Chicken Recipes: Lemon Rosemary Chicken and Roasted Vegetables

Last night, I made one of my favorite chicken dishes. This recipe is one that I’ve written about before, but I just felt the need to once again let you know how sensational it is. I usually make this recipe during the late fall to early spring when the weather is too cold to enjoy outdoor grilling. See my blog post from May 2, 2008 for the complete recipe; then enjoy this fantastic one-pan meal.

 

Chicken Recipes: Spiced Chicken Breasts with Apple-Jalapeño Chutney

If you like chicken breasts with a bit of heat, try this great recipe that features a spicy homemade apple chutney that really livens up ordinary baked chicken breasts with loads of flavor. “Spiced Chicken Breasts with Apple-Jalapeño Chutney” is a fantastic chicken recipe that I found on RecipeTips.com. There are numerous ingredients in this one—many more than I’m used to working with—but the result was certainly worth a trip to the supermarket to grab the items I didn’t already have on hand.

Spiced Chicken Breasts with Apple-Jalapeno Chutney

The chicken is marinated in a mixture of orange juice, olive oil, fresh ginger, brown sugar, chopped scallions, ground coriander, ground cinnamon, salt, and pepper. The chutney contains apples and jalapeños, of course, combined with brown sugar, orange juice, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, orange zest, a bay leaf, and some olive oil. It makes a great tasting chutney to serve with this chicken, which can either be baked or grilled. I prefer grilled, but since it was raining, I was forced to bake it this time. I hope you enjoy this recipe.

 

Chicken Recipes: Chicken Pot Pie (Number 9)

I love chicken pot pie, and this recipe, which I found on AllRecipes.com, is particular good. Maybe it’s the combination of the simple ingredients with the fresh chicken (don’t use precooked) that made it so good, or maybe it was the premade piecrusts that I chose (I used Pillsbury), but whatever it was, this chicken pot pie was hard to beat. It’s called “Chicken Pot Pie IX” and was submitted by Robbie Rice, who I would like to thank for providing me with the best chicken pot pie I’ve eaten in a long time.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cubed
• 1 cup sliced carrots
• 1 cup frozen green peas
• ½ cup sliced celery
• 1/3 cup butter
• 1/3 cup chopped onion
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• ¼ teaspoon celery seed
• 1 ¾ cups chicken broth
• 2/3 cup milk
• 2 unbaked pie crusts (9-inch size)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 425ºF.
• In a saucepan, combine the chicken, carrots, peas, and celery. Add water to cover. Boil for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat, drain, and set aside.
• In the saucepan over medium heat, cook the onions in butter until soft and translucent.
• Stir in the flour, salt, pepper, and celery seed.
• Slowly stir in the chicken broth and milk. Simmer over medium-low heat until thick. Remove from the heat and set aside.
• Place the chicken mixture onto the bottom piecrust.
• Pour the hot liquid mixture over the chicken mixture.
• Cover with the top piecrust, seal the edges, and cut away the excess dough. Make several small slits in the top to allow steam to escape.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the pastry is golden brown and the filling is hot and bubbly. Cool for 10 minutes before serving. Delicious!

 

Chicken Recipes: Chicken Cacciatore

While searching the chicken recipes on the GroupRecipes.com site, I found a quick and easy version of one of my favorite chicken dishes: “Chicken Cacciatore.” This one was submitted by “Whodunitrdr,” who adapted the recipe from one that he had received from a chef friend. What I like about this recipe is that it provides an abundance of rich flavor with very little cooking time—as though the sauce had been slow cooking for hours rather than minutes.

Ingredients List:

• ½ onion; chopped
• 2 cloves garlic; crushed
• ½ pound sliced fresh mushrooms
• 1 tablespoon olive oil for sautéing the vegetables
• 15 ounces canned tomatoes; diced
• 1 cup red wine
• 1 cup beef broth
• ½ teaspoon basil
• ¼ teaspoon oregano
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 whole chicken; cut up
• ½ cup flour
• 2 tablespoons olive oil for frying the chicken

Directions:

• Sauté the onion, garlic, and mushrooms in 1 tablespoon olive oil until translucent.
• Add the tomatoes, red wine, and beef broth; simmer and reduce for about 5 minutes.
• Add the seasonings, stir, and simmer.
• Combine the flour, salt, and pepper, and dredge the chicken pieces in this mixture.
• Brown the floured chicken pieces in 2 tablespoons olive oil until golden.
• Transfer the browned chicken to an ovenproof casserole dish, cover the chicken with the sauce, and bake at 375ºF for 30 minutes.
• Serve the chicken and sauce atop a bed of buttered pasta or rice.

I served the chicken over penne pasta, which made a fantastic meal. One ingredient that was unexpected in this recipe was the beef broth, which I haven’t seen in any other chicken cacciatore recipe before. It provided a great flavor and subtle richness that made this dish irresistible. Try it for yourself and see what I mean. Thanks, “Whodunitrdr,” for this terrific recipe!

 

Chicken Recipes: Lemonade Chicken

Lemon chicken has always been one of my favorites, but I don’t make it as often as I’d like—there are always so many other great chicken recipes to try. Well, the other night, I decided that it was a good time to serve it for dinner, because the weather was brutally cold and I needed something that would remind me of summer. And, lemon chicken definitely reminds me of summer—probably because most often, I make it on the grill and serve it outdoors on the patio, surrounded by friends on a warm, muggy evening in July. (Sounds like heaven right now; the temperature is minus 20! And, rather than being surrounded by friends, I’m surrounded by an electric blanket.) Anyway, I decided to search for a new oven-baked version of this tasty treat, and what I found was a recipe called, “Oven Fried Lemonade Chicken” on AllRecipes.com. Actually, according to the author of the recipe, “Debholdridge,” this dish is an adaptation of an old recipe found in TV Guide magazine several decades ago.

Ingredients List:

• 1 can (6 ounces) frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
• 6 skinless and boneless chicken breast halves
• 1 ½ cups cornflakes cereal
• 1 teaspoon dried crushed thyme

Directions:

• Pour the thawed lemonade concentrate, salt, and pepper into a resealable plastic bag.
• Add the chicken breasts and coat with the marinade. Squeeze out the excess air and seal the bag. Marinate the chicken in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour or overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 350ºF (about 175ºC). Spray a baking sheet generously with cooking spray.
• Place the cornflakes in another resealable plastic bag and crush them into fine crumbs. Add the thyme and mix thoroughly.
• Remove the chicken pieces from the marinade and shake off the excess; then discard the remaining marinade. Place the chicken pieces into the bag containing the cornflake crumb mixture and shake to coat the pieces well.
• Place the chicken breasts on the prepared baking sheet, making sure that they don’t touch. Spray each one lightly with cooking spray. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 45 minutes or until the  juices run clear and the coating is brown and crunchy.

This was such a simple recipe to prepare, but it provides so much flavor and texture. I think it’s the most “lemony” lemon chicken I’ve ever had. The bold, tart flavor and the crunchy corn coating make this chicken recipe a real treat.

 

Chicken Recipes: Chicken Normande with Mashed Apples and Potatoes

In my last entry, I reported that the weather during the first week of November was perfect for grilling: sunny and unbelievably warm for this time of year, but my schedule didn’t permit me to do any cooking that week except for the slow cooker meal I threw together on election morning. Well, I really think I’ve missed my last window of opportunity to enjoy grilled food outdoors this season, for the weather has turned really ugly, and this being Minnesota, it’s highly unlikely that we’ll see more days suitable for grilling unless you don’t mind wearing a parka and woolen mittens while tending the grill. It’s always a sad time when I have to put the grill away for the season, but I’ll be compensated with a whole winter’s worth of delicious baked, sautéed, pan-fried, stir-fried, and slow-cooked chicken dishes that will certainly suffice until next spring.

Among those dishes is a new chicken recipe that I made last night called, “Chicken Normande with Mashed Apples and Potatoes” that I found on the Epicurious.com site. It is actually a recipe posted there from the February 2000 issue of Bon Appétit. Although the preparation time is a bit lengthier than what I have been used to for the past several months, having made umpteen quick and easy grilled chicken dishes, it certainly isn’t complicated and it’s definitely worth the effort.

This recipe incorporates chicken thighs that have been cut into pieces; seasoned with salt, pepper, and thyme; dusted with flour; and sautéed until browned and cooked through. The chicken is placed into a baking dish and is layered with cooked parsnips, uncooked peas, cooked apples and Yukon Gold potatoes (my favorite variety) that have been mashed, and a rich cream sauce flavored with brandy; then it’s baked in a 350°F oven for 35 to 45 minutes. With its golden brown potato and apple crust, this dish is like a French version of a shepherd’s pie, only better. This is one chicken recipe that I’ll be making again and again during the upcoming winter months.

 

Chicken Recipes: Grilled or Oven Roasted Beer Can Chicken

Chicken prepared with the beer can method has become one of the most popular ways to cook chicken. I’ve made beer can chicken several times, in the oven and on the grill, and every time I make it, the chicken is moist and delicious. Although both the baked and grilled versions are terrific, I think the grilled version is the best, but then grilling seems to make everything taste better.

I have written about beer can chicken before: on March 18, 2008, to be exact; but rather than just offer my critique of another beer can chicken recipe, I thought I would describe the steps I use to make beer can chicken. For this go around, I found a recipe on RecipeTips.com that was different than the one I prepared last March (also from RecipeTips.com), so I thought I would give it a try.

Ingredients

Prepare a spice rub with the following ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 1/2 tablespoon black pepper

Remaining Ingredients:

• 1 whole chicken (about 4 lbs.)
• 1 can of beer (12 oz.)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• The spice rub (3-1/2 tablespoons)

Begin the process by cleaning the chicken and patting it dry. Prepare the simple spice rub, sprinkle 1-1/2 teaspoons of the rub inside the large cavity of the chicken; then sprinkle another 1/2 teaspoon of the rub inside the neck cavity.

Coat the chicken with the olive oil (or vegetable oil); make sure that the entire bird is covered.

Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of the rub over the exterior of the chicken. Cover the surface evenly.

 

 Pour out one-third of the can of beer (about one-half cup). Create several holes in the top of the beer can in order to vent the can properly, allowing steam to be released when the chicken is cooked.

Add the final 2-1/2 teaspoons of the rub mixture to the remaining beer in the can. This may cause the beer to foam over slightly.

Note: I changed the amounts of the ingredients proportionally for the spice rub mixture, because I wanted to make only enough for this recipe rather than making extra for later use as suggested in the RecipeTips.com recipe.

 

 

 

Hold the chicken held upright with the large opening facing down; then slide the chicken over the beer can, taking care not to tip the can.

 

 

Pull the legs forward and tuck the wings behind the bird (unless the wing tips are missing).

Place the chicken in the oven or on the grill. If you are grilling the chicken, cook it over medium heat with the grill cover closed. If you are roasting the chicken in the oven, cook it at 350ºF.

 

For both cooking methods, cook the chicken about 1-1/2 hours. To ensure proper doneness, make sure the temperature of the thigh is 170ºF, as measured with a reliable meat thermometer.

Remove the chicken from the grill or oven, tent with foil, and allow it to rest for 15 to 20 minutes before carving. The temperature of the meat will continue to rise, reaching a safe temperature of 180ºF in the thickest part of the thigh.

To remove the chicken from the beer can, I use several layers of folded paper towels in each hand to insulate my skin from the hot chicken and beer can. Hold the bottom of the beer can firmly with one hand and pull the chicken off the can with the other. Carve the chicken and serve. Delicious!

 

Chicken Recipes: Sweet and Sour Chicken

While browsing through the chicken recipes on RecipeTips.com, I found this quick and easy-to-make dish that was the perfect choice for a busy day. Talk about simple—this chicken recipe has four ingredients: skinless chicken breasts, onion soup mix, orange juice concentrate, and olive oil.

Sweet and Sour Chicken

To prepare this dish, you simply brown the chicken breasts in a skillet containing some olive oil, throw them in a baking dish, pour the onion soup and orange juice concentrate mixture over the chicken, and bake uncovered until done. I served it over rice, as suggested, and garnished the dish with a sprinkling of fresh herbs. It was really quite tasty. I guess recipes don’t have to be complicated or contain a lengthy list of ingredients to be delicious. I hope you enjoy “Sweet-n-Sour Chicken” as much as I did.

 

Chicken Recipes: Chicken Enchiladas

Outdoor grilling has been nearly impossible the past few days, as we have been experiencing the worst weather imaginable. Monsoonal rains, huge thunderstorms, tornadoes, hail, and floods have kept everyone in southern Minnesota inside, either ducking for cover when the tornado sirens sound or mopping up waterlogged basements; however, none of this prevented me from making some great chicken dishes.

 

One of the dishes I prepared was a fantastic chicken recipe from RecipeTips.com. “Chicken Enchiladas” is an oven-baked dish that I would classify as a comfort food—warm and satisfying, full of flavor, and so easy to make. It’s difficult to get any easier than combining shredded cooked chicken with five other ingredients, and two of the ingredients are canned: cream of chicken soup and chopped green chilies. The other three ingredients also come ready made: sour cream, packaged flour tortillas, and packaged pre-shredded cheese. That’s it! No, it doesn’t sound like much, but the result is excellent. As I’ve said before, I’ve never been fond of using canned soups in recipes, but I think I might have to change my mind after tasting this great dish. I hope you’ll enjoy it!

 

Chicken Recipes: Jim’s Lemon and Rosemary Roast Chicken with Country Vegetables

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.