Chicken – Page 6 – Writing With My Mouth Full

Ginger-Mint Chicken with Mizuna and Arugula Salad

I walked to my desk this morning and a box was waiting. Anna sent me my annual supply of greens from her garden. There were two Ziploc-fulls of arugula and of Japanese mizuna. There was also a bunch of ginger-mint leaves. Chives and Texas tarragon were also included. They were an absolutely nice surprise to start my day.

I was famished after my third session of bootcamp in Central Park. When I got home, I wanted to make and eat something quick but filling at the same time. This recipe may look long, but if you have an Asian family pantry, I bet you already have most of the ingredients listed here. Of course, if you don’t have someone in Chicago sending you fresh ginger-mint leaves from her garden, feel free to substitute with regular mint leaves and a knob of peeled and grated fresh ginger. If you can’t find mizuna, try baby spinach, chicory or mustard greens–it’s important that your greens are bitter and spicy at the same time because the chicken is a tad sweet with the brown sugar. As for the corn, I added them at the last second because I found them cooked in the fridge. Using a serrated knife, I cut the kernels off the cob. You can use raw or canned corn kernels, too. The fried onions were a nice touch, but again, if you’re feeling lazy, just sautÃ© them with the chicken.

When everything was done, Anna’s fresh greens made this dish even more nourishing. An hour-long of lunges, crab-crawls and push-ups weren’t so bad after all.

Ingredients:
4 boneless chicken thighs, cut in small pieces
2 portobello mushrooms, cleaned, cut in small pieces
1 cup corn kernels
a handful of baby carrots, halved
fresh ginger-mint leaves
1 small jalapeÃ±o pepper, seeded and chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsps brown sugar
2 tbsps fish sauce
2 tbsps rice vinegar
olive oil

For the fried onions:
1 larged red onion, sliced thinly, rings separated
1/4 cup of flour
peanut oil

For the salad:
a handful of Japanese mizuna greens, torn
a handful of arugula, torn
juice from half a lemon
1 tbsp red hot sauce
2 tbsps soy sauce
3 cloves of garlic, minced
olive oil, salt, pepper

1. Make the fried onions. In a large bowl, toss the onions in the flour to coat. Using a skillet, heat some peanut oil and fry the onions in small batches without overlapping. When golden brown on both sides, remove with a slotted spoon to a plate lined with paper towel. Set aside.
2. In another small bowl, combine brown sugar, fish sauce and vinegar. Stir until sugar is dissolved.
3. Heat a large wok over high heat. Add some oil and stir-fry the chicken for about 10 minutes with the carrots. Add mushrooms, corn, pepper and garlic. Add the fish sauce mixture. Stir in the fried onions and the ginger-mint leaves. Turn off the heat and make your salad.
4. In a salad bowl, combine the lemon juice with the soy sauce and olive oil. Stir in the garlic and the hot sauce and season with salt and pepper. Toss in the greens. Serve with the ginger-mint chicken.

Cornish Hens with Pomegranate-Honey Sauce

The Cornish hens were on sale at my grocery store. I bought two and thought about cooking the chicken and pomegranate stew recipe I published a couple of weeks ago. I didn’t have vegetables so I just used the spices in my cupboard. The meat fell off the bones easily so I ended up deboning the hens while the liquid reduced and thickened. For texture, I added some sesame seeds and crushed almonds before serving.

Ingredients:
2 Cornish hens
2 tbsps pomegranate molasses
1/4 cup honey
1 red onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
12 threads saffron, soaked in 3 tbsps of hot water
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 pinch of whole cloves, grounded
4 parsley stems, chopped
2 bay leaves
1/4 cup whole blanched almonds, crushed, toasted
1 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted
salt, pepper, olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 350Âº. In the meantime, heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven. SautÃ© the garlic and the onions. Add and brown the Cornish hens on all sides. Remove the hens to a plate.
2. Add all the spices including the saffron to the pot with 2 cups of water. Simmer and reduce until somewhat thickened for 25 minutes. Then add the pomegranate and honey to the liquid and let simmer while gently scraping off the bits from the bottom of the pan. Season with salt and pepper. Add the hens back, cover the pot and put in the oven for 10 minutes.
3. When done, carefully remove the pot from the oven. Remove and discard bay leaves. Using a pair of tongs and a fork, slowly take off the meat from the bones. The hens should be so soft and tender that the meat just slides off the bones. Discard the bones. Plate meat and top with toasted sesame seeds and almonds.

Chicken Pomegranate Stew

I was in front of my laptop all day. I was hungry and all I could find in the fridge were chicken thighs and some leftover vegetables. I was too lazy to brown them, less make a fuss and do something fancy, so I peeled and cut some carrots and leeks and made a bed of them in a large pot. I added some onions and garlic with the rosemary sprigs sitting prettily in the fridge kept alive by Glad Press’n Seal. Should be good for about an hour in the oven, I thought, and I went back to my work. When the oven timer beeped–I have burned many meals without it–I transfered the pot on top of the stove and let it simmer. There was something missing. I looked in the pantry and thought of making curry, but I really wanted the broth to be more soupy than saucy. I found the bottle of pomegranate molasses I bought after Tyler introduced me to it. I added a tablespoon at first and it gave the broth a lemony kick. I decided to add some more, adjusting it with some more salt and red pepper flakes, until I was happy with the taste.

Ingredients:
6 chicken thighs
1 large carrot, peeled and cut into 1-inch strips
1 leek, white part only, rinsed well, cut in half and then lengthwise
1 small red onion, peeled and quartered
4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1 cup chicken stock, divided in two
1/4 cup pomegranate molasses
rosemary sprigs
salt
red pepper flakes

1. Preheat oven to 450Âº. Rinse chicken thighs and pat dry.
2. Scatter carrots, leeks, onions and garlic in a large Dutch oven. Lay chicken thighs over vegetables. Pour 1/2 cup stock over chicken and sprinkle with rosemary, salt and red pepper flakes. Place pan in oven and roast for 40 minutes. When chicken and vegetables are cooked, transfer to stove over medium-high heat.
3. Add remaining stock and the pomegranate molasses. Let simmer while seasoning to taste.

Chicken and Bacon with Chickpeas and Spinach

I was doing my grocery shopping in Chinatown when I came across a pack of extra small chicken drumsticks. About a dozen pieces were tightly packed for about $1.50. At home, I opened them up and realized they weren’t chicken thighs but the other half of chicken wings–the arms, I call them. I had two packs, 24 pieces in all, and I immediately thought I’d just deep-fry and snack on them. But the temperature outside dropped and the weather called for a thick stew. This recipe requires a lot of ingredients, but fortunately, I already had them in my pantry. If you don’t have chicken and spinach, chickpeas alone make a satisfying meal, as long as it’s cooked in bacon. Just skip the step with the chicken and spinach and top with a fried egg.

Ingredients:
12 pieces chicken wings, halved, rinsed and pat dry with a paper towel
4 strips of bacon
half a bag of chickpeas, soaked overnight
1 bag of baby spinach, rinsed
2 cups chicken broth
juice from half a lemon
zest from half a lemon
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 small onion, thinly sliced
1 tbsp cumin, grounded
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp cinnamon powder
1 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 tbsp honey
a knob of butter
a handful of cilantro, roughly chopped
salt and pepper

1. Sprinkle chicken wings with salt and pepper. In a large Dutch oven, render fat from bacon until golden brown. Add butter. Brown chicken wings on both sides. Remove chicken from pot and set aside.
2. In the same pot, sautÃ© garlic and onions. Add the chick peas and the chicken broth. Bring to a boil and then lower the heat. Cover and simmer for 25 minutes to cook chickpeas.
3. When broth is slightly reduced and chickpeas are tender, add the rest of the ingredients. Add back the chicken wings. Cook for an extra 5 minutes or until spinach is wilted. Mix well and season to taste.

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

At the New York Times Travel Show, I watched Chef Prudhomme make gumbo. I’ve never been to New Orleans, but I’ve always been curious about homemade Louisiana cooking. We recently got a fresh dump of snow in New York City and gumbo was just the right dish to eat for dinner. The secret here is the roux, a mixture of wheat flour and fat. Roux is the basis of French sauces and most Louisiana cooking; burn it and you have to start over. I added bacon to this recipe to use the last installment of bacon I received as a birthday present. I made enough to give back to the lovely people who thought about giving it to me in the first place.

Ingredients:
6 pieces chicken drumsticks
3 pieces of andouille sausage, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
5 slices of bacon, chopped in small pieces
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 medium onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
4 celery ribs, chopped
a handful of okra, cut into smaller pieces
1 small can of diced tomatoes
5 cloves of garlic
chicken broth
3 tbsps Creole seasoning
2 sprigs of fresh thyme
4 bay leaves
hot sauce
vegetable oil
salt, pepper

1. Make roux. In a large skillet, heat vegetable oil in medium heat until somewhat smoking. Pour flour and mix with a whisk. Keep mixing for about 15 minutes or until flour is red-orange. This roux is your base. If black spots start to appear in the flour, it means you’ve burnt it. You have to start over. Remove from heat and add all the vegetables and the spices. Keep mixing with the whisk to help cool down the roux. Set aside.
2. In a large Dutch oven, render the fat from the bacon. Remove the bacon to a plate. Using the fat, brown the chicken drumsticks. Remove chicken to a plate.
3. Using the same fat and adding a little more oil as necessary, brown the sausages. Add the broth and the tomatoes and add back the chicken, the bacon and the roux.
4. Simmer and cook the chicken while ocassionally mixing to make sure it doesn’t dry up. Add more stock as necessary and adjust to taste using salt, pepper and hot sauce. Add the okra and cook until tender the last 10 minutes.