Pan Fried Chicken Livers with Bacon, Garlic and Mushrooms

Here’s a good old-fashioned Southern recipe. Once upon a time, my favorite menu item to order when dining at a Popeye’s Louisiana Kitchen fast food restaurant was “Fried Chicken Livers.” The chicken livers were tender, crispy and seasoned with just the right amount of Cajun seasonings. Typically, we’d get the chicken livers when traveling and needed a quick, drive-by window meal. Alas, this southern delicacy has quietly disappeared from Popeye’s menus. And perhaps that is a good thing, as these chicken livers were loaded with salt and fat from the frying. But, I love chcken livers and have set out to make a somewhat healtier version at home. I’m following a recipe which I am trying hard to recollect from my food service days; those chicken livers were delicious. The flavors of garlic, bacon and mushrooms complimented the crispy chicken livers perfectly.

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Pluck, Pluck, Fried Chicken Fingers a.k.a. Raising Cane’s Chicken Tenders

It is January and we’re into football bowl season. What televised bowl game can proceed without fried chicken fingers at the watch party. Here in Louisiana, every mom & pop grocery store lunch counter claims bragging rights to the “Best Fried Chicken.” We love fried chicken here — Popeye’s Fried Chicken is from New Orleans as well as newcomer, Raising Cane’s. I have my own “favorite” fried chicken fingers recipe and bragging rights, too. My chicken fingers are incredibly tender and flavorful. My recipe is based on the one from Raising Cane’s fast food restaurant chain. Although I’m sure their recipe is a secret, my chicken fingers are a pretty close match. I am proud of this recipe; I worked long and hard to get it perfected. And my team-player husband had to sample all those chicken batches!

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Kansas City PlowBoys Dry Rub Roast Chicken

My blog post this week is about a delicious Oven Roast Chicken recipe inspired by a cross-country road trip. Several weeks ago my daughter and I took a marathon auto trip — driving from Boston, Massachusetts, to Aspen, Colorado, where she was going to live for the summer. Let us just say, it was a long — and boring — drive! We listened to lots of murder-mystery podcasts and watched the scenery go by. Kansas was interesting — this state must have the record for most windmills; a sight that you don’t see in Louisiana. The huge, silent and futuristic windmills filled the countryside and provided lots of photo opportunities for the passenger. Clean energy and our future, I presume!

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Instant Pot Magic: Coconut Curry Chicken with Potatoes & Carrots

Can you cook oriental cuisine in an Instant Pot? I decided to find out by cooking “Coconut Curry Chicken with Potatoes & Carrots” in my new kitchen appliance. And I was pleased with the results of my “Americanized” dish. The flavors of coconut milk, yellow curry and chicken combine to make a nicely seasoned main dish. The recipe comes from a college roommate and is one of my favorite oriental-inspired dishes. Typically potatoes are included in this recipe. My roommate, Lucy, also added carrots and onions. Serve the chicken with rice — even though it contains potatoes. Had I known that cooking with an Instant Pot was so incredibly easy, I might have purchased this kitchen appliance several years ago.

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Nathan’s Mini Chicken Pot Pies and Variations

What does a Google software specialist do in his spare time when he is working from home close Palo Alto, California, during the pandemic? Well, this Google employee creates and cooks. My nephew, Nathan, has been making pot pies in his kitchen as his group of Google employees continue their jobs from home. He baked the pies in mini-muffin tins so that the pot pies could easily be frozen and reheated as a single serving snack. I liked the idea and found a unique mini-pie tin which made twelve very small chicken pot pies. I made slightly larger individual pot pies, too, which were perfect for a dinner. And I loved the idea of freezing the pot pies; they made a tasty and quick homemade meal when I was was too busy to cook. Now I’m hooked on pot pies!

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Crawfish or Chicken Tetrazzini — Your Choice

Peeled crawfish tails blend very nicely with pasta to create some mighty tasty entrees and pasta salads. Springtime is when crawfish are in season, so I thought I’d adapt one of my favorite pasta dishes, “Chicken Tetrazzini,” substituting crawfish tails. Tetrazzini is a chicken or seafood pasta dish with mushrooms in a rich cream and cheese sauce. It is one of the first casserole dishes which I learned to make and is still one of my favorites. The crawfish recipe is a slight adaption to enhance the dish. I included my original chicken tetrazzini recipe and also a crawfish variation. Both are delicious and fitting for a springtime dinner!

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Cajun Blackened Chicken

When I think of Mardi Gras, I think of New Orleans and recall all of our adventures to the city during carnival season. New Orleans has a distinct and rich cuisine; we’ve eaten at many restaurants over the years during these times. Blackened redfish, made famous by Cajun Chef Paul Prudhomme, is one of the memorable dishes of this city. With carnival season and Mardi Gras arriving soon, here’s my “blackened recipe,” a version using chicken rather than redfish.

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Jeanne’s Chicken Thighs Stuffed with Matzo and Fresh Vegetable Kugel

Jeanne’s Stuffed Chicken Thighs is a time-honored family holiday tradition for Passover from my mother-in-law. In this household, the Passover meal is celebrated each spring with a large formal family meal and recounting of the story of the Exodus of Israelites from Egypt and their life of slavery and on to freedom.  The evening meal wouldn’t be the same without Stuffed Chicken Thighs.I asked my mother-in-law for the recipe for my blog. Although I’d eaten this dish many times, I had never actually watched the preparation and was surprised at the ingredients. The chicken thighs are stuffed with kugel made from a wonderful combination of fresh, aromatic vegetables, eggs and matzo. The chicken thighs are delicious; this dish is good any time of the year. Continue reading

Easy Homemade: Sweet and Sour Chicken

Sweet and Sour Chicken is an easy homemade recipe. It also fits the categories of “Family Favorites” and “Best Chicken Recipes.” As a stir fry dish, it makes a quick and tasty supper meal with vegetables, fruit and low-fat chicken.  It’s a healthy  meal – what more to ask for. The sweet and sour sauce is an original one that I’ve adapted from many attempts over the years; this is one that I really like.

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