there is something about staying away from home in a hotel.  It’s just fun.  We have gone quite a few times now and always stay at our favorite hotel in Beltown or close too.  It’s quite close to Pike Place Market!  Not only do we stay in the same hotel but we always manage to get the same room on the 18th floor.  From the king size bed you can fall asleep and wake up with a full unobstructed view of the Seattle Space Needle.  Truly a pretty site.  With water visible on the left side as well as the right.

This hotel is close to many many restaurants and bars.  So it’s perfect us.  This time we checked out Icon Grill for dinner. it’s on Fifth and Victoria and features Executive Chef, Nick Musser. Loved it. I enjoyed Cupcake Prosecco wine with my dinner and it was lovely.  I don’t think they sell this type of Cupcake wine in BC… Boo…  next time I head to Bellingham for gas I’m going to try and bring a bottle home.   It’s sparkling and pink and tastes divine!  After that we headed back to our room to finish off a bottle of Rum before heading out for some dancing.  We may be getting older but we still like to get our groove on together!  I was in a new purchase… a bright orange dress!  The great thing about this dress is that it matched my new hand job/nailpolish that GalPal gave me just the day before.  See Sound Lounge is where we ended up… It’s too close to pass up, so we just walked on over and danced and had some really potent highballs before making our way back.

That’s when it happened…. he got the hiccups again.  Every time we come her he starts hiccuping and they don’t go away.. some times for days.  I can’t believe it.  I immediately start thinking about how we’re going to be up all night and how we were going to feel like hell in the morning and stressing out… he hiccupped so much and was shaking the bed each time that my stomach began to reject all my lovely wine and delicious yummy rum… ugh… I pulled through while he slept through… hiccupping in his sleep.  Thankfully I did fall asleep a while later and when we woke up they were gone.  Yeesh…..

Breakfast at IHOP, ( really must find a great breakfast place in Seattle… suggestions please)  I wanted to go Sephora and there is no parking around there except underground and the truck has been jacked so we don’t fit.  He pulled up to the curb and I had 5 minutes to shop.  5 minutes is all I need if it’s all the time I’ve got.  I made out nicely and off we went.    Finished our shopping, picked up some groceries and of course filled the truck and all 6 jerry cans of gas!  Picked up a nice bottle of Bacardi 8 Year Rum at the Duty Free and home we were.

What a great trip!  Thanks Hubs!

Many people in this little motel were partying hard. All dressed in Neon. We people watched for a while. They made us laugh.

Essie polish – Razzi.Poppi in Lights (pink) Essie polish – Tart Deco (orange) Hand Job by GalPal Photo by House of Haley Photography

Hubby & Me getting our groove on! Photo by House Of Haley Photography See Sound Lounge – Seattle, WA

New orange dress matches my Tart Deco Essie polish Photo by House Of Haley Photography

“He calls me Britney when I wear his hat” Photo by House Of Haley Photography

“Warwick Hotel Seattle”

“Our Room @ the Warwick Hotel in Seattle WA

“Icon Grill” Seattle, WA

“Icon Grill’s gorgeous interior”

Icon Grill Uniquely Inviting Fifth at Virginia, Seattle, WA

“Seattle Space Needle” Photo by House Of Haley Photography View from our room at the Warwick Hotel

“See Sound Lounge” Seattle, WA