Category: Entrees – Chicken

Servings: 4
Source: Fine Cooking 2/2002 pg 48
Part of this dish’s bright flavor comes from preserved lemons, which are fresh lemons that have been cured in salt. You can make your own (see Fine Cooking #30, p. 54), or buy them in grocery or specialty shops. We like to serve this with couscous mixed with garlic and parsley.

Ingredients
3-1/2 lb. whole chicken, rinsed and dried
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 sprigs fresh marjoram, 10 inches each, leaves stripped
7 sprigs fresh thyme, 4 inches each, leaves stripped
6 medium cloves garlic
5 Tbs. olive oil
1 preserved lemon (or 1 fresh lemon), sliced 1/8-inch thick
7 oz. pitted black olives, such as kalamata
9 oz. button mushrooms
1/2 cup (1-1/2 oz.) sun-dried tomatoes, softened in very hot water
1 medium onion, cut into eighths
3/4 cup dry white wine
Heat the oven to 425°F. Season the chicken inside and out with salt and pe

Directions
Heat the oven to 425°F. Season the chicken inside and out with salt and pepper. Using a mini food processor, a mortar and pestle, or a knife, mash together the marjoram, thyme, garlic, and 1 Tbs. of the olive oil to form a rough paste.

Slide your fingers between the chicken’s skin and flesh to loosen the skin on the breast, thigh, and leg areas. Rub the herb paste onto the flesh under the skin so it’s distributed as evenly as possible. Put half of the lemon slices, half of the olives, and one-third of the mushrooms in the cavity. Truss the bird, if you like, and put it, breast side up, in an enameled cast-iron pot or a Dutch oven. Drain the sun-dried tomatoes and arrange them around the chicken. Scatter the onion pieces and the remaining lemon slices, olives, and mushrooms around the chicken as well. Pour the white wine and the remaining 1/4 cup olive oil over the vegetables around the chicken. Roast, basting every 10 min. or so with the pan juices, until an instant-read thermometer in the thigh meat reads 170°F or the juices run clear, 1 to 1-1/4 hours; the vegetables should be tender.
3-1/2 lb. whole chicken, rinsed and dried

To serve, set the chicken on a carving board and spoon out the vegetables
To serve, set the chicken on a carving board and spoon out the vegetables from the cavity. Defat the pan juices and serve as a sauce, if you like. Remove any trussing, carve the bird, and serve on a platter with the lemons, olives, mushrooms, onions, and tomatoes arranged around the chicken.

Servings: 4-6
Source: Fine Cooking April/May 2003 page 32
recipeNotes: I left Vietnam thirty years ago, but I still cherish its foods. One of my favorites is a braised chicken and ginger dish that transforms a few simple ingredients (chicken thighs, ginger, fish sauce, and sugar) into a succulent, savory dish of sweet and salty chicken laced with fragrant strands of ginger. I use a classic Vietnamese braising method called kho (pronounced kaw) that uses caramelized sugar as the base for the braising liquid and foundation flavor plus fish sauce to complete the sweet-salty profile. You might think at first that chicken and sugar are an odd match, but just think of the sweet and salty play of flavors in a traditional barbecue sauce.

The caramel sauce for kho is easy to make by boiling Chinese brown sugar and water until the liquid is dark brown, almost the color of dark maple syrup. The caramel turns the chicken a rich, deep amber brown and supplies a mellow sweetness to the whole dish. In Vietnam, cooks pay close attention to the color of the kho. If the sugar doesn’t caramelize enough, the meat will pale (“”like a ghost’s eye””) and earn the cook a scolding. If it’s overcooked, the sauce will taste bitter.

The recipe a delicious example of kho, but this braising technique isn’t limited to chicken. The method can be used with almost any type of poultry, meat, or seafood, and the dish can be made spicy or not, depending on the region and on the cook’s taste. The South Vietnamese like to add hot chiles to their seafood kho, while the North Vietnamese prefer it milder and less salty.

When I was growing up in the northern city of Hanoi, meat and seafood were very expensive, so home cooks would use kho to add lots of flavor to a dish and to stretch the family’s food budget. Because meals always included a large pot of soup, plenty of rice, and several vegetable sautees, one chicken chopped into small pieces easily fed ten people.

I like to serve this with jasmine rice and sautéed broccoli. Skin-on chicken is traditional, but you can also use skinless chicken thighs or just spoon off the excess fat from the sauce before serving.

Ingredients
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons water
1/3 cup granulated white sugar
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium shallot, thinly sliced into rings (a scant ¼ cup)
1½ ounces fresh ginger, unpeeled and cut into matchsticks (about ½ cup)
3 pounds skin-on chicken thighs, excess fat trimmed, (optionally) cut in halves crosswise with a cleaver or by your butcher, and seasoned generously with kosher salt
3 tablespoons fish sauce
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ teaspoon dried red chile flakes
3 scallions (whites and greens), thinly sliced into rings, for garnish

Directions
Have ready 1/2 cup water.

Put white sugar — without the water — in a 8-inch straightsided silver-bottom skillet over medium. Cook until it starts to melt at the edges and turn golden brown, about 5 minutes.

Reduce the heat to medium low and continue cooking, gently swirling the pan, until the bubbling caramel darkens to a reddish brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and, with your face averted to avoid steam and spatters, carefully pour the ½ cup water into the pan. The caramel may harden; if it does, set the pan over medium-high heat and stir until it dissolves. Stir the liquid to blend in the caramel and pour it into a heatproof measuring cup or bowl.

Wipe out the pan and heat the olive oil over medium high. Add the shallot and ginger and cook, stirring frequently, until they’re softened and starting to brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to a bowl.

Set the skillet back over high heat. Add the seasoned chicken pieces and cook until they lose their raw color on the outside, about 2 minutes per side; the pan will be crowded and the chicken needn’t brown. Stir in the fish sauce, salt, pepper, chile flakes, and reserved caramel. Reduce the heat to medium and cook at a vigorous simmer, turning the chicken every few minutes, until the chicken is cooked through (cut into a piece to check), about 20 minutes. Remove chicken, separate fat from liquid, return chicken and liquid to pot. Stir in the reserved ginger and shallot and cook for 3 to 4 minutes to blend the flavors. Transfer to a serving plate and garnish with the scallion rings.

Servings: —
Source: The Classic Italian Cookbook by Marcella Hazan
Reliable ovens are only a recent addition to the Italian kitchen, and, consequently, traditional roasts are done either on the spit or in a pan on top of the stove. In this recipe the chicken is entirely pan roasted, with just enough liquid to keep it from drying out. As in almost all Italian roasts, it is flavored with garlic and a hint of rosemary. It is one of the simplest and tastiest ways of doing chicken, and, if you use a young frying chicken, you should have the roasted chicken on the table in less than 45 minutes from the time you start preparing it.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 to 3 cloves garlic, peeled
1 frying chicken (2 ½ pounds), washed in cold water, quartered, and thoroughly dried in a towel
A small branch of fresh rosemary, cut in two, or ½ teaspoon dried rosemary leaves
Salt
Freshly ground pepper, about 6 twists of the mill
½ cup dry white wine

Directions
1. Heat the butter and oil in a deep skillet or saut,6 pan over medium-high heat. When the butter foam begins to subside, add the garlic and the chicken quarters, skin side down. When the chicken is well browned one one side, turn the pieces over and add the rosemary. If the garlic starts to blacken, remove it. If, however, it stays a deep golden brown, leave it in until the chicken is cooked. Control the heat so that the cooking fat stays hot but doesn’t burn.

2. When you have browned the chicken well on all sides, add a large pinch of salt, the pepper, and the wine. Allow the wine to bubble rapidly for 2 to 3 minutes, then lower the heat until it is just simmering, and cover the pan. Cook slowly until the chicken is tender at the pricking of a fork. (A young fryer should take about 30 to 35 minutes.) Turn the chicken two or three times while cooking. (If you see that the cooking liquid has dried up, you can add 1 to 2 tablespoons of water as needed.)

3. Transfer the chicken to a warm serving platter, removing the garlic from the pan if you haven’t done it earlier. Tilt the pan, drawing off all but 2 tablespoons of fat with a spoon. Return the pan to high beat, adding 2 to 3 tablespoons of water, and scraping up the cooking juices in the pan. Pour these over the chicken and serve.

Servings: 6
Source: From Fine Cooking, June/July 2005 p 53

Ingredients
Microwaving the lemons is a quick method for giving them the flavor of preserved lemons.

FOR THE MARINADE:
2 lemons
6 cloves garlic, peeled
2 1/8-inch-thick slices peeled fresh ginger
1 teaspoon dried marjoram
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch saffron threads
1 teaspoon light brown sugar
2½ teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil

FOR THE KEBABS:
2½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed of excess fat and cut into 2-inch chunks
I sweet onion (like Vidalia), cut into 1 -inch pieces
I red bell pepper, cut into 1-inch squares
1 yellow bell pepper, cut into 1-inch squares
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley for garnish

FOR THE YOGURT-LEMON SAUCE:
1 seedless cucumber, cut into ½-inch dice
½ cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 cups plain whole-milk yogurt
Kosher salt

Directions
Make the marinade: Cut four deep, lengthwise gashes, equally spaced, into each lemon. Put the lemons and garlic cloves in a small microwavable container. Cover and microwave on high until the lemons are soft and juice has exuded from them, about 4 minutes (If not soft, continue to microwave in 30-second intervals). Strain the juice into a small container and let the lemons and garlic cool briefly. When the lemons are cool enough to handle, separate them into sections. Scrape the pulp and most of the white pith away with a spoon; discard. Put the scraped lemon peels, garlic, lemon juice, and remaining marinade ingredients in a blender and purse to make a coarse, soft paste. Set 2 tablespoons aside to use for the yogurt sauce.

Marinate the chicken: Put the chicken into a 1-gallon zip-top bag; scrape in the remaining marinade. Massage the bag to coat all the chicken pieces and marinate for 1 to 2 hours in the refrigerator.

Grill the kebabs: Build a medium-hot charcoal fire or heat a gas grill to medium high.

Dump the chicken into a bowl, but don’t scrape off any excess marinade. Put the onion and peppers in the marinade bag and massage them to coat with the marinade (it’s fine if the onion pieces break apart). Transfer to another bowl. Thread the chicken onto skewers, positioning a piece of onion and pepper between the pieces of chicken. If there’s extra pepper or onion, thread them onto separate skewers, if you like.

When ready to grill, oil the grill grate. Grill the kebabs over direct heat (uncovered for charcoal; covered for gas), turning the skewers every 2 to 3 minutes until the chicken is firm and shows no redness when cut into, about 1 0 to 1 5 minutes. Check several pieces of chicken to be sure.

Make the sauce: Combine the reserved 2 tablespoons marinade with the cucumber, cilantro, yogurt, and 2 teaspoons salt. Mix well. (Make the sauce no more than an hour before serving or it will be too watery).

To serve: Remove the chicken and vegetables from the skewers and serve them in a mound with the yogurt sauce on the side.

Servings: —
Source: Bobbie Werner
his can be made without chicken or you can use tofu instead.

Ingredients
3-1/2 lb chicken roasted at 350; rub with olive oil and herbs de Provence.
Cool, skin, and cut into cubes, or pull off bones in clumps.
You can also go to your local market a buy a roasted chicken.
1 cup olive oil
2 Tbsp herbs de Provence
salt and black pepper
1 lb new potatoes
1 lb eggpant
2 red bell peppers
1 red or yellow onion (I use shallots)
8 oz green beans
1 whole head garlic, separated and peeled (I added one sm pkg of baby carrots)

6 oz drained jar of artichoke hearts(packed in water)
1 cup pitted calamata olives
1/2 cup chopped basil
8 oz feta, cubed

Vinaigrette:
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
I tsp chopped garlic
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp each salt and freshly ground peper
2/3 cup olive oil

Directions
Cut the veggies into 1 “” cubes and put in roasting pan. (Veggies are potatoes, eggplant, bell peppers, onions, green beans, carrots, and garlic) Drizzle some oil and all the herbs, salt and pepper. Roast approximately 30 minutes at 350°. When the potatoes are done, it will be the time.

Add basil, olives, artichoke hearts, chicken and feta. Toss with the vinaigrette and serve at room temperature. (I used about 2/3 of the vinaigrette. I would taste after using 1/2)