Chicken Bacon Ranch Pizza

|
By
|
9 comments

We’ve been having pizza night on the regular here. There’s always a new fun twist that I’m coming across in my daily blog reads, and making a note to try. We’ve had weirdo winners in the past, so I’m always anxious to try different topping combinations that wouldn’t normally come to mind. I’d had this chicken ranch pizza from Annie bookmarked for too long, and finally gave it a spin last week when we had some extra chicken hanging out in the fridge.

And, we have another winner! I went ahead and added bacon, simply because I had some of that hanging out in the fridge too. And really, when it comes to bacon – why not?  I loved that that the sauce of the pizza was buttermilk ranch dressing.Kind of white pizza-ish, but far less heavy. I  loved the tomato on top too. Tomato can be so good on pizza, if done right – but can easily turn into a soggy mess if overdone. Will definitely be putting this one into pizza night rotation from now on! A great summer pizza.

Chicken Bacon Ranch Pizza

Pizza dough
¼ cup Ranch dressing
¾ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup cooked chicken, shredded
1/4 cup bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 tomato, seeded and diced
2-3 green onions, chopped
¾ cup shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat the oven and a pizza stone to 500° F.  Allow the stone to heat for at least 30 minutes.  In the mean time, cut a round of parchment paper the size of your pizza stone.  (Alternatively, use a pizza peel.)  Sprinkle lightly with cornmeal or semolina flour.  Gently roll out the pizza dough into a large circle, leaving a thicker ring around the edge for the crust.

Spread the Ranch dressing in a thin layer evenly over the unbaked crust.  Sprinkle with shredded mozzarella.  Top with grilled chicken, tomato and green onions.  Sprinkle with shredded cheddar.  Once assembled, carefully transfer the parchment round and pizza to the preheated baking stone and return to the oven.  Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and browned.  Slice, serve, and enjoy!

Source: adapted from Annie’s Eats

Maryland Fried Chicken

|
By
|
10 comments

The beautiful state of Maryland is usually synonymous with two things. #1) Blue crabs. And, #2) Maryland Fried Chicken. Incidentally, they usually go hand-in-hand together too. I don’t know a single crab house that doesn’t serve you a basket of fresh fried chicken before the crabs arrive (a feeble attempt to limit crab intake – don’t be a sucker). I was interested in what differentiates Maryland fried chicken, from a traditional Southern fried chicken. But, I couldn’t really find a straight answer anywhere.

So, I took the one thing that makes just about anything scream Maryland, and threw that into the mix. Old Bay! It’s such a great mix of spices; celery seed, paprika, chili pepper, allspice, and cardamom – just to name a few! I’ve always used it on my chicken that I throw on the grill, so why not fried chicken as well? I start the chicken off in a cast-iron skillet, and get a nice brown scald on it. Then I finished it off in the oven for about 15 minutes. I find that if I try to cook it all the way through in the cast-iron, it ends up getting browner than I’d like. This method produced tender, juicy results.

I’ve played around with several different variations, and this one is definitely a winner! I went all out and served it with mashed potatoes and gravy, corn, and buttermilk biscuits. Eat your heart out, Colonel Sanders.

Maryland Fried Chicken

1 frying chicken (3 lbs), cut into 8 pieces
2 cups buttermilk
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp Old Bay
3 tsp kosher salt
canola or vegetable oil for frying

In a large bowl, combine the chicken with the buttermilk and 2 teaspoons salt. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or overnight. When ready to fry, remove chicken from bowl and let sit on counter for 30 minutes to take chill off.

Preheat oven to 350F. Stir together the flour, Old Bay, and 1 teaspoon salt. Place in a gallon-sized resealable bag, and set aside.

Heat 1 1/2 inches of oil in a deep skillet or dutch oven over medium high heat to 365F. Working in batches, place the chicken pieces into the flour mixture and shake the bag to coat, pressing to adhere. Add the chicken to the oil 3-4 pieces at a time.

Fry 5-7 minutes, checking to make sure chicken isn’t getting too brown. Turn, cover and cook additional 3-5 minutes more. Monitor temperature of oil to make sure chicken doesn’t burn. Keep in mind chicken will finish cooking in oven.

Place chicken on baking sheet and continue frying rest of chicken. When done, bake the chicken for 10-15 minutes, until chicken cooked through.

Source: adapted from The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl

Rosemary Chicken Salad

|
By
|
2 comments

I don’t like to brag, but I do make a pretty good chicken salad. Which, is great, because we eat it A LOT of it for lunch or a light dinner during the summer months. There’s usually chicken leftover from one meal or another during the week, or I’m grilling so often it’s no biggie to cook a couple extra chicken breasts to make up a batch.  It keeps great in the fridge for a few days, and makes for an easy and quick lunch during the week.

The fresh rosemary certainly sets it apart from other chicken salads. But, I think the thing that really makes it shine is the addition of honey. I like the hint of sweetness it brings. I like mine on a whole wheat bread, with lots of sprouts on top. However, when served on crostinis, it makes a lovely appetizer.

Rosemary Chicken Salad

1 pound cooked chicken (about 2 cups), shredded
1/3 cup mayonnaise
3 Tbsp plain Greek yogurt
1 Tbsp + 1 tsp dijon mustard
1 Tbsp honey
1 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped
1/2 small red onion, finely diced
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

Make the dressing in the bottom of a large bowl by combining mayonnaise, Greek yogurt, dijon mustard, and honey. Whisk until combined.

Add in remaining ingredients and mix until combined. Serve on multi-grain bread with desired toppings.

Buffalo Chicken Pizza

|
By
|
5 comments

Last week, Shawnda of Confections of a Foodie Bride devoted a whole week to pizza. I happened to have pizza on the menu for Friday evening, and I couldn’t help but be inspired by all the fun twists on pizza that she’d shared during the week. I’ve been in the mood for wings for a couple of weeks now. So, I thought, why not a buffalo chicken pizza? Yum!

I looked around on a few different recipes, and there are several variations out there. I settled on Racheal Ray’s version. Say what you will about her “stoups” and sammies, but what recipes I’ve tried of hers have yet to let me down. I liked the idea of a Buffalo pizza sauce, versus just a buffalo sauce, or ranch dressing as the base. I didn’t have blue cheese, so I just mixed in a little bit of cheddar. I was thinking feta might be a good substitute as well, with the nice salty kick it lends. And last, but certainly not least, the red onions. Which, get nice and charred under the intense heat in the oven.

Everyone really enjoyed it, in fact we ate the whole thing that night. Usually, on pizza night, there’s always at least a half a pizza left over between the traditional pizza I make for the boys, and the more adulterated pizza I’ll make for us. I’m already craving this again, so I have a feeling it won’t be long before it’s making an appearance on our dinner table soon. Make sure you have plenty of ice cold beer to serve with it, as they go down too easy together!

Buffalo Chicken Pizza

3/4 pound chicken breast cutlets
olive oil, for drizzling
2 teaspoons grill seasoning
1 pizza dough
Cornmeal or flour, to handle dough
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce, eyeball it
2 to 3 tablespoons hot sauce (I like Frank’s Red Hot)
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1 cup shredded Monterey or Pepper Jack cheese
1/2 cup cheddar cheese
1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced

Preheat oven to 500 degrees F. Preheat grill pan to high.

Place chicken on a plate and drizzle with olive oil , then season with grill seasoning. When grill is hot, add chicken and cook about 3 minutes on each side. Remove from pan and set aside to cool. Once chicken has cooled, slice it into 1/2″ thick strips.

Stretch dough to form pizza using cornmeal or flour to help you handle it. Set pizza on pizza pan to the side and clean board.

In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt butter and stir in Worcestershire, hot sauce, and tomato sauce. Remove from heat. Add chicken strips to sauce and toss to coat, then remove and set aside.

Cover the pizza dough with remaining  pizza sauce, then top with the cheeses, chicken pieces, and red onion. Bake 15 minutes or until crisp.

Source: adapted from Racheal Ray