365 More Ways to Cook Chicken (365 ways) (28 page)

• 3 tablespoons butter
  

• ⅔ cup chopped onion
  

• ½ cup chopped celery
  

• 1 teaspoon crumbled dried leaf sage
  

• 6 slices of raisin bread, torn into small pieces (about 3 cups)
  

• 1 small tart apple, peeled and diced
  

• 1¾ cups chicken broth
  

• Salt and freshly ground pepper
  

• 1 large roasting chicken (6 to 7 pounds)
  

• 2 tablespoons flour
  

• ½ cup cider or apple juice
  

1.
Preheat oven to 400°F. In a large frying pan, melt 2 tablespoons of butter over medium heat. Add onion and celery and cook, stirring often, until softened, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in sage, bread cubes, and apple. Add ¼ cup of chicken broth and toss to moisten lightly.

2.
Fill chicken cavity with stuffing. Rub skin with remaining 1 tablespoon butter. Season with salt and pepper. Tie legs together with kitchen string. Place chicken, breast side up, on a rack in a shallow roasting pan. Roast 30 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350° and continue to roast until an instant-reading thermometer inserted into thigh registers 180°, about 2 hours longer.

3.
Remove chicken to a carving board. Pour off all but 2 tablespoons drippings from pan. Add flour to drippings and cook over medium heat, stirring, 2 minutes. Whisk in cider and remaining 1½ cups broth. Bring to a boil, whisking, until thickened and bubbly, 2 to 3 minutes. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste.

4.
Spoon stuffing into a serving bowl. Carve chicken and serve with stuffing and gravy.

Prep: 15 minutes Cook: 1 hour 35 to 40 minutes Serves: 4

Gay-roasting brings out the full flavors of both the chicken and the vegetables. Don’t forget to soak the pot first and start in a cold oven to prevent cracking of the clay.

• 1 whole frying chicken (about 3½ pounds)
  

• Salt and freshly ground pepper
  

• 6 fresh sage sprigs plus 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
  

• ¼ cup parsley sprigs
  

• 1 large onion, cut into 8 wedges
  

• 1 large red potato (about 6 ounces), peeled and cut into 1½-inch chunks
  

• 1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1½-inch chunks
  

• 12 brussels sprouts
  

1.
Soak a 2-quart clay roaster and its lid in cold water to cover for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, season chicken generously with salt and pepper. Loosen breast skin and tuck 1 or 2 whole sage leaves under skin. Fill cavity with remaining whole sage and parsley sprigs. Place chicken in pot, breast side up. Tuck vegetables around chicken and sprinkle lightly with salt, pepper, and chopped sage.

2.
Cover roaster and set in center of a cold oven. Turn heat to 450°F. and roast, without opening pot, 1½ hours. Uncover and roast 5 to 10 minutes longer to crisp skin.

Prep: 30 minutes Cook:
2
hours 40 minutes Serves: 6 to 8

Herb-seasoned long-grain and wild rice mix makes this extra-easy. Serve it for a harvest-time Sunday supper.

• 1 (6-ounce) box seasoned long-grain and wild rice mix
  

• 3 tablespoons butter
  

• 1 medium onion, chopped
  

• ½ pound mushrooms, sliced
  

• 1 cup drained canned chestnuts, quartered
  

• 1 large roasting chicken (6 to 7 pounds)
  

• Salt and freshly ground pepper
  

• 2 tablespoons flour
  

• 1¾ cups chicken broth
  

• ¼ cup dry sherry or additional broth
  

1.
Prepare rice mix according to package directions. Preheat oven to 400°F. In a large frying pan, melt 2 tablespoons of butter over medium heat. Add onions and cook 2 minutes. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring often, 3 minutes. Add cooked rice and chestnuts to pan and stir to mix.

2. Fill chicken cavity with rice stuffing. Rub skin with remaining 1 tablespoon butter. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Tie legs together with kitchen string. Place chicken, breast side up, on a rack in a shallow roasting pan. Roast 30 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350° and continue to roast until an instant-reading thermometer inserted into thigh registers 180°, about 2 hours longer.

3.
Remove chicken to a carving board. Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of drippings from pan. Add flour to drippings and cook over medium heat, stirring, 2 minutes. Whisk in broth and sherry and bring to a boil, stirring, until gravy is thickened and smooth, about 3 minutes. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste.

4.
Spoon stuffing into a serving bowl. Carve chicken and serve with stuffing and gravy.

Prep: 10 minutes Cook: 25 to 45 minutes Serves: 4

This is a particularly easy version of the back-of-the-box classic cornflake-coated chicken. Make the crumbs in a food processor from 4½ cups cereal or buy packaged cornflake crumbs. Using skinless chicken will lower the fat content considerably.

• 1¼ cups cornflake cereal crumbs
  

• ¼ cup flour
  

• 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
  

• 1 teaspoon salt
  

• 1 pound skinless,
  

• ½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
  

• 3 tablespoons butter
  

• 2½ to 3 pounds assorted skinless chicken parts, such as drumsticks, thighs, and breasts, or boneless chicken thighs or breasts
  

1.
Preheat oven to 425°F. In a paper bag, shake together cereal crumbs, flour, poultry seasoning, salt, and pepper. Place butter in a 10xl5-inch jelly roll pan or a 9xl3-inch baking dish and set in oven to melt. Roll chicken pieces in melted butter, then shake a few at a time in crumbs to coat.

2.
Arrange chicken, skin side up, in a single layer, not touching, in jelly roll pan or baking dish. Place in oven and immediately reduce temperature to 375°. Bake without turning until chicken is browned and juices run clear when pricked, about 45 minutes for chicken on the bone and about 25 minutes for boneless chicken.

Prep: 10 minutes Cook: 50 to 60 minutes Serves: 3 to 4

Chicken producers are growing larger roaster birds with more white meat than ever before. You can even buy a whole chicken breast for roasting, which is perfect for small families who only like white meat. This is as quick and easy as it gets for a homemade roast chicken dinner.

• 1 whole roasting chicken breast, about 2½ pounds
  

• 2 teaspoons butter, softened
  

• 2 cups prepared bread stuffing mix, any flavor
  

• Salt and freshly ground pepper
  

1.
Preheat oven to 400°F. Place chicken in a small shallow roasting pan and spoon stuffing into space under breastbone. Rub skin with butter and season lightly with salt and pepper.

2.
Roast chicken 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350° and continue to roast until chicken is white throughout but still juicy, 35 to 45 minutes longer.

Prep: 10 minutes Cook: 35 minutes Serves: 8

Although you could use bone-in chicken, it is much more elegant to serve this way. Either bone the chicken breasts yourself or ask the butcher to do it, leaving the skin intact.

• ⅔ cup part-skim ricotta cheese
  

• ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
  

• 3 tablespoons chopped prosciutto
  

• 3 tablespoons chopped chives
  

• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
  

• 1½ teaspoons dried oregano
  

• ½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
  

• 8 boneless chicken breast halves, with skin intact
  

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
  

1.
Preheat oven to 400°F. Lightly oil a shallow 2-quart baking dish. In a small bowl, combine ricotta, Parmesan, prosciutto, chives, parsley, oregano, and pepper. Blend well. Use your fingers to loosen skin from chicken breasts. Insert prosciutto-cheese filling under skin, then use your fingers to smooth skin around filling and chicken, tucking breasts under to form rounded dome shapes. Place breasts close together in baking dish. Drizzle with olive oil.

2.
Bake, uncovered, 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375° and bake until chicken skin is golden and meat is white throughout, about 25 minutes longer. Baste once with pan juices during cooking.

3.
Serve hot or at room temperature, cutting each breast half crosswise into 3 slices.

Prep: 30 minutes Cook: 30 minutes Serves: 6

Any flavor of stuffing mix can be used for this version of roast chicken and stuffing.

• 1½ cups dry packaged herb-seasoned stuffing mix
  

• 2½ tablespoons butter
  

• 6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
  

• ¾ cup chicken broth
  

1.
Prepare 1½ cups of stuffing mix according to package directions. Reserve remaining ¼ cup dry stuffing mix.

2.
Preheat oven to 400°F. Grease a shallow 2-quart baking dish with ½ tablespoon butter. Place chicken, 1 piece at a time, in a plastic bag or between 2 sheets of plastic wrap. Use a flat mallet to pound chicken to an even ½-inch thickness. Divide prepared stuffing into 6 portions and form each into a ball. Set a ball in center of each flattened chicken breast. Roil chicken around stuffing to enclose completely.

3.
Place chicken, smooth side up, in baking dish. Sprinkle dry stuffing over chicken and dot with remaining butter. Pour broth around chicken.

4.
Bake until chicken is white throughout and stuffing crumbs are browned, about 30 minutes. Serve with pan juices spooned over.

Prep: 10 minutes Cook: 40 to 45 minutes Serves: 6

• 3 tablespoons butter
  

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  

• ⅔ cup unseasoned dry bread crumbs
  

• ⅓ cup flour
  

• 1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
  

• ¾ teaspoon salt
  

• ½ teaspoon cayenne
  

• 4 pounds chicken parts