Roast Chicken

Maybe everyone else is already producing roast chickens with ease, without a recipe, but it took a recipe published in my newspaper to prod me into trying it for the first time.  I tweaked the recipe a bit, using what I've learned about roasting a turkey.  This is more of a technique than a recipe, but I like having it all written down.  I made it for the second time last night, and it was a hit!  The kids eat the meat much better than typical chicken breasts, because it is so much moister.  And I thoroughly enjoy the crispy, garlick-y skin!

Roast Chicken

1 whole chicken, 4 to 5 lbs.	½ cup mayonnaise
2 gallons water	2 T fresh herbs
1 cup kosher salt	½ onion, peeled
1 cup sugar	Salt and pepper
5T butter, softened	2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
4-5 cloves garlic, divided

Brining the chicken (6 hours to overnight):  Put 2 gallons water, kosher salt and sugar in a large stockpot or brining bucket.  Swish to dissolve.  Remove giblets from chicken and submerge chicken in the brine.  (1 gallon water, ½ cup salt, ½ cup sugar seems to be enough for my stockpot, but it's easy to adjust).

Two and a quarter hours before dinner:  Remove chicken from the brine and rinse thoroughly.  Pat dry with paper towels.  Place chicken in roasting pan or dish.  Preheat oven to 350°.  Mix one pressed clove of garlic in with the softened butter.  (I freeze leftover garlic butter from when I make garlic bread-- this is a good way to use this-- just take the butter out of the freezer when you start brining the chicken.)  Chop fresh herbs and mix into the mayo.  Gently loosen the skin over the breast and rub the herbed mayonnaise over the meat underneath the skin.  To reach further back, place a large dollop of the mayonnaise under the skin, then, massage it back by pressing on the skin.  Then, rub the skin with the garlic butter and salt and pepper generously.  Place the half onion and the rest of the garlic cloves, peeled, in the cavity of the chicken.  Pour the chicken broth into the bottom of the pan.  Place roasting pan in oven and set timer for 1 hour and 10 minutes.  Then peel potatoes, etc. to get ready for the meal.  When the timer goes off, increase the heat to 400° and roast for another 20-25 minutes, until skin is crispy and a meat thermometer registers 165°.  Remove chicken from the oven and lift out chicken onto a cutting board.  Tent with foil and let rest for 15 minutes.  Meanwhile, strain pan juices through a sieve into a saucepan to make gravy.  Heat the juices, whisking in Wondra flour, until thickened.  Taste, then salt if needed.  Carve chicken and serve.

Chicken Curry

This recipe sounds slightly exotic, but it's the height of comfort food, and my kids love it.  Bethaney just called to get the recipe, such as it is, for the second time, so I decided to type it out while I still had the card out.  This is a Rosemary recipe-- Rosemary often made it for us while she was at our house.  She got the recipe from a man in Bermuda.  There are few measurements here-- use what you have!  I would say it's around 1 1/2 pounds chicken, 1 small onion, 3-4 cloves of garlic, and maybe a half teaspoon of cornstarch if needed.  I like the taste of the green curry powder, but red curry is an option.  I have used curry paste, too, with fine results.

Chicken Curry

Chicken, cut into chunks	2 cubes chicken bouillon
1 T curry powder	1/3 cup hot water
1 tsp. chili powder	1 can coconut milk
Onion, minced	Cornstarch
Garlic, minced

Mix chicken with curry and chili powders.  Sauté onion and garlic in olive oil.  Add chicken and cook until brown.  Dissolve the bouillon cubes in the hot water and add to the cooking chicken.  Continue cooking until chicken is cooked through.  Add one can of coconut milk and let simmer for a minute.  If you want a thicker sauce, sprinkle some cornstarch in and mix in.  Serve with rice (Jasmine rice is best!).

Chicken and Stuff

I have a messy pile of recipes sitting beside my computer, waiting for me to type them up. So I grabbed three that might sort of go together as a meal.  And that's about as thought-out as this post is.  Although it's taken me a month to get this all typed up, which is really pathetic.  I typed up most of it one night, but the computer shut down and lost it, and then it's just sat there, this forlorn little tab I never close.

This, however, is worth waiting for. This is my favorite marinade recipe for chicken. It comes from my mother-in-law's family, so I guess I could call it Pikcilingis Chicken. Usually we just refer to it as The Really Good Chicken.

Really Good Chicken

• 1/2 cup oil
• 1/2 cup vinegar
• 2 tsp. salt
• 1 1/2 tsp. poultry seasoning
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 1 egg, beaten (for any size recipe-- do not double this part)

Mix all ingredients together and marinate chicken breasts for 30 min. to overnight to 2-3 days (I know you're not supposed to leave meat in marinade that long, but it really does get excellent, without that mushy texture they always warn you about when they talk about over-marinating.  Four days gets a little dicey and vinegar-y.).  Grill (preferred) or bake.  Serve with jasmine rice, Rice-A-Roni, potatoes, whatever your little heart desires.

Creamy Buttermilk Coleslaw (from Cooks Country)

• 1 medium head green cabbage, cored and shredded (I use my salsa chopper)
• 2 large carrots, peeled and grated
• 2/3 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 8 scallions, finely chopped
• 2 T sugar
• 1 tsp. Dijon mustard
• 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper

Toss shredded cabbage and carrots with 1 tsp. salt in colander set over bowl.  Let stand until wilted, about 1 hour.  (It's amazing how much liquid comes out of there!)  Rinse cabbage and carrots under cold water, drain, and dry with paper towels.  Transfer to large bowl.  Stir in remaining ingredients, plus salt to taste.  (I have been lazy and not bothered with rinsing, draining and drying the cabbage after the salting, and it was fine.  I figure a lot of the salt ends up in the exuded liquid.  Refrigerate until chilled, about 15 minutes.

I was never much of a coleslaw fan, but I could eat this stuff like candy!  Evan, who is a bit more of a connoisseur, says it's some of the best coleslaw he's ever eaten.  Cooks Country knows whereof they speak.

Raisin Bars

Filling:

• 2 ½ cups raisins
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup applesauce
• 1 tsp. lemon juice
• ¼ tsp. cinnamon

 Bar: 

• 2 cups rolled oats
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 cup flour
• ½ cup coconut
• ¾ cup butter or margarine

Preheat oven to 350°. In a medium saucepan, heat raisins and water to boiling; simmer 15 minutes, then drain. Stir in applesauce, lemon juice and cinnamon. In a medium bowl, combine oats, flour, sugar and coconut. Cut in butter until crumbly. Press 2 ½ cups of the crumbs into a 13x9 ungreased pan. Spread raisin mixture over the crumbs. Sprinkle on remaining crumbs and press in lightly. Bake 30 to 40 minutes or until light brown. Cool completely and cut into bars.

I made these one time right before we went on a trip with the Cottens, and they didn't last long around the kids.  I was looking for this recipe the other day, and couldn't find it anywhere-- only to find it days later, neatly typed up on my computer.  Disconcerting!

Honey Peanut Chicken with Sesame Noodles

This recipe somewhat mimics a dish that Evan ordered the one time we went to Cheesecake Factory.  Except I think this version is better!  This recipe is from the Tasty Kitchen blog.  I had been wanting to try the Sesame Noodles from Pioneer Woman, and they match nicely.

Thai Honey Peanut Chicken

• 2 lbs. chicken, cut into chunks
• 1/2 cup soy sauce (maybe start with a little less; Evan felt it was too salty this last time)
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 T lime juice
• 2 tsp. minced garlic (2 large cloves)
• 2 heaping tablespoons peanut butter
• 1 tsp. curry powder
• 2 tsp. Sriracha (optional)

Mix all ingredients together and marinate chicken 2-3 hours.  Cook chicken in the sauce over medium-high heat for 7-8 minutes or until chicken is done.  Reduce heat to medium low and add pre-cooked veggies if desired.  Serve with sesame seeds. 

Sesame Noodles

• 12 ounces thin noodles, cooked and drained (I cook a 16 oz. package of angel hair pasta, and give the kids the other four ounces with butter)
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2 T sugar
• 3 to 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 T rice vinegar
• 2 to 3 T pure sesame oil
• 1/2 tsp. hot chile oil (I use the Sriracha, not sure if that's what this is calling for, but it works!)
• 4 to 5 T canola oil
• 2 T hot water (this seems pointless, I've never added this)
• 3 to 4 green onions, sliced thin

Whisk together all ingredients (except noodles and green onions).  Pour sauce over warm noodles and toss to coat.  Sprinkle with green onions and toss again.

I had this recipe printed out forever before I actually made it.  It looked yummy, but it required me to to go out and buy three specific ingredients.  I try not to make things that require more than two novel ingredients.  However, the sesame oil and the rice vinegar keep well in the cupboard, and I have seen them in other recipes.  They might be handy to have on hand. These noodles are yummy enough I am glad I bought the exotic ingredients!

Pretzel Chicken with Mustard Dill Dipping Sauce

This is Cheyenne's favorite chicken recipe, she informs me. We've been having this fairly frequently; the dipping sauce is good as a salad dressing, too!


Pretzel Chicken

• 1/2 cup flour
• 2 large eggs
• 1 T Dijon mustard
• 3 cups pretzels (NOT low sodium!)
  
• 1 1/2 lbs chickens (I like using tenders)
• Black pepper

If using large chicken breasts, cut into smaller pieces. Crush the pretzels in the food processor until a coarse flour forms. (I like it still having largish chunks of pretzel.) Whisk the eggs with the Dijon mustard. Put the flour in a large shallow bowl, then the egg/mustard mixture in a second bowl, then the pretzel flour in a third bowl. Sprinkle chicken lightly with pepper, then dredge in the flour, then the egg mixture, then the pretzel mixture. Heat half a cup of oil (what the recipe calls for, I think I usually glug in more than that) in a skillet over medium high heat until hot but not smoking-- drop a little pretzel chunk in and it should immediately sizzle. (I have finally figured out how to fry things-- it takes the oil a long time to get up to heat, but it has to be truly hot for the frying to work. I generally start the oil heating before I start breading the chicken.) Cook on the first side until the pretzel coating is dark brown, about 2 minutes. Flip and cook on the other side about another two minutes. Serve with the mustard-dill sauce (essential!)

Mustard-Dill Dipping Sauce

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 2 T finely chopped fresh dill (or 2 tsp. dried dill)
• 1 tsp. honey
• 1/4 cup Dijon mustard
• 1/8 tsp. pepper

Mix all together.

Sweet and Savory

This is sort of a hodge-podge of recipes-- things I have been making over the last several weeks, but haven't had the time to post here!

Remember this pesto? Here's one of the things I used it for...

Four Cheese Pesto Pizza

• 6 (6-inch) pita breads
• 1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened
• 2 T milk
• 6 T pesto
• 1 can ripe olives, sliced
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
• 1/2 cup shredded Fontina cheese
• 2 T Parmesan cheese

Place pita breads on ungreased cookie sheet. Mix cream cheese and milk until smooth. Spread on pita breads. Gently spread pesto over cream cheese. Top with olives. Sprinkle with cheeses. Bake 7-12 minutes or until thoroughly heated and cheese is melted.

Except, this time, I didn't have pita breads. Or Fontina cheese. And I hate olives. But, I did make a pizza crust (still working on finding a recipe I really like for homemade pizza crust!) and loosely followed these instructions for the topping. I also added chopped chicken, from the following recipe. I have followed the four cheese pesto pizza recipe exactly (except for the olives) in the past, and it was very tasty.

Cooked Chicken (from Rival Crock-Pot Cookbook)

• 2-3 pounds chicken breasts or parts
• 4 cups water
• 2 T chopped parsley
• 2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 T minced onion
• 1 tsp. seasoning salt

Place all ingredients in Crock-Pot. Cook on low 6 to 8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours. Remove chicken from water, discard bay leaf, and shred or dice according to your preference.

This is such a handy recipe for when those big club packs of chicken are on sale. I cook it (my big crockpot can take a doubled recipe of this), chop it up, and freeze it. It's great having cooked chicken ready for casseroles, and it also makes excellent chicken salad for sandwiches. And you can put it on pesto pizza!

I cooked one of my favorite chicken recipes last night--

Spicy Buttermilk Chicken

Marinade:

• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 1 T hot pepper sauce
• 1 T Dijon mustard
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper
• 1 tsp. salt

Mix together and pour over about 1 1/2 lbs. of chicken breasts or tenders. Marinate for at least four hours or overnight.

Topping:

• 1 cup plain bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
• 2 T flour
• 2 tsp. dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp. paprika
• 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 2 T olive oil

Combine topping ingredients and dredge chicken through the crumbs. Place chicken on a baking rack and let sit for 20 minutes, so that crumbs will adhere better. (I've skipped this step before without too noticeable a difference in the crumbs. Those twenty minutes are useful for working on other parts of the supper, though!) Drizzle one tablespoon of olive oil on a baking sheet and place in oven. Heat oven to 400°. After about 5 minutes, place chicken on heated baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes (tenders will be done in about 20 minutes).

Last night, I served this with potatoes, because I had some neglected potatoes that were thinking about sprouting, but I usually serve this with jasmine rice. Both ways are yummy! I also did some of the tenders differently for my kids, who aren't as fond of hot things-- when I was mixing the crumb coating, I took about 1/3 of a cup of the crumbs out before adding the cayenne pepper and paprika. I'm not sure the paprika adds much heat, but it made it easy to see the less hot tenders-- they weren't as red!

Now, on to sweet things...

I found a recipe for this Millionaire's Shortbread in Hannaford's "fresh" magazine, which I stole from my mother. I wish we had a Hannaford's in our area, so I wouldn't have to resort to thievery-- it's usually full of good recipes! I wasn't crazy over this recipe at first, but every little nibble made me more of a fan. Elliott loved these, too.

Millionaire's Shortbread

Shortbread base:

• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) salted butter, softened
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder

Caramel filling:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup Lyle's golden syrup or dark corn syrup (I bought dark corn syrup, but I did see Lyle's golden syrup in Wegman's the next day!)
• 1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
• 2/3 cup (4 oz.) semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease an 8- or 9-inch pan. In a large bowl, use an electric mixer on medium speed to cream butter and sugar until smooth and lightened in color, about 2 minutes. Scrape down sides and bottom of bowl and beaters as needed with a rubber spatula. Mix in vanilla. Sift together flour, cornstarch, and baking powder and add to bowl. Mix on low speed until dough forms large clumps and holds together, about 1 minute. Using your hands, press dough gently and evenly into pan. Bake until top is golden and edges brown, about 25 to 30 minutes.

While shortbread bakes, prepare caramel filling. Put butter, sugar, syrup and condensed milk in a large saucepan and cook over medium heat until mixture comes to a boil, stirring occasionally, about 10 to 15 minutes. (I don't know if I had the heat too high or I didn't stir enough, but I had to throw my first batch out-- watch it!) Continue boiling, stirring gently and constantly, 4 more minutes. Mixture should darken to a light caramel color. Remove pan from heat and pour filling over warm shortbread. Let filling cool about 5 minutes, then sprinkle chocolate chips over the top. Let chips soften until they melt, then use a knife or spatula to spread melted chocolate over filling. Let chocolate set until firm, 2 or 3 hours (or 15 in this heat!) When set, cut shortbread into squares (or cut a little piece out of the pan every time you walk by!)

A couple of weeks ago, Evan was dreaming about the lava cakes he had eaten at the restaurant "99" while working away from home this spring. It took me about three minutes to whip these up, and Evan was eating them 14 minutes later! He wolfed them down too fast to take a picture of them (well, the kids and I helped, too) but they are the chocolate cakes with fudgy filling oozing out of them when you eat them. Excellent with vanilla ice cream!

Molten Lava Cakes (Kraft Foods)

• 4 squares Baker's Semi-Sweet Chocolate (or 4 oz. of chocolate chips)
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 6 T flour
• Whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, for serving

Preheat oven to 425°. Butter four 3/4 cup custard cups or souffle dishes. Place on baking sheet. Microwave butter and chocolate in large bowl on high for 1 minute or until butter is melted. Stir with wire whisk until chocolate is completely melted. Stir in sugar until well blended. Blend in eggs and egg yolks with whisk. Stir in flour. Divide batter among prepared custard cups. Bake 13 to 14 minutes or until sides are firm but centers are soft. (Evan felt 12 minutes would be better-- more goo, less side.) Let stand 1 minute. Carefully run small knife around cakes to loosen. Invert cakes onto dessert dishes. Serve immediately.

And, the cookie recipe I've made hundreds of times-- chocolate chip cookies. This is the recipe Evan's family makes. It's basically the Toll House recipe with oatmeal. Evan likes a steady supply of these for his lunches, and none of us are averse to eating the dough before it's cooked!

Evan's Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 1 cup butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 tsp. water (I have NO idea why this is in the family recipe... makes you kinda wonder about those Whites-- you can probably safely omit this ingredient)
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 cup oatmeal
• 12 oz. (2 cups) semisweet chocolate chips

Cream together butter and sugars. Add vanilla and eggs; beat well. Add flour, soda, salt and oatmeal and beat until combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Eat cookie dough raw, or place tablespoons of the dough on a greased cookie sheet and bake in a 375° oven for 9 minutes. Let cool in pan, if you like them chewy.

There's no recipe attached to this activity, but we made some creamed corn this year! We came home from Altamont with four garbage bags of corn. (Thanks, Knaggs!)

Evan husked it all, with lots of help from the kids.

I then boiled it, about a dozen ears at a time, for 2 minutes, dunked it in ice water, and let drain on the drainboard.

I then used my handy-dandy Lee corn-cutter and creamer to take all the corn off the cobs.

All 95 cobs, eventually. This was early in the process.

I froze it in plastic Ziploc containers, and got about 6 1/2 quarts. It sure will be delicious this winter with a little butter and salt!

All this writing about food has made me hungry! Time to go check out the kitchen before bed...

Last Thursday's Supper

Last Thursday morning I went to the farmer's market in Syracuse. While I always love the farmer's market, it's usually a little overwhelming to consider going there. I discovered the secret-- don't go on Saturday! On Saturday it is crowded, and there are lots more vendors selling things other than fresh produce. This Thursday, I parked right next to the market, breezed through selecting yummy things, and was out again quickly! That's really key when there's three kids with you.

I have no idea what to do with eggplant at this point in my life, but I just loved the colors, so I had to snap a picture.

Cheyenne eating one of the little plums we bought.

It isn't ALL fresh vegetables-- there's some pretty yummy fresh-made doughnuts we had to sample!

Aren't these pretty little plums? They were destined for plum torte.

Fresh Plum Torte

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 stick butter, softened
• 1 cup flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 12 plums (small deep purple, prune or Italian), halved and pitted
• 1 T sugar
• 2 tsp. lemon juice
• 1/2 to 1 tsp. cinnamon
• Vanilla ice cream or whipped cream for serving

Preheat oven to 350° and spray 9- or 10-inch springform pan. (I used the 9-inch-- it was less dusty.) Cream together sugar and butter until light and creamy. In a small bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Add to butter mixture with eggs and vanilla and beat well. (I didn't sift together the dry ingredients first, just dumped them in at that step. It worked fine, but maybe you like to sift flour!) Spoon batter into the pan and place plum halves, skin side up, on top of batter. They will sink as it cools. Batter will barely cover the bottom of the pan, which is as it should be! Sprinkle lightly with sugar, lemon juice, and cinnamon. (The first time I made this recipe I forgot to do this, and I did it when it came out of the oven. I almost liked it better that way-- the lemon juice was fresher tasting!) Bake torte for one hour, depending on pan (a black pan takes less time.) Torte is done when tester inserted in the torte comes out clean. (Mine was done in a little over 40 minutes, since I have a black non-stick pan.) Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack for a few minutes. Remove from the pan, cool to lukewarm, and serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. (I didn't put anything on it, and it was pretty good plain. The ice cream may have helped the taste of the occasional overly tart plum, though.)

This was how it looked before it went in the oven. I think I used a few more than a dozen plums-- 14 or 15 maybe? Just cover the torte nicely.

Then, while the torte was baking, we got busy with the supper. Tori cut up the fresh green beans.

And I made Crispy Yogurt Chicken, from Pioneer Woman, slightly tweaked.

Crispy Yogurt Chicken

• Chicken pieces (I had tenders on hand)
• 2 cups plain, unflavored yogurt
• 2-3 cloves of garlic
• Herb of your choice (I was in the mood for Rosemary, snipped from my herb garden!)
• Juice of one lemon
• Salt
• Butter
• 2 cups Panko bread crumbs (these bread crumbs are awesome, but plain old bread crumbs will work if you're desperate)

Mince the garlic and herbs, and add them, along with the lemon juice, to the yogurt. In another bowl, mix the bread crumbs with a bit of salt, or seasonings. Shake salt onto the chicken pieces, dredge them through the yogurt and then through the bread crumbs. Place them on a cookie sheet or in a 13x9 pan. Put dabs of sliced butter on each piece. Now, Pioneer Woman says to cover with foil and bake for 1 to 1 and 1/4 hours at 350°. I'm forgetful and impatient, so I rarely bother with the tin foil, and the chicken will be cooked much sooner than an hour, especially if you cut your chicken into smaller pieces-- it just won't be as crispy. Depending on how rushed I am for supper, I have done this in as little as twenty minutes, or as long as 45 minutes. I also usually crank the heat up a tad-- 375° or 400°. If you do go with the foil, remove for the last 15 minutes of baking.

Here's the chicken, a-waiting to be baked.

What a yummy looking supper! That's jasmine rice we're having with the chicken. My in-laws often use this rice, and I'm a huge fan. With just a tad of butter and some salt, it's better than candy!

All year long, we eat frozen green beans quite happily. When these come along, though, we wonder how we were ever content with the frozen ones.

The finished plum torte.

It is quite moist, and SO GOOD! It's one Evan doesn't like, though. He's not a huge fan of plums. This is one of those dishes that does depend heavily on the quality of the plum. There were a few in this batch that were a bit tart, but the rest of the torte was excellent.

Okay, now I have to go to bed so I can get up in the morning and head off to the farmer's market again!