- 20 hours ago
The Pioneer Woman - Season 40 Episode 13 -
Count on Chicken
Count on Chicken
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😹
FunTranscript
00:00It's all about great chicken dishes for busy times.
00:03There's marvelous Mary Me Chicken, made even more perfect with brown butter mashed potatoes for a match made in heaven.
00:11Then there's quick chicken avocado pizza, when 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, an 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 when I have lots of family around, I like to have quick, easy dinner recipes in my back pocket.
00:43So whatever the occasion, I 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, you could reel in a spouse for life with it.
01:06Kind of like I did with Ladd and my lasagna, but that's another story for another time.
01:11So I started by cooking some boneless, skinless chicken thighs and cooked them on both sides in oil and butter.
01:17And then they're fully cooked, so I took them out of the pan, put them on a plate, and I'm going to move forward with the sauce, which is really what Mary Me Chicken is all about.
01:27So into the pan, I'm going to scrape some sliced garlic, some 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.
01:48So I'm going to add some tomato paste to the mix and get that going.
01:54I'm going to kind of fry the tomato paste just against the bottom of this hot pan, just to kind of release those flavors, give it a little bit of a deeper flavor.
02:06So now there are still so many little bits of chicken in 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.
02:21And then immediately you want to start kind of scraping all of those little bits of chicken off the bottom of the pan, little bits of garlic here and there.
02:31I'm going to add some chicken broth and let that start to heat up.
02:38I want to stir that around.
02:39But the real star of the sauce for Marry Me Chicken is, as you probably guessed, heavy cream.
02:49Pour it in.
02:50This results in basically my favorite kind of sauce there is, just 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 Marry Me Chicken, sun-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, it 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, so I'm going to add this chicken back into the sauce.
03:35And since I dredged the chicken with flour before I cooked it, the flour will also just slightly help thicken that sauce.
03:44All right.
03:45Oh, my gosh.
03:47Every time I make this, I am reminded of why this is so popular.
03:53It's so amazing.
03:53Now, a lot of people serve Marry Me Chicken with some kind of pasta, but 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, which 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, I 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, I 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, one and a half packages of softened cream cheese, half a cup of half and half, half a cup of cream, some salt and pepper, stirred them in, then tipped the potatoes into a serving dish.
05:00I spooned over the remaining brown butter, sprinkled the top with chopped parsley, and covered the potatoes with foil.
05:07Honestly, these mashed potatoes are a dream.
05:12There's something about that brown butter that just makes them extra magical.
05:16So those are ready, and the Marry Me Chicken is ready.
05:21Ooh, so inviting.
05:23Alrighty, now I want to show you how beautiful this is on the plate.
05:28I'll grab some of these mashed potatoes.
05:31I have to be careful not to overdo my portion because they're so irresistible.
05:38Now 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, just a little bit off to the side.
05:51And it already got some of that sauce on there, but 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, but it's very true.
06:02Yep, that's a lot of sauce, but it is so good.
06:06Now to finish it up, I like to sprinkle on some grated Parmesan on 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.
06:22It is so delicious, honestly.
06:26I would marry it if I could.
06:31Whether 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.
07:09Okay, that looks amazing.
07:12So 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.
07:24And 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, even 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.
07:46Okay, 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.
08:00And 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 just so I'll have that nice crust on the outside.
08:21So 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 because 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
08:41just 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.
08:57And 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.
09:18But 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's 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.
09:52And 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, so 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,
11:03I've just started keeping it in my fridge.
11:06They're kind of crunchy.
11:07They give you a little bit of a bite.
11:08It's so 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.
11:23And then I love the flavor of cilantro,
11:26just whole cilantro leaves.
11:29And last thing,
11:30I'll just add a little more salt and pepper.
11:34And I am going to stop there
11:37because it looks absolutely perfect.
11:40And when you take a bite of this chicken avocado pizza,
11:43you're going to agree with me.
11:48If there is one dish universally loved by every member of my family,
11:53it's chicken nuggets,
11:55especially homemade chicken nuggets.
11:57I can never even make enough to satisfy everyone.
12:01They're so good.
12:01I'm going to show you a new way I've been making them.
12:05It's just a little bit of a spin,
12:07and it makes the most delicious nuggets.
12:09These are great,
12:11whether you're making them for your family,
12:12for a weeknight dinner,
12:13or for an appetizer around the holidays.
12:17So I started with ground chicken,
12:19and I added a beaten egg.
12:22And I'm going to sprinkle in plenty of black pepper
12:24and 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,
12:40the green onion is going to disappear into the ground chicken.
12:43A little bit of heavy cream
12:45and some minced garlic.
12:49All right,
12:49I'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
12:57that I've always made.
12:59Usually,
12:59I'll just take chicken tenders
13:01and cut little bite-sized pieces,
13:04bread them,
13:05and fry them in that form.
13:07But this kind of mimics the chicken nuggets
13:10that you might buy in the freezer section
13:12or at fast food restaurants.
13:15It's actually sort of a chicken mixture
13:18that's pressed together and then fried.
13:21And you wind up with a super tender nugget,
13:24which is really, really nice.
13:26And if you're having a holiday party,
13:28you can make this mixture
13:29in double or triple the quantity
13:32and make a whole bunch for your guests.
13:35So I'm going to use my scoop
13:37and get a little portion.
13:41And then I'll just kind of press it
13:43into 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.
13:56Okay, I got the patties all formed.
13:58This mixture is so soft
14:00that I'm going to pop it in the freezer
14:02for about 15 minutes
14:03just to flash freeze them.
14:05And that's going to make it easier
14:06for me to bread them and fry them.
14:09That's what I'm going to do next.
14:13Okay, these little nuggets
14:15have gotten a lot more firm.
14:18And trust me,
14:18that chicken mixture is so soft
14:20that 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
14:29to move down the line.
14:30So I'll dredge in flour first,
14:34both sides,
14:35and then shake off the excess
14:37and then dunk it in beaten egg.
14:40So you really want to toss it around the egg
14:43just so it's totally coating the flour
14:47because then they're going to get
14:49tossed in breadcrumbs.
14:51These are seasoned panko crumbs.
14:54And you can just kind of sprinkle the crumbs all over,
14:59but you want to wind up
15:00with really, really heavily breaded
15:03little 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
15:17with the other 12 and start cooking.
15:19So I'll drop them four at a time
15:21into the flour to dredge them,
15:23then shake off the excess,
15:25then dip them in the egg,
15:27roll 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,
15:33it's time for the next step.
15:34So I'll put the first batch of eight nuggets
15:37into oil that's heated to 375 degrees
15:40in a large pan.
15:41I'll fry them for a minute on the first side,
15:44flip 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.
15:54Would you take a look at these chicken nuggets?
15:58Oh my gosh, they look good.
16:00Now, of course, with chicken nuggets,
16:02you have to have something to dunk them in
16:04when they're being eaten.
16:05So I have a couple of sauce options.
16:09Ketchup, I've got honey mustard,
16:13regular mustard, ranch.
16:16Another favorite of mine is barbecue sauce.
16:19Really, anything goes.
16:20Sweet 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
16:34is figuring out what sauce to use.
16:37Honey mustard.
16:39That's my choice today.
16:45Having a nice, hot pot of soup
16:48is 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,
17:03but the results are amazing,
17:05especially if you're making this chicken and ravioli soup.
17:10Oh 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
17:17and 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,
17:29so 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,
17:37you can put them in in frozen form.
17:40Any kind of meatballs work.
17:42These are extremely flavorful,
17:44so 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,
17:58a 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,
18:08I love slow cooker recipes,
18:11especially when you don't have to do any pre-cooking.
18:15And even though those chicken meatballs are store-bought,
18:18you'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,
18:31and that's the first stage.
18:33And then I'll come back and move on with stage two.
18:38All right, I am two hours older,
18:41and the soup has been cooking,
18:43so I have some more things to add.
18:45I made a slurry with heavy cream and cornstarch,
18:49and I just whisked it until it's totally mixed together.
18:54And I'm going to pour this into the soup,
18:56and it's going to help the soup get nice and thick,
19:00make it really creamy,
19:02and 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,
19:24and 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,
19:34and 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,
19:51whether it's around the holidays or just any time of year,
19:54I'll just put a stack of bowls
19:56and 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,
20:03and 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,
20:15and these little chicken meatballs.
20:18I think I might have taken more than my share.
20:20Ooh, this soup looks good.
20:22So, I'll also put a little dish of basil nearby if I have some,
20:27and it really is the perfect little garnish.
20:31And then a little piece of bread.
20:33Just kind of break it in two and stick it right in the bowl.
20:37Well, when it comes to all the meals you have to make for your loved ones,
20:42whether it's around the holidays or not,
20:45reach for that chicken.
20:46There are endless possibilities,
20:48and I hope you enjoy the four I just shared.
20:51Cheers, friends.
20:53Cheers to chicken.
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