Chicken Recipes, Please?

I’m sure that repeat visitors to my blog are aware that curried chicken dishes are among my favorite types of chicken recipes, and I’m pleased to say that a recipe I found on the RecipeZaar site is among my favorites in that category. “Chicken Bhuna Masala” is a wonderful chicken curry recipe that features a delicious blend of spices combined with garlic, ginger, onions, tomatoes, coconut milk, and white wine to make a truly super sauce.

Several people who prepared this recipe posted comments stating that they made some minor alterations to it, and I was no exception. Like some of the others, I had no cardamom pods on hand (and I can’t say that I ever have), so I substituted it with ground cardamom, and I also doubled the amount of garlic. (Adding more garlic has never hurt any dish that I’ve made in which I’ve strayed from the amount called for in the recipe.)

I served this dish with white rice (as suggested) and angel hair pasta so that my guests could have their choice. For me, it was a tie—“Chicken Bhuna Masala” was equally good served over either one. I highly recommend that you try this recipe—you’re going to love it!

My goal of using this blog as a repository for all of the chicken recipes that I hoped would be flooding in from other readers has, so far, not occurred, but that’s okay. I guess my blog has evolved, more or less, into a place for me to share the great chicken recipes that I find while browsing the Internet, as well as an outlet for me to write about some of my weird anecdotes that relate to cooking.

Occasionally, over time, projects such as this become something other that what was intended, but I suppose that’s fine, provided that you are pleased with the outcome and that you enjoy the process, and I must say that I’m enjoying the process very much. And, as I’m sure you’ll all agree, WordPress.com makes the blogging process easy and fun so that even a Web log novice like myself can realize a sense of accomplishment.

With all of that off my chest, it’s time to provide you with another fantastic chicken recipe, this time from the collection of RecipeTips.com. Over the Memorial weekend, when I was grilling barbecued chicken, I grilled some extra chicken without the seasonings, without the barbecue sauce, without anything—just plain grilled chicken (Egads! He’s cooking plain chicken! What’s gotten into him?). I saved the plain chicken and used it to make “Grilled Mandarin Curry Chicken Wraps,” which I made for lunch the following day.

These sandwich wraps are, in one word, excellent. There are so many delicious ingredients in these wonderful wraps that my taste buds were overwhelmed. With mango chutney, curry powder, mayonnaise, celery, scallions, craisins, mandarin oranges, toasted pine nuts, and of course, grilled chicken as some of the ingredients, this sandwich is officially one of my all-time favorites. Of course, you have to like curry and chutney to have a full appreciation for this recipe because both flavors are quite distinguishable, especially the curry.

I served this chicken mixture wrapped in tortillas as suggested, but I also served it as a sandwich, piled between toasted flaxseed bread, which I preferred. If you like curry flavoring as much as I do, then you’re guaranteed to like this recipe. Enjoy!

The other day when I had friends over for another Minnesota cookout or grill-out or barbecue or whatever you call it in your neck of the woods, one of my guests asked me, “Don’t you ever get sick of eating chicken? Seems like you make it an awful lot.”

“It not only seems like it—I do. Would you like me to make something else?” I asked.

“No, just a friendly inquiry, that’s all.”

“Well,” I said, “I suppose I’d get tired of it if all I did was to throw it in a pan and cook it. I think chicken is always best when it’s fixed with additional ingredients that add flavor, texture, and color.”

With that said, I prepared a recipe for my guests that I found on AllRecipes.com called “Chile Basil Sesame Chicken,” which, indeed, added all of those characteristics to the chicken. This recipe has an odd combination of ingredients, but it’s really tasty, otherwise why would I waste time writing about it? Of course, it might be fun sometime to describe an experience about a really terrible chicken dish  and write a totally scathing review about its absolute horribleness.

Anyway, when referring to the ingredients of this recipe, maybe “odd” is the wrong word. I think perhaps it’s more likely that since I had never used this flavor combination before, it seemed like it would be odd: I mean, soy sauce, fresh basil, olive oil, sesame oil, toasted sesame seeds, dried chile peppers, and chicken stock isn’t a combination that I would ever dream up, but I’m glad that the author of the recipe did.

Basically, all of the ingredients mentioned are used as a marinade for the chicken, which is thrown on the grill after a lengthy marinating time (up to 24 hours). Somebody who had made the recipe and posted a comment stated that she suspected the overlong marinating time is what made her particular batch very salty, so I decided to cut the time to three hours. I’m glad I did because the chicken was perfect and everyone loved it, including my inquisitive friend. This recipe is really a quick and easy way to prepare grilled chicken with a whole lot of flavor, so I encourage you to give it a try.

While browsing the zillions of chicken recipes available on the Internet, I came across this tasty creation that features a ginger peach sauce enhanced with, of all things, horseradish and vinegar, which as the author says, add “a little kick” to the dish. Indeed, it does. I had never before tried a chicken recipe with horseradish, but the combination of the ginger and sweet peach preserves and the pungent horseradish in this recipe was really quite good. The fact that the chicken is grilled makes the dish even better. You can find “Ginger Peach Glazed Chicken” on GroupRecipes.com, and I hope the author, Dariana, doesn’t mind a little free publicity for her wonderful recipe.

Another rainy day means another day without chicken grilled outdoors, so last night, I settled on a delicious stir-fry recipe that I found. “Spicy Orange Chicken Stir-fry” isn’t so extraordinary in terms of the main ingredients used: chopped chicken tenders, garlic, soy sauce, and a one pound package of frozen stir-fry veggies; nevertheless, it is quite tasty because of the wonderful sauce that is poured over the finished dish. With a combination of orange marmalade, olive oil, soy sauce, lime juice, ginger, and cayenne pepper, this spicy orange sauce is perfect.

Spicy Orange Chicken Stir-fry

The recipe calls for the stir-fried chicken and vegetables to be placed atop a bed of rice or chow mein noodles (I used the chow mein noodles); then the warm sauce is poured over the top prior to serving. I suppose you could throw the sauce into the pan with the stir-fry ingredients and toss everything together, but I liked the idea of adding the sauce just before serving, because I can control the amount that I want, and yes, while some people may want to skimp on the amount of sauce they use, I tend go overboard on sauces, dressings, and the like. Please try this quick and easy chicken stir-fry, because I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.

A friend gave me this wonderful roast chicken recipe that I made for the first time last night. I would say that it is currently among my five all-time favorite chicken recipes. I mean, wow! This complete meal is simply outstanding. It is soooo good and so easy to make. Although the chicken takes on some of the lemon and rosemary flavoring, it isn’t overpowering. The finger potatoes, pearl onions, and garlic cloves become caramelized and are absolutely irresistible, taking on a mildly sweet flavor. Even the lemons are tasty. Who would think of eating a roasted lemon peel, but I tried it and was pleasantly surprised. The lemons cook down to such an extent that the caramelized skins become tender, remaining only slightly chewy, and they lose most of there sour and bitter taste. Although I liked the flavor, I’m sure it would be an acquired taste for many people.

Jim's Lemon and Rosemary Roast Chicken with Country Vegetables

Chef Jim recommends that free-range chicken be used for this recipe: commercially raised chicken just doesn’t have that country flavor and supreme juiciness that adds so much to this dish. And, although finger potatoes are quite expensive and would break the bank if you were using them to make mashed potatoes for a bunch of starving teenagers, they are essential in this recipe for their ability to contribute to the caramelized flavor of the entire dish—regular baking potatoes just wouldn’t come close. Yes, free-range chicken is more expensive than supermarket chicken and finger potatoes aren’t cheap, so this isn’t one of the most economical chicken recipes that I’ve prepared, but for a special occasion, it is well worth the extra expense. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

This recipe provides 4 ample servings.

Ingredients:

• One whole free-range chicken, 3 lbs.
• 1-½  lbs. finger potatoes
• About 24 pearl onions
• 10 or more garlic cloves (Whenever a recipe says “or more” when it calls for garlic, I always go for it—about double the amount in this case. A little extra garlic never hurt anything, right?)
• 20-24 asparagus spears
• 6-8 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 3 lemons, cut into quarters
• ½ cup olive oil
• ½ stick butter
• ½ teaspoon dried oregano
• A sprinkling of sea salt
• A sprinkling of black pepper

Directions:

• Stuff the chicken with as many of the quarter pieces of lemon as possible. Also, place inside the chicken, 4 to 6 of the pearl onions, 2 to 4 of the garlic cloves, and a sprig of fresh rosemary.
• Place the chicken in a large roasting pan containing 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and a half-cup of water.
• Melt the butter and stir it into the remaining olive oil. Brush some of the butter and oil mixture on the chicken. Squeeze two of the lemon quarters over the chicken. Sprinkle the oregano, sea salt, and black pepper onto the chicken. Place the two lemon skins (from the squeezed lemons) on top of the chicken; then arrange 4 rosemary springs over the chicken. Around the chicken, arrange any of the remaining lemon quarters (not squeezed).
• Bake in a 325ºF oven for 45 minutes. Two or three times during the cooking process, brush more of the butter and olive oil mixture onto the chicken.
• After the 45 minutes roasting time has elapsed, add the finger potatoes, the remaining onions and garlic, and the remaining rosemary sprigs to the pan, arranged evenly around the chicken. Bake for an additional 45 minutes to an hour. Again, brush the chicken, and the potatoes, with more of the butter and oil mixture, two or three times during the remainder of the cooking time.
• When the chicken is almost done (170ºF as measured on a reliable meat thermometer), coat the asparagus with some of the butter and oil mixture and then arrange the asparagus around the chicken.
• Cook for another 6 to 8 minutes. Do not overcook the asparagus!
• Remove the pan from the oven, place the chicken on a cutting board, tent the chicken with foil, and let it rest for about 5 minutes prior to carving.
• Serve the chicken with the finger potatoes, onions, garlic cloves, and asparagus for a complete meal.