Cast Iron & What to do with lots of Chicken

This post may be a little bit stranger than my average post and well... we're all strange but strange is relative... lol

ok
Lots of chicken to cook 'whole cut up frozen chicken 4-5 lbs' worth of lots of chicken to cook.

1/2 of it gets browned in a cast iron dutch oven with only 1 T olive oil and a chopped clove of garlic and all the chicken gets salted and peppered as it browns.  Then put the lid on the dutch oven and put it in a preheated 350 degree oven for 1 hour.

Looks like this when it comes out


and chicken like this needs rice and gravy




and stir fried veggies


the rest of the chicken went in this pot


and got turned into soup, chicken salad sandwiches, and added to bread pizza

the soup used the leftover rice and stir fried veggies too :)

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Chicken Quesadilla

This was just thrown together out of leftovers from a Chicken dinner consisting of Chicken tenders browned in a pan with a nice little sauce, sauteed peppers and onions, and portobello mushrooms.

The leftovers:

Leftover Chicken, peppers, onions & mushrooms are chopped on a gourmet spinach and vegetable flour tortilla, then topped with the shredded cheese and another tortilla, microwave for 1 minute, cut in fourth's or eighth's. Enjoy.

Last nights dinner - Indoor grilled Chicken w/gifts from the garden in December...

Ok this is the whole dinner, not just the chicken...

so anyway the Chicken was coated with balsamic vinaigrette salad dressing and then sprinkled with the california style garlic salt, fresh ground peppercorns and sea salt, then grilled indoors, for which you do need an indoor grill and a place next to a window or an exhaust fan of whatever kind.... you can see my ugly one behind/above the stove...



so once the chicken is almost done, and you don't want the outside to get any crunchier... I unplug the grill and put an aluminum foil tent over the chicken so it continues to cook for a little while - while I'm working on other stuff....



so I had baked potato's in the oven and I like mine with crunchy hulls so I cook them longer than most people do... :) - so anyway I went outside to see if there were any chives left for this year, and got the very last of them til they come back out next spring.... :) I love my chives, especially when they bloom - you can eat those blooms too :). so here's the potato's with the last of the fresh chives for this year



while I was out getting the chives I found some other goodies...
the parsley was surviving in spite of drought and neglect...



not only that, but there were green onions to be had...



now the last part was just a simple frozen green giant vegetable medley, done in the marvelous microwave and spooned right out of the package it was cooked in... :)



then I added a little bowl of ranch dressing dip, a green onion, and some fresh cut carrot sticks that I had been munching on while I cooked :)

and dinner turned out really great



oh yeah and a few sprigs of the surviving flat leaved italian parsley, I like it so much better than the curly variety :)

Stuffing Baked Chicken

3 boneless chicken breasts

1 stuffing mix (I used italian)

clove of garlic

1/3 c butter

tsp lemon juice or juice from 1/2 fresh lemon (optional)

salt, pepper

preheat oven to 350°

divide stuffing mix in half - set aside 1/2 (prepare other 1/2 as directed cutting other ing. by 1/2)

spray glass pan with pam, add butter and put pan in oven til butter melts, remove pan from oven, chop garlic into butter and add lemon juice if desired, dip both sides of chicken in butter and add to pan. Add salt and pepper (you could also add other herbs here - chopped fresh chives, a sprinkle of oregano...) sprinkle the chicken with the set aside stuffing mix and then sprinkle generously(but not too much) with the good(fresh - not the powdery kind) 3 cheese parmesan/romano/asiago kraft shredded cheese blend. Bake for 40 min to 1hr or more depending on the size of chicken pieces. I have also used bone in breasts before, works great just make sure you cook the chicken long enough. Add a salad, makes a great fairly easy dinner.

Note: I usually like this crunchy - hence no added water once it's all in the pan, If I am sharing with others or not wanting it so crunchy you can add some water up to the amount appropriate for 1/2 pack of stuffing

Chicken Ravioli Soup

I got this from a free walmart calendar. My version went like this: I started with a raw, frozen chicken breast in a small soup pot filled with water, cooked the chicken with a clove of chopped garlic and about 1 small sliced onion, added 1 cube of chicken bouillon, removed the chicken when cooked and pulled it into pieces and returned to the pot. Added two heaping tablespoons of vegetable dip & soup mix, brought to a boil, and added about 12 - 16 cheese ravioli's, turn down to about 3 not all the way to low to simmer til ravioli is done. Was good :)

Chicken skillet

nothing like making it all up as you go along

ingredients:

1 large boneless skinless chicken breast

1 carrot, long angled slices cut in half

1 garlic clove, chopped small

1 tbsp olive oil

2 sm to med green onions chopped

1 tbsp chopped fresh chives

1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

1 large tbsp veg. dip & soup mix

1/2 c rice

~1 tsp cajun spice blend or whatever u prefer

1 c water

salt & pepper to taste

heat oil & garlic, med to med high - cut chicken into chunks, add to skillet, add cajun spice, salt & pepper to taste - once chicken is no longer pink add carrots, cook and stir for another minute or 2, then add the rice and the dip mix, stir well until rice is coated well, add water - bring skillet to a boil, reduce heat to low - med low - cover & cook for 20 - 25 min

stir in chopped onion, chives, & parsley before serving