Make Five : Chicken

Today kicks off a new feature on Food Fascination – Make Five. The basic idea is that with fewer than 20 ingredients (all of which are fairly inexpensive and easy to get) and one afternoon or evening of cooking, you can get five dishes, most of which can be frozen and quickly made into a weeknight dinner. It’s an easy way to maximize your time, effort, food dollars, and freezer space – without paying through the nose to go to one of those “make your own meal” places.

We’ll kick of the Make Five feature with chicken recipies. These range from super easy (chicken salad) to easy-but-takes-some-time (chicken pot pie). To make all five and freeze four of them, it will probably take you about 3 – 4 hours – less total time than you’d spend cooking every night for a week.

All five of these recipes are very forgiving on ingredients. You can adjust up or down the amounts in most all of them, so if you don’t have the exact amount of chicken or sour cream or vegetables or whatever, don’t worry too much about it, just use what you have.

Some hints:
~If your store has cheap rotissire chicken, and you’re uncomfortable with cooking your own, by all means, buy those and shred the meat right off the bones. Otherwise, just poach all the chicken in a few big batches at the start of the cooking marathon and use it as you wish. More in recipies you want extra chickeny, less in those you don’t.

~The chicken salad should be made last, to use up whatever chicken you’ve got left. If it’s not much, then make a smaller amount. If it’s a lot, you’ve got a good lunch for a few days.

~Add extra veggies to the pot pie! If you’ve got leftover broccoli, cut it small and throw it in. Pot pie is where you want to use up leftover veggies or small amounts you’ve had sitting in your freezer.

~While the shopping list includes wine, don’t feel obligated to use it. It can just as easily be replaced with chicken broth or milk. If you do want to use it, use whatever white wine (NOT pink – white zinfandel and white shiraz should stay in your glass) you like to drink. The inexpensive brands that still taste pretty darn good that I tend to keep around and use are Banrock Station and Barefoot. Try chardonnay or pinot if you’re not sure.

~You can usually pick up chicken fairly inexpensively in the “Manager’s Special” section of the butcher block in your grocery store. Or wait for the “buy one get one free” deals and stock up. Usually chicken in the larger packages is cheaper. Chicken thighs are usually cheaper than breasts, but the meat is a bit fattier and darker. Perfectly fine to use, still, though.

Make Five Chicken Shopping List:

8 – 11 pounds chicken – either chicken thighs, boneless, skinless chicken breasts, or precooked rotissire chicken.
1 pound container Sour Cream
4 – 5 cups Shredded Cheddar or Colby Jack cheese
5 cans Cream of Chicken Soup
1 small can diced Chilis – you can find this by the salsa or Hispanic foods
2 bunches fresh or about 20 ounces (2 packages) frozen Broccoli
1 cup Bread Crumbs
2 small bags of your favorite frozen Veggie Mix
1 or 2 medium white onions
2 – 6 cloves Garlic, or a small jar of the pre-chopped garlic
1 package prepared Biscuits, pie crust, or croissants
2 – 3 cups Miracle Whip / Salad Dressing or Mayonnaise
1 stick Butter
1 bottle (at least 2 cups, if you have an open bottle) White Wine
8 – 10 “gordita” sized Tortillas
3 cups Milk
1-2 boxes Long Grain and Wild Rice

Bonus items (if you want to spend an extra few dollars)
Chicken stock or bullion
Parmesan Cheese
Olives
Basil, thyme, rosemary, chili powder
Lemon Juice
Red pepper or pimento

Make Five Recipes:
Chicken Enchiladas
Chicken Divan
Chicken Pot Pie
Chicken and Creamy Wild Rice Soup
Basic Chicken Salad