Recipe: KFC Copy Cat Chicken

Scott's mom got a book with copy cat recipes of restaurant foods (Top Secret Recipes Step By Step by Todd Wilbur).  Scott decided to borrow it, and we took a day over Christmas break to go grocery shopping to pick up the odds and ends we would need to try some of our restaurant favorites!

The first recipe we decided to tackle was KFC's Original Recipe Fried Chicken.

There were four ingredients that we changed.  Two of the spices the book listed, we couldn't find in our local grocery stores.  The recipe also calls for MSG and suggests Accent seasoning, which is what we used.  Since we couldn't completely adhere to the recipe from the book, we decided to go ahead and use gluten free flour (Scott is supposed to avoid gluten) instead of regular all-purpose flour.  So here's how we made it!

(Don't let the huge list of ingredients scare you.  This was actually really easy to make....)

Ingredients

• 8 chicken legs*
• 5 Tyson boneless skinless chicken breasts*

*The original recipe also called for a whole roaster chicken cut into 8 pieces.  We used the chicken that we had on hand.  We had more than 8 pieces total, and we had more than enough breading, dredge, and brine.

Brine

• 1/2 c. salt
• 1 T Accent Seasoning
• 8 c. water

Breading

• 1 3/4 c. Krustez Gluten Free Flour
• 1 T. plus 1 tsp. salt
• 1 T. Accent Seasoning
• 2 tsp. granulated sugar
• 2 tsp. ground black pepper corns
• 1/2 tsp. ground white pepper
• 1/2 tsp. paprika
• 1/2 tsp. ground thyme
• 1/2 tsp. ground sage
• 1/4 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp. ground marjoram
• 1/4 tsp. onion powder
• 1/8 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/8 tsp. ground cayenne pepper

Dredge

• 4 large eggs
• 2 cups skim milk

1. Make the brine by dissolving salt and Accent seasoning in the water.  Add the chicken pieces and marinate for 3 hours.  Remove chicken from the brine, rinse with water, and blot dry.
2. Heat oil in the deep fryer to 300* F.
3. To make the breading, combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl.
4. In another bowl, beat the eggs and stir in the milk.
5. Dip each piece of chicken in the dredge and then put into the breading.  Toss the chicken pieces to coat completely.  Toss a few times to ensure good coating.  When the oil is ready, shake off the excess breading and add to the fryer two pieces at a time (or more if your fryer can hold more.  I made ours two at a time.).  

6. Fry for 16-20 minutes (16 worked for me) or until the chicken is golden brown.  Drain chicken on a rack for 5 minutes before serving.

Those are breading crumbs in my sink.  I promise my sink is not actually gross...

**You can keep chicken pieces warm in a 220* oven until all pieces are ready to serve.

I made corn and mashed potatoes to serve with our chicken since that's what I would eat as sides at KFC! :)

Maple Grilled Chicken with Rice

I actually have a recipe to share with you all today!  Quite some time ago, my mother-in-law gave us a cook book with meals that have 5 ingredients or less.  Despite how easy that sounds, I've had yet to use it.  One of my big things in regard to cooking is that I go a little crazy when a recipe calls for ingredients that I don't have on hand.

Since I pretty much fail at meal planning, this happens a lot.

Even this 5 ingredient cook book has recipes with stuff that I just don't keep "in stock."  That's not to say that they're obscure ingredients or anything--just things I don't happen to have.

Fortunately, that did not happen this time.

I've gotten the idea in my head that I need to start marinating chicken before cooking it.  I love chicken, but I would say that 98% of the time when I cook it on my own, I just don't care for it.  While this recipe doesn't specifically ask you to marinate the chicken, I decided to do it anyway.  (And this one only has 4 ingredients!)

Maple Grilled Chicken

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. maple syrup*
• 1/2 c. barbecue sauce
• 1/2 tsp. Cajun seasoning
• 4 chicken breast halves

*I had this little container of maple syrup from a fall-themed  bridal shower.  It was probably only about a 1/4 c. so I used regular old Mrs. Butterworth's syrup to make up the difference.

1. Mix marinade in a container.

2. Split chicken breasts in half with a sharp knife.

3. Place chicken breast into a bag, and pour in the marinade.  Reserve about a 1/2 cup for basting during cooking.  (This is  your preference.  I saved less than a 1/2 c.)  Toss around in the bag to coat the chicken.

4. Refrigerate the chicken and extra sauce for 3-24 hours.

5. Grill for 6 minutes on each side, or until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear.  (I cooked ours on our George Forman grill.)  Half-way through grilling, add some of the remaining marinade to the chicken.

I decided to make rice to go along with this.  We have white minute rice here, but white rice alone is just so...blah.  I Googled some recipes, and sort of pieced ideas to come up with this:

Not-So-Boring White Rice
Ingredients

• 1 c. dry minute rice*
• 1/2 c. water
• 1/2 c. chicken broth
• 1/4-1/3 c. chopped onion
• 3 T butter, divided
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• salt & pepper, to taste

*The rice I use is equal parts rice to liquid.  So if I'm making 1 cup of rice, I need 1 cup of liquid, etc. etc.

1. Add water and chicken broth to a pan, and bring to a boil.  Add rice, stir, cover, and remove from heat for 5 minutes or until liquid has been absorbed.

2. Meanwhile, in a larger sauce pan, add 2 T. of butter, and melt over low heat.  When it is melted, add the onion and garlic powder, and saute.

3. Add in the rice, remaining T of butter, salt, and pepper.*  Stir until heated through.

*I added a little more chicken broth at this time, too.  Just to keep the rice from burning to the bottom of the pan.

Verdict?

I REALLY enjoyed the rice.  I think next time, I'd like to add something green...like frozen peas.  I think this would make it look pretty, but add even more interest.

I liked the sauce on the chicken.  I can't decide if I just really only like chicken that's breaded and bad for me, or if I just don't care for the kind of chicken we get.  I typically prefer chicken breast, but this didn't taste any better to me than the last time I made a chicken recipe using chicken thighs.

Does anyone else have issues with chicken??

I know red meat isn't "as good" for you, but it seems that these days I prefer beef to chicken.  I'd love to hear your thoughts, and if you give either of these recipes a try, let me know!! :)

Dinner Time Tuesday: Brown Sugar Garlic Chicken

I have a REALLY yummy recipe to share with you today!  I've been so tired of the same old stuff for dinner, and I finally decided to try some entrée ideas from my "I Love Food" board on Pinterest (which I totally need to stop pinning desserts to, by the way.  OR I need to put more main courses to make it look like I have less desserts.....)

I digress.

This is a recipe for the slow cooker, which I love.  I threw everything into the crock pot the night before, stored it in the fridge, and then turned it on the next morning.  Before I give you my take, here is the link to the original recipe. 

Brown Sugar Garlic Chicken

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 c. packed brown sugar
• 2/3 c. apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 c. Sprite
• 2 tsp. garlic powder
• 2 T. low sodium soy sauce
• 1 tsp. black pepper
• 2 T. corn starch

1. Spray slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray and add the chicken.

2. Mix together brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, Sprite, garlic powder, soy sauce, and pepper.

3. Pour over chicken.

4. Cook on low 6-8 hours or on high for 4 hours.  (I'm finding that either my slow cooker is a SUPER cooker or that times are way off....I think I had this on LOW for 5 hours and it was done.)

5. However long it takes, when it's done, remove the chicken (most of it will fall apart), and pour the juice mixture into a sauce pan.

6. Turn the heat on high.  You will need to mix your 2 T. corn starch with a little water until it is a smooth consistency.  Then you can add the corn starch mixture to your sauce pan.  Let the mixture boil until it starts to thicken and turn into a glaze, about 2-3 minutes. 

7.  After this was ready, I put the chicken back in the slow cooker and poured the sauce over it.  Then I set the slow cooker to warm because I was ready to eat, but Scott was still sleeping.  (He was on night shift and would need to eat before going into work.

I served mine with steamed broccoli and mashed potatoes.

 

I REALLY liked this.  It was almost too sweet for Scott, but he enjoyed it.  I finished the leftovers the other day with just the chicken and mashed potatoes.  Delicious!

 

Link up below to share something yummy you've had for dinner recently!  (I will have another new recipe coming soon!)

Dinner Time Tuesday 5/21

Ok.  I realize that the last time I posted was Dinner Time Tuesday last week.  Please forgive me.  Before I share some dinner, here are my excuses for slacking in blog land.

Last week, though I shared it on Tuesday, I had dinner on Monday with Kristin and her husband.  I came home, and quickly assembled last week's post because I was so excited about it.  Tuesday night was the Ice Cream Social for the Kindergarten through 3rd grade students at my school.  Long story short, students who demonstrate good behavior and excellent grades get invited to the ice cream social with their families.  I was the main person in charge, and by the time I got home, I was EXHAUSTED.  (AKA...I came home and went to bed.)  I don't really have a good excuse for Wednesday other than just being tired.  On Thursday, I came home and Scott and I took care of some garbage in the garage.  On Friday, I headed to Rochester, New York with two friends from work for an amazing professional development conference about The Daily 5.  It's a teaching structure that is just wonderful.  (Teachers look it up!)  That was all day Saturday plus traveling home.  Then I was gone with my parents and brother to a surprise 50th birthday party on Sunday.

Truth be told, I'm writing this on Monday night. 

If that doesn't sound busy to you....*whew*  I don't know how YOU do it!  :)

Here's a yummy (but healthy!) dinner for you today:

I've shared that I've had chicken salad before.  Usually, that includes french fries.  I was a good girl this time, and kept the fries in the freezer. 

This salad is green leaf lettuce and spinach leaves, 1 chicken breast tender, some chopped up baby carrots, a small handful of croutons, and some poppyseed dressing.  I realize I could probably eliminate the croutons and use a low fat dressing of some sort.  But what fun is that.

Life is too short to not have croutons on your salad.

Dinner Time Tuesday 5/7

Hello out there in blog-land.  I'm back this week with Dinner Time Tuesday.  As you know, I've been less than thrilled about my own blog lately, so I'm just taking things one day at a time.  I'll be here tomorrw for My Harry Potter Fix with Kim & Tarole, too.  I hope you'll join me today and all of us tomorrow! 

 

Confession.  Scott and I haven't been eating very well lately.  Now, we haven't really been eating "bad" stuff, but we haven't been following a very good routine.  If we eat unheathly things, we are eating them in moderation.  We need to go grocery shopping, too.  I have not been making anything new or exciting in the kitchen.  I have been trying to take at least one snack to work so that I'm not starving by the time I get home.

 

Anyway, I made this chicken salad.  I used green leaf lettuce, spinach, carrots, grilled chicken, and a handful of croutons.  (Sorry, Insanity, but salad isn't nearly as good without croutons.)  I used my poppyseed dressing (mmmmmm).  It was scrumptious. 

 

Anything good in your kitchen this week?

Link up below to share! :)

Bean Pot Chicken Pot Pie

I love my Bean Pot. If you've been around here for awhile, you know a couple of things. 1) I used to blog on WordPress.  Yes, I am still moving posts over from there.  This is one.  2) I am a designer with the company Celebrating Home.  3) A bean pot is not just for beans.  In fact, I've never even made beans in my bean pot.  4)  You can check out recipes for the Bean Pot in my Celebrating Home tab. 

This is what my bean pot looks like:

This Bean Pot is from our Simply Summer Collection.  It is a 3.5 qt. bean pot.  Cost $39.

Bean Pot Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients
-2 lbs cooked chicken (I bought a rotisserie chicken and tore it apart.)
-2 cans cream of potato soup (only 1 can of water)
-1 small bag frozen veggies (mine had peas, corn, carrots, and green beans)
-1 can crescent rolls

1. Preheat the oven to 375*. If you saved yourself time and hassle, like me, and bought a rotisserie chicken, cut it/pull it apart/mutilate it, and throw the chicken into the bean pot.

2. Put the rest of the ingredients in the bean pot (make sure you only add one can of water for the potato soup), and mix well.

3. Bake for 20 minutes with the lid on.

4. Place the unfolded crescent rolls on top of the mixture. (I think this recipe was actually asking you to use Pillsbury Crescent Rolls because it refers to all 6 of them fitting. I bought a generic brand and there were 8. I still used all of them. But also let me caution you. If you haven't already experienced enough terror from opening the crescent roll can....

 

...you now need to place the dough in the bean pot without burning yourself. I didn't get burned, but I just wanted to give you my safety warning!)

5. Bake without the lid until the crescent rolls are golden brown. If you overlap them too much, you may need additional time. Some of my more layered spots didn't quite cook.

This is the after AFTER picture. In other words, I had already taken out my serving when I realized that I hadn't taken a picture of the final product.

That's it! I'm loving the bean pot because it's so easy just to throw ingredients in and let it go! If you don't have a bean pot....you should. Follow my link under the bean pot picture if you'd like to change that!  haha :)

Menu Planning Monday 4/22

I wish I could say that I was doing better with Menu Planning. 

I'm not.

I don't even think I have any excuses or reasons why.  The meals we have been eating are small simple enough, that they can be put together pretty quickly without a lot of thought.  BUT Elizabeth and Jane said that it doesn't always have to be a weekly meal plan!  We can share recipes.  So here's a healthy take on a chicken salad sandwich that I tried last week, courtesy of Dorothy at Crazy For Crust!

Avacado Chicken Salad Sandwiches
Original Recipe from Crazyforcrust.com

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of cooked chicken (We buy canned chicken from Sam's Club that I always use for chicken salad.  I used 1 can.)
• 1 medium avacado
• 1/2 c. plain, non-fat Greek yogurt
• 1/4 c. salsa
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• Pita bread

1. Peel the flesh off of the avacado and mash.  (Dorothy said to use a potato masher.  We don't have one.  I'm not sure why....anyway, I used a fork.)

 

2. Add the yogurt, salsa, salt, & pepper, and stir.

3. Then add the chicken and stir to combine.

4. Serve on a whole wheat pita or whatever bread you choose.  :)  I had mine with a little salsa and tortilla chips.

Dinner Plate: Celebrating Home, Simply Summer Collection

Also sharing at Mostly Homemade Mondays.

Chicken Pot Pie Casserole

Since I actually do consider this to be a "food blog," I figured it was about time I actually shared a recipe.  It's been a little while.  This is one of my posts from my WordPress blog.  I've really been slacking on moving those over lately.  So please, enjoy.  :)

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I was trolling my "I Love Food" board on Pinterest to see if I could make anything with ingredients I already had in the house since I haven't put on "real" pants since Christmas didn't want to go to the store. While my recipe isn't exactly the one from the pin, I was able to tweak it and use things I had here in the house!

Chicken Pot Pie with Biscuits

Ingredients

• 1/3 c. butter
• 1/3 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 c. chicken broth
• 1 1/2 c. milk
• salt & pepper (to taste)
• 2 T butter
• 3 small cooking onions, diced
• 8 oz. canned mushroom pieces
• 4 cups shredded, cooked chicken*
• 1 heaping c. frozen mixed vegetables**
• 1 heaping c. frozen peas **
• 1 can biscuit dough

*Confession: I love chicken, but I HATE cooking it. Chicken I cook myself never comes out with the flavor I'd like, and it's usually dry. Fortunately, Scott & I had gotten a rotisserie chicken when we went grocery shopping last Friday. I thought this recipe would be PERFECT to use the rest of it!

**These were the frozen veggies I had sitting in my freezer. I had about 1/2 of each 10-12 oz. bag left. I just used it all because I didn't have any potatoes like the original recipe.

1. Preheat the oven to 425* F, and begin to prepare the filling.
2. Melt 1/3 c. butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the 1/3 c. flour and whisk constantly for 1 minute.

 

 

3. Gradually add chicken broth and milk whisking constantly 6-7 minutes (I went 7.) or until thickened and bubbly. Remove from heat and add salt and pepper to taste. (I didn't add salt & pepper here. I added it to eat my meal. So I would recommend adding it to the recipe.)

 

4. Melt 2 T. butter in a frying pan and add onions and mushrooms. Saute for 10 minutes or until tender.

 

5. If you haven't done it already, while they are cooking, shred the chicken.

6. In a large bowl or pan, add onion & mushrooms, chicken, vegetables, and sauce. Stir to combine.

 

7. Pour mixture into a lightly greased 9" x 13" casserole dish.

8. Bake filling for 15 minutes.
9. Meanwhile, open biscuits. (I used the can of Pillsbury Grands Biscuits that I had here. There were only 5 in the can, which required a little pulling apart and/or stretching. If you would like to completely cover the top of your casserole you will need more. See picture in next step to see what I mean.) And while we're on this subject, keep this in mind:

 

10. After 15 minutes, take the casserole out, and place the biscuits on top.

 

 

11. Bake for another 25-30 minutes. (The baking time here will depend on the biscuits you use. Mine got a little dark and I took the casserole out at 20 minutes.)

 

 

 

I was really worried for some reason that this wouldn't be very good. PROBABLY because I freak out a bit when I don't follow a recipe exactly. I definitely needed a guide, and I've seen recipes like this that use biscuits before. It turns out that I was worried for nothing. Other than needing to add salt and pepper to the meal because I didn't add it during cooking, this was quite good. Scott didn't like the biscuits on it. I thought that was the best part! haha. To each his (or her!) own.  :)

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