Normally I make some sort of burger and/or loaf. In fact I have a pretty good recipe for chicken loaf. But I wanted to do something else. Any thoughts?
Also, I have some ground beef. And recipes for mixing them? Or would that be an unholy comingling signalling the Apocalypse?
Any ideas before dinner tomorrow would be appreciated.
Chicken Meatball Chili maybe? Here’s another chili, calls for ground turkey but I don’t see why you couldn’t substitute chicken instead.
You can use it in place of ground beef in any recipe, just remember that it will be a bit leaner so it won’t brown very well in it’s own fat like ground beef will.
So…spaghetti, chili, tacos, pitas, quiche, pizza, anything you like.
If you like Thai, Gai pad gaprao (Thai holy basil chicken) is my old standby.
I don’t really measure, but here’s how I go:
Fry several shallots (or a small-to-medium-sized onion) in oil. When soft, add two cloves of finely chopped garlic and as many birds’-eye or serrano chiles as you can stand (I like mine LETHAL). Fry for a minute or so. Add 1 pound ground chicken. Cook it a bit, and add about 1/4 cup of fish sauce and a teaspoon or so of sugar (palm sugar, if you’ve got it.) When the chicken is almost done, add one cup of Thai holy basil (you can substitute Italian basil, too. It’ll be little different, but still good) and cook until the basil wilts. Serve over rice. Add more fish sauce to taste, if you’d like.
Make a ravioli of sorts by filling pairs of wonton skins with ground chicken, chopped spinach, and ricotta cheese. Fry or boil, depending on your preference, and top with a white sauce. If you accidentally buy spring roll skins, rice paper, or anything else thinner than wonton skins, you’ll have to fry.
Agreed. You may have to increase the spices as well. I double the dried spices in my taco meat recipe when I use ground chicken or turkey instead of ground beef.
I can’t vouch for the recipe, but pulykamell definitely has the right idea.
When done right, Thai ground chicken with basil is UN-FREAKIN’-BELIEVABLE!!!
I’ve often made croquettes with ground chicken and turkey. Any recipe for salmon croquettes can probably be used with chicken instead of the fish. A large chicken croquette makes a wonderful sandwich, too. I like mine on an onion bun.
I see you’re in Chicago. If you ever get a chance, make a pitstop at Bahn Thai in the southwest suburbs. It’s on 74th and Harlem. It looks like a crappy run-down join, but it’s been around for 19 years and is fantastic: Thai food not “dumbed down” for American tastes. If you ask for your food Thai spicy, they make it freakin’ hot. It’s the only Thai restaurant I’ve been to in the Chicagoland area that makes the food as spicy as I like it when I ask for it.
My wife and I trade off dinner duty with another couple we know when we all get together. One time they made this Chicken Cordon Bleu Burger recipe from Rachael Ray that I thought was pretty good. Hell, lots of recepies from Food Network are good.
Try Japanese chicken soboro - it’s kind of a preserved thing, so once you have made a large batch you can store it in the fridge for over a month.
Take about a pound of chicken or pork mince (ground chicken/pork) and brown it in an open frying pan on a lowish heat, chopping at it ALL THE TIME in order to break it down into fine granules.
Get a sieve or strainer with fine mesh ready and when the meat is all cooked (it needn’t be brown), tip the meat into the strainer, get a plate and squish down HARD to get rid of all the fat. If you use pork, this is essential, if you use lean chicken then you needn’t bother.
Tip it back into the pan and season it with a mixture of three parts soy sauce (Japanese!), one part mirin (or sugar) and two parts sake (or dry sherry). For about a pound of meat then probably three tablespoons of soy sauce, one of sugar and two of sake will do but try it - it is supposed to taste really quite strong. Also add a big knob of fresh grated ginger root and then simmer on a low heat, stirring all the time until the liquid is all gone.
That’s it.
Now stick it in a Tupperware and keep it in the fridge. You use it to top rice, and you only need about one or two tablespoons per serving, so it’s really good for cheap people!!
One nice combination is pumpkin rice (hard yellow squash with the dark green skin, cubed- about 1/3 as much in volume as you have rice) Put the rice in your rice cooker or pan if you steam it, as normal, with a normal amount of water and a tiny touch more, a bit of salt, dump the pumpkin on top and switch on.
Sprinkle the soboro on top of the rice and eat - YUM! Now you see why the flavour has to be really strong, as it is more like a condiment by this point than a main part of a dish.
Then have a big leafy salad alongside it, miso soup and you’re set! (or forget the miso soup…)
Blasphemy!
Mixing the two will give you a meat substance that is not entirely unlike veal. I just can’t bring myself to eat veal anymore, but mixed beef and chicken formed into breaded patties and pan fried with mozarella and parmesean makes a passable “veal” parmesean.
I also like to use both in a soup, with lots of grated carrots and some chopped onion, a couple of cans of cream of celery soup and a big can of tomato juice. I’m bad with measurements - maybe a pound and a half of meat browned with a large chopped onion, six cups of carrots, grated or shredded, then add soup and juice and simmer for an hour. Play with seasonings to taste (I use thyme in just about everythng.)
Well, yes, but some people don’t like it,and some nights I can’t be bothered to make it!
Beef and chicken?
Make a Double Meat Medley!
Unstuffed Peppers
1/2 lg onion, diced.
2 cloves garlic, minced.
1 lb ground meat (your choice).
2 lg bell peppers, chopped.
Spicy V-8 (or regular V-8 and plenty of Tabasco Sauce.)
2 tsp dried basil.
4 cups cooked rice (approx.)
With ground beef or pork, brown the meat, drain off some of the grease, then add the onion and garlic and brown. With ground poultry, sweat the onion and garlic in 1-2 Tbsp of vegetable oil, then add the meat and brown. Add the peppers, fry for 1-2 minutes, then add the basil and about 2 cups of the V-8 (depending on how “saucy” you’d like it) and simmer until the peppers are tender. Spoon over rice. Or you can stir in the rice in, in which case, use lots more V-8. A sprinkle of grated parmesan or shredded mozerella is an excellent topping.