Stir Fried Chicken with Ketchup p. 677

Continuing on with my planned week of meals, I made this dish one night during the week. It was a fast, easy dish to prepare after a long day of work.



First chop your chicken pieces (either breasts or thighs will do) and lightly coat in flour. Cook for a few minutes until cooked through. Cool garlic and cayenne for a minute , add a bunch of ketchup and let it cook for a few minutes. Toss chicken with ketchup sauce.



I served over rice and added some chopped peanuts and fresh cilantro. One of the better meals we'd had in a while.

Chicken with Yogurt and Indian Spices p. 650

Ingredients: chicken, onion, garlic, ginger, cayenne, cumin, coriander, cardamon, tumeric, cinnamon, yogurt, cilantro.

Start off by heating your oil. When hot, throw in your chicken pieces (I used boneless breasts) and brown them on all sides. Remove from the pan. Next you will cook your onions if you are using them, I did not. Next you will throw in your chopped garlic and ginger as well as spices. Stir in the yogurt. (I have tried several similar recipes and those all called for the yogurt towards the end with minimal cooking time. I was worried about this step and I think my fears were not for nothing.)

Add in your chicken pieces and lower the heat. You will cook until the chicken pieces are thoroughly cooked through. I had to rearranged my chicken pieces every 5 minutes so that they were all evenly cooked.

In the end, my dish had a very weird consistency that I fear was from over cooking the yogurt. Everything tasted fine and it was delicious, but I just don't think it was supposed to end up this way.



Served over Rice Pilaf

Roast Chicken with Herb Butter

I love a roast chicken. Its so easy to cook and produces a pretty and delicious meal. Not to mention, the left over bones are great to make chicken stock from. I've made the simplest whole roast chicken several times, but I was curious to try different versions.

For this variation, I mixed chopped fresh parsley with softened butter. You will use most of the butter to stuff between the chicken meat and the skin. Which reminded me of what I did with our Thanksgiving turkey. I find it difficult to get it to spread evenly underneath the skin, but I guess it doesn't have to be perfect. Once it gets hot, the butter will melt into all the crevices. Also smear some butter on the outside of the bird.

Roast until the chicken is done.



While, its not the prettiest, it was one tasty bird.



This dish was served with quick glaze carrots and simply cooked spinach.

Herb- Roasted Chicken Cutlets p. 672

This was one dish I wasn't too crazy about. Perhaps it was the herbs I used and the flavor.

Start off by heating the oven and then mix herbs. The recipe calls for tarragon, dill or chervil (what is this? I've never heard of or used before) and parsley. I used everything dry because that was all I had. Cover chicken breasts with herbs and cook with a cup of stock to roast in the oven.



It is a super easy dish to make, however, I don't think I care for the flavor of tarragon. I will tweak the flavors to my liking next time.

2009 Favorites: Animal (Poultry and Meat)

Continuing with the theme, today I'll list my favorite poultry and meat recipes:

1. Broiled Skirt Steak. This was the first recipe I posted. It's been a while, but I still think about that deicious skirt steak. I plan on trying it again soon to find out if it was the meat, the local vendor, or the marinade that made it so

2. Steak Au Poivre. Another one I want to try again. The first round I could tell it would be delicious if not for the funky meat. Mark Bittman even made some on the Today Show this morning as an idea for an easy entree when entertaining.

3. Simplest Whole Roast Chicken. 2009 is the year of the roast chicken in our house. I love a roasted chicken. Its so easy and produces the most tender and juiciest meat. It also makes the house smell nice. And then I get to make a chicken stock (I'm seriously obsessed with making my own stock now)!

4. Pan Grilled/Oven Roasted Steaks. This is a recipe I've used several times since the initial posting. There is nothing more decadent to me than a nice steak. I never order steaks when eating out because I know I can perfectly cook a delicious steak at home. And I'd rather be at home than in a restaurant.

Arroz con Pollo p. 653

Ingredients: chicken, EVOO, onion, rice, stock, parsley, lemon.

I had never attempted a dish like this, but knew Bryan would love it.

Start by cooking your onions in oil until they are softened and clear. Then toss in your rice to coat with the oil. After that you add your chicken pieces and stock. Let it bubble and then cover and cook for about 20 minutes until the chicken and rice are both cooked.

I tossed in some frozen peas the last couple of minutes to add some color. Garnish with parsley and lemon juice.



We both liked the dish, but I thought it could use more flavor. Next time I'll probably stick a bay leaf or other seasonings in as it cooks to infuse it with more flavor. But in the end it was a delicious, weeknight dish.

Broiled Boneless Chicken Escabeche p. 669

Ingredients: chicken, vinaigrette.

I was amazed at how easy and fast this recipe was. Faster than the 20 minutes Mark Bittman estimated. I like to buy the big packages of frozen chicken breasts from Sam’s. They are so handy to have around. I pulled out some breasts to defrost and started looking for an easy recipe. This has to be the easiest.

I rinsed off my chicken breasts from their defrosting juices and dried them. Then rub them with a little olive oil and broil 3-4 minutes per side until cooked. Then take your prepared vinaigrette, whether is store bought, the Roasted Garlic Vinaigarette as suggested, or another dressing of your choosing, and cover the chicken.



You can serve immediately, or let it sit in the vinaigrette for a few hours or days in the fridge. I served almost immediately (well, they sat for about 10 minutes while I roasted my asparagus) and then served. Total preparation time, under 15 minutes.

Chicken Braised in Soy Sauce and Lemon p. 646

Ingredients: oil, chicken, garlic, lemon, cayenne, soy sauce, sugar.

This was a very easy dish to prepare and dirtied very little dishes, which made Bryan really happy.

First brown your chicken, but you don’t have to. I did this time and will probably skip it next time. Then soften your garlic, and add in the other ingredients including the chicken. Cook over medium to low for about 20 minutes.

Take out the chicken, add in lemon juice and serve over rice. Simple and delicious.

Simplest Whole Roast Chicken p. 644-645

Ingredients: whole chicken, EVOO, salt, pepper, garlic, fresh herbs

Really the simplest way to cook a whole chicken. So easy a caveman can do it. Oh wait, he probably did.

Rub your chicken with olive oil and salt and pepper. Throw on some herbs and garlic if you like. Then roast in the oven for about 40-50 minutes. Simple as that.

The tough part is finding the meat on the chicken. Its like a treasure hunt. Ours was a small chicken and at first it seemed like there wasn’t any meat on this little chicken, but then we found it. The bird was tender and juicy and delicious.

Seriously one of the easiest and best recipes you can make, especially on a busy weeknight.


(Apparently I didn't take any pictures of the chicken whole.)