Category: Inspiration

Peruvian Style Roast Chicken with Jalapeño-Cilantro Sauce

This delicious, succulent chicken served with a green sauce similar to a creamy chimichurri is a sure crowd pleaser.  This version is a loose adaptation of J. Kenji Lopez-Alt’s  grilled recipe featured on his blog Serious Eats.  While it could also work out quite nicely on the grill, this version is executed in the kitchen and is one of the best things I’ve made in a long time.

Time: 90 minutes (30 minutes inactive)
Level: Easy/Intermediate
Cost: About $4/plate (depending on which pantry essentials you have on hand)
Serves: 3-6

Ingredients

For the Chicken:

  1. 1 whole chicken broken down into 8-10 parts, plus a couple of extra breasts or thighs if you’re feeding a crowd
  2. 4 tsp kosher salt
  3. 2 TBSP ground cumin
  4. 2 TBSP paprika
  5. 1 tsp coursly ground black pepper
  6. 2 TBSP granulated garlic
  7. 2 TBSP white wine vinegar
  8. 2 TBSP olive oil
  9. 3/4 cup white vermouth
  10. 1 shallot (or 1/2 white onion), diced
  11. 3 cloves garlic, minced
  12. juice of 1 lemon

For the Green Sauce:

  1. 3 jalapeño peppers, relatively finely diced, stems removed (and seeds and membranes removed if you don’t like the heat)
  2. 1 bunch fresh cilantro, large stem portions removed
  3. 3 cloves garlic, minced
  4. 2 tsp dried oregano
  5. pinch Kosher salt
  6. juice of two limes
  7. 2 TBSP red wine vinegar
  8. 1  shallot (or 1/2 white onion), minced
  9. 1/3 – 1/2 cup sour cream

Prep

For the Chicken:

  1. Begin by brining your chicken.  In a large bowl, mix together 6 cups cold water and 1/4 cup kosher salt.  Whisk until salt is dissolved.  Add chicken and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, or up to two hours.
  2. Combine dry spice rub ingredients (ingredients 2-6) in a bowl or tupperware container and whisk or shake vigorously to combine.
  3. Prep ingredients 7-12 and arrange your mise-en-place

For the Green Sauce:

Combine all ingredients in a food processor or blender and blend until smooth.  Pour into appropriately sized container and refrigerate.

Cook:

  1. Preheat oven to 375°F
  2. Remove the chicken from the brine and pat dry with paper towels.  In a large tossing bowl, add 2 TBSP olive oil and 2 TBSP white wine vinegar and toss to coat.  Add 1/2 of dry spice mix and toss to coat again.  Add remaining spice mix and toss to coat a third time.
  3. Heat 3 TBSP of a high smoke-point fat (I used bacon fat this time, but grapeseed oil, vegetable oil, or ghee would also work) in a large sauté pan, until very hot (350°F – 375°F)
  4. Place half of chicken, skin side down, into the skillet and brown for 4-5 minutes, or until golden brown.  Flip chicken over and brown 2-3 minutes more.  Remove from pan and set on a wire rack placed on a rimmed baking sheet.  Repeat with remaining chicken.  You should have a nice fond in the bottom of your pan.
  5. Add onion or shallot to pan and sweat until very fragrant, 3-4 minutes, and some of the fond begins to incorporate into the onion.  Add garlic and sauté until fragrant but not burned, 1 minute more.
  6. Add vermouth and flambé.  Bring to a boil and scrape up any brown bits still stuck to the bottom of the pan.  Reduce sauce to an almost syrup-like consistency, and then baste chicken using a spoon.
  7. Place chicken in oven and roast until breasts are 150°F – 160°F and thighs and legs are 160°F – 170°F
  8. Remove from oven, place on a serving platter, and squeeze lemon juice all over chicken.   Let rest for 10 minutes.  Spoon green sauce over chicken and serve.

Note:  I served this with some garlic toast and a bacon-avocado Caesar Salad, using the bacon bits from which I rendered the fat in Step 3 of the cooking process.  It was delicious.

 

 

 

Honey Glazed Chipotlé-Lime BBQ Chicken

This BBQ Chicken is tangy, sweet, spicy and fresh.  All the right flavors and a unique twist on classic BBQ chicken.  Searing the chicken in a hot skillet ahead of time renders out a good bit of fat and leads to perfectly crispy skin.  Finish either on the grill or in the oven and follow the instructions below to get perfect, bite-through skin and a beautiful end product.

Time: 60 minutes
Level: Easy
Cost: About $4/plate (depending on which pantry essentials you have on hand)
Serves: 3-6

Ingredients

For the Glaze

  1. 1 small onion or normal sized shallot, finely diced
  2. 3-5 cloves garlic, minced
  3. 1 TBSP unsalted butter
  4. 1 can Adobo Chiles in sauce
  5. 1 7oz can tomato sauce
  6. Juice of 4 limes
  7. 1 TBSP low sodium soy sauce
  8. 1/4 cup honey

For the Chicken

  1. 1 or 2 4-5lb fryer chickens, broken down into 8-10 parts, depending on how many you’re feeding  (figure that a chicken will feed 3-4 people)
  2. 1/4 cup Kosher salt
  3. Drizzle of Olive Oil
  4. 3-6 TBSP flour
  5. 2-4 TBSP paprika
  6. Freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

PART ONE:  Begin by brining your chicken:

Once you’ve got your chicken broken down into parts, place the chicken parts in a large bowl and cover with cold water.  Add about 1/4 cup salt and mix around with your hands until the salt is mostly dissolved in the water.  Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, or up to 2 hours.

Cook’s Note:  You can skip this step if you’re in a rush, but even 30 minutes in a light brine will lead to a considerably juicer and product.

PART TWO:  While the chicken is brining, make your glaze:

  1. Melt butter in a sauté pan or large frying pan over medium heat until foamy but not browned (use non-stick here if you like).
  2. Add onion and garlic and sauté until fragrant and onions are mostly translucent, 3-5 minutes
  3. Add can of chiles, along with their sauce, and sauté with onions and garlic, another 3 minutes, or until chiles barely being to caramelize
  4. Add tomato sauce, lime juice and soy sauce and stir to incorporate well
  5. Stir in honey and reduce, stirring continually, until mixture has thickened and a light glaze begins to appear.
  6. Off the heat and allow to cool

PART THREE:  While your glaze is cooling off, prepare the chicken:

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F or begin preheating grill (see Part 5, below).
  2. Remove chicken from the brine and pat dry with paper towels.  Place chicken in large mixing or tossing bowl and drizzle with olive oil.  Toss to coat.
  3. Add flour, paprika and pepper to the bowl with the chicken (if you didn’t brine ahead of time, add a generous pinch of kosher salt here as well).  Toss again to coat and let stand at room temperature for 10 minutes.

PART FOUR:  While your chicken is standing, finish your glaze

  1. Add your glaze to a blender or food processor and pureé until mixture has the consistency of marinara sauce
  2. Divide your mixture into two separate bowls (for two batches) and reserve

PART FIVE:  Cook the chicken

  1. Begin by heating 3 tablespoons ghee, clarified butter, grapeseed oil, vegetable oil or Canola oil in a cast iron or stainless steel skillet until shimmering and very hot (any oil or fat with a high smoke point will work fine here)
  2. Add half the chicken pieces to the hot skillet, skin side down, and brown, 5-6 minutes.  Flip and continue to brown the other side, another 3-4 minutes.  (Note:  If your chicken is still stuck to the pan when you try to flip it, it isn’t ready.  Wait until a light prodding with a set of tongs sets it free and flip).  Remove, reserve, and repeat with remaining chicken pieces.

If Finishing On The Grill

  1. Light a gas grill on one side only, or alternatively bank charcoal on a charcoal grill to one side, creating a hot side and cool side of the grill.  Add a few wood chips for extra smokey flavor.
  2. Place seared chicken on the cool side of the grill, skin side down.  Place the breasts farthest away from the heat and the dark meat closer to the heat.  Baste chicken with first batch of glaze.  Flip, so that the chicken is skin side up, and baste again.  Discard any glaze that remains from this batch.
  3. Cover the grill and cook until breasts reach an internal temperature of 150° – 160°F and thighs and legs are 160° – 170°F.
  4. After about 15 minutes, use the second batch of glaze to baste your chicken a second time.  Use this opportunity with the grill open to take your chicken’s temperature with an instant read thermometer.  Be sure to leave chicken skin side up.
  5. When chicken is up temp, move chicken over to hot side of grill and cook, starting skin side down, until nicely charred.  Repeat on the other side.
  6. Remove, and allow to rest, skin side up, for 10 minutes before serving.  DO NOT COVER WHILE RESTING – your perfectly crispy skin will get all soggy!

If Finishing in the Oven

  1. Set chicken on a wire rack over a baking sheet, skin side down.  Baste chicken with first batch of glaze.  Flip, so that the chicken is skin side up, and baste again.  Discard any glaze that remains from this batch.
  2. Bake in 350°F oven until breasts reach an internal temperature of 150° – 160°F and thighs and legs are 160° – 170°F.
  3. After about 15 minutes, use the second batch of glaze to baste your chicken a second time.  Use this opportunity with the oven open to take your chicken’s temperature with an instant read thermometer.  Be sure to leave chicken skin side up.
  4. When chicken is up temp, switch oven to BROIL – HIGH and cook for 2-3 minutes, until nicely darkened.  Watch carefully that it does not burn.
  5. Remove, and allow to rest, skin side up, for 10 minutes before serving.  DO NOT COVER WHILE RESTING – your perfectly crispy skin will get all soggy!

 

 

Thai Red Coconut Curry with Chicken

This delicious Thai dish is full of fresh, bright flavors and is the perfect balance between spicy, sweet and savory.  It also comes together in about 30 minutes, making it the perfect dish for a busy weeknight or some time when you don’t want takeout but aren’t wanting to spend a ton of time in the kitchen either.  Enjoy!

Ingredients

  1. 2-3 lbs chicken breasts, thinly sliced
  2. 2 TBSP red curry paste
  3. 1 small onion, diced
  4. 1 small shallot, diced
  5. 1 red bell pepper, sliced
  6. 1 orange bell pepper, sliced
  7. 1 zucchini, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
  8. 4-5 cloves garlic, minced
  9. Zest of 2 limes
  10. 1 TBSP fresh ginger, grated (or 2 tsp dried powdered)
  11. 1 TBSP anchovy paste or 2 TBSP Thai Fish Sauce (because umami!)
  12. 2 TBSP sweet Thai chili sauce
  13. 2 TBSP soy sauce
  14. 1 cup cheap saké (or chicken stock, if you don’t want to use alcohol), for deglazing
  15. 2 cans full-fat coconut milk
  16. juice of 2-3 limes
  17. 1 TBSP brown sugar
  18. 1 cup fresh basil, leaves roughly torn
  19. Garnish:  Freshly squeezed limes and cilantro (optional)
  20. White rice, for serving

Mise-En-Place

  1. In a medium bowl, mix curry paste and cubed chicken and set aside
  2. Prepare ingredients 3-7, combine, and set aside in a medium bowl (this is your base)
  3. Prepare ingredients 8-10, combine, and set aside in a small bowl (these are your aromatics)
  4. Prepare ingredients 11-13, combine, and set aside in a small bowl (this is your umami bomb)
  5. Measure out saké or chicken stock
  6. Open cans of coconut milk
  7. Measure out brown sugar and lime juice and mix together in a small bowl
  8. Prepare basil and set aside

Cook

  1. Add about 2-3TBSP coconut or olive oil to a large saucepan and heat over medium-high heat until shimmering but not smoking.  Add chicken with curry paste and sauté until chicken is ever so slightly browned (it doesn’t need to be cooked through) and fragrant.  Remove with a slotted spoon and reserve (it’s fine to put it back in the same bowl, you’re going to finish cooking it in the sauce later anyway).
  2. Lower heat to medium.  Add your base (ingredients 3-7) and sauté until onions are translucent and peppers have become quite soft, 3-5 minutes.
  3. Add your aromatics (ingredients 8-10), and continue to sauté until very fragrant, 1-2 minutes
  4. Add saké or chicken stock (flambé if you like), and bring to a boil, scraping up anything stuck to the bottom of the pan.  Once boiling, reduce to a simmer.
  5. Add umami bomb (ingredients 11-13) and stir well to incorporate
  6. Stir in coconut milk and brown sugar/lime-juice-mixture, and continue to stir until sauce is well incorporated.  Bring sauce to a boil and allow to reduce by approximately 1/3
  7. Add chicken (and any juices) back to the sauce and stir in.  Allow to simmer, 8-10 minutes, until chicken is cooked through.
  8. In the last 2 minutes of cooking, stir in the fresh basil and cook for 1 minute.  Off the heat, cover, and allow to sit for 5 minutes to give flavors a chance to marry.
  9. Serve over white rice and garnish with a few squeezes of fresh lime juice and fresh cilantro.

Bouillabaisse

This delicious seafood stew hails from the French port city of Marseilles and represents the best of Provençal cooking: A mirepoix of onions, carrots and celery is sautéed in butter and oil, savory aromatics are added to the base along with white wine, stock and saffron and then a variety of fresh fish is gently poached to perfection.  This is not a cheap dish per se, but given all that goes into it it’s not horrendously expensive either.  The total ingredients should cost less than $40 and the dish easily serves 4-6.

Time:  60 – 90 minutes
Level: Easy
Cost: $10/plate
Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

  1. 2 TBSP olive oil
  2. 2 TBSP butter
  3. 1 medium yellow onion, diced
  4. 4 celery stocks, diced
  5. 6-8 large(ish) carrots, peeled and chopped into 1 – 1.5 inch pieces
  6. Approximately 1lb yellow or red potatoes, cut into 1 inch cubes
  7. 2 oz canned anchovie filets, drained
  8. 4 cloves garlic, finely minced
  9. 3-4 Roma tomatoes, diced and seeds removed if necessary (some tomatoes are juicer than others)
  10. 1 14oz can chicken or seafood stock (I use chicken stock, this dish is seafoody enough for me already, but do what you want)
  11. 1 package unflavored powdered gelatin (optional, to be added to stock)
  12. 1.5 cups dry white wine (about half a bottle, cheap is fine as long as you would drink it)
  13. Juice of 2 lemons
  14. 3 orange peel strips, 3-4 inches long, orange parts only (use vegetable peeler)
  15. 3 bay leaves
  16. Several sprigs fresh thyme
  17. .02oz, about 1/2 a gram, saffron threads (Trader Joe’s sells just this amount for $5.99)
  18. 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  19. 1/2 teaspoon powdered oregano (optional)
  20. 2lbs firm fresh fish of at least two types (salmon, red snapper, talapia, cod and tuna are all good choices), cut into chunks
  21. 1lb uncooked shrimp, peeled and deveined.

Prep and Mis-En-Place

  1. Dice onion, celery and carrots and combine in a medium sized bowl (this is your mirepoix)
  2. Slice potatoes into cubes that are approximately 1 inch in diameter
  3. Dice (and de-seed, if necessary) Roma tomatoes and place in a medium bowl
  4.  Mince garlic, and then, using a mortar and pestle or bowl and spoon, smush (that’s the technical term) garlic and anchovie filets together to form a paste
  5. Locate white wine and and chicken stock
    • Pro Tip:  I also add one package of unflavored powdered gelatin to my stock at this time; it makes for a richer, thicker sauce – I’ll explain why in another post
    • Pro Tip:  Since you’re going to dump the stock and wine into the pan at the same time, when it comes time to cook, dump the stock first and then use the empty can to measure out the wine.  For now, just make sure you’ve got the wine withing arm’s reach.
  6. Locate lemons and halve
  7. Tie orange peel strips, bay leaves and fresh thyme together using cooking twine to make a sachet
    • Pro Tip:  If you don’t have fresh thyme, use dried and tie the items up in a coffee filter or piece of cheese cloth.  You want the flavor of these items in your stew, but you don’t want them in your stew.
  8. Locate saffron, cayenne and oregano
  9. Prep fish:  Chunk firm fish into cubes and pieces; peel and devein shrimp

Cook

In a large sauté pan, melt butter in olive oil over medium heat.  Add celery, onion and carrots and sauté, stirring occasionally, until carrots are relatively soft and just barely beginning to brown around the edges, 10 minutes.

Add garlic and anchovie paste and stir to combine.  Sauté until fragrant, 1-2 minutes.

Add tomatoes and continue to cook gently.  Reduce heat if things are beginning to brown too much.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until all ingredients are incorporated, approximately 5 more minutes.

Add stock, wine and lemon juice and stir.  Add sachet (the orange peel/bay leave/thyme thing), oregano (if using) and saffron to the pan and stir to incorporate.  Add potatoes.  Increase heat and bring to a boil, then lower heat to a simmer.  Continue to cook until potatoes are soft, 20 – 30 minutes and liquid has reduce by 1/3 – 1/2.

Once potatoes are soft, reduce heat to a bare simmer, add fish to the pan and cover.  Allow fish to cook for 5 minutes, then add the shrimp and cover again, cooking for five minutes more or until shrimp are no longer translucent.  Off the heat and allow to rest, covered, 5 minutes more.

Serve with crusty french bread and a nice wine.