- 4 weeks ago
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00It's all about great chicken dishes for busy times.
00:03There's marvelous Mary Me Chicken,
00:05made even more perfect with brown butter mashed potatoes
00:08for a match made in heaven.
00:11Then there's quick chicken avocado pizza
00:13when you're up against it over the holidays or in a time crunch.
00:18Everyone will always love crispy homemade chicken nuggets.
00:22And then finally, there's slow cooker chicken and ravioli soup,
00:25an absolute shortcut savior.
00:27When you're short on time, you can always count on chicken.
00:33Around the holidays or just any time of year
00:36when I have lots of family around,
00:38I like to have quick, easy dinner recipes in my back pocket.
00:43So whatever the occasion,
00:45I can always make something really delicious.
00:48Enter Mary Me Chicken.
00:51Okay, Mary Me Chicken is a social media sensation.
00:55It has gone viral over the past couple of years.
00:58And basically, it's a chicken dish that is so delicious,
01:03you could reel in a spouse for life with it.
01:06Kind of like I did with Ladd and my lasagna,
01:09but that's another story for another time.
01:11So I started by cooking some boneless, skinless chicken thighs
01:15and cooked them on both sides in oil and butter.
01:18And then they're fully cooked.
01:19So I took them out of the pan, put them on a plate,
01:22and I'm going to move forward with the sauce,
01:24which is really what Mary Me Chicken is all about.
01:27So into the pan, I'm going to scrape some sliced garlic,
01:31some rosemary and oregano,
01:33and then finely diced red onion.
01:37So now I just want to stir these ingredients in the pan.
01:41They're going to scrape around with that chicken flavor.
01:44There are little chicken bits in there.
01:46And oh my gosh, it already smells amazing.
01:49So I'm going to add some tomato paste to the mix
01:53and get that going.
01:54I'm going to kind of fry the tomato paste
01:57just against the bottom of this hot pan
02:00just to kind of release those flavors,
02:03give it a little bit of a deeper flavor.
02:06So now there are still so many little bits of chicken
02:09in the bottom of this skillet.
02:12So I'm going to deglaze it with some white wine.
02:15All right, so I'll splash in anywhere from half a cup to a cup.
02:20And then immediately you want to start kind of scraping
02:24all of those little bits of chicken off the bottom of the pan,
02:29little bits of garlic here and there.
02:31I'm going to add some chicken broth
02:33and let that start to heat up.
02:36I'm going to stir that around.
02:40But the real star of the sauce for Mary Me Chicken is,
02:45as you probably guessed, heavy cream.
02:49Pour it in.
02:50This results in basically my favorite kind of sauce there is,
02:55just a pink sauce, a combination of tomato and cream.
02:59I just look at it as the best of both worlds.
03:02It's just incredible.
03:04And I love this ingredient in Mary Me Chicken.
03:07Sun-dried tomatoes, and they're just cut into julienne strips.
03:11So put in quite a bit of that.
03:14And some crushed red pepper flakes, just for a little bit of heat.
03:19You don't want it to be overpowering.
03:21Okay, with the pan this hot,
03:23it doesn't take long for this sauce to start to bubble up.
03:26And that's exactly what you want to see.
03:28It's going to thicken pretty quickly.
03:31So I'm going to add this chicken back into the sauce.
03:35And since I dredged the chicken with flour before I cooked it,
03:40the flour will also just slightly help thicken that sauce.
03:44All right.
03:45Oh, my gosh.
03:47Every time I make this,
03:48I am reminded of why this is so popular.
03:53It's so amazing.
03:53Now, a lot of people serve Mary Me Chicken with some kind of pasta,
04:00but I am going a different direction.
04:03Around the holidays, I always make mashed potatoes.
04:07Seems like I always have a pan in the fridge ready to pop into the oven.
04:13And these are brown butter mashed potatoes,
04:16which is basically my regular mashed potato recipe made even more miraculous.
04:21Let me walk you through how to make these.
04:24For the brown butter,
04:25I added two and a half sticks of salted butter to a saucepan over medium heat.
04:31I swirled it from time to time and cooked it for a couple of minutes until it was golden brown.
04:36Then I turned off the heat.
04:38After that,
04:39I mashed five pounds of peeled, boiled Yukon gold potatoes over low heat.
04:44Then turned off the burner, added three-fourths of the brown butter,
04:48one and a half packages of softened cream cheese,
04:52half a cup of half and half,
04:54half a cup of cream,
04:55some salt and pepper,
04:57stirred them in,
04:58then tipped the potatoes into a serving dish.
05:01I spooned over the remaining brown butter,
05:03sprinkled the top with chopped parsley,
05:05and covered the potatoes with foil.
05:09Honestly, these mashed potatoes are a dream.
05:12There's something about that brown butter that just makes them extra magical.
05:17So those are ready,
05:18and the marry me chicken is ready.
05:21Oh, so inviting.
05:23Alrighty, now I want to show you how beautiful this is on the plate.
05:29I'll grab some of these mashed potatoes.
05:31I have to be careful not to overdo my portion because they're so irresistible.
05:37Now for the chicken.
05:42Pick my favorite piece.
05:44They're all my favorite.
05:45So I'll just kind of put the chicken on the potatoes,
05:49just a little bit off to the side.
05:51And it already got some of that sauce on there,
05:53but I'm going to get some more.
05:55The sauce truly is the star of this dish.
05:59I've said that over and over,
06:00but it's very true.
06:02Yep, that's a lot of sauce,
06:04but it is so good.
06:05Now to finish it up,
06:07I like to sprinkle on some grated Parmesan,
06:11on the sauce and on the chicken.
06:13And then this is the perfect dish for fresh basil.
06:18Just kind of tear them here and there.
06:20Ah, marry me chicken.
06:23It is so delicious.
06:25Honestly, I would marry it if I could.
06:28Whether you need to cook a yummy weeknight dinner or have a friend over or entertain around the holidays,
06:39I have just the recipe for you.
06:42Chicken avocado pizza.
06:44It is always popular, super easy to make,
06:47and it's one of those recipes that always disappears.
06:51There is never a single crumb left.
06:54I'm starting with an olive oil and honey mixture to go over the pizza crust.
06:59I'm adding some garlic,
07:02and it's as simple as that.
07:05So I'll mix this together.
07:07It's equal parts olive oil and honey.
07:10Okay, that looks amazing.
07:11So I'm basically going to just drizzle this all over the pizza crust.
07:18And part of what makes this recipe so great is that I'm using store-bought pizza crust.
07:25And I just kind of formed it into a big rectangle on a sheet pan.
07:29My favorite way to make pizza.
07:31So I brush this all over the crust,
07:33even on the edges of the crust.
07:35And that way, the crust around the edge will also have that honey-garlic oil flavor.
07:42I'm going to sprinkle on some salt and pepper.
07:45Always a good idea.
07:47Okay, before it goes in the oven, I'm going to sprinkle on the cheeses.
07:51And I'm doing Monterey Jack,
07:53which kind of makes it a little bit more of just an easy, Americanized pizza.
07:59And then for the mozzarella, I'm actually using fresh mozzarella pearls.
08:05And I love the way they bake because they just kind of stay in their spot
08:09and bubble up into these little piles of mozzarella.
08:14So delicious.
08:15And I'm leaving a rim of crust around the edge,
08:18just so I'll have that nice crust on the outside.
08:20So I'm going to put this in the oven at 375 degrees.
08:26And it's going to cook for about 15 to 17 minutes.
08:29So I'm going to get the chicken ready
08:31because I'm going to bake the pizza
08:33and then put a bunch of toppings on when it comes out of the oven.
08:37So for the chicken, I just have some grilled chicken cutlets,
08:42just seasoned with salt and pepper, very straightforward.
08:45And I'll just kind of slice them into thin little strips.
08:52I grilled this chicken on a grill pan,
08:55and that's why it has these really beautiful grill marks.
08:58And that's just going to give the chicken a little bit more flavor.
09:01You can cook it in the skillet if you want,
09:04or you can buy store-bought chicken cutlets already grilled.
09:08What a time to be alive, right?
09:11You know, I used to think when you make pizza,
09:14you have to put everything on the pizza before it goes into the oven.
09:17But when you think about the fact that you can bake the crust,
09:22finish the pizza with a whole bunch of toppings,
09:25oh my gosh, there are so many creative things you can do.
09:28All right, all the chicken's ready.
09:30So I need to let the crust finish baking.
09:33Then I'll take it out and top it.
09:38That beautiful pizza crust is almost ready to come out of the oven,
09:42so I am finishing up the toppings.
09:45In addition to the chicken,
09:46I'm going to top the pizza with beautiful slices of avocado.
09:51It's perfectly ripe.
09:53And I'm going to squeeze over some lime
09:55and just gently stir it.
09:58I don't want to mush up all those beautiful slices of avocado.
10:02All right, I'm going to grab that pizza crust.
10:05It should be just right by now.
10:09Oh, yeah.
10:10So inviting.
10:12All right, now it's just about topping it.
10:14So here comes the chicken.
10:16And don't be shy.
10:17You really want the chicken to cover the pizza.
10:20You could put the chicken on the pizza with the cheese
10:24and bake it in the oven.
10:26But there's something about the texture that I like.
10:29You get that melty cheese and crust
10:31and then nice grilled chicken on top.
10:35And here comes the avocado.
10:38And you don't have to split the avocado into individual slices.
10:43You can just kind of do little clusters here and there.
10:47Oh, this looks so good already.
10:49Another ingredient I really like to add to this pizza
10:52is pickled red onion.
10:54This is something that I used to never really have on hand routinely.
10:59Every now and then I would make a jar.
11:02But more and more, I've just started keeping it in my fridge.
11:06They're kind of crunchy.
11:07They give you a little bit of a bite.
11:09So nice.
11:10And then as if the colors on this pizza aren't already glorious,
11:15I'm going to sprinkle on some fresh diced tomato.
11:18And you can see what I mean about just piling the toppings high.
11:22And then I love the flavor of cilantro, just whole cilantro leaves.
11:29And last thing, I'll just add a little more salt and pepper.
11:35And I am going to stop there because it looks absolutely perfect.
11:40And when you take a bite of this chicken avocado pizza,
11:43you're going to agree with me.
11:44If there is one dish universally loved by every member of my family,
11:53it's chicken nuggets, especially homemade chicken nuggets.
11:57I can never even make enough to satisfy everyone.
12:01They're so good.
12:02I'm going to show you a new way I've been making them.
12:04It's just a little bit of a spin, and it makes the most delicious nuggets.
12:09These are great whether you're making them for your family for a weeknight dinner
12:13or for an appetizer around the holidays.
12:17So I started with ground chicken, and I added a beaten egg.
12:21And I'm going to sprinkle in plenty of black pepper and some paprika
12:26and seasoned salt.
12:30Gives it amazing flavor.
12:32And then I have the whites of some green onion,
12:36and I just minced it really, really fine.
12:39So basically, the green onion is going to disappear into the ground chicken.
12:43A little bit of heavy cream and some minced garlic.
12:49All right, I'm going to get in here with a spoon.
12:51This mixture is so amazing.
12:53And it's a little bit of a spin on regular chicken nuggets that I've always made.
12:59Usually, I'll just take chicken tenders and cut little bite-sized pieces,
13:04bread them, and fry them in that form.
13:07But this kind of mimics the chicken nuggets that you might buy in the freezer section
13:12or at fast food restaurants.
13:15It's actually sort of a chicken mixture that's pressed together and then fried.
13:20And you wind up with a super tender nugget, which is really, really nice.
13:26And if you're having a holiday party, you can make this mixture in double or triple the quantity
13:32and make a whole bunch for your guests.
13:35So I'm going to use my scoop and get a little portion.
13:40And then I'll just kind of press it into a little bit of a disc.
13:48And then I'll get this onto a little pan.
13:50And I'll do the same with the rest of the mixture.
13:52Okay, I got the patties all formed.
13:58This mixture is so soft that I'm going to pop it in the freezer for about 15 minutes just to flash freeze them.
14:05And that's going to make it easier for me to bread them and fry them.
14:09That's what I'm going to do next.
14:10Okay, these little nuggets have gotten a lot more firm.
14:18And trust me, that chicken mixture is so soft that you will be glad you did this step.
14:23So first thing is breading.
14:25And I'm going to do four at a time.
14:28Just a little bit easier to move down the line.
14:30So I'll dredge in flour first, both sides, and then shake off the excess and then dunk it in beaten egg.
14:40So you really want to toss it around the egg just so it's totally coating the flour
14:46because then they're going to get tossed in breadcrumbs.
14:52These are seasoned panko crumbs.
14:55And you can just kind of sprinkle the crumbs all over.
14:59But you want to wind up with really, really heavily breaded little chicken nuggets.
15:05Okay, and then look at these.
15:07Ooh, they're so nice.
15:09It's a perfect size.
15:11That coating is going to get nice and golden.
15:13It's going to be so good.
15:14All right, now I'm going to do the exact same thing with the other 12 and start cooking.
15:19So I'll drop them four at a time into the flour to dredge them,
15:23then shake off the excess, then dip them in the egg,
15:26roll them in the seasoned panko to coat them,
15:29and put them on a sheet pan with the others.
15:32When they're all done, it's time for the next step.
15:34So I'll put the first batch of eight nuggets into oil that's heated to 375 degrees in a large pan.
15:41I'll fry them for a minute on the first side, flip them over,
15:45and cook them for another minute on the second side.
15:48Then I'll take them out onto a paper towel lined plate.
15:51And eight more completes the cooking.
15:53Would you take a look at these chicken nuggets?
15:58Oh my gosh, they look good.
16:00Now, of course, with chicken nuggets, you have to have something to dunk them in when they're being eaten.
16:05So I have a couple of sauce options.
16:10Ketchup, I've got honey mustard, regular mustard, ranch.
16:16Another favorite of mine is barbecue sauce.
16:19Really, anything goes, sweet and sour sauce is also good.
16:23Perfect for a party.
16:24Perfect for watching a game on TV.
16:27Perfect for a holiday gathering.
16:30In a word, perfect.
16:32The hardest thing about making these nuggets is figuring out what sauce to use.
16:37Honey mustard.
16:39That's my choice today.
16:41Having a nice, hot pot of soup is always good if you have family around.
16:51It's great for holiday season.
16:53It's great for any time of year.
16:55I love making soups in a slow cooker.
16:59It just makes the process so much easier.
17:01It takes a little longer to cook, but the results are amazing,
17:05especially if you're making this chicken and ravioli soup.
17:09Oh my gosh, it's great.
17:11It just has a couple of steps.
17:13None of them are complicated.
17:15So first I added some diced onion and sliced garlic to the slow cooker,
17:19and I'll add some Italian seasoning.
17:22And for the chicken, this is so cool.
17:25I love these.
17:26They're fresh chicken meatballs.
17:28They're store-bought, so it's a really nice, kind of slightly gourmet ingredient.
17:34And I'll just pop them in there.
17:35If you can find frozen meatballs, you can put them in in frozen form.
17:40Any kind of meatballs work.
17:42These are extremely flavorful, so they're going to add so much flavor to the soup.
17:47And then I love this ingredient.
17:50A couple of big, heaping tablespoons of store-bought pesto.
17:55I remember a time when I would just add, like, a little teaspoon of pesto to my soup,
18:01and now I'm like, how much can I add?
18:04See, I just added another one.
18:06And for the liquid, chicken broth.
18:09I love slow cooker recipes, especially when you don't have to do any pre-cooking.
18:15And even though those chicken meatballs are store-bought, you're not sacrificing any flavor
18:20because they are so delicious.
18:24Okay, I'm going to get the lid on.
18:26I'm not even going to stir the soup.
18:28Now, I'm going to cook this on high for two hours, and that's the first stage.
18:33And then I'll come back and move on with stage two.
18:35All right, I am two hours older, and the soup has been cooking, so I have some more things to add.
18:45I made a slurry with heavy cream and cornstarch, and I just whisked it until it's totally mixed together.
18:54And I'm going to pour this into the soup, and it's going to help the soup get nice and thick,
19:00make it really creamy, and it is going to be superb.
19:04So for the ravioli, I love just finding good quality store-bought ravioli,
19:09and this has spinach and ricotta in it.
19:12I use it all the time.
19:14And then for a big pop of green, some chopped kale.
19:19I'm just going to stir everything around.
19:21It looks and smells amazing, and the textures in here, wow.
19:27Okay, just one more stage of cooking.
19:30I'll get the lid back on.
19:31I'm going to let it cook on high for another 30 minutes, and then the soup will be done.
19:36I cannot wait for that.
19:41Well, I have to say, it smells super good in here.
19:45Sorry.
19:46But it really, really does.
19:49Now, when my family's home, whether it's around the holidays or just any time of year,
19:54I'll just put a stack of bowls and a little pile of spoons right by the slow cooker.
19:59I cooked some baguette bread in the oven.
20:02I'll put that nearby, and everybody can just do the work themselves.
20:08But look at this.
20:09Oh, my goodness.
20:10The ravioli looks great.
20:13The kale really adds something nice, and these little chicken meatballs.
20:17I think I might have taken more than my share.
20:20Ooh, this soup looks good.
20:23So, I'll also put a little dish of basil nearby if I have some, and it really is the perfect
20:29little garnish.
20:31And then a little piece of bread.
20:33Just kind of break it in two and stick it right in the bowl.
20:36Well, when it comes to all the meals you have to make for your loved ones, whether it's around
20:43the holidays or not, reach for that chicken.
20:46There are endless possibilities, and I hope you enjoy the four I just shared.
20:51Cheers, friends.
20:53Cheers to chicken.
Be the first to comment