New dish: Chicken with Rice and Mushrooms.

 

 

Today's recipe which I decided to do instead of the usual chicken cacciatore and yet another recipe inspiration from a Pinterest find:

"One Pot Mushroom Chicken and Rice"

(My) Ingredients:

 

2 Chicken thighs (bone and skin intact)

1 lg (16 oz) package of pre-sliced mushrooms (2 cups)

2 lg cloves garlic crushed

2 tsp dried parsley

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1 14 oz can chicken broth

1 cup white rice, rinsed

1/2 tsp each salt and pepper

1/2 tsp each garlic and onion powder

Olive oil

2 tbl unsalted butter

1/4 milk

2 tbl cream cheese 

(1/4 heavy cream)

 

The original recipe called for doing stovetop cooking the put the whole pan in the oven to finish cooking. I do not trust that my 'Greenpan' frying pan is oven safe so I did it all on the stove like I've done other recipes

 

Instructions:

 

Rinse and pat dry chicken thighs then sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper (this is separate from the amount called for). I also added onion and garlic powder with a sprinkle of paprika because that's what I do. Salt and pepper should not be the only spices used in a recipe.

 

Heat oil in large pan (that has a lid) then fry chicken skin side down first until browned, then turn and do other side. Chicken will not be cooked through but feel free to cook a bit longer.

 When chicken is done (about ten minutes or so) set aside on a plate, add 1 tbl butter to the pan and add in the mushrooms, onion and garlic. I suggest doing it in that order as it takes longer for the mushrooms to cook than the other two. 

If using cream  substitute, combine the milk and cream cheese using a whisk.

if you have any burnt patches (fonde) in the bottom of the pan the liquid from the mushrooms and onion will help release it. Cook until mushrooms are soft but not thoroughly cooked through, add in the spices and stir to combine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Add in the chicken broth, rice, cream (or substitute milk/cream cheese mix) stirring to combine. Heat until bubbly but not boiling, place chicken in pan, add lid and cook for approx 30-40 minutes. 

At 30 minutes, lift lid and stir best you can, replace lid and cook for another 10 minutes. 

Remove lid again and stir, check to see if rice is soft and liquid is mostly gone.

Turn off heat, let sit for a few minutes then enjoy! This could also benefit with a side veggie of steamed broccoli which I forgot to do.

I haven't used recipes that called for thyme very much because I never had it on hand. I made a point to buy some a while ago and am glad I did! This dish would be an excellent use for lemon thyme if you happened to have that growing. If not, a squirt or two (1/2 tsp) of lemon before adding the chicken back into the pan would be excellent! 

 

And now, if you wish to see, a before and after of my fridge and freezer. What a difference money makes.

What isn't shown is the two crisper drawers are completely stuffed with a variety of gifted and purchased veggies. From the time of that second picture to now, the potato salad is almost gone, the hamburger has been portioned and put in the freezer and I just used the mushrooms in today's meal. The chicken in the first picture was used the next day. The jar on the top shelf is Alabama White Sauce which I have been using on my breakfast sandwiches.

Just for reference, this is the only hamburger we get now. Better quality and less fat than the 'cheap' stuff at Kroger. I have gotten the 10 lb 'chub' previously when it was quite a bit cheaper, this trip they have started putting them in the regular meat case because so many people ask for it. The chub was only ten cents cheaper than this package and we don't really need 'that' much hamburger with all the other meat we have. Just shy of 6 lbs at 4.79/lb. That package of meat was almost as expensive as 7 gallons of gas when I went to fill up the next day.

We did not buy any eggs for the second month due to the price. It is not an absolute staple for us and we can survive not having them until things settle out, if they ever do. I am trying to make a menu calendar using an app but the problem is, I improvise too much. I had Chicken Cacciatore down for today and did the rice and mushrooms instead. I don't even remember what we had on Monday and am now using the app as a log of what we have had for reference.

I have to keep in mind as well that on Tuesday and Thursday I don't have as much time to cook so have to have simpler meals for those days until the end of the school year. So sometimes it will be leftovers, sandwiches, something quick that doesn't require a lot of prep or cooking. Which is another reason why I don't have recipe posts every day.

Other than that, enjoy!