California Pizza Kitchen BBQ Chicken Pizza

California Pizza Kitchen BBQ Chicken Pizza

California Pizza Kitchen BBQ Chicken Pizza
recipe slightly adapted from cdkitchen.com

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon honey
1 cup warm water
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
10 ounces chicken breast, boned and skinned
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons barbecue sauce and 1/2 cup barbecue sauce
1 cup shredded Gouda cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 small red onion, sliced into rings
2 tablespoons cilantro

Directions:
To make the dough: In a small bowl, dissolve the honey in the warm water. Sprinkle the yeast over the water and stir until it dissolves. Let the yeast mixture stand for 5 minutes, until a layer of foam forms on the surface. In a large bowl, combine the flour and the salt. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour the olive oil and the yeast mixture. Stir the flour into the wet ingredients, until all the flour is incorporated. If its too dry, add more water. On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough for 15 minutes, until it is smooth and elastic. Shape the dough into a ball and put in in a well-oiled bowl. Cover with a moist towel and let rise in a warm place until double in bulk (about 1 1/2 hours).

One hour before baking the pizzas, start preheating the oven with pizza stones inside at 500 degrees F.

For the Chicken: In a large frying pan, heat the olive oil on medium high heat. Add chicken pieces. Saute until cooked (6 minutes). Chill. Coat chicken with 2 tablespoons barbecue sauce. Set aside in the refrigerator.

For the Pizza: Punch the dough down, and divide into equal serving portions. Roll out each portion into an 6-8 inch flat circle. Spread 1/4 cup barbecue sauce over the surface of the dough. Distribute 1/2 of the cheese over the sauce. Distribute 1/2 of the chicken over the cheese. Place half of the onion rings over the chicken pieces. Place the pizza in the oven (on top of pizza stones). Bake until crust is crispy and cheese is bubbling (8-10 minutes). Remove pizzas from the oven and sprinkle each with 1/2 of the cilantro.

P.F. Chang’s Chicken in Soothing Lettuce Wraps

Servings: 2 (I doubled the recipe)
Difficulty: Easy
Cook Time: 1-30 min

While working on the formula for P.F. Chang’s Vegetarian Lettuce Wraps, I discovered that there were several ways I could improve the clone recipe for the Chicken Wraps. I’ve now perfected the flavor of the stir-fry with the addition of mirin (a sweetened sake syrup) and oyster sauce, both of which you can find in your market where the Asian foods are stocked. The “special sauce” that you spoon over your wraps has also been tweaked and perfected. And finally, after reducing the amount of chicken from two breasts filets to just one, I think this new and improved version of P.F. Chang’s most popular dish is the absolute best
clone it can be.

Ingredients

  • Special sauce
  • 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 3 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
  • 1/8 teaspoon chili oil
  • 2 tablespoons chopped green onion
  • 1/2 to 1 teaspoon Chinese hot mustard paste (see Tidbits)
  • 1 to 3 teaspoons chili garlic sauce

Stir-fry sauce

  • 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon water
  • 2 tablespoons mirin
  • 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
  • 2 teaspoons rice vinegar
  • 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1 large skinless chicken breast filet
  • 1 8-ounce can water chestnuts, drained and minced (about 1 cup)
  • 1 6-ounce can diced straw mushrooms, drained and minced (about
    2/3 cup)
  • 1 teaspoon minced garlic
  • 3 tablespoons chopped green onion
  • 1 to 1 1/2 cups fried maifun rice sticks (see Tidbits)
  • 4 to 5 iceberg lettuce cups

Directions

Make the special sauce (for spooning over your lettuce wraps) by dissolving the sugar in the water in a small bowl. Add the soy sauce, rice vinegar, and chili oil. Add the chopped green onion and set the sauce aside until you’re ready to serve the lettuce wraps. Eventually you will add Chinese mustard and garlic chili sauce to this special sauce mixture to pour over each of your lettuce wraps. In the restaurant, waiters prepare the sauce at your table the same way based on your desired heat level. We’ll get into the specifics of that in step #7. Prepare the stir-fry sauce by mixing all of the ingredients together in a small bowl.

To prepare the filling for your lettuce wraps, heat 1 tablespoon of the vegetable oil in a large saute pan or wok over high heat. Saute the chicken breast for 4 to 5 minutes per side, or until cooked through. Remove the chicken from the pan to cool. Wipe out the pan. As the chicken cools, chop your water chestnuts and mushrooms into pieces that are about the size of small peas. If you haven’t fried the maifun rice sticks, this is a good time to do that.

When you can handle the chicken, hack it up with a sharp knife so that no piece is bigger than a dime. With the pan or wok back on high heat, add the 3 remaining tablespoons of oil. When the oil is hot, add the chicken, water chestnuts, mushrooms, and garlic to the pan. Cook the mixture for 2 minutes, stirring often. Add the stir-fry sauce to the pan and saute the mixture for a couple more minutes, then stir in the green onions and spoon everything out onto a bed of fried maifun rice noodles on a serving dish.

Serve the chicken with a side of lettuce cups. Make these lettuce cups by slicing the top off of a head of iceberg lettuce right through the middle of the head. Pull your lettuce cups off of the outside of this slice.

Prepare the special sauce at the table by adding your desired measurement of hot mustard and chili sauce to the special sauce blend: 1 teaspoon of chili garlic sauce for mild, ½ teaspoon of mustard paste plus 2 teaspoons chili garlic sauce for medium, and 1 teaspoon of mustard paste and 3 teaspoons of chili garlic sauce for hot. Stir well.

Assemble each lettuce wrap by spooning the filling into a lettuce cup, adding special sauce over the top and eating it
like a taco.

Tidbits: Follow the directions on the package for frying the maifun rice sticks — usually by pouring 2 inches of vegetable
oil into a pan and heating it to around 400 degrees F. Add the maifun, and when it floats to the top remove it to a paper towel.

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Mughlai Chicken

Mughlai Chicken

recipe from foodnetwork.com, courtesy of Nigella Lawson, Nigella Feasts

Ingredients:
1 (1-inch) piece ginger, peeled
4 cloves garlic, peeled
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon dried chili flakes
4 tablespoons ground almonds
1/2 cup water
5 cardamom pods, bruised
1 cinnamon stick, broken in half
2 bay leaves
4 cloves
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 pounds boned chicken thighs, each cut into 2
2 onions, finely chopped
1 cup Greek yogurt
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup sultanas (golden raisins)
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup flaked almonds, toasted, to garnish

Directions:
Put the ginger, garlic, cumin, coriander, and chili into a food processor, or into a mortar and pestle, and blend to a paste. Add the ground almonds and water and then blend again, set aside.

Heat the oil in a large pan and add the chicken pieces – in batches so they fry rather than stew – and cook them just long enough to seal on both sides, then remove to a dish.

Add the spices and turn them in the oil. Add the onions and cook them until softened and lightly browned, but keep the heat gentle and stir frequently, to avoid sticking. Pour in the blended paste, and cook everything until it begins to colour. Add the yogurt, half a cup at a time stirring it in to make a sauce, then stir in the stock, cream, and sultanas.

Put the browned chicken back into the pan, along with any juices that have collected under them, and sprinkle over the garam masala, sugar, and salt. Cover and cook on a gentle heat for 20 minutes, testing to make sure the meat is cooked through.

It’s at this stage, that I like to take the pan off the heat and leave it to cool before reheating the next day.

So either now, or when you’ve reheated it, pour into a serving dish and scatter with the toasted flaked almonds.