Braising w/Jr Chef Elite

Our Jr. Chef Elite team members are busy working to perfect Braising. So far this month, their menus have included Braised Chicken w/Green Peppers & Tomatoes; Braised Sweet Potatoes w/Apples and Greens, and Oven Baked Spicy Chicken; and this week they'll be making Braised Shrimp w/Endive. Here is what Jr. Chef's Allison and Megan have to say about their experiences with these recipes:

Braised Chicken w/Green Peppers & Tomatoes
This dish didn't exactly come out the way I planned it would. The finished product was watery, so when I served it, I had to drain some of the liquid. I think maybe I should have reduced it a bit longer, but I feared that I would over cook the chicken. Instead of using green peppers in this dish, I used yellow ones. Despite the watery factor, the flavors were really good and the chicken was very moist. Next time, I'll have to reduce it longer at the end.

Braised Greens Apples & Sweet Potatoes w/Spicy Chicken
Spicy Oven Fried Chicken:
My family and I loved this dish. Almost everyone had seconds and it was almost gone by the next day! The best part though was that it was super easy to make. Everything came out great and I had no complications while making it. The only thing I would recommend is to spray the racks with non-stick cooking spray before putting the chicken on it. When I took it out of the oven, some of the pieces stuck to the racks. This dish also served as tasty left-overs when I cut it into strips and combined it with some Top Ramen the next day for lunch. I'll definitely make this in the future again.

Sweet Potatoes, Apples & Braised Greens:
This dish was pretty good, despite the one problem at the end of the cooking process. I cooked the apples, sweet potatoes, and collard greens with no problem at all. When the recipe said to combine then all together, was when it went wrong. Since this dish made 10 servings, I decided to cut it in half. But when I measured the salt to season it, I accidentally measured it for the whole recipe. When I served the dish, it was very salty. Next time I'll actually write on the recipe paper to make sure that I measure the right amount. I think that I'll also taste it, then add more salt and pepper as needed. My dad liked it, besides the salt situation,and said that " It had potential", and that I should try it again sometime.
Jr. Chef Allison, Age 12


Spicy Oven Fried Chicken
For this dish I served it with a side of gnocchi. I had fun making it because I didn’t know how it would turn out if it would be too spicy but it turned out perfect. This meal reminded me of my Dad’s breaded chicken but more spice. My favorite part of the making the chicken was seeing the final product because you never know what it will look like or how it will taste till it is done. If I could do something different with this recipe I would have a little less spicy because I am not a fan of spicy food.
Jr. Chef Megan, Age 12