Country Sun-Dried Chicken

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 T. butter

1 T. Olive oil

Flour ¼ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. pepper

1 cup heavy cream

3 shallots, minced

1 3oz. pkg. cream cheese

2 cloves, minced

Handful sun-dried tomatoes, hydrated, minced

2 T. lemon juice

crumbled bacon

Directions:  Dip chicken breast halves in mixture of flour, salt, pepper.  Make sure to 

lightly coat both sides.  Warm olive oil and butter in a skillet over medium heat.  

Cook chicken 6-7 minutes, or until no longer pink, turning once.  Remove and keep 

warm.  Add cream to the skillet, raise heat to medium-high and stir, scraping up 

browned bits sticking to the bottom of the pan.  Add shallots, garlic, tomatoes, and 

bacon, to taste.  Cook 2 minutes; stirring frequently, or until cream thickens.  Add 

cream cheese, stirring frequently until melted.  Stir in lemon juice and season with 

more salt and pepper to taste.  Spoon mixture over chicken to serve.

Comment:  Good with rice.

Chicken & Noodle Dumplings

10-12 cups water

1 whole chicken, cut up with bones

1 ½ tsp. salt

2 bay leaves

1 small onion, chopped

3 stalks celery, chopped

1 cup carrots, chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

6 parsley leaves, chopped

1 T. lemon juice

Dumplings

2 ½ cups flour                     1 ¼ tsp. salt

1 T. baking powder             1 cup + 2T. milk                        

Directions:  Bring the water to a boil in a large pot.  Add the chicken, ensuring that the chicken is fully covered.  Add salt, onion, celery, carrots, garlic, bay leaves, and parsley to the pot.  Reduce heat to simmer and cook the chicken, uncovered, for 2 hours.  The liquid will reduce by one-third.

When the chicken has cooked, remove from stock.  Debone.  Try to keep chicken in larger pieces and return to stock.  Add lemon juice.  Salt and pepper to taste.

Begin dumplings.  Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and milk in a medium bowl.  Stir well until smooth.  Sometimes needs more flour.  Let the dough rest 10 minutes.  Roll the dough out onto a floured surface to about ½” thickness.

Cut the dough into small squares (use pizza cutter) or use a biscuit cookie cutter for small round dumplings.  Drop the dough into the simmer stock.  Use all of the dough.  Dumplings will first swell and then slowly shrink as they partially dissolve to thicken the stock.  Simmer for 30 minutes until thick. Stir often.  Remove bay leaves.  Serve.

Comment:  From Cracker Barrel.  If you want thicker stock, add milk/flour combination to the broth ..

Cajun Spicy Poultry Injection

2 T. Worcestershire sauce

¼ cup apple cider

1 T. liquid crab/shrimp boil

¾ cup honey

1 T. ground allspice

1 T. salt

½ cup Creole seasoning

2 tsp. pepper

¼ tsp. cayenne pepper

1 beer

½ cup olive oil

4 T. Kosher salt

1 to 2 cups chicken stock

¼ cup minced garlic

Shots of Tabasco

Directions:  Mix all ingredients together.  Place in a blender or food processor and 

process to make as smooth as possible for injection. May need to lightly heat after 

processing to ensure honey blends in, but not always.  

Inject the bird liberally, trying not to break the skin.  Use as much of the spicy liquid 

as desired for your family’s spice tolerance and given the size of the bird.  When 

making in the oven, you can reserve some liquid for basting.  

Comment:  This is the template.  Feel free to substitute.  It can be difficult to find the 

crab/shrimp boil, and I’m not sure anyone ever notices. Garlic powder can be 

substituted for the minced garlic.  The key to the heat is the cayenne and black 

pepper and the Tabasco.

Turkey Brine

1 cup Kosher salt

1 cup brown sugar

2 gallons cold water

2 oranges, quartered

2 lemons, quartered

6 sprigs thyme

4 sprigs rosemary

Directions:  Dissolve the salt and sugar in 2 gallons cold water.  Add the oranges, 

lemons, thyme, and rosemary.  If you have a big turkey and need more brine, use ½ 

cup salt and ½ cup sugar for every gallon of water.  Brine the turkey overnight.

Comment:  Option to add a beer to the brine.  Sometimes it helps to place a heavy 

plate on top of the turkey to keep it submerged.

Marinated Chicken with Greens

Chicken

½ cup olive oil  

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 shallots, sliced

1 tsp. rosemary

¼ cup + 3 T. Balsamic vinegar

4 sage leaves, cut into thin strips

4 strips lemon zest, chopped

4 boneless chicken breast halves

Kosher salt and pepper to taste

¾ cup chicken stock

1 T. butter

Wilted Greens

1 pkg. mixed lettuces

1 pkg. spinach

1 T. olive oil

1 T. minced garlic

Salt and Pepper

Directions:  This is a multi-step dish.  You will

1. Marinade the chicken

2. Cook the chicken

3. Make a sauce for serving

4. Make silted greens for side dish

Make marinade.  In a container large enough to hold the chicken, stir together 2 T. 

olive oil, garlic, shallots, ¼ cup balsamic vinegar, rosemary, sage and lemon zest.  

Season the mixture generously with pepper.  Add the chicken breasts and turn them 

in the marinade, making sure they are well coated on both sides.  Cover and 

refrigerate for 6 hours or overnight, turning the chicken once or twice.

Remove the chicken.  Season with salt.  Strain the marinade, extracting as much 

liquid as possible.  Reserve the solids and liquid separately.

Heat the remaining oil in a wide, deep sauté pan set over medium heat.  Cook the 

chicken breasts until nicely brown, about 6 minutes per side.  Remove the chicken 

and cover loosely with foil to keep warm.

Time to begin the sauce and the wilted greens.

Sauce:  Add the reserved solids to the pan and cook, stirring for about 4 minutes.  

Add the marinade liquid and the remaining 3 T. of vinegar, stirring to loosen any 

food on the bottom of the pan, and cook until liquid evaporates.  Add the chicken 

stock, raise the heat and bring to a boil.  Reduce liquid until it becomes richly 

flavored and thickened to a sauce consistency, 3 to 4 minutes.  Taste and season with 

salt and pepper.  Remove from heat and swirl in 1 T. butter.  Strain the sauce through 

a strainer and discard the solids.

Wilted greens:  In a large pot, boil 1-2” water seasoned with salt and pepper.  When 

boiling, add greens, stirring constantly until wilted, about 2 minutes.  Using a slotted 

spoon, transfer greens to a wire rack, spreading the greens out in an even layer to 

cool quickly.  When cool enough to handle, gently squeeze out the excess water.  Set 

aside.

Place the olive oil and garlic in a large sauté pan over a medium heat.  Cook, stirring 

for 2 minutes.  Add the greens.  Stir and sauté for 1 minute or until heated through.  

Season with salt and pepper.

Serve chicken with greens.

Comment:  Be prepared to multi-task.