I am really scatterbrained sometimes. I wanted to make something new with pasta and chicken, when I realized I had never tried to make chicken Marsala. I scrounged up a recipe, made my grocery list and went to the store, only to return with Madeira wine instead of the requisite Marsala. Of course, I didn’t discover that until I was about to pour it into my cup measure. I’m used to major miscalculations threatening my cooking, so I forged bravely ahead, altering the recipe with wild abandon. It turned out pretty great!

**Note: You can (probably) sub Marsala wine for the Madeira. But I wouldn’t know.**

1/4 c flour
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp dried oregano
1 lb skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 T olive oil
1 lb mushrooms, sliced
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
3/4 c Madeira wine
3/4 c chicken broth
1/4 c heavy cream (optional)

**Note: If you want more sauce, just increase the liquids – but keep them at 1:1.**

Combine first four ingredients in a medium Ziploc bag. Put chicken in bag, seal and shake well until coated. Remove chicken from bag, shaking off extra flour.

Heat oil to medium high in a large, deep skillet. Add chicken to skillet, turning frequently, and do not reduce heat. When chicken is very lightly browned on all sides – about 3-4 minutes – add mushrooms and garlic to skillet. Keep the heat up and stir the mixture until the mushrooms have just started to brown (another 2-3 minutes), then add the wine and chicken broth.

Stirring occasionally, bring the liquid to a rapid boil. Keep on a high boil for a good 5-8 minutes. This allows the alcohol to cook off, so that the sauce doesn’t taste boozy. The sauce should thicken slightly from the dredging on the chicken, but you can add a slurry if you want it thicker. Cover the skillet with a vented lid, turn heat to medium low and allow to cook for another 5-10 minutes. If you’re using cream, add it right after taking the sauce off the heat and stir it in throughly. Serve over pasta.

Everyone has a brocco-cheese-chicken-rice casserole somewhere in their culinary arsenal. I think I found one that works for us. Rich, but very yummy. I found the base at allrecipes.com, but I’ve tweaked it enough to claim it as my own.

1 cup rice
2 cups broccoli florets (I used fresh, but frozen would work if thawed)
4 chicken breasts, cut into bitesize pieces
2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1/4 tsp tarragon
1/4 tsp celery seed
2 T vegetable oil
1/2 pound sliced mushrooms
1 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp prepared mustard
1/2 tsp curry powder
1 (10.75 ounce) can cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

1. Cook rice according to package directions. If using fresh broccoli, steam briefly (no more than 5 minutes). In a large bowl, combine broccoli and rice and set aside to cool.

2. In a medium bowl, toss chicken with garlic salt, pepper, tarragon and celery seed until lightly coated. On medium-high heat, cook chicken in oil until lightly browned, stirring constantly. Remove chicken from heat with a slotted spoon and add to rice and broccoli to cool. Cook mushrooms in the remaining oil for 2-4 minutes, then add to rice bowl to cool.

3. Combine mayo, mustard, curry and condensed soup in a bowl and whisk until well blended. Pour sauce and shredded cheese into large bowl of cooled ingredients and stir well. Spoon mixture into a greased 9×13 casserole and bake at 350°F for 45-60 minutes or until golden brown on top.

Over the past couple of years, about one out of every five times I’ve called my mom, she’s making chicken & bowties for dinner. I finally asked her this weekend for the recipe. We gave it a whirl last night and now I understand why she makes it so frequently. Thanks, Mom!

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into chunks
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 head broccoli, cut into florets
2 T olive oil
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
3 T sun-dried tomato pesto
1 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp dried red pepper flakes
8 oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
1/2 c chicken broth
1/2 c white or rosé wine
1/2 lb farfalle, cooked

Heat olive oil to medium high in large deep skillet. Add chicken and cook for 3-5 minutes or until just golden. Add garlic and cook 2 minutes more. Add broccoli and cook for 5 minutes more.

Combine salt, pepper, pesto, basil, red pepper flakes and tomatoes in a small bowl. Add mixture to chicken and broccoli and stir until well distributed. Add liquids, bring to a boil and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes. Add cooked pasta and stir well.

This is great when you’ve been hanging around Germans for a while who claim to like spicy food. You can smile and nod and then go home and eat this and smugly chuckle to yourself with satisfaction.

1 lb. boneless chicken breasts, cut into thin strips
1 medium onion, chopped
3 tsp. blackening seasoning
3 Tbs. butter
1 small green pepper, sliced into thin strips
1 small red pepper, sliced into thin strips
1/2 lb. fresh mushrooms, sliced
3-6 cloves garlic, chopped
1 1/2 c. heavy cream
4-8 drops pepper sauce (tabasco works, cholula’s better)
1/2 tsp. each basil and lemon pepper
1/4 tsp. each salt and pepper
8 oz. pasta of your choice, cooked and drained (we use linguine)

Place chicken, onion and blackening seasoning in bowl and turn to coat. Sauté chicken in butter 5-7 minutes. Add vegetables and cook 2-3 more minutes. Reduce heat, add cream, pepper sauce and seasonings. Heat thoroughly but do not boil. Add pasta and toss.

I’m not really sure how to define this. It started out with a disappointing chicken and dumplings recipe I found online. Then I thought, ‘I can come up with something better.’ I ended up thickening the soupy brothy part with some cornstarch and throwing in some instant German Semmelknödel (like a big dumpling make of StoveTop stuffing – better than it sounds). The recipe that follows is a basic, improvised chicken soup that probably improves with adaptation.

Chicken Stock
1 whole chicken (2.5-3 lbs.)
4 ribs celery, chopped
2 carrots, peeled & sliced
1 onion, quartered
2 cloves garlic, coarsely sliced
¹/₂ tsp. parsley
¹/₂ tsp. thyme
1¹/₂ tsp. salt
1 tsp. black pepper
1 bay leaf

Soup
2 T. butter
1 onion, chopped
4-6 ribs celery, chopped
¹/₂ tsp. rosemary
¹/₂ tsp. parsley
¹/₂ tsp. thyme
1 tsp. sage
1 tsp. seasoned salt
1 tsp. black pepper
4-8 cups chicken stock
4-6 carrots, peeled and sliced
chopped cooked chicken

Chicken Stock Prep

1. Put all ingredients in large deep pot and fill with water until completely covered. Bring to a boil, turn down heat to medium simmer and cook for 40-50 minutes.

2. Carefully remove chicken from stock (it should be falling-apart tender) and set aside in a large bowl, covering with a paper towel. Allow to sit for about 45 minutes-1 hour.

3. After allowing it to cool at least 30 minutes, slowly pour stock through cheesecloth-lined mesh strainer into a large bowl. Don’t keep the vegetables! They’ve given up all their flavor to the stock and turned to mush. Allow stock to cool more before skimming fat from top.

4. Remove meat from the chicken, discarding skin and bones. You can shred it or chop it into pieces – whichever you prefer, texturewise.

Still with me? Good!

Soup Prep

1. Melt butter in deep soup pot over medium high heat. Sauté onions in butter for 3 minutes, stirring constantly.

2. Add celery to pan and sauté for another 3 minutes. Add rosemary, parsley, thyme and sage to onion and celery and stir until just distributed.

3. Pour stock into pot. For two of us, I use 4 cups – and that makes a lot. Add seasoned salt, pepper and carrots. Bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes or until carrots are tender. Turn heat to low and add chicken meat. Heat through.

This one got overhauled, too. See, Cliff and I are sort of what I like to call ‘sauce pigs.’ When I make something with a sauce that goes over rice or pasta or something, I tend to like A LOT of sauce. And I’m getting better at sauces, too. So it was time to update this one and we were very pleased with the outcome.

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, lightly pounded and cut into strips
4 T flour
1/2 t salt
1/2 t pepper
3 T olive oil
1 t oregano
1/4 c white wine
1/2 c lemon juice
1 c chicken stock
1/2 t tarragon
Capers
1 T cornstarch
1 T water

Heat oil in a large deep skillet over medium high heat. Mix flour, salt, pepper and oregano in a shallow bowl, then dredge chicken through flour mixture and brown on both sides. Remove chicken from pan and set aside. Reduce heat to medium, scrape up browned bits on bottom of pan and deglaze with white wine, cooking for 2-3 minutes, then add lemon juice, chicken stock, tarragon and capers to pan. Bring sauce to a boil, then simmer for 5 minutes. Mix cornstarch and water to a slurry, then add to sauce, stirring frequently until sauce thickens. Return chicken to pan to warm until ready. Serve over angel hair pasta.