Ranch Chicken Cupcakes

Posted September 29, 2013

Filed under appetizers, entree, Fleximolds, meat, poultry, Recipe with Demarle Cookware, What's Up in Cecile's Kitchen

Food is good, but in my eyes it is better in bite size;-) Why?? because you can try more things, and not feel so guilty, plus bite size food is easier to serve than dips at parties! A few days ago I was browsing the internet and I came across this recipe of Buffalo Chicken. I am not much into spicy food so I would have normally passed this recipe, but it was so cute that i had to try. Well it was a hit at home with the kids. They loved, loved, loved it!!! Next time you have guests over for appetizers, or for tailgate give them a try.

Ingredients for 20 mini cupcakes:

1 1/2 cups of cooked chicken ( which is about 1 1/2 breast of chicken),
1 8oz. package of cream cheese at room temperature,
1/2 cup of ranch dressing,
1/2 tsp to 1 tsp of buffalo wing sauce ( or more ),
1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese,
30 wonton wrapper,
more cheddar cheese to sprinkle
and about 1/4 cup of gorgonzola cheese.

You can cook the chicken by boiling in water, or you can place it into the round mold,
Sprinkle a bit of salt, place the octogonal silpat on top and microwave it for 5-6minutes.
Set the chicken aside to cool and prepare the rest of the mixture.
Into a large bowl pour in the cream cheese, 1 cup of cheddar cheese, buffalo wing sauce, salt, pepper. Mix well.
Shred the chicken and add it to the mixture. Set aside.
With a small cookie cutter cut two small circles in 10 wontons. set aside.
place the mini cupcake tray on the perforated sheet.
Place one wonton in each mini cupcake hole.
Fill the chicken mixture to half, place one round, or circle ( that you would have previously cut in your wonton) and top this round with the chicken mixture all the way to the top.
Sprinkle with some cheddar cheese, then some gorgonzola cheese.
Bake the cupcakes for 12-15 minutes or until the top is nicely crusted.
As soon as you are removing the cupcakes from the oven, sprinkle more gorgonzola cheese, drizzle some buffalo sauce and eat up!!! Miam, Miam, Miam!!!

Bon Appetit and Happy Cooking!!!

Green Curry Chicken Panang

Posted September 6, 2013

Filed under entree, meat, poultry, Recipe with Demarle Cookware, stainless steel cookware

This past weekend, I had the pleasure to keep my nephew for the weekend. Since most of my husband’s family lives in town, it is rare that any of my nieces or nephews spend the nights at our house. It only happens if my children wants to have sleepover with them or if their parents are going out-of-town. This past weekend my brother-in-law decided to go away for the weekend with his wife and thus let us keep Aksel, my nephew.
My weekends are usually quite boring, we rarely go out as I am happy to just relax and do nothing. But this weekend, having company, we decided to go here and there. One night we went to the movies, another night we did pizza and movies, and another night we went to a restaurant to eat Thai food. One of my favorite:-) and my children. I ordered the same as : always : Chicken Curry Panang with steamed tofu…. Yum!!!

Well this weekend as I was cleaning my refrigerator and needed to cook some of the chicken I had left over, I decided to cook another curry dish for my school luncheons…;-)

Better than a peanut butter sandwich, right!!?!:-)

Ingredients for 4:

1 tbsp of sesame or peanut oil
1/2 container of the green curry paste or about 4 tbsp.
2 tbsp of brown sugar
1 can of coconut milk
2 chicken breasts cleaned, and diced in small cubes
1-2 bags of fresh baby spinach
1 cup of carrot matches
1/ 2 red pepper diced very small
1/2 yellow or orange pepper diced very small as well.
Salt
Pepper
4 cups of cooked rice

In a large date pan, warm up the oil and sauté the chicken on all sides. season with salt and pepper.
Remove the chicken from the sauté pan and set aside.
In the same sauté pan, stir in the curry paste.
Pour in the coconut milk, the brown sugar and stir. Bring the mixture to boil.
Add the chicken and cook for 5 minutes.
Them add the peppers, carrots and spinach and bring the mixture to boil again.
Stir , reduce the temperature and cook do 5 minutes.
When ready spoon some rice ( or not) and spoon the mixture over the rice.
Enjoy!!!

Bon appetit and Happy Cooking!!!!

Manhattan Chicken

Posted August 16, 2013

Filed under deep flexipan, entree, meat, poultry, Recipe with Demarle Cookware, roulpat, What's Up in Cecile's Kitchen

Ever since I came back from Convention and tasted the Blood Orange Olive Oil that Demarle is selling, I have enjoyed making recipes with that olive oil. That salmon that I made a few weeks ago was to die for;-)

I really love that orange flavor on seafood or meat! and for some reason, anything citrus these days have become appetizing to me.

As I was reading the latest magazine of Light Cooking, I found a recipe entitled Manhattan Chicken. Though the recipe was enticing, I did not like that they sauteed the chicken in olive oil, and covered the chicken with the Manhattan Sauce before serving. The chicken did not really absorb the flavors of the sauce so I changed the recipe a bit and this is what came up, more flavorful;0

Ingredients for 1-2 people:

1 chicken breast per 2 people,
1 tbsp of light soy sauce,
1 tbsp of orange marmalade with,
1 tbsp of bourbon or whiskey.

For the Sauce:

1 tbsp of light soy sauce,
1 tbsp of bourbon
and 1 tbsp or 1/4 cup of orange marmalade ( depending how strong you want your sauce to taste) If you want your sauce to be more diluted, and not taste so much like bourbon, increase the amount of marmalade;-)

Pound the chicken in between the roulpat to make it flatter and this way it will cook more evenly.
Place the chicken in a ziploc bag and pour the marinade over it.
Let the chicken marinade 30 minutes to a few hours.
After the chicken has marinated, turn the oven to 400, or turn on your grill if you rather grill your meat.
Place the chicken on a flexipat and cook for 15 minutes, or grill on a grill.
Meanwhile, in a small saucepan cook all the ingredients given above for the sauce for a few minutes.
Before serving, or slicing the chicken, let it rest for a few minutes on the flexipan. Cover the pan with a silpat so that it will not cool down to fast.
Slice the chicken breast in tiny strips, pour this sauce over the chicken.
Serve with vegetables of your choices. I served it with grilled sliced zucchinis and squash. Yummy!!!

Bon Appetit and Happy Cooking!!!

Easy Chicken Parmigiano

Posted June 17, 2013

Filed under deep flexipan, entree, meat, Recipe with Demarle Cookware, roulpat, silpat, What's Up in Cecile's Kitchen

I love Italian food, great Italian food. I love to eat it and I love to fix it. So how did I learn to make good Italian food? Well the answer is very simple. I learned it from my first boyfriend’s grandmother. She was Sicilian and she taught many wonderful recipes such as Gnocchi, Fresh Pasta, Osso Bucco and Chicken Parmigiano.

I love to fix Italian food, but like French food, many recipes takes much time to prepare and cook. For those reasons, fixing French and Italian fare is not practical to fix on a school night. Today however I will share a quick way that will allow to fix Chicken Parmigiano in less than 30 minutes.

Chicken Parmigiano for 4-6 people:

4 chicken breasts,
1/4 tsp of salt,
1/8 tsp of pepper,
1/4 tsp of garlic powder,
1/2 cup of italian bread crumb,
1/2 cup of parmesan,
2 eggs,
1 cup of tomato sauce,
1/2-1 cup of italian cheese shredded
oil spray

Turn the oven on the 400.
Clean the chicken breast of any fat.
Then place one chicken breast inside the roulpat and fold the roulpat over the chicken breast.
With the rolling pin, pound the chicken breast to flatten it a bit. Remove the chicken breast and repeat this process with the other ones.
In a bowl, break 2 eggs and mix them with a fork. Add to it, the 1/4 tsp of salt, 1/8 tsp of pepper, 1/4 tsp of garlic powder and mix well. Then place the chicken breast in this mixture and turn it so that it will be well coated with the egg mixture.
In another bowl, mix the bread crumbs with the parmesan.
With your fingers, transfer the chicken breasts in the bread mixture and turn the chickem so that it will be coated with the bread mixture.
Take a large silpat or the deep flexipan ( previously laid on perforated sheet) and lay the chicken breasts on the it.
Use an oil spray or a vegetable spray and spray the chicken breasts with the oil spray.
Place the chicken in the oven and cook for 13 minutes. For regular bakeware, cook the chicken for 25 minutes or until it is done.
When the chicken has a nice golden color, remove it from the oven and drizzle the tomato sauce on it.
Sprinkle the cheese and cook the chicken for another 5 minutes at 425 so that it can get a nice golden color. Et voila!!!

Bon Appetit and Happy Cooking!!!

Lime, Honey and Soy Marinated Chicken

Posted April 19, 2013

Filed under deep flexipan, entree, Large round mold, poultry, Recipe with Demarle Cookware, roulpat

Lime again?!?! Well yes… I have so many that I need to use them. Just kidding. I loved the shrimps that i fixed a few days ago that i thought to do the same with chicken. Except that I needed to season the chicken with some salt and just thought of soy sauce instead. Well, this chicken is a winner in my book. ” C’est gouteux et fin “comme on dirait francais;-) It is tasty, it has a delicate flavor and it is perfect for this season: light and delicious:-)

Ingredients for 2 people:

2 chicken breasts
2 tbsp of lime juice
2 tbsp of honey
the zest of 1 lime
2 tbsp of soy sauce.

clean the chicken breasts of any nerves and fat.
rinse the chicken breast under running water.
Pat dry the chicken breast with a paper towel.
place a chicken breast on the small roulpat and fold the roulpat on top of it.
with a rolling-pin, beat the chicken to flatten the chicken breast and even it out.
Place the chicken in a ziploc bac.
in a small bowl, mix all the ingredients mentioned above and stir.
pour this mixture over the chicken and marinade the chicken for 30 minutes to 2 hours.
Remove the chicken breasts from the bag and place them inside the round mold or on a flexipan and cook them for 13-15 minutes at 400. If using a regular pan, cook your chicken for 20 minutes.
remove the chicken from the oven and let it rest for a few minutes before cutting it.
serve the chicken with roasted or steamed asparagus. Et voila!!!

Bon Appetit and Happy Cooking!!!

Chicken Coated with Apricot, Bourbon and Mustard Sauce

Posted January 3, 2013

Filed under entree, Fleximolds, poultry, Recipe with Demarle Cookware, roulpat, What's Up in Cecile's Kitchen

Have you indulged much over the holidays? I will say that i did not. Not because I tried to be good, but all that I made was gone before I had time to have second. The cookies that I made were offered to my fellow co-workers at school. The macarons I made for my Christmas gifts were mostly gone as gifts, and my buche de Noel was all eaten by my two children before I had the chance to eat a piece. Boo hoo..

Well for those of you who need to start fixing lighter dinner option, I will offer you this quick recipe of baked chicken.

Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts
1/3 cup of apricot marmalade
1/3 cup of bourbon
2 tbsp of old-fashioned mustard
1 /4 tsp or more of red pepper flakes
salt
pepper

First you will want to tenderize the chicken so that it will more tender.
Cleanse the chicken by removing any nerves and fat.
Then rinse each chicken breast under running cold water.
Pat the chicken breasts dry.
One at a time, place a chicken breast on the rectangular roulpat, fold the roulpat over the meat and with the rolling-pin, pound the chicken lightly to flatten it.
Repeat this process for all chicken breast.
Place all the chicken breast on the deep flexipat, and season the chicken by sprinkling salt and pepper on both sides. Set aside.
Place all the ingredients mentioned above besides the chicken and the salt and pepper in a small saucepan and bring it to boil. Cook for a few minutes.
Divide the sauce equally into two small bowls.
With a pastry brush, brush the chicken with this mixture.
Cook in a warm oven at 400 for 15 minutes.
When the chicken is cooked, remove it from the oven and let it stand for a few minutes for the juices to be reabsorbed.
Slice the chicken and serve.
Drizzle more sauce over the chicken. Et voila!

I served my chicken with oven roasted potatoes, zucchini spaghetti.

Bon Appetit and Happy Cooking!!!

Coconut Crusted Chicken Tenders

Posted September 14, 2012

Filed under deep flexipan, entree, poultry, Recipe with Demarle Cookware, silpat, What's Up in Cecile's Kitchen

I was so happy to have nothing on my calendar this evening because I wanted to spend a bit of time at the gym and play in my kitchen. Well, I had forgotten I needed to bring the kids to the eye doctor for their annual exam after school. Because it was a rather long visit ( my kids needed to have their eyes dilated), I did not get to the gym until late, and it was consequently a bit late when I got home to figure out what to eat. When I got home, Theo was already on the prawl for some food, so I knew that time was limited… It had to be quick and easy. I had a few chicken breasts in the fridge, brocoli and Lisa loves rice so our dinner became Steamed Rice with Coconut Crusted Chicken and Sesame “infused” Broccoli.

For the coconut Chicken tenders for 3: 2 breast of chicken, 1 cup of coconut flakes toasted, 1 cup of Panko bread crumbs, 1/4 tsp of salt, 1/8 tsp of pepper, 1/4 tsp of ginger powder, 2 eggs, 1/2 tsp of toasted sesame oil.

If you do not have toasted coconut flakes, turn your oven to 375. Place 1 cup of coconut on a silpat and when the oven has reached temperature, place the perforated pan with the silpat and coconut in the oven for 12-15 minutes or until the coconut flakes are a brownish color and are no longer soft. When they are toasted to your liking, set them out and let them cool.

Because we did not marinade the meat, you will want to tenderize the meat by pounding it. So place a chicken breast on the rectangular roulpat. Fold the roulpat on top of the chicken breast and with the rolling pin, pound the chicken so it flattens out and becomes evenly flat. Remove the chicken breast from the roulpat and repeat the process with the other chicken breasts.

Place the chicken breasts on the chopping board and cut the breasts into tenders of about 1/2 inch thick. Set aside. In a bowl, break 2 eggs, and add the salt, pepper, ginger powder, and the sesame oil. Mix well. Empty the chicken tenders into this mixture and mix well to coat the chicken. Set aside.

In another bowl, mix the panko bread crumbs and the coconut flakes and mix well. Take the chicken breasts out of the egg mixture and place them into the bowl where the bread crumbs and coconut flakes are. Stir well to make sure that the chicken tenders are well coated with the bread mixture.

Place a large silpat on a large perforated sheet and lay the chicken on the silpat. Cook the chicken for 7-8 minutes at 375. Et voila!

I serve the chicken with steamed rice that i cooked in the round mold ( same recipe as the coconut rice except that i only used broth), and with Toasted Sesame Infused Broccoli ( recipe to follow) and I also serve sweet and sour sauce for dipping the chicken tenders.

Bon Appetit and Happy Cooking!!!

Smokehouse Maple Chicken Tacos

Posted August 30, 2012

Filed under entree, Large round mold, meat, poultry, Recipe with Demarle Cookware, silpat, What's Up in Cecile's Kitchen

As I was perusing through the various spices at Costco, I found a spice that I had never seen before so out of curiosity, I picked it up to try it. And chicken tacos is what I decided to make with it.

Recipe for 4: 2-3 chicken breasts, 1 avocado ripe but a bit firm, 2 ears of corn, 1/2 can of black beans, 1/4 cup of purple onion sliced, 1/2 cup of diced tomatoes, 2 tbsp of white balsamic vinegar, 4 tbsp of olive oil, 1/4 tsp of salt, 1/8 tsp of pepper, 2 tbsp of smokehouse Maple Costco seasoning.

Turn the oven to 400. PLace one chicken breast on the roulpat, fold the roulpat back onto the chicken and with a rolling-pin, pound the chicken flat. Repeat the same with all the chicken breasts. Place the chicken breasts on a cutting board and with the paring knife, cut the chicken in slices of about 3/4 inch thick. Place the chicken in a bowl, add 1 tbsp of olive oil and 2 tbsp of the smokehouse herb blend and mix well to coat the chicken breast. PLace the chicken onto a silpat and cook for 6-8 minutes ( or cook the chicken on the grill on high for 6-8 minutes as well).

While the chicken is cooking, prepare the salsa. Place the 3 ears of corn in the large round mold, cover the mold with the octogonal silpat and cook in the microwave for 3 minutes. Remove the corn from the oven, let it cool and strip the corn from the cobb. In a large bowl, place all the other ingredients ( tomatoes, avocado, beans, corn) and the dressing (2 tbsp of white balsamic vinegar, 5 tbsp of olive oil, 1/4 tsp of salt, 1/8 tsp of pepper) and toss.

Warm up the tortilla for a few minutes ( 2-3) in the oven, and when they are ready, fill them up with the salsa and the chicken. YUMMY!!!!

Bon Appetit and happy Cooking!!!

Fish or Chicken Taco Bowls

Posted July 26, 2012

Filed under entree, Fleximolds, meat, poultry, Recipe with Demarle Cookware, seafood, vegetables, What's Up in Cecile's Kitchen

What to eat when it is 100 outside??? light and easy fare that takes no time to cook. This recipe was inspired by a recipe from the Demarleathome website. I simplified the recipe so it would not take 15 minutes to cook but only a few minutes;-)

Recipe for 4 people: 4 soft Mexican tortilla shells (white or whole wheat), 2-3 tilapia or catfish filet, 1 mango ripe but firm to touch, 1 large avocado ripe but firm also, 1 lime, 2 tbsp of chopped cilantro, salt, pepper, 1/2 cup of italian bread crumb such as panko, 1 egg, 1 tsp of demarleathome zesty Mediterranean Herb blend, 1/4 of boston lettuce chopped, 1/2 cup of greek yogurt or fat free sour cream.

Take the large round mold tray and lay a tortilla in each opening. Set aside.

Cut the fish in small strips and place them in a bowl. Add 1/4 tsp of salt, 1/8 tsp of pepper, 1 egg and stir well to coat the fish with the egg mixture. In another bowl, add 1/2 cup of panko breadcrumb and 1 tsp of zesty mediterranean herb and mix well. Take the fish out of the bowl, and place the fish strips in the bread crumbs. Stir well to coat the fish with the bread crumbs. Place the fish strips on the silpat and cook in the oven for 4-5 minutes in an already warm oven of 400. At the same time, place the large round tray in the oven also to cook the tortillas.

While the tortillas and the fish strips are cooking, prepare the salsa. Peel the mango and the avocado. Slice and cut in small cubes the fruits. Place those cubes into a large bowl. Add the zest of a lime, the juice of a lime, 1 tbsp of chopped cilantro, 1/4 tsp of salt, 1/8 tsp of pepper to the fruit and mix well.

The sauce/ dressing: mix the sour cream/ or the greek yoghurt and 1tbsp of cilantro and mix well.

To serve, place each tortilla cup on a plate. Fill the cup with about 1/2 cup of chopped lettuce. Top the lettuce with about 1/3 cup of mango/avocado salsa. Place the fish on top of the mango salsa and add a dollop of the sour cream mixture. C’est tout!!

NB: if you don’t like fish, you may substitute the fish with chicken. Tenderize 2 chicken breasts, cut the chicken strips into small strips and coat the chicken with the pank mixture as explained above. Cook the chicken for 6-8 minutes at 400.

Bon Appetit and Happy Cooking!!!

Aragula and Green Smith Apple Salad with Bacon and Peanut Coated Chicken

Posted May 19, 2012

Filed under entree, poultry, What's Up in Cecile's Kitchen

The other day while picking up a few steaks for my family at the Fresh Market, I ran across a packet of Maple Roasted Peanuts. I am a huge fan of peanut. They are the best snack. I usually buy Aunt Ruby’s Peanuts because they are not too salty and they are so crunchy. But today when I saw those peanuts brittle, I thought I would give them a try. Yum, they were good, but a bit spicy and a bit too hard on my teeth. So I decided that I could use them when cooking. Yesterday, as I got home from a cooking class, I was so hungry that I set up to prepare my dinner even though it was 10 pm. Yeah.. that’s me;-) And since I had some left-over arugula salad and a Granny Smith Apple, I thought a salad would be great. That’s when I thought that using those peanuts as the coating for my chicken would counter the sourness of the apple.

Ingredients for 2: 2 chicken breasts, 1 pack of “Redhead Bacon Peanut Brittles”, 5 tbsp of maple syrup, 1/4 cup of white wine, 1/4 tsp of chipotle pepper, 1/2 tsp of salt, 1/4 tsp of pepper.

First clean your chicken breast so that it is clean of any fat and any nerves. Place the chicken breast on the roulpat, one at a time, and flip the roulpat over the chicken breast. With a rolling pin, pound the chicken to tenderize it and to even it out ( it will be flatter). Repeat the same process for the other chicken breast. Place the chicken breasts in a ziploc bag and set aside. In a small bowl, add the wine, 2 tbsp of maple syrup, the salt, pepper and chipotle pepper and mix well. Pour the mixture over the chicken in a ziploc bag and let the chicken marinade for a minimum of 30 minutes and a maximum of 2 hours.

Once the chicken is ready to be cooked, remove the breasts from the ziploc bag and place them on a round mold or a flexipan. Set aside.

In chopper, empty the content of the peanut brittle, add 2-3 tbsp of maple syrup, 1/8 tsp of chipotle pepper and chop well to get a coarse paste.

Coat both chicken breasts with this paste. Cook in a warm oven at 400 for 13-15 minutes.

Meanwhile prepare the salad.

Ingredients for 2: 3 tbsp of champagne vinegar, 1 tbsp of maple syrup, 4 tbsp of walnut oil, 1/4 tsp of salt, 1/8 tsp of pepper. A box of arragula sald, 1/4 of an apple sliced thinly.

Add all the ingredients mentionned above except for the salad and the apple, and mix well to emulsify. Add the salad and the sliced apple, and stir to coat.

When the chicken has cooked, remove the pan from the oven and let the chicken stand for 5 minutes for the chicken to reabsorbe the juices. Slice the chicken thinly.