Chicken with Creamy French Onion and Mushroom Gravy

I developed this recipe by trying to figure out what to do with a box of dry onion soup mix that I bought, for some reason, when we first got into Arkansas.  There is really no reason why I should have bought it.  I try to avoid using powdered mixes when I feel like I can achieve the flavor on my own using natural ingredients.  So for this recipe, if you want to use this mix for your French onion soup that isn't full of artificial ingredients or extremely high in sodium, I strongly encourage it!

The first thing you need to do is dissolve the onion soup mix in 2 cups of hot water.  Let it sit until needed.  Take 3-4 chicken breast halves and brown the outside in as little oil as you can get away with.  At this point, the chicken will not be cooked through but remove it anyway and set aside.

With about another tablespoon of oil and add 1/4 cup of chopped onion and 1/2 cup of sliced mushrooms.  Cook until the onions have softened and the mushrooms have started to brown and caramelize.

Carefully add the dissolved soup mixture to the pan, holding back some of the dry onions with a spoon.  Bring the soup back up to a high simmer.  Continue to simmer for 2-3 minutes to reduce a little.  Add the chicken and turn down to Medium.  Once there is less of a simmer, cover and let the chicken cook for 10-15 minutes until the chicken is completely cooked, stirring occasionally and turning chicken halfway through.

Remove the chicken once again and add 1/2 cup of milk.  Bring the pan back up to a simmer, careful to avoid boiling because that will cause the milk to curdle. Let it simmer and reduce some more for a couple minutes.(Because I have a child who insists on hanging on my legs and whining anytime I'm in the kitchen, my came to a rolling boil before I got to it...  Good thing my husband doesn't know the difference!)  Remove from heat and stir in 1/4-1/2cup of sour cream.  This is needed to mellow out the strong onion soup mix so use as much as you need.  Add the chicken back in again and let it rest for about 5 minutes to thicken.

I served my chicken with mashed potatoes and ladled some gravy over both.  Rice instead of potatoes would also go well with this dish.

Notes:

Definitely taste the sauce to make sure it isn't too strong for your taste.  Add more sour cream if it is too strong.  

Because I didn't add any thickeners this gravy is pretty thin.  If you prefer a thicker gravy you can thicken the same you would thicken any other gravy.  

If you choose to make your own dry onion mix, you may need to salt the chicken and other as you go as it will probably be pretty mild.

Recipe:

• 1 dry French onion soup mix packet (or 2-3 T. of your own mix)
• 2 cups hot water
• 3-4 chicken breast halves
• oil as needed
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
• 1/2 cup of milk

1. Dissolve the onion soup mix in 2 cups of hot water.  Let it sit until needed.  
2. Take the chicken breast halves and brown the outside in as little oil as you can get away with.  Remove it and set aside.
3. Add more oil to the pan if needed.   Add chopped onion and sliced mushrooms.  Cook until the onions have softened and the mushrooms have started to brown and caramelize.
4. Carefully add the dissolved soup mixture to the pan, holding back some of the dry onions with a spoon.  Bring the soup back up to a high simmer.  Continue to simmer for 2-3 minutes to reduce a little.  Add the chicken and turn down to Medium.  Cover and let the chicken cook for 10-15 minutes until the chicken is completely cooked, stirring occasionally and turning chicken halfway through.
5. Remove the chicken once again and add the milk.  Bring the pan back up to a simmer. Let it simmer and reduce for a couple minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in 1/4-1/2cup of sour cream.  Add the chicken back in again and let it rest for about 5 minutes.
6. Serve with potatoes or rice.

Spicy Strawberry Boneless Wings

I hope everyone had fun watching the big game this weekend!  My family got together and we had a TON of food that probably could have fed the neighbors.  All of it was good but I must say that my boneless "wings" were a hit.  

Disclaimer #1:  This recipe is an adaptation of two recipes that I combined and added my own flare to from allrecipes.com.  

Disclaimer #2:  I usually try to cook healthy, nutritious meals... but we all deserve a little indulgence every once in a while right? 

The chicken:

• 1 bag frozen chicken tenderloins (thawed, trimmed and cut into bite-sized pieces) -- this is a PARTY sized recipe

For the sauce:

• 3/4 cup strawberry jam (no chunks)
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp. honey
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 tsp. pepper
• 2-3 pinches red pepper flakes (could certainly be left out if you don't want them to be spicy)

Put all of the above in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring frequently.  Keep it for a rolling boil for a minute or two until it becomes the consistency of a thin syrup.  You can set this aside while you cook the chicken or make it ahead of time and reheat it prior to coating the chicken.

For the batter:

• 3 cups flour
• 2 Tbsp. salt
• 1 1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 tsp. cayenne (optional)
• 3/4 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 1/2 tsp. paprika
• 1 egg
• 1 cup milk

Combine all the dry ingredients in a shallow dish.  In a separate dish, whisk the egg then stir in the milk. 

Fill a large frying pan with vegetable or canola oil about one inch deep.  Prepare a baking sheet lined with a couple layers of paper towel.  Once the oil is hot, dredge the chicken in the egg mixture then the flour mixture two times.  You want the breading to be nice and thick.  CAREFULLY place the chicken in the hot oil, flipping after about 3 minutes.  Once all sides are golden brown, transfer the the lined baking  sheet.  Because there is so much chicken you will have to fry it in batches.  A deep fryer would work excellently too.  

In batches again, fill a gallon sized plastic-zip bag with the chicken and pour in some sauce and gently shake it up until all pieces are coated.  Enjoy!

Chicken and Gnocchi Soup

In honor of cooler (kind of ) weather I'm posting my version of a delicious Italian soup, Chicken and Gnocchi.  If you have never had gnocchi, it is a potato pasta.  I had always thought gnocchi would be difficult and was intimidated by it but it is actually VERY easy.

Gnocchi:

• 2 potatoes or one can of whole potatoes (You will need one cup of mashed potatoes, and the canned potatoes generally mash down to just over 1 cup.)
• 2 cups flour
• 1 egg

If you are using fresh potatoes, peel and boil them until cooked.  For canned potatoes, drain out all the liquid.  Put the potatoes in a bowl to mash them.

Mash up the potatoes with a potato masher.  Once the potatoes were pretty well mashed I used a fork to get rid of some of the larger lumps.  If it's a tiny bit lumpy it will be okay.

Put the potatoes in a bowl with the flour and egg and mix together.  (The gnocchi for this soup is meant to be a little bit bland.)  Once the ingredients are well mixed the dough will look lumpy.  Knead the dough together with your hand until it comes together.

Divide the dough in half.  You will only need half of the gnocchi dough for one batch of the soup.  Wrap the other half of dough in plastic wrap and put it in the freezer for next time.

Roll the dough half into the shape of a long breadstick.  I always forget that the dough expands when it's cooked and end up with huge gnocchi pieces that barely fit into my mouth.  So, the narrower the better.  Divide the dough in half again and roll out two lengths of dough if that makes it easier to thin it out.

Cut the bread into bite-sized smaller than bite-sized pieces (because the dough expands).  I like to roll each piece once on the counter or cutting board to soften up the edges.

If you were to make these for a purpose other than soup, like under pasta sauce, you would start off with salted boiling water.  Drop the gnocchi in (they should sink to the bottom).  Once they make their way back up to the top (3-4minutes) they are done. Remove and cover with pasta sauce.

In this case we will leave them and move onto the soup...

Chicken and Gnocchi Soup:

• 1 T. olive oil
• 1 small onion, diced
• 3 celery stalks, diced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
• 2 carrots, shredded
• 1 pound chicken breast, cooked and cubed
• 4 chicken bouillon cubes
• 6 cups of water
• half recipe of gnocchi
• 6 ounces baby spinach leaves
• 1 T. corn starch with 2 T. cold water (optional)
• 2 cups milk, cream, half & half -- your choice
• salt and pepper to taste

Prep your veggies and boil or steam your chicken.  Once the chicken is cooked and cooled, cut it into bite-sized pieces.

Heat the oil in a large soup pan over medium-high heat.  Add the onion, celery, carrots and garlic to the hot oil.  It is very important that when you cook with oil that it is hot prior to adding ingredients.  If you add ingredients before the oil is hot they will end up absorbing a lot of the oil and you'll need to add more to compensate.  No need for the extra calories.

Once the veggies are tender, add the water, bouillon and chicken pieces.  Bring the soup back up to a simmer.

Drop in the gnocchi, careful to unstick them before they fall into the pot.

When they are done, they will float to the top like this.  This should take 3-4 minutes.

Stir in the spinach.

Allow the spinach to cook and wilt for about 3 minutes.

Add the milk and bring it back up to a simmer.  If you want a slightly thicker soup, add the corn starch/water mixture with the milk.  It doesn't make a huge difference but my husband likes it better thicker.  I prefer it brothy so sometimes I don't add it.

Salt and pepper to taste.

This soup is amazing and perfect for Autum!