Lemon Basil Chicken etc
I wanted to make something new tonight, and this is what it ended up becoming (like some sort of Frankenstein... the world's most DELICIOUS Frankenstein, lol). My goal is to cook way more from scratch in the new year, so here is a good start that tasted wonderful and is way better for me than fast food!
Chicken:
Cook the chicken in a small amount of olive oil until both sides are golden brown. Add about a cup and a half of chicken broth, a tablespoon of minced (preferably fresh) basil, salt and pepper to taste, about a clove of minced garlic, and some lemon juice. Now, I say "some" because I like more lemon, and others don't so the guideline would be about a tablespoon. I definitely didn't measure for myself, though. To be honest, all of my measurements are approximate for everything I make, except for baking.
Once all the ingredients are in the pan with the chicken, bring the liquid to a boil, then cover, reduce the heat, and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Once the chicken is done, remove it from the pan and place in the oven to keep warm (I didn't even turn my oven on, so the microwave probably would've worked just as well). Add about two tablespoons of flour to thicken the sauce in the pan, and at this point I added more chicken broth because we like a lot of sauce at my house. Let this cook for a few minutes, stirring occasionally, until it is slightly thicker than you would like. Add about a half cup of cream (I used light whipping cream, but milk would probably work for a lower fat option) and stir until completely mixed in. Serve over the chicken. Delicious!
Potato Cakes:
Make mashed potatoes however you normally would. If you make creamier mashed potatoes, make sure to omit a significant portion of the liquids- these need to be stiffer mashed potatoes in order to hold their shape as a cake.
Sautee about a half cup to a cup of onions (I used half of a medium yellow onion), diced, in two tablespoons of butter or cooking oil. Once clear/cooked, add straight to the potatoes and mix in. At this point you may want to add more seasonings to your taste; I added garlic powder, salt, and fresh ground black pepper. Oregano would probably be tasty in them.
Wait for them to cool a bit! There is nothing worse than being scalded by boiling potato mixture, trust me.
Scoop up about a half cup (or smaller, depending on the size of your finished cakes) of the potatoes and form into a patty, about half an inch thick. Fry in a small amount of cooking oil until both sides are golden brown. These can be served plain, with gravy, with sour cream, or really whatever you'd like to put on them. Everyone's grandmother has a different recipe, lol.
Veggies:
This was just a simple sautee in butter of the sliced zucchini and fresh green beans. I added minced garlic to the pan, as well as salt and pepper. These veggies were AMAZING dipped in the chicken's lemon basil sauce. Especially the zucchini.
Prep order:
If you want to make this all together like I did, here's the order I went in (which perhaps was not the most efficient)- Made mashed potatoes, added the onions, set aside. Cooked chicken in the onion pan. Once chicken was done, put in the oven and made the sauce, which I put into a pyrex measuring cup with a pour spout. Classsyyyy! Made potato cakes (these can sometimes take a surprisingly long time) and finally, sauteed my veggies.
Here is the finished product. Please disregard the fact that the sauce looks pink, it's the lighting in my kitchen which is weird. The sauce is really a light tan color. Also, I burned that batch of cakes a little bit... but you get the idea, lol.
Chicken:
Cook the chicken in a small amount of olive oil until both sides are golden brown. Add about a cup and a half of chicken broth, a tablespoon of minced (preferably fresh) basil, salt and pepper to taste, about a clove of minced garlic, and some lemon juice. Now, I say "some" because I like more lemon, and others don't so the guideline would be about a tablespoon. I definitely didn't measure for myself, though. To be honest, all of my measurements are approximate for everything I make, except for baking.
Once all the ingredients are in the pan with the chicken, bring the liquid to a boil, then cover, reduce the heat, and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Once the chicken is done, remove it from the pan and place in the oven to keep warm (I didn't even turn my oven on, so the microwave probably would've worked just as well). Add about two tablespoons of flour to thicken the sauce in the pan, and at this point I added more chicken broth because we like a lot of sauce at my house. Let this cook for a few minutes, stirring occasionally, until it is slightly thicker than you would like. Add about a half cup of cream (I used light whipping cream, but milk would probably work for a lower fat option) and stir until completely mixed in. Serve over the chicken. Delicious!
Potato Cakes:
Make mashed potatoes however you normally would. If you make creamier mashed potatoes, make sure to omit a significant portion of the liquids- these need to be stiffer mashed potatoes in order to hold their shape as a cake.
Sautee about a half cup to a cup of onions (I used half of a medium yellow onion), diced, in two tablespoons of butter or cooking oil. Once clear/cooked, add straight to the potatoes and mix in. At this point you may want to add more seasonings to your taste; I added garlic powder, salt, and fresh ground black pepper. Oregano would probably be tasty in them.
Wait for them to cool a bit! There is nothing worse than being scalded by boiling potato mixture, trust me.
Scoop up about a half cup (or smaller, depending on the size of your finished cakes) of the potatoes and form into a patty, about half an inch thick. Fry in a small amount of cooking oil until both sides are golden brown. These can be served plain, with gravy, with sour cream, or really whatever you'd like to put on them. Everyone's grandmother has a different recipe, lol.
Veggies:
This was just a simple sautee in butter of the sliced zucchini and fresh green beans. I added minced garlic to the pan, as well as salt and pepper. These veggies were AMAZING dipped in the chicken's lemon basil sauce. Especially the zucchini.
Prep order:
If you want to make this all together like I did, here's the order I went in (which perhaps was not the most efficient)- Made mashed potatoes, added the onions, set aside. Cooked chicken in the onion pan. Once chicken was done, put in the oven and made the sauce, which I put into a pyrex measuring cup with a pour spout. Classsyyyy! Made potato cakes (these can sometimes take a surprisingly long time) and finally, sauteed my veggies.
Here is the finished product. Please disregard the fact that the sauce looks pink, it's the lighting in my kitchen which is weird. The sauce is really a light tan color. Also, I burned that batch of cakes a little bit... but you get the idea, lol.