Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Low Fat, Hungarian Chicken, with Cheddar Buttered Pan Biscuits

If you have read my profile, you would've read about my mother winning the Pillsbury bake off contest. Both my mother and my aunt competed in cooking contests. Even though I don't think personally I'm a good cook, I come by it honestly.
 The recipe today is Hungarian chicken. My aunt, took second place in the West Virginia state competition with this recipe in 1974. In order to reach the state level competition, she had to win three preliminary cooking competitions. The winner of the state competition was awarded $100, and an all expense paid trip to the national poultry cook-off in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
 One of the judges at the state competition, was the chef at the governor's house of West Virginia. After this competition was over, he approached my aunt, and asked if he could have a copy of the recipe. The judge enjoyed this recipe so much, he wanted to cook it for Governor, Arch A. Moore, Jr. Of course, my aunt could not refuse this request! A while after the competition was over she received a letter from Gov. Moore, expressing how much he enjoyed her Hungarian chicken recipe.
My husband loved this recipe. When he finished eating, he immediately called my aunt. I did screw this recipe up, when I made it. I did not reduce the liquid enough, even though I thought I had. If this happens to you don’t stress, it is fixable!
Pour half cup of liquid from pan into a bowl; add two heaping serving teaspoons of cornstarch to the bowl. Mix until smooth, return liquid to your pot and bring to a boil. This will thicken up the liquid; serve as suggested.
I did not have any egg noodles. I served ours, over half cup portions of steamed white rice. I also had made cheddar buttered pan biscuits.  These were great for soaking up any liquid/gravy on your plate.
The original recipe goes as follows:
1 chicken fryer cut into four to six pieces
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cups Mazola oil
6 cups chicken bouillon or chicken broth
2 bay leaves
1 clove garlic
2 teaspoons Ac-cent
1 cup sour cream
salt and pepper to taste


This is how I made this recipe:
5 pieces of boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 medium onion chopped
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
6 cups water, boiled with three Chicken bouillon cubes, disolved
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoon minced garlic
1 cup Daisy sour cream, a nonfat
Salt, black pepper to taste.
*I did not use Ac-cent because it is MSG, there is enough MSG in the bouillon cubes*
Directions:
Sauté onion and garlic in oil in a large skillet. Salt-and-pepper chicken; brown in skillet. Add bay leaves and bouillon water; cover tightly and simmer for one hour. Remove chicken, be sure to keep it warm. Cook liquid down to half the amount; stir in sour cream. Serve over cooked noodles, rice, or mashed potatoes.
*Recipe suggestion: Try replacing the chicken with turkey or pork chops*


Cheddar Buttered Pan Biscuits
These are a quick and simple, addition you can make to most meals. You can change the variety of cheese depending on the type of dish you are serving. If you are going to serve enchilada lasagna, you might consider using a pepper Jack cheese. If you're going to you serve a tomato Italian-based meal, consider using Parmesan cheese.
Ingredients:
1/3 cup butter or margarine
2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons grated Cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon white sugar
3 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon basil leaves, fresh preferred
1 tablespoon parsley, fresh preferred
1 cup milk
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400°F. In 9 in. glass-baking pan melt butter in oven.
Meanwhile in medium bowl combine all ingredients except the milk.
Slowly add milk until just moist, turn dough onto lightly floured surface; knead 10 times or until smooth.
Roll dough into a 12 x 4" rectangle. Cut into 12 one-inch strips.
Remove pan from oven and roll each strip into the melted butter. Place in same pan.
Bake for 20 to 25 min. or until lightly browned.