Roasting a Whole Chicken

I am the only person in my house who can deal with raw poultry.

The Husband is a mighty hunter, having graced our dinner table with a number of different beasts. He also had a hand, if not solely managed, the preparation and serving of each one. He is known to go elbow deep into the cavity of a deer when necessary. He has no fear of any animal.

But he can’t deal with a chicken breast. Eh, we all have our quirks. You’d want to have me committed if I started listing all of my eccentricities. He has his reasons, though: it’s icky.  Folks, I cannot argue with that.

Alas, I am the chicken preparer. I trim, prep and cook said chicken. I am most familiar with the standard chicken breast, although I’ve also dabbled in thighs and wings. I thought I could handle it all.

Then comes the day I was wandering in the grocery store and saw whole, raw chickens chilling in the meat section. Could I do it? No, I didn’t actually ask myself that question. I’m not one for much forethought on stuff like that. I picked up the bird, plopped it in my cart, and brought it home. I found this recipe from Southern Living and I was set.

Herb-Roasted Chickens
Yield: Makes 8 to 12 servings
Prep time:20 Minutes
Bake:1 Hour, 25 Minutes
Stand:15 Minutes

Ingredients
6 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup poultry seasoning
1/4 cup fresh rosemary leaves, finely chopped
1/4 cup fresh thyme leaves, finely chopped
4 teaspoons fresh minced garlic
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper
2 (3- to 4-lb.) whole chickens


Preparation
1. Stir together oil and next 6 ingredients until well blended.

2. If necessary, remove giblets and neck from chickens, and reserve for another use. Rinse chickens with cold water; pat dry.

3. Loosen and lift skin from chicken breasts with fingers (do not totally detach skin). Rub 2 Tbsp. olive oil mixture evenly underneath skin of each chicken. Carefully replace skin. Rub remaining olive oil mixture over both chickens, coating evenly. Place chickens, side by side, on a lightly greased wire rack in a pan.

4. Bake at 425° for 30 minutes; cover loosely with aluminum foil, and bake 45 to 55 minutes or until a meat thermometer inserted in thickest portion of breast registers 165°. Let stand 15 minutes before slicing.

Note: Dried herbs and seasonings may be substituted for fresh. Substitute 1/2 tsp. garlic powder for minced, but use the same amounts for the other herbs and spices.

Chicken cooking day arrives. I plopped the naked bird in the sink, wrestled with the best way to cut into the wrapping, dodged the stream of chicken juice, et al, that sprayed in my general direction after cutting into said wrapping, and surveyed pre-dinner. I was suddenly at a loss as to what in the hell I was to do next. As I began to inspect the bird more closely I determined there were still little feathers stuck into its skin. Whaaa? Did I not pay enough to get the feather-free bird? I mean, they were just little stubs, but still. I plucked out the ones I could get to, rinsed the whole thing, patted it dry and put it on my pan. By the way, I’m doing all of this pretty much single handedly, literally, since I’m holding the chicken in one hand and working the faucet with the other. We don’t want any chicken cross contamination in this house. To quote the husband, that’s icky. Oh, and thank goodness the good people at Tyson decided to take out the neck and giblets for me; that could have potentially been a deal breaker.
 
The rest of the prep work was relatively uneventful from this point forward. I mixed the seasonings and oil together, smeared it all over the bird and tied its little feet together. The bird also had a pop-up timer to tell me when it was done, but I ended up not trusting it. I wasn’t in the mood for undercooked chicken, so I changed up the cooking times slightly: 15 minutes at 425, then an extra 70 minutes at 350, until I was absolutely sure it was cooked all the way through.


When it was done, it smelled fabulous! I tented it with foil for about 10 minutes while our sides finished up and then we cut into it. The herbs had seasoned the meat really well and the skin kept everything very moist. The herbs weren’t overpowering even though I used a lot of them. I also learned a new word – flensing. Defined as removing all of the useable chicken meat from the carcass. Related definition: something that takes an inordinate amount of time, causes back pain from hunching over the counter for up to 45 minutes, and results in maybe a pound of chicken leftovers that you will struggle to find a way to use before you just freeze it and forget about it until the next time you roast a chicken and you think to yourself, "Dang it, I still have all of that other flensed chicken in the freezer from the last time I cooked this blasted thing!" Chicken leftovers are why the Good Lord made chicken noodle soup, chicken salad and chicken sandwiches.

Edit: I must amend my earlier statement that the Husband can’t deal with raw poultry. The mighty hunter bagged a turkey recently, providing enough meat for five meals, and he just tore into that bird to get the meat. Literally. When I brought up his poultry aversion, he said, “Yeah, but I know where this bird has been,” meaning from the field to our kitchen counter, he knows exactly how it was handled and prepped. With the grocery store variety bird, he can’t guarantee that so he’s less sure of it. Makes sense.

Tom Kha Gai

I’ve tried for so long to find a good recipe for Tom Kha Gai, or Thai Chicken Coconut Soup. There’s a great restaurant in our area that serves it and the Husband gets it almost every time we go there. It’s creamy and silky and it has an explosion of Thai flavors that are very specific to the cuisine – if you’ve had Thai food before, you know those flavors. Tart, sweet, spice, heat, all rolled into one dish typically. It’s so amazing. I was looking at doing a cooking class at our local Viking Cooking School and I found this recipe and decided to give it a shot. Bullseye!

Tom Kha Gai

16 ounces chicken stock
4 to 5 kaffir lime leaves*, bruised in a mortar and pestle
2 stalks lemongrass*, white and pale green tips only, trimmed, bruised in a mortar and pestle
1 (2-inch) piece galangal* (or ginger root), thinly sliced
1 (8-ounce) can straw mushrooms, drained and rinsed
1 (13-1/2-ounce) can coconut milk, thick cream removed and reserved from top of can
1 whole dried red chile pepper*, or to taste, slightly crushed in a mortar and pestle
1 (6-ounce) chicken breast, cut into bite-size pieces
2 tablespoons fish sauce, or to taste
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice, or to taste (juice of about 2 medium limes)
6 green onions, green tops only, cut into 1/16-inch thick slices
1/4 cup whole fresh cilantro leaves, packed
Steamed jasmine rice, for an accompaniment (recipe below)

Directions:

In a medium sauce pan, combine the chicken stock, kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass, galangal, and straw mushrooms over medium-high heat. Bring mixture to a boil, then add the thin coconut milk, Thai chile, and chicken pieces. Immediately reduce the heat to medium and simmer gently, uncovered, until the chicken is just cooked through, about 2 minutes.

Just before serving, stir in the fish sauce, lime juice, green onions, and cilantro. Taste and adjust the seasoning with fish sauce, lime juice, and chiles as needed. (Hint: The key to this dish is executing the final seasoning; for a saltier, more complex dish, add more fish sauce, one teaspoon at a time, up to 4 tablespoons. For a brighter, livelier soup, add more lime juice. For a fiery finish, stir in another chile.) Just before serving, top each bowl with a dollop of coconut cream; serve immediately with jasmine rice.

*These aromatics (kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass, galangal, and whole dried chiles) are for flavoring the liquid only; they are not to be consumed. If you prefer, you may place these aromatics in the center of a dampened, 6-inch square piece of cheesecloth folded double. Draw up the sides to form a pouch and tie with kitchen twine. Continue with the recipe as directed above, then discard the sachet before serving.

To make it light: Substitute light coconut milk; omit the coconut cream.

I’ve made this soup before, using a different recipe, and the results were nothing to write home about. It was watery and the heat was overpowering. But this version is incredible. There’s such a great balance of all of the flavors and they come together really well. I used light coconut soup in the recipe and there was no difference in taste, plus we saved a few calories.





Some of the items may seem very unfamiliar, for instance, fish sauce.





This is some pungent stuff! Just a tip – don’t stick your nose into the opening of the bottle trying to decide if I’m right about this. It will turn you inside out and you may very well try to make the soup without the fish sauce because you cannot agree to put something this foul smelling into your food. You actually don’t get the overpowering fish taste in the soup – trust me. It’s just enough to where it’s a necessary amount, but again, please don’t do a sniff test for yourself. And don’t turn to Google to read about how they make fish sauce. You don’t want to know.





Some other unfamiliar items are kaffir lime leaves, galangal, and lemongrass. The lemongrass is something you can find in the spice aisle of the grocery store. It looks like lightly colored, rolled up cinnamon sticks. Some recipes may call for it to be rehydrated and diced, but here you just use it as flavoring. The galangal looks like ginger root and is of the same family, but the taste isn’t exactly the same. The recipe notes you can use ginger in its place, and that’s what I did. The kaffir lime leaves are really interesting, though. I was able to get these leaves from the international food market in town, the same place I purchased the zatar for the Grilled Middle Eastern Meatballs. They came in a little plastic bag, about 8-10 leaves total, and they smelled like the freshest bunch of limes you can imagine. As with the galangal and lemongrass, these are just used for seasoning. But the flavors resulting from these items are definitely one of a kind.




What I also discovered after the soup was finished cooking is that it really doesn’t make very much. At all. Like, I could have eaten the whole pot by myself. So I steamed some jasmine rice, added a little of the remaining coconut milk that I had reserved for just this use, nuked a thing of Asian vegetables and tossed in some sautéed shrimp I had in the freezer. Ta da! Instant dinner. And a really delicious one at that.

Hot Chicken Casserole

This recipe is truly an oldie, but a goodie. It belongs to the Husband's side of the family and he's been eating it for years. It's absolutely the definition of comfort food and has really become a treat for us since we're eating healthier these days.

Hot Chicken Casserole

2 chicken breasts
1 small package of spaghetti
1 chopped green bell pepper
1 chopped onion
½ stick of butter
¾ pound Velveeta cheese, cubed
1 can Rotel
½ t salt
½ t pepper

Boil the chicken breasts until done. Shred the chicken. Using the same water, cook a small package of spaghetti noodles. Let it cook down but leave it a bit soupy.

Brown the chopped bell pepper and onion in butter in a medium skillet. Mix pepper and onions, noodles in remaining liquid, shredded chicken, Velveeta, Rotel, salt and pepper in a large casserole dish.

Cook at 200˚ for 2 hours covered, stirring occasionally.

Who doesn't love a dish smothered in Velveeta? No one I know. If you don't cook with Velveeta in the South, people look at you funny. Now I sure don't use ¾ lb of the stuff as the recipe suggests, but I can assure you the cheese level is sufficient. This recipe also makes a ton - I cook it in a 2 ½ quart baking dish and it comes to the very top. Leftovers heat very well and last for a few days, so you have to not mind eating the same thing over and over again for a short time. Freezing does weird things to the texture of pasta in my experience, so I don't know if I would do that. It's also important to stir it about every 20-30 minutes so the top doesn't get crunchy and everything melts well.

Yes, I forgot to wipe the plate before I photographed it. I once had a kitchen manager who insisted all plates went out clean and would personally inspect them. I guess it makes for a good impression. And yes, this is a fairly monochromatic dish thanks to all that cheese. You can see some of the green peppers and the tomatoes from the Rotel, but everything else is the color of Velveeta. Again with the onion, I don't use a whole one. I'm good on about two or three slices, finely diced. I do use a whole green pepper, though, but it's going to be on the smaller side than some of those behemoth peppers. As for the cooking time, I have been known to cheat and raise the temperature to 300˚ and cook for only one hour. It still turns out fine. Just remember to stir it occasionally. So there you have it - a down home, creamy, cheesy, comfort food. Should you attempt to pass this off as a family recipe of your very own, I won't take offense.

Crispy Curried Chicken Tenders with Cilantro Dipping Sauce

I made this recipe the other night, but I'm going to have to make it again soon. Not that I messed it up or anything, but I was afflicted with some nasty allergies when I made this for dinner and my stopped up nose wasn't working too well. Therefore, this meal ended up tasting really muted. It still tasted good, but I need another go at it when I'm not sickly.

Crispy Curried Chicken Tenders with Cilantro Dipping Sauce
ACTIVE: 45 MIN
SERVINGS: 4
Ingredients
1 cup mayonnaise
2 cups loosely packed cilantro leaves
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon Madras curry powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3 large eggs, beaten
2 cups panko
2 pounds chicken tenders
3/4 cup vegetable oil

Directions
In a food processor, blend the mayonnaise with the cilantro and lemon juice until the cilantro is finely chopped. Season with salt and pepper and refrigerate the dipping sauce until ready to serve.

In a small bowl, combine the curry powder with the cayenne and 1 tablespoon of salt. Put the flour, eggs and panko in 3 shallow bowls. Stir 2 teaspoons of the curry powder mixture into the panko. Season the chicken tenders with the remaining curry powder mixture.

Dredge the chicken tenders in the flour and shake off any excess, then dip them in the eggs and coat thoroughly with the panko mixture. In a large skillet, heat half of the oil until shimmering. Add half of the chicken tenders and fry over moderate heat until golden and cooked through, about 10 minutes. Drain on paper towels. Repeat with the remaining oil and chicken tenders. Serve with the cilantro dipping sauce.

Aside from the stopped up nose and somewhat bland taste, I think this would have been really good under different circumstances. The seasoning is what didn't register as much as it normally would have, but the panko made for a wonderfully crunchy texture and they weren't oily and greasy like you would normally find things cooked in oil. A hot pan of oil and the panko really make the difference here.





This dish came together really easily. I think I still might add more curry powder to my next attempt. There needed to be a little more of a punch than what I got when I ate them. Also, this Cilantro Dipping Sauce. I have an aversion to mayonnaise that causes me extreme distress when I have to eat said substance in any form other than chicken salad or potato salad. Even then, you had better go lean on the stuff. Therefore, I could not, in good conscience, whip up a dipping sauce that called for that much mayo, and even halved with 1/2 cup I could not bring myself to do it. So I ate them plain, and they were still fine (albeit bland). I tried to dip them in ranch dressing but that was not good, so they stayed plain.

I'll make this again when I'm feeling better. Also, I get the feeling this is a little better for you than all out fried chicken because you're not using as much of the oil - just a little. Also, I used whole wheat panko, so that's double on the healthy score. Thumbs up all around.

Yucatan-Style Chicken, Lime and Orzo Soup

I did a little bit of research before writing this blog entry to find out more about this soup. I found it on the Epicurious site and it looked pretty popular. But now that I go back and see some of the reviews, I'm stumped. Lots of people said it was bland, some said it was the best thing they've ever had, and only a few mentioned the presence of lime in this dish. I don't know what lime has to do with the Yucatan area of Mexico, but they certainly must like it. However, the Husband and I didn't.

Yucatan-Style Chicken, Lime and Orzo Soup

3/4 cup orzo (rice-shaped pasta)
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium white onion, thinly sliced
6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 jalapeño chiles, thinly sliced
3/4 pound skinless boneless chicken breasts, cut into matchstick-size strips
5 cups low-salt chicken broth
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1 large tomato, seeded, chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Fresh cilantro sprigs


Cook orzo in pot of boiling salted water until just tender. Drain well.

Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, and chiles. Sauté until onion begins to brown, about 4 minutes. Add chicken; sauté 1 minute. Add broth, lime juice, and tomato. Simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 3 minutes. Mix in orzo, then chopped cilantro. Season soup with salt and pepper. Ladle soup into 4 bowls. Garnish with cilantro sprigs. Makes 4 servings.

Again, I halved this recipe because it's just the two of us and, well, this soup looked a little suspicious. It's better to make a small portion of something that's inedible rather than a large portion. But let me say that this soup wasn't inedible, and it didn't even, as the Husband and I joked, "put the 'Yuc' in Yucatan." It was okay, but we were correct that it wasn't all that filling, and the lime was just so strong. I didn't even put the full halved amount into the soup because I was a little wary of that much sour in the broth. It was okay.




I did a few things differently. Instead of orzo, I used whole wheat brown rice from Whole Foods. We bought it dried in bulk and it's so good. Very nutty and a lot like the sticky rice you would find at a good Asian restaurant. That helped add some bulk to the soup. I used one chicken breast and did the thin slices. I only used one jalapeno, but I think two may have helped to overpower the lime juice somewhat. We didn't use nearly as much onion as it calls for. What is it with recipes calling for an entire onion? Ridiculous. Then I dropped a handful of cilantro into the soup which was a good kick.

This soup really had potential but the lime just turned us off. The rest of it wasn't good enough to where we would likely try it again with less lime; I think this is just a dud.

Grilled Chicken with Green Chile Sauce

More rain, and another long commute home. Today I really wanted to sit on the couch, but once again the kitchen won. While I prepped for this meal, I wolfed down another serving of last night's Mexican Chicken Casserole because I always get home hungry and I have to eat a little something before dinner or I get irritable. And, you know, no one wants that.

Grilled Chicken with Green Chile Sauce

Yield: 4 servings
Serving size: 1 breast

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
¼ cup olive oil
¼ tsp oregano
½ tsp black pepper
¼ cup water
10 to 12 tomatillos, husks removed and cut in half
½ medium onion, quartered
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 serrano or jalapeno peppers
2 Tbsp cilantro, chopped
¼ tsp salt
¼ cup low fat sour cream
Juice of 2 limes

Combine the oil, juice from one lime, oregano, and black pepper in a shallow glass baking dish. Stir. Place the chicken breasts in the baking dish and turn to coat each side. Cover the dish and refrigerate overnight. Turn the chicken periodically to marinate chicken on both sides.

Put water, tomatillos, and onion into a saucepan. Bring to a gentle boil and cook uncovered for 10 minutes or until the tomatillos are tender. In a blender, place the cooked onion, tomatillos, and any remaining water. Add the garlic, peppers, cilantro, salt, and the remaining lime juice. Blend until all the ingredients are smooth. Place the sauce in a bowl and refrigerate.

Place the chicken breasts on a hot grill and cook until done. Place the chicken on a serving platter.

Spoon a tablespoon of low fat sour cream over each chicken breast. Pour the sauce over the sour cream.

I was really hoping to like this. It sounded good, and it was another healthy recipe I found. I also halved this recipe, but I only cooked one chicken breast instead of two. I used halved measurements of the marinade and did that in the fridge last night, but the chicken didn't take on much of the flavor. There was a little taste of the lime in the chicken, but overall it was weak. Before I grilled the chicken, I pounded it and salted and peppered both sides. The chicken looked to be drying out a little on the grill, so I actually brushed the chicken with the green chile sauce that I made in the blender. I think that helped to keep the chicken a little more moist than it would have been. I also had a lot of leftover green chile sauce when I put the desired amount on my chicken breast, and I discovered it was pretty good as a salsa with tortilla chips. Who knew? However, I think the sauce was the only redeemable part of this dish. I just wasn't impressed. I think it was the lack of flavor in the marinade, which could be pumped up easily, and while it says to blend the sauce until smooth, I think I would have liked it more with a few small chunks in it.

So, overall, not a huge fan of this recipe. I'll hold onto it, though, because I think it can be tweaked.

Mexican Chicken Casserole

Thanks to driving rain, a longer commute than normal and a trip to the grocery store, I arrived home at 7:20 tonight. That's two hours after I left work. I normally have a long commute, but tonight was really an eye opener in that I will still have to cook even if I don't want to. I would have loved to just sit on the couch after braving that mess, but the kitchen awaits. So, I donned my best knock-around clothes (a 10-year-old college party shirt and track pants), fed the beast:


*urp*

... and got to work.

Mexican Chicken Casserole

1 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
2 (4.5 oz.) cans chopped green chiles, divided
1 3/4 lbs. skinned, boned chicken breasts
2 tsp. olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup evaporated skim milk
1 cup (4 oz.) shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1/4 cup (2 oz.) tub-style light cream cheese
1 (10-oz.) can enchilada sauce
12 (6-inch) corn tortillas
Cooking spray
1/2 cup (2 oz.) shredded reduced-fat extra-sharp cheddar cheese
1 oz. tortilla chips, crushed

Combine broth and 1 can of chiles in a large skillet; bring to a boil. Add chicken; reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes or until chicken is done, turning chicken once. Remove chicken from cooking liquid, reserving cooking liquid; cool chicken. Shred meat with two forks, and set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 can of chiles and onion; sauté 3 minutes or until soft. Add reserved cooking liquid, milk, Monterey Jack cheese, cream cheese and enchilada sauce; stir well. Stir in shredded chicken; cook 2 minutes. Remove from heat.
Place four tortillas in the bottom of a 2 quart casserole coated with cooking spray. Spoon 2 cups chicken mixture over tortillas. Repeat layers twice, ending with chicken mixture. Sprinkle with cheddar cheese and chips. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Makes
eight servings (about 1 cup per serving).

Final product

Keep in mind that I halved this recipe, since it's just me here at the house now. I'll be taking lots of these leftovers to work for lunch in the following days, but I want to minimize the amount of food I have laying around. This recipe halved easily and I didn't have any problems. I ended up using a little more chicken broth in the very first part of the recipe just to make sure I had enough liquid in the pan to cook the chicken. When the cooking liquid-milk-cheese-cheese-enchilada sauce came together, it looked really soupy. I was afraid I would have to reduce the amount I put into the casserole, but as soon as I added the chicken it thickened up nicely. I used a few extra corn tortillas when doing the layering, considering the only option to purchase corn tortillas at my Big Box Retailer was in packs of 90. Ninety corn tortillas? The hell am I going to do with 90 corn tortillas?!

Once the dish was assembled, I popped it in the oven uncovered. Looking back, I should have covered it while cooking because the cheese that was on top of the dish came out of the oven looking a little rubbery. It tasted fine, but some foil on top probably would have prevented that. When it came out it was bubbling and cheesy and smelled really good. I conveniently bypassed the instructions to let the dish sit 10 minutes before you eat and immediately dug in, searing the roof of my mouth with molten chicken-cheese mixture. I'll survive. Besides, by this point it was 9:10pm and I was hungrier than a French runway model. The chiles were apparent, but in no way hot (spicy hot, that is). The casserole was not soupy at all and I think the tortillas had soaked up a lot of the moisture, as the tortillas toward the middle of the dish were soggy. However, everything mixed together so well that the soggy tortillas didn't bother me.

Overall, I would cook this again. Halved, this makes a perfect dinner for two with a little leftover for the next day. It's also from Cooking Light so it's not horrible for you. I had to make just a few adjustments in my recipe, again, for items I didn't have at my local store (regular evaporated milk as opposed to evaporated skim milk) but all in all, this is a keeper.

*A note on reheating this dish - zapping leftovers in the microwave is a fine way to reheat, but it really does a number on the cheese and tortilla chips on top. The cheese got a little more rubbery and the chips lost their crisp and got tough. All in all, it was still good and not reason enough for me to never nuke any leftover Mexican Chicken Casserole again. This stuff is hella good even the second (and third) time around.