Roasted Chicken and Bread Salad

Prep Time: 19 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes

Grade: A+

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: The Best Chicken Recipe

I normally wouldn't give a recipe an A+ until I had made it a few times, but I know this one is a real winner for me. It was incredibly easy to make, and delicious.

My bread did overcook just a bit, but that was because my chicken took longer than expected and the pieces were not all under the chicken. I used a demi-baguette from Trader Joe's which had lots of crust. It might work better from a larger loaf with less crust.

My only wish is that I could find a way to make this on the grill, because I won't want to be roasting chicken too much this summer. The beauty of this recipe is cooking the chicken on top of the bread, so I'm not sure how that would work.

The recipe was inspired from Zuni Cafe Cookbook's (I'll try to remember to post the link later to that recipe when I can find it.)

I do think I could skip the pine nuts altogether. I love pine nuts, but they seemed to get lost in the salad and I didn't notice them. So I'm not sure they are worth the calories. I forgot to add the shaved parmesan, and I think that is the addition that is probably worth it.

I will definitely be making this one again!

Skillet Penne with Chicken Sausage

Total Time: 40 minutes

Grade: A

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: The Best Chicken Recipe

This was good. I've tried a lot of the skillet pasta recipes don't always like them. Actually, I usually like them, but feel like they are more effort than I want. This one is pretty easy. The total time is not all work, and entire dish probably could be made in less than 30 minutes if you were quick. (I bet this recipe is in the Best 30-Minute cookbook too, or at least something VERY similar.)

I loved that this had spinach in it, so it truly is a one-pot meal. I might add more spinach next time (just because I like it!) I felt like the Pine nuts were kind of lost in this dish, so I may just skip them next time.

Stir Fried Pork Scallions and Peppers with Garlic Sauce

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Grade: C+

Make Again: No

Recipe Source: Cook's Illustrated (April 2007)

I wasn't too in love with this recipe. I just wasn't getting much flavor out of the sauce. It helped when I added some soy sauce. It wasn't bad, but since most of the other CI stir fry recipes I've used have been outstanding, this one just doesn't compare for me. It came from the Best Light Recipe also - maybe their efforts to lighten took away too much for me.

Chicken with Orzo Spinach and Feta

Total Time: 40 minutes

Grade: B

Make Again: Maybe

Recipe Source: The Best Chicken Recipe

This was in the Cooking for Two chapter (or something like that). It was fine, but not my favorite. I thought the lemon flavor was too strong (even though I used a little less than called for) and it covered up other flavors. I might make again if I have the ingredients handy, just because it was a nice one pan meal that wasn't too complicated to make.

Update: I realized later that I forgot to toast the Orzo first and instead added it with the broth. Also, I used Vegetable broth since I didn't have Chicken on hand. Both these things probably affected the flavor, so my review is possibly not fair. If I make again, I will use less lemon.

Coconut Scone

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes

Grade: A-

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: Whole Grain Baking

These are pretty good, but the coconut flavor was not strong for me. One problem was my coconut was kind of old, and I did not have any coconut extract. If I make again, I will need to get some extract. I'd like to try making these with light coconut milk instead, so I would definitely want to use the extract for that version.

It was 2/3 white whole wheat and 1/3 white flour, and you truly cannot tell that there is whole wheat. After my initial whole wheat biscuit, I was thinking the whole wheat versions of biscuits and scones wouldn't be that good. But I'm finding the ones that add a little regular flour are very good.

Chilaquiles (Skillet Tortilla Casserole)

Total Time: 30 minutes

Grade: A

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: The Best Chicken Recipe

I really liked this one. It was a nice skillet meal for two that I cut in half for a single serving and it worked out really well. My final product doesn't look that pretty, but it was very tasty.

I actually changed the recipe somewhat drastically, because it called for what I thought was too much chips and cheese. My final product was still very rich and flavorul but something that wouldn't leave me full for hours and hours. I didn't have the cilantro and it would have benefited from it. I didn't have a plum tomato so used some Chipotle salsa instead of the minced chipotle and the tomato. That worked well, but made the dish look a little less appetizing than it would have with the tomato added later. And I used minced onion instead of a shallot, and used less oil. Even with all my changes, I think I can safely say the original recipe would be excellent, and my version is also very good.

SKILLET TORTILLA CASSEROLE (for one)

1 boneless chicken breast (5-6 oz)
salt and pepper
1/2 T vegetable oil
1/2 small onion, minced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon minced chipotle chile in adobo sauce
1/2 c. low-sodium chicken broth
1 ounce tortilla chips broken into smaller pieces
1 medium ripe tomato, cored, seeded and chopped
1 ounce cheddar cheese, grated
1 T cilantro, minced


1. Pat chicken dry and season with salt and pepper. If tortilla chips are very salty, be cautious with the salt.

2. Heat 1 teaspoon of oil in ovensafe 10" skillet over medium heat. Add chicken and brown on each side for 5 minutes.

3. Move chicken to the side, add 1/2 teaspoon oil and onion and saute a minute. Add garlic and chipotle and pinch of salt if needed. Cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

4. Add broth and stir up an browned bits. Stir in half of tortilla chips. Cover, and cook until chicken reaches 160-165. Preheat broiler while chicken is cooking.

5. Remove chicken and cut or shred. Return to skillet with half of cheese (2 T), half of cilantro, and remaining tortilla chips. Stir to moisten.

6. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top and put in broiler until cheese starts to brown. Top with cilantro. Let cool a bit before serving.

Baked Orange Chicken

Prep Time: 50 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes

Grade: B+

Make Again: Maybe

Recipe Source: Cook's Illustrated (May 2006)

You can't be fooled by the "Baked" because the chicken is still sort of pan fried in a good amount of oil while it is baking. I do not think this is as good as the fried version. The texture doesn't turn out quite as good. However, it is still pretty good. Since I hate frying things just because it feels messy to me and wasteful to use all that oil that you can't really re-use, it is possible I might make this again. Mostly because I like to cook asian food for others and this would allow something to be cooking in the oven, and would allow another dish to be stir-fried at the same time.

The prep included the wait time for the marinade, so it wasn't a true 50 minutes of work. There was plenty of time to clean the kitchen, prep and steam some broccoli, etc.

Laab Gai (Thai Chicken Salad)

Total Time: 25 minutes

Grade: A

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: The Best Chicken Recipe
Recipe: America's Test Kitchen TV Show  (Season 10)

I have no intention of buying this latest CI cookbook, because it is full of recipes I own in other books. Also, I am kind of tired of the standard CI cookbook, since I've read so many of them. (I'm sticking with the Best of ATK books, which they will hopefully continue, since they are much more attractive and feature the highlights of all their new books.) But I was happy to see it at the library and will try a few of the new recipes in there.

This was good. My biggest problem with cooking Thai though is the smell of the fish sauce. I hate it! I try to not smell it until the cooking is done. However, this recipe doesn't have a huge number of ingredients in the sauce, so the smell was still strong after combining everything, and that affects how it tastes to me. Once the smell went away, it all tasted good. I mixed the leftovers with some leftover rice which is also good.

The recipe calls for 2 T. of toasted rice which is then ground up. I was lucky enough to find some rice flour in the Thai section of a good internation grocery store close to me, and it was only $1. That saved some time and effort. It kind of made up for the fact that I had to pay $2.50 for a tiny amount of not super fresh basil. I should have waited until my basil was bigger to try this recipe, but I had some ground chicken and went for it now.

I skipped the oil, because the chicken had enough fat in it. I also skipped the step of mashing the chicken before cooking. I had to mash it while cooking. I discovered my potato masher worked really well for this.

I will probably make this again, since it was so easy, but I wouldn't spend a lot of money on the basil to make this.

Rhubarb Coffee Cake

Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 30-35 minutes

Grade: A

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: Whole Grain Baking

I'm not sure why this took me 25 minutes. Prepping the rhubarb, and making the topping took the most time, I think. I should have used a larger bowl for the topping.

I really liked this one a lot. It has 2 cup of the wheat flour and 1/2 cup of regular, but you cannot really tell that it is whole wheat. I think the strong flavor of the rhubarb helps with this. In general, all of the quick breads and coffecakes that I have tried have done a good job of disguising the fact that they are whole wheat. (I'm sure all the sugar and butter helps!)

Since I have some rhubarb in my garden that comes back every year, regardless of how badly I treat it, I will definitely be making this again.

Banana-Caramel Coconut Cream Pie with Dark Rum

Prep Time: 46 minutes
Cool Time: 3 hours
Grade: B

Make Again: No

Recipe Source: Cook's Illustrated (May 2004)

I didn't feel like making this look pretty, so I skipped the whipped cream and coconut on top. It was good, but I don't think it would be my first choice for a cream pie. (That would be the chocolate version.) I love coconut, but I'm not sure if I love coconut cream. I did really like the crust with the bananas and caramel. I actually ended up not eating much of the cream part, because it just wasn't too exciting to me (or worth the calories.)

The prep time would have probably been less, or included a break while waiting for things to cool. I took longer because I burned my first caramel. I've only done caramels two times before (the Turtle Brownies and Caramels) and both times I didn't cook the caramel enough. The problem though, is that this was a small amount, so didn't take much time at all to make.

I tried to use all the correct ingredients since it was my first time with this recipe, but I didn't want to get unsweetened coconut when I had sweetened on hand. Also, my rum wasn't dark.

I should mention I made a half recipe and put it in a 7.5" pie plate. I thought the crust might not be enough so I used a few extra animal crackers. This was a mistake, because the crumbs were a bit too dry and I couldn't make the crust as sturdy as I would have liked. It was also too thick on the sides, so a simple half recipe would have worked fine.

This is a good recipe, but not an "A" for me just because of my taste buds more than anything else.