's motd Tuesday August 2, 2011 - chicken

[Guest guest]

BORN FRIED!

Tuesday, 02 August 2011

As

you know, I'm from the South and southerners are known

for being great cooks. One of my favorites when I was

growing up back in very southern New Orleans

were the incredible Southern Fried Chicken dinners my

parents prepared. Now I'm telling you, I'd never seen a

piece of chicken unless it was fried. I

thought chickens just came that way, you know, like they

were...born fried! LOL.

I

can't even tell you how many pieces of fried chicken I

had when I was a kid. My favorite pieces were

drumsticks and thighs. Who knew that the dark meat of

the chicken was higher in calories than the white

meat...or that the dark meat had more fat? But hey,

back then, do you really think I was thinking about

that?

Well, I don't eat fried chicken anymore. One bite of a

fried drumstick nowadays and oh, we're talking instant

heartburn for me! The older you get, the more you have

to steer clear of all things fried. But you know what?

I've discovered that chicken doesn't have to be fried to

taste good. There are so many other ways to prepare

great-tasting chicken. Let me tell you some of the ways

I prepare it.

One of my faves is to simply bake a whole chicken in the

oven. I wash the chicken thoroughly, then pat it dry.

Next, I rub a little olive oil all over the chicken,

followed by some finely chopped garlic. Finally, I

cover the chicken with lemon juice, coarse-ground black

pepper then into the oven it goes. And when you can

"dance" with the drumstick...it's done! You know what I

mean by dance with the drumstick, don't you? I mean if

you pull on the drumstick and the meat feels lose on the

bone, it's ready to enjoy. And, believe me, enjoy it...you

will!

I also like to take chicken tenderloins and boil them

for a few minutes in chicken broth. After they're done,

I take the tenderloins, refrigerate them and later cut

them into cubes and make a very tasty chicken salad.

Another

thing I like to do is to cut chicken breasts into

one-inch slices. I take the slices, drop them into a

Ziplock bag then pound and flatten them with a kitchen

mallet. I can use my chicken medallions in recipes like

chicken frittata, chicken parmesan or chicken marsala.

Get creative and use them in your own recipes.

I love barbecued chicken! I make my own barbecue recipe

for it, too. I begin with ketchup, vinegar, finely

chopped onions, honey, brown sugar and a few of my own

secret ingredients. I boil my mixture on medium heat

until the sauce reduces by about half. Then I pour it

all into my blender and mix them until the onions are

completely ground into the mixture. And that's my

recipe for an incredible homemade barbecue sauce.

There's this great Thai chicken dish I make, too. It's

Chicken Satay. You use kitchen skewers and weave one

chicken tenderloin onto each of them. Spray each

tenderloin with a little Pam and broil them in the

oven. Meanwhile, in a bowl, mix two teaspoons of peanut

butter with some dry chili flakes. Now place the bowl

in the microwave for about 15 seconds. When the chicken

is done, all you have to do is brush a little of the

sauce onto each piece and serve. Oh, you're in for a

far-east-themed taste treat. I make this dish every

couple of weeks, serving it on a broccoli and brown

rice casserole.

So

there, I've given you some great ideas for chicken

dishes that aren't fried. And by the way,

when you become

a member of my Clubhouse, you'll have hundreds of

recipes that not only taste good but are good-for-you

and will help you drop those extra pounds. So, are you

ready for a great, good-for-you chicken dish?

Cluck, cluck!

Love,