What do you cook when you find some mystery chicken in the freezer? Chicken curry bundles. The chicken, defrosted, turned out to be boneless, skinless chicken thighs. They marinated for a few hours in the refrigerator, sauteed quickly on the stove top, and then baked up moist and delicious in crescent roll dough. I added cranberry relish to the bundles, because that was what I had on hand, but mango or cranberry chutney would work well--probably better. The bundles turned out quite well and needed only a salad and and peas as easy accompaniments. The cooking process--sauteing and baking the bundles--took less than 30 minutes for an easy, delicious weeknight meal.
Chicken Curry Bundles -- Serves 4
4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about a pound)
1/4 cup of lemon juice
1 tablespoon of olive oil
2 tablespoons of minced dried onion
1 teaspoon of curry powder
1/4 teaspoon of lemon pepper
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 can of crescent roll dough (with 8 rolls)
1/4 cup of cranberry relish or chutney
Place the chicken thighs, lemon juice, olive oil, dried onion, curry powder, lemon pepper, and salt in a large zip lock bag and turn the bag to combine the ingredients and coat the chicken. Refrigerate the chicken for at least an hour and preferably for about 4 hours. Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. When the pan is hot, add the chicken (reserve the marinade). Cook the chicken for about 5 minutes or until browned on one side. Flip the chicken, pour on the remaining marinade from the bag, and cook the chicken for another 5-6 minutes or until it's barely cooked through (it will continue to cook in the oven). While the chicken is cooking, preheat the oven to 375 degrees and coat a sheet pan with non-stick cooking spray (or line the pan with aluminum foil and coat the foil with spray). Unroll the crescent roll dough, seal the perforations, and divide the dough into 4 rectangles. Put a tablespoon of the cranberry relish or chutney on each rectangle. When the chicken is done, put a chicken thigh on top of the relish on each rectangle. Fold the corners of each rectangle over the chicken pieces. The chicken won't be completely covered, and that's fine. You want it to peek out a bit. Bake the chicken bundles for 10-15 minutes or until they are puffy and golden brown. Let them cool a few minutes before serving them.
