Poultry | onedadskitchen

Quick and Tasty Chicken, Sausage and Peppers

While I have a few minutes of a break for lunch before starting up work again, I thought I would just pop in and give the recipe I made for dinner last night. I had seen this recipe on Food Network’s website and it sounded perfect for a weeknight meal when you need something quick and easy. I altered it slightly, changing up the kinds of peppers used in the recipe, but other than that I stayed pretty true.

Chicken, Sausage and Peppers

2 tablespoons butter

3/4 pound sweet or hot Italian sausage, cut into chunks

3/4 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into chunks

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 small onion, chopped

2-3 peppers of various colors, cut into 1-inch pieces

3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped

1/2 cup dry white wine

3/4 cup chicken broth

1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh parsley

Heat 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the sausage and cook until golden, about 2 minutes. Season the chicken with salt and pepper., then toss the chicken with the flour in a bowl to coat; add the chicken to the skillet and cook until golden brown but not cooked through, about 3 minutes.

Add the onion, peppers,garlic, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and pepper to taste and cook for 3 minutes. Add the wine, scraping up any browned bits; bring to a boil and cook until slightly reduced, about 1 minute. Add the broth and bring to a gentle simmer. Cover and cook until the sausage and chicken are cooked through, about 5 minutes.

Transfer the chicken, sausage and vegetables to a platter with a slotted spoon. Increase the heat to high and stir the parsley into the skillet.; boil until it is reduced by one-third, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter. Pour the sauce over the chicken mixture.

I served the meal with some white rice to round things out. For the peppers, I had bought a variety of colored peppers at the farmers market – red, orange, yellow, purple and white – so I used them all to make it more colorful. I would use whatever type of peppers you like best; if you want ones that will add some heat, get them and use them here and then use hot Italian sausage in the recipe.

That’s it for today. I have a doctor’s appointment this evening so I don’t think there ill be an organized meal tonight. Check back tomorrow and see what I’ve got. until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

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Posted by MikeG on August 23, 2012 in Cooking, Dinner, Pork, Poultry, Vegetarian

Tags: chicken sausage and peppers, food network, italian sausage, peppers

It’s Too Hot Out to Cook, Let’s Make Some Chicken Salad

10 Aug

Holy Moley it’s been pretty humid here. Today especially seems too humid and sticky out to bother with the oven. Luckily, we have lots of chicken available of all different types, so it makes it ideal to make some chicken salad sandwiches for dinner tonight. Personally, I love a good sandwich. I don’t eat cold cuts or deli meat, except for the occasional pastrami sandwich. I would much rather have a sandwich using fresh meat, like turkey, chicken or tuna, or even shrimp or lobster. There are a lot of things you can do to make any of these things into a great sandwich. Even just making a nice vegetable sandwich can be awesome, using fresh tomatoes, lettuce, maybe some grilled eggplant, mushrooms, the combinations can be endless. For tonight, we’ll keep it simple with basic chicken salad.

Chicken Salad Sandwiches

1 3/4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Salt and pepper

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 ribs of celery, chopped fine

3/4 cup mayonnaise

2 scallions, minced

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

6 hard rolls (or any bread you might like, enough for 6 sandwiches)

Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Carefully add the chicken and cook until lightly golden brown on the first side, about 5 minutes. Flip the chicken over, cover and continue to cook until it is no longer pink the center, about 5 minutes longer. Transfer the chicken to a plate and refrigerate until chilled, about 30 minutes. Cut the chilled chicken into 3/4-inch pieces and toss with the remaining ingredients. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Spread on the rolls and serve.

If you’re like me, we almost always have leftover chicken that can be used instead of making chicken just to make the salad. Use what you have or make it this way. You could also just bake the chicken in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes or until it is cooked through. Once it is time to make the sandwiches, you can build it anyway you like. Add some fresh sliced tomato, leaves of lettuce or spinach, some sliced red onion, a slice or two of bacon, some sliced avocado, or whatever else you might like to have on the sandwich. That’s the great thing about sandwiches – you can do whatever you want with them.

For sides, you can make potato salad, serve it with some chips or some pickle. You could also make some coleslaw to go along side of it. I like this coleslaw recipe since it doesn’t use mayonnaise. I do like the creamy slaw, but using this simple recipe can save you some fat and calories and it tastes great.

Spicy No-Mayo Coleslaw

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons sherry vinegar, red wine vinegar, or freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 small garlic clove, minced

1 tablespoon minced fresh chile, like jalapeno (optional)

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

6 cups core shredded green and/or red cabbage

1 large red or yellow pepper, cored, seeded and diced

1/3 cup chopped scallion

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

To make the dressing, whisk together the mustard and vinegar in a small bowl, along with the garlic and chile, if using. Add the oil, a little at a time, whisking all the while.

Combine the cabbage, bell pepper and scallion and toss with the dressing. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and refrigerate until ready to serve. Just before serving, toss with the parsley.

I normally let it sit in the fridge for an hour or two so the flavors can meld together nicely, but you could let it go even longer if you wanted to. Also, sometimes I add a little shredded carrot to the mix. You could also just buy one of those bags of coleslaw mix and use what is in the bag and just make this dressing.

That’s all for tonight. We do have a few things we are hoping to make for dinner in the next few days, so I hope to post some other recipes this weekend as well. Until then, enjoy your evening and enjoy your meal!

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Posted by MikeG on August 10, 2012 in Cooking, Lunch, Poultry, Salad, Sandwiches

Tags: chicken salad, chicken salad sandwiches, coleslaw, spicy no-mayo coleslaw

Chicken, Beets and Magic Ice Cream

06 Aug

We had family over for dinner yesterday so we did our typical Sunday dinner with way too much food. We started off with appetizers of buffalo chicken pizza and some homemade guacamole and tomato salsa with some chips. Then for dinner, I tried to do everything in one roasting pan to help cut down on the clean up. We made a couple of roast chickens with roasted root vegetables that we had picked up at the farmer’s market on Saturday. This also included some fresh beets that I roasted and they turned out wonderful. The whole dinner was very easy to prepare, although it took about 2 hours in total to cook. I used recipes from Mark Bittman’s “How to Cook Everything” for the meal yesterday.

Roast Chicken with Root Vegetables

6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 whole chickens, 3 to 4 pounds each, trimmed of excess fat

2-3 russet potatoes, scrubbed and chopped

1/2 pound parsnips, peeled and chopped

1/2 pound carrots, peeled and chopped

1 sweet potato, scrubbed and chopped

1 onion, peeled and quartered

6 whole cloves of garlic

Heat the oven to 450 degrees. Mix together the olive oil and thyme and some salt and pepper. Put the chickens, breast side up, on a rack in a roasting pan. Toss all the vegetables together in a large bowl with 3/4 of the herb and oil mixture and scatter in the bottom of the roasting pan beneath the chickens. Roast the chickens in the oven for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, spoon some of the herb mixture over the chicken and the vegetables. Shake the pan gently so the vegetables turn and cook evenly.

After roasting for another 10 minutes, the chicken breasts should begin to brown (if they don’t, wait a few more minutes until they are brown). Turn the heat in the oven down to 325 degrees, baste again with the remaining herb mixture, and roast until an instant read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh reads 155-165 degrees.

Remove the chickens from the oven and raise the oven temperature to 425 degrees. Continue roasting the vegetables while the chickens rest before carving, about 15 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Serve the carved chickens with the vegetables scattered around them.

We served the chickens and vegetables with a fresh tomato and cucumber salad dressed with extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper and a little diced shallot. You could just as easily only make one of the vegetables for this meal instead of the mix, but the mix turned out quite nice and gave us a good variety. I also made some fresh beets that I roasted with this meal. Now, not everyone is a fan of beets in general. I think some people were scarred in childhood by being forced into eating them, but fresh roasted beets taste unbelievably delicious. They have a very sweet flavor from their natural sugars, and once you have roasted them they are great hot or cold. Roasting them really is the best method for cooking them.

Roasted Beets

4 large beets, scrubbed, greens cut off (leave a bit of the greens on the end to help stop them from bleeding all over while they cook)

Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Wash the beets well. Wrap them individually in foil and put them on a cookie sheet or in a roasting pan. Bake, undisturbed for 45 to 90 minutes, until the thin blade of knife pierces one with a little resistance. Remove the beets from the foil and carefully and gently rub the surface of the beet to remove the peel. Dress lightly with extra virgin olive oil and salt and pepper.

If you bake them in foil, you don’t really have to worry about them staining anything (unless of course you drop a piece on your shirt while you’re eating. Thankfully, none of us did). You could also take the roasted beets, cut them and saute them gently with some butter or olive oil after roasting for some added flavor, but I think they are great just this way. Everyone seemed to really enjoy them, and I had leftovers tonight with dinner.

I decided to try something completely different for dessert last night. I had seen a recipe from Cook’s Country for something called Magic Strawberry Ice Cream. The name intrigued me so I read up on it and it claimed to make ice cream with the need of an ice cream machine or maker. I figured why not, let’s give it a try.

Magic Strawberry Ice Cream

8 ounces strawberries, hulled

1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

1 ounce white chocolate chips

1 tablespoon vodka

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

1 1/4 cups heavy creamed, chilled

Process the strawberries in a food processor until smooth, about 30 seconds (puree should measure about 3/4 cup). Microwave the sweetened condensed milk, white chocolate chips and vodka in a large bowl until the chocolate melts, about 1 minute, whisking halfway through cooking. Whisk in the strawberry puree, vanilla and salt.

Using a stand mixer fitted with a whisk, whip the heavy cream on medium-low speed until foamy, about 1 minute. Increase the speed to high and whip until soft peaks form, 1 to 3 minutes. Whisk one-third of the whipped cream into the strawberry mixture, then gently fold in the remaining whipped cream, 1 scoop at a time, until combined. Freeze in an airtight container until firm, 6 hours or up to 2 weeks. Serve.

I know you are probably asking, why is there vodka in this recipe? Well the berries have a lot of moisture all on their own and the ice cream would crystallize and ice over. The vodka prevents this from happening and lets the berries do their thing. I have to say, I was very skeptical this would work but I could tell before I even combined the puree with the whipped cream that this was going to taste good. The puree itself smelled exactly like a good strawberry ice cream. Once everything was combined and had set, it was perfect and tasted awesome. What made it even better for us was that Michelle’s grandmother had unknowingly made a strawberry shortcake to bring for dessert, so it was absolute perfect with a little ice cream on the side.

Of course, if I was smart I would have taken pictures of everything, but Sean reminded me about after most of the ice cream was gone, so I didn’t get a picture of it (he’s actually finishing the ice cream right now). Oh well, maybe next time. Now that we know how easy it is to make, I’ll certainly make it again.

That’s it for tonight. I have 2 chicken carcasses to make stock with tomorrow and I never did get to make chicken salad sandwiches the other night, but maybe I will do that tomorrow and post the recipe with some potato salad and cole slaw. We’ll have to see what else comes along this week. Work has kept me very busy lately, so I haven’t had time to blog, but I will try to fit some in this week. Until then, enjoy your evening and enjoy your meal!

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Posted by MikeG on August 6, 2012 in Cooking, Dessert, Poultry, Vegetables

Tags: magic strawberry ice cream, mark bittman, roast chicken with root vegetables, roasted beets, roasted root vegetables

Butterfly, Butterfly, Butterflied Barbecued Chicken

02 Aug

It was too hot to use the stove tonight here, so I decided to go for the grill instead. As you know if you follow my blog, we live in a condo and New York State law says no charcoal or gas grills can be stored if you live in this type of dwelling, so I use an electric grill instead. You don’t always get the greatest results, but it works pretty well if you combine it with using a smoker box. I wanted to do something very simple tonight, so I found this recipe from America’s Test Kitchen for a grilled butterflied chicken. I did jazz it up a little bit by adding a dry rub and the smoker box, but you can easily just do this with just some salt and pepper.

Grilled Butterflied Chicken

2 cups of wood chips, soaked and drained

Vegetable oil

1 (3 1/2 to 4 pound) whole chicken

1 garlic clove, minced

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 tablespoon fresh parsley, minced

Place the wood chips in a disposable aluminum tray or a smoker box. Rest the box on top of the primary burner. Turn all the burners on to high, close the lid and heat the grill until it is very hot, about 15 minutes. Clean and oil the grill and turn all the burners to medium-low.

Mix the garlic, salt, pepper and parsley together in a small bowl. Remove and discard the gizzard packet from inside the chicken. Butterfly the chicken using poultry shears. Lay the chicken on its breast and use the poultry shears to cut out the backbone. Flip the chicken to breast side up and cover it with plastic wrap. Using a meat pounder, flatten the chicken by pounding lightly. Season both sides of the chicken with the dry rub.

Grill the chicken skin-side down, covered, until the skin is crisp and an instant-read thermometer inserted deep into the thigh registers 165 degrees, about 30 to 45 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a carving board, tent with foil and allow it to rest for 10 minutes before carving into pieces.

It is all super easy, very fast and tastes great. We just made some sliced carrots and diced potatoes to go along with the meal and it was perfect.

For tomorrow, we’ll be using a lot of the leftovers. I am planning some chicken salad sandwiches, potato salad and cole slaw, so you can check back to see how I decide to make them. Until then, enjoy your evening and enjoy your meal!

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Posted by MikeG on August 2, 2012 in Cooking, Dinner, Grilling, Poultry

Tags: grilled butterflied chicken

11 Recipes for Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast That Are Not Even Slightly Boring: BA Daily: bonappetit.com

25 Jul

11 Recipes for Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast That Are Not Even Slightly Boring: BA Daily: bonappetit.com.

Here’s another good blog post from Bon Appetit. If your house is like mine, we always have boneless chicken breast around and I am always looking for something new to do with it. Here are 11 new and interesting recipes to liven up your chicken dishes. Check them out!

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Posted by MikeG on July 25, 2012 in Cooking Websites, Poultry

Tags: 11 recipes for boneless chicken breast, bon appetit, boneless chicken breast

Pass the Stove Top Roast Chicken

23 Jul

There’s nothing quite like some roast chicken. Crispy skin, juicy meat, it just plain tastes good. However, there are some days (today being one of them) where it is just too hot to turn on the stove. Sometimes you feel like using the stove for something else, like a cake or a pie. Today, it was just too hot for the oven but I had some chicken pieces that I wanted to cook. This recipe, from America’s Test Kitchen, gave a good solution of roasting the chicken on the stove top. I still got the dark brown crispy skin and the moist meat, and got a really good pan sauce to go along with it.

Stovetop Roast Chicken with Lemon-Herb Sauce

Chicken

3 1/2 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken pieces, trimmed

Salt and fresh ground black pepper

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

3/4 cup chicken broth

Lemon-Herb Sauce

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

1 medium shallot, minced

1 1/2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves

1 1/2 tablespoons minced fresh chives

1 tablespoon juice from 1 lemon

1 tablespoon butter, chilled

Salt and ground black pepper

For the chicken: Pat the chicken dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Heat 2 teaspoons of the oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add the chicken pieces skin side down and cook without moving until golden brown, 5 to 8 minutes.

Using tongs, flip the chicken pieces skin side up. Reduce the heat to medium-low, add the chicken broth to the skillet, cover and cook until the thickest part of the breast registers 155 degrees and the thickest part of the thigh/drumstick registers 170 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, 10 to 16 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a plate, skin side up.

Pour off the liquid from the skillet into a measuring cup and reserve. Wipe out the skillet with paper towels. Add the remaining 1 teaspoon of oil to the skillet and heat over medium-high heat until shimmering. Return the chicken pieces to the skillet skin side down and cook undisturbed until the skin is deep golden brown and crisp, the thickest part of the breast registers 160 to 165 degrees, and the thickest part of the thigh/drumstick registers 175 degrees, 4 to 7 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a serving platter and tent loosely with foil. Using a spoon, skim any fat from the reserved cooking liquid and add more broth if needed to measure 3/4 cup.

For the sauce: Heat the oil in the now-empty skillet over low heat. Add the shallot and cook, stirring frequently, until softened, about 2 minutes. Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 30 seconds. Increase the heat to medium-high, add the reserved cooking liquid, and bring to a simmer, scraping the skillet bottom with a wooden spoon to loosen any browned bits. Simmer rapidly until reduced to a 1/2 cup, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in any accumulated juices from the resting chicken; return to a simmer and cook for 30 seconds. Off the heat, whisk in the parsley, chives, lemon juice and butter; season with salt and pepper to taste. Pour the sauce around the chicken and serve immediately.

I served the chicken with some noodles and peas. the sauce was spectacular and went perfectly with the chicken. I would make this one again for sure.

I’m not sure what tomorrow will bring for dinner. I’ve been bad about planning things out lately; we’ve just had so much going on that I haven’t really had a chance to plan. Now that Sean is home from his trip south (Yeah!) maybe we can plan things a little better. Check back and see what the next meal will be. Enjoy the rest of your evening and enjoy your meal!

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Posted by MikeG on July 23, 2012 in Cooking, Gravy, Poultry

Tags: lemon-herb sauce, stovetop roast chicken

Why Are You Roasting Turkey Today? Because It Tastes Good, That’s Why!

12 Jul

I do seem to pick odd times to make turkey. I think a lot of people think of it as a Fall meal, but we love turkey in our house and it’s great anytime. I made a turkey breast a few weeks ago, and I have found them on sale recently, so I haven’t been able to resist buying them. This recipe is another roasting recipe, though you could probably do this one on the grill instead if you wanted to. This is a great one pot meal with the turkey, potatoes and vegetables all in one pan.

Roast Turkey Breast With Glazed Vegetables

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon honey

1 pound sweet potatoes, halved or quartered if large

1 pound small parsnips, peeled and halved

1 bulb fennel, thinly sliced, plus 2 tablespoons chopped fronds

1 large red onion, cut into 8 wedges

1/2 cup dried apricots

2 to 3 springs rosemary, plus 1/2 teaspoon chopped rosemary leaves

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 small clove garlic, minced

Grated zest and juice of 1/2 lemon

1 skin-on, bone in turkey breast half (3 to 4 pounds)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Whisk 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, the honey and 2 tablespoons of water in a bowl. Put the potatoes, parsnips, fennel slices, onion, dried apricots and rosemary sprigs in a roasting pan. Add 1/2 a teaspoon each of salt and pepper, drizzle with the honey mixture and toss. Roast until the vegetables are soft, about 30 minutes, stirring once.

Meanwhile, mix the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil, the garlic, lemon zest and chopped rosemary in a small bowl. Rub the herb mixture under and over the turkey skin. Season with salt and pepper and bring the meat to room temperature.

Place the turkey on top of the vegetables in the pan; roast until the skin browns and a thermometer inserted into the thickest part registers 165 degrees, 1 hour to 1 hour, 15 minutes (Cover with foil if the skin gets too dark.) Transfer the turkey to a cutting board and let rest for 20 minutes.

Toss the roasted vegetables with lemon juice and the fennel fronds. Slice the turkey and serve with the vegetables.

A few quick notes on what I did when cooking this recipe. The turkey breast I had was only 1 1/2 pounds, so I cut the recipe in half. Also, I replaced the rosemary with parsley (Michelle doesn’t care for rosemary) and I didn’t use the fennel at all (too expensive in the store and we aren’t big fans of it anyway). The remainder of the recipe stayed the same.

I love the way the turkey came out and the fact that the whole meal was done in one pan made for easy clean up. Nothing is better than nice and simple, especially on a warm day.

A quick and easy meal and recipe for today. I still have some chicken to use for tomorrow, I just haven’t decided how to use it yet. We’ll have to see what I can come up with. Enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

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Posted by MikeG on July 12, 2012 in Cooking, Dinner, Poultry, Turkey, Vegetables

Tags: glazed vegetables, roast turkey, roast turkey breast, roast turkey with glazed vegetables, turkey breast

How to Make Fried Chicken | Cook’s Country – Recipes That Work

28 Jun

How to Make Fried Chicken | Cook’s Country – Recipes That Work.

Since I have been making chicken meals all week this week, this seemed like a good article to post. I haven’t tried their recipe for fried chicken, but it sure does sound good and doesn’t look any harder than other methods I’ve tried for fried chicken if you want to check it out!

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Posted by MikeG on June 28, 2012 in Cooking, Dinner, Poultry

Tags: cook's country fried chicken, fried chicken

Chicken Week, Day 2: Let’s Kabob it Up!

26 Jun

I had boneless chicken breast to use out of the freezer it since it was a nice, comfortable day here today outside I thought it might be a good day to use the grill and make some chicken kabobs. I looked at a few different recipes and settled on this one from Williams-Sonoma. it falls right into the simple with simple ingredients category and makes a nice sauce to go with it.

Grilled Chicken Kabobs

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

Grated zest of 1 lemon

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing

1 small serrano chili, seeded and minced (optional)

1 teaspoon minced fresh marjoram

1 tablespoon minced fresh basil

Salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste

1 pound boneless chicken breast, cut into chunks

1 yellow squash, cut into chunks

1 red onion, cut into chunks

Soak bamboo skewers in water to cover for 30 minutes. Prepare the grill to medium-high.

Put the mustard in a small bowl. Add the lemon zest and lemon juice and mix well. Gradually whisk in the 1/3 cup of olive oil, then mix in the chili, if using, marjoram and basil. Season the sauce with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Drain the skewers. Thread the chicken, squash and onion onto the skewers, alternating each piece until the skewers are filled. Brush the chicken, squash and onion with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Arrange the skewers on the grill, cover the grill and cook, turning once until tender and lightly charred, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate and remove the chicken and vegetables from the skewers. Serve with the lemon-herb sauce.

You could certainly vary this in many ways, substituting different colored peppers, using zucchini, or using scallops or shrimp instead of chicken. One way I decided to vary it a little bit was by making a second sauce to serve along with the lemon-herb sauce. I opted to make a cucumber yogurt sauce, knowing I already had all the ingredients on hand it wouldn’t take long to put together.

Cucumber Yogurt Sauce

2 cups plain yogurt

1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped

1 shallot, minced

1 tablespoon parsley, minced

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh mint

1/2 teaspoon cumin, ground

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 large pinch salt

Ground white pepper, to taste

Drain the yogurt in a cheesecloth-lined strainer set over a bowl for 1 hour. In a bowl, combine all the ingredients. Serve as an accompaniment with any variety of foods or as a salad dressing.

Michelle really likes the yogurt cucumber sauce, so I do make it as a dipping sauce for other meals. It goes great with lamb, chicken or beef.

I served the whole meal with some corn on the cob and white rice to round things out. For dessert, since I had the grill on, I grilled some peaches and pineapple slices, Simply slicing the peaches in half and brushing them with a little olive oil and then brushing the pineapple also with olive oil and grilling both just until you get good grill marks on each, about 4 or 5 minutes. When I took them off the grill, I put just a touch of honey on each piece for some extra flavor.

That’s all for tonight’s meal. Tomorrow will be either pork chops or chicken drumsticks in one form or another, I haven’t decided yet. Check back and see what decide to do. Until then, enjoy your evening and enjoy your meal!

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Posted by MikeG on June 26, 2012 in Cooking, Dinner, Grilling, Poultry, Sauce, Vegetables

Tags: chicken kabobs, cucumber yogurt sauce, lemon-herb sauce, yellow squash, yogurt cucumber sauce

Let the Week of Chicken Begin!!

25 Jun

As I said in yesterday’s post, I have an awful lot of chicken in the freezer and have decided to just cook out of the freezer this week. Tonight I started off with the bone-in chicken breasts. As usual, I wanted an easy recipe, not a lot of ingredients and a reasonable cooking time. As usual, America’s Test Kitchen did not disappoint by supplying this recipe for Pan-Roasted Chicken Breasts with Sage-Vermouth Sauce. it doesn’t take long, gives you moist, juicy chicken and a very flavorful sauce for the chicken. This recipe calls for brining the chicken breasts for 30 minutes before cooking, but if you don’t have the time for that, you can go right to the roasting and it will also turn out well.

Pan-Roasted Chicken Breasts with Sage-Vermouth Sauce

1/2 cup table salt

2 (1 1/2 pound) whole bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts, split in half along the breast bone and trimmed of rib sections

Ground black pepper

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

1 large shallot, minced

3/4 cup chicken broth

1/2 cup dry vermouth

4 medium fresh sage leaves, each leaf torn in half

3 tablespoons butter, cut into 3 pieces

Salt and pepper

Dissolve the salt in 2 quarts of cold water in a large container; submerge the chicken in the brine, cover and refrigerate about 30 minutes. Rinse the chicken well and pat dry with paper towels. Season the chicken with pepper.

Adjust an oven rack to the lowest position and heat the oven to 450 degrees. heat the oil in a large ovenproof skillet (I used my large cast iron pan) over medium-high heat until the oil begins to smoke. Brown the chicken, skin side down, until deep golden, about 5 minutes; turn the chicken and brown until golden on the second side, about 3 minutes longer. Turn the chicken skin side down and place the skillet in the oven. Roast until the thickest part of the breast registers 160 to 165 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a platter and let it rest while making the sauce. (If you’re not making the sauce, let the chicken rest for 5 minutes before serving it)

Using a potholder to protect your hands from the hot skillet handle, pour off all but 1 teaspoon of the fat from the skillet; add the shallot, then set the skillet over medium-high heat and cook, stirring frequently, until the shallot is softened, about 1 1/2 minutes. add the chicken broth, vermouth and sage, increase the heat to high and simmer rapidly, scraping the skillet bottom with a wooden spoon to loosen the browned bits, until slightly thickened and reduced to about 3/4 cup, about 5 minutes. Pour the accumulated chicken juices into the skillet, reduce the heat to medium and whisk in the butter 1 piece at a time; season with salt and pepper to taste and discard the sage. Spoon the sauce around the chicken breasts and serve immediately.

I served this with some mashed potatoes and broccoli, but you could easily use rice or noodles instead to go with the chicken. The sauce comes out great and has a wonderful flavor thanks to the sage and the vermouth.

That’s tonight’s meal, quick and easy. Tomorrow I have a choice between chicken legs and boneless chicken, but I haven’t decided which way I want to go with it yet. It will be a mystery until you check back tomorrow! Until then, enjoy your evening and enjoy your meal!