Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Whitney's Chicken

My friend Whitney Knight created a very tasty chicken recipe. I tweaked it to reflect the ingredients I had on hand, so I will notate where I deviated from her recipe. This was definitely a keeper, featuring chicken, avocado, and grilled onions.

Ingredients:

 Boneless, skinless chicken breast portions (One per serving, naturally thin or pounded flat)

Onions, sliced (I used sweet Peruvian onions, 1/2 onion per serving was barely enough, we really love grilled onions!)

Bell peppers, sliced (I omitted, because I didn't have any on hand)

Ripe Avocado, sliced (I used 1/4 avocado per portion)

Portobello mushrooms, sliced

Sliced cheese (Whitney used Pepperjack. I used Muenster, because it was on hand)

Fajita seasoning (Packaged, or as you like it. I mixed a small amount of salt, garlic, smoked paprika, celery powder, and cumin)
Lime to squeeze over, if desired

olive oil

**********************************************************
Preheat oven to 375*
Rub thawed chicken breast portions with fajita seasoning, set aside. Squeeze lime juice over raw chicken.

I used a cast iron skillet and a small amount of olive oil to saute the onions. Just before they were done, I added my sliced mushrooms, as mushrooms don't take as long to cook. (If you are using bell peppers in this recipe, cook them along with the onions.) Stop cooking just short of completely done.

As the onion/ peppers cook, spray oil or lightly oil a casserole dish. (I used a stoneware jelly roll pan. If all your chicken will fit into your cast iron skillet, just plan to use it here.)

Set the cooked onion mixture aside, out of the pan. Add a small amount more oil to the pan (if necessary) and sear/ brown the chicken portions on both sides. (My cast iron skillet would not accommodate all of the chicken, so as the pieces browned, I set them onto my oiled baking dish.)

Once all the chicken is browned, top each portion with a layer of the onion/pepper/ mushroom mixture. Top this with sliced avocado, and finally, cover the avocado with sliced (or grated!) cheese.
Place into hot oven to finish cooking. Time will vary with thickness of chicken... internal temperature should reach 160* on thermometer. Ours took approximately 25 minutes.

Tuesday, February 2, 2016

Meet the Cooks, Updated!

Meet The Cooks

It has certainly been awhile since we updated this blog. I am beginning with our introductions. There is a new link to the updated "Meet The Cooks" post above... or use the link of the same name on the sidebar.

Since the blog began back in 2010, quite a bit has changed in our family. If you don't already know us, feel free to follow the link and learn more about our clan.
I have ten grandkids, ranging in age from a freshly minted 15 year old, down to a fourteen month old toddler.
In 2012, one of my sons (Bill Joe) passed away. He was followed a few months later by my brother, (Roger). Bill Joe had asked me many times to write a cookbook- and was the primary reason I started this blog.

Maybe one day, it will turn into an actual cookbook.

Thanks for visiting!
~Tammy~  February 2016