Lemon Chicken with Tomato Parsley Rice and Lemon Garlic Green Beans with Brioche Sticky Buns for Dessert!!

You're in for a treat...Carol's made Lemon Chicken with Tomato Parsley Rice and Lemon Green beans for dinner. It looks delicious!!...and your not gonna believe what she used to make it!! I've made my first brioche recipe, Sticky Buns that are out of this world good!!




Lemon Chicken with Tomato Parsley Rice and Lemon Garlic Green Beans.






I know what you're saying...there goes Carol, cooking chicken again! Yep-it was on sale and we LOVE it! A friend on a private forum I'm on posted this recipe a while back and it intrigued me so much that I HAD to try it. Lemon pie filling with chicken? What a concept!The first time I made it, I followed the recipe just as written and it tasted more like Soy Chicken than Lemon Chicken....it didn't even look like the picture that Joyce included with the recipe! Hmmmm..what do do. Another friend of mine, Cyndy, who lives across the country in CA tried her hand at making it more lemon than soy...she came closer to the taste I was looking for than I did for sure. So, I used her idea for adding lemon zest and cutting back on the soy sauce and made this recipe again. I did manage to figure out a good mix for the lemon sauce....at least for us. I fiddled with the ingredients, added the lemon zest like Cyndy suggested and cut back on the soy sauce, then added some fresh squeezed lemon juice too. I think this one's a winner-and Bob really liked it too. The sauce is nice and lemony tasting without being overly sweet and the chicken is moist and tender. The best advice I can give you is taste the sauce as you're making it....definitely before pouring it on the chicken.....everyone is different as far as how tart or sweet they want a sauce....so use your own judgement. I will say a little soy sauce goes a LONG way, so unless you want a heavy taste of soy sauce, use a light hand when adding it. If, in fact, you like the taste of soy sauce, by all means, make the recipe as originally written....it's very good. But if you want a good lemon flavor...try the changes I made.
The Tomato Parsley Rice is the PERFECT compliment to this chicken. Simple, yet tasty...and really pretty too! Add the Lemon Garlic Green Beans and you've got a "Winner, Winner Chicken Dinner!" I can't remember where I found this recipe, but it sure is good. I'll put my changes in parentheses in the original recipes. Who'd have thought that Lemon Pie Filling would make such a wonderful chicken dish..surely not me..but I'm SO glad someone did!!! Thanks to Joyce for finding the recipe and to Cyndy for her help finding the "lemon-sauce-secret"!

Carol

Wanna Print just the recipe, click here!

LEMON CHICKEN WITH TOMATO PARSLEY RICE
(Adapted from Simple & Delicious magazine)

1/3 c. biscuit/baking mix (such as Bisquick)
1 tsp. seasoned salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
4 bone-in chicken breast halves (12 oz. each), skin removed
1/4 c. olive oil
1 1/3 c. lemon pie filling (I used canned lemon pie filling)
1/4 c. fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup water (I used 1/4 c. water because I used the lemon juice)
1/3 c. cider vinegar
Grated rind of 1 lemon (1 Tbsp.)
1/4 c. soy sauce (I used 2 tsp. plus water to equal 1/4 c.)

TOMATO PARSLEY RICE:
2 c. water
1 tsp. chicken bouillon granules
1/8 tsp. pepper
2 c. uncooked instant rice (I used quick cooking brown rice)
1 medium tomato, seeded and chopped
3 Tbsp. minced fresh parsley
3 green onions, sliced

In a large resealable plastic bag, combine the biscuit mix, seasoned salt and pepper. Add chicken, one piece at a time, and shake to coat. In a large skillet, brown chicken in oil on both sides; drain. Transfer to a 13x9-inch baking dish. In a small bowl, combine the pie filling, water, vinegar (lemon juice and zest, if using) and soy sauce; pour over chicken. Bake, uncovered, @ 375 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until chicken juices run clear. In a large saucepan, bring the water, bouillon and pepper to a boil. Stir in the rice, tomato (green onion, if using) and parsley.* Cover and remove from the heat; let stand for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork. Serve with chicken. Yield: 4 servings.
* Since I used brown rice, I cooked the rice first, then stirred in the tomato, parsley and green onion after the rice was done, 1-2 minutes before serving.



LEMON GARLIC GREEN BEANS

2 lb. fresh green beans
Zest of 1 lemon (1 Tbsp.)
1 Tbsp. olive oil
3 Tbsp. butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2-1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper to taste

Blanch green beans in salted water until bright green and tender crisp, about 2 minutes (I steamed them). Shock in ice water to stop the cooking process.Heat a large skillet; add olive oil and butter and stir until butter melts. Add garlic and red pepper flakes; saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add beans; saute until coated in butter and heated through, about 5 minutes. Stir in lemon zest and season with salt and pepper to taste.


Brioche Sticky Buns




I remember the first time I ever heard the word brioche, I was watching Food Network and someone was making sticky buns. She referred to the dough as brioche, the word caught my ear and I remember thinking....brioche??? That's dough why is she calling it brioche. I went off on a mad google search to find out more about brioche. And in the process I fell in love with it from a far. Yes a far, promising myself that I would make it....someday. Let's face it , it's kinda scary, well for me anyway. In my mind only pastry chef's made brioche. It's taken me a year to get myself ready for this challenge, but I didn't do it alone. Gayle from pastry studio blog talked me through it. I saw a brioche creation of hers on her blog, asked her if the recipe could be used to make sticky buns and she emailed me back. I don't think I could have done it if she wasn't with me on this. Unfortunately she wasn't standing next to me, but I was reassured by the fact that if I had a question she was there. And BOY did I have questions!!! LOL!!! But she was kind enough to share her knowledge with me and for that I am very grateful. Go visit her and look at her beautiful blog , her pictures look like they came from a magazine!! The journey started with the recipe I got from Gayle which I made last night at 9pm. This wasn't as scary as I made it out to be. The recipe Gayle gave me said to mix the yeast and water together, which was the first thing I screwed up on by the way! I was so excited that I through the yeast along with all the other ingredients ( except the butter) into the KA bowl and started mixing. But my mistake didn't ruin the dough, Baking Banter, King Arthur's baking blog has a brioche recipe that Gayle kindly sent me the link to and that's the way they made they'res. The dough is very sticky and loose.



Gayle told me the trick to brioche is incorporating all the butter into the dough. She makes brioche by hand, she's never used a stand mixer!! Yes she's that good!! While the mixer is running on medium speed with all the ingredients except the butter mixing you add the butter one ounce at a time until it's all gone. Here's the important part, keep mixing the dough for about 10 minutes, you shouldn't see any butter at all on the dough, if you do KEEP MIXING!! Here's the link Gayle sent me to Baking Banters post about making brioche in a stand mixer, it's very helpful! After the butter was all incorporated Gayle said to cover it and put it into the fridge, and there it stayed until this morning. Her recipe didn't require the dough to rise first then deflate and refrigerate. Just mix and put in the fridge overnight. I got the dough out this morning and let it come to room temperature, all that butter in the dough makes it solid, it didn't take very long for it to come to room temp, while I was waiting I made Carol's cinnamon roll filling and the Caramel topping. I wanted to be ready and not let the dough get to soft. When it came to room temp it had a different texture than before it was refrigerated and was very easy to work with, yes Gayle it was a DREAM!!

I rolled it out on a lightly floured surface.



I put the filling on within an inch of all the sides.



I rolled it up jelly roll style from the long end.



Then I cut my dough into pieces with a serrated knife, I kept flouring the knife as I cut.



Look at them!!! They're adorable!! After they were cut I put them in a 9x9 buttered pan with the caramel sauce on the bottom ( this recipe made to 9x9 pans of rolls). I covered them and let them rise.



They rose up and got puffy, I took a beaten egg and brushed the tops and sides of the rolls and into the oven they went!



You don't even know how excited I was to taste these!!! Flip them out of the pans onto a platter. take any goo left in the pans and slather onto the buns, if you can stand to wait till they're cooled off ( which you know I didn't ) eat one...or two!!



It took me all of 2 seconds to get one of these into my hand and in my mouth! These are the best sticky buns I've ever made!! They would have looked prettier with nuts on them but hubby doesn't like them. I didn't miss them, the dough was sooooo soft, the texture is amazing! I ate 2, Amanda ate 2, her girlfriend's ate....there's only 1/2 a pan of sticky buns left and Sam hasn't even had any yet, what does that tell you!!



This is whats left of my second sticky bun. Look at the inside of that bun, just look at it!! THANK YOU GAYLE for helping me to over come my brioche fear your the BEST!!!

Wanna print just the recipe, click here!

Brioche Recipe
pastry studio
Brioche recipe

These instructions are from the email Gayle sent me in her words.


1 T dry yeast
1/4 C lukewarm water
4 C flour (1 lb, 4 oz)
2 t salt
3 T sugar (1 1/2 oz)
6 eggs
12 oz butter, softened

Dissolve the yeast into the lukewarm water.
Put everything together in a bowl except the butter and mix. As I've said, I've never done this by machine, but there are enough recipes out there that you can see that the kneading by machine should take several minutes to establish that it's smooth and elastic. You can also probably do this with a paddle if you don't have a hook because there's a lot of butter and it's a crazy soft, sticky dough. [To mix by hand, it's more of a pinching of the dough between the thumb and forefinger of each hand, then incorporating the portions removed into the other end of the dough. That gets done for about 5 - 7 times until it comes together. Then you begin kneading the dough, which is accomplished by using your hands to reach out to the far side of the dough, get underneath the dough, scooping it up from the bottom and bringing it toward you so that the dough flips around and slaps down on the work surface. Do this for 5 to 10 minutes until it is smooth and elastic - wish we could all be together so I could show you this!]
Then you start adding the butter, about an ounce at a time and let it become fully incorporated. Keep adding the butter and beating on medium speed. At some point, it will look like it's breaking. Don't panic. It will work through this and become a nice satiny dough. [By hand, the butter is incorporated using the same process as above, pinching the dough, then lifting it from below, scooping it up from the bottom and bringing it toward you so that the dough flips around and slaps down on the work surface. Do this just until the butter is mixed in. You will see and feel this when it comes together.]
Once you see that the butter is completely mixed in, stop mixing and place in a covered bowl or bag and refrigerate overnight. Your dough will then be ready to shape. Let rise at room temperature and always glaze with egg wash

Caramel Topping
Nook & Pantry Blog

Caramel Glaze

5 Tbsp butter
1/2 C brown sugar
3 Tbsp honey
1.5 Tbsp milk
Pinch salt

Sticky Bun Filling
Carol's Recipe

FILLING:
3/4 c. packed dark brown sugar
3/4 c. butter, at room temperature
2 Tbsp. ground cinnamon ( I only used 2 tsps of cinnamon for the sticky buns)
1 egg white
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Mix altogether with a mixer and slather on brioche.