Takeout at Home: Chicken and Broccoli

My friend Christina recently hosted a blogging challenge involving a popular takeout cuisine - Chinese food! She posted a link to an article on food.com and asked her readers to select a meal they would like to try out. She has been sharing all of the results on her blog: Tales From a Mad Men Kitchen.

We LOVE Chinese and probably order once or twice a month, so I was excited to participate in this challenge. We are boring creatures of habit. We might get sweet and sour chicken or chicken lo mein or the occasional egg roll, but we always order chicken and broccoli. So when I saw this recipe, I knew that's what I wanted to cook.


We absolutely loved this dinner. It didn't taste really like our local restaurant, and I might decrease the amount of ginger next time, but this was a huge success. Luckily, this was on a night when I was cooking late so the kids had already eaten; the two of us alone finished it so there wouldn't have been enough. Next time I'll for sure double it. Isn't one of the best parts about Chinese take out the leftovers?

Chicken and Broccoli
slightly adapted from food.com

3 tablespoons cornstarch, divided

1/2 cup water, plus

2 tablespoon water, divided

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts, cut into thin 3-inch strips

2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided

4 cups broccoli florets

1 small onion, cut into wedges

1/4 cup chicken broth

1/3 cup soy sauce

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground ginger

hot cooked rice

In a bowl, combine 2 tablespoons cornstarch, 2 tablespoons water and garlic powder until smooth.

Add chicken and toss.

In a large skillet or wok over medium high heat, stir-fry chicken in 1 tablespoon oil until beef reaches desired doneness; remove and keep warm.

Stir-fry broccoli and onion in remaining oil for 4-5 minutes. If necessary, deglaze with about 1/4 cup chicken broth.

Return chicken to pan.

Combine soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger and remaining cornstarch and water until smooth; add to the pan.

Cook and stir for 2 minutes.

Serve over rice.

Pasta with Chicken and Broccoli in a White Wine Cheddar Sauce

This dinner by Katie was amazing. It has popped up on my Google reader about seventy billion times, so I knew it had to be a winner. It absolutely was. I don't even know what else to say about this meal, other than the fact that it will for sure make a encore appearance.


I ended up using chicken thighs instead of breasts, but that's really only because I accidentally grabbed them out of the freezer. Otherwise, I don't think I changed a thing...



Ingredients:

• 1 lb. ziti
• 3 Tbsp butter
• 1/2 cup roasted garlic paste (made by roasting garlic in oven and squuezing garlic out of skin) (I used about 1/4 - 1/3 cup of roasted garlic paste in a tube, and it was perfect.)
• 3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1/2 c. dry vermouth or dry white wine
• 2 c. low-sodium chicken stock
• 1 large head of brocolli, cut into florettes (about 2 c.)
• 10 oz. cooked chicken, cubed or shredded (about 2 c.)
• 3 oz. aged reserve cheddar (preferably white), grated (about 1 1/2 c.)
• 4 - 6 thin strips of parmesan cheese (optional)
• salt and ground pepper

Bring 4 qt. of water to a boil in lare pot and cook ziti according to box directions to only al dente and set aside.

At the same time, lightly steam broccolli florettes on to of pan in steamer and set aside.

Meanwhile, melt butter in large nonstick skillet over medium heat.

When just coming to foaming, add garlic paste and cook until fragrant (about 1 min)

Add flour and cook until beginning to turn golden (about 2 min.)

Add vermouth and cook until evaporated (about 1 min).

Stir broth into pan and simmer sauce until slightly thickened (about 2 min).

Add cheddar and stir constantly while returning to a boil.

Fold in ziti cook for one minute additional and remove from heat.

Add brocolli and chicken and fold until sauce covers uniformly.

Plate and top with one or two strips of parmesean (optional) and serve.