The Fumbling Foodie

Chicken Rigatoni in a Parmesan Cream Sauce

 This post is part of the Two Chickens Project that I am working on. The objective is to provide the main course for two people for one week using just two chickens.

This is a nice upscale alternative to the Mac 'N Cheese in the blue and white box and is just as fast to make.

4 oz shredded chicken
1 cup rigatoni pasta
2 Tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons flour
1 cup cream
1 cup grated parmigiano reggiano

Add the pasta and a little salt to 4 cups boiling water. When the pasta is just al dente remove it from the water and drain. Save 1/4 cup of the pasta water.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan.  Add the flour and whisk vigorously, cooking for about 2 minutes. Add the cream.  Whisk until the cream starts to thicken.  Take the pan off the heat and add the cheese.  Whisk until well-blended.

Put the pasta into a bowl with the leftover pasta water and stir for a few seconds until the water is absorbed.  Add the cheese/cream sauce and chicken. Stir until well blended.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Believe it or not, I recently paid fifteen bucks for a dish of this in a local Italian restaurant (way overpriced, I know.).  There is so much more you can do with this.  You could all some broccoli florets or asparagus tips and a few sun-dried tomatoes.  Or you could cut up a couple slices of bacon, saute them and add them.

The Two Chickens Project

 I've had this idea running around in my head for a while and it's time to do something with it.

Preparing the main course for two adults for one week using two whole chickens.

And not saying "OMG not chicken again please" by the end of the week.

The idea is to:

Roast two chickens on Day 1

Serve the two breasts from one chicken on Day 1.

FIgure out interesting ways to use the remainder.  For one thing, two chicken carcasses will make excellent stock, and from that stock can come a lot of interesting things.. (I wonder if I can get Chef Waldemar to share his recipe for Tomato-Bssil soup)

And of course, each dish needs to be interesting and flavorful. 

Tonight I started by roasting two chickens using my favorite recipe. I brined the chickens for about 4 hours using a brine consisting of (per chicken):

• 2 Qt water
• 1/2 cup salt
• 1/2 cup sugar

Then just before putting the chickens in the oven I basted them with a baste comprised of:

• 6 Tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
• 4 Teaspoons brown sugar.

Of all the recipes for roast chicken I've tried, this one is the best.  It's tough to do something that gives the breast meat flavor but this one does.

Where this will take me from here, I don't know.  One thing I do know: my photography skills need to get a lot better.

Grilled Cornish Game Hen

Have you seen the LaBrea Tar Pits? I have - right there in the reduction sauce pan.  I wanted to make a basting sauce by reducing some teriyaki sauce but it got away from me.  I turned my back on it for a few moments and when I returned I had this evil-looking black bubbling substance.  I expected a dinosaur carcass to come roiling to the surface at any moment.

Fortunately, I had some teriyaki sauce left, so I just basted the birds with it as is.

I used a pair of shears to cut the backbone out of the bird and then flattened it and grilled it until the meat started falling off the bone.

Next time, I'l be more attentive of the teriyaki reduction ;-)

Chicken Kabobs

Spare time is not something I seem to have much of these days, so this is something I kinda just threw together. 3 Boneless sknless chicken breasts, cut into chunks 1 bottle Stonewall Kitchen Garlic Rosemary Citrus Sauce 1 package Knorr Fiesta Sides Spanish Rice 1 Zucchini, cubed 1 pint cherry tomatoes Soak four bamboo kabobs in water for 30 minutes. Slide the chicken hunks onto the kabobs, put them on a plate, and dump the entire bottle of Garlic Rosemary Citrus Sauce over them. Let them sit for about 30 minutes. Cut each tomato in half. When the kababs have marinated, light the grill on medium heat. Put two cups of water, the contents of the Spanish rice pachange, and the zucchini in a saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil. Follow the directions on the package. Put the kabobs on the grill, turning them once. When the rice is done, remove from the heat and add the tomatoes. Spoon some of the rice mixture onto each plate and place a kabob on top.

Chicken Veneziana

One of the biggest challenges for a home cook is to turn a chicken breast into something tasty. By itself, a chicken breast is pretty bland. I am continually on a quest to find recipes that make a lowly chicken breast into something I look forward to eating.

Irina, the young lady who gave me Patsy's Cookbook says that this is one of her favorite recipes from it.

Of course, as you look at the photo you may wonder, "Where's the chicken?". My wife loves sauteed onions, so I doubled up on the onions and the pan sauce. The whole family gave this a two-thumps-up.

Chicken Veneziana

8 oz button mushrooms, sliced
4 chicken breast halves
1/2 cup flour
1 yellow onion
1 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons chopped itialian parsley
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
3/4 teaspoon cornstarch
1/2 cup olive oil

Pound the chicken breasts flat (about 1/2 inch thick). Blanch the mushrooms for 2 minutes and set them aside. Heat the olive oil in a sauté pan over medium-high heat and saute the chicken until lightly browned on both sides. Don't try to cook the chicken all the way through, just brown it. Then remove it from the pan and set it aside.

Add the onions to the pan and saute until just browned. Return the chicken to the pan. Add the mushrooms. vinegar, chicken broth, and butter. Bring the liquid to a boil and then reduce the heat to low. Cover and simmer for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally until the chicken has cooked through. Stir in the parsley and basil and let cook for another minute or so. Remove the chicken from the pan.

Combine the cornstarch with 1/4 cup water, mix well, and whisk into the pan sauce. Let the sauce thinken just a bit then pour it over the chicken.

Salt and pepper the chicken then dredge them in the flour. Heat

Elise's Chicken and Molly's Corn

If you haven't been here for a while, let me fill you in: My Sweet Lady Wife and I are 'between houses'. The old house has been sold. We close on the new house December 5 (16 and a wake up). Meanwhle, we are living in this little two bedrom apartment. The aparment is nice, as apartments go - it is clean, quiet, and safe. For a Foodie, however, the kitchen leaves a lot to be desired: there is about two square feet of counter space. Two of the stove's four burners actually work well enough to almost boil water.

As a result, dinners must be simple. (And add to this the fact that I have a cold this week). A couple of weeks ago, Elise posted a scrumptious chicken recipe and Molly wrote about her Brown Buttered Corn. I had a menu.

I don't believe I have ever had a simple corn dish that tasted as good as Molly's Brown Buttered Corn. The thyme really gave the butter some flaver and it transfers to the corn wonderfully. My Sweet Lady Wife - who is a Wisconsin farm girl and a corn connoisseur - loved it. Definitely a keeper.

I modified Elise's chicken recipe to be more 'saucy' (A little more vermouth and cream in the pan sauce). I also used applewood-smoked bacon instead of the pancetta. It was excellent. I think it's really difficult to turn a naked chicken breast into something really tasty but this certainly was.

Chicken Legs with Raspberry Vinaigrette

Chicken Drumsticks: What could be more pedestrian? Not now. Not after French Chef Bernard Chirent demonstrated this recipe the other night during a cooking class at my favorite Gourmet Kitchen Toos Store in Glendale. This recipe turns the ordinary drumstick into food for the gods.

Chicken Legs with Raspberry Vinaigrette

Chicken Legs
Raspberry vinegar
Veal stock (demi glace)
White pearl onions
butter
olive oil

Blanch the onions for 2 minutes, remove from the water and let cool. You can then peel them easily and remove the root.

Cut the 'foot' end off each drumstick. Sear the drumsticks in butter and oil until nicely browned. Remove from the pan and set aside, covering with foil.

Pour off most of the fat and deglaze with raspberry vinegar. Reduce by 1/4 and add veal stock to taste. You should be able to taste the raspberry.

Put the drumsticks back in the pan, add the onions, cover, reduce the heat to medium, and let cook slowly for 30 minutes.

My Best Roast Chicken Ever

This was without a doubt my best roast chicken ever.

I recently acquired a copy of 150 Things to Make with Roast Chicken and 50 Ways to Roast It by Tony Rosenfeld. It is chocked full of great ways to roast a chicken. Tony recommends roast TWO chickens (which I did), eating one for dinner and then using the second in one of the 150 ways.

To start with, I brined the chickens. I have never done this before but after tonight it has become an essential step. While Tony provides several interesting brines (like Orange-Rosemary Brine), I used just the simple basic brine:

Basic Brine for 2 Chickens
1 Cup Kosher Salt
1 Cup Sugar
1 Gallon Water

Dissolve the salt and sugar in the water. Completely submerge the chickens in the brine. Refirgerate for 4-12 hours.

I found these 1.1 gallon Rubbermaid containers at the supermarket and they are perfect for a 3.5 - 4 pound chicken. I must admit that these containers, full of brine and a chicken reminded me of something I might see in a laboratory somewhere ;-)

6 Tablespoons Dijon Mustard
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
4 teaspoons brown sugar

Mix the ingredients thoroughly. Brush the mixture all over the chicken, giving it a nice coat. Don't be sparing, you've got plenty. Preheat the oven to 450F.

Now here s where Tony and I part ways. I got religion on the subject of 'breast-side-up' vs 'breast side-down' from Pam Anderson's March 2006 article in Fine Cooking. I roast breast-side-down for 30 minutes. Place the chicken on a V-Rack in a roasting pan breast-side-down. Pour a cup of water in the bottom of the roasting pan and put it in the oven. Check now and then to make sure the bottom of the roasting pan has not gone dry. If so, add a little more water.

After 30 minutes, briefly pull the roasting pan out of the oven and flip the bird over. Brush some more of the mustard mixture on the chicken. Return it to the oven for another 20 minutes or so, until the temperature of the thigh meat reaches 175F.

Remove from the oven, let it rest for 20 minutes, carve, and serve.

This was absolutely the most flavorful chicken I have ever made.

Penne Rustica

Today was a special day. Not only was it Father's Day for my 84-year old Dad, but we also celebrated my Mother's 79th Birthday. And with my house finally on the market, I had time to prepare a proper meal.

I admit to putting in some extra effort on these occassions and the reason is simple: At my parents' age, any one of these celebrations might be the last time I get to prepare a meal for them.

The recipe for Penne Rustica is this one from Recipezaar so I won't repeat the whole thing here. Rather than bacon, I substituted proscuitto from the neighborhood italian deli. The proscuitto is nice and fresh and I can get it sliced thicker. (The vacuum-bagged stuff you find in the supermarket is sliced far too thin for frying.) I also put in extra proscuitto, shrimp, and cheese. The next time I make this though I am also going to cut back on the butter. Six ounces of butter is about twice what is needed.

It turned out pretty good, rivalling the Penne Rustica from Macaroni Grill. Definitely a keeper.

Chicken, Broccoli, and Pasta Salad

Last Sunday I was running around like a maniac working on the house. I barely had time to eat, let alone figure out what to make and then prepare it. Driving home from yet another trip to the hardware store, this dish occured to me. After grabbing some penne pasta and a couple of boneless, skinless chicken breasts from the supermarket, I was able to make this in about 30 minutes.

I have begun to really like grilling the chicken for these sort of dishes. In the summer time it gets some of the heat out of the kitchen (yes, it is summer here in Arizona. The temperature is not too bad yet: the high today is expected to be only 100F.)

Chicken Broccoli, and Pasta Salad

2 bonless skinless chicken breasts
1 lb broccoli crowns
1 lb penne pasta
1/4 cup jullienned oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes
2 cups grated parmigiano reggiano
4 scallions
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar

Grill the chicken breasts. Let them cool a little and then slice then into 1/4-inch thick slices. Cut the long slices in half. Trim the broccoli crowns into 1-inch florets. Discard the stems. Bring 4 quarts of salted water to a boil. Blanch the broccoli for 2-3 minutes until tender but still crunchy. Remove the broccoli with a slotted spoon and place in a bowl of cold water to stop the cooking.

Reusing the same water, boil the pasta until al dente. While the pasta is cooking mix the oil and vinegar together in a small bowl. Slice the scallions crosswise into 1/8 inch thick discs.

When the pasta is done, remove fromm the water, drain, and rinse. Place the pasta in a large bowl. Add the chicken, tomatoes, broccoli, cheese, and scallions. Toss. Add the dressing and toss again. Serve warm.