What the Fork?

By Gourmet May

Summertime is here and I realize I don’t want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen. My hubby started his summer work schedule, which means he will be working later in the evenings than usual. Somehow, I feel like all this practice making dinner was in preparation for this summer and our hectic work schedules. Tonight, I’m making an incredibly easy chicken dinner for two because those are the exact words that I used to search for this recipe.

This recipe is from the website ‘Recipes that Crock,’ for obvious reasons, all the recipes on the site are made in a crock pot. I will be using my new favorite kitchen appliance, the Instant Pot. For this recipe I need: six boneless skinless chicken thighs, a few other pantry items, frozen peas and carrots, and one box of Parmesan Cheese Pasta Roni (and the ingredients to prepare it). The idea is to cook the chicken in the instant pot and place on top of the pasta and veggies.

I start by placing the chicken thighs in a dish in order to marinate. I HATE touching chicken, so I use the flip and dump method to get them on the plate. The recipe says to coat the chicken in 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard, 1 tablespoon paprika, 2 teaspoons poultry seasoning, salt and pepper to taste. Brush both sides of the chicken with the mixture, flip with a pair of tongs, and sprinkle with 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour.

Meanwhile, turn the Instant Pot on to skillet setting and heat up 3 tablespoons of cooking oil. Once the oil is hot, use the tongs again to place the marinated chicken thighs in the skillet. Cook until golden brown and flip for another minute. Because I am using the Instant Pot and not a pan and crock pot, I have to remove the chicken to perform the next step. The recipe called for cooking sherry, I do not know what this is, so I am going with 1-16oz can of chicken broth instead. I pour in the chicken broth and use a whisk to scrape around and remove any burnt bits, we will call these bits ‘flavor’.

Once that is done, I will return the chicken to the Instant Pot and set it to Crock Pot setting for four hours. I am thinking about cooking more this summer and how am I going to get home every day at noon to turn the Instant Pot on so that the meal will be ready for dinnertime. And then I see it, the magic button that is going to change our lives, it is called Delay Start. My summer is saved! I can put everything in the Instant Pot, set it and forget it!

When there is about 15 minutes left for cooking time on the Instant Pot, I begin preparing the Parmesan Cheese Pasta Roni according to the stove top instructions, adding the frozen peas and carrots in the first step. I have never had Pasta Roni before so I hope it is good. Once done, I scoop the pasta onto two separate plates and place three chicken thighs each on top. The chicken is so tender it starts falling apart. I use my fork to try a small piece and it’s so juicy and tender! Mmmmm…

I step back and both plates are piled high with food. I thought this recipe was dinner for two and it could probably feed four! I deliver the plates to the table and we begin chowing down. OMG, this is so good and tasty. My hubby says he can’t finish his whole plate. Mission accomplished and it really was incredibly easy! This is definitely a recipe that I am going to save and make again and again.