One Pot Meals | onedadskitchen

A Meal of One’s Own – Apple, Sausage and Wild Rice Stuffed Acorn Squash

As tempting as it might be to make big ,filling meals all of the time like meatloaf, fried chicken, burgers and the like, sometimes you need something a bit more on a little bit lighter for dinner. Dinners like warm chicken salad or other refreshing salads seem to go well with warmer weather and the summer and fall weather is a great opportunity to not only do things with soups but also with all of the great winter squash that is available. A lot of the squash you find can serve as a great vehicle not only as the vegetable of your dish but also as part of the serving and presentation. My favorite thing is to try to do this with acorn squash. You can get them at just the right size so that when they are halved they make a great serving bowl all of their own that you can eat practically all the way through. Naturally, you want to be able to fill the squash with some great ingredients and I took a cue from this recipe at The Pretend Baker and took the opportunity to not only use some of her ingredients but add my own and use up some of the leftover wild rice we had from a previous meal.

Apple, Sausage and Wild Rice Stuffed Acorn Squash

2 medium acorn squashes

2 tablespoons butter, plus more if necessary

1 pound pork sausage, casings removed

1 large sweet onion

3 cloves of garlic, minced

2 stalks of celery, diced

1 medium apple, peeled, cored and diced

1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves

1 tablespoon fresh sage leaves, minced

1/2 cup cooked wild rice

1 large egg, beaten

Salt and pepper, to taste

¾ cup shredded white cheddar, mozzarella or Gruyere cheese

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut the squashes in half, remove the seeds and place the squash halves on a baking dish, cut side down, and roast them for about 30 to 45 minutes or until the flesh is easily pierced with the tip of a knife. Remove the squash from the oven, turn the temperature down to 375 degrees, flip the squash over and allow them to cool until you are able to handle them.

Meanwhile, heat a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat and cook the sausage until it is browned, about 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the sausage to a plate.

Add 1 tablespoon of the butter to the skillet along with the minced onion, celery and chopped apple. Add a generous pinch of salt and cook, stirring frequently, until the onion is translucent and the apple is soft about 5 to 6 minutes.

Add the garlic and minced herbs and saute for about 30 seconds until they are fragrant.

Remove the onion and garlic mixture to another plate or bowl.

Add the remaining butter to the skillet and return the onion/apple mixture to the skillet along with cooked sausage and all the accumulated juices.

When the squash is cool enough to handle, scoop out most of the flesh, leaving some in the skin for sturdiness.

Add the squash flesh to the pan and stir until well incorporated. Add the wild rice to the pan and stir. Taste and add salt and pepper if needed.

Mix in the beaten egg and fill squash halves. You may have leftover filling – just add it to an oven safe dish.

Top the squash with shredded cheese, return the squash halves to the oven on the same baking sheet and bake them for about 15 to 20 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly and brown.

Let the squash stand for 10 minutes before serving.

The blend of flavors and spices here make the kitchen smell great and you end up with a really nice meal all in one package. I loved the mix of the sausage, apple, squash and wild rice together. It was very hearty, warming and filling. While I didn’t top mine with cheese, Michelle and Sean both had cheese on theirs and said it was delicious. The great thing about this meal is that you can leave out the sausage entirely if you want to make this a vegetarian dish. You could also substitute in just about any grain that might you like instead of wild rice – brown rice, barley, quinoa, for example – and still have a wonderful meal. The leftovers are great for lunches as well as they are already nicely portioned out and if you have any stuffing leftover after filling the squash it makes a great side dish for chicken, turkey or even a pork dish.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

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Posted by MikeG on November 10, 2016 in Cooking, Dinner, Leftovers, One Pot Meals, Rice, Sausage, Vegetables

Tags: apple and sausage stuffed acorn squash, apple sausage and wild rice stuffed acorn squash, one pot meals, stuffed acorn squash, The Pretend Baker, winter squash recipes

A New Take on a Takeout Classic – Chinese Fried Rice

01 Nov

Everyone always has their favorite dish when it comes to getting Chinese food. While some people will always defer to things like egg rolls, beef and broccoli, wonton soup, General Tso’s chicken or Mushu pork, there always seems to be one thing that is consistent with all Chinese food takeout orders – fried rice. The great thing about fried rice is that it goes so well with any of the entrées you might choose for takeout but it can also be an entrée all of its own. There are different varieties available from whatever place you normally get your Chinese food from but fried rice is easy enough where you can make something like this right at home to go with your favorite Asian meal or just to have as the centerpiece of your dinner. I have tried a few different fried rice recipes over the years and recently came across this one at Food.com that promise to have the taste and flavor just like you get from your favorite takeout place.

Chinese Fried Rice

³⁄₄cup finely chopped onion

2 ¹⁄₂tablespoons oil

1 egg, lightly beaten (or more eggs if you like)

3 drops soy sauce

3 drops sesame oil

8 ounces cooked lean boneless pork or 8 ounces chicken, chopped

¹⁄₂cup finely chopped carrot (very small)

¹⁄₂cup frozen peas, thawed

4 cups cold cooked rice, grains separated (preferably medium grain)

4 green onions, chopped

2 cups bean sprouts (optional)

2 tablespoons soy sauce(add more if you like)

Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat; add the chopped onions and stir-fry until the onions turn a nice brown color, about 8-10 minutes; remove the onions from the skillet.

Allow the skillet to cool slightly.

In a small bowl, mix the egg with 3 drops of soy sauce and 3 drops of sesame oil; set the bowl aside.

Add 1/2 tablespoon of the oil to the skillet, swirling to coat the surface; add the egg mixture. Working quickly, swirl the egg until the egg sets against the skillet. When the egg puffs, flip the egg and cook the other side briefly. Remove the egg from the skillet and chop the egg into small pieces. Set the egg aside.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in the skillet. Add the selected meat to the skillet, along with the carrots, peas, and cooked onion. Stir-fry the ingredients for about 2 to 3 minutes.

Add the cooked rice, green onions, and bean sprouts (if using), tossing the ingredients to mix everything well and stir-fry for about 3 minutes.

Add 2 tablespoons of the soy sauce and the chopped egg to the rice mixture and fold them into the rice. Stir-fry everything together for 1 minute more and serve.

As is always the case with fried rice, you can use any type of protein you like with the dish – beef, pork, chicken, shrimp, tofu – or no meat at all and keep everything vegetarian. I did find that this recipe does seem to taste a lot like takeout rice. I am not sure if it is the amount of soy used or just the method, but the taste was really close for me. I served this with the chicken teriyaki I made and it complemented the meal perfectly, but as I said this fried dish could stand on its own as a meal if you want something easy one night and have some leftover protein and vegetables to deal with. I even threw in some leftover asparagus tips into the mix to top ours off.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

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Posted by MikeG on November 1, 2016 in Cooking, Dinner, Leftovers, One Pot Meals, Rice, Side Dishes, Vegetarian

Tags: Chinese Fried Rice, Food.com, Food.com Chinese Fried Rice, fried rice, fried rice recipe, Make takeout fried rice at home

How to Use Squash, from Frying to Dips | Bon Appetit

29 Oct

Fall weather is upon us and winter is not far behind and among the bounty of great vegetables available this time of year or all the different types of squash that you can get. The choices seem almost endless and if you are looking for some ideas of what you can do with the different types of squash out there Bon Appetit has 23 squash recipe ideas you can try out that are ideal for all different types of cooking and baking. Check it out!

Source: How to Use Squash, from Frying to Dips | Bon Appetit

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Posted by MikeG on October 29, 2016 in Appetizers, Cooking, Cooking Websites, Dinner, One Pot Meals, Produce, Salad, Side Dishes, Soups & Stews, Vegetables, Vegetarian

Tags: 23 squash recipes, Bon Appetit 23 squash recipes, how to use squash, squash recipes, ways to use winter squash, winter squash recipes

The First Soup of the Season – Baked Butternut Squash and Celery Root Soup

20 Oct

Okay, so the weather hasn’t been exactly fall weather here the last 2 days, with temperatures getting up into the 80s during the day on both days, but it still seems to be that soup time of year. Things cooled down quite a bit last night and should be back more towards normal here, which means brisk autumn air that makes for good soup weather. With so many great fall vegetables around right now, particularly a bunch of different root vegetables, the opportunities are there to make all kinds of good soups. One that has always been a family favorite of ours has been butternut squash soup and since squash is so plentiful right now I knew I just had to make some soup the other night. I had picked up a couple of butternut squash at the farmer’s market last week, along with some carrots, celery root and leeks and I knew this was all going to come together nicely for a soup dinner. I decided to use this recipe from Molly O’Neill at New York Times Cooking for a baked butternut squash soup and adapted it to include some other great root vegetables to make it my own.

Baked Butternut Squash and Celery Root Soup

2 butternut squash, about 1 pound each, peeled, seeded and cut into 1-inch pieces

2 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces

2 medium leeks, white and light green parts only, rinsed well and finely chopped

1 celery root, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces

2 tablespoons olive oil

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 teaspoons honey

⅛ teaspoon each of mace, ground ginger, cinnamon and allspice

3 cups chicken broth

1/2 cup heavy cream

4 sprigs flat-leaf parsley, stems removed, finely chopped (optional)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Place the squash, carrots leeks and celery root in a shallow roasting pan or casserole dish. Sprinkle the olive oil over the vegetables, add salt and pepper to taste and toss the vegetables in the oil to coat them well. Drizzle the vegetables with the honey and add the mace, ground ginger, cinnamon and allspice and toss the vegetables again so they are well mixed. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and roast the vegetables in the oven for about 20 minutes. Remove the foil from the pan and continue roasting the vegetables until they are lightly browned and fork tender, about another 20 to 25 minutes.

While the vegetables are roasting, heat the chicken broth in a large pot or Dutch oven until it is simmering. Remove the pan from the oven and place the vegetables in the pot with the broth and mix them well. All the broth and vegetables to continue simmering for about 5 minutes. Remove the pot from the stove and using an immersion blender, blend the vegetables and broth together until the vegetables are smooth (You can also do this in a blender in batches if you prefer). Return the pot to the stove and bring the soup slowly to a boil over medium-low heat and then stir in the heavy cream. Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish with parsley, if desired.

You get some great combinations of flavors here with the squash, celery root, carrots and leeks. The honey just bumps up the sweetness a tiny bit here and the spices, even though they are in small amounts, add just the right touch. I like roasting the vegetables before putting them in the soup because they get nice and tender and seem to have better flavor this way than if you sautéed them in a pan or the same pot as the soup. You can leave out the heavy cream if you prefer but I added it because it helps create some great texture to the soup. The soup would benefit even more if you added a peeled and sliced apple to the vegetables when roasting, but I didn’t have any on hand so I left it out. You could also easily make this a vegetarian meal by using vegetable broth instead of chicken broth or just using water.This makes a nice batch of soup so you can have leftovers for other meals or lunches and we had the soup with sandwiches for dinner, but you could easily have it by itself, with some croutons, a salad or just with some homemade bread or biscuits. It was a great way to kick off what hopefully is the first of some awesome soups and stews this year.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

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Posted by MikeG on October 20, 2016 in Leftovers, Lunch, One Pot Meals, Vegetables, Vegetarian

Tags: baked butternut squash and celery root soup, baked butternut squash soup, butternut squash soup, butternut squash soup recipes, New York Times Cooking, one pot meals, soup recipes

The 101 Recipes You Need to Know How to Cook | Bon Appetit

15 Oct

Every home cook has some basic recipes that they turn to all of the time for weeknight meals, special Sunday suppers or dinner parties. There are some classics and basic recipes that you learn along the way that you can always rely on when you want to turn out a great meal. Bon Appetit has put together 101 of the basic classic recipes, with everything from appetizers to desserts and everything in between so that you can have recipes to fall back on, learn and use when you want them. Check it out!

Source: The 101 Recipes You Need to Know How to Cook | Bon Appetit

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Posted by MikeG on October 15, 2016 in Appetizers, Beans, Beef, Beverages, Biscuits, Breads, Cakes, Cookies, Cooking, Cooking Websites, Dessert, Dinner, Eggs, Fruit, Lunch, One Pot Meals, Pasta, Picnic Fare, Pie, Pork, Potatoes, Poultry, Rice, Salad, Sandwiches, Sauce, Sausage, Seafood, Side Dishes, Snacks, Soups & Stews, Vegetables

Tags: 101 basic recipes, 101 recipes you need to know how to cook, basic recipes you need to know, bon appetit, Bon Appetit 101 recipes you need to know

Easy From Start to Finish – Peach Glazed Pan Roasted Chicken Thighs with Potatoes and Broccoli

12 Oct

I find myself more and more trying to figure out ways where I can make meals that are all cooked in one pan. Not only does this make cleanup much easier for all of us after dinner so we don’t have to spend 45 minutes doing dishes (no dishwasher for us; everything is done by hand) but it also allows for dishes that provide a great melding of flavors along the way. I particularly like to do one pan meals with pork and chicken. They seem to be the best for meals of this type and are most adaptable so that you can use potatoes or rice and whatever vegetables you like the most and cook everything together. Of course, adding some great flavor to your protein helps a lot too. I had picked up some peach preserves when I last went to the farmer’s market and have been looking for a meal to use them with. The preserves tasted great on their own so I knew they would really perk up a chicken dish. Instead of going out and finding a recipe like I usually do I decided to wing this one on my own and see how it would turn out.

Peach Glazed Pan Roasted Chicken Thighs with Potatoes and Broccoli

1/2 cup peach preserves

3 tablespoons soy sauce

1/4 cup light brown sugar

1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar

1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger

1 clove garlic, minced

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

6 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, trimmed

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

8 ounces fingerling potatoes, rinsed and halved

2 cups broccoli crowns

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a small saucepan set over medium-low heat, add the peach preserves, soy sauce, brown sugar, rice wine vinegar, ginger and garlic. Whisk the mixture until it is well blended and heat at a low simmer for about 10 minutes.

In a large oven-safe skillet or roasting pan set over medium heat, add the vegetable oil and heat it until it is shimmering. Pat the chicken thighs dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Place the chicken thighs in the skillet, skin side down, and cook until the skin is nicely browned, about 7 to 8 minutes. Flip the chicken pieces over and heat on the second side for about 3 to 4 minutes just to lightly brown. Remove the chicken from the skillet and pour off all but 1 tablespoon of the fat and oil in the pan. Add the potatoes to the bottom of the pan and cook them for about 2 minutes. Add the broccoli on top of the potatoes. Nestle the chicken pieces into the broccoli and coat each piece of chicken with some of the peach glaze. Place the skillet in the oven and cook for 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes, coat the chicken pieces with more of the peach glaze. Return the chicken to the oven and cook until the chicken is nicely browned and cooked through and registers 170 degrees on an instant-read thermometer inserted into one of the thighs and the potatoes are fork tender, about 20 to 25 minutes.

The great thing about cooking this way is that you get the great flavors from the chicken and the glaze working their way down through the broccoli and potatoes to give them a touch of the sweetness from the peaches. You also get the nice roasting of the broccoli and potatoes as well, which is my favorite way to have each. You can use your own favorite glaze for the chicken to get the flavor you want (apricot would work well here as well) or even substitute pork for the chicken. You end up with nice crispy chicken that has wonderful taste and you get the entire meal done in one dish.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

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Posted by MikeG on October 12, 2016 in Cooking, Dinner, One Pot Meals, Potatoes, Poultry, Uncategorized

Tags: chicken thighs recipes, one pot meals, one pot meals chicken thighs, pan roasted chicken thighs, peach glazed chicken thighs, peach glazed pan roasted chicken thighs with potatoes and broccoli, peach preserves

Leftovers Redux – Pastrami Hash with Eggs

08 Oct

Continuing along with my last post’s theme of making use of some leftovers, I needed to find something to do with some of the leftover pastrami I had when I made it myself last week. Too much work and effort went into making it to just let what was left go to waste and Sean and I had eaten quite a bit of it for lunches over the days and needed something different. To the rescue comes breakfast for dinner! Breakfast for dinner is always a family favorite and something Sean has liked since he was a little boy. We do it every few weeks when I have run out of ideas of what to make for dinner that night. It usually involves something like pancakes, bacon, eggs or sausage, but since we had leftover pastrami to work with, what better opportunity was there to make some hash? Has is a great way to use up leftovers and create something new and tasty all at the same time and it gives you a change of pace for breakfast or dinner. I used this basic recipe from Bon Appetit for a pastrami hash with eggs as a template, though you probably don’t really need one when you are making hash.

Pastrami Hash with Eggs

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

4 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1½ pounds Yukon Gold potatoes (about 4 large), scrubbed, cut into 1-inch pieces

½ pound winter squash (such as acorn, butternut, or kabocha), peeled, cut into 1-inch pieces

Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper

2 leeks, white and pale-green parts only, chopped

1 garlic clove, chopped

1 pound pastrami or any leftover braised meat, cut or shredded into bite-size pieces

4 large eggs

¼ cup sliced chives (optional)

¾ cup sour cream (optional)

Heat the butter and 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large skillet set over medium-high heat. Add the potatoes and the winter squash and season the vegetables with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender, about 25–30 minutes.

Add the leeks and garlic to the hash and season the mixture with salt and pepper. Using the back of a spoon or a spatula, lightly smash the vegetables. Add the pastrami and cook, stirring occasionally, until the meat is warmed through and the flavors have melded, about 10–12 minutes.

Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a medium non-stick skillet set over medium-high heat. Carefully crack the eggs into the skillet one at a time and season them with salt and pepper. Cook the eggs until the whites are set and slightly puffed but the yolks are still runny, about 2 minutes.

Divide the hash among shallow bowls and top each bowl with an egg; scatter the chives over the top, if using. Serve with sour cream alongside, if desired.

If you have made corned beef hash before then you can see that this recipe is pretty similar. It would work with just about any type of meat you wanted to use – short ribs, prime rib, steak, turkey, sausage, chicken – and creates some great flavor. I really liked the spices that the pastrami already has and what they lent to the dish to give it even more flavor and it was a great way to use up the leftovers. I used butternut squash with the potatoes and opted for onions instead of leeks since I didn’t have any leeks on hand that day. Sean had his with scrambled eggs while my eggs were over easy and it was tasty to mix in the hash with some of the runny egg. We both loved it and there was a bit of hash leftover that is perfect to use with breakfast with an egg over an English muffin.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

2 Comments

Posted by MikeG on October 8, 2016 in Beef, Breakfast, Brunch, Cooking, Dinner, Eggs, Leftovers, One Pot Meals

Tags: bon appetit, Bon Appetit pastrami hash, pastrami hash, pastrami hash with eggs, pastrami recipes, using leftover pastrami

A Lazy Day of Leftovers – Chicken Tarragon Pot Pie

07 Oct

If you are like me, there are probably many nights during the week where you make a meal and then end up with a bunch of different leftovers that you may or may not know how to use. It is not unusual to get tired of having the same meal two or three times a week just because you do not want to throw away perfectly good food but are not sure what you can do with those leftover chicken pieces or leftover vegetables. It is times like this where potpie can come to the rescue. Potpie is a great meal to put together just about any time of the year and you can do it with any type of protein (or no protein at all if you are vegetarian) and vegetables. The only real effort that goes into it is making the pie dough and even then, if you have no problem using store-bought pie dough you can get the meal together even quicker. Very often I will use store-bought pie dough simply because it is easy, I do not really have the room to make pie dough and for potpie purposes it tastes just fine. I decided to use this recipe from New York Times Cooking for a chicken-tarragon potpie and make a simple dinner.

Chicken-Tarragon Pot Pie

For the crust:

2 cups all-purpose flour

14 tablespoons (1 3/4 sticks) cold unnsalted butter, cut into pieces

1 tablespoon cold vegetable shortening

Scant 1/2 teaspoon salt

Scant 1/2 teaspoon sugar

1 egg

For the Filling:

5 tablespoons butter

1 cup chopped carrot

1 cup chopped celery

1 cup thinly sliced leeks

1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon, or 1 1/2 teaspoons dried tarragon

1 cup frozen baby green peas

4 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 ½ cups chicken broth

1 cup heavy cream

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

3 cups leftover roast chicken, cut into 1/2-inch chunks

To make the crust, combine the flour, butter, shortening, salt and sugar in a food processor. Pulse the ingredients together just until the mixture is crumbly and the butter is broken into small pieces. Pour 1/3 cup of ice water into the machine, and pulse 3 or 4 times. Squeeze a little dough in your hand to see whether it clumps together and is evenly moist. If not, add another tablespoon of water, and pulse 1 or 2 times more. Don’t overmix so that the dough forms a ball.

Turn out the dough on a large sheet of plastic wrap. Lift the ends of the plastic to gather the dough together inside. Press the dough into a large disk, and wrap it tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough until you are ready to use it, up to 2 days.

To make the filling, melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a large skillet set over medium-high heat. Add the carrot, celery, leeks and tarragon, and cook, stirring, just until slightly softened but not browned (reduce the heat if necessary to prevent browning), about 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer the cooked vegetables to a bowl, wipe out the skillet, and place it back on the stove.

Add the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter, and melt it over medium heat. Whisk in the flour, and cook, whisking, until the mixture bubbles and smells cooked. Do not let it brown. Whisk in 2 cups of chicken broth, and cook, whisking, for about 1 minute. Whisk in the cream, and cook 2 or 3 minutes, just until the mixture is thickened. Add the salt and pepper. If the sauce is too thick, whisk in the remaining broth.

Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Add the cooked vegetables and peas, the chicken and the sauce to an 8-inch deep pie dish or other baking dish, mix the ingredients gently, and taste for seasoning.

If you are using store-bought dough, take the dough out of the refrigerator and allow it to come to room temperature for about 10 to 15 minutes. If you are using your own homemade dough, flour a work surface. Remove the dough from the refrigerator. Roll out the dough, turning and flouring often, and cut a shape approximately the size of your baking dish plus 1 1/2 inches overlap all around.

Roll the dough up onto the rolling pin, and unroll it over the baking dish, so it rests evenly on top of the filling. Fold the edges under and crimp the edges. Poke the tip of a knife through the crust to create 3 vent holes near the center. Whisk the egg with a teaspoon of cold water. Use a pastry brush to lightly coat the entire crust with egg wash. Place the pie pan or baking dish on a cookie sheet, and place it in the oven.

Bake the pie for 20 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees. Bake the pie for 25 to 30 minutes more, until the crust is golden and the filling is bubbling through the vents. Let the pie rest for 10 minutes before serving.

One of the great things about this recipe is that you can make use of any type of vegetables you want in a pot pie. I used the vegetables recommended but I also had some leftover broccoli that I put in as well. Pot pie works well with chicken, turkey, beef and pork that you may have leftover so you can make just about anything with it. I find pot pie tastes even better the next day and often have any leftovers for lunch, after the sauce and the flavors have had even more time to come together. It can be a great dinner to put together in under an hour.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. Until then enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

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Posted by MikeG on October 7, 2016 in Cooking, Dinner, Leftovers, One Pot Meals, Pie, Poultry, Vegetables

Tags: chicken pot pie, chicken potpie, chicken-tarragon pot pie, NYT Cooking, NYT Cooking chicken tarragon pot pie, pot pie recipes, using leftover chicken

Have Your Beer and Eat it Too – Beer-Brined Chicken

27 Sep

While I am not a huge beer drinker by any means, I do enjoy having a good beer now and then. While I am particularly partial to having a Guinness, I try to keep an open mind and do drink several other different craft beers. I appreciate that not everyone enjoys having beer is there beverage of choice, but making use of beer in cooking can be quite tasty. Not only is it great to use in batters for things like fish or shrimp, I have also found a few different recipes that make use of beer in both the brine that is used for additional flavoring and in the braising or roasting. That is just what this particular recipe has to offer that I found at New York Times Cooking for beer-brined roast chicken. The original recipe comes from Red Rooster Harlem, a well-known restaurant here in New York. The recipe itself is pretty simple, though you do need to plan a little bit ahead so that you can brine the chicken and have it ready to go for roasting.

Beer-Brined Roast Chicken

For the Brine:

1 cup kosher salt

⅔ cup packed light brown sugar

4 cloves garlic, lightly crushed

1 leek (white and light green part), quartered

5 sprigs thyme

7 sprigs sage

2 shallots, halved and peeled

3 (12-ounce) bottles lager-style beer

For the Chicken and Vegetables:

1 whole chicken (4 to 4 1/2 pounds)

1 ½ pounds Brussels sprouts, trimmed and cut in half lengthwise

1 ½ pounds fingerling potatoes (or other small potato), cut in half lengthwise

2 cups whole peeled pearl onions

2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage

1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 to 4 sprigs sage

3 tablespoons butter, softened

1 (12-ounce) bottle lager-style beer

To prepare the brine, in a large pot combine 8 cups of water, the salt and the sugar and bring the mixture to a simmer over high heat, stirring to help dissolve the salt and sugar. Remove the mixture from the heat and add the garlic, leek, thyme, sage and shallots; let the brine cool to room temperature.

Place the chicken in a deep container large enough to hold it and the brine. Pour the cooled brine over the chicken. Pour in the 3 bottles of beer until the chicken is submerged; cover the chicken and refrigerate it overnight.

To prepare the chicken and vegetables, heat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine the Brussels sprouts, potatoes, onions, chopped sage and lemon zest in a large bowl. Drizzle the vegetables with vegetable oil and season them with salt and pepper; toss the vegetables to evenly coat them.

Remove the chicken from the brine and pat the skin dry with paper towels. Place about half of the vegetables in the bottom of a roasting pan or large sauté pan and set the chicken on top of the vegetables. Rub the butter evenly over the top of the chicken to coat it well. Pour the bottle of beer into the pan and arrange the sage sprigs in the pan around the chicken.

Roast the chicken for 1 hour, basting every 20 minutes with the liquid in the pan.

Increase the oven temperature to 400 degrees. Spread the remaining vegetables on a baking sheet and place them on a low rack or the bottom of the oven. Cook everything until the chicken skin is golden brown and crisp and the vegetables are just tender and slightly charred, 20 to 30 more minutes, stirring the vegetables and basting the chicken once halfway through.

Let the chicken rest for 10 minutes before carving. Plate chicken with a mix of roasted veggies and the vegetables from the pan. Spoon the reduced cooking liquid from the pan over the top.

This is a pretty basic roast chicken recipe with vegetables that lets you do most of the work all in one pan. I love roasting this way because you get to use just one pan and you get a great melding of flavors as the chicken juices run onto the vegetables and everything tastes great. I actually poured out the juices from the vegetables once the chicken was done and thickened all of the juices up as a gravy in a separate pan. It was great flavor that came from the beer, the chicken and vegetables. I used a Samuel Adams beer, actually their Maple Ale that is part of their seasonal beers that are out right now and it added a very nice flavor to the sauce and the chicken, but you could certainly use any beer that you enjoy the most. The vegetables were all roasted very nicely and had great flavor also. You can use a mix of any root vegetables you really like here to make the dish your own, but I love roasted Brussels sprouts myself. Throw in some carrots with the potatoes and you have everything to go. I actually made some of our favorite biscuits to go with everything to make the meal complete.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

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Posted by MikeG on September 27, 2016 in Cooking, Dinner, One Pot Meals, Poultry, Uncategorized

Tags: beer-brined chicken, beer-brined roast chicken, New York Times Cooking, Red Rooster Harlem Beer brined chicken, roast chicken, roast chicken recipe, Samuel Adams Maple Ale

Kitchen Pantry Cooking Essentials – Key Ingredients and Recipes – Food.com

16 Sep

The key to good cooking and easy cooking is having some basics in your pantry all of the time. When you have the right ingredients around you can put together a meal in no time at all. Food.com has a list for you of the 50 most common cooking essentials you want in your pantry so you can do anything at any time. Check it out!

Source: Kitchen Pantry Cooking Essentials – Key Ingredients and Recipes – Food.com