Housemade Barbecue Chicken

When there is a sunny day in the middle of gloom most people in San Francisco freak out, drink a bunch and have BBQs....well cheers to that! Although the weather doesn't last long I can still eat the hot weather food that I love...Here is my Barbecued chicken recipe-

The Sauce!

2 T. EVOO

2 Cloves Garlic grated

1/4 C. Molasses

1 C. Sugar free ketchup or tomato sauce

1/2 t. Sriracha

1/2 T. Agave nectar 

3-4 T. Apple Cider Vinegar (add more or less depending on thickness and taste)

pinch of the following:

cayenne pepper
cumin

red pepper flakes
s&p

Step 1: add EVOO and garlic into a cold sauce pan, heat slowly until garlic has almost melted into oil, keep on low. 

Step 2: stir in molasses and ketchup (wait to add more of either after sauce has cooked down a bit, the flavor always changes)

Step 3: add in the rest of ingredients and simmer for 30min. adjust flavors to your desired taste...

The Chicken!

Wash and pat dry desired chicken parts ( I prefer bone in skin on thighs and legs). Cover with S&P and place in Big bowl.

Drizzle with BBQ Sauce and allow to marinade.

Put chicken on hot grill till internal temp is about 155˚ remove and allow to rest. Inside temp will rise to 160˚ at that point.

Eat!

*no final photo, due to starvation and enjoying my food hot!

Drunk Chicken Smothered in Shrooms with Sauteed Broccoli Rabe

Recently I have found a love of Chardonnay, never really being a wine drinker (used to make me turn bright red) I have seemingly rediscovered it and its endless ways it makes me just that much happier at the end of a long work day....so if you love something so much wouldn't it make sense to add that love to your food? 

yes, my reasoning is good.

What you need:

Chicken Breasts (skinless)

1 Package Mushrooms

lots o' Garlic

Bunch Broccoli Rabe

1/2 Lemon for juice

1/2 C. White Wine (something you like)

1/2 C. Chicken Stock

EVOO 

Fresh Herbs (thyme, rosemary, sage)

S&P

Rice for carbs

Step 0: Slice mushrooms. Clean and pat your chicken dry. Coat both sides with Salt and Pepper. For best results use a kosher or sea salt.

Step 2: Put chicken in a preheated dry skillet, I prefer cast iron always (make sure you test the heat by putting a drop of water in the pan if it sizzles its ready, if not don't put anything in it yet). Cook till browned on each side, but not fully cooked (you can lower the heat a tad at this point).

Step 3: Remove chicken and set aside. 

Step 4: Pour enough wine in the pan to make it steam and bring up the bits of chicken debris from the pan. Add Mushrooms and 1T of EVOO. Salt and pepper and watch the mushrooms cook down.

   

Step 5: Once Mushrooms start to look small and shiny add about 1/2 C of wine and a pat of butter- bring to a boil.

Step 6: Once the pan starts looking dry gradually add about 1/2 C. stock to the mushrooms, it will start to look like a gravy. At this point add your chopped herbs to the mix.

what we are doing in non-technical terms is pumping the mushrooms full of wine slowly, essentially the mushrooms will taste like wine and not broth, the broth is for more of a sauce. if we did the liquids the other way around they would probably taste more like chicken. 

Step 7: Add the chicken back to the pan and pop in a 375˚ oven for about 25 min. Flipping the chicken a couple times to make sure it gets some of the brothy gravy inside of it.

Sauteed Broccoli Rabe

Step 1: add 1 T EVOO to saute pan and heat up, add the stems of the Broccoli Rabe and saute for about 1 min.

Step 2: throw in 2 cloves of chopped garlic to the saute pan. Remember you don't want to burn your garlic you want to slowly saute it so the flavor comes out into the oil..

Step 3: Once the stems and tender add the rest of the chopped broccoli leaves to the pan and half of a lemon's worth of juice. Saute till wilted. add some wine if your fancy.

Plate and eat!

 don't be fooled I did add rice to this but I hope you can figure that one out on your own.

Summer Stuffed Chicken with Heirloom Tomato Eggplant Salad

Dear Reader(s?),

Sometimes I get a little freaked out about making stuff I have never made, especially when there is a country at stake, like Paella and Spain, and in my case Ratatouille and France. I was thinking to myself, 'self, wow I have the perfect amount of ratatouille fixings in my fridge, however I have never made it before and well there seems to be big arguments online about how it's made- what if I make it wrong and then someone leaves me a smug comment on here and it's the end of my shot lived blogstar career' 

Thankfully the Indian Summer heat decided to roll in and the idea of sauteing and roasting ect. seemed unbearable, especially being as unsure of myself in the process....my weakness? anyways I went a different route with the same stuff, but different.

Summer Stuffed Chicken

What you need:

Chicken Breasts (boneless, skinless)

Zucchini

Tomato

Olive Oil

Wine (if you have it in the fridge)

Fresh thyme

S&P

Step 0: pre-heat the oven to 350˚, wash and dry the breasts. Prep a backing dish with a smear of Olive Oil and a dash of white wine.

Step 1:  Butterfly the breasts and cover with S&P inside and out. On a different cutting board slice tomatoes and zucchini into thin slices.

Step 2: Add Sliced tomatoes to one half of the chicken, layer herbs on that, and then cover with zucchini, add a bit more S&P on the stack.

Step 3: Fold the halfs together and place in backing dish. Make another layer with the tomato and zucchini on top of the chicken and more pepper. Put in oven.

Step 4: periodically check baste the chicken with the pan juices, after about 25min.  check for doneness, if you poke the largest part and juices run clear you are good. You want the veggies to look like this:

Step 5: (optional) cover in parmigiano reggiano and place back in a 400˚ oven till browned.

Heirloom Tomato Eggplant Salad with a Balsamic reduction vinaigrette 

what you need:

eggplant

zucchini

heirloom tomato

sweet pepper

fresh basil

valbreso feta

Balsamic reduction vinaigrette 

Balsamic Vinegar

Olive Oil

S&P

Step 1: cut eggplant and zucchini into 1" squares (the general idea), place in a bowl and  toss with EVOO and S&P, put on a baking sheet and cook at 400˚ till brown (you can also double up if you are making the chicken too)

Step 2: cut pepper and tomatoes into nice chunks, put in same bowl you used to toss eggplant with, top with basil and some chunks of feta, place in fridge to chill while waiting for the roasted veggies.

Step 3: Once Eggplant is done toss let it sit for a few moments to cool off, then toss into tomato mix.

Step 4: put some balsamic vinegar in a pot and reduce it down till it looks like it is coating the pot.

Step 5: remove from heat and in a separate bowl whisk some olive oil and S&P in, it should look pretty dense almost molassesey, toss in salad once the vinaigrette is emulsified.

Step 100:

Plate food and eat!

I love stacked food!

Braised Chicken with Vegetables

Sometimes it is hard to use all the produce in your kitchen to it's fullest potential, especially if the weather outside tells you one day to grill and the next to stay in and stew it. Originally I pulled out chicken thighs to BBQ in a lemon herb marinade (it was 93˚ the day before so I found this to be the best idea) however when I got home the SF fog had rolled in and the idea of standing outside to turn chicken became a major turn off....so then I started to rack my brain for what to do with these damn chicken thighs! I began to look through the depths of the produce drawer in the fridge to find some really sad and neglected carrots, celery and broccoli (which I kept putting off for wayyyyy to long), I pulled all of the veg. out cut it up and put it on a roasting pan with some olive oil, figured roast the veggies and the chicken. Right after I put the vegetables in the oven it dawned on me, I have a dutch oven, lets braise them!

Braised Chicken and Vegetables

what you need:

chicken thighs (bone in skin on)

broccoli

carrots 

onions

fresh herbs

tomato

1/2 C. tomato sauce

red pepper flakes (as good pinch)

1 tsp. red wine vinegar

S&P

a pot that can go in the oven.

(substitute veg. with any and all sad or happy veggies in your kitchen)

Step 0: preheat to 350˚ 

Step 1: wash and pat chicken dry, (wash your hands, then) Salt and pepper both sides.

Step 2: heat up the dutch oven and place chicken skin side down, the fat should render out and look pretty gross, take the chicken out and put aside once the skin browned. Empty the fat from the pan to a can or something you really don't care about.

Step 3:  place dutch oven back on the stove and replace the chicken skin side up. Add all of your glorious chopped veggies, and add the rest of the ingredients.

Step 4: Put in the oven for about 45 min. when the chicken comes off the bone easily you know it's done, at this point remove the skin and toss.

Step 5: I made some organic whole wheat rigatoni, but you can eat it solo or with rice as well.

this was absolutely the most homey warm yummy dinner ever! I swear and it took old vegetables and a bot to make it sooooo good!

stock!

There are a few things in this world that I hate spending money on, one being bottled water the next being stock (or broth). It is really annoying that a box of organic broth can cost up to $5, while you can make a bunch at home with probably the remanence of the same scraps you are using with your boxed broth. And don't even get me started on the salt broth blocks that I used to drink when I was sick.....ugh this topic irks me, and I feel like a total jerk for buying into the boxed broth system for sooooo long!

(Chicken) Stock or Bust!

what you need:

practically anything left over from your cutting board ie:

carrots (tops and greens)

onions (peels)

celery (all parts except the dirty ones)

leeks (same as celery)

a protein if you so choose (I choose my left over chicken bones and giblets)

pepper corns

bay leafs

any fresh herbs you like and use often in cooking

bit of salt 

water 

Big pot or Crock pot

note that I did remove all things edible from the chicken before I added it, as well as any fat and skin. Also the little silver baked potato looking packets are form a previous bird that have been store in the freezer.

Step 0: rinse and break up all veggies to prep for, make sure you don't get any dirt in the stock.

Step 1: throw everything in, add enough water to completely cover the top.

Step 2: Set it and forget it. (if in a crock pot leave for up to 6 hours for a stove top anywhere between 1-2 hours at a simmer)

Step 3: it should look like this when it is done.

Step 4: Strain the contents and viola broth! Store in the freezer or the fridge for quick use (I like the plastic soup to go containers to store in)

the left overs ready to be composted

Kitchen Tip:

Strainers

If you don't have a fancy broth strainer a regular colander will work just as good. Either cover the bottom with cheese cloth to catch most the fat or put the broth in a container, stick it in the fridge and once cooled that fat will rise to the top and stick to the containers edges, just remove with a spoon and you are set! Like Alton Brown I prefer not to waste money on one hit wonders. 

Roasted herby lemon chicken, braised carrots and lemon cucumber tom. salad

As noted in my post from yesterday I was going to make a meal with the majority of my CSA box, this is the dinner I have come up with. It's a mixture of Winter comfort and Summer flavors (winter because SF is 50˚ in August). I will also show you how to flatten out a chicken for quick and even roasting, stuffing is for thanksgiving. I learned this technique in the Joy of cooking cookbook, but it took me awhile to figure out their drawings- I hope my images help you out.

Lemon Herby Chicken

what you need:

lemons

garlic

EVOO

fresh herbs 

half onion quartered

S&P

whole roasting chicken (veg. fed)

3 cloves garlic, fresh lemon basil, lemon thyme, rosemary and sage

2 tlbs lemon

and a chicken for roasting

Step 0: Preheat your oven to 375˚, get out a baking dish and get ready to get gross.

Step 1: In goes lemon juice, EVOO, herbs and garlic into food processor (or blend and cut by hand), should be a nice light green slurry.

Step 2: In baking dish add the lemon remains from step 1, a few cloves garlic and the onion. Pile them in a nest like fashion for the bird to land on.

Step 3: Get into the Bird! Open the bad boy up and take out the sac o' stuff and set aside (we will talk about this later). Rinse the chicken and pat inside out with paper towels. Once that is done place the bird spine side up, or as I like to call it the nasty extra skin side up.

Step 3.5: Time to cut!!!!! Get out some poultry sheers or a knife (if you are crazy) and cut between the spine (or that nasty extra skin thing), cut through the bones all the way to the other end. Do it on both sides. 

the joy of cooking only has confusing drawings.

Once cut on both sides rip it out! (place spine to the side)

Step 4: Breaking some Bones, Breaking some Bones!!! Flip the bird over (as you will notice it seems like the joints are loose now, they are). Place your hand in the CPR position and Push! you want to hear some cracks and when you notice the legs and thighs are lying flat you've done your job.

Step 5: Make a small incision (button hole) in the extra pieces of skin around the thighs and tips of legs, then tuck the tips of the legs in the button holes. This eliminates the need for string ever!

Step 6: Grab your herby slurry and start to cover the bird with it, make sure to go underneath the skin (do this by finding a skin "entrance" and wiggling your little hand gingerly inside being care not to tear the skin) once the bird is totally covered begin to salt and pepper it, I strongly recommend a kosher or sea salt as well as fresh ground pepper, table salt and old pepper don't do a good meal any justice. 

Place the covered and smothered creature on it's lemon, garlic nest, tuck the tip of the wings under the bird so they don't burn. Add some remaining lemon segments in the joints to get some extra lemon flavor, throw it in the oven for about 20min/lb. (4 lb=80min or so) and call it a day....

Step 7: When you feel that the chicken is almost done (you will know when it is done if the leg and thigh pull away from the bird easily), but may need some more browning crank the oven and let it go- don't forget to baste the chicken every 20min or so. When the chicken is nice and brown pull it out and let it rest for 10min DON'T FORGET! you can always stick a knife in it after it's rested to check for doneness, if you do it before all the juices will run out and you won't actually be able to tell.

Wait!!! there are sides!

Braised Carrots

what you need:

Carrots

thyme

1 T. butter

1/4 C. chicken broth

garlic

S&P

Step 1: Heat butter in pan, on a low temp.

Step 2: Clean carrots but don't peel, cut in half or more if larger (if small carrots leave whole). Throw into melted butter add thyme, garlic and S&P cook till tender, not brown about 10min then add broth.

Step 3: Put in oven for about 30min (till broth is absorbed into the carrots).

Lemon Cucumber Tomato Salad

what you need:

lemon cucumber (or reg. but it won't be as cool)

cherry tomatoes (sliced)

fresh basil

1 T. lemon juice

  1 T. EVOO

1 tsp. rice wine vin.

S & P

Step 1: Slice cuc. put it in a bowl, add toms and basil (lightly tear it).

Step 2: whisk lemon juice, EVOO and rice wine together till it emulsifies.

Step 3: pour and mix in to salad add S&P to taste.

your plate should look like this: