365 More Ways to Cook Chicken (365 ways) (39 page)

1.
In a large frying pan, cook chicken in 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high heat, turning once or twice, until browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from pan.

2.
Add onions to drippings in pan, reduce heat to medium, and cook, stirring, until golden, 3 minutes. Add mushrooms and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, 3 minutes. Add broth, tomatoes, marjoram, thyme, and bay leaf. Return chicken to pan. Cover and simmer until chicken is tender with no trace of pink near bone, 20 to 25 minutes. Add olives and simmer 5 minutes longer. Remove and discard bay leaf.

3.
Meanwhile, in a large pot of boiling salted water, cook orzo until tender but still firm, about 5 minutes. Drain in a sieve. Toss orzo with remaining 1 tablespoon oil and mint.

4.
Serve chicken, mushrooms, and sauce spooned over orzo.

Prep: 15 minutes Cook: 12 to 15 minutes Serves: 6

This is one of those “little nothings” that you can whip up in a few minutes to make a very big impression on last-minute guests. Add a basket of breadsticks and a dessert of ripe peaches or pears with some crunchy biscotti, and you have a great supper.

• 1 pound rotelle or other corkscrew pasta
  

• 6 slices of bacon
  

• ¾ pound chicken breast fillets (tenders)
  

• 3 garlic cloves, crushed through a press
  

• ½
  cup dry white wine
  

• 2 (14
  ½
  -ounce) cans pasta-ready tomatoes
  

• 6 cups shredded arugula (2 to 3 bunches)
  

• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  

• ¾ teaspoon coarsely ground pepper
  

1.
In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta until tender but still firm, 10 to 12 minutes. Drain in a colander.

2.
Meanwhile, in a large frying pan, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp, about 5 minutes. Drain on paper towels. Add chicken to drippings in pan and cook over medium heat, turning once, until golden and white throughout, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove chicken and cut into thin strips.

3.
Add garlic and cook, stirring, until softened, 1 to 2 minutes. Add wine and tomatoes and bring to a boil. Boil 3 minutes to reduce slightly. Stir in arugula.

4.
Toss pasta with sauce and chicken. Add cheese and pepper and toss again.

Prep: 5 minutes Cook: 12 minutes Serves: 4

Extra garlic and parsley enliven this ultra-quick pasta dish.

• 1 pound ziti or other tubular pasta
  

• ¾ pound thinly sliced chicken breast cutlets
  

• ¼ teaspoon salt
  

• ⅛ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
  

• 2 tablespoons olive oil, preferably extra-virgin
  

• 4 garlic cloves, minced
  

• 2
  (14
  ½
  -ounce) cans diced tomatoes, with their juices
  

• ½
  cup dry white wine
  

• 1/3 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
  

1.
Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm, about 12 minutes. Drain in a colander.

2. Meanwhile, cut chicken into thin strips and season with salt and pepper. In a large frying pan, heat olive oil over high heat. Add chicken and cook, stirring often, until golden, about 1 minute. Add garlic, reduce heat to medium, and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Stir in tomatoes and wine. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium and cook 5 minutes.

3.
Toss cooked pasta with sauce. Add parsley, toss again, and serve.

Prep: 15 minutes Cook: 14 to 16 minutes Serves: 6

Be sure the chicken livers are patted dry before cooking so that they will brown nicely.

• ¼ cup olive oil, preferably extra-virgin
  

• 1 large onion, very thinly sliced
  

• 1 pound chicken livers, rinsed, patted dry, and coarsely diced
  

• 1 teaspoon dried sage
  

• 1 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper
  

• ¾ teaspoon salt
  

• ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
  

• 1 cup chicken broth
  

• ½
  cup dry marsala wine
  

• 1 pound fusilli
  

• ¼ cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
  

1.
In a large frying pan, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add onion and cook over medium heat, stirring often, until soft and golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to remove onions from pan.

2.
Season chicken livers with sage, pepper, salt, and allspice. Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in hying pan. Add livers to pan and cook over medium-high heat, stirring, until lightly browned but still rosy in center, about 3 minutes. Return onion to pan and add broth and marsala. Simmer, stirring, until livers are barely pink in center and sauce is slightly reduced, about 3 minutes.

3.
Meanwhile, in a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta until tender but still firm, about 8 minutes. Drain in a colander.

4.
In a large serving bowl, toss pasta with chicken liver sauce. Add parsley, toss again, and serve at once.

Grilling chicken on the backyard barbecue is a truly American summer pastime. The trend started in earnest just after World War II, but it is really in the last decade or so that grilling out has become a real craze. Gas grills and versatile covered charcoal grills now come in a wide range of sizes and prices, and electric grills even make it possible for city apartment dwellers to barbecue on the back stoop.

Grilling and oven-broiling involve the same cooking techniques: relatively intense direct heat from under or over the food. In grilling, the fire can be controlled by adjustment of the coals or gas jets, or by moving the grill rack, while broiling heat can be changed by lowering or raising the oven rack. Recipes for grilling and broiling are usually interchangeable, though cooking times may vary somewhat. Because of grilling’s popularity, recipe instructions in this chapter are given for the grill; if broiling, watch the food carefully to prevent burning and adjust the cooking time as needed.

Though not specifically noted in these recipes, soaked wood chips or other enhancers can be used to add even more flavor to foods grilled out of doors. Follow instructions in your grill manual.

Since grilling is a rather imprecise cooking method, be sure to test the chicken for doneness—the meat should no longer be pink and juices should run clear when pricked with a knife tip.

Prep: 10 minutes Cook: 35 to 45 minutes Serves: 4

In the Carolinas, barbecue sauce contains no tomato. The preference there is for a tangy acidic liquid that is brushed or “mopped” onto the chicken while it cooks.

• ½
  cup ginger ale
  

• ¼ cup white wine vinegar
  

• 1½
  tablespoons white wine Worcestershire sauce
  

• 1 tablespoon honey
  

• 2 garlic cloves, crushed through a press
  

• ½
  teaspoon salt
  

• ¼ teaspoon crushed hot red pepper
  

• 1 (3-pound) chicken, cut into 8 pieces
  

1.
Prepare a medium-hot fire in a barbecue grill. In a small bowl, stir together ginger ale, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, honey, garlic, salt, and hot pepper.

2.
Grill chicken, skin side down, 10 minutes. Turn and grill 5 minutes longer. Brush with some of sauce and continue to grill, turning occasionally and brushing with more sauce, until chicken juices run clear when pricked with a knife tip, 20 to 30 minutes longer. (White meat will take less time than dark meat.) Stop basting about 5 minutes before chicken is done.

Prep: 10 minutes Cook: 45 to 50 minutes Serves: 4

Many commercial barbecue sauces are based on recipes developed and marketed in Kansas City, a place aficionados consider one of a few stars in the barbecue crown. This sauce is a simple upgrade of a good commercial sauce.

• 1
  ½
  cups thick hickory smoke-flavored barbecue sauce (12-ounce bottle)
  

• 1 cup beer or ale
  

• 1 teaspoon Tabasco or other hot pepper sauce
  

• 2 (2
  ½
  -pound) broiler/fryer chickens, halved
  

1.
Prepare a medium-hot fire in a barbecue grill. In a small nonreactive saucepan, bring barbecue sauce and beer to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 5 minutes. Stir in Tabasco.

2.
Meanwhile, grill chicken, skin side down, 10 minutes. Turn and grill 10 minutes longer. Brush with some of sauce and continue to grill, turning occasionally and brushing with sauce until chicken juices run clear when pricked with a knife tip, 25 to 30 minutes longer. Stop basting about 5 minutes before chicken is done.

Prep: 10 minutes Stand: 1 hour Cook: 20 minutes Serves: 6

• ⅓ cup dry red wine
  

• ¼ cup olive oil
  

• 4 garlic cloves, chopped
  

• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
  

• ½
  teaspoon salt
  

• ¼ teaspoon crushed hot red pepper
  

• 1
  ½
  pounds skinless, boneless chicken thighs
  

1.
In a shallow 2-quart dish, combine wine, olive oil, garlic, oregano, salt, and hot pepper. Use your hands to flatten chicken to an even thickness and add to marinade; turn to coat both sides. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to 6 hours.

2.
Prepare a medium-hot fire in a barbecue grill. Remove chicken from marinade; reserve marinade. Grill chicken, turning once or twice and brushing often with marinade, until no longer pink but still juicy, about 20 minutes. Stop basting about 5 minutes before chicken is done.

Prep: 10 minutes Cook: 1 hour to 1 hour 20 minutes Stand: 10 minutes Serves: 4

If you have a rotisserie, cook the chicken on it. Otherwise, the covered grill-smoked method described below will do quite nicely. Do not attempt this in an oven broiler.

• 2 lemons
  

• 1 (3-pound) whole chicken, giblets removed
  

• ¼ cup chopped fresh herbs such as thyme, basil, rosemary, and/or chives
  

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
  

• ¾ teaspoon salt
  

• ½
  teaspoon freshly ground pepper
  

1.
Prepare a medium fire in a covered grill; push hot coals to one side. Or preheat a gas grill for an indirect fire. Cut 1 lemon in quarters and stuff into chicken cavity. Use your fingers to loosen skin of chicken breast and thighs from meat. Carefully insert herbs under skin, taking care not to break skin. Rub skin with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Do not truss chicken.

2.
Set chicken, breast side down, on grill rack away from coals. Lower hood and grill 20 minutes. Carefully turn breast side up and continue to grill, covered, until thigh juices run clear when pricked with tip of a knife, 40 to 60 minutes longer. (An instant-reading thermometer should register 180°F.) Squeeze juice from remaining lemon and mix with remaining oil to brush over chicken during last 15 minutes of cooking.

3.
Let chicken stand 10 minutes before carving.

Prep: 30 minutes Cook: 35 to 45 minutes Serves: 4

The key to avoiding burned barbecue chicken is to wait until the chicken is about half done before brushing it with the sauce.

• 1 small onion, finely chopped
  

• 1 cup chili sauce
  

• ½ cup ketchup
  

• 3 tablespoons molasses
  

• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
  

• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
  

• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
  

• 1 teaspoon Tabasco or other hot pepper sauce
  

• 3 pounds chicken parts (breasts, thighs, and/or drumsticks)