I have a great, local, organic bird. I usually roast or braise the whole bird, but with this one, I'd like to cut it up and do something different. What's your best suggestion?
pikawicca
Mar 22, 2008 06:04PM
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Funny epistemological question: usually a great bird brings to mind doing a whole roasted of some kind.
Cutting it up can take you anywhere: from stir-fried to steamed to fried to poached and shredded to curried to stewed to teriyalki to smoked to ... [infinite posibilities].
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Hi Sam,
The only reason I'm looking beyond roasted is that I've had many of these excellent birds over the last 12 months, and would like to try an excellent curry or other ethnic preparation that would showcase the goodness of the bird. Does anyone have a tea-smoked chicken recipe, or anything else that's somewhat different?
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Well as a departure from roasting and the Zuni Zombies, why don't you try hickory-smoked with a unique white barbeque sauce ala "big bob gibson" or grilled "honey-child" style?
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Wow, the latter sounds good. Where can one obtain hickory salt -- that sounds like a fabulous ingredient!
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A few of the widely available spice purveyors have a hickory salt, though it is getting a little harder to find in recent years.
Country Captain is another nice preparation with a subtle curry flavor that doesn't overwhelm the taste of the meat.
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i made this chicken adobe tonight and it was EXCELLENT - recipe from cendrillon in soho
http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/c...
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Stovetop smoked: black tea, uncooked rice, and brown suger at the bottom of a pot well sealed with aluminium foil (overlaps to fold over the lid). Chicken pieces on a rack in the pot. Heart on high till a wift of smoke escapes, then on low low for quite a while.
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This sounds good, and as I have a stove-top smoker, really easy, as well.
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pikawicca...if you have a smoker, you can smoke your own sea salt. We do it all the time. I have a jar of hickory, apple wood and cherry wood. Just put the salt in a layer, not a heaping pile. Stir around once in awhile. Good stuff.
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Great tip, Tom P. Thanks!
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Made this last night, and it was delicious: more subtle smoke than when using wood chips. Kind of mysterious and intriguing (as in "Hmm, what's in this?").
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Exactly! You made my (vicarious) day!
Fish fillets are really good this way--you can let them go for a long time to get a deeper stove top smoke.
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I'm going to try a side of wild salmon this summer. I imagine that it will be wonderful.
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My three favorite ways to cook chicken:
Roasted, of course:
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/409738
Chicken Mirabella from Silver Palate (I double the marinade):
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Prune-an...
and the recipe below. It is not ethnic, but it is simple and extremely tasty. It is also versatile; you can use a variety of spices and liquids to change the flavor as you like (I often add cracked mustard to this recipe, for instance, and a lot of thyme). I also love it with thighs, or any part of the chicken, not just breasts.
Pan-Roasted Chicken Breasts with Sage-Vermouth Sauce
Chicken
1 cup kosher salt (or 1/2 cup table salt
)2 whole bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts about 1 1/2 pounds each, prepared according to illustration
Ground black pepper
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
Sage-Vermouth Sauce
1 large shallot , minced
3/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup dry vermouth
4 fresh sage leaves , each leaf torn in half
3 tablespoons unsalted butter , cut into 3 pieces
Table salt and ground black pepper
1. Dissolve salt in 2 quarts cold tap water in large container or bowl; submerge chicken in brine and refrigerate until fully seasoned, about 30 minutes. Rinse chicken pieces under running water and pat dry with paper towels. Season chicken with pepper.
2. Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 450 degrees.
3. Heat oil in heavy-bottomed 12-inch ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat until beginning to smoke; swirl skillet to coat with oil. Brown chicken skin-side down until deep golden, about 5 minutes; turn chicken pieces and brown until golden on second side, about 3 minutes longer. Turn chicken skin-side down and place skillet in oven. Roast until juices run clear when chicken is cut with paring knife, or thickest part of breast registers 160 degrees on instant-read thermometer, 15 to 18 minutes. Transfer chicken to platter, and let rest while making sauce. (If not making sauce, let chicken rest 5 minutes before serving.)
4. Using potholder to protect hands from hot skillet handle, pour off most of fat from skillet; add shallot, then set skillet over medium-high heat and cook, stirring frequently, until shallot is softened, about 1 1/2 minutes. Add chicken broth, vermouth, and sage; increase heat to high and simmer rapidly, scraping skillet bottom with wooden spoon to loosen browned bits, until slightly thickened and reduced to about 3/4 cup, about 5 minutes. Pour accumulated chicken juices into skillet, reduce heat to medium, and whisk in butter 1 piece at a time; season to taste with salt and pepper and discard sage. Spoon sauce around chicken breasts and serve immediately.
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