Tag Archives: chicken

Easy to Prepare, Lighten Up, Main Courses, Poultry Dishes, Recipes

Lemon Chicken Shish Kebab

I really love making shish kebab – it’s always praised effusively when made for friends and that pay off comes with very little work.  Buy a bunch of veggies and a little meat, let them hang in some herbs and spices, thread on skewers, grill or broil and call it a day.  This marinade could not be any easier, and best of all, is made with such common pantry staples, you don’t have to do any special shopping ahead of time to get this one on the table.

The best part is that you can absolutely do what you like when making this – if you prefer red meat to chicken, substitute cubes of beef tenderloin or tender lamb.   Like seafood better?  Try this recipe with cubes of swordfish threaded on skewers, separated by bay leaves instead of the vegetables.  It makes a hearty, savory alternative to the traditional red meat or chicken.  And of course, you can bypass the meat altogether and just go with the veggies alone.  Use whatever assortment of vegetables that look the best in the grocery, or are on hand in your fridge – eggplant and squash also make excellent additions.  It’s all good!

Serve these gems with a squeeze of lemon and a side of fluffy rice or pita.  No fuss, no muss and people will swoon for the fresh preparation and bright ingredients.  It’s such a winner, you’ve just gotta try it.

Recipe for

Lemon Chicken Shish Kebab

Ingredients
1 lb. of boneless, skinless chicken breast
2 tbs. of olive oil
1 tsp. of garlic powder
1/2 tsp. of onion powder
1 tsp. of paprika
1/4 tsp. of black pepper
1/2 tsp. of kosher salt
zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 cl. of garlic

whole mushrooms (white or crimini)
1 red bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
1 onion
cherry tomatoes
zest of 1 lemon
2 tbs. of olive oil
black pepper
1 tsp of salt

Cut chicken into 1 inch cubes and place in a tupperware.  On a clean cutting board, loosely chop garlic and then sprinkle the kosher salt on top.  Using the blade of your knife, drag it across the garlic to mash it into the salt, forming a paste.  Add garlic paste to chicken, along with the olive oil, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, black pepper, lemon zest and lemon juice.  Stir well and place in the fridge to marinate for at least 30 minutes and up to 24 hours.

Remove chicken from fridge and let rest on the counter while you prep the veggies.  Clean mushrooms with a damp paper towel and place in a bowl.  Add your cherry tomatoes to the bowl.  Cut red and green pepper into 1 inch chunks and add to the mushrooms.  Next, cut onion into 1 inch chunks, making sure to keep the slices of onion together as best you can.  Set aside, separate from the mushrooms, peppers and tomatoes.  In the veggie bowl, add the lemon zest, olive oil, black pepper and salt.  Toss to combine flavors.

Get out some skewers – if you are using bamboo skewers, make sure to soak them in water first to prevent them from burning.  Thread the chicken and vegetables onto the skewers, alternating between meat and veggies.  Place skewers on a tray to hang out while you continue to assemble the shish kebab.

Lightly grease a grill or a grill pan with canola oil or Pam for grilling and heat to smoking.  Turn heat down to medium and cook kebabs until veggies are charred and chicken is cooked through, about 10 minutes per side.  Serve.

Main Courses, Poultry Dishes, Recipes, Rice Dishes

Chicken Burritos

This burrito recipe comes from one of my all time favorite hole-in-the-wall joints, El Toro Partido, in Hamilton Heights.  Down the hill from where I work at City College, this bustling Mexican outpost dishes out sumptuous and authentic plates that are as gorgeous as the decor is not.  Probably my favorite dish on the menu (aside from the spicily divine green sauce and corny tortilla chips) is the chicken burrito.  I know, I know – you’re saying right now what could be so glamorous about this burrito?  For me, above all of the other perfectly seasoned toppings, is the inclusion of savory shreds of oaxaca cheese.  Almost like a Mexican mozzarella, oaxaca is nutty and stretchy and delicious – kind of the same consistency of Polly-O string cheese, but high brow.  If you’ve not tried it before, you definitely need to get on some. Continue reading Chicken Burritos →

Easy to Prepare, Lighten Up, Main Courses, Poultry Dishes, Recipes, Salads

Chicken Paillard with Arugula

Poundin’ It Out

This recipe is a playful take on the humdrum grilled chicken salad.  Rather than constructing the plate as a salad topped with pannéed chicken breast, arugula and sun-ripe tomatoes are piled atop the protein.  The result is lovely and delicious, and the whole flip it around, “Alice in Wonderland” appeal is an approach that we should all take on a wider scale.  God forbid we ever get boring or bored or both.

Chicken Paillard with Arugula © Spice or Die

The dressing for the arugula is basically an Italian pico de gallo salsa – you macerate the tomatoes with garlic, olive oil and vinegar to form a fresh, bright sauce.  If you feel like taking this recipe even further, you can tuck slices of buffalo mozzarella between the chicken breasts for a lovely chicken caprese salad.  It’s the kind of dinner that will make you rue the day you settled for a boring salad. Continue reading Chicken Paillard with Arugula →

Main Courses, Poultry Dishes, Recipes, Soups and Stews

Matzoh Ball Soup

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Straight Ballin’

I grew up Catholic, replete with plaid jumpers and JMJ (Jesus-Mary-Joseph) initialed on the tops of all test papers, and yet I’m unabashedly EEO in the kitchen.  In the truest proof of this, I love love love to make matzoh ball soup.  It, for me, is a like a textural wonderland – fluffy matzoh balls swimming in pools of liquid gold broth studded with coins of carrot and celery and shreds of tender chicken.  I wear my shikse badge with pride, but this, my friends, is a champion soup that should know no religious leanings in any direction.  Matzoh ball soup for all!

This old recipe, by way of Vo’s friend from Brooklyn, will make you floaters (not sinkers) assuming that you follow a few key rules.

  • Eggs
    Before you make the dough, make sure that your eggs are at room temperature.  Cold eggs get you a thumbs down from Vo.  A quick trick to get the eggs warm quicker is to put them in a bowl of hot water for 5 minutes or so.
  • Schmaltz
    Also, I use butter for the fat in the matzoh balls, but if you have schmaltz (rendered chicken fat) and want to be super traditional, definitely use it.  Sometimes I’ll use some of the chicken fat skimmed from the soup to make the matzoh balls.  It’s goodness – trust me.  If you make your own chicken stock for this recipe, when you let the stock chill, the chicken fat will solidify on top of the stock in a sheet.  Simply scrape this up with a spoon and either use it in your matzoh balls or save it for another use (makes a great rub for roast chicken).
  • Wet to Dry
    Lastly, this is not an exact recipe – if your eggs are not so big, sometimes you’ll need to add an extra egg.  When you mix your dough, if it’s rather thick and dry, give it another egg and a scant few tablespoons of extra broth (or water).  It’s the egg that’s gonna fluff things up for you.

I serve this soup with tons of dill and occasionally, for a splurge, some blubbery egg noodles as well.  If I want to do this REALLY well, I make some of the easiest homemade noodles of all time – it’s like matzoh ball soup heaven.  Also, because I’m fussy at times, I shave my carrots and celery with a mandolin.  It looks gorgeous and imparts even more savory veggie flavor to the stock.  Not to mention, it takes less time for the veggies to cook up.  Try it sometime.  L’chaim!

Matzoh Ball Soup

1 whole chicken (can be cut up or left whole)
3 carrots, peeled
2 stalks of celery
1 onion, quartered
1 bay leaf
water
salt and black pepper

1 1/2 c. of matzoh meal
4 (or 5) large eggs, at room temperature
1/4 c. of melted butter (or schmaltz)
1/4 (or 1/2) c. of chicken stock, at room temperature
pinch of salt
two pinches of pepper
1 tsp. of dried dill (optional)

2 stalks of celery, sliced thinly
3 carrots, peeled and sliced into rounds
1 bag of egg noodles (optional)
chopped dill (optional)

Place chicken (or chicken pieces) into your pot. Cut your carrots and celery into 2 in. pieces and toss into the pot. Add your onion, bay leaf, 1 tbs of salt and a teaspoon of pepper. Fill pot with 12 cups of water and set to boil. Boil on high until the chicken starts to separate from the bone and the veggies become soft. Strain broth and put back into the pot. Set aside chicken and vegetables until they are cool enough to handle.

Separate the chicken, shred and set aside. Add the leftover vegetables, chicken skin and chicken bones to the pot and add water to the pot to make around 12 cups of soup (ie. if the water came up to 3/4 of the height of the pot in the first step, add enough water so that the soup comes up to the same level in the pot). Boil until the stock reduces by a quarter. Strain stock and taste for salt and pepper. Throw out the veggies, bones and bay leaf. At this point, you can cool the stock and chill overnight, or you can continue to cook the soup.

To make your matzoh balls, beat your eggs in a medium-sized bowl.  When your butter has cooled a bit (but still melted), beat into the eggs.  Add the chicken stock (I usually just ladle some out from my pot of soup and chill quickly in the fridge until it’s room temp), salt, pepper and dill.  Stir in your matzoh meal, adding more egg or broth if needed to make a sticky dough.  It should be a little gloopy, but not too wet.  Refrigerate for one hour.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Wet hands and divide dough into six portions.  With wet hands, roll portions into balls and drop them into the boiling water.  Turn the heat down to medium and cover the pot of matzoh balls.  Cook for 25-30 minutes, or until matzoh balls are cooked through.  Scoop out of the pot and set aside.

Bring strained stock to a boil and add the chicken, sliced celery and sliced carrots. Cook until your veggies are tender.

While your veggies are cooking, bring another pot of water to a boil and cook your egg noodles. If they give you a time frame for cooking (ie. 7-9 minutes), cook them for the lesser amount of time. Drain and toss with a small amount of butter or olive oil. Just so you know, I cook and serve the noodles separately so that they don’t become waterlogged and soak up too much broth.

To serve, put about 1/2 c. of noodles in a bowl. Ladle over the chicken, veggies and hot broth. Toss in 1 or two matzoh balls.  Top with a smattering of chopped dill and a couple extra cracks of black pepper.

Notes on Soup

  • Extra matzoh balls can be saved in the fridge in a tupperware container away from the broth.  Reheat in the microwave for a minute or so and then pour hot soup over them.  Leftover goodness.
  • This stock can be prepared with a lot of additional ingredients, to include smashed cloves of garlic, parsley stems, and celery tops. Add these ingredients after you strain the broth the first time when you return the chicken skin and bones back to the pot.
Poultry Dishes, Recipes, Soups and Stews

Chicken Noodle Soup

Let It Rain and Clear It Out

I (like most folks, I truly believe) have a palette full of anomalies.  As much as I am a purist when it comes to food prepped lovingly with exquisite ingredients, I’ve been known to slum it up from time to time.  I’ll succumb to the knee-weakening smell of Popeye’s chicken about once a year. Though I’m no Joey Chestnut, I can happily tuck into a plate of piping hot Coney dogs at Nathan’s.  And I will pledge my unequivocal devotion to Campbell’s Chicken Noodle Soup in the red can.  Artistic leanings aside (and the copy of Andy Warhol’s “Giant” in my living room), I adore slurping up ladlefuls of salty broth, questionable chicken chunks, and tender egg noodles.  I’m an addict.

Chicken Noodle Soup © Spice or Die

That all being said, I truly believe that there is a time and a place for instant vs. homemade – this recipe is just as much of a soul-pleaser as the red canned goodness.  It’s like comparing your parents – you love them individually for different reasons, and both are uniquely indispensable.  I love this soup because, unlike the canned variety, it’s a hearty, rib sticking soup brightened by the freshness of the ingredients.  And, going back to my TPT palette, I am a sucker for egg noodles served any possible way.  I should probably take out stock in Pennsylvania Dutch Brand – stock? Get it?  I know you love soup puns – that’s why you’re still reading my ramblings 😉

The recipe below uses a whole chicken to make homemade stock, but I’ve done this in a pinch before with College Inn broth, a rotisserie chicken and carrots and celery.  Just start with the second addition of veggies and shredded chicken and bring the broth up to a boil.  If you are doing this fake-me-out version, make sure to include copious amounts of fresh parsley to fool your guests into believing that it’s homemade.  Fresh herbs = homemade = majesty.  Trust me, my math is solid.

Further proving that taste is subjective, if you didn’t laugh at the “Chicken Noodle Soup” video yet (with a soda on the side), here’s your second chance.  And can we comment on the fact that the soda on the side is not the stereotypical orange soda, but the Spanish Harlem favorite, Jarrisco?  In “red” flavor, I believe.  Apparently, red is a flavor.

Chicken Noodle Soup

1 whole chicken (can be cut up or left whole)
3 carrots, peeled
2 stalks of celery
1 onion, quartered
a couple sprigs of sage
1 bay leaf
water
salt and black pepper

2 stalks of celery, sliced thinly
3 carrots, peeled and sliced into rounds
1 bag of egg noodles
chopped flat-leaf parsley

Place chicken (or chicken pieces) into your pot. Cut your carrots and celery into 2 in. pieces and toss into the pot. Add your onion, bay leaf, 1 tbs of salt and a teaspoon of pepper. Fill pot with 12 cups of water and set to boil. Boil on high until the chicken starts to separate from the bone and the veggies become soft. Strain broth and put back into the pot. Set aside chicken and vegetables until they are cool enough to handle.

Separate the chicken, shred and set aside. Add the leftover vegetables, chicken skin and chicken bones to the pot and add water to the pot to make around 12 cups of soup (ie. if the water came up to 3/4 of the height of the pot in the first step, add enough water so that the soup comes up to the same level in the pot). Boil until the stock reduces by a quarter. Strain stock and taste for salt and pepper. Throw out the veggies, bones and bay leaf. At this point, you can cool the stock and chill overnight, or you can continue to cook the soup.

Bring strained stock to a boil and add the chicken, sliced celery and sliced carrots. Cook until your veggies are tender.

While your veggies are cooking, bring another pot of water to a boil and cook your egg noodles.  If they give you a time frame for cooking (ie. 7-9 minutes), cook them for the lesser amount of time.  Drain and toss with a small amount of butter or olive oil.  Just so you know, I cook and serve the noodles separately so that they don’t become waterlogged and soak up too much broth.

To serve, put about 1/2 c. of noodles in a bowl.  Ladle over the chicken, veggies and hot broth.  Top with a smattering of parsley and a couple extra cracks of black pepper.

Note on Stock

  • This stock can be prepared with a lot of additional ingredients, to include smashed cloves of garlic, parsley stems, and celery tops. Add these ingredients after you strain the broth the first time when you return the chicken skin and bones back to the pot.
Main Courses, Poultry Dishes, Recipes

Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce and Cucumber Relish

Satay It Ain’t So!

Well before I learned how friggin’ easy it was to make satay, I would order them every time I had Thai food.  There was something about the coconut milk bath that made the chicken so incredibly tender – I just couldn’t get enough.  This recipe is not only simple, but also a nice alternative to your traditional barbecue.  Throw your guests a curve ball and make some satay instead of the usual grilled chicken – it works great as not only an appetizer, but also as an entree with rice or as a protein in a deconstructed salad.  I even wrap them in lettuce leaves sometimes for a hand-held treat.

Chicken Satay © Spice or Die

The chicken gets an added kick from some crucial condiments – peanut sauce (make your own or buy a jar at the store) and a spicy, sweet cucumber relish.  The relish is usually prepared with slivers of red onion, slices of cucumber and bits of thai bird chilies.  I, on the other hand, make mine as a thai pico de gallo by dicing all of the ingredients and mixing with rice wine vinegar and cilantro.

The sauce gets a bit of heat from the red curry paste, a fragrant combination of red chilies, garlic, ginger and lemongrass.  If you don’t like things so spicy, leave out a tablespoon of the red curry.  You can also add a squeeze of lime to the marinade to brighten up the works.  I use chicken thighs because they are flavorful and don’t dry out easily, but you can use chicken breasts if you prefer them.  This is best on the grill outdoors, but you can certainly use a grill pan or the broiler in a pinch.

Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce

1 1/2 lbs. of boneless, skinless chicken thighs
3 tbs. of red curry paste
3 tbs. of fish sauce
2 cl. of garlic, minced or microplaned
2 tsp. of salt
1 can of coconut milk

Whisk the red curry paste, fish sauce, garlic, salt and coconut milk until smooth.  Slice the chicken thighs into thirds and add to marinade.  Refrigerate overnight.

Heat a grill to smoking hot.  Shake the excess marinade from the chicken and grill until the chicken is cooked all the way through.  Served with peanut sauce and cucumber relish.

Cucumber Relish

1/2 of a cucumber, finely diced
1/2 of a jalapeno, finely diced
1 shallot, finely diced
3 tbs. of cilantro, chopped
4 tbs. of rice wine vinegar
2 tbs. of water
1/4 tsp. of sesame oil
1/4 tsp. of salt
1 tsp. of sugar

Mix all ingredients in a bowl.  Put in the refrigerator to chill.  Serve cool with piping hot chicken satay.

Lighten Up, Main Courses, Poultry Dishes, Recipes

Crispy Ginger Chicken

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Kicking Boring Chicken to the Curb

When you are looking for something crispy and delicious, but aren’t keen on a ton of calories or frying action over hot oil, these baked chicken breasts are perfect.  I usually serve them atop some Sesame Mandarin Salad for added crunch, but you can also top them with a bit of Sweet Thai Chili Sauce for a little kick.  The technique of dredging chicken in seasoned flour, spraying with cooking spray and then baking is a nice trick anytime you want chicken cutlets without the frying.  I use this technique for a spin-off of Chicken Cordon Bleu – I’ll try to post that recipe soon as it looks gorgeous without any work at all.  For that matter, with crispy slices of this chicken over a bright green and gold salad, you’ll have the same sexy results with the same amount of work (read: none).  Let’s dredge!

Crispy Ginger Chicken

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed of fat
1 egg
1 tbs. of soy
2 tsp. of salt
1/3 c. of flour
1 tsp. of garlic powder
1 tsp of ground ginger
1/2 tsp. of white pepper
cooking spray (the olive oil version is nice)

Preheat the oven to 350°.  Set out two shallow bowls and a cookie sheet lined with foil and lightly coated with cooking spray.  In the first bowl, beat the egg and soy together.  In the second bowl, blend the flour, garlic powder, ginger, and white pepper.  Dredge the chicken breast in the flour mixture, then the egg mixture and finally the flour again.  Place on the baking sheet, and then repeat with the second chicken breast.  Gently spray the tops of the chicken breasts so as not to blow all the flour off the chicken.  Bake until the chicken is cooked all the way through and when sliced, the juices run clear, about 20 minutes.  Let rest for 2-3 minutes and then slice thinly.

Meat Dishes, Recipes, Rice Dishes, Soups and Stews

Italian Chicken Soup

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Sippin’ Once, Sippin’ Twice

When I think of chicken and rice soup, I always think of the Maurice Sendak books from my childhood, and the ever famous line, “Sippin’ once, sippin’ twice, sippin’ chicken soup with rice.”  Carole King actually made an animated video of a bunch of Maurice Sendak stories called “Really Rosie” which included the “Chicken Soup with Rice” song.  It included dance moves that certainly rival the recent jammie “Chicken Noodle Soup” (with a soda on the side) which is so bad it’s good.  Well, not so much good as hilarious.  I think I only reason that I like the Chicken Noodle Soup video because a) it takes place in my hood and b) features kids with sweet dance moves.

Back to Maurice Sendak, this soup makes me about as happy as the sweet lyrics to “Alligators All Around” – I could only find this sh!t copy with the lyrics over the video, but it’s still good.  And for the record, my best friend Kate loves “P – Pushing People” the best.  Makes me laugh every time, and yes, I know I’m a child for life.

So about this soup – there’s something about the tender rice and chicken, salty parmasean and delicate bits of egg that make this a go-to for me whenever I need a bit of comfort.  Making the stock from scratch is important, but in a pinch, you could make this with broth – just make sure you don’t leave out the egg and cheese.  They are essential to balancing out the flavor of this soup, and a little bit of really good cheese (I always use locatelli) just seals the deal. Continue reading Italian Chicken Soup →

Cooking Tips, Culinary Inspiration

Making Better Chicken Stock

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Simmer Like a Winner

There’s a time and a place for pre-made stock, but if you’ve got the ingredients on hand and would like to take your soups and risottos to the next level, try your hand at making yours from scratch.  It’s very forgiving to do so, and you can easily extend your ingredients into savable (read: freezable) stock for recipes later on. Continue reading Making Better Chicken Stock →

Lighten Up, Poultry Dishes, Recipes, Soups and Stews

Chicken and Rice Soup (Canja)

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Brazilian Penicillin?

This soup was a part of my collective food memories well before I had even worked behind a stove.  Both my Brazilian and Sicilian ancestors believed in the power of chicken and rice soup, so as a kid, if I was feeling punkish, this is what I got.  If I was REALLY sick, I had this soup without the veggies and chicken – just broth and either rice or pastina (itty bitty italian pasta as small as grains of rice).  To this day, if I need a comforting meal, I make a pot of this recipe for canja or some Italian Chicken Soup.

The beauty of this soup is that it’s 100% made from scratch, all with ingredients lying around the kitchen.  Sure, it takes a little longer than cracking a can of Progresso, but the resulting soup is like a giant hug.  Last time I checked, canned soups weren’t passing out hugs.  I’ve detailed the recipe below as if you were making it without any leftovers, but know that I rarely actually make it this way.  Typically, I save the bones and leftover meat from a Roast Chicken night and use that as the basis of my stock.  Also, rather than simmering uncooked rice in the stock, I toss in a carton of leftover steamed white rice from Chinese/Thai/Vietnamese takeout.  If you want to learn more about my perfect tricks for stock, take a look at this. Continue reading Chicken and Rice Soup (Canja) →