Pesto

Ingredients:

4 cups fresh basil leaves
1/2 C olive oil
2 cloves garlic
6 sprigs parsley (extremely optional)
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 C pine nuts (or walnuts or almonds)
1/2 C freshly grated Parmesan or Romano or Asiago cheese

Directions:

Place the basil in a blender. Add oil, garlic, parsley (if using), salt, pepper, and nuts. Blend until all are chopped fine. Remove from blender and add cheese.

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

Ingredients:

3 carrots, diced
3 stalks celery, diced
1/2 large onion, diced
2 T olive oil
1 large chicken breast, poached and cut up (diced?)
4 oz. or 1/2 C wild rice, cooked separately
about 1 cup cooked white rice
1/2 t marjoram
1/2 bay leaf
1 cup cream
Chicken broth or bouillon or flavor base with water

Directions:

Saute carrots, celery, and onions in olive oil.. Combine with chicken, wild rice, white rice, bay, and marjoram. Cook until vegetables are soft and bay has had time to infuse. At last, add cream.

Note: Canned chicken can be used instead of chicken breast. In a pinch, cream of chicken soup can be used instead of cream.

Teriyaki Chicken Thighs

Ingredients:

1 1/2 C to 2 C soy sauce
1 C brown sugar
1/2 t garlic powder
Skinned chicken thighs and/or legs, enough to fill a 9 x 13 pan

Directions:

Heat the soy sauce, brown sugar, and garlic powder unt il sugar is dissolved. Place skinned chicken pieces in 9 x 13 pan, and pour in sauce to a level of about one inch around pieces. Baste pieces with sauce, and bake uncovered at 325 1 to 1 1/4 hours, turning chicken once or twice while baking.

Chicken Piccata

Ingredients:

1 small onion
2 cloves garlic, crushed
4 green onions, chopped
8 chicken breasts
2 T olive oil
1/2 C flour
salt and pepper
2 T butter
2 T dry sherry (probably optional)
2 T lemon juice
1 T capers, chopped
2 T chicken stock (probably optional)
lemon slices, parsley for garnish

Directions:

Saute the onion, garlic, and green onion in olive oil until tender. Remove and set aside.

Pound the chicken breasts to flatten, maybe to 1/2 inch or smaller. Mix the flour, salt and pepper together and coat chicken breasts. Brown them in the butter until just done, maybe 2 -3 minutes per side. Remove them and reserve. Add the onions and garlic back to the pan, then the sherry, lemon juice, capers. Turn up heat, stir and let thicken, adding a little broth if necessary to thin. Return chicken breasts to sauce warm, and serve, garnishing with lemon slices and parsley if desired.

Source: Frugal Gourmet

Papa's Patented Pounded Poultry

Ingredients:

About 4 large chicken breasts
Flour
Salt
Pepper
White pepper
Paprika
Onion powder
Garlic powder
Chicken flavor base or bouillon or gravy mix (or not)
About one quart of milk

Directions:

Put chicken breasts, one at a time, in a gallon size Ziploc bag, and pound it until thin, about maybe 3/8 inch or so. Cut into serving-sized pieces. Set aside.

This is the tricky part: mix about two cups of flour with salt, pepper, white pepper, paprika, garlic powder, and onion powder to taste.

Coat the pounded chicken with the flour mixture, saving about a half cup of the left-over flour mixture. In a large pan, saute the chicken in plenty of butter or olive oil (or a mixture) just until done. Repeat with all the chicken, and set aside.

In the same pan, throw in another cube or so of butter, and about half a cup of the reserved flour mixture, and make a roux. Add some chicken flavor base or bouillon or chicken gravy mix if you want. Pour in some milk (heat it in the microwave first to make things quicker) and make gravy. Adjust seasonings. When the gravy is ready, return the chicken to the pan to warm up and get all smothered and delicious.

Serve with pulverized potatoes and peas. Please.

Dad's Jerkey Marinade

Ingredients:

1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke flavoring
1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (e.g. Tabasco™), or to taste
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup brown sugar

Directions:

Stir together soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, liquid smoke, and hot pepper sauce in a bowl. Season with garlic powder, onion powder, pepper, and sugar; stir until mixed.
To use, toss one pound of thinly sliced meat with the marinade until well coated. Place into a resealable plastic bag, and squeeze out the air. Marinate in the refrigerator for 48 hours, mixing twice. Remove meat from marinade, and discard excess marinade. Prepare jerky according to the manufacturer's directions of your smoker or dehydrator.

Source: From http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/dads-jerky-marinade/Detail.aspx

Tuscan Tuna Bean Salad

Ingredients:

2 cans white northern on cannellini beans, drained and rinced
2 T chopped red onion
1 rib celery, finely diced
1 can tuna, drained
3 T extra-virgin olive oil
juice and zest of 1 lemon
1 t dried thyme
1/4 t salt
1/4 t ground black pepper

Directions:

Combine all ingredients, toss, and refrigerate 1 hour before serving.

Source: Cucina in Salt Lake City

Pesto Farfalle and Chicken Salad

Ingredients:

1 lb farfalle (bowtie) pasta
2 T olive oil
1 large onion (Walla Walla or Vidalia, if possible)
2 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, grilled or broiled
1 cup dried cranberries
8 oz. or more basil pesto

Directions:

Cook pasta, drain, rinse, and set aside. Saute the onion in the olive oil, about 10 minutes until golden. Cut chicken into bite-size pieces. Add onion, chicken, chicken, and cranberries to pasta. Add pesto and stir gently into pasta. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Note: This recipe is from Cucina in Salt Lake City. Their pesto includes equal parts spinach and basil, and they use 2 cups total.

Orzo Salad with Chicken and Artichokes

Ingredients:

24 oz. orzo, cooked and drained
1 whole chicken breast
6 halves sun-dried tomatoes, julienne (about 1/4 cup)
1 can artichoke hearts
8 oz. feta cheese, crumbled
1/2 c mint leaves, chopped
lemon pepper

For Dressing:

2 T Extra virgin olive oil
juice and zest of 1 large lemon
1/2 t salt, or to taste

Directions:

Cut chicken breast into bite-size pieces and saute in a little oil, seasoning liberally with lemon pepper. Soften sun-dried tomatoes in hot water about 10 minutes, then dice. Drain artichoke hearts, chop into pieces. Combine orzo, cooked chicken breast, diced tomatoes, chopped artichoke hearts, crumbled feta, and chopped mint in large bowl. Combine dressing ingredients and pour over salad; combine and chill.

Note: This recipe was an attempt to duplicate a salad from Cucina in Salt Lake City. The official cookbook from Cucina has this recipe and it uses 16 oz. orzo, 4 cups cubed cooked chicken, 2 lemons, 2 T minced garlic, and 1/2 c. olive oil. In other words, the ratio of good stuff to pasta is slightly higher. So, find the proportions that work; it's yummy either way.