You are currently browsing the category archive for the 'Chicken' category.
Some nights are healthier than others at Storkbite’s house. Papa has been working hard lately, so I decided to reward him with the best fried chicken I could make. Because he loves it so much he even got involved in the production process so everybody won. Polenta night means that our coffers are empty, I’m out of ideas and there isn’t any time for preparation. Here is what we came up with.
Fried Chicken and Biscuits
Even though fried food is totally unhealthy, I did my best to select free-range anti-biotic free bird for the project. It all got washed, dried, dredged in flour, then in buttermilk, then in panko bread crumbs souped up with Old Bay and salt. Into the hot hot hot oil the little birds went. We ended up with best fried chicken I’ve ever made.
The biscuit recipe came from the Joy of Cooking with two amendments: instead of shortening I use LARD (you know it, manteca, ummmm), and instead of milk I used buttermilk. Lard is one of those guilty pleasures, it really does make a pie crust and a biscuit more crumbly, and if you don’t eat it every day you might live until your 65. I’m willing to take the risk and I’m going to feed it to my baby too. You will be pleased to know that the thought crossed our mind to fry the chicken in lard, but we did exercise some self-restraint. I served roasted potato chips on the side.
Polenta, Chard and Yellow Tomatoes
Sometimes I run out of ideas and processing all the vegetables the CSA is bringing on becomes and arduous task. In this case I baked up some polenta rounds and sauteed chard and yellow tomatoes in olive oil and garlic. Once the vegetables were tender enough to consume, I layered it on top of the polenta rounds. With a little cubed fresh mozzarella and a dusting of parmesan cheese it turned out to be an excellent and quick dinner and lunch the day after. For not having a plan it turned out to be a very rewarding and visually appealing treat.
Every now and again I try out a recipe from a magazine. Generally I look at all the pictures, scan the ingredients and make my own variation. I prefer that method because I do not have a suitable stand to hold a recipe book on my small kitchen counter. However, this time I “tested” out the recipe for braised chicken with dried plums from the September 2008 issue of Martha’s Everyday FOOD. There are a lot of great things about this magazine especially the small format and excellent photographs of mouth watering food. The one problem I always encounter with the dishes that I try is that richness is somehow missing. Either there is not enough butter, cream or cheese. I’m sure it’s more healthy, but I’m often left wanting more…
Braised Chicken with Dried Plums
You can get the precise recipe from Martha. My problem with the dish is that the wine (2 cups of dry white) was very overwhelming. The polenta on the side was too dense and the chicken seemed undercooked since it was browned on either side for 6 - 8 minutes total and then braised in the liquid for another 8 - 10 minutes. I was a little bit squeamish since my chicken was glassy and had colored juices running forth. Hmmm… Back to making up my own stuff, I guess.
Basic Sauce
Every summer when I have loads of vegetables to process I make this sauce. It’s easy, delicious, requires no canning equipment and was my mother’s idea. My mom is an expert canner. In this case I do not use the term lightly as the lady wins blue ribbons and this year Best in Show at our local county fair. No fear of botulism with her goods. I don’t have nearly the amount of vegetables that need to be processed so I make this simple freezer sauce and it’s just as delicious in my opinion because everything is roasted first. In this batch I roasted zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes, garlic and green peppers at 425 for about an hour. Everything got a good dousing of olive oil and salt and pepper sprinkle before their roast. Once the vegetables are roasted, remove the skins on the tomatoes and let them cool in their juices on the pan. After it’s all cool, simply process the sauce in a food processor (in batches if you have a lot) adding olive oil to emulsify and freeze in small portions. I generally use it up within the first month because it’s so amazing. It’s great on pasta, pizza, ice cream.
Our favorite (and only) nearby Indian restaurant closed just before Storkbite was born and we haven’t found a place worthy of replacing it. We have since been faced with making Indian food at home. I’m not really good at it, but there is an amazing grocery store nearby called Patel Bros. and the have all the best ingredients. We just got back from visiting Storkbite’s grandparents earlier in the day and I had a jar of masala simmer sauce. I had never used a totally prepared - just add chicken - simmer sauce before. We had been on the plane and Storkbite behaved badly (she is just 5 months so I should give her a break), so I decided that it was an excellent occasion for the Masala simmer sauce. I just added cubed chicken breasts from my frozen reserve and made some basmati rice. For a quick meal, it was pretty darn delicious. It’s going to be a bland week here at Storkbite Stew. I had to give last week’s CSA box away due to our vacation. We will be back to frozen foods until Thursday night. Stand by…
The little jar of masala sauce only suggested that I use water; however, I should have used less water and more heavy cream. I simmered for 15 minutes and then added about a 1/4 cup of heavy cream and stirred.
We plated the basmati rice, covered it with chicken tikka masala and topped it with fresh cilantro. Not a bad meal for a night that was headed towards take-out.
When we need a pick me up that is creamy and delicious, this family almost always wants two things: Chicken and Dumplings or Fettuccine Alfredo. It’s really as easy a boiling water for pasta - the secret is knowing how to make the white sauce (bechamel). Just remember - equal parts fat and flour.
3 Tbs. Butter, melted in a sauce pan, add 3 Tbs. Flour, mix and cook down until it forms a paste. This is called a roux. Add approx. 2 1/4 cups of milk and whisk together. Bring this up to a boil and then reduce. As it thickens, use your whisk! I added a 1/2 of grated parmesan to this sauce which caused it to thicken faster, but gave it the Alfredo taste. I have no idea how the real Italians do it, but that’s my quick easy short cut way of making Alfredo sauce and not buying that strange tub of white sauce from the store.
I grilled some chicken tenders, sliced them up and layered everything on top of my fat noodles from Trader Joe’s.
One thing I’ve learned is that if it’s popular, do it again. I tend to vary the ingredients slightly and use the same flavors. If you are like me and buy spices when you have a particular dish in mind rather than having a fully stocked collection, then this trick is right for you. First off, I want to say that my favorite of all spices are from The Spice House and their gift boxes make excellent holiday presents.
Everyone here at Storkbite’s house liked the tandoori tilapia from a few nights ago, that I decided to put on a revival with chicken. It’s still really hot outside and all I could cook was a chicken breast rubbed with tandoori. I served it over the last of our delicious red leaf Boston lettuce with a yogurt, curry, vinegar and olive oil dressing. I served some naan on the side which is in the frozen section of Trader Joe’s. It was fantastic!
The best part about this meal was that it took minutes. Storkbite’s Papa gave me a 10 minute warning that he was going to be home for 20 minutes before leaving for a meeting and he needed to EAT. I have no idea how I conjured up something so quick and satisfying, but I did.
Recent Comments