Chicken and Rice with Crispy Onion Strings

This. Is. Comfort food.

Creamy rice, soft and hearty veggies, juicy chicken thighs, and salty onion strings.

I've had this basic recipe for a while now, and every time I make it I am pleasantly surprised how delicious this simple meal with simple ingredients is. The leftovers are also just as good, and soul-warming on a cool, fall day. Leftover turkey would also substitute the chicken perfectly.

Preheat your oven to 350'.

Heat 1 t EVOO in a large pot. Season chicken thighs with salt and pepper and cook a couple minutes on each side until lightly browned. Remove from the pan and set aside.

*If you're using leftover turkey instead of the chicken, you'll skip this step. Obvi.

Add another 1 t EVOO to the pot and throw in your veggies, saute for a couple of minutes until they've softened a bit.

Spray 9x13 pan with cooking spray. In the pan, pour your chicken broth, rice, bouillon, salt and pepper, and parmesan cheese. Mix it up all nice and mixified.

Bouillon. A lot of bouillon out there has MSG in it. With all of the controversial studies out there on the stuff, I prefer to stay away from it. This stuff has been just perfect! Found it at Sprouts.

 Freshly shredded parm. 

Is there a better cheese out there freshly shredded? I submit that there is not.

Spoon the veggies onto the rice and broth mixture in the 9x13 pan, then snuggle the chicken (or leftover turkey) in among the rice and veggies. Cover pan with foil and bake 30 minutes or until the rice is tender.

Now for the guilty pleasure of the dish, the crispy onion strings topping.

Not only are these fabulous on top of the dish, but the huge plate of onion rings was quite divine.

I may or may not have eaten most of them and only hoped to have enough leftover to top the rice dish.

Start out by slicing the onion into thin little slices, then soak in buttermilk at least an hour.

In a bowl, mix your flour, salt, cayenne, garlic powder, and paprika.

 Heat up your vegetable or canola oil in a large, deep frying pan on medium heat to 375 degrees or until when you flick water into the oil, it immediately starts sizzling. If it's not hot enough, the coating will fall off and you'll have slimy, oily onions. Blech.

The other key is to fry small batches at a time. If you do too much, they all cling to one another, lower the temperature too much, and again, you'll have slimy, oily onions.

Blech.

Dip the buttermilked onions into the flour mixture (small batches) and coat onions well.

Gently place them in the oil, and they should immediately start sizzling.

Once the bottoms are starting to brown, flip onions over.

When they're done, take those crispy babies out and place on a plate covered with layered paper towels.

Taste them (for seasoning purposes only of course), and add salt while they're still hot if they need it.

 Top the chicken and rice dish with the crispy onion strings.

Try to stop staring at the golden, salty, crispy nuggets of onion.

Chicken and rice with crispy onion strings

Ingredients

2 t extra virgin olive oil

6 chicken thighs (or leftover turkey)

salt and pepper

1/2 yellow onion

1 c peeled mini carrots

1 c fresh green beans

1 c mushrooms

4 cloves garlic, diced

2 c chicken broth

1 c rice

2 t chicken bouillon

salt and pepper

1 c freshly-grated parmesan

1 yellow onion

2 c buttermilk

2 c flour

2 t salt

1/4 t cayenne

1 t garlic powder

1/2 t paprika

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Saute chicken in oil until lightly browned on the outside, set aside.

Saute veggies in oil for a couple of minutes.

Grease 9x13 pan, pour in broth, rice, bouillon, salt and pepper, and parmesan. Mix well.

Place veggies on top of broth and rice mixture, then add chicken (or leftover turkey).

Cover with foil and bake 30 minutes, or until rice is tender.

Slice onions for onion strings thin, then soak in buttermilk for at least an hour.

Heat oil in frying pan to 375 degrees.

Mix flour, salt, cayenne, garlic powder, and paprika in bowl. Coat onion slices in flour mixture, then (in small batches) place onions into oil and fry until lightly browned. Let dry on paper towel-lined plate.

Top chicken and rice with onion strings.

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Turkey Tortilla Soup {Thanksgiving Leftover Idea}

If you are like me, you like Thanksgiving leftovers...but you don't like eating turkey sandwiches for a week.  The last few years I have whipped up this soup and it has always been gobbled (pun intended) up!  I adapted this recipe from a chicken taco soup recipe that a friend from San Diego created.

Turkey Tortilla Soup {Thanksgiving Leftover Idea}

Ingredients

1/2 onion, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 TBSP olive oil

1 14 oz can tomato sauce

1 14oz can diced tomatoes

1 can corn

1 jalapeno, diced

1 zucchini, cubed

1 carrot, cubed

1 TBSP cumin

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper

1 LB cooked turkey, shredded (If it isn't the day after Thanksgiving and you're craving this soup - try using a rotisserie chicken)

2 cups chicken broth

juice from 1 lime

1 bunch of cilantro, chopped

Directions

In a stock pot, heat oil and add onions and garlic. Cook until onions are translucent and soft. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Boil until carrots are tender, then reduce heat to simmer. Serve with tortilla strips, cheese, sour cream, and avocado.

Homemade Tortilla Strips

Ingredients

3 corn tortillas

olive oil

kosher salt

Directions

Preheat over to 350 degrees. Brush tortillas with olive oil using a pastry brush and cut into strips. The easiest and fastest way is to cut them with a pizza cutter. Place on a baking sheet that has been sprayed with Pam and bake for about 10 minutes or until they are golden brown. Give them a toss halfway through.

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How to Fry {the best in the world} Turkey

My husband and I are 'Good Eats' Fans. We haven't watched it for a few years, but a few years ago when we did we witnessed Alton fry a turkey.
Then and There Nate decided he was going to fry turkeys for the rest of his life...and since then Nate has fried turkeys. Not all have been great but he never gave up on creating the best turkey ever. It's taken a few tries- but he has it down to a science.

 

When I chat with people about a fried turkey this is what I ALWAYS am told...ah hem...:

"Oh yeah, I hear they are pretty good."

Let me just affirm, yes they are pretty good, they are pretty Dang good they are infact the BEST turkey you WILL EVER EAT... if you do it right.

We have fried turkey for a few years in a row now, and have a few pointers.

1. Follow directions.
2. Don't use the same oil more than 2 turkey fries
3. INJECT that baby!

The first time we fried, we fried at a neighbors house (cause well, we had JUST seen Alton do it and we were quite convinced there was no other way!)  we were the third turkey to use the oil.... our turkey ended up being burnt and dried. and not very tasty :( You can use oil 2x. just strain it with a nylon or cheese cloth after first use)

Yet my husband was not ready to give up.
Our second year we made turkeys we just did a rub.

It turned out nice, but not quite the best turkey ever.

Our third year we fried a turkey, we injected AND rubbed. and let me just say- it was the best turkey I've ever had.
soft. juicy. fall apart on your plate.

and the other 15 people that gobbled gobbled it up said the exact same thing.
it was, quite frankly the bomb.com

Here is how to do it.
You will need-
1. A Turkey Lurkey (1.5 lbs x # of people you are feeding= size of turkey to buy)
2. 1 bottle of Tony Chachere's Creole and butter marinade (comes with injection syringe)-
     $3.44 at walmart- right now its sitting by the turkeys, how convienent, but you can also find it in marinade isle)
3. a turkey fryer (we just bought the $35 one at walmart)
4. 3 gallons of Peanut oil (we price matched and walmart it the cheapest)
5. Probe thermometer

How To Fry a Turkey

Step 1.

Defrost turkey.

Remove Gizzars and Neck. ewe. 

Step 2. Pat dry.

Step 3. 

place on a baking sheet or large roasting pan, OR in turkey bag and inject.

HERE are the places you need to inject. 

While in the same "hole" move the needle. 

point down and squirt. 

point to the side and squirt.

point to the other side and squirt.

point up and squirt. 

etc. 

If you have any extra marinade pour over and in the cavity of the turkey. 

see the needle going all different directions, same hole

Step 4.

rub outside with your fav rub.

We used a creole rub. 

Step 5. 

LET SIT. long you let sit the stronger the flavor. 

we let sit for a few hours, but you can let sit up to 24 hours.

Step 6. 

you need to measure how much oil the turkey will displace...every year people suffer from "over fill syndrome" they put too much oil in the pot and get burned by the oil that spills out when the turkey goes in the oil. big fire hazard. 

you measure this by....

place turkey in a bag and seal tight. (we forgot to pick up turkey bags..)

In your turkey frying pot hold turkey standing on his head (NOT on his side)

add water until the turkey is submerged. 

Mark this water line.

Dump water out and fill oil to that line. 

Step 7.

Heat Oil to 275, slowly lower into oil

Allow oil to heat to 325 and maintain that temperature. 

If temp goes up, lower the flame.....

Cook 3.5 minutes per pound.

Allow to rest before carving. 

wait for it...

wait for it....

waiting. and rewarded.

The FINAL product. 

gobble gobble.

 

Fried Turkey {how to tutorial}

Ingredients

1. A Turkey Lurkey (1.5 lbs x # of people you are feeding= size of turkey to buy)

2. 1 bottle of Tony Chachere's Creole and butter marinade (comes with injection syringe)-

$3.44 at walmart- right now its sitting by the turkeys, how convienent, but you can also find it in marinade isle)

3. a turkey fryer (we just bought the $35 one at walmart)

4. 3 gallons of Peanut oil (we price matched and walmart it the cheapest)

5. Probe thermometer

Directions

Step 1.

Defrost turkey.

Remove Gizzars and Neck.

Step 2. Pat dry.

Step 3.

place on a baking sheet or large roasting pan, OR in turkey bag and inject.

(see blog post of where to inject)

If you have any extra marinade pour over and in the cavity of the turkey.

Step 4.

rub outside with your fav rub.

We used a creole rub.

Step 5.

LET SIT. long you let sit the stronger the flavor.

we let sit for a few hours, but you can let sit up to 24 hours.

Step 6.

you need to measure how much oil the turkey will displace...every year people suffer from "over fill syndrome" they put too much oil in the pot and get burned by the oil that spills out when the turkey goes in the oil. big fire hazard.

you measure this by....

place turkey in a bag and seal tight. (we forgot to pick up turkey bags..)

In your turkey frying pot hold turkey standing on his head (NOT on his side)

add water until the turkey is submerged.

Mark this water line.

Dump water out and fill oil to that line.

(see pictures on post)

Step 7.

Heat Oil to 275, slowly lower into oil

Allow oil to heat to 325 and maintain that temperature.

If temp goes up, lower the flame.

Cook 3.5 minutes per pound.

Allow to rest before carving

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a different kind of sheperd's pie.

but alas, it is that time of the year where the sun goes to bed WAY to early, and therefore my pictures of food look way to orange (dispute my white balance manipulation...). 

When I think of Shepards pie...I think leftover meat. or ground beef. cream of something. green beans. left over mashed potatoes.

THEN I had one of our contributor's 'Superhotsteph' shepard's pie, and was in love.
I loved the thyme. I loved the non-gloppy no cream of something.

I loved the cheese.

Last night I had nothing in my fridge. but I had potatoes. and meat. so I thought I would try to recreate her recipe.
I did a pretty dang good job.
Later I got the actual recipe...I didn't add the soy sauce, {which apparently is the secret ingredient} or the parsley {but I never add parsley...nothing against it. just lazy}and I added 2 carrots {it does look pretty carroty in the pictures} but the rest was pretty close.

A Different Kind of Shepherd's Pie

Ingredients

1 Tbs salt

3 large potatoes, quartered

2 Tbs butter

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

¼ to 1/3 cup milk

1 Tbs olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

1 pound lean ground beef or turkey

1 large carrot, grated or chopped

1 Tbs chopped fresh parsley

½ clove garlic, finely chopped

½ tsp dried thyme

1 Tbs soy sauce

Instructions

In a large saucepan, bring water to a boil; stir in salt. Add potatoes and boil gently for about 15 to 20 minutes or until they are soft. Drain off water and add butter and salt and pepper. Mash the potatoes, adding enough milk to make a smooth mixture. Set aside. (I usually make more potatoes that this)

Preheat oven the 375 degrees. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat for 1 minute. Add the onion and stir-fry until tender. Stir in ground beef; then add carrot, parsley, garlic, and thyme. Cook until beef is thoroughly browned, stirring frequently. Drain off any excess oil. Add soy sauce and stir well. Taste, and add more salt and pepper if desired. Spread the meat mixture evenly in the bottom of a deep pie dish. Top with mashed potatoes. Bake in preheated oven for 20-30 minutes or until top is lightly browned.

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Navajo Tacos

For Nates birthday my friend made him quite the birthday dinner!!
Navajo Tacos and cucumber lime aid. (my kitchen was packed away in boxes...boo) I wanted to make it for my family, and got the recipes from her. Its REALLY yummy.

How to pile a Navajo Taco...

First-- the Fry bread
add:
Refried Beans
Ground Turkey or Beef (cooked in taco seasonings)
cheese
olives
tomatoes
pico or salsa
avacado / guac
sour cream
lettuce etc

Navajo Fry Bread

Ingredients

1T yeast

1/2 Cup warm water

1 tsp sugar

1/2 cup shortening

1/2 cup sugar

1.5 tsp salt

1 eggs

2 cups warm water

yeast,water and sugar mixture

5-6 cups flour

Instructions

Let yeast, 1/2 cup warm water, and 1 tsp sugar stand 5 minutes in a separate bowl.

Cream together shortening, 1/2 cup sugar, and salt.

Then add eggs, 2 cups warm water, and the yeast-water-sugar mixture and continue creaming.

Add 2.5 cups flour, cover, let rise for 1/2 hour

Stir in 3+ cups of flour and let rise in fridge for a few hours.

Roll into small balls and flatten thin and fry in heated oil.

Depending on size of pan you can fry 2-3 at a time and it only takes a few minutes on each side. watch carefully.

recipe by SuperhotSteph

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