Chicken Rosemary

Chicken Rosemary

     I’ve kinda been on a slump with my cooking lately (I know you can’t tell by all the recent posts). I just haven’t had much of an appetite lately and nothing sounds good. So when I asked Mrs. G what she wanted for dinner, she suggested chicken rosemary, a dish that has always been a favorite of mine (and hers ever since I introduced it to her).

Hand copied recipe from my Mom’s files. Don’t I have bad handwriting?

      When I was younger, my Mom used to make this for us. It reminds me of cold fronts blowing in, coming home from soccer practice or playing with my friends, my fingers freezing cold and nose red from the blustery winds. Suddenly being assaulted by the warmth of the house, the inside windows of the kitchen fogged up and the enticing aroma of this dish as it simmered in my Mom’s electric skillet. Comfort food for me for sure.

The cookbook this recipe comes from.

     I remember coming home from college one year (must have been sophomore year since I lived in a dorm my freshman year and couldn’t cook) either at Thanksgiving or Christmas and copying down some of  my favorite recipes from my Mom. For nights when I was feeling homesick, or had a rough day or just wanted some comfort food from my childhood. This was one of them and it came from a cookbook called Delicioso! Cooking South Texas Style. Now, I don’t know how popular this book is across the country, or Texas, or even in my home town of Corpus Christi, but many years later I would discover that my wife has a copy of this cookbook, my Mother In Law has two copies (one at the ranch) and I believe Mrs. G’s best friend has a copy as well. Maybe it’s required if you live in Corpus, or maybe its just one big coincidence.

Ingredients

(serves 6)

• 1 3lb chicken, cut up, or chicken breasts, or thighs (we prefer thighs)
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/4 cup butter
• oil
• 1 16 oz can tomatoes (I prefer to use the kind flavored with basil, garlic and oregano)
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• 2 tsp crushed dried rosemary or a few sprigs of fresh rosemary, chopped
•  garlic powder
• salt and pepper

Directions

1. Season flour with salt and pepper.
2. Coat chicken with flour mixture.
   

   Lightly flour the chicken

3. Heat a large skillet to medium, medium high.
   

   Brown the chicken on all sides

4. Add butter and a tbsp or two of oil to skillet. When melted, brown chicken on all sides.
   

   Deglaze the skillet with wine

5. Remove chicken from the skillet and deglaze with wine.
6. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.
   

   Add remaining ingredients

7. Reduce heat to a simmer, cover and allow cook for 30 minutes.

Dinner is served

     When the chicken is done, we like to serve it up on a bed of rice. That’s how my Mom used to do it. Other times, we’ll take a sleeve of the ready to eat polenta, slice it up and briefly pan fry it and serve the chicken on that. The crispy outer layer of the polenta and the warm, creamy interior pair up well with this dish. If you want, add a sprig or two of rosemary for presentation. Comfort on a plate as far as I’m concerned.

     Now why this is called chicken rosemary, I’ll never know. Sure it has chicken. And it has rosemary. But nothing in the name would even suggest to you that there would be tomatoes in it. Or that it might resemble an Italian dish a little bit. Admit it….this isn’t what you pictured when you checked out this post, was it? Well, for whatever reason it’s called what it is, we’ll just keep calling it that since it’s a dish from my childhood and one we’ll continue making for years to come. We hope it becomes a favorite in your household, too.

A few notes before I leave you:

1. If your dish does not look exactly like mine, don’t panic. We used 8 chicken thighs. While putting it all together, we realized this was way too many and there would not be enough sauce, so we quickly added another can of tomatoes, doubled the wine and all other ingredients. So actually, what is pictured is a double recipe.
2. Feel free to add other herbs and spices to this dish after you have tried it once. I will sometimes include fresh thyme, oregano, Italian seasonings and/or some red pepper flakes.
3. After finishing this post, Mrs. G brought it to my attention that the mentioned cookbook was from the Junior League of Corpus Christi. That answers why I know so many people who have it and will probably be the reason you won’t be able to get your hands on it.

White Chicken Chili

White Chicken Chili

     I want to start off by introducing myself.  I am Mrs. G!  I know many of you have heard of me but not from me.  And no, Jason was not making me up…I’m real.  I am Mr. G’s silent partner in the food blogging world.  So how did he get me to do a post?  I don’t know, I haven’t figured that out yet but I am glad to do it.  I have never done this before and I literally have no idea what I’m going to say but I will give it a shot.  I am sitting here at my desk eating some leftover White Chicken Chili for some inspiration…it is just as good as leftover so that’s a plus!

     I’d first like to say that yes, I am very lucky to have married such a wonderful cook, but so is he!  I too am a pretty darn good cook, I just don’t publish it for the world to see.  I commend Mr. G for having done such an awesome job with Griffin’s Grub because to me it seems like a job (and it would probably interfere with the Real Housewives… of everywhere).  To him, it is truly his passion and he enjoys every minute of it.  I am very proud of my hubby!

     Now on to the recipe.  It was a rainy weekend and we sat on the back porch contemplating what to make for dinner when I decided to dust off the old crockpot.  Literally, I had to wash it because it was so dusty.  It’s not something we use often but we do enjoy the convenience of a crockpot meal at least once a year.  Not to mention the aroma that fills the house for 8 hours!  White Chicken Chili popped into my head and I thought I’d give it another try.  It is a recipe I have tried before with boneless, skinless chicken breasts (this time I used bone in thighs).  It must not have been that memorable the first time because Mr. G didn’t remember me ever having made it.  In his defense, it was about a year ago.  Like I said, we enjoy using the crockpot at least once a year.  As you all know,  the Egg is in use the rest of the year.

1-1/2 lbs of chicken (boneless or bone in)

Beans (I don’t do beans in any chili)

1 zuchini

1 1/2 cup frozen or fresh corn

1 red bell pepper

1 can green chilis (or fresh roasted chilis)

1 packet of taco seasoning

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 cup chicken broth

½ cup of sour cream (I would use ¾ to 1 cup next time)

Monterey Jack cheese

Green onion or cilantro

Tortillas or tortilla chips on the side

Ingredients for the White Chicken Chili

     I first saw the recipe on Racheal Ray but I made a few minor adjustments.  For instance, I don’t do beans in chili…even chicken chili.  Hello, I’m from Texas!  This time I used bone in chicken thighs.  I removed the skin and browned them in butter for about a minute on each side.  It really wasn’t necessary but I thought I would get some rendering from the bone before placing it in the crockpot.  Next time I would probably bypass browning them…the whole point to an easy crockpot meal is throwing all the ingredients in and forget about it.

Browning the chicken thighs.

     Another thing I did a little differently was instead of using frozen corn, I used fresh corn that Mr. G kindly grilled up for me the night before.  On the Egg, of course.  I would have liked to have grilled up some fresh green chilis as well but unfortunatley I didn’t find what I needed on that shopping trip to the store.

     So back to the recipe…it’s so simple.

     Combine the cream of chicken soup, green chilis, taco seasoning and chicken broth in a bowl.  Set it aside until everything is in the crockpot.  This will be poured over the chicken and veggies.  I used low sodium taco seasoning as well as the soup and broth.  Guess what, it needed salt.  So if you do use the low sodium, salt and pepper to taste.

The wet ingredients

     Place your chicken of choice in the crockpot.  I did enjoy using the chicken thighs.  It gave a great flavor from being on the bone.  Remove the bones before serving.

Chicken going into the crockpot

     If you really want to use beans, I guess this would be the time to add them.

     Dice the zuchini and red bell pepper.  I like it a little more chunky because it cooks down so much.  If you use fresh corn grilled corn, cut it off the husk.  I only had one ear of corn on hand but I would use 2 next time.  Then add the zuchini, red bell pepper and corn to the crockpot.

Diced veggies

     When everything is in the crockpot, pour the soup mixture on top and it’s ready to go!  I cooked it for 8 hours on low or you can do 4 hours on high.

Adding the liquid to the crockpot

     After a long 8 hours or a short 4 hours, the chili is done.  Mix in ½ cup of sour cream.  I would use more like 1 cup of sour cream.  Maybe because I used bone in chicken, it was a little more liquidity and the sour cream helps to thicken it up.

Add the sour cream

     Top with cheese and green onions or cilantro and viola!  I served my White Chicken Chili with white rice because I was too lazy to make Mama Reyna’s Spanish Rice (my friend Terry’s rice is the best!) but I promise to make it next time!  Serve with your fave tortilla chips on the side.  I think I will pick up some fresh tortillas on the way home, so we can have chicken tacos tonight!  It would also be great for chicken nachos…yum, with a white cheese queso.

White Chicken Chili

     Note: if you want to kick it up a notch, I suggest adding a little fresh jalepeno.  That is one thing it needed…heat.  There are definitely some Mexican spices that could be added to really give it more flavor.  This is one of those recipes that you can easily play around with.  It definitely needs more spice though.

If you are interested in the cornbread (that was cooked on the Big Green Egg), check back tomorrow for that post.

     Well, that’s all I got!  Thank you, honey, for letting me post on your blog.  Sorry to all Griffin’s Grub followers if I wasn’t as interesting as my husband.  Those are some big shoes to fill.  Please keep coming back to read his blog!  Maybe I will come back again and post something that’s more me…unless I’m watching the Real Housewives of somewhere.

Cheers,

Mrs. Stacie Griffin

Recipe seen on this episode of Rachael Ray
http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/food/recipes/ginnys-rock-crock-white-chicken-chili/

Chicken with Grilled Corn Salsa and a Birthday!!

Happy Birthday!!

     Today is a very special day for us!! We’re celebrating a birthday!! And not just any birthday, but Griffin’s Grub first birthday!! I can’t believe a year ago we launched this site and made our first post (which was First Attempt at Planking, in case you were curious). A year ago, we had no idea where this was going and now, a year later….we STILL don’t…..but it sure has been a lot of fun! Even though we are celebrating, we decided to cook something healthy…..grilled chicken breasts, but to spice it up, we also made some grilled corn salsa! Just because it’s healthy doesn’t mean you can’t pack in some flavor.

Chicken with grilled corn salsa

     And let me tell you, this is one flavorful salsa. The sweetness of the corn against the heat from the jalapeno, the acidity and tartness from the lime…..a flavor explosion. I can still taste it. Heck, I could have eaten the salsa by itself (and I did eat the remaining salsa straight from the bowl with a spoon).

The players in the salsa. There’s actually more here than what went into the salsa, I wasn’t sure on the amounts I’d need so I just grilled extras

Ingredients

• 2 ears of corn
• about 6 cherry tomatoes
• 1 jalapeno
• 1/2 red onion
• 1 to 2 limes
• 1 tbsp chopped cilantro
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 to 2 chicken breasts (I believe this would also pair nicely with salmon or other fish)
• fajita rub (I used Dizzy Pig’s Fajita-ish) or other southwestern rub

On to the grill at 400F

Directions

1.  Set up your grill to medium high or about 400 F. If you hold your hand about 3 inches above the grate, you should be able to count  4 Mississippi’s before the heat forces you to move (interesting fact, huh?)
2. Wash your fruits and vegetables and slice your limes and your onions. You may want to use a toothpick or two to keep your onions intact on the grill. Spray your vegetables with PAM and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
3. Place your vegetables and lime on the grill, and turn every few minutes. Remove when charred on each side. The tomatoes will take the least amount of time (about 2-3 minutes) and the corn will take the longest (6 to 8). When done, remove vegetables and allow to cool.
   

   Ingredients for the salsa charred

4. Using a sharp knife, trim the kernels off the cob into a bowl (yes, into a bowl, otherwise you are going to make a big mess everywhere, trust me on this). Dice up the tomatoes and onions and add to the corn.
5. Slice the jalapeno in half lengthwise and remove the seeds and membrane with a spoon (this is where the heat is, for a hotter salsa, leave the seeds and membrane in). Dice the jalapeno and add to the salsa. (You may want to add a little at a time and adjust to taste. We like spicy food, but I think we got a freakishly mutated jalapeno as half of one was plenty for us)
6. Finely chop up the cilantro and add to the salsa
7. Squeeze the juice from one or two limes onto the salsa, for us one a half was perfect, but adjust to your taste.
8. Add salt and pepper to taste.
9. The salsa can be served now, but will be better if allowed to sit for an hour or two in the fridge.

Grilled corn salsa

     Not gonna spend much time talking you through the chicken breasts as we’ve covered that many a time already. Pound the chicken breasts to a uniform thickness, sprinkle on a rub of your choice, we used Dizzy Pig’s Fajita-ish, but any fajita rub, southwestern rub or even bbq rub would work. Grill direct at 400F for about 8-10 minutes, flipping halfway through and always, always cook to temp, not time. You’ll want to pull the chicken when it reaches 160 and it will carry over to 165 as it rests.

Chicken with grilled corn salsa plated up

     I don’t know where you’ve been getting your chicken, but lately, ours have been freakishly huge. In fact, they have been so large, that one is usually enough to feed the Mrs and me.

Mmmmm….doesn’t that look good?

     After dinner we stepped outside to take in some fresh air and to see what was going on with the weather and guess what we saw…..not a rainbow….but a double rainbow!! Of course the picture doesn’t do it justice, but you could see both of them stretching all the way across the sky. I don’t know if that’s some sort of sign or what, but I thought I’d share it with you.

Double rainbow

     And what kind of birthday would it be without cake? We here at Griffin’s Grub aren’t great bakers. I see the wonderful desserts some of you whip up and am in awe, but that just isn’t our thing. Yeah, we’ve piddled around and made some cookies, and a Chocolate Pecan Bourbon Pie and even a Pineapple Upside Down Cake, but since we’re still recovering from Germany and trying to get things back in order, we opted for a slice of store bought cake. Admit it…..you really don’t come here for dessert ideas anyway.

Lemon Creme Coconut Cake

     I still can’t believe it has been one year already! Time flies when you are having fun. I’ve learned a lot over the course of one year. I’d like to think that my cooking has improved, as well as my writing and my photography. This blog has forced me to be creative in trying out new recipes and expanding my horizons, getting out of the normal routine cooks and challenging my meager culinary skills. Along the way, I’ve found some great blogs and met some great friends who have inspired me and pushed me to try harder. A big thanks to Chris @ Nibble Me This, the others of the Texas Crew (Jen at Juanita’s Cocina, Adam at The Unorthodox Epicure and Christine at Texana’s Kitchen), Christiane aka The Mom Chef @ Taking on Magazines and too many others to name here who have helped me along the way by inspiring me and showing me how they do it. And more importantly, I’d love to thank each and every one of you for stopping by and checking out my site. Whether you are new and just stumbled on us, or whether you’ve been with us from Day 1 (and there aren’t that many that were here Day 1, let me tell ya), I am thankful for each and every one of you.

     I honestly don’t know where we are going with this. I’m going to continue to search out new and exciting recipes, tweak old recipes, explore barbecue from different parts of America as well as the world. I’m going to try to incorporate some healthy recipes as well, maybe dabble some more in desserts and baking. Really excited for football season to start so we can try out new appetizers and tailgating food. I’ve even got some ideas in mind for grilled soup…..Yep, you heard me, we’re gonna grill soup as soon as it gets a little cold here.

     So what would you like to see? Got any ideas of things you’d like to see me grill or barbecue? Or heck….maybe even try to cook on that oversized box in the kitchen? Or is there anything you’d like to see me change? As always, I’d love to hear from you, so leave a comment. Thanks again for making our first year such a wonderful year and Happy Birthday Griffin’s Grub!!

 

Grilled Chicken with White Barbecue Sauce

Grilled Chicken with White Barbecue Sauce

     White barbecue sauce. If you’re like me, you’ve probably never had it before. You may never have even heard of it unless of course you are from Northern Alabama. Decatur to be exact and the surrounding area of about 75 miles. This sauce is said to have been created by Big Bob Gibson back in 1925. Bob was a railroad worker, but had a passion for barbecue. He set up a table nailed to a sycamore tree in his backyard and friends, neighbors and fellow railroad workers began lining up. Soon, he was making more as a pit master and gave up his job for the railroad to concentrate his time and efforts on Big Bob Gibson Barbecue. Legend has it that Bob developed his signature white barbecue sauce for a customer who hated tomatoes and they’ve been making it ever since. The chief components are mayonnaise, vinegar and black pepper. Just like with all barbecue sauces, what else is thrown in will vary by who you ask.

     Traditionally, white barbecue sauce is served over chicken halves that have been slow smoked for hours over hickory. Wait….that’s not quite right. The chicken is actually dunked in a tub of white barbecue sauce after it is finished. Then, it is served with more sauce on the side.

     Last night being a weeknight, I didn’t have the time to slow smoke chicken halves, so I didn’t prepare this the traditional way. But I was curious about the sauce and wanted to try it. That and I had some chicken breasts I had to do something with to spice them up. So I basted them with the sauce as I grilled them up just to get an idea of what it would taste like.

Chicken breasts on the grill

Ingredients

• 4 chicken breasts
• coarse salt (kosher or sea) and fresh ground black pepper
• 1 cup mayonnaise (preferably Duke’s, we used light mayo)
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup prepared white horseradish
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Apple wood was used for smoke rather than the traditional hickory

Directions

1. In a large, non-reactive mixing bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, vinegar, horseradish, 2 tsp salt, 2 tsp black pepper and 1/2 tsp of cayenne. Taste and adjust seasonings as necessary. Set aside one cup of the sauce to be served with the chicken when it is finished, the rest will be used for basting the chicken. Store in the refrigerator until ready to use. (sauce will last a few weeks in the refrigerator)
2. Pound out 4 chicken breasts to a uniform thickness and season with salt and pepper (this will help it cook faster, more evenly and your chicken won’t dry out)
3. Set up your grill for direct grilling at medium-high or 400F. If using wood chips, toss in a handful right before throwing on the chicken.
4. Grill chicken for 4 minutes, flip chicken and baste with sauce. Continue flipping and basting the chicken every 4 minutes until your chicken reaches 165F (about 15-18 minutes). Dispose of the basting sauce when finished
5. Serve chicken with reserved barbecue sauce on the side.

About halfway done

     I’ll admit it. I was a bit skeptical about white barbecue sauce. How can it be barbecue sauce if it doesn’t contain tomatoes in some form or another? Whether it be diced, crushed, sauce, paste or even ketchup. Mayo based? It just sounded weird to me, but also intrigued me. I had to try it.

Finished, served up with reserved white sauce

     You may as well get any ideas of normal barbecue out of your head before trying white barbecue sauce. Normally barbecue sauce is a little sweet, a little sour and maybe has a bit of heat. This does not. It does not have that sweet element at all (although I did see some recipes that called for Miracle Whip or sugar which would add that sweetness to it). What it did have was a cool, creamy, vinegary flavor with a bit of heat. A very unusual flavor to be sure, but also very good. Definitely a twist on what most people consider barbecue. Something I will do again for sure, but next time I’ll go with the slow smoked chicken halves. Maybe even use it to make some pulled chicken sandwiches with coleslaw. If you like love barbecue in all its many forms or are just looking for something different to try, I recommend looking into white barbecue sauce. Definitely worth a try.

Grilled chicken breast with white barbecue sauce

Grilled Chicken Cordon Bleu

Grilled Chicken Cordon Bleu

     Sometimes its hard cooking for just one. And that’s been something I’ve been doing quite a bit this summer with Mrs. G on the road so much. There are only so many times you can eat wings. Or pizza. Or burgers. (Who am I kidding? I could eat them all the time, but I shouldn’t.) I get that it is so much easier and faster to go out and grab fast food when you are by yourself, but sometimes you want something different. I was racking my brain yesterday, trying to come up with something to cook so I wouldn’t have to face the dreaded fast food. Mrs. G suggested stuffing a chicken and a lightbulb came on….why not chicken cordon bleu? On the grill?

Ingredients

• 1 chicken breast
• 4-6 slices of ham
• 4 slices of Baby Swiss
• Dijon mustard
• BBQ rub of your choice or spices

Butterfly a chicken breast

     Start off by butterflying a chicken breast. With a knife parallel to your cutting board, begin by cutting down the length of the side of the breast. Carefully cut the breast in half widthwise almost to the other edge.

Open the chicken breast up

Open the chicken breast along the fold.

Pound the chicken breast flat and spread on Dijon mustard

     Next, cover the chicken breast with plastic wrap or wax paper. Using the flat side of a mallet, pound out the chicken until it is a uniform thickness, pounding down and away. Once you have achieved your desired thickness, spread a layer of Dijon mustard over the chicken breast.

Top the chicken breast

     Now add two or three slices of ham on each side of the chicken breast. I like to use a good, quality ham from the deli section. I’ll let you decide if you prefer a honey ham, a smoked ham or maybe a Black Forest. Add four slices of Baby Swiss on top of the ham and fold one side of the chicken on top of the other. At this point you want to secure your chicken breast. You can use kitchen twine, I suppose, but I just used some toothpicks. If you opt for toothpicks, it is best to work at a diagonal so that they form X’s. Once your breast is secure, apply your favorite rub or spices to both sides of the chicken. I almost went with some rosemary,oregano, basil, thyme type mixture, but at the last moment I spotted a rub that had been neglected recently….Sucklebuster’s Hoochie Mama.

On to the Egg

     The chicken then went on to the Egg at 400F using a raised grate and apple wood for smoke. Mine took about 15 minutes to cook, but remember to always cook to temperature. You want the thickest part to read 160 when you pull it and the temperature will continue to climb to 165 as it rests. (If you are using a grill other than a Kamado style grill, set it up for indirect cooking. Sear your chicken breast on both sides over the flames and then move it away from the fire to finish cooking.)

 

Plated up with some green beans and egg noodles with a lemon butter sauce.

     For a simple, last minute thrown together meal, this was pretty tasty. Ooey, gooey, melted cheese with salty ham and chicken rubbed with a spicy BBQ rub….what’s not to like? The sharp, tangy taste of the Dijon mustard played nicely with the ham. The apple wood gave it just a kiss of smoke. I think the only way this could be improved is with…..you guessed it…BACON! Hmmm….should I put cooked bacon in it next time? Or wrap the whole thing in bacon? This will take some thought. Just a secret between me an you….I only ate about half of it. I brought the rest of it to work with me for lunch….if I can wait that long.

 

     And in case you were wondering about the lemon butter sauce that went on the pasta, I’ll go ahead and share that as well. It’s a simple sauce (it’s got to be simple if I can make it, I’m not known for sauces) similar to what you would have with chicken scallopini. Keep on reading to find out how to make this delicious sauce.

 

Ingredients for lemon butter sauce

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp of unsalted butter
• 2 tsp flour
• 1/3 cup chicken stock
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• capers
• artichoke hearts, diced

Directions

1. Melt butter over medium heat.
2. Add flour to skillet and cook about 1 minute, stirring constantly until smooth
3. Add in remaining ingredients and bring to a boil
4. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook another 2 minutes, stirring constantly until sauce begins to thicken
5. Remove from heat, add pasta to skillet and stir to coat