Showing posts with label chicken. Show all posts
Showing posts with label chicken. Show all posts

Monday, September 23, 2013

crispy chicken strips, what's not to love


The best thing ever when it comes to fried chicken is its crispy crust and the countless additions you can add to this in order to achieve ultimate savoury variety. The other bit is the fat, and how we normally crank up a pan of vegetable oil for a job like this. Instead, try the oil butter combination as follows for that extra lift of flavour, well worth doing. Seasoning at the end is crucial too, salt being the essential norm, but a quick flash of lemon juice immediately before devouring adds a little something special.
 
Zaatar crusted chicken strips
 
Serves 4

400g chicken strips
seasoned flour (with a good pinch each of zaatar, celery salt, cayenne pepper, paprika and white pepper)
2 small eggs, beaten
100g butter
50ml pure olive oil
 
Roll the chicken in the flour and shake off any excess. Coat thoroughly with the egg and lay on a cooling rack for a minute or so. Dip again into the flour and once more into the beaten egg. Return to the rack and finally dip into the flour. Set aside on the rack until ready to cook. This seemingly excessive dipping and flouring will provide a really good crust, however messy it sounds.
 
Using a shallow pan, melt together the butter and olive oil on a medium heat until the fat starts to crackle and fizzle - drop in a small piece of bread, and if it sizzles and browns nicely, the temperature should be about fine.
 
Slide the chicken into the pan and gently shallow-fry (the depth should be no more than 2-3cm) for 3-5 minutes, turning halfway through, until golden brown and crusted all over. Remove from the pan and lay on a double fold of kitchen paper. Sprinkle with salt and a squeeze of lemon and serve without delay.
 
So long as the temperature of the frying oil and butter mixture doesn't get to the point where it burns, you might like to strain the fat into a small bowl and keep in the fridge for further finger licking frying moments.

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

a comforting chicken pho

When a bit of an illness hits you, there's always a go to food for comfort and nourishment. hicken noodle soup from a packet seemed to be the way my Mum brought colour back into my cheeks, but now I'm all grown up and fancy I can assume another level for this miracle remedy.

Pho has to be one of the better known Vietnamese dishes, a sustaining bowl of fragrant noodle soup full of lovely bits and pieces. Good-quality home-made stock is considered vital by those in the know, but if you're short of time, use tubs of fresh stock from the store and just make sure you pack it full of all the amazing contrasts of flavours the broth is generally famed for. This recipe could easily be made with big fat prawns of strips of beef instead of chicken.

Chicken pho

Serves 2

600ml chicken stock
2.5cm chunk of fresh ginger, sliced thickly
1 garlic clove, chopped
2 star anise
1 bundle of vermicelli rice noodles
1 tblsp fish sauce
1 free range chicken breast, sliced very thinly
A few sprigs of fresh coriander and mint
4 spring onions, finely sliced
A handful of bean sprouts
1 red chilli, finely sliced
A lime, quartered

Heat the stock with the ginger, garlic, star anise and a good grind of black pepper. Simmer very gently for half an hour or so, topping up with water if necessary

Cook the noodles according to the packet instructions, drain while still a little undercooked and rinse under a cold tap. Stir the fish sauce into the stock.

Divide the noodles between two bowls and top with slices of raw chicken. Pour the boiling broth over the top, which will cook the meat instantly.

Scatter with a little coriander and put more on the table, along with the mint, spring onions, bean sprouts, chilli and lime wedges, for people to add to the soup.

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Roast chicken with wild garlic

Serves 4

Wild garlic, sometimes found as ramsons, is starting to show up around now. It has all the silkiness of spinach leaves and a soft scent of young garlic. The leaves appear in the wild in early spring but can increasingly be found in farmers markets too. Any garlic stall will have them for the next few weeks. I think at this early stage they can be wonderfully floral without showing too much pungency as full blown garlic often can.

A good-sized chicken for roasting (about 1.5kg)
50g butter
olive oil
1 lemon
a couple of bay leaves
a glass of white wine
A good handful of wild garlic leaves per person

Set the oven at 200C/gas mark 6. Mash the butter with a little olive oil and a generous seasoning of salt and pepper. Massage it into the skin of the chicken. Cut the lemon in half and tuck them inside the bird with a bay leaf or two.

Roast the chicken for about an hour till the skin is golden and the juices run clear. (Pierce the chicken at its thickest point, if the juices have blood in them, continue cooking. If they run clear it is ready.)

Remove the chicken to a warm place and let it rest, covered loosely with foil. Put the roasting tin over a low gas; when the roasting juices start to bubble pour in the wine and scrape at any pan-stickings so they dissolve into the juices.

Throw in the garlic leaves, stirring into the hot juices so that they start to wilt and soften. Check the seasoning then serve the juices and softened garlic with slices of the roast chicken.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Hainan chicken rice

Serves 4

A local specialty from the island of Hainan off the coast of China but revered through all of South East Asia, and my kitchen last night... The chicken should be just cooked, something we in the West can be totally paranoid about, but should the meat be at all dry, it is a complete failure. I could eat this for hours, and often go back, as I did quite late last night, for another couple of chunks of chicken and some cold rice - my garlic breath this morning told me a good evening was had...

Chicken

1 whole chicken, about 2kg

1 tsp salt

2 cloves garlic, peeled

4 slices fresh ginger, peeled

4 spring onions, trimmed

3 litres water

2 tblsp sesame oil

Sliced tomatoes for garnish

Sliced cucumbers for garnish

Coriander sprigs for garnish


Chicken rice

400g long grain rice

2 tblsp peanut oil

5 shallots, peeled and minced

5 cloves garlic, minced

1 litre reserved stock from cooking Hainan chicken

1/2 tsp salt

Wash chicken and remove excess fat. Rub the inside of the cavity with salt. Smash garlic and ginger slightly with the flat of a knife. Tie spring onions into a knot. Place garlic, ginger, and spring onions inside the chicken cavity.
Bring the water to a boil in a pot large enough to hold the chicken.

Add the chicken, breast-side down. Simmer, covered, 30-40 minutes, turning chicken halfway through the cooking process, until chicken tests done (juices from thigh should just run clear when pricked with a fork).

Carefully remove chicken, draining liquid from body cavity back into the pot. Reserve the stock to make chicken rice. Plunge the chicken into ice water for 5 minutes to stop the cooking process and tighten the skin. Drain, rub with sesame oil, and let cool to room temperature.

To serve, chop chicken into bite-size pieces (the Chinese do this bone and all) and arrange on a platter. Garnish with sliced tomatoes, cucumbers, and coriander sprigs.

To make the chicken rice, wash the rice and drain in a colander. Let stand 1/2 hour to dry.

Heat oil in a wok. Add the shallots and garlic. Stir-fry until fragrant. Add rice grains and stir-fry 3-4 minutes, until glossy and fragrant.

Transfer to a saucepan. Add the chicken broth and salt. Bring to a boil over high heat and boil until the liquid level evaporates to the level of the rice and steam holes appear. Turn heat to low. Cover and simmer for barely 10 minutes.

Serve the chicken with the rice, with chilli and garlic oil, dark soy sauce and chilli sauce, and a bowl of the remaining broth finished with a little chopped coriander.

Monday, September 7, 2009

Chicken, leek and morel pie

Serves 6

The kids are back at school, the Summer glow is gently fading and the lid of the Pimms bottle looks like it's starting to crust up for the colder months already. Can only mean one thing, and Autumn is just around the corner - pie season in my book. I'm so looking forward to the sheer comfort in longer cooked meats, braised dishes while still making the most of the gardens and hedgerows as they still offer an abundance of flavour. This pie uses morels, a little early in the season yet, and a bit of a luxury even at their peak of availability, so don't worry about substituting them for something simpler in price.

Pastry
225g strong white flour
170g cold diced butter
Pinch of salt
Cold water to mix

Filling
6 chicken breasts, diced
20g dried morels, soaked and halved (reserve the soaking water)
10 young leeks, washed and sliced
100g tarragon, chopped
300ml double cream
15g flour
15g butter
Salt and black pepper

For the pastry, mix the butter into the flour with the salt till crumbly, add enough water till a clean smooth dough is formed without over mixing, chill in fridge for at least an hour before rolling.

Poach the chicken, leeks and morels gently in the morel water for about 20 to 30 minutes, lightly seasoned with salt and pepper.

Strain the liquid and add the butter to this mix and return to the heat. Once the butter is foaming, and coated all ingredients, dust with the flour and continue to cook for 5 minutes further.

At this stage add 100ml of poaching liquid, the cream, tarragon and a touch more seasoning, bring back to the boil and remove from heat.

Fill a suitable pie dish with the filling, and top with the pastry, rolled out to ¼ inch thickness. Brush the top with egg wash, and bake in an oven at 180c for about 30 to 40 minutes.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Bourride of chicken thickened with garlic mayonnaise

Serves 4

Country cooking as it should be, a proper chicken, cooked properly. But this one is finished slightly unusually with mayonnaise as the thickener. Timing is key here and patience being the ultimate virtue - don't try to finish the sauce when the broth is too hot. Chicken just adores both garlic and saffron, and I struggle to do many chicken dishes at the moment without one or the other.

1 x 2kg chicken
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 shallots, peeled
1 leek, trimmed
150 ml white wine
1 pinch saffron

Garlic mayonnaise
8 garlic cloves, peeled
2 egg yolks
1 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tsp white wine vinegar
130 ml olive oil

Crush the garlic. The best way to do this is to sprinkle a little salt on each clove, then press it with the flat of the blade of a heavy knife, which turns it quickly to pulp.

Whisk the egg yolks, garlic, mustard, vinegar and a little salt and pepper together. Gradually whisk in both of the oils.

Use a heavy ovenproof casserole or pot, preferably cast-iron, which will hold the whole chicken. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and put it in the chosen pot.

Add the shallots and leek to the pot. Pour on the white wine, the pinch of saffron and add a pint (600 ml) of cold water.

Bring to the boil. Cover tightly, put the pot into a moderately hot oven 190Âșc/gas mark5 and cook for about 45 minutes.

Remove the chicken from the liquor and carve it into eight pieces – two thighs, two drumsticks and four half breasts.

Whisk the garlic mayonnaise into the cooking liquor. You cannot re-boil the sauce after this or it will separate.

Put the chicken pieces on to a serving dish and strain the thickened cooking liquor over them. It is best eaten from large soup bowls with wild rice pilaff.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Chicken with vinegar sauce

Serves 6

Comfortable, warming, easy and quick - a one pot wonder for a midweek supper. You need only serve some hot potato with this dish and you're bound to find peace. What works for me here is the contrast between smooth chicken flesh and the sharp vinegary juices.

6 chicken breasts and/or thighs and drumsticks
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Flour for dredging
100ml olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 celery sticks, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 anchovy fillet, mashed
1 tsp chopped fresh thyme
1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
½ tsp chopped fresh sage
125ml red wine vinegar
185ml dry red or white wine

Pat the chicken pieces dry, season them with salt and pepper, and dredge them in flour, shaking off any excess. Heat 4 tablespoons of the oil in a heavy bottomed pot over medium heat. Add the chicken pieces, in batches if necessary, and cook them, turning once, until they are golden brown and crisp on both sides – about 15 minutes.

Remove the chicken from the pan and pour off the fat. Wipe out the pan with a paper towel. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil and the onion, celery, garlic, anchovy, and herbs and cook until softened – 4 or 5 minutes. Add the vinegar and boil over high heat for a minute or 2. Add the wine, bring it to boil, and cook for 2 minutes more, stirring well. Add the chicken and cook, uncovered, turning once, until tender - about 30 minutes.

Taste and adjust the seasonings. Put the chicken on a platter, spoon on the sauce, and serve immediately or keep warm, covered, in a warm oven easily for up to 30 minutes.

Monday, June 8, 2009

Chicken with pickled lemons and olives

Serves 4

Right now I'm in love with the taste of lemons which have been pickled in salt. As they lose their bitter edge and sharpness they acquire a special, almost mystical rounded flavour. In all markets and souks in North Africa there are stalls laden with huge piles of soft aromatic lemons, bursting with juice, next to several varieties of olives. The two work so well together with a natural affinity. You can easily find pickled lemons and countless varieties of olives in local delis and supermarkets. For this dish, which is as close to a tagine as anything can be I guess, I prefer to add the lemon towards the end of the recipe but there's no harm in throwing in a little chopped lemon to flavour the sauce during the cooking as well. The flexibility of this recipe is endless, a few extra ingredients such as some mushrooms, chunks of courgette and aubergine or even cherry tomatoes can be thrown in for the last few minutes to give added dimensions to the finished article.

1 large chicken, cut into quarters
3 tblsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 large onion, grated or very finely chopped
2-3 garlic cloves, crushed
¼ tsp crushed saffron strands or saffron powder
½ tsp ground ginger
1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
1 ½ large or 3 small pickled lemons, rinsed and cut into thin strips
12-16 fat green or violet olives
a little salt and plenty pepper

Put the chicken pieces in a large, wide saucepan with all the ingredients except the preserved lemons and the olives. Half cover with water and bring just to the boil.

Reduce the heat, then cover the pan and simmer for about 45 minutes, until the chicken is so tender that the flesh can be pulled off the bone easily and the liquid is reduced to a thick sauce.

Turn the chicken pieces over a few times during cooking; adding a little more water if necessary.

Stir the lemon peel and olives into the sauce for the last 15 minutes of cooking. Some people like to add the lemon right at the very end