Chicken a l'orange

I put all of these things in a bowl and marinated the stuffed chicken leg pieces for the afternoon.

Then I browned the chicken in a skillet, coating the underside with flour to thicken the sauce later. After flipping the chicken, I poured back in the marinade, and filled it to capacity with vegetables (onions, carrots and zuccini). The whole pan went in the oven for 30 minutes at 350 in a preheated oven.

After the chicken was done, I took it out to let it rest, and reduced the sauce until it coated the back of a spoon, about 7 minutes.

I was disappointed with this dish. Everything was cooked to the right degree, but to my taste it was mediocre. I like the idea of an orange based sauce, but the marinade didn't really do anything. The garlic didn't flavour the chicken at all, but ended up as a tasty treasure to be found underneath the skin (which I didn't eat). The sauce tasted good, but I should have crushed up the pink peppercorns instead of leaving them whole, and cooked the vegetables separately. I will play with the orange sauce idea without the grapefruit as it was unnoticeable. This recipe isn't worth trying on your own.

Chicken avocado sammiches

My band Mollusk played our first official show on Saturday. Still completely unprepared the day of, Marc (ukulele) came over before the show for lunch and to rehearse a bit. I decided to make some sammiches. I've never seen avocados with such a colour gradient, from dark green to bright yellow. Are these regular Hass avocados?

Whatever they are, they were perfectly ripe, delicious and very creamy. I sliced them up and put them on a slice of flax seed bread with some grilled chicken breast and parmesan. 

Grilled, these had a crisp exterior with a creamy mouth feel inside. I like replacing mayonnaise with healthy avocado for this reason. The parmesan added a touch of saltiness and great flavour to go with the chicken. I still contend my butcher has the best chicken out there. It has an extra chicken flavour that you just don't find in the cuts at supermarkets. I'll be happy to eat your favourite chicken if you disagree.

The only thing that would make this sammich better is pesto. Really gotta make some more of that. Mayhaps cilantro pesto this time.

Chicken and Mashed Potaters

I have a great butcher in my neighbourhood. Apart from the complete lack of pork and inexpensive fish, they are pretty much the best. They get some amazing chicken from a local farmer just outside the city. It has way more flavour than anything I've had from the supermarket. They cut up whole chickens there, so the thighs (my favourite part of the chicken) end up with a bit of spine in them, and that means delicious marrow to eat later.

I tried a different marinade than the traditional buttermilk, thinking the beer and yogurt would act the same way to tenderize the chicken. I patted them dry, coated them in barbeque sauce and cornmeal, and baked the thighs for 50 minutes at 350 in the oven. I grilled the drumsticks in my George Foreman grill for 30 minutes. They both turned out really well.

Mashed potatoes needed a bit of a kick, so I caramelized some onions and bacon to add. Instead of butter, I added the chicken drippings from the baked thighs and a few dashes of hot sauce. I will have a hard time going back to regular potatoes. These have raised the bar quite significantly. Next time I'll make them with cauliflower instead of potatoes to help with the nutrition factor.

Here is a picture of Ian eating with super fast, ninja-like hands. His plate was full when I raised the camera; It must have been really tasty.

Soy marinated chicken with vegetable fried rice and bok choi

Phase 1: Chicken - 50 minutes
Marinate chicken (4 pieces of separated and trimmed leg) in mixture of dark mushroom soy sauce, 5 minced cloves of garlic, and 1" piece of minced ginger for at least 4 hours. Preheat oven to 350F. Sear in hot cast iron pan with a bit of frying oil. Flip over, add bok choi and finish in oven for 30 minutes, flipping bok choi halfway through. Rest meat for 10 minutes outside pan to keep it juicy and so it doesn't hurt when you eat it.

Phase 2: Fried Rice - 50 minutes
Boil 3C water and add 1.5C brown rice. Turn heat down to minimum and let sit for 45 minutes. Instead of water, you can also use chicken stock or add flavour. I added a drop of sesame oil and 3 bay leaves to scent the rice.

In wok, saute 1" nub of minced ginger in olive oil (and a touch of sesame oil) for one minute, then add half a spanish onion. When onions are translucent, add 2 chopped carrots. Continue on medium heat until carrots start to soften. Separate florets of broccoli from their stem, peel and chop the stem before adding it to the pot. Chop one red bell pepper and add it along with broccoli florets. Add small amount of soy sauce and oyster sauce to veggies.

Pour cooked rice into wok and add 2Tbsp oyster sauce and 1tbsp soy sauce. Mix well. Vegetables should be cooked but not too soft at this point and the chicken should be resting.

Phase 3: Eat - Variable
Put results of all phases on a plate and eat until full. Louis C.K. claims the meal isn't over when he's full, it's over when he hates himself. So, keep eating if you must.

Phase 4: Results
A guest in my house for this meal known as the Yeddi (spelling not a mistake) couldn't believe I made the sauce for the chicken myself. It is so easy and quick. I called it Teriyaki at the time, but it doesn't have mirin rice wine and wasn't cooked. It is almost as flavourful and way easier than Teriyaki sauce. Sauce from the store doesn't count as easier in this blog.

The rice is still pretty great the next day, so I consider that a win. All the vegetables were the perfect tenderness. I like my red peppers soft, otherwise they would have stayed out until the end. Oyster sauce may sound scary but it is what gives it that authentic Chinese food flavour. Try it! It costs under $10 for the best bottle and you'll get many flavourful meals out of it. It is quite salty, so don't season other food too much.

Try this one out. If you remember the marinade in the morning (5 minutes max), this healthy, satisfying and wholesome meal can be cranked out in under an hour. And chances are you'll have leftovers to enjoy tomorrow. You could put the chicken in a sammich with avocado and cheddar (anchovies?), fry the rice up again until crispy on the edges (possibly in balls stuffed with chicken pieces and breaded first), or be boring and just reheat it.

Buttermilk baked chicken with bashed potatoes and broccoli

Another batch of beer brewing, this one is cream ale, calls for a feast. I made some chicken, half friend and half baked, cheesy bashed potatoes, and steamed broccoli.

Marinate the chicken (8 leg pieces, cut and trimmed by butcher) in buttermilk for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight. I added a few tablespoons of salt to the buttermilk so it brined the chicken as well. This makes it extremely tender and juicy once cooked. Pat the chicken dry with a paper towel, coat in egg wash (4 beaten eggs, 1Tbsp pesto, 1tbsp mustard) and roll in bread crumbs (4 slices stale bread ground fine as you can get it), repeat. Bake half on a greased sheet for 30min at 450, then 30 min at 350. Pan sear and finish other half in the oven at 350 for 30 min. Once done, let meat rest for 10 minutes so it stays juicy and doesn't hurt to eat.

Boil potatoes until fork tender. Add 1/2C butter, 1/2C old cheddar, a few tablespoons of milk for consistency, and a few dashes of habanero hot sauce. Season to taste and bash until uniform. I like mine a bit lumpy to remind me it used to be potatoes.

Peel skin from stem of broccoli and cut head into quarters or other manageable size. Steam over hot water. I used a bamboo steamer I picked up in Chinatown for $4 with a pinch of salt. Put it all on a plate and it should look something like this:

I liked the baked chicken better than the pan seared. The chicken must have had daddy issues because it couldn't keep its bread clothes on. The breading was delicious, pesto really works here, but the bottom part stuck to the pan and the top part mostly came off in one piece unless special attention was given to make that not happen. Ladypants told me I had "outdone myself", so that sounds pretty good. Potatoes really can't be bad with that much butter and cheese, but the hot sauce lent a slight spiciness that put it over the top. Steamed broccoli is green. This is an extremely tasty dish, especially when washed down with a pint of homemade IPA.

Grilled coffee chicken & avocado sammiches

One of the best things about making grilled chicken for dinner is the delicious sammiches for lunch the next day.

4 slices bread, flax seed
1 chicken quarter, off the bone
onions from under chicken, see last post
half an avocado, sliced
salt & pepper
cilantro
habanero hot sauce, optional

Preheat george foreman grill or panini press. Place toppings in order listed on top of bread and top with another.

 Press somewhat firmly. Place sammiches on grill until outside is toasty and inside is warmed through. Serve, eat, & enjoy.

The bread is super crispy, and inside you get all those great flavours. The roasted chicken, the perfectly ripe creamy avocado, a bit of sweetness from the onions, and a refreshing burst of cilantro to lighten it all up. The spicy pepper flavour of the hot sauce was ok, but didn't add much.

Some people like to butter the outside of grilled sammiches like this, but I find it too greasy for my taste. Cheese always works well, but it isn't necessary. I also have no problem calling them sammiches even though it gives me a squiggly red line underneath as I type the word. It does that for Canadian flavours too but not American flavors. I've become used to it.

Coffee chicken & cheddar cauliflour pancakes

Brian gave me the puck from the double shot of Sidamo he made for me this afternoon, so I decided to see if it would work as a meat rub. Thanks Guy Guy for the inspiration!

Coffee Chicken:
2 chicken leg quarters
1 medium onion, sliced
1 Tbsp olive oil

rub:
1 heaping tsp used Sidamo espresso silt
2 cloves garlic, pastified

1 cayenne pepper, crushed
1 tsp grain mustard












Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Slice onion, add to bottom of pan, add olive oil over top. Mix rub ingredients together and rub all over seasoned chicken quarters.

Put in oven, turn temp down to 375 and bake for 1 hour or until chicken is cooked through. Baste with olive oil halfway through to get golden and crispy skin. Rest for 10 minutes before eating.

The chicken was moist and tender. The skin was flavourful and crispy The espresso silt wasn't as strong as I thought it would be, but it was quite tasty!  The coffee definitely complimented the chicken. I wouldn't hesitate to use silt in a rub again. Next time I'll use more rub on the chicken and mix some fat into the rub itself so it coats more evenly.

Cheddar cauliflour pancakes:
1/3 head cauliflour
1/2 C old cheddar, grated
1 jalapeno, chopped
5 sprigs thyme, leaves removed
1/2 C bread crumbs
1 egg
salt & pepper

Steam cauliflour until tender.

Break up cauliflour with a fork in a bowl, add next 4 ingredients. Mix in egg and form into 4 equal sized patties. Coat patties in flour so they brown and stay together better. Saute in olive oil until brown and crispy on the outside.

They were crispy on the outside, creamy inside and very cheesy. These could just as easily have been a replacement for mashed potatoes. The jalapeno didn't come through at all but the thyme worked well. Sauteing in butter would have tasted better, but it always does. Tasty enough to make these again.

Chicken Soup for the Sick

Ladypants is not feeling well so I made her some soup.

2 full chicken legs, separated, leg nubs discarded, thighs halved, fat chunk separated
1 large onion, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
1 inch nub of ginger, minced
5 cloves garlic
10 sprigs thyme, bouquet
~1 tsp tumeric
1 jalapeno, split down the middle
2 bay leaves
1 beer
8 cups water
1 cup brown rice
half red pepper
half head of cauliflour
small handful of cilantro, chopped, stems minced
salt and pepper

Preheat soup pot, add fat chunks to melt. Once a layer of fat covers bottom of pan, brown chicken parts. Add onions, carrots, ginger and garlic. When onions have softened, add tumeric, bouquet of thyme, jalapeno, bay leaves beer and water.

Bring to simmer and add rice. Simmer for 35 minutes, add red pepper and cauliflour. Simmer for 10 more minutes while discarding chicken skin/fat/jalapeno and removing meat from the bones. Adjust seasoning, add cilantro, serve hot, eat and enjoy.

Chopping through the nubs of the drumstick allows marrow flavour to escape into the soup, creating a more flavourful broth. I made this kind of soup because ginger, garlic, chicken and tumeric are all health promoting ingredients that work very well together.