What it is, cats and kittens! I know I’m posting late for Fat Tuesday, but I made this hell-of-tasty Chicken Sauce Piquant dish for work’s Mardi Gras luncheon last night, and I had to make sure it was a winner before I went public with it.
ben’s chicken sauce piquant
ingredients
- 4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1/2 cup + 4 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 chopped onion
- 2 chopped green bell peppers
- 2 tablespoons minced jalapenos (more or less to your taste)
- 4 regular cans of diced tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons of minced garlic
- 2 tablespoons thyme
- 2 tablespoons oregano
- 6 bay leaves
- 2 quarts of chicken stock (either from liquid stock or bouillion cubes)
- salt
- creole seasoning to taste
- crushed red pepper to taste
- fresh ground pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons parsley
Step one: Make the chicken
Put the 4-6 chicken breasts, 2 quarts of chicken stock, 1tbsp thyme, 1tbsp garlic, 1tbsp oregano and 3 bay leaves into a large pot.
Bring to a boil, and then simmer over low heat for an hour, or until chicken juices run clear.
After the chicken is done, remove the breasts from the stock, and shred roughly with a fork.
Step two: Make the sauce piquant
In a sautee pan, heat the 4 tbsps of olive oil over high heat.
Add the onions, green pepper, jalapenos, garlic, thyme and oregano.
Season with salt and pepper to taste (I prefer the pepper).
Saute for two minutes, or at least until the onions turn clear.
Stir in tomatoes, bay leaves, Creole seasoning to taste, pinch of crushed red pepper and 1 quart of the remaining stock.
Bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes.
Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
Remove from heat and transfer this mixture to a blender and drizzle the 1/2 cup of oil into the mix while it’s running.
Transfer to crock-pot or whatever vessel you choose and stir in parsley and chicken.
Voila!
I loosely based this on an Emeril recipe for sauce piquant, but despite my loathing for that guy, I did think in my head “BLAM!” as I threw in the jalapenos. Note: yes, I know he says BAM, but BLAM is much more awesome.
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Achewood.
Hee.
I would, but it has been taken.
Well I for one think it sounds delicious and I plan on making it soon. The best part is it’s both Cajun AND kosher (very important when you’re a southern girl cooking for a Jewish boyfriend). Do not let Hunter make fun of you–I’m excited you posted it.
What I loved about it was that it A) didn’t use any roux, which makes for a lighter dish and B) it used LOTS of herbs. I love stuff with lots of herbs like thyme and oregano in it.
Normally, I buy the whole oregano you can find in the “Mexican” section of your local grocery. It’s also cheaper, too.
I made some hellified Thai-style jerky the other day, too — but I’m not posting that recipe until I get it “just right”. The secret: fish sauce.
I’m glad you enjoyed it! Do tell me how it turned out. I personally was OK with it and it was a big hit at the office, but I was trying for something with a little more “tang” to it.
I’m a big fan of Thai cooking and I have a huge bottle of fish sauce in the fridge. It smells and sounds so nasty…but it’s a powerful secret ingredient when used correctly. I’ll be looking forward to that recipe when you post it.
I will have to check out that oregano in the Mexican section. Have you ever been to the ethnic food aisle at Meijer? So interesting. That’s where my fish sauce came from. I didn’t buy the tiny Americanized brand either–I got the big scary bottle with Asian characters on it.
Yeah, the International aisle at Meijer is fantastic and that is the same bottle I bought. Thin plastic, about quart size for $2.50. I’ve heard descriptions of making your own fish sauce, but I couldn’t imagine the stench! I’d have to cook up some chitlins in another pot just to cover it :)
Another thing I suggest from the int’l aisle is the Swedish Knackelbrod (sp?) giant rye cracker discs. Kelly has to eat like a diabetic, and since they are whole rye they are perfect! They make great ready-made pizza crusts, and they keep forever just in the pantry. Just toss on some marinara, fresh red bell pepper, mushrooms, cheese, etc and then cook in the oven at 400-450 degrees for about 10 minutes. The rye makes for an interesting taste with the pizza, and while it does just fine with a red pizza sauce, I think you could do ever better with like a chicken alfredo pizza or something like that.
Aren’t you just a wealth of knowledge in regards to ethnic cuisine? I love the flavor of rye bread…I will totally go check out the Swedish giant rye crackers. Whole grain is so much better for you than anything processed…sounds like you are cooking for someone with special dietary restrictions, as am I. My boyfriend keeps strictly kosher so we never mix meat and dairy, or eat any pork or shellfish. (I guess that means I could never cook up my own chit’lins!) This is why Cajun cooking is so off-limits to me–it’s hard to make etouffee without shellfish or butter. That rye you described sounds great for a veggie pizza, though..maybe even for certain dips or appetizers. Oooohh fun–I love an excuse to make a trip to the ethnic food aisle!
Yeah — Kelly essentially has a diabetic diet. She’s got insulin-resistance issues AND she is all about running, so we try to eat low-carb, whole grain sorta stuff. As much as I detested it at first, it has become second-nature to eat like this. A good thing, too — I’ve shed about 25 lbs from my highest weight. Also, not eating all that sugar gives me a lot more energy. Tis’ amazing, it is.
We made Thai chicken cakes over the weekend — they turned out ok but not super-fantastic. Ground chicken, breadcrumbs, green onion and fresh cilantro with ground coriander. Something is missing — I don’t know what just yet. Need to hi-jack that chef from Thai Smile!