How About Some Chicken?

This evening I felt like cooking something for my boyfriend and me. Yes, it's been awhile since I've actually done any home cooking...seems like we've been doing more takeout than anything else these last few months. Since I had some lovely chicken thighs and legs in the freezer, I opted for this simple yet very tasty dish from Mark Bittman's cookbook, "How To Cook Everything". Keep in mind that your kitchen may get very hot during the cooking process but luckily for us, it was a cool, breezy day here in Southern California, and our smoke detector only went off once. Enjoy!

Roast Chicken Parts With Herbs and Butter

4 tablespoons of butter

1 whole chicken (3-4 pounds), cut up (I used 4 legs, and 4 thighs)

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Combination of herbs (I used dried herbs--thyme and basil)

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. When hot, put 1 tablespoon of butter in a roasting pan and place it in the oven--leave it there until the butter is melted.

2. Add the chicken, skin side up, season with salt and pepper, and return the pan to the oven. Combine the herb and the remaining butter in a bowl and mix until blended.

3. After the chicken has cooked 15 minutes, spread about 1/4 of the herb/butter mixture over it, turn, add another quarter of the mixture and roast another 10 minutes. Turn the chicken over again (now skin side up) and add another quarter of the herb mixture.

4. Cook until the chicken is done (you'll see clear juices if you make a small cut in the meat near the bone), a total of 30-40 minutes (mine took about 25 minutes to cook).

5. When serving, drizzle the melted butter/herb sauce over the chicken and serve with Japanese udon noodles also drizzled with the butter. Hope you like!

A Curry Craving

Another food craving hit me over the weekend and this time, it was for the spicy flavors of curry. I love a good curry dish and since I had a freezer-full of chicken and all the ingredients I needed already, I decided to make chicken curry. This was a recipe I made up as I went along, trying to incorporate all the ingredients that I enjoy whenever I go out to my favorite Thai restaurant for curry. Sometimes though, I find that curry dishes can be a little on the heavy side so I found that by making my own, I was definitely able to control that aspect of it. I used a combination of coconut milk and plain yogurt in this recipe which balanced out the spiciness of the curry paste and added a nice tanginess overall to the dish. Whether you eat this with some rice or pasta or even over plain toast, you will be sure to have your curry craving cured.

Chicken Curry
Ingredients:
3 chicken breasts, 3 chick thighs, 4 drumsticks
1 15 oz. can chicken broth
1 lemon grass stalk—slice up the white bulb part
1 piece of ginger-sliced
1 cup of coconut milk (I used light coconut milk)
1/3 cup plain yogurt
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 tablespoonful red curry paste
handful of basil leaves
handful of mint leaves
handful of cilantro

whole black olives (optional)

Directions:
Rinse the chicken in water and pat dry; except for the chicken legs, cut up the chicken meat into smaller pieces, season with salt and pepper, and set aside.
In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of oil and brown the chicken for about 4 minutes.
Transfer the chicken to a plate.
Pour the chicken broth into the skillet, add the lemon grass, ginger, and coconut milk; allow this mixture to slightly boil then turn down the heat to a simmer. Add the tomato paste, curry powder, curry paste, turmeric, and mustard seeds and stir for about 3 minutes. Add the yogurt to the mixture and stir well. Next, add the chicken back into the skillet, bring the mixture back to a boil and then turn down the heat again and allow to simmer for about 10 minutes. Finally, add the olives, basil, mint and cilantro and then remove from the heat.

Weekend Summary--Trying Some New Recipes

I enjoy having my little brother over for dinner. Even though he only lives 30 miles away from me, it's not often that we get together, especially on a Saturday night (he is after all a twenty-something bachelor with a very packed social calendar of his own). Well, this past Saturday my bro paid a visit to his big sis and her boyfriend and we all sat down and broke bread together. Okay, bread wasn't even on the menu, but nonetheless, we shared a wonderful meal. I was eager to test out several new recipes I came across recently. One was a panko encrusted chicken that a fellow blogger, the cookbook junkie, raved about some time ago. This was truly a hit with the boys. My boyfriend exclaimed that the chicken thigh he was devouring had to be one of the best he's eaten in a long while! My brother and I nodded in agreement. The chicken, with its tangy, crispy, crunchy coating, was indeed juicy on the inside and oh-so-delicious! This recipe is one I will definitely be making again in the near future.
I also made a sugar snap and green peas side that had some lemon and mint in it which I found on the culinary in the desert site.
Refreshing and light, I think the next time I make this I'll add a little more mint to make the flavor come out even more. My second side for the night was braised red cabbage with applewood bacon, one that my brother and I really dug, though my BF wasn't too crazy about it (he says he was concentrating so much on the awesomeness of the chicken so I forgave him). And finally, I prepared a lovely farfalle pasta dish with pistachio cream found here. I personally love pistachios and thought this pasta dish was decadent and rich without being heavy, if that is at all possible. I loved the flavor, the creaminess, and the texture.
Bon appetit!