Thighs on Parade

Let’s talk chicken thighs.  While they might not be the healthiest cut of chicken (not too bad actually:  119 calories w/out skin, 211 with skin) they are one of the cheapest.  If you cook them bone in and with the skin on, you can usually get a very flavorful piece of meat.   I’ve noticed that a lot of Asian recipes call for chicken thighs.  Why?  I have no idea.  I searched around the internet and couldn’t find a reason for it.  Since this was a budget menu week the only way chicken was making the cut was if we used the thighs.  The recipe I used was Korean Chicken Thighs from a blog I recently found called Dianasaur Dishes.  

We were already stocked with most of the ingredients, so I only needed to buy the thighs.  You can’t get much cheaper than that!  Granted this might cost more for those of you who do not regularly cook with Asian ingredients.   I’m going to have to make this recipe more often.  It was super fast and easy.  You just need to plan ahead a little.  I decided to get the most out of the marinade (soy sauce, sesame oil, honey, ginger, garlic, and black pepper) and made it the night before and left the chicken to soak in it for about 24 hours.   The recipe calls for 2 thighs, so I doubled the marinade ingredients for 4 thighs.  Cooking this was so simple and almost relaxing since there wasn't a ton that needed to be done.  Put the chicken in a skillet and sear it for a few minutes on each side, then pop it in the oven and roast it for 30 minutes or until done.  That’s it folks.  Dinner is served!

Final Product:

 My thoughts:  I already mentioned I will be making this again.  The chicken tasted really good and it was nice and moist.   Obviously you need to make at least one side dish to serve with this.  Wanting this night to be a super easy kitchen night, I elected to make a box of Wild Mushroom and Herb Near East Couscous and just added some scallions to it when it was finished cooking.  I love Near East Couscous!  Yes, I took the easy way out, but why mess around with something that is already good!  Quick, easy, and delicious, this was definitely a keeper. 

Cost:

Chicken Thighs/$3.12 (for chicken thighs, I don’t remember how many pounds this was)

Couscous/$2.39

Total/$5.51

I’ll take that price for dinner any day.  This even made enough for lunch the next day for one of us. 

Next Up:  Black Bean Tortilla Bake another budget friendly meal.   

Lost Mojo

I cooked dinner last night and it was horrible.  Nothing was hard, I had no problem prepping the food.  It was the outcome.  I'm a big Emeril fan so when I saw a recipe for Braised Chicken Thighs with Mushrooms it sounded like something I might really enjoy.  It also has great reviews. The outcome for me was greasy sauce, undercooked chicken (that could have just been my paranoia), and the white rice I made was terrible.


Final Product:

Even if my rice had been good, I think the sauce is just way too greasy.  Anytime you cook chicken with skin on and bone in, in a sauce that already has oil and butter in it, you are going to get a mess.  I was so excited to try this recipe too.  Chicken thighs are much cheaper than chicken breasts and I need a new thigh recipe.  Sadly this one will not be sticking around.  You can try the recipe if you dare, maybe you will have a better outcome than I did and you can tell me where I went wrong.  I hate to even admit what happened to the leftovers...they were trashed.  Neither of us finished our dinner and neither of us would have wanted the leftovers.  So sad. 


The biggest problem I'm having is cooking rice.  I can cook basmati rice pretty well. Put white rice in front of me and I am sure to ruin it.  What am I doing wrong?! Does anyone have any tips?  The rice last night ended up mushy and crunchy!  How is that even possible?!  We will either only be eating basmati rice or boxed rice until I can figure out how to cook rice.

Oh and somehow I managed to move our chicken spoon rest into the flame that was cooking the rice and it cracked and broke.  I love that chicken spoon rest and now it's damaged goods.  I forgot to take a picture.  I'll take one and post it tonight.  I almost cried.  Only I could manage to break a spoon rest this way.