Pepper-Lime Chicken

Yes, it's another chicken recipe.  As you know, I love chicken so there are bound to be lots of chicken recipes to come.

This recipe is super easy to make; all you need to do is prepare a lime dressing, pour it over some chicken, and pop it in the oven.  What could be easier?  I suppose ordering a pizza for delivery, but that is much too unhealthy for me to eat.  I'll stick with chicken, thanks.

You can serve the chicken with rice or pasta with some of the cooked dressing.  Add a green salad and/or some fruit for a complete meal.

PEPPER-LIME CHICKEN

Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts, boneless, skinless
1/4 cup lime juice
1 tablespoon cooking oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon crushed basil
1 teaspoon Auntie Jean's Lemon Pepper Low Sodium Blend*
1/8 teaspoon salt**

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix lime juice, garlic, basil, lemon pepper, and salt in small bowl.  Add oil and mix well.  Pour 2 tablespoons into baking dish.  Place chicken in dish and coat both sides with dressing.  Pour rest of dressing over chicken. 

Cover and bake for 45 minutes.

*Email me at: auntiejeans@yahoo.com if you would like to purchase some Low Sodium Lemon Pepper Blend

**1/8 teaspoon of salt will add approximately 75mg of sodium per serving.  You may use sea salt which is more flavorful than regular salt.  You may also use salt substitute or add no salt at all.

Lemon Pepper Pork Chops

As I have mentioned before, while growing up, I wasn't exposed to a great variety of foods.  My mom wasn't fond of pork, so the only time I had it was if I was dining at a friend's house.  That almost never happened because my mom thought it was rude to dine with other families.  She told me that dinner was a family meal and I wasn't allowed to eat dinner with them.  I remember one time my friend's mother called my mom and practically had to beg her to let me stay for dinner.  To this day, I still don't understand my mom's rule.

That being said, whenever I had the opportunity to try pork, I didn't like it.  I think that is because it is difficult to cook it correctly.  I am still working on that myself.  The pork chops or roast usually turn out dry and overcooked.  I have asked several people who cook pork why this is and I can't get a definite answer.  I am not one to be deterred by failure; I simply keep trying to get it right.

I found a pork chop recipe that I like and the pork turns out moist.  Even my mother likes it, so I'll call it a success.  It's simple to make.  The most difficult task for me is unwrapping the chops from the foil.  If you can master that, you'll find this a piece of cake.

I like the lemon pepper and garlic.  I suppose that you can change the spices to your liking.  Enjoy!

LEMON PEPPER PORK CHOPS

Ingredients

• 4 pork chops
• 1 tablespoon Auntie Jean’s Low Sodium Lemon Pepper Blend
• 8 teaspoons butter
• 8 teaspoons olive oil
• 4 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

Directions

1.     Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

2.     Tear off a generous square of tin foil for each chop, enough to wrap and seal completely. Coat both sides of each chop with lemon pepper.

3.     Put 1 teaspoon butter and 1 teaspoon olive oil in the middle of each square of tin foil. Put the peppered chops on top of the butter and oil. Put 1 teaspoon of butter and 1 teaspoon olive oil on top of each chop. Add 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce over the top of each chop. Wrap each chop tightly and place on middle rack of oven. Bake for 35 minutes.

Chicken Piccata

I love chicken, and my favorite chicken dish is Chicken Piccata.  I first discovered this little piece of Heaven while dining at my favorite local restaurant, Popolano's. www.popolanosrestaurant.com.  There are not many options in my village that are not fast food or chain restaurants.  I categorize Popolano's as an Italian American pizza restaurant.  It serves a little of everything and all of it delicious.

Many years ago I ordered Chicken Piccata at Popolano's and was warned by the server that the dish was VERY garlicky.  I love garlic, so I wasn't scared; but, man they weren't kidding.  The dish was served with tons of garlic, chunks of chicken, capers, onions, egg noodles, and a lovely buttery lemon sauce.  That became my go to dish at restaurants until I discovered that no one made it like Popolano's.

Unfortunately, Popolano's changed their menu and removed Chicken Piccata.  I'm guessing it was due to the amount of garlic.  Occasionally, Chicken Piccata would show up on their specials menu and I would order it then.  Sometimes I would order it anyway, and they would make it for me.  I knew that wouldn't last forever so I went on the hunt for a recipe to do it justice.

I discovered many recipes and tinkered with them until the Chicken Piccata was to my liking.  It's still not the same, but pretty darn close.  Here it is; enjoy.

CHICKEN PICCATA

Ingredients

• 3 large skinless, boneless chicken breasts, pounded to ¼” thickness
• ¼ teaspoon Auntie Jean’s Low Sodium Lemon Pepper Blend
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons butter, or as needed
• ½ cup onion, chopped
• 2 tablespoons green onions, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons low sodium chicken broth or wine
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons capers, drained and rinsed

Directions

1.     Place flour and lemon pepper in Ziploc bag and mix.  Place chicken breasts one at a time in bag and toss to coat. Shake off excess flour. Heat the butter in a large skillet. Saute onion, garlic, and green onion until tender and remove from pan.  Pan-fry the chicken pieces until golden brown on both sides, about 3 minutes per side.

2.     Pour in the chicken broth and lemon juice.  Add onion mixture and capers.  Heat on high heat until sauce thickens.

3.     Serve chicken over rice or pasta.