Pinned there, done that: Baked sweet and sour chicken

This weeks Pinned there, done that recipe is from Life as a Lofthouse: Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken.  Its a fairly new pin for me but I needed to find another chicken dish to round out this month's menu.  When I pinned this, the comment stated that it was very addictive... It is very good, not exactly addictive, but very good.  Be sure to click here for the original recipe.  I switched it up some in the spice area but kept to the cooking concept.  I actually increased my chicken amount from her recipe but I didn't double all the ingredients.  For some reason I just felt that 1 1/2 cups sugar would be a bit much!  I am also hesitant to call this a "baked" recipe since it does require some partial frying.  I'll call mine Semi-baked... or maybe it should be half baked... you decide.

Semi-Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken

For the chicken coating:

6 boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch pieces

1 teaspoon salt + pepper

11/2 cups cornstarch

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 1/2 teaspoons onion powder

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 eggs, beaten 

1/4 cup canola oil

For the Sweet and Sour Sauce:

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup ketchup

3/4 cup distilled white vinegar

1 tbs soy sauce

1 tsp garlic salt

    Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.  Combine the cornstarch, salt, pepper,garlic powder, onion powder and cayenne. I missed the instruction part when it said, "Dip chicken into the cornstarch to coat then dip into the eggs."  I actually reversed the method and did the eggs first then into the cornstarch... it worked out perfectly.    Heat 1/4 cup oil in a large skillet and cook chicken until lightly browned but not cooked through.  Grease a 9 x 13-inch baking dish (I lightly spritzed with cooking spray) and place in browned chicken pieces. Put all of the sweet and sour sauce ingredients in a bowl, mix together with a whisk and then pour evenly over the chicken. The ingredients said to bake for one hour, but ours was done in thirty minutes.  I stirred the chicken twice during the baking time. 

Serve with rice and side vegetable.

Indian butter chicken

Last winter I picked up a jar of butter Chicken sauce at the ethnic market.  It was OK, but the flavor was intriguing enough that I knew I wanted to try making it from scratch.  There are numerous recipes out there for butter chicken.... some quite elaborate and time consuming.  Several recipes mentioned using a bit of lemon or lime juice as well as chilies or chili powder. I liked the rather simple recipe of Life Ambrosia so adapted her recipe with the addition of lemon and diced chilies. I also liked that the recipe used chicken thighs rather than breast meat as money has been tight lately.  The family liked it so will certainly be making this again.  

Indian Butter Chicken

adapted from http://www.lifesambrosia.com/2010/09/indian-butter-chicken-recipe.html

Serves 4     

For the marinade

1/2 teaspoon garam masala

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger

4 cloves garlic, minced 

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 1/4 pound skinless boneless chicken thighs, diced  (debone them yourself as its less expensive!!)

For the Sauce 

5 tablespoons butter

1 medium onion, diced

1 (15 ounce can) tomato sauce

1/4 cup lowfat plain yogurt  ( i used a plain Greek yogurt as I had it on hand)

1 tablespoon garam masala

1 teaspoon kosher salt

2 tablespoons diced green chilies (optional... I just wanted a bit more spice)

1/2 teaspoon cayenne powder (optional)

Directions:

To make the marinade, combine the garam masala, salt, ginger, garlic, oil and lemon juice and pour over the diced chicken. Cover and refrigerate for about two hours, turning at least once.  I find it easiest to just put everything into a plastic bag and give it a few squishes to coat everything. 

In a large skillet over medium heat, pour the chicken and marinade into the pan and cook chicken until browned. Cook chicken until browned.  Remove chicken from pan and set aside.

Using the same pan,  melt butter over medium heat and add onions and chilies; cook until the onions become soft and translucent. Add the chicken and remaining ingredients to the pan; simmer for thirty minutes.

Serve over rice.

Balsamic Chicken with Roasted Tomatoes

I'm still on a liquid only diet, but thankfully things have been so hectic around here that I have recipes I haven't blogged about.  April and May really seemed to have flown by!  I'm sorry the blog got neglected, but hey... life happens :-)

At the end of April my surgeon told me he wanted me on a 1000 calorie a day diet to lose some weight before the surgery.  He also told me that the recurrence rate for people having to redo the surgery, in ten years, was 90%!  Outrageous!!! No way am I going through this crud again :-(   He then told me that the risk goes down to less than 10% if the person maintains at least a 25 BMI (Body mass Index).  That meant I would have to drop almost fifty pounds to keep my risk factors low.  What a great time to join WW!!!  I joined online and purchased a few cookbooks and just went for it.  Prior to the week of my 2 week liquid diet I had lost 15 pounds.  Hubby hasn't complained about any of the meals so they have husband appeal, too (An added bonus!).

I tried a chicken recipe from a magazine called "The Best of Weight Watchers; five ingredients 15 minutes.

We enjoyed it, but since I used a full chicken with skin left on (hey, its what I had on hand!) the flavor didn't absorb as much through the chicken.  I think that since I prefer to roast chicken with the skin on, I will put some of the mixture underneath the skin.  Keeping the skin on does keep the chicken moist, and yes.... I do remove the skin prior to eating.  Well, most of the time I do :-)  

Balsamic Chicken with Roasted Tomatoes

adapted from best of weight watchers; 5 ingredients 15 minutes

1 tablespoon honey

1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil

1 pint grape tomatoes

1/2 teaspoon salt, divided

3 1/2 pound chicken, butterflied

1 tablespoon grapeseed oil 

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup Balsamic Vinegar

Directions
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
In a bowl, combine the honey, olive oil and tomatoes; mix to coat completely.  Place the tomato mixture on a foil lined baking sheet and bake for about 15 minutes, or until the tomato skins begin to burst.  Remove from oven, sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon salt,balsamic vinegar, and set aside.

Prepare your chicken:
Make sure the chicken is thawed completely.  Cut the chicken down alongside the backbone and remove the backbone.  Pat dry with a paper towel... this is an important step since you will be putting it into a hot frying pan; This will keep the splatters to a minimum.

On your stove top, heat a large oven safe frying pan on high heat. Add the 1 tablespoon of grapeseed oil and when it becomes very hot- gently place the bird skin side down in the pan.
 Combine the remaining salt and pepper together. Season the top of the bird with the half the salt and pepper mixture. Immediately place the entire pan in oven for 10 minutes. Carefully remove hot pan from the oven, flip the bird over. Generously season the skin side with salt/pepper.                                                                         

 Return pan to oven and roast another 10 minutes. Add the tomato mixture and  resume cooking for another 15 -20 minutes, or until temperature reaches 165 degrees in the breast area.

Salt-Roasted Chicken

 There has been much said about the benefits of salt roasting meat but the most important thing is that it is supposed to make meat tender. I was more inclined to believe that it would make your meat taste like salt-lick... but curiosity got the best of me and I gave it a try. 

Was the meat tender??? Yes. However we did find that in order to check the temperature, of the meat, we ended up releasing a bunch of the juices. Not sure exactly how you would get around that but it didn't make much of a difference. The method does indeed work, but be aware that the technique is messy and tedious. I had a heck of a time getting my salt/egg mixture to be thick enough to stick on the chicken. Make sure your chicken is dried off before adding the salt pack around it, that helps tremendously! 

For this recipe you need:

1 3-4 pound chicken

9 cups of kosher salt (most recipes I looked at used a less amount but I found it to be too thin in texture)

12 large egg whites ( I read about dry salt packs an moist salt packs and went with the moist one)

two sprigs each of Marjoram, Tarragon, and flat leaf parsley

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Rinse and dry chicken off completely. Stuff herbs inside of chicken cavity. 

In a large bowl, mix together salt and egg whites and knead for about four minutes

Place salt and egg whites in a large bowl. Pack 1/3 of salt mixture onto bottom of pan. Place chicken on top and pack the remaining salt mixture over and around chicken to completely enclose it.

Roast the chicken until a thermometer registers 165° when inserted through the salt crust into the thickest part of the thigh, this was about 75 minutes for me. Let chicken rest for 10 minutes. Crack salt with the back of a knife or wooden spoon. Remove salt and skin from chicken; Carve and serve.

Secret Recipe Club: Living Lou's Chicken Wings

  Once again it is group B's reveal day for the Secret Recipe Club... the day in which we reveal which blog we have been secretly following (and in my case falling in love with!). Living Lou's blog is just amazing! There are soooooo many drool worthy recipes, of which many she has created herself. In our family we love our chicken wings and was delighted to find this recipe of hers to give a try.

I loved the Spice rub and will be using that over and over again on other meats. I, personally, liked the dipping sauce but some of my family members thought the mustard to be a bit over powering. Win some, lose some! Next on my list is to try her Roasted Sweet Potato Soup.... yum.

Living Lou’s Chicken Wings
Recipe by Lou

Ingredients 3 lbs chicken wings
        For Spice Rub
1 tbsp chipotle chili pepper powder
1 tsp sweet paprika
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp dried mustard
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp brown sugar
         For dipping Sauce
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1/4 cup spicy mustard
1/4 cup molasses
3 tbsp ketchup
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp chipotle hot sauce
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder

Directions
Preheat oven to 375.
Combine ingredients for the sauce in a bowl and refrigerate for 15-30 minutes.
In a separate bowl, combine ingredients for the spice rub.
Place wings in a large bowl and cover with spice rub. Using tongs mix chicken wings and make sure all pieces are well coated.

I used a sheet pan lined with aluminum foil, lightly sprayed with cooking spray.  I then placed spice rubbed chicken on the pan giving them room in between pieces.  Place in the oven for 15-18 minutes. Turn the wings over and bake for another 15-18 minutes more.
Once cooking time is up, turn on the broiler and remove wings to another large bowl. Pour 1/2 cup of the sauce over the wings, use tongs to stir and coat the chicken.
Place back on the baking sheet and broil for 2 minutes on one side, then flip chicken over and broil for 1 minute on the other side.

Spicy Chicken Drumsticks

Sorry about the mishap... this was not supposed to post until I was done with it.  My brain is on overload these days and I'm just scatterbrained.

With having a houseful of people (6 adults and one toddler) I'm looking out for cheap meals.  doesn't hurt if they are quick and easy either!  I had some chicken drumsticks in the freezer and did a mishmash of two different recipes. Overall it was pretty tasty.  Its a lot like hot wings only on a bigger scale.

Spicy Chicken Drumsticks
one package, thawed chicken drumsticks (not the flash frozen type) which had fourteen drumsticks in it.
1/2 cup hot pepper sauce
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup all-purpose flour

2 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon ground pepper

2 teaspoons paprika

1 teaspoon curry powder

2 teaspoons poultry seasoning

directions

Place chicken drumsticks  into a food storage bag and pour over hot sauce.  Let Marinade for at least one hour or overnight if you desire.

Heat oven to 425 degrees F.  Line a cooking sheet with heavy duty aluminum foil. Place 1/4 cup of butter onto sheet and place in oven to melt.
In a large bowl, combine the flour salt, pepper and spices.  Blend together completely.  Roll drumsticks into flour/spice mixture to coat.  Place chicken onto prepared pan.
Bake uncovered for 20 minutes, turn over and bake 20 minutes more.  Chicken should be starting to pull away from bone. So you may have to adapt your time somewhat.

Crazy Cooking Challenge: Shaker Chicken Noodle Soup

This month's Moms Crazy Cooking Challenge (the brainchild of  Tina Messick-Hudgens) was to find a recipe for chicken noodle soup.  The challenge isn't necessarily making the recipe, for me it is in finding a recipe.  You see, we have to use a recipe from someone's blog that isn't a professional blog (ie Pioneer Woman, Paula Deen, etc.) While there are a gazillion recipes for chicken soup out in the world wide web, finding one that wasn't originally from on of those professional sites.  Deep into my search I came across this wonderful blog called  Kitchen Trial and Error and found the perfect soup recipe.  This is a recipe that was handed down to her from her mother. It was on a photocopied piece of paper that did not include who it originally came from.
The only change I made was to make my own noodles.  I also leave the noodles cooked, but stored on the side.  If you leave the noodles in the soup they can become mushy and absorb too much liquid.  I put some in a bowl and then ladle on the soup.
Shaker Chicken and Noodle Soup

from Kitchen Trial and Error

serves 8

13 cups chicken stock, divided
1/4 cup dry vermouth
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup diced celery
1 cup diced carrot
12 ounces dry egg noodles (I made my own noodles for which the recipe follows)
2 cups cooked diced chicken
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup all purpose flour

in a small saucepan, combine 1 cup stock, vermouth, and butter. bring to a simmer and cook until reduced to about a quarter cup, about 20 minutes. the mixture will darken and be thick and syrupy. remove from heat and stir in the heavy cream. set aside.

see how much it reduces!!






coat the bottom of a stock pot with olive oil and set over medium heat. saute the celery and carrot until softened, about five minutes. add the remaining 12 cups of chicken stock and bring to a boil.
.Stir in the chicken and cook until heated through and bring back to a boil.
whisk together the 1 1/2 cups water and 1/2 flour until no lumps remain. Add a ladle of hot broth to the mixture and whisk to combine.while continuously stirring the soup, add the flour and water mixture. cook, stirring continuously for about 2 minutes, or until slightly thickened. do not let the soup boil.
Stir in the reserved reduced stock, vermouth, butter, and cream mixture. taste and season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately and do not let the soup boil.stir in the reserved reduced stock, vermouth, butter, and cream mixture. taste and season with salt and pepper. serve immediately and do not let the soup boil. leftovers reheat perfectly.

Easy Peasy Homemade Pasta
1 egg
3 egg yolks
3 tablespoons cold water
about 1 tablespoon salt
2 cups flour

Beat the egg and egg yolks until light. Add water and salt; beat in.

Work the flour into the mixture, with your hands, to make a stiff dough.  Cover with plastic wrap and let rest at least 10 minutes.

Cut into three equal parts. Lightly dust a board with flour and roll out one part of the dough as thin as you desire.... I like mine not too thin, but it can't be too thick either.  Using a sharp knife, cut into 1/4-inch wide strips.  strips

Spread them out on a cookie sheet and let dry.  You aren't looking for a totally dry noodle, but one that has lost most of its surface dampness.  I generally let mine dry at least fifteen minutes.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil.  Boil noodles until just tender... this can take 5-to minutes depending on the thickness.  Drain water and serve.

Chicken Piccata

I think we eat more chicken than any other meat.  It gets old very quick, so I am always on the lookout for something new to try.One of my favorite food magazines is Cuisine at Home.  It reminds me of what Taste of Home magazine used to be....before they made a bunch of revisions.  I found a recipe for Chicken Piccata that sounded good (if you omit the capers... YUCK!) so I added it to this month's menu.  It was pretty yummy and, aside from the time it took to pound out, went relatively quick.  Even my finicky son liked it and that's saying something!! 

The original recipe serves two but I had to make enough for eight people.  

I've typed out the recipe for making 4 servings.  I also had to do double pans so 

my pictures will be from one or other pan I used.  Sorry!

 Chicken Piccata

Makes 4 servings

adapted from Cuisine at Home magazine

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut in half

and pounded into cutlets

Salt and black pepper

All-purpose flour

4 tablespoon vegetable oil

1/2 cup dry white wine

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 cup chicken broth

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoon drained capers (which I left out!)

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

Directions

Season cutlets with salt and pepper, then dredge in flour.

In a large saute pan, add oil and heat over medium high heat.

Saute cutlets 2-3 minutes on one side.  Flip cutlets over

and saute the other side, covered, 1-2 minutes. Transfer

cutlets to a warmed platter; pour off fat from the pan.

Deglaze pan with wine and add minced garlic. Cook until garlic is slightly

 brown and liquid is nearly evaporated, about 2 minutes.

Add broth, lemon juice and capers (if you want them).
Return cutlets to pan and cook on each side for 1 minute.  

Transfer cutlets to warm plates.

Finish sauce with butter.  Once butter melts, pour sauce

over cutlets.

Garnish with chopped fresh parsley and lemon slices (if desired).

Serve immediately.

Easy Chicken Parmesan

Lately I have been obsessed with Pinterest.  I know, just what I need... another obsession.  I could stock pile recipes and ideas all day long. Sure, 90% of them will never get done.  Never mind the harsh reality that if I stopped following everyone's blogs and pins there would be actual time to do those things!

My daughter and son-in-love (law just seems so rigid, we have chosen to love this dear man!) were coming over for dinner and I wanted to have a meal that would be fairly easy to manage.  Although there are some things I would change next time I make it, over all it got high flavor scores.
I found this recipe off of Pinterest.  It was originally pinned from Food Wishes  which gives a great video of how to make this easy meal. In fact, this is what he does; Video Recipes.  There are tons of things I want to try out on his blog.. If you do try this recipe please visit Chef John's blog and thank him!

 Notes:  My topping looks burned.  It didn't bother the flavor a bit but does make the picture a bit icky looking.  I would cover this dish with tinfoil for about half the cooking time to prevent this from happening again. Everyone would have like a bit more sauce, so I would actually increase the marinara by another cup.  I encourage you to try the recipe first as is.  It was absolutely delicious!

Easy Chicken Parmesan

Recipe from Foodwishes.com

Ingredients: 

2 tbsp olive oil 

2 cloves garlic, crushed 

hot red pepper flakes, to taste 

6 boneless skinless chicken breasts (I used 5, but they were huge!) 

2 cups marinara sauce 

1/4 cup chopped basil 

8 oz mozzarella, shredded 

4 oz Parmesan, grated 

1 (5-oz) package garlic croutons

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the olive oil in the bottom of a 9-in x-13-inch pan.  Sprinkle garlic and red pepper flakes 

over the olive oil. 

Place chicken onto the olive oil. I cut my chicken breasts in half because they were quite big.  

Pour Marinara sauce over all the chicken pieces

Place chopped basil over chicken. (I had to use dried)

Sprinkle 2 ounces of Parmesan cheese over the top.

Sprinkle 4 ounces of shredded mozzarella.

Cover with the garlic croutons.

Finish off the topping by covering with the remainder of the Parmesan and Mozzarella cheese.

Bake for 30-40 minutes.  It is important to use your meat thermometer to make sure that your thickest piece of breast meat reaches 165 Degrees F.

I served ours with angel hair pasta that was drizzled that was tossed with fresh minced garlic and olive oil.

Pan Roasted Chicken

 

I've tried many variations of roasted chicken and this one is my favorite.  The cooking method is from a recipe I found at The Steamy Kitchen. If I didn't have such a finicky family, I would make it using their entire recipe (Roast split chicken with lemony artichoke sauce).Unfortunately, my husband and one son are picky... hubby is getting better though.

  I love that it was partially cooked in my cast iron skillet and went from stove top to oven.  The chicken was moist on the inside and crisp on the outside; who could ask for more? I even used the pan drippings and made a gravy for the mashed potatoes. In the pictures you can see toothpicks. When I butterflied the chicken the skin separated from the meat.  I just used the toothpicks to keep it attached.

Pan Roasted Chicken

adapted from Joanne Weir and The steamy kitchen

Ingredients

1- 3.5 pound chicken, butterflied with backbone removed

2 tablespoons canola oil

kosher salt

fresh ground black pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 475 degrees F.  Rinse and completely pat dry your chicken.  On your stove top, heat a large oven safe frying pan on high heat.  Add oil and when it becomes very hot- gently place the bird skin side down in the pan.  

Season the top of the bird with salt and pepper.  Immediately place the entire pan in oven for 10 minutes.

Carefully remove hot pan from the oven, flip the bird over.  Generously season the skin side with salt and pepper.  Return pan to oven and roast another 25-30 minute.  Remove from oven, place chicken on a plate and tent with aluminum foil to keep warm. 

Greek Penne pasta with Chicken

I wasn't sure I would be able to do the monthly challenge this month, but, as luck would have it, I did a dish that fits the criteria. We were challenged to make a dish using farmer's market ingredients

This is the first year I have been successfully able to grow herbs.  I guess the lousy start to the summer we had was good for something!  I made this dish last night and even my non-veggie husband ate two servings!  I liked the fact that it had no true "sauce" to it, only what the vegetables and feta cheese made.  Hubby thought it could use a bit of an Alfredo like sauce but the rest of us thought it was perfect as is!

Greek Penne and Chicken

adapted from this recipe by Jenny at allrecipes.com

• 1 (16 ounce) package penne pasta
• 1 1/2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup chopped onion (I had only a walla walla sweet on hand)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into bite-size pieces
• 14 ounces marinated artichoke hearts (I rinsed them to remove some of the oil)
• 1 -15 ounce can petite diced tomatoes
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 1/2 tablespoon fresh oregano
• salt to taste
• ground black pepper to taste

Directions

1. In a large pot with boiling salted water cook penne pasta until al dente. Drain.
2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet over medium-high heat melt butter, add onion and garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Add chopped chicken and continue cooking, stirring occasionally until golden brown, about 5 to 6 minutes.
3. Reduce heat to medium- low. Drain and chop artichoke hearts and add them, tomato, feta cheese, fresh parsley, lemon juice, oregano, and drained penne pasta to the large skillet. Cook until heated through, about 2 to 3 minutes.
4. Season with salt and ground black pepper. Serve warm.

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THE DARING COOKS’ MAY 2011 CHALLENGE: GUMBO

We were challenged to make Gumbo for this months' challenge.  Never having made gumbo before I was excited to make a recipe.  I used Emeril Lagasse's recipe off of the food network website.  I'll admit, I wanted this recipe only because it did not include okra!  Slimey, nasty tasting stuff!!!  The process of getting my roux to darken took well over an hour.  Shouldn't have surprised me since my electric stove is a bit of a brat!  The wait was well worth it though as it was yummy!

Chicken and Smoked Sausage Gumbo with White Rice

Recipe courtesy Emeril Lagasse

1 tablespoon plus 1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 pound smoked sausage, such as andouille or kielbasa, cut crosswise 1/2-inch thick pieces

4 pounds chicken thighs, skin removed

1 tablespoon Essence or Creole seasoning,

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 cups chopped onions

1 cup chopped celery

1 cup chopped bell peppers

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

3 bay leaves

9 cups chicken stock or canned low-sodium chicken broth

1/2 cup chopped green onions

2 tablespoons chopped parsley leaves

1 tablespoon file powder

White Rice, recipe follows

Hot sauce

In a large enameled cast iron Dutch oven or large pot, heat 1 tablespoon of the vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and cook until well browned, about 8 minutes. Remove the sausage with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Set aside.

Season the chicken with the Essence and add in batches to the fat remaining in the pan. Cook over medium-high heat until well browned, 5 to 6 minutes. Remove the chicken from the pan, let cool, and then refrigerate until ready to use.

Combine the remaining 1/2 cup oil and the flour in the same Dutch oven over medium heat. Cook, stirring slowly and constantly for 20 to 25 minutes, to make a dark brown roux, the color of chocolate.

Add the onions, celery, and bell peppers and cook, stirring, until wilted, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the reserved sausage, salt, cayenne, and bay leaves, stir, and cook for 2 minutes. Stirring, slowly add the chicken stock, and cook, stirring, until well combined. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, uncovered and stirring occasionally, for 1 hour.

Add the reserved chicken to the pot and simmer for 1 1/2 hours, skimming off any fat that rises to the surface.

Remove the pot from the heat. Using a slotted spoon, remove the chicken thighs from the gumbo and place on a cutting board to cool slightly. Remove and discard the bay leaves. Pull the chicken meat from the bones andshred, discarding the bones and skin. Return the meat to the gumbo and stir in the green onions, parsley, and file powder.

Spoon rice into the bottom of deep bowls or large cups and ladle the gumbo on top. Serve, passing hot sauce on the side.