Chicken Recipes, Please?

Grilling was out of the question yesterday as the weather was about as terrible as it could be for late October in southern Minnesota: cloudy, cold, rainy, sustained winds of 40 mph, even occasional snow flurries—definitely not a welcome sight this time of year. It was a good day to stay indoors, warm myself in front of the fireplace, and read a good mystery novel—you know, one of those stories that fit the day so well: “It was a dark and stormy night …” It was also a good day to make a great new chicken recipe for Sunday night supper called, “Paella a la Valenciana,” submitted by “Darbar” on the GroupRecipes.com Web site.

Paella has always been one of my favorite types of rice dishes and this version, prepared with chicken (of course), is one of the tastiest. This chicken paella features chunks of white and dark meat and a number of vegetables including green bell pepper, roasted red pepper, onions, green beans, snow peas, artichoke hearts, and tomatoes. The seasonings include fresh rosemary, kosher salt, garlic, minced parsley, Spanish smoked paprika, and of course, saffron, which is an ingredient that is common to all paella recipes. Although saffron is very expensive, it is actually quite economical, because only a small amount is necessary to provide a tremendous amount of flavor and color. Paella just wouldn’t be paella without the use of saffron, and there really isn’t anything that can duplicate it. Some recipes state that turmeric can be used as a substitute, but the flavor is nothing like saffron.

The other ingredient that makes paella recipes authentic is the type of rice that is used. You cannot make a decent paella dish without the correct type of rice. The best types of rice to use are Valencia or Bomba or a similar short to medium-grain Spanish variety. I would caution you about using any type of rice that you have on hand, because paella is not as good when using substitutions (especially when using long grain varieties). Other rice varieties, such as Arborio or pearl, can be used if necessary but only if Spanish varieties are unavailable. When the wrong type of rice is used, you don’t get those dry, separate grains on the top layers of the dish and the delicious crusty brown layer that forms on the bottom of the pan, which is one of the distinguishing features of paella.

I highly recommend “Paella a la Valenciana” for its lively flavor and ease of preparation. It really is a complete one-pan meal, and it was just perfect for a cold autumn day, especially when served in front of the fire and accompanied by a good bottle of wine. Life just doesn’t get any better than that.

With the amount of daylight dwindling every day and the weather turning cooler, my time for outdoor grilling this season will probably be drawing to a close in the next few weeks. I’m not one of those who braves below zero temperatures during the winter just so I can have grilled food. I usually put the grill to bed around the first or second week of November (which is quite late for most Minnesotans, don’t cha know, especially considering that most folks have their snow blowers tuned up and ready to go before Labor Day), but who knows, with this particularly beautiful fall that we’ve been enjoying, perhaps I’ll be grilling outdoors until sometime in December. One can only hope.

Anyway, that brings me to my reason for today’s entry: With my love of grilled food and with the season in mind, a hearty chicken soup sounded really good for an autumn Sunday night supper. After browsing through numerous recipes on my favorite food sites, I found a good one: “Grilled Italian Chicken and Vegetable Soup,” courtesy of RecipeTips.com.

Grilled Italian Chicken and Vegetable Soup

I was fortunate that most of the vegetables and herbs called for in the recipe came out of my garden: tomatoes, carrots, onions, oregano, basil, and parsley, so the soup was inexpensive to prepare. The only ingredient I needed to purchase was zucchini, which I did have in my garden this year, but the time for harvesting zucchini is long gone in these parts. In addition to the fresh tomatoes, the recipe called for canned tomatoes with Italian seasoning, but I omitted the canned tomatoes and used an equal amount of fresh garden tomatoes in its place. I simply added a sprinkling of garlic powder and black pepper, as well as a bit more basil and oregano to make up for the extra Italian seasoning that would have been included had I used the canned tomatoes.

Now for the grilled part: As suggested in the recipe, I grilled skinless boneless chicken breasts, which were seasoned with lemon pepper. After the chicken cooled sufficiently, I simply chopped the chicken into bite-size pieces and added it to the soup, which, by the way, I cooked in a large pot on the stovetop, using canned chicken broth as a base for the soup.

Some of you might ask, “Why take the wonderful flavor of grilled chicken and drown it in a bowl of soup?” Well, the grilled taste really isn’t lost; in fact, it does so much to enhance the flavor of all the ingredients in the soup. I found this recipe to be very satisfying—one of those “comfort foods” that so many of us begin to think about this time of year. I hope you enjoy it!

For today’s entry, instead of describing another great chicken recipe, I thought it would be useful to demonstrate an easy way to truss a chicken. Trussing a chicken prior to roasting or grilling, results in a bird that holds its shape and maintains an attractive appearance for presentation purposes. Trussing really isn’t as intimidating as it seems, so let’s get started.

Clean the Chicken

 

Fold the Wings Back

Measure out a length of kitchen string that is five times the length of the chicken. This will ensure that you have  an adequate amount of string for trussing the bird.

Measure the String

Find the center of the string and with the tail end of the chicken turned away from you, place the string over the ends of the drumsticks and wrap it around and underneath.

Wrap String Around Ends of Legs

Cross the strings, keeping the drumsticks tight underneath the breastbone of the chicken.

Cross the Strings

Wrap the string around the thighs of the chicken.

Wrap the String Around the Thighs

Flip the bird over so that the wing tips are positioned away from you. Make sure that the string remains on the thighs of the bird.

Flip the Chicken

Starting on one side of the chicken, pull the string underneath the tip of the wing, keeping it as close as possible to the wing joint; then wrap the string around the wing joint and tuck it under the string that is looped around the joint.

Wrap the String Around the Wing Joint and Tuck it Under the Loop

Follow the same procedure for the other wing, wrapping the string under the wing tip, close to the joint, and tuck it underneath the loop of string around the joint.

Wrap the Other Wing

Cross the strings so that the tips of the wings touch, making sure that that string stays up around the thighs of the bird.

Cross the Strings Again

Pull the strings tight!

Pull the Strings Tight!

Simply tie off the string in a knot or bow.

Tie a Knot or a Bow

Trim off the excess string.

Trim the String

The chicken is ready to roast or grill!

The Chicken is Ready to Roast

Indeed, what an appropriate name for this chicken dish. I found it while browsing the extensive recipe collection of AllRecipes.com, and I thought it would be a good one to try. I wasn’t disappointed. “Always a Winner Grilled Chicken” submitted by “Lily’sMama,” has quite a few seasonings, but the combination is really tasty. Consider the following: lime juice, red wine vinegar, orange juice, white wine, honey, salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, chili powder, chipotle chili powder, ground cinnamon, dried oregano, ground cumin, ground ginger, red pepper flakes, cayenne pepper, and olive oil—19 ingredients! (Check out the actual recipe for the correct amounts to use for each ingredient.) The only ingredient I cheated on was the chipotle chili powder—I had all of the other ingredients on hand except that one, so I simply substituted it for ordinary chili powder, and since regular chili powder was already one of the ingredients, I didn’t think it would mess up the recipe too much.

As the recipe called for, I used six boneless skinless chicken breasts, which I placed in a large resealable bag. I poured in the marinade, coated the chicken well, and placed it in the refrigerator to marinate. The recipe called for a marinating time of not less then thirty minutes or as much as two days if desired, but I went with my usual marinating time of about two hours. Thirty minutes doesn’t seem like it would be long enough, and I think two days would tend to make the chicken rather mushy, but of course, it’s all a matter of personal preference.

The chicken grilled up tender, juicy, and flavorful, and it had a bit of a kick to it as well. I served it with a simple rice pilaf and a salad of sliced tomatoes, provolone, fresh basil, and an olive oil and rice wine vinegar dressing. This was a perfect meal for another of the many gorgeous autumn days that we’ve been blessed with in southern Minnesota. Enjoy!