Interpretation Needed for Plum Chicken Sculpture

We saw this "sculpture" in a Vietnamese/Chinese restaurant the other day and quickly decided that we were unable to interpret it.

The saying underneath, "Plum Chicken ... More Than a State of Mind" is probably simple enough: The Plum Chicken on the menu is so wonderful that it will take your taste buds and your brain to places they've never been. Or something along those lines.

But then the sculpture above the words left us wondering. A flying rubber chicken tied with string to the finger of a hand — all encased in a wire screen dome.

Hmmmmmm?

If any of you can offer an explanation, please add a comment.

Easy Peasy Roast Chicken

Guest Blogger Amy Friedman shares her recipe for a classic comfort dish:

Every recipe book says roast chicken is THE easiest thing to cook. However, according to my friend Ruth, the lovely lady who helps run this fab blog, roast chicken is actually surprisingly tough to do well. For everyone, the tough parts are different: is it having moist meat? Tasty meat? Crispy skin? Hating basting? Could even be as simple as just takes too much darn time and attention. 

After several years of experimenting with various techniques, I finally hit on a surefire way to get a lovely moist roast bird with an absolute minimum of fuss and bother. Warning: If you're a huge fan of crispy skin, skip this recipe, as there won't be a lot - just some over the breast and around the legs.

The most important piece of equipment you'll need is a three-quart Dutch oven with a lid. 

Easy Peasy Roast Chicken


1. Buy a 3 1/2 -pound chicken. Unwrap, take out the giblets, and rinse. 

2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

3. Put the chicken, breast side up, in the Dutch oven. If you want, you can dice an onion or two and sprinkle on the bottom. Sometimes I do, sometimes no. Put the neck (if it came with the giblets) next to the chicken.

4. Sprinkle the chicken inside and out with your favorite mix of spices. I like black, red, and white pepper, garlic powder, oregano and dill. 

5: This is important: Take a largeish whole onion, slice off the top and bottom, skin it, and put it inside the chicken. This will keep the chicken from drying out. If you don't have an onion, an apple works fine. The onion's better, because you can eat it after the chicken has roasted.

6. Once the oven has heated, put the lid on the Dutch oven and stick the whole thing in the oven. 

Timing: 20 minutes per pound, plus an extra 20 to 30 minutes. If you've got a three-pound chicken, the bird will be in the oven for about 1 1/2 hours. 

For crispier skin, it's okay to remove the lid for the last half hour or so. However, I've found I get enough crispy skin for a happy husband without lifting the lid.

Once the timer bings (always use a timer!), turn off the oven, let the chicken sit in the oven for about ten minutes, then take it out. Uncover the chicken, let it rest for about 15 minutes, then remove it from the pot. 

Every time I've used this method, I've gotten very tender, moist, falling-off-the-bone chicken with nicely spiced, crispy top skin. If the chicken's fatty, I also get a lot of nice drippings, which I save and reuse.

The last chicken I cooked this way must have been an athlete, because there weren't a lot of drippings! What there was, however, was densely flavorful, so I used it to cook the snow peas I was serving with the bird.

The cool thing about this method is that you can break up the cooking time. For larger chickens, I've started it the night before, on very low heat (250 degrees), turned it off in the morning, and then restarted it at 4 p.m., turning the oven up to 375. (I leave the chicken in the oven during the day; the Dutch oven retains a lot of heat, which keeps the cooking process going almost like a barbecue.) 

Moist meat, crispy skin, no basting, no fuss. Pop it in, do your laundry or take a nap, and awaken to a great dinner. What could be easier?

Sage-and-Walnut Pesto—Great in the Summertime

As we've noted, although sage flourishes in the summer, it tends to be used in autumn and winter recipes, and often in its dried state. But it's a shame to limit this velvety, pungent herb to the cold weather months.

You can use this sage-and-walnut pesto to coat pork and chicken before grilling. You can also add it to hot pasta for an easy vegetarian dinner, or mix it with cubed potatoes before roasting them, for an interesting side dish. Play with the balance of ingredients until you find a mix you like. These are the proportions that work well for us:

Sage and Walnut Pesto

2 cloves garlic
1 cup sage leaves
1/2 cup walnuts
1/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a food processor or blender.

Chimichurri: Fun to Say, Even More Fun to Taste

For us, grilling season never ends. We fire up the grill in snowstorms, thunderstorms, and even pitch blackness, armed with our trusty snake light. As far as we're concerned, almost everything tastes good on the grill, from pizza to freshly shucked corn. But sometimes grilled fish and meat get a little monotonous. That's where chimichurri sauce comes in.

This Argentinean green sauce peps up fish, chicken, pork, beef, and, yes, tofu. Here's Ro Ann Redlin's recipe, which she says she may copyright, it's so good.

Chimichurri Sauce:

1 bunch parsley
1 small white onion
2 T. capers
2 cloves garlic
1 cup olive oil
1/4 cup white vinegar
1 T. lemon juice
1 T smoked Spanish paprika
1 t. dried oregano


Combine all ingredients in food processor, and process. Store overnight. 

Ro Ann's Chicken Enchiladas

Given our unavoidable vegetarian bias, we realize that Eat Well, Eat Cheap has been more than a bit scanty on meat recipes. We've tried to rectify this by reaching out to the good cooks we know and asking them to contribute.


The first person we reached out to was Ro Ann Redlin. Originally from the Midwest, now living in the Deep South, Ro Ann is an excellent cook with a knack for making simple ingredients taste fancy. Maybe one day we'll post her recipe for chicken liver paté, which we've been making for upward of 25 years. We'll work to get her permission on that. In the meantime, here's her recipe for chicken enchiladas. 


Chicken Enchiladas


3 cups of cooked, roasted chicken, shredded 
1/2 cup sour cream
1 small can green chilis
1/2 cup salsa (regular strength)
shredded cheddar cheese
1 can enchilada sauce (mild, medium, or hot)
1 package of flour tortillas, small or large


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine first four ingredients.
3.  Place 1/3 cup of the chicken mixture in the middle of a tortilla, and top with shredded cheese. Roll up and place side by side in baking dish. 
4. Cover with enchilada sauce. Bake for one hour til bubbling. 
5. Before serving, top with fresh chopped tomato, lettuce, and onion.


Tomorrow we'll post Ro Ann's recipe for chimichurri sauce.

Six Recipes that Satisfy Both Meat-Eaters and Vegetarians

The current issue of Fine Cooking magazine takes on the always-challenging subject of how to feed a group that includes both carnivores and vegetarians. The editors came up with six easy-to-customize recipes that feed everyone without exhausting the cook. Author Ivy Manning says,

My strategy is simple: Prepare a vegetarian main dish that’s delicious on its own, set some aside for the non-meat-eater, and then add meat or seafood to the rest of the meal. Dinner’s on the table fast, and everyone gets to enjoy the same supper without your having to do double duty in the kitchen.

We can attest to the deliciousness of the recipes—last weekend we had both the chicken and tofu versions of Manning's Thai Red Curry with Chicken and Vegetables, and loved them equally.

Thanks, Fine Cooking, for recognizing the large number of us who cook for "mixed" groups!

Salsa Casserole

Any family that eats meat invariably has leftover chicken, pork or beef after a big meaty meal. The meat can be used to make sandwiches, but that doesn't stretch it as far as, say, a casserole that could healthily feed more with the addition of some vegetable add-ins.

We came across this idea when Tim had to help feed a large family contingent at the annual Reunion of Three Dozen. This year, because a memorial service for a beloved uncle was tacked on, it was more like Four Dozen.

The dish started out as turkey chili, but for ease of serving morphed into a chicken casserole, which has now morphed again into Any-Leftover-Meat-and-Salsa Casserole.

Pre-heat the overn to 350. Coarsely chop two cups of leftover chicken, pork or beef. Add 2 tablespoons of onion or shallot and a half cup of chopped celery (optional). Add one 15 oz. can of black or great northern beans, a 15 oz. can of diced tomatoes (with juice), 8 oz. of grated cheddar cheese, 8 oz. of any bottled salsa, 1 teaspoon of ground cumin, 1/2 teaspoon of ground coriander, 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of chili powder, 2 tablespoons of chopped cilantro, and salt and pepper to taste.

(You can add just about anything to this: chopped roasted red peppers, frozen corn, and leeks instead of the onions. You can also saute the onions, leeks, shallots and celery to add some depth. We added just a bit of smoked gouda for additional complexity.)

Mix it all together in a casserole dish and put in the oven for 30 minutes uncovered. This is a quick meal in one pot that takes advantage of leftover meat plus food you probably already have in your pantry.

Guest Recipe: Too-Tired-to-Cook Curry

Jeanetta Miller submitted this recipe in the comments, but we think it merits its own post. As the name indicates, it’s a recipe that comes in handy when Jeanetta and her husband are too worn out to try anything fancy and just want a reliable dish that they know will make them happy.

Recipe

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs
2 T. olive oil

14-ounce can diced tomatoes, with juice
3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
½ t. ground ginger
2 t. garam masala*
½ t. chili powder

½ cup plain yogurt
handful of chopped cilantro

1. Cut the chicken thighs into bite-size pieces and brown them in the oil, using an oven-proof pan with a lid.

2.  Heat the oven to 375 degrees.

3.  While the chicken browns, blend the tomatoes, garlic, ginger, garam masala, and chili powder in a blender or food processor.

4.  Add the sauce to the chicken in the pan, bring it to a boil, cover, and bake in the oven for half an hour.

5.  Remove the lid from the pan, and let the chicken cool for a few minutes. Stir in the yogurt and cilantro.

Jeanetta suggests serving this dish on brown rice cooked with a tablespoon of wild rice: “It makes a huge difference in the texture and taste of the rice.” This is a great suggestion for stretching wild rice, which is as expensive as it is delicious.

* Garam masala, an all-purpose Indian spice mix, can be found in the ethnic section of some supermarkets or online. If you’re lucky enough to have an Indian market in your area, go there, and not just for garam masala—these stores have the freshest, cheapest spices for all kinds of dishes.

Adobo Cream Sauce for Fish, Tofu, Game, or Anything You Like

In February we spent a week in Mexico, determined to relax, soak up the warm shade, swim, read, and eat cheap. One evening we had dinner at a little fish house near our hotel, and Tim ordered snapper that arrived covered with a lightly creamy adobo sauce (adobo is one of our favorite ingredients) and wrapped up in tinfoil. It was subtle and delicious, and we knew that we could duplicate it at home. After two tries, we think we’ve nailed it:

Recipe

1 large shallot (⅓ cup) chopped/minced
1 T olive oil

1 cup white wine
2 cups veggie broth

⅓ cup liquid from canned tomatoes or 1 t. tomato paste (optional)

1–3 T. adobo sauce from canned chipotle peppers
1 t. Braggs Liquid Aminos (optional)
⅓–⅔ cup light cream (heated but not boiled)
1 egg, beaten
½ cup fine cornmeal
cilantro, chopped coarsely

1. Brown shallots in large skillet in olive oil over medium to medium-high heat.

2. Add wine, stock, and tomato liquid, and reduce by half. Add liquid aminos.

3. Add 3 to 5 tablespoons of the warm sauce to the cream to temper it.
Add cream to sauce and stir.

4. Drag protein (fish, tofu, meat) through beaten egg, then cover with fine cornmeal.
Brown protein in skillet over med-high heat but don't cook through.

5. Place protein in casserole dish and cover with adobo sauce.

6. Bake in oven at 350° for 30 minutes.

Serve over rice with side vegetable or black beans (sprinkled with cilantro), and with red or white wine.

We've made the dish with tofu and pheasant, sautéing the slices separately before covering them with sauce and baking the casserole in the oven.* This sauce is great for cooking any non-fatty meats, such as rabbit, that require a cooking liquid. Rice makes a wonderfully absorbent accompaniment.

* A lot of vegetarians don’t like their food hanging out with animal protein, but Ruth figures that if she can kiss Tim’s meat-eating mouth, her tofu can touch his pheasant. If you prefer, though, it’s easy to put together separate casseroles.

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