"W. Wells" > wrote:

>I need a few new good ideas on how to dress up the taste of frozen chicken
>breast. We eat them a lot and we are getting tired of our recipes. Thanks
>
>
Uhh - frozen chicken breast is not any different than "non-frozen".
I'm not sure why the qualifier. There must be a gazillion recipes for
chicken of any kind. A few minutes in the microwave on defrost cycle,
and that's the only difference. Just for OB:food, I'll repeat our
absolute favorite chicken recipe - it's well worth the trouble, and
since the quantity of chicken stock is so minimal, you can skip part
of it and use canned stock.
<quote>
Sorry this is so long, but I hope it makes up for my lack of food
input. Somewhere back either side of 1990, my wife started watching
those Frugal Gourmet shows. I griped, but became a fan. I know the
techniques here are off, and it's nothing to most of you. But after
getting interested in FOOD, and doing a little reading I decided to
try something "off the recipe". Sure, it's a conglomeration of other
recipes but the filling was entirely my idea and I don't know how I
did it at the time. I got off into giving the wife a break on
weekends and doing a lot of wok cooking, and unusual stuff, but all by
recipe. To this day, this is her favorite thing in the world, and she
calls me "chef" when I make it for her. I know it's not really mornay
sauce either, but it fits better than using swiss. This is the
original, so don't beat up on me too much. Before those days my idea
of cooking was picking up fast food. The wife, by the way is a really
good cook, but stays closer to basics. She is however the best
creator of baked goods I know. Her pie crust is the best I've ever
had. A local retailer offered her a source of income, but she doesn't
like cooking THAT much. Shes the Financial Officer for a company -
which by the way relieves me of several paperwork burdens at home.
Being a dumb midwestern "hick" and lacking food knowledge and a recipe
for this, I proudly said I "invented it" - a little arrogant of me.
Personally, I'm just as happy with a plate of pinto beans and
cornbread, but it IS really good.

CREPES BATTER
1-1/4 cups flour 3 eggs
1/2 tsp sugar 1-1/2 cups milk
1/8 tsp salt 2 tbsp butter, melted and
cooled

Mix all ingredients well in a blender for 1 minute, scrape sides,
blend at least another 30 seconds. Refrigerate covered 2 to 12 hours.
When ready to use the batter should be the consistency of heavy
cream, just coating a wooden spoon. To thicken, add flour. To thin,
add water in small amounts.

COOK CHICKEN AND MAKE STOCK
1 rib celery
1-1/2 to 2 lb split chicken breasts
1 large yellow onion
salt and pepper to taste (optional)
1 large carrot
12 black peppercorns
tiny pinch ground clove
a little low-salt chicken base to fortify (optional)

Cut vegetables in large chunks. Reserve 1-1/2 tbsp of onion chopped
for later use in the mornay sauce. Place vegetables in a 2 quart
dutch oven and fill 2/3 full with water. Bring to a boil, add the
chicken pieces. allow to boil 1-2 minute. Turn off the heat and
leave covered on burner for 1 hour. Remove chicken, cool, debone and
cut into small pieces for use in crepe filling. Return all scraps and
bones to liquid along with some low-salt chicken base if desired for
fortification. Bring to a boil for 10 minutes, reduce to simmer for 1
more hour. After stock is done, strain, save a cup, defat and store
or freeze the rest. You probably won't use all the chicken for this,
but the leftovers come in handy.

COOK THE CREPES

This was designed for an 8" Silverstone-lined pan. Heat pan to medium
heat. Brush pan lightly with canola or peanut oil. Using a ladle,
slowly pour in batter, tilt and roll pan to distribute into a
paper-thin pancake. Cook until top begins to dry, shake, grab it with
your fingers, flip it over and cook briefly. You will have to adjust
based on heat and the thickness of your batter. Crepes should be very
lightly browned on one side and just beyond moist on the other. Stack
them seperated by wax paper.

MAKE THE FILLING
1/4 lb mushrooms, chopped fine
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
1/2 can water chestnuts, chopped fine
1-2 LARGE clove garlic minced
1 small yellow onion, chopped fine
handfull chopped green pepper chop fine
1 rib celery, chopped fine
2 tbsp peanut oil
1 large carrot, finely chopped
dry sherry
parsley
1/2 to 1 tsp dried tarragon to taste
lemon juice
ginger
salt/pepper to taste

Saute mushrooms seperately in a little butter, set aside.
Make a roux by heating 2 tbsp butter to foaming and stirring in 2 tbsp
of flour. Cook briefly, set aside. Heat 2 tbsp peanut oil in a
skillet or wok. Add garlic, small amt grated ginger, onion, green
pepper, celery and carrot. Saute 3-4 minutes. Sprinkle pan with
sherry and reduce slightly. Add the chicken chunks you cooked earlier
in the amount that looks right to you, and the water chestnuts. Pour
in 1/2 cup or a little more of your chicken stock, just enough to
moisten. Add the mushrooms. Make a well in the middle and stir in
the roux. Cook a bit, mix the roux into the rest. Sprinkle with
parsley, tarragon, pepper, lemon juice and optional salt. Continue to
stir and allow to thicken so that no free liquid remains.

PREPARE THE CREPES

Place filling on each crepe. Roll and place seam-down into lightly
oiled glass baking dishes. This will fill about 15 crepes. The
leftover crepes (the first few you ruined) can be used as dog-treats.


MAKE THE MORNAY SAUCE
1 cup milk
1-1/2 tbsp chopped yellow onion
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
cayenne pepper to taste
1 tbsp dry sherry
2 tbsp butter
1-1/2 tbsp flour
dash worchesterchire sauce
pepper and optional salt

Bring milk to a simmer. Add onion, bay leaf and cayenne. Simmer a
few minutes, strain the milk stock and return to pan. Make a roux of
the flour and butter. Remove milk from the burner, stir in the roux
and return to the burner. Simmer, stirring until sauce begins to
thicken. Stir in parmesan, black pepper, sherry and worchestershire.
Test for salt and adjust. Stir until sauce is quite thick.

FINISH THE CREPES

Spread the Mornay sauce over the crepes. Sprinkle lightly with lemon
juice and dry sherry and fresh pepper. Bake at 375 degrees for about
15 minutes, until lightly browned. Check often so the edges don't get
crisp.
</quote>