Category: Chicken

Now I’m on a smoking binge. The pulled pork was such a success, I decided to smoke some chicken, too. It’s from the same article by Dana Bowen in The Times. This didn’t require the hickory-wood smoking chips, only ingredients I already had in my pantry. I loved cooking this because it turned out beautifully. The glaze gave the chicken a nice golden color and smoking it made the meat inside silky and juicy. It was perfect with some yellow rice and, you guessed it, pickled scotch bonnet peppers.

Ingredients:
1 chicken, cut in half, or in several pieces
2 small oranges
2 tbsps Earl Grey tea
2 cinnamon sticks
5 pods of star anise
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
2 tbsps pomegranate molasses
Sriracha chili sauce, to taste
salt, pepper, oil

1. Zest one orange and peel the other. Squeeze out juice and save for sauce. Scatter the orange peels on a roasting pan with the tea, cinnamon sticks and anise. Put the rack on top and place the chicken pieces on the rack. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper.
2. Place the pan on the stove over medium heat. When it starts to smoke a little, cover with aluminum foil by forming a tent. Smoke for about 25 minutes. Turn off heat and let it rest for 5 minutes, covered.
3. While chicken is smoking, make glaze. In a bowl, combine zest, hoisin, pomegranate molasses and Sriracha. Add some of the orange juice to make sure it’s not too thick. Set aside.
4. In a large skillet with some hot oil, cook the chicken until golden brown, about 3 minutes per side. Reduce the heat to low and brush chicken with the glaze using a pastry brush. Cook for a few more minutes until the glaze has browned a little.

Related post/s:
Crazy for smoking!
Match with pickled scotch bonnet peppers

I stopped by the Dr.’s apartment the other night looking for something to eat and discovered a big pot of chicken stew on the stove. For the past few years, I’ve seen him cook big pots of anything-stew because of his schedule. He’ll have time to pick up groceries but not enough to cook, so they end up sitting in the fridge. The next time he gets a break, he throws them in a pot before they spoil, cook and eat it as a stew for a couple of days–it’s the recipe that keeps on giving. He didn’t have cooked rice so he quickly boiled some water and cooked pasta to match. I ate two bowls’ worth and basically finished what was supposed to be his packed lunch the next day.

Over the weekend, I found some leftover herbs in the fridge from my last trip to the grocery store so I thought I’d make my own. I picked up a couple of boxes of golden raisins to make the stew sweet and used up the chicken legs and breasts I’ve been meaning to cook since last week. Campagne means “countryside” in French and I use it for this chicken stew recipe because it is so simple to make, yet rustic and hearty to eat. It’s so easy “your country-ass can make it,” as Anthony Bourdain would say. Serve it with the leftover white wine you used to cook and pour over rice, pasta or bread. Save some to share with your own Dr.

Ingredients:
6 chicken pieces, excess fat and skin removed
6 slices of bacon, cut in small pieces
2 cups dry white wine
1 large plum tomato, chopped
1 bunch of baby carrots, peeled and cut in small pieces
1 red bell pepper, julienned
1 yellow bell pepper, julienned
1 orange bell pepper, julienned
2 small boxes of golden raisins
1 red onion, sliced thinly
2 garlic cloves, minced
thyme sprigs
rosemary sprigs
red pepper flakes
salt

1. Preheat oven to 300º. In a large Dutch oven, render fat from bacon. Sprinkle in red pepper flakes. When there’s enough fat, brown chicken pieces on both sides in batches to avoid overcrowding. Remove chicken and bacon to a plate.
2. Lower the heat and sauté garlic until light brown and onions until transparent in rendered fat. Add herbs, peppers and carrots and cook for a few minutes. Add tomatoes and cook until a little bit crushed. Add wine and cook, uncovered, until liquid is reduced by a third.
3. Add raisins, season with salt and simmer for a little bit before covering and putting in the oven for 1 1/2 hours. Serve with rice, pasta or country bread.

Related post/s:
Anthony Bourdain’s Les Halles Cookbook at Amazon.com

I’m on a Thai and Indian kick lately so I’ve also been craving spicy and hearty stews. But I didn’t want to spend too much time cooking last night–I just wanted to eat. Something quick for dinner to me means stopping by the Asia Food Market around the corner from the office and buying fragrant Thai basil leaves and lemongrass. Chicken is usually my fallback when I just want to eat from a big rice bowl in front of the TV and I ended up doing just that after putting this together, quickly and painlessly. I made a big batch so guess what I’m having for lunch?

Ingredients:
4 boneless chicken thighs, cut in small pieces
1 bunch of Thai basil leaves
a handful of cashews
1 small knob of ginger, peeled, sliced thinly
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 lemongrass stalk, crushed, chopped
1 bunch of cilantro stalks, finely chopped
2 red chilis
juice from 1 lime
2 tbsps palm sugar
2 tbsps fish sauce
oil

1. In a large bowl, mix the chicken with the ginger, garlic, lemongrass, cilantro and chilis.
2. In a large skillet, heat some oil and lightly toast the cashews. Remove to a plate and drain with a paper towel.
3. Add more oil to the skillet and cook the chicken in batches, stir-frying until they’re cooked and lightly browned.
4. Stir in the basil leaves with the lime juice, sugar and fish sauce until the leaves wilt. Toss in the cashews and simmer until the liquid thickens a bit.

Related post/s:
Another Thai-inspired dish