BBQ chicken

Here's an easy one for those busy weeknights. We've probably all made this easy crock-pot barbecue chicken. But I found these few more ingredients took it just past normal, to quite tasty.You'll need:
Chicken breasts-fresh or frozen (I used 3 so we would have plenty of leftovers. You'll want leftovers of this.)
barbecue sauce
liquid smoke
Worcestershire sauce
chili sauce
red onion-chopped roughly in large peices
garlic cloves-minced

Here's the fun part of crock-pot cooking. Just dump it all in. I didn't put any measurements because it all depends on how much chicken you use and how much you like each thing. I probably just put a whole bottle of bbq sauce couple shakes of each other sauce, 1/2 an onion, and a couple cloves of garlic. Liquid smoke really adds to the robust flavor.

Let is cook on high for 4-6 hours. Shred the chicken and it's ready to devour. We ate this as sandwiches, on a pizza, over rice, and there are probably a lot more ways than that to enjoy this. I've also made it with a pork loin for pulled pork sandwiches. Doesn't it just smell like summer now?

Chicken and Red Pepper Cream Sauce with Pasta

On this day I was really aching to make something really comforting since for various reason I hadn't cooked a decent meal in about two weeks. This satisfied my need to cook, and our palates.


Place a deep skillet over high heat, add about 2-3 T of olive oil. Salt and pepper 2-4 chicken breasts and place them in the hot skillet to sear. Let cook for about 2 minutes per side just to caramelize. The don't need to be cooked through. Remove from the pan and set aside.

Add 2 more tablespoons of olive oil to the skillet and turn it to medium high. Roughly chop one red pepper, and a medium onion. Add those and 2 cloves of finely minced garlic to the skillet. Then add about 1/2 t of each paprika, curry power. mustard seeds, and dried basil. Saute for about 5 minutes until they are starting to brown and onions are becoming translucent. Add about 2 c of chicken broth and let simmer another 5-10 minutes until veggies are very soft.

Start cooking any kind of pasta using the manufacturers instructions. It's good to use one that can really hold the sauce like penne or rigatoni, but we used basil fettuccine since I was in the mood.

When the peppers and onions are soft, pour into a blender and add about 1/4-1/2 c of cream, or half and half, and blend until smooth. Milk works fine, it just won't be as thick and I happened to have cream when I made this. Or you can omit the cream/milk. Pour back in the skillet and let come back up to a simmer. Add the chicken and all the juices that have accumulated back into the pan and cook for about 15 minutes, or until the chicken is fully cooked through, 170 degrees.

Slice the chicken, place over the pasta, and pour the sauce over it. Garnish with mustard seeds and crumbled bacon for a nice crunch. I would've loved to have some nice green herbs like parley or basil for garnish, but not having any on hand, dried had to do. We also put Parmesan, a must with most pasta dishes. Some crusty bread, or good quality croutons are good for soaking up the rest of the juices as well.

KC now asks for this all the time.

Orange Ginger Chicken, with Maple Walnuts

I started by marinating chicken breasts with orange juice, soy sauce, oyster sauce, ginger and salt/pepper for at least 3o minutes, up to overnight (reserve marinade). In a heated pan, drizzled with olive oil, brown the chicken on both sides and then take it out of the pan and cover with foil. Slice the mushrooms, broccoli and carrots and saute them with olive oil and salt/pepper for about 1o minutes. Mix a couple tablespoons of corn starch to the reserved marinade along with enough orange juice to make enough sauce for all the veggies. I also added sugar since I was using fresh squeezed oj. Put the chicken back in the pan with the sauce and let it simmer covered, stirring occasionally/turning the chicken occasionally until the chicken is fully cooked. While it's cooking place about 1/4 cup or chopped walnuts, and a couple tablespoons or maple syrup in a pan and cook for a few minutes until syrup is very thick and coating the nuts. Stir as they cool so they don't stick together. Serve chicken over rice, and sprinkle walnuts on top. I could snack on those nuts all day.

Chicken Cordon Bleu-wiches

These were DELICIOUS. I used sour dough bread, rotissserie chicken, thin shaved ham, and aged white cheddar. That cheese is to die for. It is from Costco and I totally recommend it. I put the open face sandwiches under the broiler for a few minutes until the cheese is bubbly and starting to brown. Man, I want one of those right now.