Menu suggestions.

[urseberry]

I often make a chicken dish from How To Cook Everything where you bake boneless skinless chicken pieces in tomatoes, cilantro, garlic, cumin, and coriander. It's easy to scale for a crowd and very tasty. I prefer thighs, but breasts work too. Happily, someone else has already typed it up from the book and put it online here: http://fulltummies.blogspot.com/2009/09/chicken-with-tomatoes-and-cumin.html.

 

[webdiva]

I just replaced my pressure cooker and loooooove it! So fast!

I made a white wine chicken with mushrooms with potatoes, carrots - all in one pot! Prep is about 10 min, cooking time is 10 min, cool down is about 5 min. So fast - and it's so delicious and fairly healthy.

I basically used this recipe:
http://southernfood.about.com/od/chickenstews/r/blbb322.htm


I added baby potatoes (or if larger, cut in half), carrots cut in half. I sauteed some mushrooms quickly in a separate pan. Defrosted frozen peas in a colander. At the end, I tossed the mushrooms and peas into the finished chicken and added a bit of cornstarch to thicken. The chicken stayed in pieces and it plated beautifully (despite my pic...I was so hungry I didn't make it all pretty!)

I doubled the liquids to have a ton of gravy, though. The last few nights I steamed some rice to go with the leftovers - it got better every night! YUM! You can do it in a regular dutch oven if you don't have a pressure cooker, it'll just take longer.

This recipe looks pretty awesome, too - I'm going to try it next:
http://www.hippressurecooking.com/2011/02/lemon-and-olive-ligurian-pressure.html

 

[Bella_mezzo]

My family's go-to special occasion chicken dish is the Silver palate chicken marbella:

Chicken Marbella

From “The Silver Palate Cookbook 25th Anniversary Edition” (Workman, 2007). Overnight marinating is key to keeping the chicken moist. You can halve the recipe, or make it with all legs and thighs.
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1 cup pitted prunes
1/2 cup pitted Spanish green olives
1/2 cup capers with a bit of juice
6 bay leaves
1 head of garlic, peeled and finely pureed
1/4 cup dried oregano
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
4 chickens (2 1/2 pounds each), quartered
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup Italian (flat-leaf) parsley or cilantro, finely chopped
COMBINE the olive oil, vinegar, prunes, olives, capers and juice, bay leaves, garlic, oregano and salt and pepper in a large bowl. Add the chicken and stir to coat. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
PREHEAT oven to 350 degrees. Arrange chicken in a single layer in one or two large, shallow baking pans and spoon the marinade over it evenly. Sprinkle chicken pieces with the brown sugar and pour the white wine around them.
BAKE, basting frequently with the pan juices, for 50 minutes to 1 hour, until the thigh pieces yield clear yellow juices (rather than pink) when pricked.
With a slotted spoon, transfer the chicken, prunes, olives and capers to a serving platter. Moisten with some of the pan juices, sprinkle with parsley or cilantro and serve with the remaining juices on the side.
NOTE: To serve cold, cool to room temperature in the cooking juices, then transfer to a platter, cover and refrigerate. Reheat the chicken in the cooking juices, then bring to room temperature before serving.

Read more here: http://blogs.newsobserver.com/food/the-silver-palates-chicken-mirabella#storylink=cpy

 

[CJ2008]

I often make a chicken dish from How To Cook Everything where you bake boneless skinless chicken pieces in tomatoes, cilantro, garlic, cumin, and coriander. It's easy to scale for a crowd and very tasty. I prefer thighs, but breasts work too. Happily, someone else has already typed it up from the book and put it online here: http://fulltummies.blogspot.com/2009/09/chicken-with-tomatoes-and-cumin.html.

For all my talk and questions about crockpot cooking, I ended up making this the other night! Came out delicious! My only change: I used full legs instead of breasts. I find that if you're not a great cook, chicken breasts are challenging to have come out tasty and also not dry.

 

[Rosebloom]

All these recipes look yum. But the one I'm most interested in is Gypsy's Salmon Piccata. Sounds delish. I also love to cook and make pretty elaborate meals daily so I'd love a new winner in my repertoire. If you have a link to the recipe would you mind sharing?

Also if you end up going with fajitas, you should try the Rick Bayless sauces (sold in pouches in Mexican section of Whole Foods and other places). I make traditional Mexican at least weekly and used to make my sauces from scratch but these are so so good I've switched!