A general-purpose marinade with a base of oil, soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, Worcestershire sauce and mustard with additional seasonings, great on chicken, beef, pork, shrimp and even vegetables.

General-Purpose Grilling Marinade

It's still summer y'all! 

I'm plugging along with the heat advisories down here on the Gulf Coast, so no pumpkin or apple or fall-themed recipes here quite yet, much as I'm looking forward to it all after this hot, hot summer.

So... let's talk marinades!

Cuban-Style Creole Fried Chicken - Pollo Frito a la Criolla

Bone-in chicken thighs, marinated in a classic sour orange with onions, and a paste of garlic, oregano, and cumin, then pan seared and gently simmered on the stovetop.

Cuban-Style Creole Fried Chicken

If you're from the south, when you first saw the words "Creole" and "fried chicken" in the title to this recipe, you may have had certain expectations.

A southerner would likely expect any chicken that claims to be "fried chicken" to be one that has been dredged in seasoned flour and deep fried.

A southerner from the Deep South would expect a recipe claiming to be "Creole" to have the typical influences of tomato along with the trinity of onion, bell pepper and celery.

You'll find that neither of those elements apply to this Cuban-Style Creole Fried Chicken!

A hearty, one-pot Italian-style meal, made with bone-in chicken thighs, Cajun andouille, potatoes, tomatoes and white beans.

One Pot Italian-Style Chicken Stew

This is a good and hearty, one-pot, Italian style stew, though "stew" is really a loose interpretation here. It's hearty, but not thick and rich as we think of stews to be, but rather a bit lighter, making it fully appropriate any time of the year.

I based my recipe on a bit of a combination of MarkCharles Misilli's One Pot Italian Chicken from the cookbook Easy Everyday Favorites and Jacques Pépin's Chicken Bouillabaisse in his cookbook Fast Food My Way {affil links}, since I find them to be strikingly similar.

A stew made of chicken thighs, or a whole cut-up chicken, browned in butter and oil, and cooked in a tomato-based Creole sauce with the trinity of veggies and a mix of curry, herbs and spices and rice.

Country Captain Chicken

There are a lot of theories about the origins of this dish, none of which is set in stone, although both Georgia and South Carolina have definitely laid claims to it. Legend has it that it's a dish that a ship's captain carried to America as a result of the spice trade, perhaps through the ports of Charleston or Savannah.

It's a one-pot, butter-browned, curried chicken dish, appearing to be Indian in origin, typically made with bone-in, skin-on, whole cut-up chicken, or most often, only chicken thighs. If you want to cut back on fat, you could get away with boneless, skinless thighs, with the understanding that the loss of bone and fat is also loss of flavor, and you'll need to compensate with cooking time and seasonings.

A flavorful grilled chicken, marinated in a bold and zesty blend of oil, citrus, garlic and fiery seasonings. Traditionally served with white rice, shown here with a mild, Spanish rice and skillet fried green beans.

Mojo Chicken - Pollo Asado

Literally translated, polo asado means barbecued or grilled (and sometimes even roasted) chicken, though it appears that it most often refers to chicken that is soaked in a mojo-style marinade and cooked on a grill. It's another one of those roadside/food truck favorites, in the same camp with the vinegar chicken I shared recently.

In this case I'm using a homemade mojo marinade in place of a commonly used commercial sour orange product {affil link} which not only is next to impossible to find here on the Mississippi coast, but also tends to contain additional sugars and preservatives you may not want.

Cajun style sticky chicken, made with boneless, skinless thighs, seared in butter and oil, then caramelized with brown sugar and finished with a rich, trinity enhanced roux.

Cajun Sticky Chicken

Rouse's Market is my favorite grocery store here, hands down, and they often have the large bags of chicken thighs or leg quarters at a great sale price. Recently, it was the large packages of boneless, skinless chicken thighs, so I picked them up with this recipe in mind.

You've likely heard of all sorts of "sticky chicken" recipes around the net ranging from the rubbed and roasted, rotissiere style like I have here on the blog, or the ketchup, honey and soy sauce version, and there's even a version with pineapple, something akin to my slow cooker version, along with a wide range of variations.

Instant Pot/Electronic Pressure Cooker Chicken Noodle Soup

Homemade chicken noodle soup, made from a whole chicken in an electronic pressure cooker.

Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup

If you've been a friend of this blog for any amount of time, you already know that I love my food cooked the old-fashioned way - in the oven or on the top of the stove, low and slow. It's part of the whole process that birthed this recipe website to begin with - connecting to my Mama and Grandma through cooking, after Hurricane Katrina changed my entire career path overnight.

There's just something magical that happens with that low and slow process that makes you understand the whole emotional connection to our past while cooking for someone in the present, and how it literally explodes the flavor in a dish that just doesn't happen any other way.

Chicken thighs, simply seasoned and slow cooked in the crockpot with a mixture of pineapple juice, brown sugar and soy sauce, that is thickened and brushed on as a finishing glaze.

Slow Cooker Brown Sugar Chicken

It's become pretty clear that folks love the combination of savory meats with sweet brown sugar. I've used it to candy bacon, love it for ham, for rubs on ribs and steaks, it's amazing with chicken and I've even used it for fish. Here lately, I've been seeing brown sugar everywhere in these 2, 3 and 4 ingredient dishes you see pass via Facebook and Pinterest.

Grilled Huli Huli Chicken, a popular Hawaiian-style barbecued chicken, basted with a honey and brown sugar sweetened, soy and pineapple barbecue sauce.

Grilled Huli Huli Chicken

I don't know about y'all, but the last couple of months I have been busier than a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs! Between buying a new house, moving, renovating the old house for sale and now that summer's rolled around, spending a lot more time with the grandkid's on summer vacation too... I truly don't know if I'm coming or going anymore. I sure could use a vacation of my own - Florida beaches here I come!

If you've ever been on a Florida vacation and done the luau show and dinner somewhere, you have likely had some form of this Hawaiian-style barbecued chicken. I've never been to Disney where we didn't go to one either at the Polynesian Hotel or up the road at the Wantilan Luau at Universal Orlando.

Luau shots from one of our Orlando vacations!

Yes, I know they are touristy and to some degree a bit cheesy, but I just love those shows and I really feel like I'm on vacation when I go to one.

Chicken thighs, seasoned with salt, pepper, Cajun seasoning and rosemary, cooked with mushrooms and onions, and slow braised on the stovetop.

Braised Chicken Thighs with Onions and Mushrooms

This is a pretty standard recipe for braised chicken, although I based my version on Emeril's recipe he shared on Good Morning America some time ago.

While bone-in chicken thighs are most traditional, other pieces of chicken may also be used, simply by adjusting times accordingly.

A whole chicken, cut up, seared and roasted in a cast iron skillet with tarragon, thyme and fresh rosemary and lemon slices.

Cast Iron Skillet Roasted Cut Up Chicken

Chicken is so economical, and we eat a lot of it in this house.

I often buy the big family packs of chicken pieces and split them up, or whole chickens when they go on sale for 99 cents a pound and under, cut them up and freeze them. Leg quarters, drumsticks, wings, whatever is on sale, I know I'll find a use for it. Sometimes we'll make a meal out of wings!

Bone-in, skinned chicken thighs provide plenty of flavor for this slow cooker pulled chicken. Great on sandwiches, as a pizza topper, or stuffed in a taco or burrito. Shown here with a side of Red Slaw and Sweet Potato Fries.

Slow Cooker Pulled Chicken

I love slow cooker "pulled chicken" because of its versatility. Not only is it good piled on rolls and buns, but its great rolled up in tortillas, stuffed into taquitos, tacos or burritos, or if you're trying to reduce carbs a bit, piled up in lettuce cups and topped with coleslaw or for barbecue pizza.

Sweet and Tangy Russian Chicken - My Way

Sweet and Tangy Russian Chicken, made with bone-in chicken thighs, red Russian style dressing, apricot preserves and a homemade onion seasoning.

Sweet and Tangy Russian Chicken

This recipe is a real throwback to way back that some of you might remember. Grab an old church, community or junior league cookbook, and it's bound to be in there somewhere, though often called by other names and sometimes simply called Apricot Chicken, though it's always been more widely known as Russian chicken.

The name of the dish has nothing to do with the country or people of Russia and comes from the use of Russian dressing, originally a spicy mayonnaise and ketchup condiment, somewhat similar to Thousand Island dressing, and one that dates back to the early 1900s, said to have been invented by James E. Colburn, a resident of New Hampshire USA.

Chicken legs and thighs, basted with olive oil and lemon, and seasoned simply with a bit of Cajun seasoning, garlic powder, salt and pepper and fresh rosemary and first cooked under the broiler before a quick finishing bake in a hot oven. Pictured here with lady cream peas and buttermilk sour cream cornbread.

Broiled Lemon Herb Chicken

I can't even remember the last time that I cooked chicken under the broiler - I just never think about it. It's really a great time saver, seven minutes on one side, another seven on the other, and then a finish in the oven for about 10 minutes at 450 degrees F for these thighs, and dinner is on the table in no time.

Chicken thighs, slow cooked in a seasoned Creole sauce with The Trinity, and served with fettuccine noodles.

Crockpot Creole Chicken

This Creole Crockpot Chicken recipe was born out of me still trying to learn to love my crockpot, especially for chicken.

I'm a low and slow oven kinda gal, and you see, chicken in a slow cooker, even dark meat chicken, that goes longer than it should, well... it can easily transform to the shredded stage, kinda like pulled chicken.

Not that there's anything wrong with that. Pulled chicken is still good.

Chicken thighs, roasted with a garlicky, thyme, lemon and balsamic sauce, onions and potatoes.

Roasted Balsamic Chicken Thighs

I had a large, 5-pound package of chicken thighs in the freezer, though unfortunately they were the kind frozen into one big blob and not individually so I pretty much had to thaw and bake the whole package.  Whatever isn't eaten up in leftovers will be deboned and frozen to use in casseroles or maybe some chicken salad.

A crunchy crispy oven fried chicken that starts with a buttermilk, lemon and mustard marinade and is finished with a cornflake, Parmesan herb crusting.

Crispy Oven Fried Buttermilk Chicken

Crispy fried chicken really can be had in the oven y'all, and this recipe was inspired by an oven baked chicken recipe I saw in the May 2009 issue of Bon Appetit magazine. I love using bone-in chicken breasts because the bone really does help to produce a very flavorful piece of chicken, much more than those boneless, skinless chicken breasts. There is no surprise that bone-in is very popular in Weight Watchers recipes.

Chicken, slow baked over rice and bacon, in a flavorful cream sauce.

No Peek Bacony Chicken and Rice Bake

This chicken and rice dish is one of my personal favorites and a site favorite and it is awesome! Now I know that we've all had the usual condensed soup with rice and chicken bake, but this one is just a bit different. It's loaded with flavor from the bacon and seasonings ...

I'm tellin' ya the rice is just over the top! You really gotta try it.