Take a trip to Mexico with an added a twist to your family’s typical taco night. These are delicious Smoky Chicken Enchiladas with ingredients that you can easily find in the international section of the supermarket. Serve with fresh sautéed vegetables, sour cream, and guacamole.
Smoky Chicken Enchiladas with sautéed veggies
The reasoning behind the name of my blog, the 5 o’clock rush came to true fruition last night. As I was driving the kids to their music lessons, my DS asked me, “What is for dinner?” I drew a BLANK. I knew that dinner tonight had to be fast and easy so I could be fed and at Advanced Hockey Training for 730pm without that full belly feeling. FYI Lessons are at 5pm LOL!
En route to lessons, we passed Boston Pizza restaurant and that is when it hit me. I have always enjoyed a baked pasta dish with shrimp and feta. And I have the largest feta supply from a recent trip to Costco. 😉
Switching up a few ingredients……Dinner is done! WHEW!
Baked Chicken, Bacon and Feta Farfalle
What ingredient always makes a recipe better? BACON! Everything always seems to taste better if you add bacon. 😀
Honey Glazed Chicken Cigars with Bok Choy, Broccoli and Saute Pineapple
As I spent the weekend browsing through the food blogs and Instagram accounts that I follow, I came across the mention of Jamie Oliver’s infamous recipe for “Chicken in Milk” as the best chicken dish they had ever tasted.
Chicken cooked in Milk!? Really?
When you look at the components of the recipe it is quite a peculiar combination. Lemons, cinnamon, sage and milk.
OK Lets do this….
Prep: approx. 15 min
Cook: 1 hr 40 min
Chicken in Milk served with mashed potatoes and sautéed spinach
Assembling the ingredients
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F, and find a snug-fitting covered pot for the chicken. (I used my Oval French Oven | Le Creuset Canada )
Season the chicken very generously all over with salt and pepper, and fry it in the butter/olive oil, turning it to get an even colour all over, until golden.
The tasty goodness at the bottom of the pan can be used to lightly saute the onions.
Add the remaining ingredients and place your chicken back in the pot, and cook covered in the preheated oven for 1 hour.
Braised Chicken
Baste with the cooking juice when you remember. Cook under covered for the last 40 minutes of cooking.
The lemon zest will sort of split the milk, leaving little curds bathed in chicken juices, and not homogenized; this appearance is less appealing. Remove the cinnamon sticks, and used an immersion hand blender to make sauce infused with lemon and balanced with an aromatic flavour from the cinnamon and sage.
To serve, pull the meat off the bones and divide it on to your plates. Spoon over plenty of the lemony sauce over the chicken.
Serve with wilted spinach and some mashed potatoes. And a crusty baguette would be great to sop up the delicious sauce.
Chicken in Milk with sauteed Spinach, grilled Asparagus, smashed potatoes in a Lemony Corn Sauce
Tip: Make sure that you season the chicken very generously. Any extra time that you take to brown the chicken on ALL sides will embark more flavour in the end product. Try to achieve a deep golden colour on the skin.
The next time I make this I will also add the juice of 1 lemon for an added kick. 😉
I love my CUISINART CANADA Breakfast Central™ Waffle/Omelette Maker WAF-600C so I was searching for a savoury recipe for waffles that would put it to use. Chicken and waffles is a great southern classic and is a dinner I always wanted to try it on the family. 😉
There are many versions of this classic available on the web. My search began with a chicken that had the attributes of being “fried” but did not involve a molten pot of oil on my stove. And there are many recipes to cook chicken with a crispy crunchy skin that didn’t involve a deep fryer. But the thought of a Maple Gravy in this recipe that I adapted below had my taste buds curious.
Baked Fried Chicken and Pumpkin Herbed Cheddar Waffles with Maple Gravy
Battered Chicken Pieces on baking rack
Place chicken and buttermilk in a container, cover and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 425°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil. Set a wire rack on the baking sheet and coat it with cooking spray.
Whisk together the remaining ingredients in a small bowl. Place this flour mixture in a paper bag or large sealable plastic bag. Place one piece of chicken in the bag and toss to coat. Shake off excess flour and place the chicken on the prepared rack. Repeat with remaining chicken pieces. Discard any leftover flour mixture and buttermilk marinade. Lightly coat chicken with cooking spray.
Mmmm Waffles
Preheat the waffle iron to medium-high heat.
Make a roux.
Start by melting the 3 tablespoons of butter in a pan over medium heat.
When the butter melts and turns frothy, stir in the 3 tablespoons of all-purpose flour. You can use either a wooden spoon or a whisk.
As you continue to stir flour into the butter, you’ll see that a thick paste is forming stir constantly 2-3 minutes until flour turns golden brown. Slowly whisk in heated stock. Over medium-high heat, bring to a boil, stirring constantly until gravy thickens (about 10 minutes). Season with salt and pepper to taste, then stir in syrup. Reduce heat to low until ready to serve.
TO ASSEMBLE CHICKEN & WAFFLES: Cut waffles into halves or fourths. Stack waffle sections and top with chicken pieces then drizzle with copious amounts of maple gravy. Garnish with fresh chopped thyme and/or chives, if desired.
Assembled Chicken and Waffles dinner
the 5 o'clock rush 