Category Archives: Poultry

CHIARELLO’S CHICKEN CACCIATORE

Posted on October 26, 2011 | 25 Comments

Last week’s winner meal in our home, two thumbs up from both of us, this recipe is a bit unusual for a “cacciatore,” as it contains very few ingredients, and omits the traditional peppers and onions that most versions are loaded with. Two little twists in the recipe: the use of porcini mushrooms and the way it handles the parsley. Normally, parsley is added at the end of cooking to preserve its freshness, but in this case Chiarello adds most of it right at the initial stage, and saves some for sprinkling on top of the dish at serving time. My main modification, as often happens with braised chicken thighs, was to increase cooking time by a long shot.

CHICKEN CACCIATORE PRONTO
(from Michael Chiarello – Casual Cooking)

1/2 oz dried porcini mushrooms
1 cup hot water
6 chicken thighs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
3 tablespoons finely chopped Italian parsley
3/4 cup tomato puree
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup water

Place the dried porcini mushrooms in a small bowl or glass, and add the hot water. Leave them sitting in the water for 30 minutes. Remove the mushrooms with a slotted spoon; finely chop. Strain the liquid through cheesecloth to catch any dirt or solids, and reserve.

Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Heat the olive oil on a large skillet, add the chicken, skin sides down; cook 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown, turn and cook the other side for 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer chicken to a platter; remove all but 1 tablespoon of oil from skillet.

Add garlic to oil in skillet; cook over medium heat about 30 seconds, stirring occasionally, until fragrant. Stir in 2 tablespoons of the parsley; cook for a minute, stir in mushrooms, tomato puree, chicken broth, 1/2 cup water and reserved mushroom liquid; heat to a simmer. Add chicken, skin sides up; reduce heat to low. Cover; cook until done to your liking (I cooked for 50 minutes in a very gentle heat, turning the pieces a couple of times during cooking, ending with them skin side up).

Transfer chicken to a serving platter. Increase heat for sauce to high; boil sauce 6 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thickened. To serve, spoon sauce over chicken; sprinkle with remaining 1 tablespoon parsley.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

(click to enlarge the images)

Dried porcini mushrooms are one of my favorite ingredients. They wait patiently inside the bag, and once you add warm water, they soak it, turn all soft, and fill your kitchen with that intense mushroom-y smell that is a sure sign of a fantastic meal ahead. Michael Chiarello hit the jackpot when he combined porcini and parsley, in a sort of minimalist approach that needs nothing else to shine. According to his recipe, you only need to cook the thighs for 20 to 25 minutes. I always go for a “falling off the bone” tenderness, and that is not even close to happening in less than half an hour. Use your own favorite method.

This was a very tasty recipe, perfect to make ahead for entertaining. We enjoyed it with some orecchiette soaked in the cacciatore’s sauce, and stove-top blasted broccoli.

For another version of this delicious dish, jump to Rufu’s blog clicking here…

ONE YEAR AGO: Donna Hay’s Thai-Inspired Dinner

TWO YEARG AGO: Panettone

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Posted in Poultry

Tagged braised chicken thighs, chicken cacciatore, chicken thighs, Michael Chiarello, Michael Chiarello Casual Cooking

CRIMSON AND CREAM CHILI

Posted on October 8, 2011 | 28 Comments

The weather is cooling off and football season is warming up! Because our university team is ranked near the top this year every game matters, and they’re all nail-biters. This weekend brings the season’s most anticipated and exciting game, OU vs Texas. It’s a great rivalry, a grudge match for the schools, and every year both cancel classes the day beforehand so that students can drive to Dallas and watch the pageantry and festivities in the Cotton Bowl, surrounded by the Texas State Fair. I have mixed feelings about it. It’s a wild, wild adrenaline ride. But, sports attract too much attention and praise, relative to the pitiful amount given to academia and research. The coaches make so much money, making me painfully aware of how broke our academic departments are. It makes me wonder if the priorities aren’t a bit twisted. On the other hand, we all know what may happen if the University withdraws financial support from its sports programs. The TV revenues will drop, and the schools will have lower profits, resulting in even greater struggles for scientific research. Having failed to solve this pressing problem of the universe, I go back to food. … Ohhh, and I almost forgot: GO SOONERS!

Football food. Several classic options come to mind: hamburgers, grilled sausages, hot-dogs, one-pot type meals like… chili! Once chili was mentioned, we reached a delightful agreement. I modified a turkey version from The Gourmet Cookbook, to showcase the colors of our team, crimson and cream. It was like throwing a 98-yard touch down pass!

CRIMSON AND CREAM TURKEY CHILI
(adapted from Gourmet)

2 chipotle chilis in Adobe sauce (canned)
1/2 cup water
2 cans ( 15 oz each) diced fire roasted tomatoes
2 Tbs olive oil
1 shallot, minced
1 Tbs ground cumin
2 pounds ground turkey (dark meat or a 50/50 mix of dark & white)
1 cup chicken stock
1 bay leaf
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp salt
1 red bell pepper, roasted, chopped
1 – 2 minced serrano peppers
1 Tbs cornmeal
1/2 can of white beans, rinsed (about 8 ounces)
fresh cilantro leaves, minced

Puree the canned chipotle beans with the water in a blender or small food processor, Reserve.

Heat the olive oil in a heavy pan, ad the shallot, saute for a couple of minutes, add the cumin, mix well and cook for another minute. Add the ground turkey, increase the heat, and cook stirring often, until browned, about 8 minutes.

Add the chipotle puree, the canned tomatoes, chicken stock, bay leaf, oregano, and salt, and simmer without a lid for 1 hour. If the level of liquid drops below the surface of the meat, add more water. Add the red bell pepper, serrano chiles, and cornmeal, and continue simmering gently for another 30 minutes.

Stir the white beans into the mixture, discard the bay leaf, taste, adjust seasoning, and right before serving add as much cilantro as you like. Serve with sour cream, sliced green onions, and shredded cheese on the side.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Compared to our default recipe for chili, this one is much easier to prepare, and – I cannot believe I’ll be saying this - I like it even better! It has beans in it, which would normally turn me off, I rather have my chili with meat and peppers only, in a tomato-base stew. But, in this case, the beans added creaminess and flavor, perfect alongside the delicate turkey meat. Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce are simply too tasty. If you haven’t cooked with them yet, grab some on your next stop at the grocery store and you will be going back for more…

Hope you are all having a great weekend, football or not on your menu…

ONE YEAR AGO: Taking a break from the nano-kitchen

TWO YEARS AGO: Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Posted in Poultry

Tagged chili, football food, ground turkey, turkey, turkey chili, white chili

CHICKEN MARSALA

Posted on September 29, 2011 | 28 Comments

Chicken breasts… mushrooms… Marsala wine… what’s not to like? This classic Italian dish is a breeze to prepare, and a perfect option for a romantic dinner for two.

CHICKEN MARSALA
(from the Bewitching Kitchen)

4 boneless chicken breast filets
salt and pepper
1 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs butter
1 shallot, minced
3 cups of mushrooms, sliced thin
1/2 cup Marsala wine
1/2 cup chicken stock (or water)
minced Italian parsley

If the chicken filets are too thick, slice them in half running the knife parallel to the cutting board, and pressing the filets gently down with the palm of your hand. Pound them slightly to even the thickness. Season with salt and pepper.

Heat the butter and olive oil in medium-high heat on a large skillet, when the butter foams and starts to get golden, add the chicken filets and cook until they develop a nice color on both sides (about 4 minutes per side, depending on your stove). Remove them to a platter, tent with aluminum foil.

Add the diced shallot to the pan (if necessary add a little more olive oil, but you probably won’t need it), cook in medium heat for a couple of minutes, add all the mushrooms and cook stirring every once in a while until they start to get soft. Season lightly with salt, add the Marsala wine, and cook until almost fully absorbed, about 5 minutes. Add the chicken stock (or water), place the chicken filets back in the pan, cover, and simmer on low heat for 10 minutes or until fully cooked through.

Remove the chicken to a serving platter, increase the heat to reduce the mushroom sauce to the consistency you like. Optional step: add a couple of tablespoons of cold butter in small pieces, swirling the sauce after each addition. Adjust seasoning, spoon the sauce over the chicken and sprinkle parsley on top. Serve immediately.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

I didn’t give a precise source for this recipe, because I’ve been making it for years, the first time I probably got it from one of my cooking books back in Brazil, decades ago. Some recipes will instruct you to coat the filets in a little seasoned flour. I prefer the texture of the meat seared without it. The flour coating does help thicken the sauce in the end, but I don’t mind skipping it. Similarly, most recipes call for a final addition of butter. Depending on my mood, I might add it or not. For this dinner, I omitted it, the sauce was plenty flavorful without it.

I only had regular mushrooms, but if you find creminis or other types of mushrooms, add them to the party. Would you be considering a final swirl of truffle oil? A word of caution: truffle oil is made by infusing olive oil with bis-methylthio-methane, a chemical that mimics their taste. I never buy the stuff, being exposed to enough organic chemicals in my work. Still, some shaved truffles (the real thing) on top of this dish could turn that dinner date into “An Affair to Remember”

ONE YEAR AGO: Home, sweet home

TWO YEARS AGO: Levain Bread with Caramelized Onions

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Posted in Poultry

Tagged chicken filets, chicken marsala, classic italian cooking, elegant dinner, marsala wine, mushroom sauce, romantic dinner

GIADA’S CHICKEN ADOBO

Posted on September 16, 2011 | 23 Comments

Football season is just starting in this country, so if you tuned into FoodTV last weekend you’d have noticed that most shows featured “game food,” stuff you can serve for friends who come over to watch that big match. Giada joined the party too, one of the dishes featured in her show was chicken adobo, a recipe from a Filipino friend of hers, using chicken drumsticks. I liked the marinade with its strong vinegar component, but changed the method of cooking a bit. After a slow braising, I moved the dish to the oven, blasted it at high temperature to crisp up the skin. I also included chicken thighs because they happen to be the best part of the bird. By far.

CHICKEN ADOBO
(adapted from Giada de Laurentiis)

3/4 cup white wine vinegar
3/4 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup light brown sugar
2 cloves garlic, crushed
3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 dried bay leaves
4 chicken drumsticks
4 chicken thighs
1 + 1/2 cups chicken broth
2 tablespoons arrowroot
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice (from 2 large limes)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
chopped fresh parsley or cilantro (optional)

Make the marinade by combining in a medium bowl the vinegar, soy, sugar, garlic, and red pepper flakes. Whisk until the sugar is completely dissolved, add the bay leaves.

Arrange the chicken in a single layer in a glass baking dish. Pour the marinade over the chicken and refrigerate for 2 hours, turning the chicken over halfway through.

Place the chicken and marinade in a Dutch oven and add the chicken broth. Bring the liquid to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 1 hour, turning the chicken every 20 minutes, until cooked through. Transfer the chicken to a baking dish, add some of the cooking liquid over it, and place in a 450F oven.

Meanwhile, reduce the marinade to make a sauce. Remove and discard the bay leaves and the garlic cloves. Whisk the arrowroot in 1/8 cup of water, add it together with the lime juice into the Dutch oven. Cook until the mixture thickens, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

When the chicken is well browned, and the skin crisp, transfer to a serving dish, and pour some of the thickened sauce around it. Sprinkle with fresh herbs, if using.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

I love the slightly acidic kick given by the vinegar in this dish. At first I was a bit wary of using a 50/50 proportion of vinegar to soy, but it worked quite well for our taste. The chicken melts apart, but the final blast in the oven ensures that the skin won’t be mushy. I served it with sauteed zucchini, but a more traditional approach – which I recommend – would be white rice. Come to think of it, sweet potatoes would complement it well too. Any chicken leftover can be shredded into tortillas, a little salsa on the side, another great option while watching the big game. Or your favorite cooking show…

ONE YEAR AGO: Shrimp in Moroccan-Style Tomato Sauce

TWO YEARS AGO: Golden Zucchini: A Taste of Yellow

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Posted in Poultry

Tagged chicken adobo, chicken drumsticks, chicken thighs, game day food, Giada de Laurentiis chicken recipe

ORIENTAL-STYLE TURKEY PATTIES

Posted on September 4, 2011 | 17 Comments

I got the inspiration for this recipe from two sources: this blog post over at Kalyn’s Kitchen, and a recent Anne Burrel show on Food TV, in which she featured turkey burgers. Ground turkey is a great basic ingredient to play with because it’s naturally low in fat, but exactly what makes it good has the potential of creating trouble. As Anne herself said in the show, she’s had plenty of bad turkey burgers in he lifetime, and so have I. The trick is to season the meat well, and increase its overall moisture.

ORIENTAL-STYLE TURKEY PATTIES
(from the Bewitching Kitchen)

1 + 1/2 pounds ground turkey
1/8 cup soy sauce
1/2 Tbs Sriracha sauce
2 tsp grated ginger
1/4 cup cilantro leaves, chopped fine
1 egg, beaten
2 green onions, white and light green parts, minced
about 2 Tbs water
a few Tbs bread crumbs, if needed
salt and pepper

In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients except the bread crumbs, try not to overwork the mixture or the patties will be too tough. This won’t be like a regular beef hamburger type mixture, the goal is to end up with more moisture. Once all is combined, if the mixture is too loose to form as a patty, sprinkle breadcrumbs and mix again. Form 4 patties, and place them over parchment paper on a baking sheet, place them in the fridge for 30 minutes to firm up slightly.

Cook them on a hot griddle smeared with a little olive oil until golden brown and completely cooked through.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: I doubled the recipe to have enough patties to freeze for lunches during the week, but I’m giving you the amounts for 4 patties only. These cannot be made on a grill, they are too delicate and work much better on a griddle or a non-stick frying pan.

They are very flavorful and moist, the ginger is a prominent flavor, I thought the Sriracha could be increased, but Phil has less fondness for it than myself, so I decided to use a light hand with it. Feel free to add more. They can be enjoyed by themselves, with a salad, or as a regular burger with toppings of your choice. I made some sauteed mushrooms that were a great match, and we added juicy tomato and avocado slices. A substantial, but not over-the-top weeknight dinner.

ONE YEAR AGO: Sourdough English Muffins

TWO YEARS AGO: Kaiser Rolls

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Posted in Poultry

Tagged ground turkey, healthy dinner, turkey burger, turkey patties

HONEY-GLAZED CHICKEN LEGS

Posted on June 3, 2011 | 10 Comments

A low-and-slow, followed by a high-and-fast blast in the oven is my favorite way to cook chicken pieces, similar to another recipe I blogged about in the past. In this version the proportion of honey is quite a bit higher, forming a glaze that acquires a fantastic mahogany hue in the final roasting time. The meat underneath will be the way we love it: juicy and tender. The inspiration for this recipe came from the latest issue of Food and Wine magazine.

HONEY-GLAZED CHICKEN LEGS
(adapted from Food and Wine, May 2011)

1/4 cup + 1 tsp honey
2 Tbs + 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
2 Tbs soy sauce
salt and pepper to taste
4 chicken legs (or 8 chicken thighs)

Make the glaze by mixing all the honey, lemon juice, and soy sauce. Sprinkle the chicken legs with salt and pepper, then use a brush to cover them with the glaze. Place the chicken legs on a baking sheet, skin-side down, cover with aluminum foil, and slow roast at 325F for about 40 minutes. Flip the pieces to have the skin side up, brush some more of the glaze over, cover with aluminum foil again, and continue cooking for another 40-45 minutes. (If you want to finish the recipe later, place it in the fridge).

Increase the oven temperature to 425F, remove the aluminum foil and roast until the skin is dark brown, 10 to 15 minutes (a little longer if roasting from the fridge).

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: Lots of recipes will have you roast poultry at a high temperature, but in my opinion, nothing compares to the “low and slow” approach. Not only the meat retains moisture, but it makes no mess in the oven, a huge bonus for neat-freaks such as myself.

I like to prepare this type of recipe in two stages: the slow roasting on a lazy weekend afternoon, or a quiet evening. After that, the meat can go to the fridge for a day or two. When it’s time to enjoy it, just do the final, higher temperature roasting for 20 minutes. White rice, pasta, couscous, or just a salad and a piece of bread, and you are set for a wonderful dinner!

ONE YEAR AGO: French-Style Rolls