Spinach Stuffed Chicken Legs with Dubliner Cheese

I think it's pretty obvious by now that just about everyone is trying to cut back expense-wise. In all honesty it's about damn time - our country has become way too spoiled and wasteful.

On that cheery note, let's talk about how we can cut back on one of the many things that interests me - the grocery bill. Right now there are blogs-a-plenty offering recession-savvy dining tips on how to cut back on your dining excesses:

*Eat beans and rice, lentils, quinoa, etc.

*Stop buying all that processed garbage for your kids, they don't need to be eating it anyways.

*Drink water instead of the sodas and bottled drinks.

*Pay attention to what you're actually eating.

*Look for bargains at the grocery store.

It's that last one that seems to work the best for me. Mr. TA and I already eat plenty of beans, rice, quinoa and the occasional lentil. We rarely buy anything processed or from the freezer section (except fish and edamame), we keep only milk, fresh-brewed iced tea, orange juice, and coffee in the house for drinking, and I plan each week on a menu.

That really only leaves me with shopping the occasional sale at the grocery store to cut back anymore on cost. Of course, I'm sure many people out there are in the same boat.

However, when the item on sale is a whole chicken or chicken leg quarters, many people pass because they either don't like dark meat or are intimidated at the thought of trying to bone something. This is really unfortunate, because when times are as tough as these people need to pinch pennies everywhere they can. And buying a package of leg quarters at 60 cents per pound is exceedingly cheaper than boneless skinless thighs at $2.19 per pound - and don't even get me started on $5.99 per pound for boneless skinless breasts. Plus, if you do decide to bone the chicken you can save the bones in a bag in the freezer for making chicken stock. Win-win, baby.

So, dissecting the two main reasons for why people won't buy something as tasty as chicken leg quarters:

Don't like dark meat/Thigh and leg meat is more fattening than boneless skinless breasts - OK, fair enough, you don't like dark meat. Meh, I doubt you can taste the difference in soups, pot pies, pastas, etc. Stop being a big baby and save some money already. As for the fat content debate, it's true - dark meat has more fat than white meat. Just keep in mind that a thigh-leg portion weighs on average about 6 oz. I've seen many a chicken breast weigh over 14 oz. If you're allotting one chicken breast per family member not only are you wasting the meat by serving enormous portions that no one in their right mind should finish, but the health benefits of the low-fat breast are outweighed by the fact that you're scarfing down more than twice as much meat. Period.

Now for the second reason: intimidated by deboning? Easy-peasy. Let me show you how.

First, use a very, very sharp knife. It sounds backwards, but using a sharp knife is much safer than using a dull one. Now that you've got your sharpest knife in hand, don't shank yourself.

Don't worry, this is much easier than it appears. (Not the shanking, the boning.)

Start with your leg quarter:



Cut through the skin and tissue right at the end of the leg bone (the part you hold on to when eating a fried chicken leg). Slice all the way around the bone.

Use your knife to slit the skin on the underside of the leg. The skin will peel back nice and easy down the entire piece of meat, usually with just a little coaxing from the knife here and there to release the skin.



Peel all the skin off and release it around the edges with your knife. The end result will be this:



Next, flip the whole piece over and slice down the underside of the leg bone like so:



Open up the skin around the leg and slice down each side, freeing it from the bone:



Now, slip the tip of your knife behind the bone and run it down until you hit the joint, releasing the meat entirely from the leg bone:



Now, slice under the leg joint and locate the thigh bone with your finger tips. Run the tip of your knife down the length of the thigh bone towards the bottom of the piece, like this:



Keep sneaking around until you hit where the thigh bone connects to the rest of the body:



After that, lift up the leg bone, cut underneath the leg joint and along the bottom of the thigh bone until you come out clean on the other side:



Now you can pop all the bones out of the meat and slice any residual cartilage left on. Now is the time to trim all the excess fat off the meat too.



You'll be left with an underside that looks like you chewed it from the bone,



But the top will be nice and neat,



Ta da! You've just deboned a chicken leg quarter! That wasn't hard at all, was it?

I usually like to buy several package of the leg quarters when they go on sale, spend a half hour or so deboning them and then throw them in the freezer in packages appropriate for the sizes of meals I typically make.

Now you can use the meat for all sorts of things, soups, stews, quesadillas, pot pies, pastas, skewers - you name it, you can do it.

My favorite thing to do with chicken legs though is to stuff them. Gordon Ramsay has a delicious recipe I've tried out before, for Sausage Stuffed Chicken Legs . This time I took a slightly more healthful approach and stuffed the legs with pastrami, spinach, and KerryGold's Dubliner cheese.

It was delicious.

Let me show you how.

First, lay out a sheet of foil and season it with a little salt and pepper. Lay out your boned leg quarter.



Top it with a couple pieces of pastrami,



Next comes some spinach sauteed with a little shallot,



Now for the sticks of Dubliner,



Now start the rolling. Roll it onto itself like a jellyroll, then grab the foil to keep it tight:



Wrap it up into a tight little package and twist the ends real tight.



Now you're going to poach this in a pot of boiling water for twenty minutes.

Pull them out and let them cool off for a minute or so and peel off the foil.

Brown them in a hot skillet with a little melted butter and then slice on the diagonal to serve.

Whoever said eating cheap couldn't taste good?



Plus a thank-you to Foodbuzz for supplying me with plenty of KerryGold cheese to try out for St. Paddy's.

Fresh Spring Rolls

Oh Fresh Spring Rolls, are you Thai? Are you Vietnamese? Are you some sort of creation thought up by crazy Americans and passed off as authentic Asian cuisine? Tell me your secrets!

Though I have no idea where these tasty treats hail from, and after at least three minutes of exhaustively googling them I came up with no conclusive evidence, I still love them. The first time I had them was on one of my first dates with Mr. TA before we got married. He really likes Asian cuisine, all kinds, and he took me to this really cute little Thai place in Washington. We had Phad Thai, Chicken Satay, Mangoes with Coconut Sticky Rice, and Fresh Spring Rolls. Everything was delicious and Mr. TA and I were well on our way to everlasting mushiness - or more typically driving each other as crazy as possible. We like to keep things fresh.

So, more importantly, fresh spring rolls are a rice paper wrapper filled with lettuce, an assortment of herbs, chicken, and shrimp. Many recipes also require the addition of other vegetables like carrots or cabbage and many times noodles are added. I prefer to stick to the style we first had on our date, so I use only lettuce, basil, cilantro, mint, chicken, and shrimp. Top it off with some out of this world peanut sauce and you're good to go.



Speaking of peanut sauce, talk about a crapshoot when you're looking for a good recipe, eh? I've made peanut sauce countless times, and I've never been quite satisfied with any of them. They're either too sweet, too peanutty, too spicy, or too oily. I like my peanut sauce to contain a myriad of flavors - heat, sweetness, spice, and of course the peanuts. It needs to blend effortlessly into a flavor that complements the dish it's adorning, not covering it up. Peanut sauce isn't really an Asian creation (invented by crazy Westerners), so it's little surprise it's now basically the Asian ketchup. We throw it on everything, and instead of adding an additional level of flavor, it masks everything else until all we can taste is the peanut sauce.

I'll pass.

That's why I attempted to create my own recipe completely from scratch. Usually when I attempt something like this it ends in an Epic FAIL. This time, it actually worked. It's the best peanut sauce I've ever had - restaurant or otherwise. It was one of those recipes that as I was mixing everything I knew that it was either going to be the most amazing thing I've ever created - or lump of goo not fit for the neighbor's cat that keeps pooping in my flower beds.

And believe me, at this point I'd feed that cat all sorts of weird crap. That's right, poop in your owners house - not my chrysanthemums.

I've heard that working with some Asian ingredients and techniques can be a little intimidating for some, so I've included some step-by-step photos to guide through the process. They're really so simple, I can't think of any reason for not trying them.

Fresh Spring Rolls

Makes 6

For the Rolls:

6 sheets rice spring roll wrapper (available at any Asian market)
6 leaves green or red leaf lettuce (romaine and iceberg are too firm, they may tear the wrapper)
1 cup cilantro leaves
1 cup mint leaves
1 cup basil leaves
12 shrimp (preferably 25-30 ct.), raw, shelled and deveined
10 oz chicken (1 medium boneless, skinless breast), cut into small strips about 1 oz each
4 tablespoons butter, divided

For the Peanut Sauce:

1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
1 teaspoon red curry paste
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon palm sugar, grated
1/2 tablespoon rice vinegar
1/3 cup coconut milk

In a heavy bottomed skillet over medium-high heat melt two tablespoons butter. Add the shrimp, season to taste with salt and cracked pepper. Cook until pink and opaque throughout. Remove from skillet and set aside to cool. Melt the remaining two tablespoons butter and add the chicken strips. Cook completely. Remove from skillet and set aside. Turn off the heat, but keep the pan on the burner (gas stoves may require lowest flame). Using the residual heat, melt the peanut butter for the peanut sauce, in effect deglazing the skillet with the peanut butter. Add remaining ingredients, combine thoroughly and let meld for at least two minutes - adjust to taste if necessary. Remove from skillet into a ramekin or other small dish and set aside.

For assembling the rolls:

Start with your rice wrappers



This is what they look like when they're dry, out of the package



In a wide, shallow dish ( I use a large pie plate) fill halfway with hot water (from the tap is fine). Soak the wrapper for about 45 seconds, lift it out of the water carefully and let excess water drip off. Now it will look like this:



A quick tip, dry to keep your work area as dry as possible. It needs to be moist, but if the area is soaking wet the wrapper will stay soaking wet too - and it needs to start to dry out a little as you're working or when you start the rolling it will be too slippery to stick to itself. Keep a kitchen towel handy and wipe down the surface after every roll.

Start the assembly by placing two cooked shrimp, side to side in the center of the wrapper.



On top of the shrimp, layer the herbs in equal amounts and top with a strip or two of the cooked chicken.



Top with a lettuce leaf. Now, start to roll it like a burrito. Flip the edge nearest you over the top of filling, pull taught, and fold in each side.



Now just keep rolling until it's sealed.



If you're awesome you end up with the shrimp showing through the top of the wrapper. However, I am not awesome, and after rolling all six of mine I still didn't get one to work properly - so they look all plain and boring like this:



Now you're all finished. You can serve them whole or cut on the diagonal.



Top with the peanut sauce, but not too much...



Now devour at will.

Tupelo Honey Glazed Roasted Chicken

I love honey. I always have.

When I was very young my family lived in an agricultural community in Northern Washington. We lived on a defunct raspberry farm surrounded by strawberry, blueberry, and raspberry fields, dairy farms, hazelnut orchards - and only a few miles away from a great uncle who kept bees.

There are few things I remember more fondly about food in my childhood than a bowl of fresh raspberries from the back yard and a bowl of fresh milk - maybe with a sprig of mint - or a piece of still warm from the oven bread slathered with my great uncle's raw honey.

Just thinking about it makes my mouth water.

So started a life long love affair with honey, whether it was used as a sweetener, a flavoring agent, or just eaten out of a jar (not that I would ever do that) I'm always game to eat some honey. Kind of like Winnie the Pooh I guess.

I like it in tea, in yogurt, on cakes or in cookies. The more varied kinds of honey the better - orange blossom, clover blossom, spiked with cinnamon or infused with berries. So it was with great anticipation that I bought a bottle of Tupelo honey while on vacation in Washington D.C. last Christmas.

If you're unfamiliar with Tupelo honey it is honey made from the blossoms of the White Tupelo Gum Tree. The Tupelo tree grows in flooded areas in the South - Georgia, Florida, Louisiana - but the trees used to produce the honey commercially are typically along the Choctawhatchee, Apalachicola and Ochlockonee rivers. It is prized for it's unique flavor and inability to granulate. It is also the most expensive honey because of the great pains taken to produce it in its purest form.

Beekeepers fastidiously clean out the honeycomb right as the Tupelo trees blossom to eliminate the flavors of previous honeys. The bees are then usually set on elevated platforms just beneath the trees to encourage them to only collect from these trees.

The result? A honey with a beautiful tawny color, a sleek, smooth mouthfeel and the most captivating depth of flavor. It's not saccharine sweet like most commercially produced honeys, instead leaving the mouth with a feeling of heaviness and complexity. Not in a cloying way, but in a substantial way. It coats the tongue and slides down smoothly - an altogether pleasing experience.

I decided to glaze a chicken with it - for no other reason than I thought it might be tasty.

It was.

You should try it.



Tupelo Honey Glazed Roasted Chicken

1 whole chicken, approx. 4-5 lbs.
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons Tupelo honey
salt

Rinse the chicken thoroughly removing all organs from the cavity. Pat dry. Sprinkle liberally with salt and roast in a 425 F oven for 50-55 minutes until a thermometer inserted in a fleshy part of the thigh registers 170 F or a knife inserted between leg and body produces juices that run clear. Melt together the butter and honey and brush over the chicken liberally. Put back in 425 F oven for 4-5 minutes to darken, taking care not to let the skin burn - that is the tasty part after all. Remove from oven, brush with remaining glaze and allow to rest for 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

Urban Chicken Farming

Although Mr. TA makes fun of me for it, I can't wait to some day have chickens of my own. Not only to harvest my own eggs, and because I love chickens, but to donate the extra to shelters and food banks - supporting a people who live too often off of canned goods and processed garbage. Newsweek recently did an article on urban chicken farming, a subject near and dear to my heart. Even if you're not interested in it yourself, I urge you to check out the article and accompanying video. It's quite an interesting trend, one that I hope really catches on.

For too long Americans have happily distanced themselves from food production, happy to believe meat comes from a Styrofoam package wrapped in plastic and fruit is perfectly colored and unblemished. Get a life people. Agriculture is smelly and loud and hard work. Quite copping out and buying your food from CAFO's and happily munching away at meat from animals who are abused and exploited, fruits that have been sprayed with chemical pesticides, and vegetables that contain more nitrogen than friggin' fertilizer.

Buy a damn chicken and get eggs you know have been raised properly. Or, at least don't get pissed off at your neighbor who does.

Pappardelle with Chicken and Mushroom Ragu

This is another recipe I found in Gourmet's Gourmet Everyday section. It took a few moments to explain to Mr. TA that this was a ragu.

Mr. TA: "No it's not, ragu is that pasta sauce in a bottle."

Me: "No, this is ragu."

Mr. TA "That's not true, you made that up"

Me: "OK, fine. I'm lying to you. I like to make up words about food I make just to mess with your head."

Mr. TA: "I know. You're sneaky like that."

This is coming from the man that insists I made up the word 'charcuterie.' I have absolutely no idea what to say to that. Umm...no?

So, this stuff turned out pretty bitchin' if I do say so myself. It might be my complete awesomeness as a chef (so not the case) or it may be the 18 year balsamic MiL brought me a few weeks ago. Yeah, I'm going with the balsamic too.



I did make a few adjustments to the recipe, as always. I used shredded chicken from a whole bird instead of thighs, a tin of diced tomatoes in juice instead of whole, egg noodles instead of pappardelle (they def don't sell that at the commissary) and about 5 oz. of frozen, chopped collard greens instead of the arugula. I'm sorry, when I realize the only thing I don't have to make a recipe is the arugala, I'm so not running to the store just for that. Speaking of arugala, have you seen this? And anyone who knows me knows I'm a die hard liberal wildly in love with Barack Obama, so don't leave any nasty comments. I do, however, have a great sense of humor. (I'm humble too!)



Pappardelle with Chicken and Mushroom Ragu

6 ounces cremini mushrooms
3 garlic cloves
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/4 pounds skinless boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 small onion, chopped
3/4 teaspoon chopped rosemary
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 (28-ounce) can whole tomatoes in juice
1/2 pound dried pappardelle
5 ounces baby arugula (about 8 cups)

Pulse mushrooms and garlic in a food processor until finely chopped. (I pulsed the onion, diced the mushroom - be a rebel)

Heat oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Season chicken with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until just golden, about 3 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to a bowl.

Reduce heat to medium and cook onion, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 3 minutes.

Add mushroom mixture, rosemary, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and cook, stirring constantly, until beginning to brown, about 4 minutes.

Add vinegar and cook until evaporated. Add chicken and tomatoes (with juice), then simmer, breaking up tomatoes with a spoon and stirring occasionally, until sauce is just thickened, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook pappardelle in a pasta pot of boiling salted water (2 tablespoons salt for 6 quarts water) until al dente.

Add arugula to sauce and stir until wilted. Stir in drained pasta and cook 1 minute.

Chicken and Broccoli Pot Pie

I don't think you can delve farther into the comfort food category than with pot pie. I think the only thing that beats chicken pot pie is macaroni and cheese. On that note, I must confess I didn't follow my own rules. See, I have this little problem about following recipes. To be honest I have a problem with following directions of most kinds, it just happens to be that recipes are generally the only directions I come across. Whoo...Nobody's the boss of me!



So, I posted earlier that you can do a boatload of things with a single fryer chicken. This is my second meal out of the same chicken, utilizing the remainder of the shredded chicken meat from our Roast Chicken Dinner on Sunday, and the chicken stock I made with the leftover carcass. In my earlier post I detailed a recipe for chicken pot pie that I've made several times. This time however I had some leftover bacon from Sunday morning's Cinnamon French Toast breakfast. And who knows what happens when there's left over bacon in the refrigerator? That's right. It makes it's happy way into as many dishes as is humanly possible. Husband was rummaging through the fridge on Monday looking for food and asked about the bacon, then insisted it must go in the pot pie. So was born the Chicken, Broccoli, and Bacon Pot Pie. Feel free to salivate at will.



Chicken, Broccoli, and Bacon Pot Pie
Serves 4

1/4 yellow onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 very small, or 1 medium, leek, white part only, halved lengthwise and sliced
2 small yukon gold potatoes, small diced
1 broccoli crown, chopped into small florets, stalk included
10 oz. shredded roast chicken
4 strips bacon, crumbled
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup flour
2 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup heavy cream
olive oil
sea salt
cracked pepper
prepared pie crust/puff pastry for two crusts
1 egg, beaten

In a large skillet (4 1/2 quart) or soup pot over medium heat cook the garlic in a drizzle of olive oil until fragrant, about thirty seconds. Add the leek and onion, cooking until softened and nearly translucent. Add the potato and broccoli, allowing the broccoli to turn bright green and potato to start to soften, about 4 minutes. Add in the cooked, shredded chicken and the crumbled bacon and stir well. Chop the butter into tablespoon size pieces and add to the pan, allowing to melt completely. Sprinkle the flour over the mixture evenly, and then mix well. Fold into the mixture until dry flour is no longer perceptible. Slowly stir in one cup of the chicken stock, mixing very well. When stock is fully incorporated with the flour and beginning to thicken add the remaining stock and the heavy cream. Mix well. Reduce heat to med-low and simmer for 4-5 minutes or until as thick as desired. Line the bottom of an 8 in. deep dish pie plate with one crust, top with filling. Place second crust over the top and seal edges by pressing together. Brush top with beaten egg and pierce crust to allow for steam ventilation. Bake in a 400 F oven for 15-18 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Allow to sit for at least 5 minutes before serving.

Chicken Stock

Continuing with the other day’s theme of being frugal, last night I made chicken stock with the leftover chicken carcass from our roast chicken dinner. Now, the recipe I provided in that post is a great basic chicken stock, but I had a few extra things floating around in my fridge that could use some using up. That’s the key point of being conscientious about finances, be flexible. If you’re interested in making a recipe, but can’t afford to buy all of the ingredients – or you’re lazy like me and don’t feel like going to the grocery store – adapt it to what you have on hand. In the refrigerator I had some leeks, cilantro, and carrots with greens that were just begging to jump in the stock, so I went with it.

Now, usually I wouldn’t post an additional recipe for stock, I truly do try not to be redundant ( doesn’t show, does it?). But this was quite possibly the best stock I’ve ever made. Really. Truly. Outstanding. I try not to be so specific with something like stock, generally mine are a little different every time depending on what's in the refrigerator, but this one is so tasty I want to post it exactly as made, if for no other reason than I can replicate it. So, if you’ve got some time and an extra chicken carcass lying around, and really, who doesn’t? Then knock yourself out with my badass chicken stock.

Chicken Stock

1 roasted chicken carcass
3 fresh carrots, scrubbed & chopped, with leafy green tops
3 small leeks, white and green parts, scrubbed & chopped
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 large garlic cloves, smashed
1 cup cilantro, with stems, washed and chopped
1 heart of celery, with leaves, washed and chopped
1 broccoli crown, quartered
1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
2 teaspoons sea salt
2 bay leaves

Put all in large stock pot, add water to cover plus two inches and boil. Let simmer for three and half hours, skimming fat when necessary, till reduced by at least 1/3 – 1/2 for more flavor. Strain into bowl, chill, store, salivate.

Chicken Days, Chicken Nights

There are few things that can provide more meals in one than a whole chicken. With the economy the way that it is and food prices skyrocketing the way they are, most people, it seems, are just trying to eke by until payday. Sadly, though Husband and I do well for ourselves financially, there's this little thing called identity theft. It sucks. Even when your bank catches it within an hour. I'm not even going to tell you how many thousands were gone. So, I got to reach back in my memory of being a starving waitress and trying to feed myself before I met Husband. Nothing like trying to buy a couple weeks groceries for thirty dollars, eh?

Luckily, one of our benefits from being enslaved to the government is the commissary. I've ranted about the commissary before, and don't get me wrong, if I could choose I would not shop at the one near where we're stationed, but the prices simply can not be beat. Everything is sold at cost, plus the overhead of running DECA (the commissary bigwigs). Now, before you get all "Lucky you!" and "Aww. That's not fair, what about me?" remember that I had to sit at home for 15 months while my husband was in a big ol' sandbox. Think I'd switch ya for a higher grocery bill? I'll let you decide.

My point in all of this is that grocery stores are raising prices to outrageous amounts feigning high gas prices and whatnot, even the commissaries. It's times like these that require pinching pennies and trying to get the most out of the items you can afford to buy. I was shocked walking into a civilian grocery store and seeing boneless skinless chicken thighs $3.99 per lb. And boneless skinless chicken breasts at $6.99 per lb. Outrageous! The whole chickens weren't hugely better, but at $2.19 per lb, you're saving money - plus there's so much more you can do with a whole chicken. Breasts or thighs - once you use 'em they're gone. But, a whole chicken - that's got some lasting power. So, stop buying all that pre-skinned, pre-boned, way more expensive stuff and come with me.

Following are four recipes, and three meals, using only a whole chicken and a few other ingredients, most of which I bet you've got in your kitchen.

Pantry Items

Sea Salt/Salt of some kind
Black Pepper
Flour
Butter
Dried Herbs
Eggs
Rice
Ingredients to make Pie Crust/Frozen Pie Crust

Shopping List

1 4 lb. Whole Fryer Chicken
1 box Stovetop Stuffing (or make your own at home)
1 head Celery
1 2 lb. bag Carrots
2 tins Chicken Stock
3 Onions
1 head Garlic
1 Broccoli Crown
1 Russet Potato



Roast Chicken Dinner
Serves 2

4 lb. Whole Chicken
Sea Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper
6 tablespoons Unsalted Butter, divided
1 box Stovetop Stuffing

1 cup Rice
2 cups Chicken Stock
1 tablespoon dried Sage

Preheat oven to 450 F.

Remove giblets and neck from cavity, discard or reserve for another use. Rinse chicken with cool water, inside and out. Pat dry with paper towels and let rest for ten minutes at room temperature. Season liberally with salt and pepper. Meanwhile, prepare stuffing according to directions. Fill cavity with stuffing and truss legs together. Place in oven, uncovered and cook for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and chop up remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and place pieces all over the breast and legs. Cook for 25 minutes further, basting with juices in pan every ten minutes, until bird is golden brown and registers 180 F both in center of cavity and in thigh or until a knife inserted in thigh produces clear juices.

Meanwhile, rinse rice until water runs clear, drain. Follow directions to prepare in rice cooker or place rice in saucepot with lid with the 2 cups chicken stock and dried sage. Bring to a boil for 1 minutes, cover, reduce heat to low and simmer for 25 minutes or until all liquid is absorbed and rice is tender.

Serve Roasted chicken legs, and ½ breast each, with rice and stuffing.

Shred remaining breast and thighs, plus pulling any meat possible off of the back or around the cavity. Be sure to exclude fat, skin, and ligament. Halve the shredded meat and store in refrigerator in separate containers. Save carcass for stock.

Chicken Stock

1 Chicken Carcass
2 Carrots, chopped
2 Celery Stalks, washed, chopped, leaves included
1 Onion, chopped
3 cloves Garlic, smashed
1 tablespoon Whole Black Peppercorns
1 tablespoon Sea Salt
2 Bay Leaves

Combine all ingredients in a large stock pot, add water to cover plus two inches and bring to a boil. Keep at a low boil for three hours, skimming fat and scum when necessary. Strain into a bowl, discard solids. Cover and chill overnight. Skim solidified fat off top the next morning and save for future use.

Chicken and Broccoli Pot Pie

Serves 2, with leftovers

½ Shredded Chicken Meat
2 Celery Stalks, sliced
1 Onion, chopped very fine
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 Broccoli Crown, florets and chopped stalk
1 Russet Potato, cubed
¼ cup Butter
¼ cup Flour
1 cup Chicken Stock
½ teaspoon Sea Salt
½ teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
1 Egg, beaten
1 portion pie crust/puff pastry, equal to 2 8 in. rounds

Preheat oven to 375 F

In a sauce pan over medium heat melt butter. Stir in flour and cook, stirring continuously for 1 minute. Slowly stir in chicken stock until fully incorporated. Bring to a boil, and cook, stirring continuously, for 2 minutes or until thickened. Add chicken, celery, onion, garlic, broccoli and potato. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Line an 8 in. pie plate with one portion crust, top with chicken filling, and lay second portion crust over top. Seal edges with beaten egg, pressing down with fork after to seal. Brush top with beaten egg and pierce with knife to vent. Bake for 25 minutes, or until heated through and crust is golden brown.

If desired, vegetables may be cooked/roasted separately before adding to sauce to deepen flavor.

Chicken and Rice Soup
Serves 2, with leftovers

½ Shredded Chicken Meat
Remaining Chicken Stock
2 Carrots, chopped
2 Celery Stalks, chopped
1 Onion, chopped fine
2 Garlic cloves, minced
1 cup Rice
2 tablespoons Unsalted Butter
Sea Salt and Cracked Black Pepper

In a large soup pot melt butter over medium heat. Add garlic and cook until fragrant. Add onion and cook until soft and translucent. Add celery, carrot and chicken. Cook for a further 3 minutes. Pour in chicken stock, season to taste with salt and pepper, bring to a boil. Add rice, stirring well. Boil for 1 minute, cover, reduce heat to med-low and simmer for 20 minutes or until rice is tender.

P.S. We did finally get our money back, but that was a rough two weeks. It opened my eyes to how much I really could cut back on our grocery bill if I tried a little harder. I'm already frugal, but there's always somewhere one can cut back. Even if you don't like these recipes, take a look at your receipt the next time you go grocery shopping. I bet there's a few things you could do without. Take a little time, and a little effort, and stretch that food budget like it's Jane Fonda in a Jazzercise video! I'll be making the stock tomorrow, along with the pot pie, followed by the chicken and rice soup after that - I'll prove this menu's not boring, and it's totally doable.

Curry!

Hello curry! Hi there. I'm tasty curry paste all the way from Alaska! Don't you want to eat me? Oh yes Curry! I do! I do!

So, in addition to my way awesome mom in WA, the coolest mom EVAR, way awesome MiL and GMiL in MD, and way awesome sMiL in TX, I have my way awesome Other-Mother in AK - my mom's best friend. She's not only way awesome, but equally as into all the crazy tasty bits I like to put in my mouth. You want some sushi - she's your go-to lady. By the way, her husband probably just caught that sushi off the bow of their way awesome sailboat. That they live on. In ALASKA. What's that you say? They're crazy? Perhaps yes, but crazy like cool foxes! You want some curry? She's got the perfect paste. You want a sourdough starter? She's got plenty. Need a recipe for some crazy (Insert Odd Random Country Name Here) native dish? Seriously. She's probably got it.

You may be thinking - Whoah! That's a lot of awesome ladies in one person's life. And you, my friend, would be correct. I'm one lucky bird.

This installment is all about tasty curry though. My OM in AK makes curry all the time, one day we were on the phone chatting about all different types of curry we like and she mentioned her favorite curry paste. I looked and looked for it, but much to my dismay, it could not be found. So, being the awesome OM that she is, she mailed me some. Because she's awesome. Have I said awesome enough yet?

Mae Ploy Thai curry is surely one to brag about. A problem that I frequently have is curry powder is borderline tasteless, or mainly composed of turmeric. Now, turmeric is all well and good, and especially good for you, but it doesn't taste the greatest. I've used powdered, which taste like crap, whole combos that never get ground quite fine enough so it tastes gritty, but this is my first paste. And I don't think I'll ever go back. The yellow curry I tried had strong notes of lemongrass, galangal, and coriander backlit by cinnamon, cardamom, and cumin. The ideal combo for Thai curry. Even better is there's no preservatives and no colorants of any kind added. That rates up there in my book. I do a lot of shopping at Asian markets and it seems like most everything is loaded with MSG, artificial color, and preservatives. No thank you, kind sir, I'll take my cancer-free body elsewhere. I didn't quit smoking for nothing.

I highly recommend this, just as my OM did. She's a pretty smart lady. You better listen.



Mae Ploy Chicken Curry

4 tablespoons butter
1 lb. chicken, preferably thighs, cubed
1 yellow onion, slivered very thinly
1 clove garlic, smashed with the flat of your knife
2 cups coconut milk, divided
65 grams Mae Ploy Thai Yellow Curry Paste
1 (28 oz) can tinned, petite diced tomatoes, drained of all juices through fine mesh strainer
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

Jasmine Rice to serve over

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. When hot add butter and melt. Sear the chicken meat and cook about half way through. Remove to a bowl and add onion and smashed garlic clove. Cook onion until softened, about 5 minutes. When garlic clove begins to brown, fish out and discard. Add 1 cup coconut milk curry paste. Cook, stirring, until mixture is uniform in color and paste has been completely mixed in. Add remaining cup of coconut milk. Mix thoroughly. Add chicken and tinned tomatoes. Reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes, uncovered, stirring every ten minutes, until curry has reduced and thickened. Just before serving mix in chopped cilantro and serve over jasmine rice.

Lettuce Wraps

So, I made these about a month or so ago and I haven't been able to get them out of my head.



I mean, what's better than tender chicken in a sweet-salty-vinegar-y sauce wrapped in lettuce with some fried mung bean threads and carrot matchsticks, right?

Look at this bird, it's like pornography...



Anyways, I stole this as a copycat recipe for some I had at a restaurant with a friend. I'm not going to say which restaurant unless their corporate office calls me up and forces me to. Why, you ask? Because it's shameful...downright shameful. After having had it exactly as the recipe states, I'd definitely tone down the sugar in the sauces. 1/4 cup? My ass! And that's exactly where it goes too. So, I've decided that I'm only going to use about a tablespoon of sugar and I've altered the recipe to reflect that. Hey, I'm just looking out for your health, ok? I'd much prefer enjoying the flavors themselves, not some sugary processed-tasting crap that I can get out of a bottle anywhere. Eww. I'm sure you feel the same way.

It's a fairly time consuming recipe, especially if you're like me and prefer to make each sauce one-by-one. I think it's totally worth it though. It's not mentioned in the recipe, but if I were you I'd definitely go to the extra effort of deep frying some mung bean threads. It really adds a LOT in the way of texture. Also, I nearly doubled the amount of chicken used in the recipe. The sauce recipes make a lot of sauce. I just turned the skillet up on high and poured all the stir-fry sauce in, letting it cook down and get all syrupy, coating the chicken all nice and thick-like. God these are so delicious...

Lettuce Wraps

* 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
* 1 teaspoon sesame oil
* 4 chicken breasts
* 4 scallions
* 1/4 cup minced water chestnuts
* 1/4 cup sliced almonds
* 1 - 2 heads bibb/boston/butter lettuce

Stir Fry Sauce
* 1/4 cup water
* 1 teaspoon cornstarch
* 1/3 cup soy sauce
* 2 tablespoons sugar
* 1/4 cup vinegar
* 1 tablespoon oil
* 2 teaspoons sesame seeds
* 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
* 1 teaspoon chili oil
* 1/2 teaspoon minced ginger

Sesame Ginger Dipping Sauce
* 1/4 cup water
* 3/4 teaspoon cornstarch
* 2 tablespoons sugar
* 1/3 cup vinegar
* 1/4 cup soy sauce
* 1 teaspoon minced ginger
* 1 teaspoon oil
* 1/2 teaspoon sesame seeds
* 1/4 teaspoon minced garlic
* 1 dash red pepper flakes

Peanut Dipping Sauce
* 1/2 cup peanut butter
* 1/3 cup water
* 2 tablespoons vinegar
* 1/2 teaspoon minced ginger
* 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
* 2 tablespoons sugar
* 1/4 teaspoon minced garlic
* 1/2 teaspoon chili oil
* 1/2 teaspoon oil
* 1 tablespoon brown sugar

Stir-Fry Sauce

1. Combine water and cornstarch and stir until cornstarch is dissolved.

2. Add this to the other stir fry sauce ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat.

3. Bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer till thick.

Sesame-Ginger Dipping Sauce

4. Combine water and cornstarch into a slurry.

5. Combine the slurry with the other dipping sauce ingredients in small pan over medium heat.

6. Bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 2 minutes.

Peanut Dipping Sauce

7. Combine ingredients in a pan over medium low heat.

8. Heat while whisking until sauce becomes smooth.

9. Remove from heat when done.

Chicken Filling

10. Heat 1 Tbsp of oil in a large skillet over medium heat.

11. Cook chicken breasts until done, turning every couple of minutes Remove to a cutting board and slice it into strips with a sharp knife.

12. Keep the pan hot.

13. Put chicken back in the same pan over medium/high heat, and add water chestnuts.

14. Heat for 1 minute.

15. Add 5 Tbsp of stir fry sauce to the chicken and heat for 2 minutes, stirring often.

16. The sauce should be bubbly.

17. Add the sliced green onions and stir.

18. The chicken is done.

19. Spoon on to lettuce.

20. Serve with the dipping sauces on the side.