How to Cook Chicken

This is my favorite way to cook chicken for recipes that call for cooked shredded or diced chicken breast. It always comes out so moist and tender. This is also one of those recipes you can read once and remember - you don't have to refer back very frequently.

1. Place frozen chicken breasts in pot of water at fill with water just to cover.
2. Add a handful of onions and celery roughly chopped (the inside stocks of celery with the leaves especially). Also season the water with salt and pepper. I just scoop a small handful of salt - maybe 1-2 tsp.
3. Cover with a lid and cook on medium heat until boiling, then reduce heat to low.
4. Leave the lid on the chicken and simmer on low for 5 minutes. Then turn heat off and let the chicken sit 20 minutes with the lid still on.
5. Shred or dice accordingly.

Chicken gets really tough and dry with too much heat so that is one reason this cooks so well.

Let me add a note that 95% of the time I am too lazy to thaw chicken before I cook it and since it turns out so moist and delicious every time, it makes me even lazier. For thawed chicken, you would do everything the same except, just bring it to a boil and turn it off.

French Bread

I made my very own French Bread today! It turned out WONDERFUL!!! The recipe was for 3 loaves, so I am freezing the other two. (what was I thinking cutting up the pretty one for a picture ;-) If you would like the recipe, let me know. It took about 3 hours start to finish but that includes lots of rise time and cooking. If time weren't a factor (and messy dishes of course), I would never buy it from the store again.

Fried Baked Zucchini

The link:
Fried Bake Zucchini

I was inspired to make this because of the part where she says "we did the crouton thing'. I thought that flavor would make these incredible! So, I did "the crouton thing" and they turned out pretty good. The text of the squash was spot on, but the texture of the croutons wasn't quite what I wanted. I did end up eating an entire squash by myself however. I am going to experiment with the batter and see if I can figure out something better.

Roasted Potatoes and Pork Chops

Pan-Seared, Oven Roasted, Thick-Cut Pork Chops

The two things that make these Pork Chops very moist and tender are placing them in a brine and allowing them to rest. Delicious!

3/4 C packed light brown sugar
1/4 C table salt
4 bone-in rib pork chops 1 1/2 inch thick (obviously I did boneless)
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 T vegetable oil

1. Dissolve the brown sugar and salt in 6 cups cold wat4er in a gallon-size zipper-lock plastic bag. Add the pork chops and seal the bag, pressing out as much air as possible. Refrigerate until fully seasoned, about 1 hour. Remove the chops from the brine, rinse, and pat thouroughly dry with paper towels. Season the chops with the pepper.
2. Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position, place a shallow roasting pan or rimmed baking sheet on the rack, and heat the oven to 450 degrees. When the oven reaches 450 degrees, heat oil in a heavy bottomed 12" skillet over high heat until shimmering (I use my cast iron pan). Lay the chops in the skillet and cook until well browned and a nice crust has formed on the surface, about 3 minutes. Turn the chops over with tongs and cook until well browned and a nice crust has formed on the second side, 2 to 3 minutes longer.
Using the tongs, transfer the chops to the pre-heated pan in the oven. Roast 8 to 10 minutes, turning the chops over once halfway through the cooking time. Transfer the chops to a platter, tent loosely with foil, and let rest for 5 minutes (use this time to make a pan sauce if desired). Serve immediately. (temperature can be checked with a digital instant read thermometer to check for doneness)

Chicken and Three Cheese French Bread Pizza

This is another one we made when Melanie was here. We used the first tomatoes and green onions from my garden!

Click on the link for the recipe: Chicken and Three Cheese French Bread Pizza

Lately I have been omitting the red peppers, but they are good also.

White Chocolate, Chocolate Cookies

We made these cookies and they were delicious!!! I use to make them using a cake mix but now that I have made them from scratch, I will probably pass on the cake mix. This is also a great chocolate cookie for Homemade Oreos.


White Chocolate, Chocolate Cookies

2 cups all-purpose flour 3/4 cup white sugar 3/4 cup packed brown sugar 1/2 cup cocoa powder 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 cups white chocolate chips 2 eggs 1 cup butter

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, cream sugars, eggs. butter and vanilla. Sift dry ingredients into butter.
3. Drop by teaspoon onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 9-12 minutes

Buttermilk Pancakes Picture

This is Melanie's plate of Buttermilk Pancakes with strawberries and whipping cream. YUM!