Bacon-Roasted Chicken with Potatoes

Derek LOVED this.  I don't know who had the brilliant idea of wrapping bacon around chicken, but it's pretty amazing.  Seems like lately I end up changing every recipe I try and this is no exception.  I cooked the bacon/chicken without the potatoes because I had so much chicken, there wasn't room in the pan for anything else.  So I ended up making mashed potatoes to go with it.  Oh, and I got the recipe from allrecipes.com.

Ingredients:

• 6 chicken thighs
• 6 chicken drumsticks
• 12 slices center-cut bacon
• salt and black pepper to taste
• 1 onion, coarsely chopped
• 1 1/2 pounds baby Dutch yellow potatoes
•  
• Seasoning Mix:
• 2 tablespoons dried chives
• 2 tablespoons dried basil
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon adobo seasoning
• 1 tablespoon ground black pepper
•  
• 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• 
  
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
• 
  
• Wrap each chicken piece in a slice of bacon, trying to cover as much of the chicken as possible. Place the wrapped chicken pieces in a 9x13 inch baking dish, season with salt and pepper, and sprinkle the onion over the chicken. Push potatoes down into the spaces between the chicken pieces and around the edge of the dish.
• 
  
• Combine the chives, basil, garlic powder, adobo seasoning, and black pepper in a small bowl, and sprinkle the seasoning to taste over the chicken and potatoes.
• 
  
• Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour, until the bacon is crisp and brown and the potatoes are tender. Sprinkle with salt, if desired, and serve hot.

Guacamole

This was the rest of our Cinco de Mayo dinner.  I never actually used a recipe for this, so these are all approximations (is that a word?)

Ingredients:

2 ripe avocados
1 roma tomato, diced
1/2 small onion, diced
1.4-ish cup cilantro
lime juice to taste (maybe half a lime?)
garlic salt to taste

Cut the avocados in half and carefully peel the skins off.  Cut into small pieces and place in bowl.  Add everything else and mash together with a fork  I like mine kind of chunky, so I don't mash it a ton.

*Hint:  If you don't want your guac to turn brown, put an avocado pit in it.

Chile Verde

Happy Cinco de Mayo yesterday! I used my mother-in-law's recipe and a recipe I found on allrecipes.com to make this one.  It turned out sooooo good.  The pork was so tender and I put lots of lime in.  I love lime.

Ingredients:

1 3-ish lb pork roast, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 tsp cumin (didn't have any si I subbed chili powder and it was great)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 T oil
1 lb fresh tomatillos, husks removed and chopped
1 cup chopped onion
3 tsp grated lime peel
2 T lime juice (I just used 1 lime's worth of zest and juice and it was very limey)
4 cloves garlic, minced
Tortillas (corn or flour)
2 T fresh cilantro
Salsa verde (optional)

Trim fat from meat and cut into 1-inch cubes.  Sprinkle with cumin, salt and pepper.  Pour a little oil in a hot skillet and cook half the meat until browned.  Remove meat and cook the other half.  Place meat in 4-quart slow cooker.  Add tomatillos, onion, lime peel, lime juice, garlic, and salsa verde if desired.  Stir to combine.

Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 3-4.  A few minutes before serving, stir in the cilantro.  Serve on tortillas with sour cream and shredded Monterey Jack cheese.

Baked Chicken Nuggets

I got this recipe from Tiff's recipe blog.  I've made them before but I don't think I've ever posted the recipe.  They're really good and they're one of the things Derek requested for dinner on his birthday a few days ago.

Ingredients:

3 skinless, boneless chicken breast
1 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon dried basil
2 eggs


Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Cut chicken breast into 1 1/2 inch sized pieces
In a medium bowl, mix together bread crumbs, cheese, thyme, and basil. Mix well.
Beat eggs in separate bowl.
Dip chicken pieces into egg batter first, then coat with the breadcrumbs.
Place well coated pieces of chicken on a lightly greased cookie sheet in a single layer, and bake in the oven for 20 minutes.

French Silk Chocolate Pie

Derek requests this for his birthday instead of a cake every year.  It's his mom's recipe and it's oh so good.

Ingredients:

1 - 9" pie shell, baked (I always just buy a pre-made graham cracker crust)

1/2 cup REAL butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 oz unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled (I don't think I ever really wait for it to cool much)
3 T cocoa
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs

Whipped Cream
1 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla

1 pkg almonds, toasted

Prepare and bake pie crust as usual.  Cream together butter and sugar until fluffy.  Add the chocolate, cocoa and vanilla and blend well.

Add the eggs, one at a time, beating 5 minutes after each addition (important!), scraping the sides of the bowl continually.  Pour this mixture into pie shell and chill for at least 2 hours.

Meanwhile toast the almonds by placing them in a non-stick fry pan on medium heat.  Stir frequently so they don't burn.  Do not add oil.  Cool completely.

In small mixing bowl, combine whipping cream, powdered sugar and vanilla.  Beat until stiff peaks form.  Garnish pie with whipped cream and sprinkle on toasted almonds.

Sesame Chicken

For this I kind of combined recipes from my mother-in-law and my friend Yvonne.  It turned out really good!

Ingredients:

Oil
1 lb skinless, boneless chicken breast, cubed
1 c chicken broth
1/3 c white sugar
2 T distilled white vinegar
2 T dark soy sauce
2 T sesame oil
1 tsp sweet chili sauce
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 c cornstarch
1/2 c. water
1 1/2 c broccoli florets
2 T toasted sesame seeds



Cut chicken into 1 inch cubes. Add enough canola oil in your skillet to generously coat bottom. Fry chicken until medium brown. Fry a bit at a time, take out of pan when cooked through, and add more in till all chicken is cooked.

While chicken is frying, prepare sauce by mixing in saucepan chicken broth, sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, chili sauce, and garlic.  Bring to a boil.  Dissolve 1/4 c. cornstarch into 1/2 c. water, and stir into boiling sauce.  Simmer until the sauce thickens and turns clear, about 2 minutes.  Reduce heat to low, and keep sauce warm.   Add chicken and broccoli and simmer until done.  Stir in sesame seeds (which I didn't have so I just did it without).