Madeleine Adam

One of my favorite things in the world is Yellow Jasmine Rice. It’s so flavorful and fragrant that I could eat an entire bowl by itself, but that wouldn’t exactly be a complete meal. :P So, I decided to add a couple extra ingredients to round it out and make it a complete meal. I found some chicken thighs in my freezer (leftover from Lemon Pepper Chicken with Orzo) and I added some peas for extra color, flavor, and texture (another “back of the freezer” find). Everything cooks in the same skillet for more flavor and less cleanup. I love it when you can cook the main dish (chicken) and the two sides (rice and peas) all in one vessel. I like simple. Very, very simple.

Step by Step Photos

Start with four bone-in chicken thighs, with skin. Pat them dry with a paper towel, then season both sides with salt and pepper. Drying the surface helps them brown better in the skillet.

Heat a large deep skillet over medium flame. Once hot, add 1 Tbsp vegetable or canola oil. Tilt the skillet to spread the oil over the surface. Add the chicken thighs, skin side down, and allow them to brown before moving them (they will actually kind of stick to the surface until they are brown, at which point they usually “release”). Flip the thighs and brown on the other side. Once both sides are browned, remove the chicken to a clean plate.

If a lot of fat rendered off of the chicken thighs, pour some out until there is about a tablespoon or so left in the skillet. Add 2 cloves of minced garlic, 1 tsp turmeric, 1/2 tsp cumin, and 1/4 tsp cinnamon. Sauté the garlic and spices for about a minute, or just until the garlic is soft and fragrant (but has not browned).

Deglaze the skillet with 2.5 cups of chicken broth. “Deglaze” just means to use the chicken broth to dissolve any browned bits (called fond) off the bottom of the skillet. The browned stuff is the good stuff.

Finally, add 1.5 cups of frozen peas and 1.5 cups long grain jasmine rice. Give the skillet a quick stir to distribute the spices among the peas and rice.

Return the browned chicken to the skillet, nestling it into the rice and peas.

Place a lid on the skillet and turn the heat up to medium high. Allow it to come to a boil. Once it boils, reduce the heat to low (or just above low – so that it doesn’t stop simmering) and let the skillet simmer for 25 minutes. After 25 minutes, turn the heat off and let it sit undisturbed, with the lid on, for ten more minutes. The photo above is what it looks like after simmering and resting.

Use a fork to fluff the rice and stir it up a bit. All the peas and many of the spices float to the top while it simmers, so use the fluff time as a way to make sure everything is evenly mixed.

Top with fresh cilantro, if desired. YUM!

Of course, I divided mine up into individual containers so I could just grab one at a time and microwave it to reheat. These also freeze decently well. 

The post Yellow Rice Chicken Skillet appeared first on Budget Bytes.

Happy Monday! I hope you had a fantastic weekend. Because our heat indices were in the 110’s this weekend, I played it safe and stayed inside (read: “was lazy”). I topped off my lazy Sunday by making a batch of these Apple Pie Scones. Coffee + fresh scones + movie = best Sunday afternoon ever!

I love scones because they’re only ever so slightly sweet, go great with coffee, and they freeze really well. So, I can whip up a batch, then toss them in the freezer after they cool. That way I can pull out just one at a time on mornings when I want something a little extra special, or grab a couple if unexpected guests stop by. They thaw fairly quickly at room temperature, but you can also pop them in the microwave for 15-30 seconds for a nice warm treat. 

The shredded apple and unsweetened apple sauce make these scones a little more moist than most scones and allowed me to cut down a little on the added sugar. If you happen to live in an area where you can get real maple syrup for a decent price, you can substitute maple syrup for the sugar for even more flavor.

Step by Step Photos

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Wash a medium apple well, then cut into quarters. Cut the core out from the center of each quarter. Use a box grater or a large holed cheese grater to shred the apple (this yielded about 1.25 cups of shredded apple).

Whisk together one large egg, 1/4 cup apple sauce, 1 tsp lemon juice, 1 Tbsp sugar, and the shredded apple until combined.

In a separate large bowl, stir together 2 cups of all-purpose flour, 1/2 tsp salt, 2 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp cinnamon, and 1/2 tsp ground ginger.

Add 5 Tbsp COLD butter to the flour mixture and work it in until it resembles coarse, damp sand. I just use my hands to kind of smush and grind the butter into the flour, but you can use a pastry cutter or even freeze the butter and then shred it using a cheese grater straight into the flour. The goal is to get little tiny pieces of solid butter mixed into the flour. Those little pieces are what help achieve a flakey texture in the final scone.

Pour the bowl with the apple-egg mixture into the bowl of dry ingredients. Stir it just until a dough forms and no dry flour remains on the bottom of the bowl. The dough may still be slightly wet or sticky, but that’s okay.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and gently shape it into a 6-8 inch wide disc (about 1-1.5 inches thick). Dust the surface with a small amount of flour, if needed, to keep your hands from sticking. Cut the dough into eight wedges.

Place the scones on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper.

Bake the scones in a fully preheated 400 degree oven for 18-20 minutes, or until they are light golden brown. Allow the scones to cool completely.

Once the scones have cooled, prepare the glaze. In a small bowl stir together 1/2 cup powdered sugar, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, and 2 tsp water. Stir until a thick, almost paste-like mixture forms. Drizzle the glaze over the scones.

Hello lazy Sunday afternoon treat…

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