Friday, January 6, 2012

Cranberry Chicken

It's Potluck Saturday!

Cranberry Chicken

If my house were on fire, and I could only take one recipe with me, this is the one I would grab! Seriously! This is a heavenly skillet dinner! It is a very impressive dish to serve to company. I love serving it with hot yeast rolls, steamed broccoli and glazed carrots. We actually ate this for Christmas dinner one year! If your family likes it, be sure to stock up on cranberries this winter, they freeze very well!

Cranberry Chicken
1/2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
6 boneless skinless chicken breasts*** (I've used thighs too, trim them well though!)
1/4 c. butter
1 c. fresh/frozen cranberries
1 c. water
1/2 c. brown sugar
dash ground nutmeg
1 tbs. red wine vinegar
cooked rice

In a shallow dish, combine flour, salt & pepper. Dredge the chicken in the mixture. In a skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Brown the chicken on both sides. Remove and keep warm. In the same skillet, add the cranberries, water, brown sugar, nutmeg & vinegar. Cook and stir until the cranberries burst (about 5 min.). Return the chicken to the skillet. Cook and simmer for 20-30 min. or until chicken is done in the middle, basting with the sauce occasionally. Serve over rice.
Serves 4-6

I have also doubled this recipe and finished it off in a 13x9 pan in the oven. It doesn't turn out *quite* as perfect, but it is still very, very good, is definitely company worthy, and you can feed more people this way.

*** The boneless, skinless chicken breasts I see most of the time are HUGE, so if this is the case, I recommend using only three and cutting them in half to achieve the correct ratios in this recipe.

(From an old Taste of Home recipe card I found at a garage sale at least 8 years ago.)

What is your "if my house was on fire..." recipe? :)

Linking up with the Four Moms sharing Favorite Fruit Recipes.

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6 comments:

  1. That is a tough question for a girl like me -- I can never choose a very, tippy-top favorite of anything. For entrees, I suppose I would choose this:
    http://inmykitcheninmylife.blogspot.com/2010/01/mmmm-meatballs.html meatball recipe. I'd pick it because:
    --it's my mom's recipe, and she's a great cook.
    --it's a food of my childhood, and different enough from other versions that it might be hard to find again.
    --it's so versatile if you switch up the seasonings -- I use it for Italian things, a barbecued version, and a sort of Swedish meatball meets Beef Paprikash thing.
    --they are a make-ahead dream and the first thing I think of when I get a load of discounted ground beef.
    --when I take them to any gathering, I am assured of coming home with an empty crockpot.

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  2. BTW, your cranberry chicken sounds good. I have some cranberry/apple chutney in the fridge from the holidays (it keeps FOREVER), and it would be great as a sauce for chicken or pork tenderloin. That may be on our menu next week.

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  3. I would say my Meatloaf recipe as well. It's super simple, and I always take it to church potlucks. It always gets eaten up.

    The best part about the recipe is that it is super simple.

    Just take a couple pounds of ground beef (I use lean). Add salt/pepper to your mix, and round them out into balls, and cook on your skillet. I add Parmesan cheese on top as well. Cook until browned, then either pop them in a crock pot or oven at 350 for 20 minutes. I add sweet baby ray's barbecue to mine (as this is our favorite).

    I always bring meatballs and a crock full of green beans to crock pots. It's always a hit.

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  4. Hi. I read your blog often and love a lot of your ideas on here, I'm waiting until my little gets old enough to do some of them.

    I am planning on making The Mrs Clara's rolls and I think it may just make a little more than I need and I was wondering if they freeze well?

    Thanks so much!

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  5. Thanks Angela! :) So nice to hear from you!

    Yes, the rolls will freeze well. You can just flash freeze them by pausing at the stage where you form them into balls and put the balls on a cookie sheet or large plate. Just make sure they aren't touching one another. When they are frozen solid, put them in a ziploc and stick them back in the freezer. When you are ready to use them, just give them plenty of time to thaw and do all the rising they need before you bake them. (This may be five hours or more, so you'll want to plan accordingly!) Also, you can halve the recipe... I've done that before too. Hope that helps!

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  6. I didn't even thing about cutting the recipe in half. Thank you!!

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