485 Degree Roasted Chicken with Perfect Garlic Roasting Sauce

from Food 52

If fall brings the roasted chicken back to your weekly menu, you have to try this style.

For me, the weekly roasting of the bird seems to be required. Typically, I fill the bird with lemon and a whole bud of garlic along with thyme. It's an Ina Garten recipe she calls perfect and I quite agree. After we dine on the freshly roasted meat, I have a couple of lunch options for the week. The bones become stock and, well, I feel saavy using every inch of the delightful gift and then some!

This week, Amanda and Merrill at Food 52 urged the use of this recipe. It's wonderful. The printed version is found here.

It's lovely to find a straightforward and simple roasting and deglazing recipe and this one is yummy. So, give it a try. We did just share that bowl of sauce. Fun!

One note: I used a brined chicken from Trader Joe's. I could have held back on salt. Especially in the sauce.

Bon Appetit!

Chicken Broth Success

Don't freeze your broth in Mason Jars. They break. I know. I tried.

I am so happy with the success of the Chef John's Roasted Chicken Broth. Easy. Though, with my three days on the task you might not know it. But, believe me, that's just life with a high school schedule.

It is so very delicious. Rich, full of body and ready for carrots and onions, celery and the chicken breast remaining. Here's his recipe. We're having soup for lunch and saving the rest for later (in the freezer, of course).

When you make it (and you should), just give yourself the space on a Saturday. The flavor is much different than a standard homemade stock, which I love, but the richness and depth of flavor makes it just perfect as a simple soup base. And, it's not labor intensive, it just needs the stretch of 3 hours to cook.

I'm planning to add red pepper, tomato and sausage soup to one of these, too.

Beautiful. Just beautiful.

Chicken Broth update

Ok, I went and got the chicken.
But I went to Whole Foods (but not this one in Austin, Texas).

I became distracted by beautiful kales

Purple cauliflower

Sumo Mandarins

And the salad bar. 

Ai, ai, ai! My daughter and I spent over an hour looking and touching and dreaming. I grabbed some whey protein for morning smoothies and shocked my girl when I showed her the spinach I'd be adding. She's still recovering.

So, yes, we bought the chicken. But with the salad bar, right near the cold case where I picked up some cold roasted brussels sprouts (I promise, both my grandmothers are rolling over in their graves.) I acquiesced immediately to my girlie's request for their rotisserie chicken. Dinner? Done!

Last night I finally got to the Chicken Broth and I'll say this. It is worthy of some time. I roasted the chicken in the dutch oven as Chef John suggested, but I'm finicky about the breast meat coming up to 160 degrees. It took a bit longer than 45 minutes. Do temperature test the chicken when you try this. 

Then, after the stove top caramelizing and about one hour of simmering, I gave up for the night and put it in the refrigerator to wait. (I did cool it first.) So more on that later. The fragrance is superb and I can't wait to finish it tonight for chicken soup. 

I promise, we'll report on it when it's finally complete. Chef John's recipe is a keeper, or at least seems so for now. What I love over and over about his point of view is this, more of the chicken, less of the extras. This recipe doesn't want you to add anything to the broth as you go but one celery stalk, one onion and three little bruised garlic cloves.

It took a lot not to let my Dear have a spoonful. Mais non! It is not ready for tasting.

To be continued.

Til then, 

Vicki

  

Chicken Broth

I just love what Chef John from Food Wishes did with Chicken Broth. And, with our impending cold snap in mind, its time to make some broth. (The 5 Day Forecast has us between 57 & 67 degrees.)

So I'm off to the market to buy a 3 1/2 pound chicken while you watch this.

There's a secret ingredient in his video, so I'm trying it now!

Enjoy.

Chicken & Mushrooms. Done!

We did it. And when I say we I mean my 15 year old son was at the helm.
We made this: just chicken and mushrooms.

The meal is really simple with a little bit of finesse. Chicken breasts down to sear, flip, continue, add mushrooms, move to the oven, remove breasts, cook on the stovetop, deglaze with water, cook down and serve.

Oh my.

No original pics today, the boy needed his sous chef! (This is from foodwishes, you need to see this fabulous site.)


We served these alongside sweet potatoes( baked at 400 for almost 90 minutes) and a miners leaf salad with just olive oil and tomato vinegar. Yum.

Do try.

Chicken & Mushrooms

This is what I'll be doing today. Through Dorie Greenspan's blog I happened on to the genius of Chef John at Food Wishes.

I vote we all just cook this today and call each other to discuss!

Enjoy.

Chicken - Simple and Yummy

No fancy cookbook is needed when Meredith, my coiffing gal is around. Besides a couple of highlights, coverage of some, um, gray paint at the scalp line and a great cut, she's dashing off kid friendly recipes.

So here it is: grab a big package of thighs and one of drumsticks. Make the marinade by mixing everything in a big ziplock bag, pour it over, pop it all in the oven and voila, in a Lipton Onion Soup Mix way.

My family loved the flavor - I finished it in the broiler for some tasty caramelizing.

Easy. Tasty. On the grill? What's not to love?

Upcycled Left Overs

One night, I made a big pot of Brown Jasmin rice with chicken. And had plenty of left overs for the next day's lunch. But come lunchtime, I wasn't thinking about sticky second-day rice. I wanted something new and fresh.

We had bought a pack of egg roll wrappers from the Asian market in Sioux City, the last time we were there. So, after a quick soak. I rolled in fresh spinach, leftover rice and chicken and julienne carrots. We made a quick dipping sauce which made the meal.

In a fry pan, I quickly browned each side. And in less than 15 minutes we had a beautiful, healthy lunch.

Egg Roll Sauce
2 Tablespoons Dark (or regular) Soy Sauce
1 Teaspoon Rice Vinegar
1 Teaspoon Hot Chili Sauce
Juice from half a small orange.

Mix all together and serve with spring rolls, pot stickers or vegetables.

Guest Contributor: Ellen Pastusak and Creamy Tuscan Chicken

My friend Ellen is fun. She's one of those people who seems to just be in love with all aspects of life. She has an ease and simple humor in her approach. She's also straight-forward without the extra wrapping.

She offered this delicious and fairly simple recipe. As I read it, I dreamed of the history, it must have come from some fabulous trip with her husband to some wonderful corner of Italy. So I asked about the history. She replied, "I actually saw this recipe on the package of Fosters Farm chicken I got at Costco." She said something about it being more elegant if she'd found it in GOURMET magazine, at which point I forgot all about the little Tuscan village and got a little teary eyed (I do miss GOURMET).

Well, this is elegant simplicity at it's best and I bet you'll love it. (Don't you wish you could dip a little rustic bread in that pan!)

Ellen's right about the sum of the parts, each ingredient in this recipe is good, but when you put them all together they are perfection!  And the ingredients together are Ellen's take on a quality, comforting dinner entree. A proven winner. And she promises, it tastes splendid reheated.

Here's the recipe.:

Creamy Tuscan Chicken a la Ellen

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

2 T. olive oil

salt and pepper

Sauce:

1/2 cup white wine

1 cup sliced mushrooms

1 cup heavy cream

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

1 cup packed fresh spinach

1 cup fresh basil, rough chopped

1.  Heat oil in non-stick pan on medium high heat.  Season chicken with salt and pepper. Cook on medium high heat for 8 minutes per side.  Remove chicken from pan and set aside for later use.

2.  Add white wine to hot pan and let reduce by half.  Add mushrooms and saute for 4-5 minutes.  Add heavy cream, garlic and Parmesan cheese.  Mix well and bring to simmer.  Add spinach and basil and cook until spinach becomes tender.

3.  Place chicken back in pan with sauce to reheat - simmer for 5 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 165.  Serve alone or with pasta or risotto.

(to quicken cooking time, flatten chicken with mallet before cooking)

Give it a try and leave your thoughts in a comment!

Spatchcocked Chicken with Tomatoes - Recipe

Use a 3-4 pound chicken. Turn it breast side down on a cutting board and starting at the bottom, cut upward with kitchen shears, along the backbone. Cut along the other side and remove backbone. Turn the chicken and flatten it in true butterfly style by applying pressure with your palm. (Here's a video of a more complete method and a more refined method, which makes it easier to cut for serving.)

Spatchcocked Chicken with Tomatoes

Preheat oven to 500 degrees.

Season spatchcocked chicken with coarse salt and ground pepper and place, breast side up, in a pan (or on a cookie sheet) with 3 unpeeled garlic cloves, smashed. With the tip of a paring knife, pierce 1 pint cherry tomatoes. Add to pan and drizzle tomatoes with 1 teaspoon olive oil; season with salt and pepper. Pour 1/2 cup dry white wine and 1/3 cup water into pan. (we forgot the wine and it was delicious...) Roast chicken until juices run clear when pierced between breast and leg (to 165 degrees at the thickest part of the meat) 30-40 minutes. Let rest 5 minutes. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup basil leaves before carving.

Taken from Martha Stewart Everyday Cooking July, 2010. 
Also see Martha Stewart's website recipe.