Thursday Recipe - Chicken Piccata

So I ran across this recipe for Chicken Piccata the other day and had to try it out. Of course I couldn't make it the way it said because of food allergies, so I did it my way. I like the way it turned out. It's basically sautéed chicken breast in a creamy sauce flavored with lemon and thyme and capers. Serve it over pasta and you have a tasty dinner that doesn't take long to make.

Chicken Piccata

2 T. oil
3-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into chunks
1 lemon, sliced
1-2 sprigs of fresh thyme OR 1 tsp dried thyme leaves
1 t. salt
1/2 t. ground black pepper
1 T. chicken bouillon
3 c. warm water
3-4 T cornstarch
1/2 c. cold water
3-4 T. capers

Heat oil in a large non-stick frying pan over med-high heat. Add chicken, lemon slices, and thyme sprigs. If using dry thyme, don't add it here! Sauté until chicken is browned. Turn heat to med-low. Remove lemon slices and thyme sprigs and discard.

To the chicken chunks, add salt, pepper, bouillon, and warm water. Cover and cook until chicken is just barely done, usually about 10 minutes depending on how big your chunks are.

Remove lid and turn heat back up. Stir cornstarch into cold water and add it to the sauce when it is boiling. This is just to thicken it up.

Stir in capers, simmer for 1-2 minutes.

Serve over pasta or rice with extra capers as a garnish.

Thursday Recipe - Ferengi Chicken

Continuing the Star Trek theme, here's a fast, easy meal that takes two pots to cook. Yep, I'm the queen of fast, cheap, and easy. Food that is.

Ferengi Chicken

1 T. oil
1 lb skinless, boneless chicken, cut in bite size pieces
1/2 c. onion, chopped
1 c. carrots, diced small
1 lb bag frozen mixed cauliflower and broccoli
1 c. ketchup or catsup
1 c. crushed pineapple
1 t. ginger
1 t. garlic powder
2 T. soy sauce
2 T. brown sugar

Mix together ketchup, pineapple, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, and sugar. Set aside. In large saucepan, heat oil over medium high heat. Add chicken and onion. Cook, stirring often, until chicken is mostly done. Add carrots. Cook 5 minutes longer. Add frozen vegetables and sauce. Stir. Cover and cook for 5 minutes until hot and bubbly. Serve over rice.

If you prefer the sauce thickened, use 2 T. cornstarch dissolved in 1/2 c. cold water.

Thursday Recipe - BBQ Tribbles

I've been hanging out on Ravelry lately, talking crochet and getting in touch with my inner Star Trek geek. There's a group on Ravelry that does Star Trek missions with knit and crochet. It's been a blast playing with them. Plus Ravelry has hundreds of free patterns available. If you knit or crochet, it's a great community.

One of our missions is to craft something to help us connect with the Klingons. It's supposed to be a diplomatic mission. Crafting a basket of tribbles for them is out of the question - tribbles hate Klingons and Klingons hate tribbles. Unless they're barbecued. I'm posting this recipe along with my crocheted stuff for this mission. So get in touch with your inner Klingon and enjoy some BBQ tribbles this weekend.

BBQ Tribbles

2 lbs skinned tribbles (or 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs)
1/2 c. jam or jelly (peach, apricot, or grape preferred)
1 c. barbecue sauce

Place tribbles in a 3 or 4 quart crockpot. Pour jam and barbecue sauce over the top. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours or high for 3 hours.