Chicken à la King – Only in America

Chicken à la King – Only in America

Chicken Sauces Stews

Chicken à la King is one of my favorite classic, comfort foods, and in additional to being delicious, you also get to make up your own story of where the name came from. Just promise me not to use mine. You can have the recipe, but the Don King story is proprietary.

This is an easy recipe to adapt, and you can also make it thicker/thinner if you want by simply changing the amount of roux. Have a little extra stock on hand to thin if need be, and not a lot can go wrong. And don’t even get me started on how great this is for using up leftover vegetables.

As I mentioned in the video, I’ll normally make this kind of thing the day after roasting a big chicken. You can eat some, and save the rest of the meat and bones for this. Or, you can just roast two chickens. They refer to that as “have your chicken and eat it too.” I really hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for two large, or four small portions:

6 tablespoon unsalted butter

1/2 pound sliced mushrooms

2 large shallots, minced

1 cup diced sweet bell peppers

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1/3 cup to 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, depending on how thick you want it

1/4 cup dry sherry (there is no substitute, except maybe a little splash of a mild, sweeter vinegar)

3 1/2 cups chicken stock or broth

pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

pinch of cayenne pepper

2 teaspoons fresh thyme

1 tablespoon Italian parsley

1/3 cup creme fraiche or heavy cream

4 cups cubed roasted chicken

fresh chives to garnish

Ditulis soni agus Pada 20.41 Komentar

“Cheater” Demi Glace – Because Chicken + Beef = Veal

“Cheater” Demi Glace – Because Chicken + Beef = Veal

Beef Chicken Sauces

I received a lot of email after publishing our classic demi-glace video, but not the kind I was expecting. Instead of being showered with praise for finally granting this popular food wish, I was being chastised for posting a recipe that required veal bones.

This seemed a little unfair, since veal bones are sort of a key ingredient when making what’s basically a reduced veal stock. However, the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. I sometimes forget that people don’t live in restaurants, where things like veal knuckles are as ubiquitous as kale.

For your average home cook, veal bones can be expensive, and tricky to find. Plus, they come from baby cows, which many people are against harming. Nope, using adorable young calves is just not an option, although using the bones from ugly, fully-grown chickens is apparently fine.  

Anyway, possible hypocrisy aside, this alternative method worked amazingly well, and above and beyond the almost identical look and feel, the flavor was surprisingly close. This didn’t taste like chicken, or like beef, but was somewhere in the middle, which is basically how I’d describe the taste of veal. I really hope you give this cheaper, easier, and possibly more ethical version a try soon. Enjoy!

Makes about 2 quarts of “Cheater” Demi Glace:

5 pounds whole chicken wings

2 pounds beef shanks (about three 1-inch thick slices)

2 onions, chopped (including skins)

2 carrots, chopped

3 ribs celery, chopped

3 tablespoons tomato paste

6 quarts cold water

bay leaf

1/2 teaspoon whole black peppercorns

Ditulis soni agus Pada 10.37 Komentar

New & Improved Chicken Parmesan – This is No April Fools Joke!

New & Improved Chicken Parmesan – This is No April Fools Joke!

Cheese Chicken Italian Cuisine

On those rare occasions I find myself dining in one of America’s casual restaurant chains, chicken parm is one of my go-to meals. I love chicken parm, especially when it’s made with fresh mozzarella, which it almost never is. 

It usually features the same bland, rubbery stuff you find on cheap pizza, and even though I know this going in, I’ll order it anyway.That’s how much I love chicken parm. Of course, at home we can use the real stuff, which is much more flavorful, and significantly less rubbery, but it can be pricey, and not everyone has access, so I decided to try something new. Instead of mozzarella, I made a cheese spread using ricotta, fortified with sharp cheddar.

The creamy ricotta made a great base into which you could add any melting cheese. I really enjoyed the cheddar, but I’d like to try this with other options, such as provolone, fontina, or even gruyere. And of course, if you prefer the tender meat of baby cows, this technique will work just the same with veal.

So, if you love chicken parm as much as I do, but aren’t crazy about the typical bland-but-bouncy mozzeralla topping, I really do hope you give this a try soon. Also, this is my last video, as I’m retiring at the end of the day. Thanks for everything, and as always, enjoy!

For 2 portions New & Improved Chicken Parmesan:

2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1/2 cup flour

1 beaten egg

3/4 cup plain bread crumbs

olive oil for frying

For the cheese spread:

1/2 cup ricotta cheese

1/2 cup shredded sharp white cheddar

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

pinch of cayenne

1/2 teaspoon olive oil

2 tablespoons Parmigiano-Reggiano for the top

- Serve with hot marinara sauce, and chopped Italian parsley.

Ditulis soni agus Pada 10.18 Komentar

Pan-Roasted Chicken Breasts – Less Time, More Skin = Better Breasts

Pan-Roasted Chicken Breasts – Less Time, More Skin = Better Breasts

Chicken Sauces Tips and Techniques

Cooking up a few chicken breasts should be a fast, easy, and delicious experience, but for many people it’s actually a slow, hard, and disappointing one. There are several reasons for this, and hopefully this demo for how to pan-roast chicken will eliminate them.

The most important factor is doneness. By “pan-roasting,” you can easily monitor the internal temp, and as I recommend in the video, start the pan sauce when the meat reaches about 150 F. By the time your sauce is done, and the chicken is covered in its hot, buttery goodness, it should have reached 155-160 F., which is what I shoot for.

At this temp, the chicken will be perfectly safe, while remaining moist and tender. I know many recipes, and reference sites, call for longer cooking times, and internal temps of 165-175 F., but that’s just crazy. Unless, you want tough, dry meat; in which case, that works wonderfully.

Also, I think it’s very important we leave the skin on. Not only does this add a lot of flavor, but also much-needed moisture. Even if you’ve been brain-washed into thinking the skin is “bad” for you, which it isn’t, you can peel it off before you eat it, but I recommend leaving it on during the cooking process.

And yes, we’d be getting even more flavor and moisture if we just left the breasts on the bone, but the whole point is for this to be fast to make, and effortless to eat. Otherwise, we might as well roast a whole chicken.

If you’re not into creating your own boneless, skin-on breasts, like we did in the video, you can have the butcher at the market do this for you. You’ll have to go to a larger store where they cut up their own chicken parts, and tell them exactly what you want, but they’ll hook you up at no extra charge. I really hope you give this easy, and very effective technique a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 4 portions:

4 boneless, but skin-on chicken breasts

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 tbsp finely chopped fresh herbs, optional

2 tbsp olive oil

1/4 cup *vinegar

4 tbsp cold butter, cut in smaller pieces

a splash of chicken broth or water, if needed to thin sauce

*I used apple cider here, but literally any vinegar will work. Some of my favorites are sherry, balsamic, rice, and champagne vinegar.

Ditulis soni agus Pada 10.43 Komentar

Peanut Curry Chicken – Check Please!

Peanut Curry Chicken – Check Please!

Chicken Spicy Stews

There’s a show called “Check, Please! Bay Area,” which features three locals who try each other’s favorite restaurants, and then compare notes with host, Leslie Sbrocco. We get lots of great ideas for places to try, and every once in a while I hear about a dish that I really want to make, and this peanut curry chicken is the latest example. The restaurant was called Old Skool Café, and the dish was “Abu’s West African Peanut Butter Stew.” 

I was working while it was on, and not paying full attention, but I remember thinking that it sounded like something I’d like to try soon. That was a year ago. 

Last week, Michele and I ended up going there, and I finally had my chance to order the stew, and reverse engineer the recipe for a video. Except, I didn’t order it. I have this mental defect where have to I order fried chicken every time it’s on a menu. Michele was no help, since she has the same affliction with shrimp and grits. 

Anyway, someone ordered it at the table next to us, and I overheard them discussing it, which provided plenty of inspiration for this version. I decided to not follow any specific recipe, but instead do a simple composite of every peanut curry I’ve ever come across. 

Unlike Abu’s stew, and many others, I didn’t use coconut milk, as I feel that’s a little too sweet and rich for the peanut butter. I loved how this came out, and I can’t imagine it being any richer. I really hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 4 large portions:

For the spice blend:

2 teaspoons ground coriander

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon turmeric

1 teaspoon paprika

1 tablespoon kosher salt, plus more to taste

1/2 teaspoon cayenne

                                                                                  

2 1/2 pounds chicken boneless skinless chicken thighs

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 large yellow onion, chopped

1 tablespoon finely grated ginger

6 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 cup ketchup 
3/4 cup smooth peanut butter (I recommend using an all-natural style that doesn’t contain sugar. If you use the regular stuff, you won’t need the brown sugar called for below). 
1 packed tablespoon brown sugar 
about 3 1/2 cups chicken broth, depending on desired thickness 
1 pound zucchini, cut into chunks 
1 red bell pepper, cubed 
1 green poblano pepper, diced 
1/2 cup roasted peanuts 
chopped cilantro and fresh lime to garnish 
serve on rice

Ditulis soni agus Pada 00.38 Komentar