Chicken Gizzards, With Ginger And Ramen

My Mom used to serve us chicken gizzards and rice, pressure cooked, years ago. This month, I'm visiting Mom and sister - and sister buys a pound of chicken gizzards and asks me to cook them. I hated the pressure cooker, when I was young - but I loved the gizzards and rice - so I found a recipe with microwave cooking instructions, and I added my favourite spices. Not bad, for a first attempt.
  • 2 packages Ramen soup mix
  • 1/4 t Cayenne pepper
  • 1/2 t Ginger
  • 1/4 t Paprika
  • 1 lb Chicken Gizzards / Hearts / Livers. Not the healthiest parts of the chicken - but tasty.
  • 1 medium onion
  • 1 T oil (olive, vegetable, whatever)
  • 1/2 C flour
  • 2 C water

  1. Combine Ramen flavour packets, Cayenne, Ginger, Paprika, and flour.
  2. Wash, rinse, drain, dry chicken parts.
  3. Mix chicken parts, and flour mixture.
  4. Chop onion.
  5. Brown floured chicken, and onion, in a skillet with oil.
  6. Put browned chicken / onion in a microwave safe container, add water.
  7. Cook chicken / onion on High, until the meat is just barely tender. The original recipe claimed 30 minutes - my microwave needed 60 minutes.
  8. Crumble Ramen noodles, mix with chicken. Add water as necessary.
  9. Cook until noodles are tender, and mixture is thick enough to eat with a fork.

Seven Seas (7 Cs) Rice

  • 4 bouillon cubes, chicken or vegetable
  • 1/2 t Cayenne pepper
  • 1/2 t ground Coriander
  • 1/2 t Cumin
  • 1 t Curry powder (to taste)
  • 1 t garam masala (to taste)
  • 3 lg cloves garlic, smashed then minced
  • 1/2 head Cabbage, chopped
  • 2 lg Carrots, chopped
  • 2 or 3 Chicken thighs (I like dark meat), or equivalent in whatever pieces you like
  • 1 med onion, diced
  • 2 C rice, well washed
  • 16 C water

  1. Add Chicken and water, in a deep pot (a dutch oven is good).
  2. Bring water to a boil.
  3. Add bouillon, spices, and garlic.
  4. Cook for an hour or so until the Chicken falls off the bone, as you use a fork to lift it out of the pot.
  5. Put the Chicken on a plate. If you like healthy chicken, and the skin is still on the chicken, it should scrape off quite easily with a fork. Then use a pair of forks to remove the bones, and shred the chicken. Return the shredded chicken to the pot.
  6. Add Cabbage, Carrots and onion, bring to boil again. Cook until the carrot pieces are soft.
  7. Add rice, mix well, bring to boil.
  8. Make sure that water just covers top of mixture.
  9. Stir rice frequently, reduce to slow boil, cook until the rice is soft. If the mixture is too soupy, add 1/4 C oatmeal, and mix well.
  10. Turn off the heat, cover, let sit for 1/2 hour so it's cool enough to enjoy.
  11. Serve with sourdough bread, and lots of beverages.
  12. If you sneeze or your nose runs just slightly, you have enough just cayenne and curry. Keep Kleenex handy.

Peanut Chicken Stew

Sometimes I don't have enough ingredients to make one recipe, don't feel like running to the store, but feel like cooking something. So, it's time to improvise. Here is my attempt at a combination of several favourite recipes, and using what I felt like cooking.

  • 2 or 3 chicken thighs / 4 to 6 drumsticks (dark meat chicken)
  • 12 C water
  • 4 bouillon cubes
  • 3 cloves garlic, smashed and minced, or thinly sliced
  • 1/2 t cayenne pepper
  • 1 T curry powder
  • 1 t ground coriander seed
  • 1 t garam masala
  • 1 t ground ginger
  • 1 t paprika
  • 2 C white rice, rinsed and drained
  • 28 oz can cooked kidney beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 LG onion, chopped
  • 1 LG red (sweet) pepper, chopped
  • 28 oz can cooked tomatoes (5 large), chopped, drained
  • 8 oz peanut butter

  1. Add water to large dutch oven / pot, bring to boil.
  2. Add bouillon cubes, chicken, garlic, and spices, bring to boil again.
  3. Reduce to simmer. If you desire a more healthy stew, remove the skin - as it should peel off the meat, well before Step #4. Or, you can shred the skin, with the meat, later.
  4. Cook until chicken is very tender, and meat falls off the bones.
  5. Remove chicken from pot, use 2 forks to remove bones and shred the meat.
  6. Return the meat to the pot.
  7. Add the rice, stir well, bring to boil again, stir frequently.
  8. Add beans, onion, pepper, and tomatoes, stir frequently, until rice starts to thicken. Add water as rice thickens - and stir constantly.
  9. Check rice - when chewable, add peanut butter.
  10. Stir until mixture becomes too thick to stir, and rice is cooked. When rice is tender, the stew is done.
  11. Let cool slightly, and serve. Have lots of cold beverages available, this will make you very thirsty.
  12. Refrigerate overnight, for best flavour. Kidney beans will make it rather sweet. Again, serve with lots of beverages. The cayenne pepper may make you sneeze occasionally (that's how you know that you have enough spices!), so have kleenex available.