Category Archives: Blog Reviews

Curtis absolutely LOVES spicy food, but I am an admitted spicy food baby, so whenever I find a recipe that is spicy but seems like something I might be able to handle I want to give it a shot. When I found this recipe for Caramelized Chicken with Jalapeno Cream I thought it would be a perfect recipe for us to try.

It comes from a sweet little food blog called How Sweet It Is (howsweeteats.com) run by a beautiful young woman from Pittsburgh, PA. who is “madly, passionately, inexplicably in love with food” which is exactly what you need to run a successful food blog. She has got to have over a hundred recipes on her site ranging from healthy recipes and comfort food to indulgent desserts. She even had a section on the site called crumbs, which is basically a running blog of things that she likes or wants to write about. All of the recipes on her site are made and eaten by her and her husband and they all look delicious, this chicken dish certainly was.

Caramelized Chicken with Jalapeno Cream

serves 4

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

2 tablespoons canola oil

2 jalapenos, seeded and chopped

1 shallot, sliced

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon flour

1/4 cup low-fat or skim milk

1 12-ounce can fat-free evaporated milk

2 tablespoons finely grated parmesan cheese

• Add chopped jalapenos, shallots and garlic to a food processor and pulse until very finely chopped (not pureed). Set aside.

• Tenderize chicken breasts if desired and pat completely dry with paper towels. Season on both sides with salt and pepper. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add 1 tablespoon canola oil. Once the oil is hot, add chicken breasts (make sure they are COMPLETELY DRY) and cook for about 8-10 minutes per side, until each side is caramelized and golden. If needed, use the remaining canola oil when flipping the chicken.

• While the chicken is cooking, heat a small saucepan over medium heat and add butter. Once sizzling, add in the chopped jalapeno mixture, stirring to coat, and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Once fragrant (do NOT put your face directly over the jalapenos!), whisk in flour and stir continuously to create a roux. Cook mixture for 1-2 minutes, then add in milks, reducing the heat to medium-low. Continue to stir continuously until mixture begins to thicken (about 6-8 minutes), adding in parmesan cheese and reducing the heat even more. Once the desired thickness has been reached, turn off heat. Stir every so often – it may thicken even more while sitting – and you can add additional milk to thin it out if needed. Taste and season with salt and pepper as desired.

This was really a very quick and easy recipe to make, which is always a plus for me. The chicken itself was awesome, I loved how crispy and caramelized it got, I only wish that I had butterflied the chicken to maximize the yummy part. The cream was delicious, but not at all spicy. It did have a little bit of the pepper flavor but instead was sweet and creamy. I really like the concept of this dish, but next time I might add a few more jalapenos to kick it up a few notches.

I think next time I will try some of those indulgent desserts that look so amazing and you should too.

I (Ella) don’t have much free time but the little that I do have is spent drooling over the food and pictures on foodgawker.com. I was doing just that last week and came across this recipe for sticky baked chicken and just had to try it. The recipe is from The Comfort of cooking, a food blog written by a woman (Georgia) out of Austin, Texas.

She is self taught and focuses on classic comfort food recipes with a twist. One look through this blog and I knew it would be our next blog review. Not only did the chicken taste amazing but the blog itself is gorgeous. Its well organized, full of beautiful photography and has more recipes and tips than most of the cook books I have. There are 40 recipes for appetizers alone. Add in main dishes, desserts, sauces, how to’s, and gifts from the kitchen and this blog is chock full of fun recipes and ideas to keep you glued to the computer or the kitchen for hours. If everything else is as good as the chicken,  then this blog is a keeper.

The sweet and sticky baked chicken was deeelicious! We used whole chicken legs instead of drumsticks, but it was the glaze that was really the important part of this recipe. It was so easy to make and the chicken came out perfectly sweet and crispy on the outside but nice and juicy on the inside. This is a must try recipe!

1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Like I said, we made a few simple changes to the recipe, whole legs instead of drum sticks, I left out the sesame seeds and I served it with a butternut squash casserole .This recipe is definitely a winner and I even had enough of the sauce left over to use in stir fry the next night! What makes her happiest is cooking with and for the people she loves. We definitely share that in common and if you do too, this is the perfect blog for you!

We started doing restaurant/dining reviews in December of 2010 and quickly became one of Charlotte’s leading food critics. Now its time to begin “Phase II” of our urbanfoodlife project and beginning January 2012 we will be reviewing some of the most popular food blogs on the web. We’re going to search the internet to find the best food blogs and bring you our review of the recipes we find along the way.

Stay tuned for more updates :)