Kitchen 101: How to Shred Chicken with Minimal Time and Effort

I'll never make chicken salad the same way again.  Ever.  Or anything else that requires shredded chicken, for that matter.

Meet Idris.  Yep, I finally got one - a KitchenAid mixer.  After years of hemming and hawing over whether it was worth the hefty price tag, and my other stand mixer that-shall-not-be-named finally kicking the bucket, I got a lovely refurbished unit for Christmas.  (I could not bring myself to ask for a new unit - not when my refurb food processor has kicked serious culinary booty for me for some time now.)  And yeah, I have to say, in the short time I've had my baby, she's worth every red cent.  But this is not meant to be a bragfest - it is to say, stand mixers are useful kitchen tools and can do the best kitchen hack for poultry lovers.

It will shred your chicken.

Okay, so it doesn't seem to be the end-all, be-all, some of you think I was building up to, but!  It means lots of time and effort saved, not to mention, avoiding the accidental wince of burning your fingers on hot, hot chicken.  I may or may not have done that several times in my kitchen career.

After cooking your boneless chicken breast with your preferred method (steaming, poaching, etc.), cut the still hot meat into 3-4 pieces and place it into the bowl of your mixer.  Affix the paddle attachment, lower the head, lock in place and start it up.  I work my way up to Speed 4 on my KA, and in a few seconds, I have shredded chicken.   Freshly cooked chicken tenders buzz up super quick.

Now don't think you are left in the cold if you don't have a stand mixer.  I haven't personally tried this yet, but from what I have read, a hand-held electric mixer will do the same helpful trick.  I would probably cut my chicken into more pieces before trying this out.  If you do happen to try it out with a hand-held mixer, please, by all means, report back on your findings!

Creamed Chicken with Cornmeal Biscuits

  This is a fine example of Southern comfort food.  Simple milk gravy and chicken are plenty fine, but the cornmeal cheddar biscuits really make this one a keeper.  The slightly sweet biscuit has a wholesome tooth from a bit of cornmeal, and the cheddar rounds it all out.

Creamed Chicken with Cornmeal Biscuits

Ingredients
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, cubed or shredded
1 tablespoon vegetable oil or cooking spray
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
2 cups milk (I use whole for this part)
3 cups baking mix (like Bisquick or Pioneer Brand)
3/4 cup plain yellow cornmeal
1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar (2 ounces by weight)
4 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 cup low-fat milk (I use skim)
flour for dusting

  Preheat your oven to 400°.  I like to start this recipe off by making the biscuits first, so I can keep my attention when we start making the gravy.  In a large mixing bowl, add the baking mix, cornmeal, cheddar, and sugar.  Give it a good mix and pour in the 1 cup of low-fat milk.  Stir the biscuit dough, just until moistened.  The dough will come together when you knead, which is our next step.

  Sprinkle some flour out on the surface you are going to use to knead the dough.  Turn the dough out of the bowl on to the floured surface and knead the dough about 8-10 times.  Pat or roll out the dough so that it's about 1/2 inch thick.  Find a 2 1/2 inch round cutter and dip it into some flour and begin cutting out the biscuits.  I find 8 biscuits are a perfect fit for my 10 inch pan.

  Now we can turn our attention to the chicken.  In a small mixing bowl, put the chicken, flour, salt and pepper.  Toss until all the chicken is coated.  Take a oven-proof skillet, like cast iron, and heat the pan with oil (or spray with the cooking spray, if you prefer.)  Dump the floured chicken into the pan and start stirring.  The flour will be difficult to see as it cooks into the oil. Just allow this to cook for short time only - maybe 30 seconds, when you are sure the flour is in the oil.  Pour in the 2 cups of milk.  Stir constantly and bring the milk to a boil.  At this point, you should have a thickened gravy on your hands.  Move the pan to a cool spot on the stove and lay the cut biscuits on top of the chicken and gravy.  Put the pan in the heated oven to bake for 15 to 18 minutes, just until the biscuits take on a nice, golden color.  Let it sit for 10 minutes before serving.

  I like mine served up with a simple salad.  I hope you like this as much as we do at home!

Buffalo Chicken Pizza

  It's Super Bowl Sunday!  And you better believe I'm flingin' a Terrible Towel today.  (I'd rather be pulling for the Saints, but alas, it wasn't meant to be this year.  Next year, boys, next year.)  But this Sunday is all about the pigskin, commercials, and the munchies.  So I'm sharing a great pizza I found awhile back on recipezaar.com (now food.com) by Mini R. - and it is simple and scratches that itch when you can't decide between wings and pizza.

Buffalo Chicken Pizza

Ingredients

1 portion of pizza dough *
1/2 pound (8 oz) boneless, skinless chicken breasts or tenders, grilled
4 tablespoons butter, melted
1/4 cup hot sauce
1/3 cup ranch salad dressing
2 cups shredded mozzarella (8 oz by weight)


  Start off by preheating your oven to 400°F. Cut up the grilled chicken into bite-sized chunks.  In a bowl, stir together the melted butter and hot sauce.  Toss in the chicken chunks and make sure all the pieces are coated.

  Press your pizza dough into the pizza pan.  Spread the ranch dressing onto the pizza dough.  Layer the chicken over the dressing, and sprinkle evenly with the mozzarella.  Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the crust is done, and the cheese is melted and lightly browned.

Notes - Let's discuss the pizza dough for a minute.  The original recipe called for dough to cover a 12 inch pizza pan.  You can, of course, make your own dough - or - buy it at the store.  Some stores sell dough balls in the refrigerated section.  If you're like me and not lucky enough for that, check over with the canned biscuits.  There are some pretty decent canned pizza doughs out there that you just unroll and press into your pan.  If you find the middle of your dough isn't getting baked all the way through, but the crust is done, you may want to try doing a partial bake.  (If we were making a pie, we'd call this a blind bake.)  Put your dough in your pan and bake for about 5-8 minutes before adding any toppings- depending on the size of your pizza.  Pull it out and add toppings, and pop it back in until the pizza is done.

White Chicken Chili with Cheddar Hushpuppy Crust

  Today is the first day in a long stretch the heat has not been unbearable.  There was rain for a good part of the morn, and the skies are still gray, even this close to supper-time.  I've loved every minute of today.  I could finally open the windows and take advantage of a nice breeze.  Electric food steamer did a vinegar water steam to combat the area's hard water build-up, and I have a couple of cast iron pieces in the oven getting an overdue cure.  Needless to say, my kitchen doesn't have the most pleasant smell right now.  But to pay homage to my beloved cast iron, I'm going to share a recipe I made a couple of weeks ago, White Chicken Chili with a Cheddar Hushpuppy Crust.  It's a recipe by Gaynell Lawson, from the National Cornbread Festival.  The festival is held once a year in South Pittsburgh, TN - home to Lodge Cast Iron.

White Chicken Chili with Cheddar Hushpuppy Crust

Serves 6

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/4 cup finely chopped onion, divided (I'm fond of yellow onions)
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 medium green bell pepper, diced
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
19 oz cannellini beans (also known as white kidney beans)
2 cups chopped cooked chicken
1 (14 oz) can chicken broth
1 (4 oz) can chopped mild green chiles, drained
1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1 (6 oz) package cornbread mix (Gaynell recommends Martha White Buttermilk or Cotton Country)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (I use sharp)
Optional for topping - sour cream, salsa, cilantro

  First thing's first.  Preheat your oven to 400°F.

  Take a 10 1/2 inch cast iron skillet, and heat the olive oil in it over medium heat.  Once the oil is heated, add in 1 cup of the onions, the garlic, green pepper, cumin, and chili powder.  Saute until the veggies are tender - plan on 3 to 5 minutes.  Once the vegetables are to your liking, add the lime juice, beans, chicken, broth, and the chiles.  Stir until everything is mixed well.  Remove from the heat while you make the crust.

  To make the crust, start by beating the egg in a medium mixing bowl.  Add in the milk, melted butter, and cornbread mix, and blend well.  At this point, stir in the remaining 1/4 cup of onions and the grated cheese.  Spoon the mixture over the chili in the resting skillet.  Just try to spoon it over the chili evenly as you can, don't worry about spreading it to cover the chili - it'll do that magic in the oven on its own.  Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until you see the crust is golden brown.  Pull it out of the oven and let it cool 5 minutes before serving.  Scoop it out into bowls and top with your desired goodies - check the optionals on the ingredient list.

Notes:  10 1/2 inch is the size of a standard cast iron skillet.  I personally skipped the extra 1/4 cup of onions in the cornbread.  And a dollop of sour cream is divine in a bowl of this stuff - I didn't need anything else.

For the curious, here are the websites for the National Cornbread Festival and Lodge Cast Iron.

www.nationalcornbread.com
www.lodgemfg.com

Tandoori Spiced Chicken Breast with Tomato Jam

  It's official; summer is on our doorstep.  Sonic is open until midnight.  Memorial Day is rolling in on Monday for you lucky ducks that have a long weekend.  (Just know I'll be giving you the stink eye, because I'm working.)  I figure it's time to share a grilling recipe.  Gas up the grills, if you haven't already.  This one probably has the longest ingredient list out of the recipes I make, but it's not complex, and a great wake-up from the winter doldrums.  Spicy - not for the faint of tastebud.  It's a tweaked version of a Bobby Flay recipe he fired up on a Boy Meets Grill episode.  I don't care much for the herbed yogurt Bobby made to accompany this dish, so I use sour cream to tame the heat.  If you wander by FN's website and see this dish -do not go by the amounts listed there- you will end up wasting lots of spices.

Let's start off by making the Grilled Tomato Jam - it'll need a little cooling time and has the longest cooking time.

Grilled Tomato Jam

Yields about 6 servings

Ingredients

5 Roma tomatoes (also known as plum tomatoes)
1 serrano chile
3 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil, divided
salt and pepper
1 small yellow onion, chopped
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 pinch turmeric or saffron (I'm on a budget, so I use the turmeric since I need it for the chicken anyway- original recipe calls for saffron)

  We're going to start by prepping and grilling our tomatoes and chile.  Brush the tomatoes and chile with about 1 TBS of the oil.  Sprinkle them with salt and pepper.  Grill the tomatoes and chile until you get a char on all sides - this won't take long at all, so don't wander off from the grill.  Remove from the grill and to a plate and let cool until you can handle them.  Give them a rough chop.  Optional: I seed my chile at this point, because the spice rub for the chicken is plenty hot.  If you go that route, wear gloves and don't rub your eyes!

  Heat up the remaining 2 TBS of oil in a medium saucepan.  Toss in the chopped onion and cook until the onion becomes soft. Add in the chopped tomatoes, chile, balsamic vinegar and saffron. (Sub a bit of turmeric if you don't have saffron.) Cook the mixture down on medium-low until it gets thick - I usually go 30 minutes. Allow the mixture to cool to room temperature before you serve.

*  After the mixture cools, I take an immersion blender and blend it just a bit, so it's a bit smoother but still has chunks, as a personal preference.

Tandoori Spiced Chicken Breasts 

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 teaspoons onion powder
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon cayenne (can reduce to 1/2 teaspoon if you're worried about the heat)
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon white pepper
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon canola or vegetable oil (may need a bit more)
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, 8 ounces each
4 whole pitas
Sour cream

  Heat up your grill to medium high.

  Pound your chicken breasts until they are even thickness, if needed.

  Make the spice paste - mix all of the spices and oil together in a small bowl. The paste will be thick, and you can add more oil if needed to achieve a paste consistency.

  Spread a thin layer of the spice paste on ONE side of the chicken ONLY.  If you do both sides, the spices will be too overwhelming. Trust me, it'll have plenty of taste.

  Grill your chicken until cooked through - about 3-4 minutes on each side. Pull the chicken off the grill and let it rest for 5 minutes. Slice the grilled breasts, 1/2 inch thick slices.

  While the chicken is resting, warm the pitas on the grill - just until they are pliable. Top with the chicken slices and serve with grilled tomato jam and sour cream.