We've usually used fresh chicken but they are currently limiting to one package of fresh or frozen at the store. So buying a larger package of precut and IQF frozen pieces suddenly becomes worth trying. We bought a bag of Foster Farms frozen "Saute ready ready to season" chicken pieces in a large 28oz. bag.

They are surprisingly good! Nice little chunks and they were decent quality chicken. These are going to be a new thing for us.

JFF, I hope these Perdue cutlets are good. I bought them fresh but froze them as I was not cooking at the time, SURPRISE! I wish I could find your Foster Farms chicken. I have bought the Tyson's chicken strips from Costco awhile back. No one liked them and it was a waste. Don't know if I wasn't heating them up right in the oven (I tend to overcook as I am afraid that I am not baking them enough) but they were dried out and not to our liking. Happy trails everyone and Happy Good Friday to those who celebrate!

Frozen chicken has come a long way.

We've been happy with the large bags of Tyson panko-breaded fillets from Costco too. They make a nice sandwich or chicken parm. We pair them with the mini french rolls that costco has. A little cheese, a little honey mustard, maybe a little bacon and you're in business.

I think we were less happy with the tenders that were not "panko".

If you aren't using breaded chicken strips and they are "naked", consider using them as an ingredient in something like a casserole or soup. Breaded chicken cutlets are a good vehicle for chicken parm, though.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/10/2020 09:11PM by JASFLALMT.

Those Foster pieces are "naked" to use your term. Just nicely trimmed pre-cut pieces of beautiful chicken breast wearing nothing at all.

We tried them in a well-seasoned cheesy mexican casserole with rice. Now that we know they aren't scary, we may try them in something where they aren't quite so covered over like tacos or a salad. Maybe a stir fry.

@JASFLALMT wrote:

If you aren't using breaded chicken strips and they are "naked", consider using them as an ingredient in something like a casserole or soup. Breaded chicken cutlets are a good vehicle for chicken parm, though.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/10/2020 09:50PM by JustForFun.

Yes, I was posting for Madetoshop's concern about dry chicken. Sounds like you have it figured out!

I used to work for a large food manufacturer. They got a contract to supply one of their products to all of the locations of a big box store. Because the contracted sell price was so low, so was the quality of the product.

@Madetoshop wrote:

I have bought the Tyson's chicken strips from Costco awhile back. No one liked them and it was a waste.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/11/2020 11:27AM by HonnyBrown.

DDs made this onion soup last Friday. OMG, it was soooooo delicious. Omitted the alcohol and just used more broth. They used chicken broth as beef is a no-no for them. Used regular Swiss and fresh Gruyere cheese. [www.simplyrecipes.com]

OK, here's an easy-peasy recipe for a CHOCOLATE candy dessert!! (with optional pnut butter for pnut butter lovers!! (CAVEAT These are NOT LOW CALORIE!! One piece is about 150+ cal or so!!! )

Equipment needed
plastic ice cube tray or other "mold" to hold candy while it freezes
microwavable safe bowl
measuring cup(s)
spoon(s)
small dip or spoon to dip melted liquid into ice cube tray or "mold"
piece of wax paper to cover mold while freezing
Knife to prod candy piece out of tray/mold

Ingredients: (Feel free to double amounts for larger yield)
1/2 cup chocolate chips (I have used either semi-sweet and/or dark chocolate)
2 TBSP pnut butter (can omit if you don't like pnut butter--yield will be a little less due to less volume)
1/2 cup organic, unrefined coconut oil (solid or liquid is fine)
some crushed cashews (omit if you don't like nuts, or substitute your own favorite)
organic coconut flakes

Process:
Place the chocolate chips in microwavable safe dish and microwave for 30 seconds.
If using pnut butter, add to lightly melted chips and melt for another 20-30 seconds.
Continue melting in 15 second intervals until you can stir easily and see no solid pieces left.
Add coconut oil....If already melted, just blend until smooth. If solid, stirring a bit will begin the melting process. Then, just microwave in 15-20 second intervals until thoroughly melted and nice and smooth.
Use small dipping spoon or other device to place liquid into ice cube tray (or candy mold) about 3/4 full.
Place some crushed nuts (if used) into each ice cube compartment (or candy mold).
Sprinkle some coconut flakes over each candy area.
Place piece of wax paper over tray/mold. Freeze until firm. Use knife along one edge to
pop pieces out of tray/mold. Place in a container and keep refrigerated. They stay nice and firm in the refrigerator. This amount WITH PNUT BUTTER should yield about 12 pieces using ice cube tray.
WITHOUT PNUT BUTTER it yields about 10 pieces using ice cube tray.
ENJOY!!!

Made this Taco Rice Pie last night [12tomatoes.com]. Left out the cottage cheese and added diced tomatoes and rinsed black beans.. Sooo delicious. Roasted broccoli with garlic and olive oil; tossed some tofu in it for lunch. Banana muffins and a pound cake too thanks to DDs.

ETA I used ground chicken instead of beef.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/27/2020 05:10PM by Madetoshop.

Years ago we had a department store called Famous Barr (which was ultimately sold and converted to Macy's) that made a similar soup. However, the Famous soup had a layer of cheese on top so thick you couldn't even see the bread crouton.

OK, now you've got me craving French Onion soup :-)

@Madetoshop wrote:

DDs made this onion soup last Friday. OMG, it was soooooo delicious. Omitted the alcohol and just used more broth. They used chicken broth as beef is a no-no for them. Used regular Swiss and fresh Gruyere cheese. [www.simplyrecipes.com]

Kathy, I love French Onion soup. It was easy for my DDs. They semi caramelized the onions on the crockpot high setting with butter for 1/2 hour. Dining out, a small bowl is $10-15 plus tax and tip. A side of 5-6 asparagus spears is $10-12 plus tax and tip. Cooking at home has reminded me of the high prices you pay for a night out albeit so enjoyable.

I like to cook, but really enjoy my weekly Saturday night dinners out.

@Madetoshop wrote:

Cooking at home has reminded me of the high prices you pay for a night out albeit so enjoyable.

Easy chicken and rice:
Made this for the fam last night and they loved it.
2 cups shredded chicken - I just put some breasts in the crockpot and then shredded it. Or you can use a rotisserie chicken, canned chicken, whatever you have.
Onion, carrots, celery, and some garlic - a little olive oil in a pan and stir fry until al dente.
In casserole dish put chicken, veggies, 1 can mushroom soup, 1 1/4 cup uncooked rice, 3 cups chicken stock. Mix all together in the dish. Cover with foil, bake 400 degrees for 30-35 minutes. Take out the casserole and put bread crumbs or Panko on top and return to the oven for 10 minutes. Done! You can add as many or little vegetables as you desire. Very forgiving recipe. Oh and don't forget to salt and pepper to your taste.

Easy chicken with noodles.

I am a big fan of the powdered gravy mixes from places such as GFS. Last night was dry sautee sliced mushrooms that then got to suck back in some butter before adding torn up/chopped leftover baked chicken to the pan and adding some water and the powdered turkey gravy mix. The whole simmered gently while yolkless egg noodles boiled. Some spicing to taste--a fresh grate of nutmeg, a couple of pinches of dried basil and some pepper, a little lemon zest--and the cooked, drained noodles were stirred in to coat nicely before serving up.

So last week I bought a whole tenderloin, black Angus choice for $9.99 lb. on my curbside pickup. It's been in my refrigerator in cryovac since last Wednesday (could have left it there until June according to the date on the label). Now often in the past I would head to the meat counter when there was a sale like this and ask the butcher to cut steaks for me and grind scraps into burger meat while I shopped.

Today I took out that tenderloin and meticulously trimmed it into perfect steaks, throwing away a lot of the fat while losing very little of the darkest red meat. I put the scraps (still about 20% fat) in a bowl after cutting trimmed steaks and freezing them in separate bags in marinade and seasoning. I looked online and found that I could grind that meat with my food processor into hamburger meat. The trick is, apparently, to freeze the meat slightly but not completely through so it doesn't turn to mush (or break your blades if overfrozen) when pulsed. You can Google it, but the methods are basically the same for most of the sources I read.

Well I just did it. The ground burger meat turned out great. Going to have some fantastic filet mignon bacon cheeseburgers in a couple of days! And steaks to look forward to throughout May and early June. It's so nice having burger meat where I know exactly what it is and how it was handled. Very satisfying and a good price for ground filet mignon. And the steaks I trimmed are easily worth $20 lb if I had bought them prepackaged.

So it stands to reason if you found a cheaper cut of meat that you like, such as a chuck roast for $2 a pound, you could take it home and follow the same procedure. I know that in the past I have seen ground round or sirloin nearly double the price of the roasts.

I also found chicken thighs on sale for .88 cents a pound family packs. I am separating those by 4 per package and freezing them in buttermilk with seasonings.

I am pretty happy that I was able to find enough packaged meat (in addition to what I already have on hand) to keep us good throughout May and possibly into June.

Alton Brown on Food Network has had several shows where he has made ground raw meats in the food processor. You are right to start with small pieces and indeed lightly frozen. Work in small batches and work it as pulses rather than as a straight run of the processor.

We got the first watermelon of the season. I cubed and packaged some for Hubby to eat, and some for me to freeze (it serves as an ice cream substitute for me).

The last thing I did was cut the green peel off the rind. I diced the rind and threw it into the Instant Pot with lentils, onion, garlic, a couple of tomatoes, curry and other spices, and some broth. The ingredients cooked into a wonderfully savory dal.

Baseball Chicken
This is from a recent Washington Post story. The author's mother thought ballpark food (30 years ago) was an abomination. (And, she was right.) So, when the family drove 3 hours each way to see a major league game, she packed this chicken dish and some cold sides. We should assume that the chicken was also served cold. But, I can testify that it is also great, hot from the oven and/or reheated.
The result was moist chicken wrapped in a delicious crisp crust. (Edited because it was not Warped."

Please see my notes at the end for some easy substitutes for items that you may not have on hand.

BASEBALL CHICKEN
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Ingredients
1/2 cup biscuit mix, such as Bisquick
3 tablespoons cornmeal
1 1/2 teaspoons finely chopped or ground fresh rosemary or 1 teaspoon crushed dry rosemary
1 teaspoon fine sea salt or table salt
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
One (3-pound) chicken, cut into 8 to 10 pieces OR 2-3 pounds of your favorite chicken parts.
Combine all dry ingredients in a plastic or paper bag. Melt the butter in a shallow dish. Roll each piece of chicken in the melted butter, then shake in the bag. Place all part of chicken on the rack of a broiler pan. Arrange so that chicken pieces are not touching one another. (Use nonstick spray on rack and pan.) Place in oven for 1 hour.

My Notes:
You can find recipes for “make at home” baking mixes on line. OR, there are several Bisquick clones that are quite good. I used the one from Aldi. OR, if you have on hand a corn muffin mix, you can use that as a sub for both the Bisquick AND the corn meal.
I used regular old “Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter” and reduced the amount of salt that I added. So, chose your “buttery fat”. It still made a wonderful combo.
I only had the rough, dried rosemary. I did not have a way to crush/grind it. That worked just fine, although I increased the amount somewhat.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/07/2020 06:47PM by walesmaven.

@walesmaven wrote:

Baseball Chicken

My Mom used to make something very similar though she used a lot of finely minced fresh garlic in the mix and had enough butter (always margarine) to drizzle the remainder over the pieces half way through baking.

Thank you!

I have a few powdered gravy packets that I want to find uses for. When I search for recipes, the results are all gravy.

@Flash wrote:

Easy chicken with noodles.

I am a big fan of the powdered gravy mixes from places such as GFS. Last night was dry sautee sliced mushrooms that then got to suck back in some butter before adding torn up/chopped leftover baked chicken to the pan and adding some water and the powdered turkey gravy mix. The whole simmered gently while yolkless egg noodles boiled. Some spicing to taste--a fresh grate of nutmeg, a couple of pinches of dried basil and some pepper, a little lemon zest--and the cooked, drained noodles were stirred in to coat nicely before serving up.

I use a little bit of brown gravy when I make my steak sandwiches. It makes a nice binder for the onions, mushrooms, and peppers.

Honny,
If you have powdered beef gravy, you can add some when you make beef stew or pot roast. Just remember that the gravy has a pretty high salt content, so scale back any salt called for in your recipe.

Same goes for powdered chicken gravy, in mild chicken dishes. If you poach some chicken, never use salt in the poaching liquid, as it toughens the meat during the process. I might then combine chopped poached chicken, the gravy mix and cooked noodles, making a casserole. Freeze planned-overs, of course.

I do that regularly with my pot roast and beef strew. It also is great with beef tips peppers, mushrooms,and onions over rice.

Thanks, wales. I always fry chicken in a cast iron skillet. It's delicious, but none too healthy, and makes a mess. I haven't made oven-fried chicken in a long time. The kind I used to make was oven-fried in shallow oil on a baking sheet. It seems like your recipe would be lighter. I'm looking forward to trying it!

Honny, I've used gravy packets to make chicken pot pie. Also have used it to make something my Grandma made, chicken ala king. Just need to get the viscosity right by slightly reducing the amount of water. If I have cream, I've used it in place of water for richness. I always have beef au jus packets in the pantry. Added to stew, mushroom, or vegetable soup, it can add depth of flavor, if needed. It can also be doctored up by adding some red wine. Good enough to sip from a mug.

Calling all fans of yellow rice !

Have you ever made this dish using just a commercial Moroccan spice blend? I see to have mysteriously acquired some of that blend. It sure would be spicier that the typical coriander, turmeric, cinnamon, cumin combo. How much of such a spicy blend to how much rice, would you think ?

What say you all?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/08/2020 05:47PM by walesmaven.

I would start with half the recommended amount of spice (or less) as I we are not fond of heavily spicy. I assume the mix goes in the water with the rice. I would taste the water with the mix in to see if it was too mild or too much already. Realizing that as the water gets absorbed the flavor will concentrate, I would make it on the wimpy side the first attempt, but if it was too wimpy, I would add more. I would rather underflavored and edible to inedibly spicy.

Focaccia bread is something I usually pick up in the bakery. Well, I haven't been in the bakery for awhile so I found this recipe. It's easy and delicious, better than the bakery. [www.inspiredtaste.net]

I just printed that recipe and added yeast to my shopping list.

I hope you can find yeast. I haven't seen it in the stores for awhile. I finally found some online.