Poultry

April 16, 2020January 25, 2023

Corona Protection

Worked well until December 2022

Bake rice: Oven 375º. Square, lidded Pyrex dish. 2 cups short grain brown rice. 3 cups boiling water. Salt. Around a tablespoon of oil. Combine and bake for 50 minutes.

Bake chicken: Square, lidded Pyrex dish. 4 chicken breast halves. Salt and pepper. Cover and bake for 25 minutes in oven with rice.

Make sauce: Around a 1/2 cup of soy sauce, a heaping spoon of cornstarch. Combine. Then add around a 1/3 cup rice cooking wine, a good splash of sesame oil and a few pressed garlic cloves. Stir together.

Cut vegetables: 1 onion sliced into stripes. 3 carrots sliced on the diagonal. 1 red and 1 yellow pepper sliced into stripes. Small head of cauliflower cut into florets. 2 small heads of broccoli cut into florets.

Chicken: Remove from oven when ready and cut into cubes.

Make stir-fry: Heat lidded pan/wok with a little oil. Add onions and maybe a little salt. Sautee for a few minutes. Add carrots and a little water. Cover for a few minutes. Add cauliflower and a little water. Cover for a few minutes. Add peppers and a little water. Cover for a few minutes. Add broccoli and a little water. Cover for a few minutes. Uncover and add chicken, add sauce, add more water if needed, turn up heat and stir until sauce thickens. Serve over rice and sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds.

January 12, 2019September 3, 2023

Heart & Posole

Limes! Stop forgetting limes!

Olive oil
Salt
1/2 yellow onion medium-fine dice dice
8 cloves garlic through press
Chili powder
Tomato paste, the whole can
4 cups chicken broth
4 cups water
Oregano
2 25oz cans Juanita’s Hominy
1 Rotisseri chicken, meat pulled apart into pieces

Avocado
Radishes
Cilantro sprigs
Blue corn chips
1 Lime

Heat olive oil, add salt, add onion, cook until turning translucent, add garlic, wait a minute or two, add chili powder, stir around for a minute, add tomato paste, stir around for a couple minutes, add chicken broth, add water, add hominy, add chicken. Bring to a boil and simmer for awhile.

Top with cilantro sprigs, thinly sliced radishes, avocado slices, squeeze over some lime, then crushed blue chips.

November 15, 2018September 3, 2023

Day After Soup

If I feel like it. Sometimes I’m tired of cooking and I just throw the turkey carcass away.

Cooking equipment I used:
8 quart stock pot
8 cup Pyrex measuring cup
Strainer

For the broth:
Turkey carcass
1 large carrot roughly broken
2 celery stalks roughly broken
2 bay leaves
1 yellow onion quartered with skin on
1 teaspoon peppercorns
1 teaspoon salt
2 sprigs of parsley

Put all ingredients in large stockpot add enough water to cover or just about cover the turkey. Bring to a boil then simmer for two hours or so skimming off any foamy stuff around the edge. Take out the big pieces and then strain into another pot or bowl big enough to hold the broth.

For the soup:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 yellow onion medium dice
3 carrots sliced thinish
3 celery stalks sliced thinish
3 cups turkey meat pulled apart
1 tablespoon poultry seasoning (or half tsp each of sage, thyme, marjoram rosemary, pepper— I leave out the nutmeg due to allergies)
1 teaspoon salt—taste to adjust after a little while
3/4 cup Madeira wine
1/2 pound wild rice or mixed wild rice like Lundberg wild blend
All the broth plus water if needed

In a stockpot/soup pot add one tablespoon olive oil, teaspoon of salt and add onion, celery and carrot and cook on medium-high until softened. Add poultry season stir for a minute so it can bloom. Add 3/4 cup Madiera wine and turn heat to high and reduce about half. Add broth, turkey, rice and water if needed (I add water if needed to bring level up to about 4/5 of stockpot) bring to a boil, simmer for a few hours. Spoon off any foamy stuff around edge.

January 31, 2017September 3, 2023

Winter Chicken and Tomatoes

Four small chicken breasts
2 pints of cherry tomatoes
1 or 2 heads of garlic cloves peeled
2 cups of orzo
1 cup of parsley leaves (I don’t like the stems, so I pluck the leaves)
1 lemon
2 tablespoons of capers
Sea salt flakes, ground pepper, olive oil

Arrange the shelves in the oven to make room for the baking dish with the chicken and the baking pan with the tomatoes to go in together— I put the chicken just below the middle and the tomatoes and garlic just above the middle. Get the oven going at 400°. Put the cherry tomatoes and peeled garlic cloves and capers in a bowl. Toss with a little olive oil, spread this out on a baking sheet and sprinkle with some sea salt flakes. Place the chicken breasts in a baking dish and sprinkle with salt and fresh cracked pepper. If the baking dish doesn’t have a lid, cover with foil; I use an 11 cup Anchor Hocking baking dish with a glass lid which is good for up to four not too big chicken breasts. Put everything in the oven. The tomatoes will take around 30 minutes to shrivel up and get some brown spots. I usually just leave the chicken in until everything is done, but you can test it around 20 minutes; if it looks cooked through when you pierce it with a knife or the instant read thermometer says it’s 165º, it’s done. You can take it out and let stay warm on the stove.

While the tomatoes are roasting, start a pot for your orzo and bring it to a boil; salt the water if you wish. Orzo usually takes 10 minutes, so try to plot for it to be done when the chicken and tomatoes come out. While you’re waiting, finely chop some parsley for the orzo, and have some lemon wedges ready— I take out any pips that I can see. Set your bowls on the stove to let them warm up a bit.

When the tomatoes and garlic and capers are shriveled up and brown in spots, it’s ready. Drain the orzo and put it back in the pot; drizzle with some olive oil and fold in the parsley and maybe some salt. Take the chicken and tomatoes out of the oven and slice or dice the chicken in the baking dish or on a cutting board. Now it comes together: every bowl gets some orzo, a few slices of chicken, tomatoes and garlic. Then I finish the dish with a few capers and a splash of lemon juice. This might work with fish, maybe tilapia dredged and pan fried. The orzo could be any small pasta (little shells with fish could be nice) or even rice, quinoa, or couscous.

Update February 2016: I made this with quinoa instead of orzo and I like it just a much.

July 30, 2016September 3, 2023

Southwesterly Salad

Rotisserie chicken or baked chicken breasts dusted with a salt, pepper, and smoked paprika.

For this four person version, you’ll need:
Dressing:
Small plain Greek yogurt (usually around 5 ounces)
Juice of one lime
1/4 cup or so of olive oil
2 tablespoons of minced cilantro
1/2 teaspoon each of cumin and garlic powder
Salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste

Salad:
Around 2/3 a cup of cubed chicken per person (1 small breast each)
2 cups roughly cut romaine lettuce per person
Around a 1/4 of an avocado per person
Sliced cucumbers, tomatoes, red pepper, and red onion

As always everything can vary. The chicken could be turkey, or maybe smoked turkey, maybe scallions instead of red onions…corn kernels…a hit of Ancho chili peppers or Siracha in the dressing…