I love this recipe because it’s very flexible and I can almost always throw it together quickly with stuff I already have around the kitchen. It’s good for vegetarians, too: you can use chickpeas instead of chicken and it’s still just as delicious (if you like chickpeas, that is).
I include instructions for a pressure cooker like an Instant Pot or Foodi as well. If you use this method, you still get the same wonderful flavor, but instead of a sauced chicken served over rice, your chicken and rice will be mixed together. A small price to pay for convenience.
Note on chicken: I like to use bone-in chicken thighs and legs, or boneless chicken thighs, because they have a higher fat content and maximize the tastiness of the recipe. Boneless skinless chicken breasts are an OK substitution. Alternatively, if you’re feeding a family, just use a whole chopped up chicken. Boneless skinless chicken will also cook faster than bone-in, if you’re short on time.
INGREDIENTS: 1 lb chicken CAN SUBSTITUTE OR ADD: 16 oz can of chickpeas ½ onion ½ c flour 1-2 tbsp butter or vegetable oil 2 cups chicken stock or broth (I use Better than Bullion Roasted Chicken Base) OR 2 cups vegetable stock 3 tbsp paprika (Hungarian paprika is supposed to be the best for this, but I mostly use regular) ½ c sour cream OR plain Greek yogurt (more or less, according to your tastes) Salt and pepper to taste Rice (can substitute egg noodles, dumplings, spaetzle, or mashed potatoes)
PREP:
If using boneless/skinless chicken, chop into small strips for faster cooking.
For all chicken, sprinkle with salt and pepper. You can use garlic salt if you are so inclined.
For all chicken, mix ½ c flour with a generous amount of salt and pepper. Dredge chicken in flour mixture.
Dice onion finely.
If using chickpeas, drain water from can.
STOVETOP (if using pressure cooker, follow alternate directions below):
Start preparing rice according to package directions. It can cook while you make the paprikash.
Heat butter or oil on medium-high heat in large skillet or Dutch oven until shimmering. If using only chickpeas, skip to step 4.
Place dredged chicken in skillet and fry on each side until browned, about 3 minutes per side for boneless/skinless, about 5 minutes per side for bone-in.
Remove chicken from skillet to plate.
Add onions to skillet and more oil if needed. Saute until translucent.
Add the 2 cups of chicken stock to deglaze the pan.
Add the paprika and more salt and pepper.
Return chicken to pan. If using chickpeas, add them now.
Turn heat to low and bring to simmer.
Simmer for about 30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through to 165°F.
Once chicken is cooked, stir in sour cream.
Serve over rice. Pairs well with broccoli, peas, or green beans.
PRESSURE COOKER
Turn pressure cooker to saute mode on high. Add oil or butter.
(If using only chickpeas, skip this step) Brown chicken on both sides. Remove from pot to plate.
Add onion to pot and saute for a couple minutes until translucent.
Add chicken stock, paprika, and additional salt and pepper.
Add 1 cup rice to pot.
Place chicken on top of rice. If using chickpeas, add them here.
Set pressure cooker to HIGH setting for 8 minutes for boneless chicken, or to 14 minutes for bone-in chicken. Natural release pressure for 10 minutes.
Brown 2 lbs of hamburger meat. Drain and mix 2 packets of taco seasoning in. Cook 3 boxes of shell mac ‘n’ cheese as directions state. Mix in 2 cups of sour cream with mac ‘n’ cheese. Layer mac ‘n’ cheese/sour cream mixture in bottom of casserole pan. Layer taco hamburger meat on top. Sprinkle 16oz frozen corn. Sprinkle with shredded cheddar cheese. Next, layer another layer of the mac ‘n’ cheese sour cream mixture on top (like you are making lasagna). Cover with aluminum foil. Bake for 15 minutes. Take out and sprinkle more shredded cheese on top and bake for another 5 minutes, uncovered.
This month’s recipe is from Jawara Simmons, LAN Technician at Facet! He says that his girlfriend loves when he makes this dish, and he loves how simple and easy it is to put together.
Pasta Aglio e Olio
Ingredients
1/2 head garlic, separated and peeled 1 bunch parsley, rinsed 1/2 cup good quality olive oil 1 tsp red pepper flakes 1/2 lb dry linguine 1/2 lemon
Method
Heavily salt a large pot of water, and bring to a boil. Cook pasta to al dente while completing the steps below.
Slice the garlic cloves thinly, and set aside. Pick the parsley leaves from their stems, and finely chop.
Add olive oil to a large sauté pan, and heat over medium flame until shimmering. Add sliced garlic, stirring constantly, until garlic is barely toasted. Add the red pepper flake and remove from heat.
Add the pasta, drained, with about 1/4 cup reserved pasta cooking water. Add lemon juice and parsley, and toss to combine. Season for salt and pepper, and serve.
If you’ve been anywhere near the internet or a newspaper in the past few days, you’ve no doubt already heard about the Twitter hack. Essentially, someone got access to the accounts of influential Tweeters and tried to pull off a poorly disguised Bitcoin theft scheme.
Most of the discourse I’ve seen around this concerns the harm that could have resulted if the hackers had decided to try something that wasn’t a two-bit cash grab, and I won’t deny that there are some scary hypotheticals there, but I’d like to focus on one major point that should matter to business owners.
Here’s the thing: we know that the Twitter hack wasn’t orchestrated by some shady group using brute force and other high-drama tactics. The Twitter hack only happened because an internal actor with “god-view” privileges and access to admin panels changed emails on high-profile accounts to allow the hackers access.
If you’re a business owner, this should scare you, or at least give you some food for thought. I’m not a fan of using scare tactics to convince people to care about their network and cybersecurity, but in this case, I won’t hold back.
Ask yourself: who has access to everything in my organization? Who can view or edit customer information, employee information, and all of my company’s files? Who has admin rights? Who could, in theory, take my entire company down with them if their position were terminated or they were offered the right sum of money?
The all too common answer is, essentially, everyone in the company. Maybe even people who no longer work at your organization.
We often talk about “hackers” and “cybercriminals” and imagine shadowy hoodie-clad figures typing away on a keyboard in an unlit room, but 34% of breaches include internal users, and that’s not counting the poor souls who clicked on a ransomware email link.
Would you give every employee a key to a safe holding all of your assets? We don’t think of network access this way often, but the parallel is real. It’s time to take a look at who has the digital “keys to the kingdom” of your organization and lock down the unnecessary files, folders, and other areas that aren’t useful for day-to-day work, but pose a security risk.
Our customers are nowhere near the size of Twitter, but their data is just as important. Twitter has users’ names, emails, demographic information, and a general idea of users’ interests, but they don’t have other sensitive information like credit cards, routing information, and tax information. Would your customers want that left in an open file cabinet that any of your employees can access?
Regardless of what your organization does, it’s worth a look to see who can view sensitive information and data. You can’t leave this stuff up to your IT folks alone—if you’re a CEO or owner, you need to be aware of your vulnerabilities and how to fix them.
We recently started offering a service called the Facet Security Plus Audit, a comprehensive deep-dive into your company’s cybersecurity position. Facet’s Senior Network Engineer, Matt Ghiglieri, developed it along with other team members to specifically address our clients’ needs and give them the information they need to make solid security decisions, including prioritizing areas of most concern. It’s a brand-new way of looking at cybersecurity and we’ve received great responses to it so far. This service is available to both current and new Facet clients.
If you have any questions, or would like more resources and information on the Security Plus Audit, fill out our contact form or give us a call at (309) 353-4727.
