First attempt at chick-fil-a inspired chicken...

One thing that I'm working on doing is creating recipes. I've always been jealous of the people who can just grab a bunch of things out of the fridge, throw it in a frying pan or in the oven, and come out with something absolutely delicious because I've never felt I can do that. I've been stuck on the things that I know I can cook, those things being eggs, any way you want them, pasta (mainly easy stovetop macaroni and cheese), and bread. Those are the things my parents taught me how to make, and things that I've been cooking since I was a kid, however I'm now working on branching out.

On that note, here's what inspired me to try my hand at just throwing something together. I love Chick-Fil-A, it's really the only fast food I ever eat, but unfortunately, since my gallbladder surgery I'm afraid to eat it because it was the only thing before the surgery that actually made the pain unbearable, so I decided to try to make my own imitation. It was pretty good, but it definitely needs some more experimentation. I kept it pretty simple this time because I wasn't sure how well it would come out and now I have something to build on.




Here's what I did:

I took one large chicken breast (I thought it was 2 in 1 package when I thawed it, thankfully the one was big enough for both of us) and marinated it in Claussen kosher dill pickle juice overnight.
I put panko bread crumbs, with some onion powder and garlic powder, rolled the chicken in the mix to coat it. Then placed the chicken in aluminum foil and baked it at 350 for about 50 minutes.

Really, really simple, and really good, but next time I think I'm going to try regular bread crumbs. I also think I'm going to at least add some smoked paprika, and maybe a bit of white pepper to give it a bit more flavor. I would say that marinating the chicken in pickle juice gives it a good and different flavor.

Corn and Kielbasa Chowder

I've been really wanting to make soups lately (I guess it must be the weather), but haven't found many recipes that I've tried yet, this Corn Chowder was wonderful though. I don't often eat corn chowder, I think because I love clam chowder so much, but Philip can't eat seafood, and really enjoys corn chowder I thought I'd try this recipe that I found on http://www.carriessweetlife.com/. I'd say it was a hit, especially since Philip has requested it be his dinner on Christmas eve. It's a tradition in my family that my mom makes clam chowder on Christmas eve, so we now have to make some corn chowder alongside that so Philip has something to eat.



This was another pretty simple recipe, with an easy ingredient list. The only thing that I changed was that I only used half an onion where it calls for 2. It worked out well but I think next time I'll use a whole onion, still not the whole 2 though.



Here comes the recipe:



Corn and Kielbasa Chowder

8 oz. kielbasa cut lengthwise and thinly sliced
2 onions finely chopped
1 T. butter
One 14.5 oz can chicken broth
1 lg baking potato peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 c. half and half
1 1lb. bag corn thawed
Salt and pepper
Fresh dill for garnish (I omitted this)

Heat a deep skillet or a wide 4- to 6-quart pot over medium-high heat. Add the kielbasa and cook, stirring, until lightly browned, about 6 minutes. Transfer to a plate.

Add the onions and butter to the pan and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 6 minutes.
Add the broth and potato and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover with a lid and simmer until the potato is tender, about 10 minutes.
Add the half-and-half and corn and cook, stirring, until heated through.
Using a blender or food processor, puree 1 cup chowder until smooth. Stir the puree back into the chowder along with the browned kielbasa and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Top with the dill.