Although this may be the antithesis of my own culinary philosophy, the idea was just too indulgent to let go.  But, to do justice to this masterpiece of American-Chinese-American fusion, I felt that I really needed to commit – so most of the ingredients are premade and can be found in the freezer section!  Is this dish the epitome of the bastardization of Asian cuisine?  Perhaps.  Was it actually, shamefully delicious?  You bet.

Makes: 6 ethnically-retarded servings
Total kitchen time: 1 hour

Shopping List:

• 1 bag frozen Mandarin Chicken (available at Trader Joe’s)
• 1 cup frozen “Organic Foursome” (carrots, peas, green beans and corn, available at Trader Joe’s)
• 2 cups prepared sushi rice
• 1 tbsp. low sodium soy sauce
• 1 premade pie crust, thawed (available at Trader Joe’s) [Note: use 2 pie crusts if making individual pot pies]

1. Preheat your oven to 450°F.
2. Prepare the Mandarin Chicken according to the package directions, reserving the sauce packets.  Set aside.
3. Thaw 1 cup of frozen vegetables, and mix together with Mandarin Chicken, sushi rice and soy sauce in a large bowl.  Add the Mandarin sauce and stir to combine.
4. You can prepare the pot pie in either one large round casserole dish, or in 6 medium ramekins.  If using one dish, spoon in the chicken, vegetable and rice mixture and push into the dish with the back of a spoon to compress.  Top with the pie crust and crimp the edges with a fork.
   If making individual pot pies, divide the filling between 6 medium ramekins and cut the pie crusts into rounds to cover.  Poke small holes in the middle of the crusts to allow steam to escape.
5. Bake for 30 minutes, or until crusts are golden brown.  Allow to cool 10 minutes before serving.

I’m secretly hoping that this dish sweeps the nation (well, at least the middle part) as the next big trend.  There is something delightfully Paula Dean-y about the combination, not unlike “chicken tempura with BBQ sauce”.  So, if you’ve got friends or family who prefer something semi-homemade and anti-culinary, why not pass this gem along.

The coffee aisles of my local grocery stores have been growing in recent years.  But, for some reason, coffee has never really made into the mainstream as a cooking ingredient.  Perhaps that’s because ground coffee is too coarse to dissolve nicely into a sauce, and instant coffees are notorious for their crappiness.  Well, we may be turning a culinary corner with the introduction of Starbucks VIA Ready Brew – the first instant coffee from Starbucks, and a new staple-to-be of my spice rack.  For this recipe, I chose the Colombia roast, which is a medium-bodied coffee that adds a subtle but important rich background flavor to the braised chicken.  The sweet onions balance out the bitterness of the coffee and make this a wonderful and unique dish.

Makes: 2 Grande Servings
Total kitchen time: 75 minutes

Shopping list:

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
• 1 large white onion, diced
• 1 tbsp. brown sugar
• 2 single-serving packets Starbucks VIA Ready Brew Colombia
• 2 1/2 cups water
• 1 can white beans, drained
• Olive oil
• kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1. Heat a dutch oven over high heat.  (You can use a heavy-bottomed pot or deep skillet with a tight-fitting lid).
2. Coat the chicken breasts on all sides with a small amount of olive oil.  Add to the pot and sear each side until lightly browned, about 1 minute per side.  Remove the chicken and let rest.
3. Add the cider vinegar and deglaze the bottom of the pan with a spoon (scrape up all the brown bits).
4. Add the diced onion and reduce the heat to medium.  Sweat the onion over medium heat until softened and slightly browned, about 3 minutes. 
5. Add the Starbucks VIA Ready Brew coffee and stir to coat the onions.  Then, add the water and brown sugar.  Stir to combine, and add salt and pepper, to taste.
6. Return the chicken to the pot and bring the liquid to a boil.  Cover and reduce to a simmer for about an hour, or until the chicken pulls apart easily with a fork. 
7. Before plating, warm the white beans in a small skillet.  Plate a portion of beans into a shallow bowl, then add one chicken breast and top with onions.

I’m excited by the notion that coffee may appear more widely than as a pork rub or in baked goods.  I can’t think of any other ingredient that imparts as rich a flavor and aroma, except perhaps wine.  Hmm, coffee and wine sharing culinary characteristics?  This is gonna get really interesting…

Full disclosure: I got free stuff but that doesn’t pay for my opinion.

Makes: 4 skinny wraps
Total kitchen time: 30 minutes

Shopping list:

• 4 low-carb tortillas
• 1 lb. cooked chicken, skin removed (use the white meat from a roasted chicken, chicken breast, turkey breast, leftover pork chop, fish fillet, or whatever else sounds good)
• 1 1/2 cups chopped pineapple
• 1/4 cup cilantro, finely chopped
• juice of 1 lime
• 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
• 1/2 cup alfalfa sprouts
• 1 small avocado, sliced
• 2 tbsp. crumbled goat cheese
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1. Using your fingers, shred the chicken (or other protein) into a small bowl.  Mix in the chopped pineapple, cilantro, lime juice, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 15 minutes, up to 4 hours, to let the flavors develop. 
2. Divide the goat cheese, avocado slices and sprouts between the 4 tortillas.  Add the chicken mixture, and roll into a burrito, or pierce with a toothpick (if using small tortillas).

Serve this lunch or dinner wrap alongside a fruit salad, or some other healthy thing you might eat while you daydream about crisp french fries.

This is one of the first things I learned to make when I started cooking on my own.  It’s simple, hard to mess up, and delicious.  Plus, its a pretty cheap way to dress up plain chicken. 

Makes: 4 servings
Total kitchen time: 25 minutes

Shopping list:

• 1 tbsp. butter
• 1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 1 large shallot, finely diced
• 1/2 cup red wine (use a bottle you’d actually drink)
• 4 cups (about 2 packages) crimini or white mushrooms, sliced
• 1 tbsp. Herbs de Provençe (seasoning blend)
• kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1. Heat the butter an oil together in a heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat.
2. Add the shallot and sauté until soft, about 3 minutes.
3. Add the red wine and stir to deglaze the pan.  The shallots will have started to brown just slightly, leaving wonderful sticky stuff on the bottom of the pan.  The acid from the wine will cause those brown bits to release and get reincorporated into the liquid.  That’s called deglazing.
4. Bring the wine to a boil and let it reduce for about 1 minute.
5. Add the mushrooms, stirring to mix everything together.  Add the salt, pepper and herbs de Provençe.  Reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 15 minutes, or until the mushrooms are soft and tender.
6. To serve, spoon the mushrooms over chicken, pasta, steak, or whatever else your heart desires.

Pictured above, I’ve topped some Hens Provençal with a generous helping of the mushrooms.  I also added some butternut squash, sweet potatoes and turnips to the roasting pan for a bit of extra color and flavor.

Makes: 2 people get up and gyoza
Total kitchen time: 45 minutes

Shopping list:

• 1-2 chicken breasts, boneless, skinless
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
• 1 1/3 cups green cabbage, shredded
• 1 1/3 cups red cabbage, shredded
• 1 cup muscat grapes, halved (These are very sweet grapes.  If you can’t find muscat, use the next sweetest grape you can find)
• 1 Asian pear, peeled and cut into sticks
• 2 tbsp. slivered almonds

1. Preheat your oven to 400°F and set the top rack in the bottom third of the oven.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, if you’ve got some available.  This won’t make the food taste better, but it will make cleanup that much sweeter.
2. Place the chicken breasts between two large layers of plastic wrap.  Using a mallet or the bottom of a heavy skillet, pound the breasts out flat.  Salt and pepper the chicken breasts generously on both sides.
3. Beat the egg in a small bowl.  Then, lightly coat each chicken breast with the beaten egg, again on both sides.  Sprinkle the panko flakes over the breasts – you guessed it – on both sides.  Arrange the breasts on your parchment-lined baking sheet, leaving lots of room in between.
4. Bake the chicken breasts at 400°F for 25 minutes or until a thermometer inserted in the breast reads 165°F.  Transfer to a cutting board and slice into 1/2″ pieces.
5. Meanwhile, toss the remaining ingredients together in a large bowl.  When the chicken is ready, plate the salad first, then top with the chicken.  Finally, drizzle over a generous amount of the honey-ginger dressing (recipe follows).

Honey-ginger dressing:

• 4 tbsp. real mayonnaise
• 2 tbsp. peanut oil (or sesame oil)
• 2 tbsp. mirin (sweet rice wine)
• 1 tbsp. blue agave nectar (substitute with honey)
• 1 tsp. freshly grated ginger
• 2 drops red chili oil
• 1 tsp. sesame seeds
• 1/2 tsp. salt

1. Combine all ingredients in a small food processor, or whisk by hand if the power is out at your house.  Check the taste and adjust with salt and agave nectar as needed.  The final dressing should be sweet but mild.

Wow, I feel healthier already.  A salad with baked chicken breasts?  This could totally have been a 90′s fad diet, combining the allure of Japanese health-cuisine with the American penchant for crispy chicken.  Next time your belt doesn’t fit, or your cell phone won’t play back HD video, try out this recipe.

Total Kitchen Time: 1 hr
Makes: Your work seem effortless to 6 awed guests

Mixed Grill (pictured above):

• 2 Free-range organic chickens
• 2 lbs. uncooked bratwurst
• 4 tbsp. olive oil (or canola oil)
• kosher salt and freshly-ground pepper

1. Preheat your oven to 400°F and place the top rack in the lower third of the oven.  This will be your chicken oven.
2. Preheat a second oven (even better, your toaster oven) to 450°F.  Place the bratwurst directly on your oven rack or on a wire rack in the oven and bake for about 5 minutes until the top side has browned.  Flip the links and brown for another 5 minutes.
3. Turn the heat on your brats (long “a” sound) down to 200°F and let them continue to roast, turning occasionally, until you’re ready to eat (or about an hour and a half).
4. Rinse the chickens and pat them very, very dry with paper towels.  Make sure that all the nooks and crannies, including the inside cavity, are dry.  The reason?  Crispy skin comes from dry birds that don’t create steam as they cook (thanks, Thomas Keller!)
5. Truss the birds and salt liberally.  Pepper them to taste, then rub the skin with oil.  The oil will add flavor, but also act as a conductor to help us in our quest of an all-over tan.
6. Preheat 2 large skillets [may I recommend cast iron] over high heat until they have just started to smoke.  Place one bird in each skillet, breast side up.  Transfer the skillets to the oven 400°F and place side by side.  Roast for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until a thermometer inserted into the breast reads 150°F.
7. After the birds have rested for 10 minutes, carve them into quarters and place on a large platter.  Cut each bratwurst in half on a bias and place around the chicken.  Serve to an adoring crowd.

 
For the roasted vegetables, chop yellow squash, zucchini, brussels sprouts and onions into 3/4″ chunks and toss with olive oil, kosher salt and pepper.  Roast on a baking sheet at 400°F for 25 minutes, or until golden brown spots of deliciousness appear.

Round out your meal with a light beet and goat cheese salad.  Toss arugula and baby spinach with high quality olive oil, champagne vinegar and salt and pepper in a large bowl.  Top with crumbled goat cheese and sliced, boiled beets.

Serve this meal with a sweet wine such as a Gewürztraminer or an Alsatian Riesling.  You’ll look like a culinary hero, but for you, this was just “whipping something up”.  Bravo.