Homemade KFC

I’m not a huge fan of KFC, in fact my favourite part of their menu from my younger years was the fries, with that delicious and overly salted chicken flavouring.  But when the lovely ladies from my Cuisine Club were recently raving about a recipe from the new Food Truck Cookbook called “My 13-herbs-and-spices Chicken”, I couldn’t help but ask for a copy.

A couple of nights after receiving the recipe in my hot little hand, I gave it a go.  I was disappointed.  I didn’t like the flavour, it didn’t taste anything like KFC to me and although I used plain flour instead of the recommended Potato flour, I didn’t think the disappointment could be solely based on this.  It tasted a little dry and the spices seemed to sit on the chicken, more than be a part of it.  And for that reason, I didn’t share the recipe with you.

Creamy Chicken & Leek Pappardelle

We’ve had a magic day out and about enjoying the sunshine and cool breeze that Autumn in Auckland offers.  We visited friends with a brand new six-week old Siberian Husky (super cute!) and had lunch with the grandparents in Devonport, followed by a scootering adventure.  The kids were both shattered as we climbed into the car at 4.30pm for the drive home.

As soon as I began the half hour journey home, I thought about what on earth I was going to make for dinner.  I had some creamy, cheese sauce left over from Pretzels we made yesterday.  I also had boneless, skinless chicken thighs in the fridge and a lovely leek.  How to combine these ingredients, quickly and end up with something delicious that the kids would love?  Originally I thought I could do a little pie with a mashed potato top, but swiftly realised the peeling, boiling and mashing of potatoes was going to take too long.  This meal is the result of my highway thoughts.

Chicken & Leek Risotto

Risotto is one of those dishes that, to me, always seemed so technical.  And complicated.  Just the thought of it terrified me.

Add to that my first experience eating real risotto in Italy.  A quiet little eatery in the back alleys of Venice, a seafood risotto to rival the best of them.  Incredible.  And then in Florence (my favourite Italian city of them all), where I enjoyed the most indescribable meal I think I’ve ever had – SO good that I had it two nights in a row and only didn’t repeat it on the third because I thought “I should probably try something else”.  Imagine my extreme disappointment when the dish of my choosing did not live up to the best prawn risotto ever.  I should have had it 3 nights in a row!

Panko Crusted Chicken

Chicken is the “meat” we eat more than any other in our family.  And because of this, I’m always looking for new ways to prepare it. Even though it’s so versatile and there are approximately a million ways to prepare it, in just about every style of cuisine, when it’s getting close to dinner time, I always seem to end up making tried & true which can get a little boring.

Even though we don’t eat a lot of takeaways or fast food, for some reason my kids really seem to enjoy things that are battered, coated or covered in some way.  This dish was no exception.

The sauce really makes the meal and because you serve it as an accompaniment, rather than cooking the chicken in it, you can determine whether you’d like yours drenched or lightly drizzled.  I served with plain steamed rice & some lightly stir fried vegetables.

French-Style Stuffed Chicken Breasts

On Saturday night I wanted to use up a few things in my fridge and began perusing a few of my favourite blog sites to find a recipe that inspired me and was something new.  I stumbled across this one from my all time favourite (and always reliable) Annie.  There was another chicken recipe that I was almost about to make a start on until I found this one – which included leeks, mushrooms & parsley – all of which I really needed to use.

It was a little more time consuming than I’m used to when starting a meal at 5.45pm and we didn’t eat until 7pm but to be fair, I did have my little man wanting to sit on the (already messy) bench and insist on touching everything within reach over and over and over, so that slowed me down somewhat!

The flavour of the finished result was amazing and definitely enjoyed by the entire family.  I would proudly serve this meal to guests also.  Pairing it with rice was something Annie did and although I’m not sure rice as an accompaniment is very french, it worked.  My little man had seconds.

We were left with one spare roll and I have been enjoying this sliced thinly on sandwiches for the past two days.  mmmmm

Please do not be put off by the length of this meal and the different stages required, it truly is worth the extra time and effort.  And the sauce… wow!

French-Style Stuffed Chicken Breasts
Ingredients

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3 tbsp. vegetable or canola oil
handful of button mushrooms, sliced thin
1 leek, white part halved lengthwise and chopped (about 1 cup)
2-3 cloves garlic, minced or crushed
½ t minced fresh thyme leaves (I got away with using dried)
1 T freshly squeezed lemon juice, divided
½ cup dry white wine
1 T chopped fresh parsley, divided
¾ t salt
½ t pepper
1 cup chicken stock
1 t Dijon mustard
2 t unsalted butter

Directions
If your chicken breasts have the tenderloin attached, remove the tenderloins and set aside. Using a sharp knife, butterfly each chicken breast horizontally, almost all the way through but not quite, leaving the two halves attached like the pages of a book. Open up the butterflied breasts and lay them out flat. Place each piece of chicken, laid out flat, in a large zipper-lock bag. Pound the chicken pieces to 2.5cm thickness. Trim about 2cm from the long side of the cutlets and put aside with the tenderloins.  (Use the reserved tenderloins in place of or in addition to the trimmings to equal about ½ cup total reserved chicken pieces.) Process the trimmings in a food processor until smooth, about 20 seconds. Transfer the puree to a medium bowl. Do not wash out the bowl of the food processor.

To make the stuffing, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a medium sized fry pan over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until all moisture has evaporated and the mushrooms are golden brown, about 8-11 minutes. Add an additional tablespoon of oil as well as the leek; cook, stirring frequently, until softened, 2-4 minutes. Mix in the garlic and thyme and cook just until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add 1½ teaspoons of the lemon juice and cook until the moisture has evaporated, about 30 seconds. Transfer the mixture to the bowl of the food processor. Return the pan to the heat; add the wine and scrape the pan to loosen browned bits. Transfer the wine mixture to a small bowl and set aside. Turn off the heat on the pan.

Pulse the mushroom mixture in the food processor until roughly chopped, about five 1-second pulses. Transfer the mushroom mixture to the bowl with the pureed chicken. Mix in half of the parsley, and the salt and pepper. Use a wooden spoon to fold together the stuffing ingredients until well combined.

With the chicken breasts laid out flat, spread a quarter of the filling mixture over each of the breasts, leaving a clear edge around the perimeter. Roll up each breast as tightly as possible without squeezing out the filling and place seam-side down. Tie evenly with 3 pieces of twine around each chicken breast.

Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper. Heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in a Le Creuset casserole dish (or something with a lid) over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add the chicken bundles and brown on all sides, about 2 minutes per side. Add the broth and reserved wine mixture to the pan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook for about 15-18 minutes. Transfer to a plate or cutting board and tent loosely with foil.

While the chicken is resting, whisk the mustard into the cooking liquid. Bring the heat to a high simmer, scraping the pan bottom to loosen browned bits. Simmer until reduced to ½ cup, about 7-10 minutes. Off the heat, whisk in the butter, remaining parsley and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Remove the pieces of twine, slice the chicken pieces on a slight diagonal, and serve with sauce spooned over the top.

I served with sauteed zucchinis & carrots & rice.

Source: Annies-Eats, from Cook’s Illustrated