Gregg’s Italian Chicken with Orzo!

I was looking for something new to try in the kitchen, and lo and behold, my friend Gregg sent me a recipe that he thought I would like. Taking the list of ingredients, I headed off to the grocery store. I made this for dinner last night and received rave reviews and was told that the recipe was a “do again.” So come on into my kitchen so I can share with you Gregg’s Italian Chicken with Orzo! Here is a preview:

Preview!

Ingredients
6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite size pieces
6 oz. baby bella mushrooms, sliced
1 tomato, peeled and cut into chunks
1 can artichoke hearts, drained and quartered
6 cloves of garlic, minced
1 small white onion, chopped finely
1 tsp lemon pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 lemon, juiced
1/2 cup Sherry
2 TBS butter
Orzo pasta
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
6 fresh basil leaves, sliced

Gratuitous shot of the ingredients

Gather all of your ingredients and prepare as noted above. In a large saute pan, heat the olive oil. When hot, add the chicken, the lemon pepper, garlic and onion powders. Cook until the chicken is just done.

Chicken and spices cooking in olive oil

Remove it from the pan and set aside. Add to the pan, the mushrooms, tomato, artichoke hearts, onion and garlic. Cook over medium heat until the onion becomes transparent.

Artichokes, mushrooms, onion and tomatoes added to the pan

Add the lemon juice, Sherry and butter.

Add in the lemon juice and sherry

Stir to combine and simmer for 15 minutes. While this is cooking prepare your Orzo. I used a little over a half a box following the cooking directions as noted. Drain the pasta when done. By this time, the vegetable mixture should be done. Add back the chicken, add the orzo and cook until hot. Then add in the cheese, stirring to melt the cheese. Remove from the heat. Serve this up in a pasta bowl, and top with the shredded basil.

Dinner is served!

Dinner is served!

Now I did make a change to this recipe. Gregg uses 3 oz. of sun dried tomatoes. I am not really fond of them so I used fresh tomato instead.

This dish was very yummy and my house smelled just like an Italian Kitchen! Let me know if you try this wonderful recipe and how you liked it and I will pass the word on to Gregg!

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What a Spicy Chicken Soup!

With the cold temperatures, we need hot soup! In my head, I can hear an echo of words from the blog site of Conor Bofin at One Man’s Meat, regarding ingredients and how wonderful it is that you can look on the internet to find something to do with the ingredients you have on hand. Sorry, Conor, but I cannot find the post where you said this, but you said it. So here I am with chicken, hot Italian sausage, and fresh spinach, and it what the heck do I do with this? I looked on the internet and no one has made a soup like the one featured in this post! So, here is a new soup recipe, nothing like anyone has done before! It is not only extremely tasty but easy to make! And you know I like easy! Want a preview? OK, only because you said please…

Preview!

Ingredients
1# Hot Italian sausage
3 stalks of celery, chopped
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 shallot, chopped finely
6 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
1/2 stick of butter
1/2 cup of white wine
6 14.5 oz cans of low sodium chicken broth
2 cups of cooked chicken, cut into chunks
1/2 tsp. white pepper
1 tsp. dried thyme leaves
3/4 cup frozen peas
1 1/2 cup of chunky cut baby portabella mushrooms
1/4 cup of fresh dill finely chopped
1/4 tsp. celery seed
12 oz. frozen artichoke hearts, defrosted
1 package of pre-washed spinach
Salt and pepper to taste
Parmesan cheese, shredded

I start by cooking up the sausage so that I can cook most of the fat out of it. Stir the sausage to get it nicely browned.

Pre-cooked hot Italian sausage

When the sausage is done, drain on paper towel and dab with another sheet of paper towel to remove surface grease.

While this is cooking get your mirepox veges ready, plus the garlic. A mirepox, in case you might be new to cooking, is a combo of onion, carrots and celery…In a soup pot add the butter and the mirepox veges plus the garlic. The secret to a good mirepox is to leave it alone. Heat over medium high heat and let it brown on one side before you even stir it.

Mirepox set to caramelize

When the mirepox is done, add the wine and enjoy the aromas as they rise up to fill the kitchen! As the wine cooks down, stir,  and then slowly add the chicken broth. Next add the cooked chicken, the white pepper, thyme, peas, baby bellas, dill and celery seed. Bring this up to a boil, and then reduce to a slow simmer. Cook this up for about a 45 minutes, and then add the artichoke hearts.

Add to the artichokes

Bring this back to a boil, and cook another 15 minutes. Then add the spinach leaves, stirring until they are just wilted.

After adding the spinach…

Turn the heat off.

Serve this up in a soup bowl, top with a bit of Parmesan…and enjoy!

Soup’s on!

Joe, are you jealous of the meal P has been served? Just wondering!

This is well worth the effort it takes to make, which is not all that much. It you decide to try this recipe, let me know how it turns out for you!

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Chicken Cacciatore

I dug out my recipe for chicken cacciatore. There is nothing like the aromas of cooking with a hearty red wine drifting throughout the house! I realized that it has been too long since I made this dish! This is a dish that originated in Italy, and the word “cacciatore” means “hunter’s style.” It can be made not only with chicken but rabbit as well. So let’s head off into the kitchen!

Ingredients
Chicken
Flour
Garlic powder
Hungarian paprika
Salt and pepper
3 TBS butter
5 TBS Extra virgin olive oil
5 cloves of minced garlic
1 onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
2 cans of tomatoes
1 TBS tomato paste
1 cup of dry red wine
One healthy pinch of oregano and one of thyme
2 TBS parsley
2 cups of fresh mushrooms, cleaned and sliced

Give yourself about 2 1/2 hours to make this dish. Start by washing and drying the chicken. Next mix the flour with the a bit of garlic powder, paprika, salt and pepper in a bag, and shake to combine. Add the chicken and shake. Set aside.

In a skillet heat the olive oil, butter and minced garlic. As the aromas raise to capture your nose it its grip, add the chicken skin side down and scatter with the onion and bell pepper.

Brown the chicken and onions

My bell, unfortunately, had a critter living inside, so I had to do without it – and this was OK too. Brown the chicken on both sides.

Doesn’t that look lovely?

After the chicken browns, add the tomatoes, tomato paste, red wine, and herbs.

Tomatoes, wine and spices added

Bring this up to a gentle boil, then turn the heat to low and simmer for one hour. Stir this periodically turning the chicken.

Stir periodically and enjoy the aromas

After an hour, add the mushrooms and combine.

Mushrooms added

Continue to simmer for another half hour.

When dinner is ready, serve this dish over pasta. I actually take some of the sauce from the pan and add it to the pasta until it is well coated with the sauce. Then I plate this, adding the chicken on top and a bit of Parmesan too!

Dinner is served!

Don’t forget your green vegetable!

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