365 More Ways to Cook Chicken (365 ways) (29 page)

1.
Preheat oven to 400°F. Place butter and oil in a large baking dish, at least 9x13 inches, and set in oven to melt butter.

2.
In a plastic bag, combine bread crumbs, flour, black pepper, salt, and cayenne. Roll chicken in melted butter and oil, then shake a few pieces at a time in bread crumb mixture until coated. Place, skin side up, in baking dish.

3.
Bake until browned and crisp and chicken juices run clear when pricked, 40 to 45 minutes.

Prep: 15 minutes Cook: 1 hour Serves: 8

My friend Carol Pinard serves this to rave reviews.

• 2 tablespoons butter
  

• 1 package (about ½ ounce) dry Italian herb salad dressing mix
  

• 8 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
  

• 1 (8-ounce) container whipped cream cheese with chives
  

• 2 cans undiluted cream of mushroom soup
  

• 1 cup dry white wine
  

1.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly butter a shallow 3-quart baking dish. In a large frying pan, melt butter with half of dry seasoning mix. Cook chicken, half at a time, over medium heat, turning once or twice, until golden, about 8 minutes per batch. Transfer chicken to prepared baking dish.

2.
Stir cream cheese, soup, wine, and remaining dry salad dressing mix into drippings in frying pan. Stir to mix well. Pour over chicken. (Recipe can be prepared to this point up to 8 hours ahead and refrigerated. Return to room temperature for baking.)

3.
Bake, uncovered, until chicken is white throughout and sauce is thickened and bubbly, about 45 minutes.

Prep: 15 minutes Cook: 1 hour 23 minutes Serves: 4

When slow-cooked, the garlic is sweet and buttery. Spread the soft cloves on toasted French bread to accompany the chicken.

• 2 whole heads of garlic (about 30 cloves)
  

• 1 chicken (about 3 pounds), cut into 8 pieces
  

• ½ teaspoon salt
  

• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
  

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
  

• 1 teaspoon rubbed sage
  

• ¼ cup dry red or white wine
  

1.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Separate unpeeled garlic into cloves. Trim ends. Drop garlic cloves into a pot of boiling water for 10 seconds. Remove with a slotted spoon. Peels should slip off easily.

2.
Season chicken with salt and pepper. In a large Dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook, turning, until browned all over, about 8 minutes. Sprinkle with sage, toss garlic over and around chicken, and pour in wine. Cover tightly and bake until chicken and garlic are tender, about 1¼ hours.

Prep: 5 minutes Cook: 47 to 50 minutes Serves: 6

Polenta, an Italian form of cornmeal, is a delightful change from pasta. It can be served freshly cooked and soft or baked until firm, as it is here.

• 2 cups chicken broth
  

• 1 cup polenta or yellow cornmeal
  

• 1 cup cold water
  

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
  

• ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
  

• ½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
  

• ¼ teaspoon salt
  

• 6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves or thighs
  

• 4 cups prepared marinara sauce
  

• ½ cup dry red or white wine
  

1.
In a heavy saucepan, bring broth to a boil over medium heat. In a mixing bowl, whisk polenta into cold water until smooth and free of lumps. Slowly whisk dissolved polenta into boiling broth. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring almost constantly, until mixture is very thick and pulls away from side of pan, 12 to 15 minutes. Stir in butter, ¼ cup of cheese, pepper, and salt. Scrape polenta into a buttered 10-inch pie plate. Let cool to room temperature. Sprinkle remaining 2 tablespoons cheese over top.

2.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Place chicken in a 2- or 2½-quart baking dish. Pour marinara sauce and wine over chicken. Cover with foil and bake until chicken is cooked through, about 35 minutes.

3.
After chicken has been in oven about 15 minutes, place polenta in same oven on upper rack. Bake, uncovered, until lightly flecked with brown and heated through, about 20 minutes.

4.
To serve, cut polenta into 6 wedges. Serve each wedge alongside chicken, with sauce spooned over both.

Prep: 20 minutes Cook: 43 to 50 minutes Serves: 12

I once multiplied this recipe to serve 50 people, placing the chicken in large disposable pans and baking it in 2 ovens. Big bowls of rice pilaf with green peas and pimiento, along with a large tossed salad, rounded out a very easily accomplished meal.

• 12 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
  

• 1 teaspoon salt
  

• ½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
  

• 1½ teaspoons dried tarragon
  

• 4 tablespoons butter
  

• 1 medium onion, chopped
  

• 1 tablespoon grated orange zest
  

• ½ cup orange juice
  

• ½ cup dry white wine
  

• ½ cup heavy cream
  

• 1 tablespoon Pernod or other anise liqueur (optional)
  

• 12 thin orange slices, for garnish
  

1.
Use your hands to flatten chicken breasts to a more even thickness. Season with salt, pepper, and 1 teaspoon of tarragon. In a large frying pan, melt 2 tablespoons of butter over medium-high heat. Add half of chicken and cook, turning once or twice, until golden, about 6 minutes. Remove to a 9x14-inch baking pan. Add remaining butter to pan and cook remaining chicken in same way. Add to baking pan.

2.
Add onion to drippings in pan. Reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring often, until softened, 3 to 5 minutes. Add remaining ½ teaspoon tarragon, orange zest, orange juice, wine, and cream. Bring to a boil, stirring up browned bits clinging to bottom of pan. Cook 3 minutes. Stir in Pernod. Pour over chicken in pan. Cover tightly with foil. Bake immediately or refrigerate up to 24 hours, but return to room temperature to bake.

3.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake chicken, covered, until white throughout, 25 to 30 minutes. Serve garnished with orange slices.

There are lots of brands of herbed cheese spread available, even reduced-fat varieties.

• 1 chicken (about 3 pounds), cut into 8 pieces
  

• 1 (4-ounce) package herbed and spiced cheese spread
  

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil Salt and freshly ground pepper
  

1.
Preheat oven to 400°F. Use your fingers to loosen skin of chicken. Insert cheese under skin, using about 1 tablespoon for breasts and thighs and less for drumsticks and wings. Spread cheese over chicken as much as possible. Brush or rub skin with oil. Season lightly with salt and pepper.

2.
Place chicken, skin side up, in a shallow baking pan and bake until skin is browned and crisp and juices run clear when pricked, 40 to 45 minutes.

Prep: 10 minutes Cook: 15 minutes Serves: 6

This is a quick and easy family supper that everyone will love. Make the crumbs by whirling bran flake cereal in the food processor or crushing in a plastic bag with a rolling pin.

• 6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
  

• 1½ cups bran flake cereal crumbs
  

• 1½ tablespoons grated lemon zest
  

• 1 tablespoon cracked black pepper
  

• ¼ teaspoon salt
  

• 4 tablespoons butter, melted
  

• 1 lemon, cut into 6 wedges
  

1.
Preheat oven to 450°F. Use your hands to flatten chicken to an even thickness. In a shallow dish, combine bran flake crumbs, lemon zest, pepper, and salt. Dip chicken first into butter, then into crumbs to coat.

2.
Place on a baking sheet. Bake until crumbs are golden brown and chicken is white throughout but still juicy, about 15 minutes.

3.
Serve chicken garnished with lemon wedges to squeeze over.

Quick cooking is a way of life for all of us these days. But that is no reason to cut corners on taste and quality. Here is a collection of recipes that can be made from start to finish in 30 minutes or less.

Skinless, boneless chicken breasts and thighs are the answer to the harried cook’s dilemma. Readily available in the market and relatively low in fat, they cook in practically no time at all. Just a few years ago, if you wanted skinless, boneless chicken, you had to do the job yourself—a task that required the skill of a surgeon. Thin slices to cook up in veal scaloppine look-alikes required partial freezing, then a sure hand with a sharp knife. Now, even the smallest supermarket carries boneless breasts and thighs, as well as thinly sliced cutlets.

In almost all of these recipes, breast and thigh meat are interchangeable. Wherever a choice is given, I list my preference as the first option. Sometimes I instruct you to use your hands to flatten the cut to a more even thickness for better and quicker cooking. Chicken cutlets are thinly sliced and cook in a few minutes—in fact, overcooking is the most serious problem here!

The versalitity of skinless, boneless cuts is evident in this, the largest chapter in the book. The recipes range from home-style chicken and dumplings to sophisticated Chicken Amandine. There are also recipes for wonderful main courses that start with cooked chicken, either left from last night’s roast or poached a few days ahead expressly for use later. Today, every good deli section offers rotisserie roasted chickens, which also lend themselves beautifully to these recipes. Whenever cooked chicken is called for, any of the above can be used.

Now get moving—you have 30 minutes until dinner!

Prep: 10 minutes Cook: 16 minutes Serves: 4

Tart dried cherries play well against the sweetness of dried apricots. Dried cranberries may be substituted for the cherries.

• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
  

• ¼ teaspoon salt
  

• ⅛ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
  

• 1 teaspoon dried leaf thyme
  

• 3 tablespoons butter
  

• ⅓ cup chopped or thinly sliced dried apricots
  

• ⅓ cup coarsely chopped dried tart cherries
  

• ¾ cup chicken broth
  

• ¾ cup dry white wine