cookiemonster said:
Holly, I looked at the pre-cooked and it wasn't anywhere near $3! They were like $13! And none of the produce was on sale, and none of it looked too good, either... A few weeks ago they had strawberries for like 60% off and I bought some of those, but now they're back up to their normal costliness.
But I was thinking of buying some chicken, throwing it in a pan, and throwing it on the stove. Think it'll work?
cookiemonster
Alrighty, cookiemonster, let's set you up with a nice, healthy recipe for chicken cooked on a stove. As I was explaining to the new grad student in my lab, we can't allow our students to starve. We tried that method of training and the experiment was a horrible failure; we now realize our students are much more productive when they are well-fed.
Starving Student Cooking Lesson #1:
Tools required: one big frying pan with a lid, a fork or metal salad tongs, a big spoon (wooden or plastic if you have a nonstick pan so you don't scratch your pan), a sharp knife, and one big pot with a lid.
Optional equipment if available: measuring spoons
Get yourself some chicken pieces...bone in, it will give you more flavor as it cooks (sometimes whole chickens are cheaper per pound than chicken parts, you can cut up a whole chicken if you have a good knife). Oh, and do you have a freezer? If you do, then you can make just a couple pieces of the chicken now and freeze the rest to use another day.
Take the skin off the chicken, pat it dry with a paper towel. I always believe in adding a little seasoning to the meat before you cook it so that flavor gets sealed in when you start cooking. For this meal, a little salt and black pepper will do the trick.
In a frying pan (a big one), heat some cooking oil (use a medium to medium-high flame...and keep an eye on it...never walk away from oil on a stove, and if it starts to smoke, you've overheated the oil and are at risk of a fire...turn off the stove and throw a lid on the pan right away). You don't need a lot of oil, just enough to coat the bottom of the pan lightly when you swirl it around (about 2 tbsp if you have measuring spoons), you don't need to drown your chicken in it! Cook the chicken in the oil about 15 minutes, or until it starts to brown (light brown, not black! Not surprisingly, this process is called "browning" the chicken). Oh, if you have some sort of tongs...salad tongs will do...that will be easiest for turning the chicken in the pan, otherwise, use a fork or even two forks to grab ahold of it to turn it a few times while cooking so it's cooked through from both sides. Be careful not to get splattered with hot oil!
When the chicken is nearly done (almost brown on both sides), add a sliced onion and a clove of garlic, minced (a clove is ONE of the little pieces that break off a head of garlic...a head of garlic is the whole thing you buy in the store; minced means cut in very small pieces...a mincing shortcut for the starving student: smash your garlic clove with a can (the kind with veggies in them, not beer...wouldn't want to shake the beer), then just slice up the smashed garlic. When the onion starts to look clear (this will make sense when you see it happen), drain off the excess fat (pour it into the sink and run a lot of hot water after it so it doesn't clog your drain...use the lid of the pan to hold the chicken in it so it doesn't all fall in the sink too).
Return the pan with the chicken to the stove.
Chop up half of a green pepper (chopped means small pieces- about 1/2 inch squares, this doesn't need to be precise or anything), and add that to the pan, along with 1 can of tomatoes (7.5 oz will do)...or if you can afford fresh tomatoes, use those (1/2 lb of fresh tomatoes doesn't cost much more than a can of tomatoes depending on the season). You can also add some mushrooms if you like...again, either add several fresh mushrooms cut into slices, or get a small can of mushrooms and add those (drain out the liquid first).
Add some additional seasoning if you wish - oregano is an inexpensive seasoning and will go a long way...just a 1/4 teaspoon will do (or if you don't have measuring spoons, a BIG pinch).
You can also add a little white wine to this if you have some around...any kind will do, but it's not required if you don't have it.
Stir everything together with your big spoon, when the tomatoes start bubbling, reduce the heat down to low or medium-low, give it one more stir, put the lid on the pan, and let it simmer (that's really slow bubbles) until the chicken is nice and tender (about a half hour to 40 minutes). Occassionally give it a stir and turn the chicken.
Once you have everything in the pan and it is simmering, get your big pot and put water in it. Add a little salt to the water and put it on the stove. Turn the stove to HIGH and bring the water to a boil (really bubbling like crazy, not just small bubbles starting to rise), add whatever kind of pasta you like to the water. Let the water return to a boil, then reduce the heat just a little to keep the water boiling, but to avoid boiling over the side of the pot, and cook for the amount of time the pasta box says to cook for (usually about 12 minutes for most types). When the pasta is done, drain off the water.
The chicken should be nearly done by then. When it is done (if in doubt, just take two forks, stick them down to the bone and separate the chicken a little to see if there is any pink blood still inside near the bone...if so, keep cooking, if it's white all the way through, it's done...scoop some pasta onto a plate or bowl, stick a piece of chicken on the pasta, scoop up some of the tomato sauce and pour that on top, and you have a delicious meal, cheap!
This is basically the starving student version of chicken cacciatore. I tried to remember to include all the necessary instructions, but as long as all the ingredients wind up in the pan and cooked, you really can't go wrong...if all you're feeding are a bunch of male students, they won't notice if the pepper is chopped or sliced or if the garlic was perfectly minced. Plus, this also makes a good meal for a date...just add a candle to the table and you're all set to impress!
it tastes much better too..
.
We just risked having to clean cheese off the iron.
And I'd probably hurt myself if I did.