Citrus Brown Sugar Chicken

If you are stretching your grocery dollars by including more chicken in your menu planning, you can't have enough chicken recipes . . . add this recipe to your collection of chicken entrees!

Ingredients

1 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs or breasts
zest of 1 large orange or 2 medium lemons, about 1 tablespoon zest
juice of 1 large orange or 2 medium lemons, about 1/3 - 1/2 cup total
1 cup flour, I used brown rice flour
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon brown sugar


Directions

Preheat oven to 350. 

Pound the chicken to 1/2" thick.

Combine the flour, paprika and salt in a flat bottomed bowl or pan.

Dredge each piece of chicken in the flour . . . both sides.  Coat well!

Heat the oil over medium high heat in a large flat skillet. 

Brown chicken in the oil for about 2 minutes on each side. 

Remove the chicken and place in a 9x13 baking pan. 

Deglaze the hot skillet with the citrus juice and scrape up all the browned bits.

Pour citrus juice mixture over the chicken and sprinkle with the zest and brown sugar.

Bake for 30 minutes. 



Photo and recipe source

Savory Italian Chicken

Love the use of fresh vegetables and italian dressing!

Easy, easy . . . quick prep work utilizing convenience foods for awesome flavoring.  If you haven't used italian dressing in your cooking, you are going to be pleasantly surprised!

Hope you are enjoying the economical chicken theme this month.

Ingredients

8 large chicken breast halves
4 large tomatoes, quartered
1 (8 ounce) package fresh mushrooms
1 (8 ounce) bottle Italian dressing
1 (1 1/4 ounce) package Lipton Onion Soup Mix
1/2 teaspoon oregano leaves, crushed
1 bay leaf

Directions

Place chicken, tomatoes and mushrooms in a 9x13 inch baking dish.

Combine dressing, soup mix, oregano and bay leaves.

Pour sauce over chicken and vegetables and bake 1-1 1/4 hours at 350°F.

Source

Roasted Lemon Chicken with Tomatoes and Potatoes

Lemons seem to be a magical ingredient in cooking chicken.  

The aroma that fills the air while cooking is intoxicating!

This is a quick and easy meal to put together . . . your guests will think you slaved away in the kitchen for hours!  The oven does all the work.  

One of the success secrets of this meal is the use of various herbs and spices mixed in with the lemons and vegetables.  The presentation is awesome!

The recipe and photo source is The Comfort of Cooking, where you will find many more fresh and frugal comfort food recipes.  Link to the website follows the recipe. 

Ingredients

• Nonstick cooking spray
• 4 lbs. (10-12) skin-on, bone-in chicken parts (thighs, legs, wings)
• 1 lb. baby potatoes
• 1/2 onion (yellow or red), thinly sliced
• 2 lemons, 1 sliced and 1 juiced
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
• 10 oz. cherry tomatoes

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Spray a rimmed 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish with cooking spray. Into the baking dish arrange chicken parts (skin side up), potatoes, sliced onion and lemon slices evenly in pan.

In a small bowl, whisk together lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, Italian seasoning, crushed red pepper flakes, paprika, salt and pepper. Pour mixture all over chicken and potatoes. Sprinkle all over generously with additional Italian seasoning, salt and pepper.

Bake uncovered for about 1 hour, or until chicken and potatoes are fully cooked. During last 20 minutes of cooking, add cherry tomatoes and continue cooking for the 20 remaining minutes.

Recipe and Photo Source: The Comfort of Cooking

Southern Fried Fish

Fried fish is one of my favorite foods.  Although I prefer grouper, it is very expensive in this area (even though we live right off the Gulf) and we usually settle for tilapia.  When we are lucky enough to have a great fishing adventure and actually come home with fish, we make fried fish every night until it is all gone.  

We have found that the frozen tilapia that comes in large bags is the best value . . . if it is available in your area.

I make a very simple tartar sauce to go with the fried fish.  Sorry, I don't measure, so taste as you go until it is the right combination for you.  Mix mayonnaise, dill, cayenne pepper, onion powder, dill pickle juice and finely minced dill pickle (optional) . . . chill.  A slightly different variation (especially if low on mayonnaise) is to add some sour cream.  It makes a great topping for baked potato instead of plain sour cream.

Ingredients

Fish fillets
1 cup yellow corn meal
⅓ cup flour
2 teaspoons salt
⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper (amount to taste for heat)
(or you can sprinkle directly on the fish before coating with dry ingredients)
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon onion powder
Cooking oil

Marinade:  milk and hot sauce (amount to taste for heat)



Directions

Add the fish and allow to marinate for a few hours.

Remove the fish and drain.

Coat the fish into mixed dry ingredients.  Shake off excess.

The fish is best deep fried (365 degrees), but may be pan fried (I love to pan fry the fish in some olive oil and butter).

Cook until the fish flakes easily with a fork, about 5 to 6 minutes.