Category: chicken

Fried Chicken Thighs

This is one of those recipes where I combine several others, taking the parts of each, to make the finished dish. In this case, the recipes are all from Serious Eats (and, specifically, from Kenji Lopez-Alt). Kenji is amazing, if you don’t have his book The Food Lab, buy it now (https://www.amazon.com/Food-Lab-Cooking-Through-Science/dp/0393081087).

Here are the recipes I pulled ideas from:

https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2015/08/five-ingredient-fried-chicken-sandwich-recipe.html

https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2013/07/fried-chicken-cole-slaw-sandwich-recipe.html

https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2015/07/chicken-fried-chicken-with-cream-gravy-recipe.html

I use these techniques for any fried chicken I make – whether I’m usually boneless pieces or bone-in and also whether I’m eating them on a plate (as we did last night) or on a sandwich.

I brine in a combination of half dill pickle juice and half buttermilk, I add a bit of salt (be careful, pickle juice is salty) and add pepper, paprika, and garlic powder. I do this as it lets you skip the step of putting the chicken into buttermilk before dredging in flour. Experiment w/ the proportions that you like
Key – absolutely key – is combining 3-4 T of buttermilk with the flour you dredge in – this forms little clumps of dough that stick to the chicken and make it more crispy
I add more spices – same as above – and a little salt to the dredge
I fry as indicated – 3 minutes on a side in oil that starts at 425 degrees (but goes down into the lower 300s) for boneless thighs
I make the gravy basically like indicated in the ‘chicken fried chicken’ recipe…but I don’t really need a recipe for chicken gravy as I was taught how to do this by my (paternal) grandma and my mom
If I’m not making sandwiches (this makes really really good sandwiches) I always serve w/ mashed potatoes and corn because, you know, tradition
I’m including Kenji’s coleslaw recipe too, it’s really good!

https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2013/07/creamy-cole-slaw

chicken Main Dish

Pan-Roasted Chicken Thighs

One of the features of NY Times Cooking (Please tell me you’re already a subscriber? If not, you should be!) that I love are their “No Recipe Recipes.” (check them out here: https://cooking.nytimes.com/68861692-nyt-cooking/14326423-no-recipe-recipes) I like these narrative descriptions of how to cook something as they teach both technique and improvisation. That’s how I’m going to write up the recipe I cooked on my Instagram and Facebook story last night!

Trim excess fat from the number of chicken thighs you want to cook (1-2 per person depending on size (of the thighs…and, I guess, the person). Generously season both sides with salt and pepper (key word generously). Place on sheet tray and stick them in the fridge for a couple of hours.

Pre-heat your oven to 425 degrees. Heat a sticky (e.g. not non-stick) saute pan over medium-high heat for a couple of minutes, add a good shot of olive (or other) oil (don’t use good stuff here). Add the thighs, skin side down, and cook – rotating the pan occasionally – until well browned 6-8 minutes (watch them towards the end to make sure they don’t burn). Flip and cook another 4 minutes. Remove to a sheet tray and place in the oven.

Turn heat to medium, add a handful of minced shallots and a minced garlic clove or two. Saute for a minute. Add 1/2 cup of dry white wine and scrape the bottom of the pan to deglaze (the stuff on the bottom of the pan is called “fond” and it is tasty). Add 1/2 cup of chicken broth, a tablespoon or so of (dijon, always) mustard, and S&P to taste. Cook for 5ish minutes. You can add herbs (thyme would be good) as well. Add a tablespoon of butter and whisk to combine. Throw in some chopped parsley…or not. Up to you.

Check the temperature of the thighs – you’re shooting for 160-170 (thighs are forgiving) – and, when ready, put them on a (warm) plate and spoon some sauce over, serve.

This sauce is flexible – you can add lots of different flavorings, omit things, etc. For example, capers and lemon juice could be good. The only real “requirements” are wine (or broth) and butter.

Enjoy!

chicken Comfort Food Main Dish

Chicken Tikka Masala

The recipe below is the original from Grace Parisi. It is great as is and I owe her for teaching me how to cook this. You can improv on this recipe pretty easily with little to no impact on the finished product. Things I typically do:

Add about a tablespoon of garam masal spice blend to the marinade
Marinating time doesn’t need to be more than 1 hour
No need to scrape off the yogurt before cooking the chicken
Grill the chicken, turns out better and is easier than broiling
If you don’t have almonds substitute almond butter…or skip it
If you don’t have cream substitute yogurt
Experiment with how much of the different spices you use – I often add more chile powder and garam masala
Add ½ c minced cilantro at the end of the cooking process
Serve with yogurt spooned over the tp

Grace Parisi’s Chicken Tikka Masala – from FoodandWine.com (https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/chicken-tikka-masala)

Ingredients

MASALA MARINADE

1 cup plain low-fat yogurt

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander

1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric

Salt and freshly ground pepper

CHICKEN

2 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken thighs, fat trimmed

Salt and freshly ground pepper

2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon vegetable oil

1/4 cup blanched whole almonds

1 large onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger

1 1/2 tablespoons garam masala

1 1/2 teaspoons pure chile powder

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

One 35-ounce can peeled tomatoes, finely chopped, juices reserved

Pinch of sugar

1 cup heavy cream

Directions

MAKE THE MASALA MARINADE: In a large glass or stainless-steel bowl, combine the yogurt, garlic, ginger, cumin, coriander, cardamom, cayenne and turmeric. Season with salt and pepper.
PREPARE THE CHICKEN: Using a sharp knife, make a few shallow slashes in each piece of chicken. Add the chicken to the marinade, turn to coat and refrigerate overnight.
Preheat the broiler and position a rack about 8 inches from the heat. Remove the chicken from the marinade; scrape off as much of the marinade as possible. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and spread the pieces on a baking sheet. Broil the chicken, turning once or twice, until just cooked through and browned in spots, about 12 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board and cut it into 2-inch pieces.
Meanwhile, in a small skillet, heat 1 teaspoon of the oil. Add the almonds and cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly, until golden, about 5 minutes. Transfer the almonds to a plate and let cool completely. In a food processor, pulse the almonds until finely ground.
In a large enameled cast-iron casserole, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil until shimmering. Add the onion, garlic and ginger and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until tender and golden, about 8 minutes.
Add the garam masala, chile powder and cayenne and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the tomatoes with their juices and the sugar and season with salt and pepper. Cover partially and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is slightly thickened, about 20 minutes. Add the cream and ground almonds and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 10 minutes longer. Stir in the chicken; simmer gently for 10 minutes, stirring frequently, and serve.
Serve With Steamed basmati rice, rice pilaf or warm nan.

chicken Comfort Food Main Dish Uncategorized

Roast Chicken

The best way to cook a whole chicken is to spatchcock it and that’s not only because it sounds dirty. When you spatchcock a chicken (or any other kind of poultry), you remove the backbone and flatten it. This process has three benefits:

The flattened fowl is more evenly thick and that = even cooking
The squished squawker is, overall, not as thick and that = faster cooking
You get to say spatchcocked a lot = more entertaining cooking

Start this process a couple of hours before you want to cook the bird so it has time to marinate.

For a detailed guide to this process, check out this site (I LOVE seriouseats.com): https://www.seriouseats.com/2017/01/the-food-lab-how-to-roast-a-butterflied-spatchcocked-chicken.html

Ingredients

3-4 pound whole chicken (organic is preferred)
2-3 T spice rub of your choice (more on that below)
½ C mayonnaise

Instructions

Place the bird back side up on a cutting board
Using kitchen shears, cut down each side of the backbone to remove it
- This may take some effort. You’re strong, stick with it
- As a guide, the piece of backbone that you’ll remove will be about 1.5 inches wide – you don’t want to cut out too much of the meat
Grab the two sides of the chicken and sort of pull it apart to start to flatten it
Clean up any offending ‘bits’ (fat, blood, whathaveyou). No need to rinse the chicken, that just makes a mess
Flip the bird over and push down on the breast to fully flatten. You may need to flip the legs around, you want the whole bird as even as possible
Create a pocket under the skin on the breast by poking your fingers under the skin and wiggling them around
Sprinkle the entire bird including under the skin (in that little pocket you just made) with the rub. on both sides
- See notes below on rubs
Slather (that’s a technical term) the bird (again, both sides, and under the breast skin) with the mayo
- I use mayo because the fat and protein in it help the skin brown and crisp (no, it won’t taste like mayo)
Set the bird on a wire rack in a roasting pan, put it in the fridge and let it sit for at least an hour, longer is fine too
Preheat your oven (on convection if you have it) to 425 degrees
Roast the bird, legs towards the back, for 40-50 minutes
- Check the temperature starting at about 35 minutes
- The bird is done when the breasts are about 150 degrees and the legs around 170 degrees
- If the skin gets too brown, cover it with foil
Remove the chicken from the oven, cover it with foil, and let it rest for 10 minutes
Carve – first remove the legs, then split the breast in half lengthwise and then again cross wise. You’ll have six pieces total
Place the chicken on a warmed platter and serve

A Word on Rubs

You can use whatever rub you like – a pre-made one from the store, a homemade one, whatever. Seriously. Don’t stress. If you don’t have a rub, use a tablespoon or so of (Kosher) salt and lots of pepper. When I cook this on the ‘gram I use 2 tablespoons of a commercial porchetta rub from Clif Family Wines (check them out – great wines and food products (and energy bars) to which I add 3 minced garlic cloves, ¼ teaspoon or so of crushed red pepper flakes, ½ teaspoon of ground fennel, and 1 teaspoon of ground rosemary. I mix the whole thing up with my mortar and pestle but you can use a spice grinder, food processor, or a large hammer.