Chicken Piccata Recipe from the Castle Farm Cookbook

Oh, chicken piccata, how I love you. Before there was the castle farm cookbook, or even the castle farm, there was just a cow and a pig learning to cook. And one of the first things we learned to make was this delicious chicken piccata.

If you've never had chicken piccata before, you should know that chicken piccata is what cows dreams are made of (along with grass, grassy hills, grazing on grassy hills, mooing, and cute pigs).

Luckily, it's quite simple to make.

ingredients 

• 2 4-oz flat chicken breast peices
• some flour
• some salt, lemon pepper, and lemon peel
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1/3 c. lemon juice
• 1/3 c. white wine
• pasta

* this gives us enough sauce to dip baguette in the leftover. If you want to make more or less of this easy recipe, just keep the proportion of lemon juice/wine even.

instructions

1. Put some flour in a shallow dish, sprinkle with seasonings. we never measure and are pretty liberal with the seasonings.
2. Dip chickens in the flour.
3. Melt butter in a skillet. cook chicken over medium-low heat until no longer pink.  See how pretty it is now?
4. Remove chicken from the skillet. add wine and lemon juice. stir, scraping up the bits, and bring to a simmer. let it simmer a minute or two.
5. Serve, by pouring sauce over chicken and pasta. garnish with parsley.

Yields: 2 servings

Perhaps now you can see this is why I dream about chicken piccata. It's really beautiful, isn't it?

Moo!

Once upon a time there was... Crockpot Chicken Enchiladas

We have one more recipe left to share from our October Greek Week, but it's going to take a while to finish. Rather than leave you hanging again, we have a great simple recipe for crockpot chicken enchiladas.

We first discovered these at Samster Mommy - her recipe looked so delicious and easy that it inspired us to give it a try. We combined hers with the one on the enchilada can and some new ideas of our own to create this Castle Farm version. This is a really great weeknight recipe and it makes fantastic leftovers for lunch all week!

Once upon a time there was... Pretzel-Crusted Chicken Breasts with Cheddar-Mustard Sauce

This is one of our all-time favorite recipes. As you may be aware, we really enjoy smothering things in cheese. And it just so happens that this recipe makes a giant pot of cheese that can be used for smothering! Rachael Ray is behind this terrific idea - we've only slightly adapted her recipe.

Once upon a time there was... Summer Roasted Chicken

Well Castle Farm Cookbook readers, we're back! Did you miss our cute faces and delicious recipes? I bet you did! Well, we missed you, too! We had a long, unannounced, unexpected summer break from our blogging. We took several vacations (an International Tour of America, a Baltic Cruise, and a Poconos weekend) and we moved (still outside the beltway in DC). We're 90% unpacked at the new Castle Farm, so now its time to get back to blogging.

For our first new recipe, we decided to make a summer roasted chicken. During the summer, we do not often consider roasting chickens - it's a very fall thing to do. But we added some lemon, basil and thyme instead of apples and potatoes, and now its a summery meal. This recipe is a Castle Farm original! We're also pairing this one with some prepared potato and macaroni salads to complete our summer meal.

Once upon a time there was... Creamy Baked Chicken with Almonds

This recipe used to be called Baked Almond Chicken.  (We adapted it from Taste of Home.)  Whenever we scanned our recipe binder for what to make, we would glance over it, thinking it was chicken dipped in crushed almonds and baked.  In fact, it is something completely different! So, we have renamed it so that we can remember how yummy and unique it actually is!

Once upon a time there was... Lemon Dijon Chicken

Today we have a delicious, quick, easy, healthy chicken recipe.  You never can have too many! We originally found this one at All-ChickenRecipes, we adapted it slightly, and it has become a staple at the Castle Farm.  The ingredients listed below are enough for 6 chicken breasts.  We usually 1/2 them since we are only making 2.

Once upon a time there was... Hellenistic Chicken

We found a recipe called Greek Chicken.  Being experts in Greek cooking, we don't really think its very Greek.  However, it is generally Mediterranean-ish, so we've re-branded it Hellenistic Chicken.  Whatever you call it, it is delicious.

We try to give credit to our sources as best we can, but this is another instance of we found it online a long time ago and haven't been able to re-google it back.  So if you know where it came from, we'll be happy to give credit.

Once upon a time there was... Italian Pesto Chicken

This dinner is super impressive.  There is something about food that's rolled up that says "look how fancy I cook and how obviously skilled I am".  So if you are trying to impress someone or just like food thats pretty to look at, give this one a try.  This recipe is adapted from Jean May's cookbook titled "Chicken".

ingredients
2 chicken breasts
2 Tbsp sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained and chopped
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 c white wine
3.5 oz chopped tomato (fresh or canned)
2 Tbsp pesto

Once upon a time there was... Chicken Satay Lettuce Wraps

Wrapping food in lettuce just makes it seem so much healthier. "Yes waiter, I'll have the large soda, fries, and bacon double cheeseburger - but could you sub a lettuce wrap for the roll? I'm on a diet. " That's my kind of diet.

So now take an already pretty healthy meal, like chicken satay, and wrap it in lettuce, and you've got a super healthy dinner! Cornelius and I didn't invent this concept, but we did invent this exact variation. It's a mess to eat, and it's time consuming to make - but it is also delicious and healthy! (it's wrapped in lettuce, isn't it?)

Once upon a time there was... Sage Butter Chicken

Here is a new recipe for a great quick weeknight meal.  We decided it should have a dollop of some kind of sauce - it will be up to you, Castle Farm Cookbook readers, to help us decide what that should be.  We will include our thoughts on future adaptations.  

We saw a few variations of this recipe but we sufficiently changed them so we're going to consider this one our own.  So here it is, Sage Butter Chicken du Cornelius.

Once upon a time there was... Teriyaki Chicken and Pineapple Skewers

We never grow tired of food on sticks.  You can use the skewers for swordfighting, javelin tournaments, or poking unruly cows! Or you can make this yummy dinner.  But you don't have to make this difficult choice - just buy lots of sticks.  We found this recipe on Cooks.com and made some modifications, (most notably not killing you with chicken-diseased marinade).  It is great served with rice, or its a very filling meal even without.  This serves 4.

ingredients
1/3 c dry white wine
1/3 c peanut oil
1/3 c teriyaki sauce
1/2 tsp dried thyme
3 cloves garlic
1/4 tsp dried ginger
1 lb chicken breast, cut into 1" chunks
1 whole pineapple, cut in chunks
as many sugar snap peas as you will eat
bamboo skewers

instructions


1. whisk together first 6 ingredients in a bowl.  Reserve some marinade to brush over finished chicken (about 1/4 c).

Cornelius' tip: See, this is us saving you from certain death! Never eat marinade that your raw chicken has sat in unless you cook it first!

Put chicken and marinade in a covered dish, stir to coat, and marinate 4 hours to overnight.

2. Create beautiful skewers by putting chicken, pineapple, and snap peas on sticks.

Cornelius' tip: Patterns are fun!  Try chicken-pea-pineapple, then chicken-chicken-pea-pea, then pineapple-pea-chicken-pea, etc.  

Cornelius' other tip: You can use the marinade to brush over the raw skewers now (since you still haven't cooked them).

3. Grill them!  It should take about 4 min per side.  Make sure to flip so things don't get stuck.

4. Brush them with reserved marinade - now eat them!!!

Yes, these were as delicious as they look.

As for nutritional information, we don't really know what to enter into the calculator. . .  We make a full cup of the marinade but the food doesn't absorb nearly all of it, but then how much do we eat? We have no idea.  So we are going to have to accept that this is a healthy meal of unknown calories.

pig, out.

Once upon a time there was... Garlic Chicken Mozzarella

We found this recipe on a can of Contadina diced tomatoes.  If you've never checked out their site (or the sides of their tomato cans), you should because they seem to always have yummy food ideas.  Our only issue with them is that they always need more seasonings than they say - so, season away! Seriously, don't be modest with your seasonings, there is a lot of chicken and tomatoes.

This meal is great for a weeknight (easy and fast), healthy, and also reheats well for lunch.  This is not a new recipe for us, but since we are doing the whole "eat healthier thing", its a good one.  You can serve this with pasta and garlic bread (for maximum deliciousness), whole wheat pasta (a slightly healthier option), or some veggies (for maximum healthiness).

ingredients

1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes (with seasonings of your choice)

1 8 oz can tomato sauce

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

4 4-oz chicken breasts

4 slices mozzarella cheese

seasonings (garlic powder, oregano, salt, pepper) to taste

instructions

1. Cook chicken in oil, flipping once, until browned.

Cornelius' tip: drawing pictures with oil is fun!

2. pour diced tomatoes, sauce, and seasonings over the chicken.  bring to a boil.

3. Reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes or until chicken will no longer kill you or make you very sick or even a little sick.

4.  Place 1 cheese slice over each chicken .  Cover and cook just a minute until cheese is melty.

Delicious!

 And now introducing our newst feature, nutritional information!  We can do this courtesy of SparkRecipes.com, which has a recipe calculator we've used for years.  Keep in mind that your exact info will vary based on the brands you choose and of course how well you measure. Info does not include a side dish.

Well that was yummy! And it was also one of our fasting postings ever - we just had that for dinner tonight!

pig, out.

Once upon a time there was... Pasta with Chicken and Gorgonzola Sauce

This will be a pretty quick post because it's a pretty quick meal.  This is a nice dish to make for a weeknight.  Its simple and has a very different taste from your average pasta with chicken meal.  If you like the gorgonzola, you will like this.

(serves 2)
pasta ingredients

3 Tbsp butter

2 Tbsp crumbled gorgonzola cheese

1 green onion, minced

1 clove garlic, minced
4 oz pasta
salt and pepper to taste

chicken ingredients

8 oz chicken breast

1 egg

1/2 c bread crumbs

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp butter

1/4 c parmesan cheese

1 tsp garlic powder

instructions

1. prepare the chickens. cut chicken into 1" chunks. Whisk egg into a shallow dish. Combine bread crumbs, parmesan, and garlic powder in another shallow dish. Dip chicken in egg then coat with crumb mixture.

Now your chickens will look like this:

2. cook your pasta according to package directions.

Cornelius' tip: we like to measure our pasta. 2 oz (uncooked) is a serving.

3. cook your chickens. heat oil and butter in a frying pan. Add chicken and cook, flipping as necessary, until golden.

4. make sauce. When the chicken and pasta are almost done, combine onion, gorgonzola, garlic, and butter in a small saucepan. Cook over medium-low, until ingredients are heated and combined. Add salt and pepper to taste.

5. combine sauce and pasta. top with chicken.

pig, out.

Once upon a time there was... Feta Stuffed Chicken

Cal and I sort of made up this chicken as we went along.  We've done similar things before (i.e. stuffed meat with cheese) but we were not exactly in a recipe following kind of mood.  We paired this with a rice pilaf (see the next post for instructions).

ingredients
8 oz chicken breast
1/3 c feta cheese
2 Tbsp tomato based spread (this is the one that we used, we think a bruschetta filling would work well too)

1 Tbsp olive oil

mint, oregano, salt and pepper to taste

instructions
1. preheat oven to 400.
2. butterfly chicken breast.  spread your spread inside.

3. stuff with feta.  1/3 c is a guess.  we recommend putting as much as will fit into your chicken.

4. drizzle with olive oil.  sprinkle with seasonings.  we weren't exactly using measuring devices on this one.

5. bake 20-30 min, until juices run clear and the chicken will no longer cause you to die.

6. also be making rice pilaf (see next post). eat that too.

of course it was delicious! no further comments.  pig, out.

Once upon a time there was... Parmesan Chicken

Parmesan Chicken is not Chicken Parmesan.  There is no tomato sauce, no mozzarella cheese, and no crispy breading - actually there is crispy breading, but you get the idea - this is nothing like the classic italian dish.  We figured we should make this very clear prior to reading so you would not get all excited about chicken parmesan.  But you should be excited!  This is a great weeknight dish that is in our rotation.  (And someday we'll post our famous chicken parmesan too.)  This recipe is orginally from Linda Larsen at about.com.

ingredients
8 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/2 c dijon mustard
1/4 c apple juice
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 c breadcrumbs
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 tsp dried basil
2 Tbsp melted butter
salt and pepper

instructions
1.  preheat the oven to 375.

2. combine mustard, apple juice and garlic in one shallow pan.  combine crumbs, cheese, basil, melted butter, salt and pepper in the other.  coat chicken in mustard pan, then roll it in the crumb pan.

3. place chicken in lined pan and bake 20-30 min until fully cooked

And so you will see that this is a great weeknight meal worthy of repeating many, many times.

Pig, out.

Once upon a time there was... Chicken and Apricot Phyllo Pie

On Monday, Cal and I had off of our day jobs, so we decided to make something complicated. When I think of complicated, I think of phyllo pastry dough. And when I think of phyllo pastry dough, i think of the ghost petit fours I tried (and failed) to make for Halloween one year. Since then, we've improved our phyllo skills, so we've decided to attempt Chicken and Apricot Phyllo Pie from our Mediterranean Food of the Sun cookbook. This recipe took 2 hours to make, including a solid 45 min of prep work, so consider yourselves warned Castle Farm Cookbook blog readers - this recipe is a project!

Cornelius' Note: on our first trip to Wegmans we could not find Bulgur Wheat. We later disovered that Taboule (pictured below) is bulgur wheat in disguise. Even if you are tempted to use something else, we recommend sticking with the b.w. because it really just takes on the flavor of the rest of the dish.

Another Cornelius' Note: Considering how much stuff has to be chopped, minced, diced, and otherwise made smaller, we recommend doing all of that before you begin, not as you go. See pic below of us exhausted from all that work.

ingredients

1 lb chicken, minced

1 onion, diced

3 oz (1/2 c) bulgur wheat

3 oz dried apricot, diced

1 oz (1/4 c) almonds, chopped

2 oz (1/4 c) greek yogurt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp allspice

1 Tbsp fresh chives

2 Tbsp fresh parsley

salt, pepper

6 Tbsp butter

10 sheets phyllo pastry dough

instructions

1. put bulgur wheat in 1 c hot water. set aside until all water is absorbed, about 15 min.

2. melt 2 Tbsp butter. Add chicken and onion. Cook until golden brown.

3. add bulgur what, apricot, and almonds to the pan. cook 2 min.

4. remove from heat. stir in yogurt, cinnamon, chives, parsley, and salt/pepper to taste.

5. preheat oven to 400.

6. Melt remaining 4 Tbsp butter.

Cornelius' Tip: Phyllo is tricky. Make sure to follow package thawing instructions. Remove 10 sheets from package and cover with clean, damp towel. As you use the phyllo, be sure to keep the remainder covered - it hardens and cracks easily.

7. Cut the phyllo into 10" circles. We used a bowl and a pearing knife.

8. Place a sheet of the phyllo into the bottom of a round 9" tin. Brush melted butter over dough. repeat with 2 more slices.

9. pour chicken mixture into pan.

10. layer 3 more sheets of phyllo on top of chicken, buttering with each sheet.

11. crumple remaining sheets of phyllo on the top of the pan and drizzle rest of butter on top.

12. Bake 30 min or until golden. Cool on wire rack.

Despite all the time, Cal and I definitely think this dish was worth the effort! It had a very unique, yummy flavor (and looks pretty impressive too!) When we reheated it to eat more, we were sad that the phyllo crust lost its crispiness. The flavor was still very nice but we recommend eating the entire pie at once. After spending 2+ hours making it, this should not be difficult. We also made some pita and dip to go with it (coming soon!).

Once again, the recipe is from Mediterranean Food of the Sun cookbook, by Jacqueline Clark and Joanna Farrow.

Pig, out.