Tag: Chicken

Chicken marinade

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It seems these days that every kid and his brother ( and I am not restricting that statement to just celebrity chefs or actors) claims to have the “best marinade” for chicken,beef,lamb or whatever. Grocery stores and gourmet shops are even jumping on the bandwagon with their own brand of marinades that they have made for them and with those you take your chances on what ingredients are in them to give them a long shelf life.

While this particular marinade is mine I will not claim that it is the best you have ever tried but I will promise it to be “simple and tasty” and one where you know exactly what ingredients are in it. The simplicity of this marinade is also what makes it stand out because there are only 5 ingredients and they are, for the most part, ingredients you already have in your pantry so here is my take on Chicken Marinade.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup Extra Virgin olive oil

2 garlic cloves — chopped

2 to 3 tablespoons chopped Sage — I use Pineapple Sage when I can because it adds another flavor element

Salt and Pepper to taste

Putting it together:

In a non reactive bowl mix all the ingredients together

Store in a sealed container until ready to use

So as you can see I kept my promise to keep this recipe “simple but tasty”  not to mention inexpensive to make and this particular marinade can be used on Turkey as well. The other thing to point out is that the longer you leave the marinade the better it will taste since the flavors will have a chance to marry

So there you have it another “simple but tasty recipe for the grilling season and beyond”

 

So until next time…………

                                                            Bon Appetit

 

Cedar Planked Bacon Wrapped Drumsticks

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Back in the day sitcoms usually had at least one episode when the husband came home from work and dropped the bombshell on his wife that “… the boss will be here in an hour for dinner” and the poor wife would spend the next half an hour trying to defrost and cook a roast in order to impress “the boss”. Now I don’t know if that still happens today and if it does I doubt it’s as funny as the sitcoms made it out to be but in the event that it does I would like to present this very “simple and tasty recipe” that I happened to find in one of my BBQ books that was written by Canada’s Master BBQ chef Ted Reader….. Cedar Planked Bacon Wrapped Chicken Drumsticks and you just have to know that if it includes bacon then it’s dynamite.

Here’s my spin on Chef Ted’s recipe……

Ingredients:

Two to three “cooking” cedar planks depending on the number of drumsticks

10 to 12 chicken drumsticks

A pound or two of smoked bacon (if two pounds is to much for the chicken well…… who cares? IT”S BACON!!!!!!!!)

Chicken dry rub (see dry rubs and marinades)

Putting it all together:

Soak the cedar planks in water for at least 45 minutes so that they won’t burn

Pre heat the grill to 350 degrees

Dust the drumsticks with the dry rub

Wrap in bacon

Place on the cedar planks

Cook on the BBQ until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 160 degrees

 

Serve this with your favorite side dish whether it is mac and cheese, grilled corn on the cob or red beans and rice. What ever side you choose the chicken will be the star of the show and people will rave about it forever and if they don’t then simply unfriend them on Facebook……. that’ll show them who’s boss and if the boss does happen to show up for dinner then he will think you have been cooking for days.

So there you have it another “simple but tasty recipe for the grilling season and beyond”

Until next time………..

                                                   Bon Appetite

Entertaining and Tasty

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This recipe was originally posted about a year ago but since it’s a great one and it’s BBQ season again it bares repeating and it is easy and fun.

Now as I said this recipe for Beer Butt Chicken or if you have little ones around Beer Can Chicken is easy and fun but it is also very tasty and only requires a few ingredients and one of the main ones, as you can see from the photo, is a beer can chicken holder. This particular piece of equipment is vital because prior to its invention it was very tricky to try and balance a beer can stuffed chicken on a bbq grill without it toppling over and getting ruined. Since the arrival of the holder it’s a simple matter of stuff the can up the birds butt and put it on the grill oh and…. one of the great things about this recipe is it gives you an excuse to go purchase some beer but then again as a guy do I really ever need an excuse for beer? The other thing you can see from the photo is the tray on the bottom where you can put your veggies and grill them at the same time. The other thing that goes really well with this dish is Grilled Corn on the Cob ( see sides).

So here’s how we put the whole thing together.

Ingredients:

One Beer Can Chicken holder

One 4 to 5 pound chicken

Four to six un-husked ears of corn for grilling (see sides for grilled corn on the cob recipe)

One can of beer…… I prefer a Red. It just seems to add flavor

Your favorite chicken rub (see dry rubs and marinades)

Garlic, Rosemary and Thyme

Method:

Empty one third of the beer can, preferably into a glass for yourself

Put Garlic, Rosemary and Thyme in the beer can

Rub your favorite chicken rub on the bird making sure to really cover it (see rubs and marinades for my favorite)

Place the beer can in the holder and then place the chicken on the beer can

Put into a pre heated 350 degree BBQ and sit back and relax.

The chicken is done when the internal temperature hits 160 degrees Fahrenheit

 

People may laugh at you the very first time they see this being made but trust me once they taste how juicy and tender the chicken comes out they will never laugh again……. they will just hound you to keep making it.

So there you have it another “simple but tasty recipe for the grilling season and beyond”

Until next time……….

                                                Bon Appetite

Chicken A La King

Chicken A La King

When I think of classic Diner dishes I think of Meatloaf, Burgers, French Fries, Onion Rings and of course the oft ill thought of “Blue Plate Special” but there is another very simple recipe that has seen a bit of a resurgence lately and the one I am referring to is Chicken A L King.

The little bit of culinary history that I know about this dish is that it started as a way for restaurants to use up left over chicken and thus (did I really use the word THUS?) lower the wastage of food and to add more dollars to their bottom line. It doesn’t hurt that this dish is also easy to make and oh so good.

The other thing I like about this particular recipe is it is inexpensive to make. If you use generic ingredients, except for the chicken, then you can feed a family of four for around $20.00 and in today’s economy that’s not half bad. Oh and although this looks “prep heavy” it’s not really.

So here’s my take on a classic Diner dish……..

Ingredients:

–         Two medium sized boneless skinless chicken breasts or six boneless skinless chicken thighs – diced

–          One package extra broad egg noodles

–         One package frozen peas and carrots

–         2 Tins mushroom pieces

–         1 ½ cups Chicken stock

–         ¼ cup All Purpose flour

–         3 Tablespoons butter

–         1 Teaspoon granulated garlic or two chopped garlic cloves

–         1 Teaspoon White pepper

–         1 ½ Tablespoons Tarragon

–         Pinch of salt

–         3 Tablespoons Olive oil

–         ¼ Cup heavy cream (35% whipping cream)

 

Method:

–         Bring a large pot of water to a rolling simmer

–         In a large mixing bowl place the chicken and the herbs and spices and mix well

–         Add the oil to a large fry pan and add the chicken in batches removing with a slotted spoon when done

–         Add the butter and when melted whisk in the flour and make a blonde roux

–         Add in the Chicken stock and whisk until you get the consistency you like

–         Add the frozen peas and carrots and the mushrooms and simmer for approximately four minutes

–         Add the chicken and the heavy cream and bring to a boil

–         Cover and turn the heat down to low

–         Bring the pasta water to a boil, add the pasta and cook according to the package instructions

–         Drain the pasta, plate and top with the Chicken mixture

 

You can serve this dish with pasta, as I like to, or with rice and if you get really ambitious you can use fresh baked biscuits.

So there you have it another “simple but tasty recipe for the grilling season and beyond”

Until next time…….

Bon Appetit

Chicken Reuben

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Every once in a while I feel like doing something simple that is not too difficult but still tasty .

That something is the Sandwich and with a nod to the Sandwich King Jeff Mauro I like to “Make any meal into a sandwich, and any sandwich into a meal” and this particular sandwich does just that.

Ingredients:

–          1 Butterflied Chicken breast

–          2 Pieces of Swiss cheese

–          Russian salad dressing

–          Cole slaw

–          1 Butterflied chicken breast

–          Chicken dry rub (see Rubs and Marinades)

–          All purpose flour

–          2 Tablespoons Olive oil

Method:

–          Heat the oil in a non-stick frying pan

–          Season the chicken with the dry rub and dust with the All purpose flour

–          Cook the chicken in the olive oil until done. Approximately 10 minutes

–          Toast the bread and spread some Russian dressing on the bottom piece

–          Lay the Swiss cheese on top of the Russian dressing

–          Add the chicken

–          Top with Coleslaw and the other piece of Rye bread

There you have the Chicken Reuben and in case you’re wondering why I use Coleslaw—- simple I can’t stand Sauerkraut and this sandwich is so versatile that it can be served with pretty much any side you wish.

If you decide to try this recipe I hope you find it as “simple but tasty” as I do.

Bon Appetit

Beer butt chicken

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I just love this dish because it is so “simple and tasty”  but apparently not as wide known as I originally thought because when I mentioned it to relatives in England they wanted to have me committed since they had never heard of it and they thought I was insane.

Well nuts or not…… here goes.

Ingredients:

–          1 4kg Roaster chicken

–          1 Can of your favorite beer (less 25% for the chef)

–          2 Sprigs of Rosemary and Thyme

–          2 Peeled garlic cloves

–          Chicken dry rub (see rubs and marinades)

Method:

–          Drink 25% of the beer

–          Put the Rosemary, Thyme and Garlic in the beer can

–          Liberally “hit” the chicken with the dry rub making sure to get the rub into all the nooks and crannies.

–          Place the beer can into the chickens “butt”

–          Put the chicken et al on a baking sheet, this makes the bird easier to place on the grill, and put on a grill that has been pre heated to 350 degrees.

–          Leave the bird for 45 to 60 minutes or until the juices run clear or the bird hits 165 degrees internal temperature.

–          Serve with your favorite side.

 

Bon Appetit

Curried Chicken Burgers

Curried chicken burger

 

So I was at my doctors one day and she says to me “We should do some blood work since it has not been done in a while”.

“Okay says I” (why do I sound like Captain Jack Sparrow here?)

She calls me a short time later and says “You have Hemochromatosis and you can’t eat red meat”. “OOOOKKKAAAYYY……… what’s that?”  Well it seems it is a build up of Iron in major organs and as such I need to lay off the red meat if not cut it out entirely (yeah like thatps going to happen).

Well needless to say my heart stopped, my jaw dropped into my shoes and I envisioned my world at an end. NO RED MEAT? I’m a carnivore I eat red meat. Imagine a world without Beef burgers, rack of Lamb or Steak? What am I supposed to do I asked her?

Her answer was simple—- Adapt!!!

Well this recipe is my adaptation to not being able to eat red meat as often as I would like and I hope you like it as well. If you are not a lover of Curry or Garam Masala then simply leave it out and still create a killer burger.

Curried Chicken Burgers

–         2 Pounds lean ground chicken

–         2 Eggs

–         1/2 Cup bread crumbs

–         1 Teaspoon salt

–         1 Teaspoon ground pepper

–         2 Tablespoons Garum Masala

–         1 ½ Teaspoons granulated garlic

–         1 ½ Teaspoons granulated onion

–         Mix all ingredients in a large bowl being careful not to overwork the mixture

–         Form 6 ounce patties

–         Refrigerate for approx. one hour to allow the patties to set

–         BBQ and serve on a toasted bun with lettuce and tomato.

–         These go very well with a Chipotle mayo.

Bon Appetit