Heat the tortillas according to the package directions.  Add the coriander paste to the chicken and toss to distribute it evenly.   Divide the chicken mixture evenly amongst the heated tortillas, topping with the cucumber salad and some chopped peanuts.  Serve immediately.

 

Cheddar Baked Chicken. This cheddar baked chicken is coated in a cheesy buttery crumb, and baked to perfection. This easy chicken recipe comes out perfect, moist and delicious every single time!

This is something which my kids always enjoyed.   It was one of my cheap and cheerful mains and a great way to serve chicken and so much better for them than the packaged chicken baking mixes.  (without saying any names, but you know what I mean I am sure!)

 

These are moist and flavorful with a nice crisp coating filled with flavor.  It gets it's crispness from the crushed cereal and the bread crumbs. I love crispy chicken.

More flavor comes from the herbs and spices which are mixed in the initial flour coating. Add the cheese and you have something which is incredibly delicious with  a touch of cheesy tang and another depth of flavour.

I love fried chicken, but frying chicken at home is a real pain in the butter.  So much work and so much mess.  Baking your chicken this way is so much easier and so very delicious.

Do be careful not to over cook them.   You only want the coating to get golden brown . . . and you want the chicken to stay nice and moist.  Over cooked chicken breasts are dry and not so nice to eat.

 




I like to serve this with mashed potatoes, or scalloped potatoes along with a steamed vegetable on the side.  Carrots or green beans are just perfect with this.  It's a mighty tasty way of making a few chicken breasts go further!  

Your family is guaranteed to love them!  (My kids liked to have some ranch dressing to dip it in as well, but I love Sweet Chili Sauce myself or runny honey.)  Nom! Nom!



 




*Cheddar Baked Chicken*
Serves 4 to 6
Printable Recipe

Moist chicken with a tasty crispy cheese coating!

60g butter, melted (1/4 cup)
50g of plain flour (1/2 cup)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp dried thyme, rubbed to a powder
25g of crisp rice cereal (1 cup), crushed lightly
120g of grated strong cheddar cheese (1 cup)
120g of dry bread crumbs ( 1 cup)
1 large free range egg
1 TBS milk
2 to 3 large boneless skinless chicken breasts

Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F gas mark 4.  Pour half of the melted butter into a shallow glass baking dish.

Combine the flour, salt, pepper and garlic powder in a shallow bowl.  Combine the egg and milk in another shallow bowl.   Combine the cereal, bread crumbs and cheese in a third bowl.   Cut your chicken breasts in half diagonally so that you have approximately 6  wedges.   

Dip them first into the flour mixture, patting the flour on.  Then into the egg mixture, Allowing any excess to drip off.  Finally roll them into the crumb mixture, patting and pressing the crumbs so that they adhere well.  Place them into the baking dish  Drizzle with the remaining butter.

Bake for about 20 to 25  minutes until the chicken is golden brown and just cooked through. Serve hot. 

 

This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at mariealicejoan at aol dot com. 

I remember my first brush with Chicken Cacciatore.  I was a 21 year old new bride, living in our first apartment, in Calgary, Alberta.  We had a very limited income in those days (nothing's changed since then, lol) and I was always on the lookout for a great bargain at the shops.



I loved to cook and as inexperienced as I was, I was always wanting to add some adventure into our meals.  One day, the local Safeway shop was offering a reduced rate on chickens.  I bought up several of them and hurried home, my head filled with great ideas of what I was going to do with them.  They were labeled stewing hens.



I was so ignorant and inexperienced,  that I had no idea that stewing hens were old chickens that had spent most of their lives laying eggs, and were fit only to be slowly simmered for long periods of time and made into soups and stews.  They can be quite delicious when cooked properly . . . think Chicken Fricasee, or Brunswick Stew.



I wanted to make Chicken Cacciatore.  I had what I thought was the perfect recipe, taken from the Chicken volume of my Better Homes and Garden's Cookbook Library.  (A library I had carefully saved for and collected over a long period of time.) Oh how sophisticated I thought I was being!  I carefully cut them up and followed the directions in my recipe to the "t."  Unfortunately, we ended up with something that was rather horrible . . . impossible to cut, or chew, or anything else . . . I suppose if I had simmered it overnight, it would have ended up being quite edible . . . but I didn't know that then.

I only knew I had created extreme "rubber" chicken.



That was a long time ago now, some 30 odd years, and I am quite happy to say that years of experience have taught me what to do with a stewing hen now.  I have also quite happily learned how to make a really delicious Chicken Cacciatore.



This is Italian Comfort food, cooked in my English Kitchen.  I'm quite sure a real Italian would point out all my failings in the recipe, but no matter, it's tasty nonetheless, authentic or not . . .

My husband says he doesn't like Italian food . . . hah!!  He always gobbles this up and asks for seconds.



*Chicken Cacciatore*
Serves 4 to 6
Printable Recipe

A delicious chicken dish with a rich tomato sauce.  I like to use chicken thighs as they have enough flavour to stand up to the robust flavours of the sauce.  Serve this with rice or spaghetti for a tasty wintertime supper.  Crusty bread is also a great  "go-with" for sopping up any juices!

8 ounces cremini mushrooms, wiped clean and halved
5 TBS olive oil
2 TBS sherry vinegar
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
8 chicken thighs (Bone in with skin on)
2 TBS chopped fresh Marjoram leaves
1 small onion, peeled and chopped
2 fat garlic cloves, peeled and minced
4 ounces dry white wine (1/2 cup)
2 (400g) tins of chopped plum tomatoes in juice (about 4 cups)
250ml of chicken broth (1 cup)
2 TBS chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
to garnish:
chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
freshly grated Parmesan Cheese

Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F.  Place the mushrooms, caps down, into a small baking dish, in a single layer.  Drizzle with 2 TBS of the olive oil and the vinegar.  Season to taste with salt and pepper and toss to coat.  Roast until golden brown, about 20 minutes, giving them a stir once or twice during the roasting process so that they cook evenly.  Remove from the oven and set aside.

Season the chicken pieces with salt, pepper and 1 TBS of the Marjoram leaves.  Heat the remaining olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.  Lay the chicken thighs in the hot oil, and reduce the heat to medium.  Cook for 4 to 5 minutes per side, until lightly browned all over.  Transfer to a platter and keep warm, loosely covered with foil.

Add the onion to the pan drippings and cook over medium high heat until soft and translucent, stirring often.  Add the garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant.  Add the wine and bring to the boil, scraping up any brown bits from the bottom of the pan.  Reduce to half the amount by boiling for 20 to 3 minutes.  Add the tomatoes and chicken broth.  Cook and simmer for 10 to 12 minutes until the sauce thickens and reduces somewhat.

Return the chicken pieces to the pan and simmer for an additional 15 minutes or so, until the chicken is cooked through.  Stir in the mushrooms, parsley and remaining marjoram.  Cook for several minutes longer.  Place the chicken thighs on heated plates and spoon the sauce over top.  Garnish with the grated cheese and a sprinkling of chopped parsley.

 

  Chicken Cutlets with Sage, Lemon & Butter. This is a delicious recipe to make using fried chicken cutlets. 

I cooked a turkey at the weekend . . . some might say somewhat of an indulgence, but I was so unwell at Christmas this year we hadn't really enjoyed our Christmas Dinner very much and so . . . I wanted roast turkey.   Nothing special . . . just the same way I always roast it . . . my favourite way . . . which you can see here.  Simple and delicious.

 

I wanted to use up some of the leftovers today in a casserole.   I wanted something completely different than the usual turkey curry or pot pie . . . and so I went searching and I found this delicious recipe on Clover Lane.  I thought it sounded very different . . . and quite, quite delicious.



Plus it had the added benefit of using up a lot of my other leftovers . . . such as mashed potatoes, stuffing, and cranberry sauce.   I do so love cranberry sauce in a casserole . . . and stuffing.



You layer half of the leftover stuffing on the bottom  and the other half on the top . . . in between are sandwiched chopped cooked turkey, spread with a delicious cranberry mayonnaise.



On top of the turkey meat and sauce goes a delicious mixture of leftover mashed potatoes, mayonnaise and mozzarella cheese . . . then of course the finalopping of stuffing.



It is an unusual combination to be sure . . . but it works together beautifully.   Perhaps it is not so pretty to look at, but I can promise you that in this case,  looks are very deceiving . . .  as this is probably one of the most delicious turkey casseroles I have ever tasted!



It's probably a little bit of bad timing now . . . as it's not Christmas or Thanksgiving . . . but this is one you will want to bookmark for sometime when you do have these kinds of leftovers . . . or of course, you could always use the leftovers from a tasty roast chicken dinner, which would also taste very well done this way.

Enjoy.






*Turkey Casserole*
Serves 4 to 6, depending on appetites
Printable Recipe

A delicious casserole which is easy to put together and helps to use up leftovers from your roast dinners.

4 cups of prepared stuffing, divided
4 cups of coarsely chopped leftover cooked turkey (about one pound)
3/4 cup of good quality mayonnaise, divided
1/4 cup of whole berry cranberry sauce
2 cups of leftover mashed potatoes
1 1/2 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/   Butter an 8 inch square casserole dish.    Spoon half of the stuffing mixture into the bottom of the dish and spread it out to cover.   Sprinkle with the turkey pieces.   Whisk together 1/4 cup of the mayonnaise and all of the cranberry sauce.   Spread this mixture over top of the turkey.   Beat together the remaining mayonnaise, the mashed potatoes and the  mozzarella cheese.   Spoon this over top of the turkey, spreading it over to cover.   Sprinkle the remaining stuffing over top.

Bake for 40 minutes, or until bubbling and heated through.   Allow to stand for 10 minutes or so before serving.   Delicious!

I think that the one protein we eat most of all in this house is chicken, followed closely by fish and then only rarely do we eat red meat.  Quite the opposite of when I was growing up where beef was the protein of choice and fish and chicken only rare treats.

 

I can still remember how excited we would be when my mother would make us Maryland Fried Chicken Breasts for supper, an occasion which happened at the very most possibly twice during the year.   Oh my, how delicious it was . . . she would dip the chicken breasts into egg and cracker crumbs and then fry it until it  was golden brown and oh so tasty.  We always had it with mashed potatoes and gravy.  Luvy Jubbly, as Del Boy would say.

 

I think chicken is much more affordable now than it was when I was growing up.   I  believe it was Herbert Hoover who promised Americans that if he became President there would be a chicken in every pot and a car in every garage.   This was back before the Great Depression.    I know not if he succeeded in putting a chicken in every pot . . . but he did become President.  I strongly suspect that he didn't, as the great Stock Market Crash of 1929 plunged the world into financial chaos just seven months later, and he was not elected for a second term.   Oh the fickleness of politics.

 

I do so love chicken though . . . It's incredibly versatile and so easy to prepare.    It lends itself to a multitude of flavours and methods of preparation.   Most of all I love it roasted . . . so that the skin gets all crisp and somewhat sticky . . . whilst the meat inside stays moist and tender.



This is a fabulous method of roasting chicken quickly.   It involves removing the back bone and flattening it prior to roasting at a high temperature.   The lemon flavour comes in via a rub of lemon zest, sugar and salt which you gently rub beneath the skin of the breast and the thigh . . . and in the delicious braising liquid which is poured around the chicken as it roasts.

 

The braising liquid is then defatted, reduced and slightly thickened to produce a delicious sauce which is spooned over this tender chicken to serve.   Do not mistake it for gravy.   Gravy it is  not.   It is a rich and luscious sauce which just makes something which is so very simple . . . extraordinary!

 

*Roast Lemon Chicken*
Serves 3 to 4
Printable Recipe

Bake this in an enamel roasting pan, as using an aluminum pan may cause an off flavour from the lemon juice.  Deliciously tender chicken with bright fresh flavours.

1 (3 1/2 to 4 pound) whole chicken, giblets removed and discarded
the finely grated zest of 3 large lemons, plus 80ml of lemon juice (1/3 cup)
1 tsp sugar
fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
500ml of low sodium chicken broth
water
1 tsp corn flour
3 TBS butter
1 TBS finely chopped fresh flat leaf parsley

Preheat the oven to 230*C/475*F/ gas mark 8.  Have ready a large enamel roasting tin.

Pat the chicken dry and then using sharp kitchen scissors, cut along both sides of the backbone to remove it.   Flatten out with the palm of your hand, pressing it down firmly, and tucking the wing tips behind the back.  Using your fingers, very carefully loosen the skin covering the breast and thighs.   Combine the lemon zest, sugar, and 1 tsp of salt in a small bowl.   Rub 2 TBS of the zest mixture beneath the skin of the chicken.  Season all over with salt and pepper on the outsides and transfer to the roasting tin.

Whisk the broth, 1 cup of water and the remaining lemon zest mixture together in a beaker.  Pour into the roasting tin around the chicken.   If the liquid doesn't reach the skin of the thighs, then add a bit more water.   Roast in the heated oven until the skin is golden brown and the meat juices run clean when gently pricked with a fork.  This will take 40 to 45 minutes.   Transfer to a cutting board and allow to rest for 20 minutes. 

Pour the liquid from the pan along with any chicken juices into a saucepan.  (you should have about 375ml/1 1/2 cups)  Skim off any fat and discard.   Cook over medium high heat until it reduces to about 250ml/1 cup.  Whisk the corn flour together with 1 TBS of water and whisk into the saucepan, whisking constantly and simmering until it thickens slightly.  Remove from the heat, whisk in the butter and parsley and season to taste with salt and pepper.   Carve the chicken and serve, passing the sauce at the table.