Baked Chicken Recipes

Well, here comes New Year’s Eve again!  This year really flew by!
I started making this boneless chicken recipe for Sweet Chicken Bacon Wraps a few years ago and now my husband wants them every News Year’s Eve.  This is one of those yummy simple recipes that Paula Deen is known for.  Does anyone remember her from the tv show a few years back called “Ready, Set, Cook!”?  I loved that show.  I always thought she was such fun and I’m so happy for her that she made it big on her own.

photo credit: ATKR / Stryker W@SP

I have so many recipes for chicken wings, but this honey chicken recipe for Roasted Honey-Orange Drummies is different than the run of the mill wings you can get everywhere.  In this recipe you will want to use just the drummettes – those being the largest section of the wing.  You can usually find these in your supermarket with the rest of the chicken packages.  This makes a great tidbit to serve with drinks.  The recipe calls for 1.25 pounds of drummettes, but I usually double it.  They go fast – believe me!

Luisa Tetrazzini

If you have leftover chicken or turkey -  or if you have a purchased rotisserie chicken, why not try one of my husband’s favorite oven chicken recipes – Chicken Tetrazzini?  Do you know where this dish got its name?  It is named after a famous Italian opera singer named Luisa Tetrazzini.  No one is quite sure exactly where the dish was invented.  Many people believe it was created in her honor in San Francisco, after she sang outside to a crowd of more than 200,000 people on an especially cold Christmas eve.  Although she died about 70 years ago, she is still remembered for having one of the most incredible opera voices of all time.

photo credit: Shyn Darkly

Well, Christmas is right around the corner.  Where did the year go?  I have a special Christmas recipe for baked chicken breast and cranberries.  Although in the United States we mainly associate cranberries with Thanksgiving, in England and Canada they are traditional for Christmas as well.

It really is too bad that we mainly use cranberries just a few months out of the year, because they have been proven to have a myriad of health benefits.  Cranberries have been shown to fight off infection, cut down the bad cholesterol, and they are just full of antioxidants that help rid our system of damaged cells.  However, cranberries are only harvested between September and December, so it is logical that they would be eaten at holiday time.

photo credit: stuckinseoul

I like to use buttermilk in a lot of my baked chicken recipes.  It always surprises me when people comment that I’m brave to use buttermilk!  So many people have the notion that buttermilk is high in fat – but it is not!  Originally, buttermilk was called such because it was the liquid that was leftover after churning butter.  Today, buttermilk is made with 2% milk and a lactic acid bacteria is added.  Buttermilk today actually contains more calcium, protein and vitamins than it did way back when.

I just love Oriental honey chicken recipes.  Years ago when I lived in LA, I used to love to go to Chinatown.  I loved to see the Peking ducks hanging in the windows and smell all the wonderful smells.  My business partners and I would often go for Dim Sum at lunch time and what a treat that was.  Everything was one dollar!  They would bring around the carts and we would just point at what we wanted.  I’m always reminded of those happy times when I make this recipe.  The honey and soy give the chicken a glazed mahogany color reminiscent of many dishes in Chinatown.  Since the flavors are definitely Oriental, I like to make some sort of special rice with this.  I like to dress it up with some golden raisins, toasted almonds, green onions – whatever sounds good on that day.

Isn’t Lasagna one of everyone’s favorite dishes?   But you probably don’t think of oven chicken recipes when you think of Lasagna.  This Chicken Lasagna is full of flavor, and with the no-cook noodles – it isn’t the massive undertaking it used to be.  In fact there are only three or four steps to this fabulous dish!