Tag Archives: chicken

Poultry

Chicken Picatta

August 21, 2020 robiulo Leave a comment

Chicken Picatta

Chicken picatta isn’t something that I grew up with. My mother and aunts made a tremendous array of Italian dishes but no chicken picatta. I sometimes wonder if it’s a real Italian recipe and not something like Fettuccini Alfredo, which was invented in America. It’s a dish that I enjoy and order often when we go out to eat. Chicken with a lemon sauce, what’s not to like? Since I didn’t have a family recipe to go on, I looked through a few online. I put together a combination of things that appealed to me.

Ingredients:

1 ½ lb cutlets
Salt and black pepper
¼ cup flour
Olive oil for browning
1 tbsp. finely chopped shallot (optional)
½ cup white wine
½ lemon cut into thin wedges
½ cup chicken stock
2 tbsps. rinsed capers
1 tbsp. chopped parsley
3 tbsps. butter

If you can’t get cutlets, 3 chicken breasts should give you 9 cutlets. Season the room temperature cutlets with salt and pepper and dredge in the flour. Shake off any excess flour and lightly brown in oil and remove. Cook in batches so you don’t crowd the pan. Pour off chicken fat from pan if any. Add more oil and cook the shallots on low until soft. Add the wine and deglaze the pan.

Add the lemon slices and sauté for a few minutes before adding the chicken stock. Simmer for a few minutes and then lower the heat. Add the lemon juice, capers, parsley, and whisk in the butter. Pour the sauce over the cutlets and serve.

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Poultry

Pollo alla Potentina

July 3, 2020 robiulo Leave a comment

Pollo alla Potentina

Pollo alla Potentina is a stewed chicken dish from the Basilicata region of Italy. My father’s parents were born there in a town called Laurenzana. The cuisine of Basilicata is typically highly spiced. You can use more than 3 chilis or leave then out. It’s up to you.

Ingredients:

• 1 chicken cut into 10 pieces
• 3 tsp butter
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1large onion, sliced
• ¼ cup dry white wine
• 3 bird’s eye or Calabrese chilis, seeded and minced
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 28 oz. canned whole tomatoes roughly crushed
• 2 tbsp chopped basil
• 2tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
• Juice of 1 lemon

Brown the chicken in a pot with the butter and oil and remove.

Add the onion to the pot and cook until it’s slightly browned. Next, pour in the wine and deglaze the pan. Add the minced pepper, tomato, and salt. Bring it to a boil, then reduce heat, cover, and cook over medium-low heat for 1 hour, adding water if liquid gets too low.

Stir in basil, parsley and lemon juice and serve.

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Poultry

Pan Roast Chicken and Vegetables

January 3, 2020 robiulo 1 Comment

Pan Roast Chicken and Vegetables

Pan Roast Chicken and Vegetables is a fairly simple recipe and it’s a whole meal in one pan. I used thighs but you can use any parts you like.

Ingredients:

Juice of 1 lemon
¼ cup olive oil
½ tsp. oregano
½ tsp. black pepper
2 sliced garlic cloves
Turnip, Beet, Butternut Squash cut into ¾ in pieces
Olive oil
Salt and black pepper

Marinate the chicken in the first 5 ingredients for at least 3 hours:

Place the vegetables in a bowl and coat with olive oil and season with salt and black pepper.

Pre-heat oven to 425^o

Make a layer of vegetables in a roasting pan. Place the chicken skin side up on top of the vegetables. Roast until a thermometer inserted in chicken reads 170°-175° and vegetables are just tender, about 40 minutes.

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Poultry

Fried Chicken

July 26, 2019 robiulo Leave a comment

Fried Chicken

There’s more than one way to fry a chicken. Some people pan fry and others deep fry. This is a deep fried chicken method.

Ingredients:

1 chicken – 2 wings, 2 legs, 2 thighs & 2 breasts cut in half
Brine
1 ½ cups of flour
½ tsp. salt
1 tbsp. paprika
1 tbsp. black pepper
1 ½ cups buttermilk
Light oil for frying

Brine – Bring a quart of water to a boil. Stir in a ¼ cup of sugar and a ¼ cup salt and let it come to room temperature.

Equipment – A frying thermometer & a wire rack.

Preparation:

Put the chicken in a zip-lock bag, Pour in the cooled brine and refrigerate for 10 hours or overnight. Remove the chicken and let it dry slightly.

Pour the buttermilk into a bowl. In a large dish.mix the flour with the salt, paprika, and black pepper.Coat the chicken with the flour. Shake off excess and then dip it in the buttermilk. Let excess buttermilk drip off and then coat the chicken with flour again. Place it on a wire rack and let dry for half an hour.

Heat the oil to 350°. When you add the chicken pieces the temperature will fluctuate a bit. Try to keep it around 300-325°. Don’t crowd the pot. Cook the pieces for 5 minutes on one side, turn over and 8 minutes on the other side. A little longer for dark meat legs and thighs. Use a fork to turn them and be careful not to scrape off the coating. After you make this a few times you can judge doneness by color.

Drain chicken on a wire rack. Allow it to cool before serving.

It’s just right as it is but if you want to add a spark try some Nashville Hot Sauce on your chicken.Mix all of the ingredients together while the oil is hot and apply it to the chicken pieces with a pastry brush.

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Miscellaneous, Poultry

The Ellis Island Immigrant Cookbook

June 21, 2019 robiulo Leave a comment

The Ellis Island Immigrant Cookbook

Hailed as “One of the year’s more engaging cookbooks...” by the New York Times, the book has sold well over 100,000 copies.

“…a one of a kind collection of heartwarming stories and authentic recipes that you’ll want to have for your cooking library…these recipes recall special memories of far away lands or of dearly loved relatives…much more than a recipe compilation, it is a personal journey with stories and reminiscences that will touch your heart.” ~ Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book Club

Arroz Con Pollo – adapted from the Ellis Island Immigrant Cook Book

Ingredients:

3 lbs. of chicken pieces (I used breasts and thighs cut into smaller pieces)
1 lb. ground pork
1/2 cup olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 green pepper sliced thinly
1 large tomato, peeled, seeded & chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
¼ cup chopped parsley
2 cups uncooked rice
3 cups hot chicken broth divided
juice of ½ a lemon
1 tsp. saffron
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 bay leaf
1 tsp. salt

Equipment – You’ll need a large oven proof pan with a cover for this. Mine is 15 inches. If you don’t have one that big, cut the recipe in half.

Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 325°. Heat the oil in a pan and sauté the chicken until golden brown. Do same to pork and remove.

Sauté the pepper and onion in the drippings until the onions are transparent. Add tomato, parsley, garlic and bay leaf. Mix well and cook until soft. Set skillet aside.

Add the chicken and pork to the pan with the vegetables. Take 1 cup of broth and dissolve the saffron in it. Add the wine and lemon juice to the broth and pour this mixture into the skillet over the chicken and pork. Cover and cook over medium heat about 10 minutes. Taste for seasoning.

Add the rice between the chicken pieces. Add the remaining 2 cups of broth. Stir carefully. Bring to a boil. Cover and place in the preheated 325° oven for 20-25 minutes or until the rice is done. Remove, let stand 15 minutes covered.

Purchase a copy of The Ellis Island Immigrant Cookbook here –

Click here for information on Save Ellis Island’s HARDHAT TOURS.

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Miscellaneous

Wild Chickens

April 9, 2019 robiulo Leave a comment

Wild Chickens

The Italian Farmer Returning Chickens to the Wild

His chestnut forest is home to thousands of hens.

by Vittoria Traverso

Chickens as we know them are a human invention. The most common chicken species, Gallus gallus domesticus, owes its existence to the domestication of four species of wild jungle fowls, a group of colorful birds that once roamed the tropical forests of Southeast Asia. As early as 10,000 years ago, people began to keep these jungle-roaming creatures for everything from egg-laying to bird-fighting. Today, poultry is the second most common type of meat around the world after pork. But most contemporary chickens no longer enjoy the freedom of their distant cousins . . .

The complete article – here –

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Poultry

Chicken with Vinegar, Raisins and Onions

March 22, 2019 robiulo Leave a comment

Chicken with Vinegar, Raisins, and Onions

Chicken with Vinegar, Raisins, and Onions – An interesting combination of flavors – with kind of a sweet and sour finish.

Boil the onions in salted water for about 5 minutes. Remove and place them in a bowl. Fry the pancetta in a pot until it browns. Remove and place it in a separate bowl.

Add the boiled onions to same pot with the pancetta fat and cook until they begin to brown. Add garlic and cook for about 3 minutes. Transfer onions and garlic to bowl with pancetta.

Season chicken with salt and pepper. Working in batches, add the chicken to pot starting skin side down and cook, turning, until browned. Transfer to bowl with onions.

Pour off the fat from pot and return to medium-high heat. Add both vinegars to the pot and bring to a boil and deglaze. Add broth, raisins, bay leaves, browned chicken thighs, pancetta, onions, and garlic to pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer, partially covered, until chicken is fork-tender, 25 – 30 minutes.

Remove the chicken and onions to a platter. Continue cooking the sauce for another few minutes so it reduces. Spoon the sauce over chicken and onions and serve with pasta or rice.

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Essays & Rants

Excerpt the Mississippi Coast 2005

February 8, 2019 robiulo Leave a comment

Excerpt The Mississippi Coast 2005

When Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, most of what we heard about in New York was the damage done in New Orleans. New Orleans got the headlines but Katrina affected the coastal areas of three states; Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. Requests went out from those states for help and one of those requests, Mississippi’s, found its way the New York City Department of Buildings. Our Commissioner agreed to send ten of us with five SUVs and whatever equipment was needed to help with structural assessment.

. . . After two days of driving, we arrived at the border of Jackson County. That was as far as our instructions took us. We already were seeing downed trees and overturned trailers miles from the coast. Stopping at sort of a combination gas station-fried chicken restaurant we called for further directions.

. . . We arrived at the Gautier City Hall and were welcomed by a group of officials. They thanked us for coming and gave us some local maps. One official said something like “…as soon as we get a quiet evening, I’m sure we can boil and burn something for all y’all.” I knew he said something positive so I thanked him. I found out later he was inviting us to dinner.

. . . We were able to get breakfast and dinner at the Imperial Palace but were on our own for lunch. There was a Red Cross food van that was surprisingly good. We had to go to Camp Vancleave fairly regularly to have our laundry done and to get gas at the FEMA tank truck. Jack and I made it a point to go in the morning so we could have “Mohler’s” excellent donuts for breakfast.

. . . Eventually a family run restaurant on Bienville Boulevard called “BB’s Po’boy” reopened and Jack and I became regulars.

Our waitress apologized for not having any of their famous Gulf shrimp saying, “The boats hadn’t been able to go out because of the flotsam left by the storm.”

The proprietors and staff were glad to be back and their customers were happy to see them. When we talk in New York we’re usually exchanging information, in Mississippi they exchange “pleasantries” and it really was a pleasure being surrounded by such nice people. The food was good enough for us to go through their whole menu in the weeks we were in Ocean Springs but more than that, lunch time was an hour of gentile normalcy taken out of what was usually a bleak day.

. . . Toward the end of our stay some local building and fire officials invited all of us for dinner at their favorite Irish pub in Pascagoula. They served us corned beef and cabbage with homemade soda bread and the Guinness flowed like water. After dinner a lot of locals showed up just to meet the “inspectors from New York” and they all made a point of shaking our hands and thanking us for coming such a long way to help them. A little embarrassed by the compliment, we in turn, thanked them for their hospitality.

For the whole story –

The Mississippi Coast 2005 – Mississippi Sun Herald

BBs Po’boy

Imperial Palace Hotel

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Poultry

Roast Chicken and Tomatoes

August 4, 2017 robiulo Leave a comment

Roast Chicken and Tomatoes

A fairly simple recipe with just a few ingredients but when it’s done it has complex flavors. And it looks like you put a lot more effort into it than you actually did.

Preheat the oven to 450° with the rack toward the top. Finely chop 1 garlic clove and place it in a bowl with salt, black pepper and red pepper, oregano and 1 tbsp olive oil. Thoroughly coat the room temperature chicken with this mixture.

Depending on their size, cut the tomatoes in halves or quarters. Cut the remaining garlic in half lengthwise. Add salt, black pepper and ¼ cup of olive oil and toss until coated. Arrange in an even layer in a pan.

Cut each breast in half and place the chicken pieces on top of the tomato garlic layer. Roast until done – about 40 to 50 minutes – then 5 minutes under the broiler. Let chicken rest for 10 minutes and serve.

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Poultry

Pan Roasted Chicken with Rosemary

August 26, 2016 robiulo Leave a comment

Pan Roasted Chicken with Rosemary

Pan roasted chicken with rosemary is simple – not too many ingredients and easy to prepare.

Remove backbone with poultry shears and cut chicken in half. Your butcher can do that for you if you’d like.

Mix rosemary, garlic, ½ of the oil and ½ tsp. each of kosher salt and black pepper. Grind with a mortar and pestle. Rub this mix all over chicken cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.

Heat oven to 400^o and put rack in lower 3^rd. Heat the pan on the top of the stove with the rest of the oil. Put the room temperature chicken in the pan, skin side down, and brown it for about 5 minutes.

Move the pan to the pre-heated oven and roast for about 20-25 minutes. When almost done, turn chicken and roast another five minutes to crisp the skin. Remove from oven, cover loosely with foil and let it rest about 10 minutes before serving.

Click here for updated GALLERY II

Chicken Picatta

Ingredients:

Add the lemon slices and sauté for a few minutes before adding the chicken stock. Simmer for a few minutes and then lower the heat. Add the lemon juice, capers, parsley, and whisk in the butter. Pour the sauce over the cutlets and serve.

Pollo alla Potentina

Pollo alla Potentina is a stewed chicken dish from the Basilicata region of Italy. My father’s parents were born there in a town called Laurenzana. The cuisine of Basilicata is typically highly spiced. You can use more than 3 chilis or leave then out. It’s up to you.

Ingredients:

Brown the chicken in a pot with the butter and oil and remove.

Add the onion to the pot and cook until it’s slightly browned. Next, pour in the wine and deglaze the pan. Add the minced pepper, tomato, and salt. Bring it to a boil, then reduce heat, cover, and cook over medium-low heat for 1 hour, adding water if liquid gets too low.

Stir in basil, parsley and lemon juice and serve.

Pan Roast Chicken and Vegetables

Pan Roast Chicken and Vegetables is a fairly simple recipe and it’s a whole meal in one pan. I used thighs but you can use any parts you like.

Ingredients:

Juice of 1 lemon

¼ cup olive oil

½ tsp. oregano

½ tsp. black pepper

2 sliced garlic cloves

Turnip, Beet, Butternut Squash cut into ¾ in pieces

Olive oil

Salt and black pepper

Marinate the chicken in the first 5 ingredients for at least 3 hours:

Place the vegetables in a bowl and coat with olive oil and season with salt and black pepper.

Pre-heat oven to 425o

Make a layer of vegetables in a roasting pan. Place the chicken skin side up on top of the vegetables. Roast until a thermometer inserted in chicken reads 170°-175° and vegetables are just tender, about 40 minutes.

Fried Chicken

There’s more than one way to fry a chicken. Some people pan fry and others deep fry. This is a deep fried chicken method.

Ingredients:

1 chicken – 2 wings, 2 legs, 2 thighs & 2 breasts cut in half

Brine

1 ½ cups of flour

½ tsp. salt

1 tbsp. paprika

1 tbsp. black pepper

1 ½ cups buttermilk

Light oil for frying

Brine – Bring a quart of water to a boil. Stir in a ¼ cup of sugar and a ¼ cup salt and let it come to room temperature.

Equipment – A frying thermometer & a wire rack.

Preparation:

Put the chicken in a zip-lock bag, Pour in the cooled brine and refrigerate for 10 hours or overnight. Remove the chicken and let it dry slightly.

Drain chicken on a wire rack. Allow it to cool before serving.

It’s just right as it is but if you want to add a spark try some Nashville Hot Sauce on your chicken.Mix all of the ingredients together while the oil is hot and apply it to the chicken pieces with a pastry brush.

The Ellis Island Immigrant Cookbook

Arroz Con Pollo – adapted from the Ellis Island Immigrant Cook Book

Ingredients:

3 lbs. of chicken pieces (I used breasts and thighs cut into smaller pieces)

1 lb. ground pork

1/2 cup olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 green pepper sliced thinly

1 large tomato, peeled, seeded & chopped

2 cloves of garlic, minced

¼ cup chopped parsley

2 cups uncooked rice

3 cups hot chicken broth divided

juice of ½ a lemon

1 tsp. saffron

1/4 cup dry white wine

1 bay leaf

1 tsp. salt

Equipment – You’ll need a large oven proof pan with a cover for this. Mine is 15 inches. If you don’t have one that big, cut the recipe in half.

Preparation:Preheat the oven to 325°. Heat the oil in a pan and sauté the chicken until golden brown. Do same to pork and remove.

Sauté the pepper and onion in the drippings until the onions are transparent. Add tomato, parsley, garlic and bay leaf. Mix well and cook until soft. Set skillet aside.

Add the chicken and pork to the pan with the vegetables. Take 1 cup of broth and dissolve the saffron in it. Add the wine and lemon juice to the broth and pour this mixture into the skillet over the chicken and pork. Cover and cook over medium heat about 10 minutes. Taste for seasoning.

Add the rice between the chicken pieces. Add the remaining 2 cups of broth. Stir carefully. Bring to a boil. Cover and place in the preheated 325° oven for 20-25 minutes or until the rice is done. Remove, let stand 15 minutes covered.

Wild Chickens

The Italian Farmer Returning Chickens to the Wild

His chestnut forest is home to thousands of hens.

by Vittoria Traverso

The complete article – here –

Chicken with Vinegar, Raisins, and Onions

Chicken with Vinegar, Raisins, and Onions – An interesting combination of flavors – with kind of a sweet and sour finish.

Boil the onions in salted water for about 5 minutes. Remove and place them in a bowl. Fry the pancetta in a pot until it browns. Remove and place it in a separate bowl.

Add the boiled onions to same pot with the pancetta fat and cook until they begin to brown. Add garlic and cook for about 3 minutes. Transfer onions and garlic to bowl with pancetta.

Season chicken with salt and pepper. Working in batches, add the chicken to pot starting skin side down and cook, turning, until browned. Transfer to bowl with onions.

Remove the chicken and onions to a platter. Continue cooking the sauce for another few minutes so it reduces. Spoon the sauce over chicken and onions and serve with pasta or rice.

Excerpt The Mississippi Coast 2005

. . . Eventually a family run restaurant on Bienville Boulevard called “BB’s Po’boy” reopened and Jack and I became regulars.

Our waitress apologized for not having any of their famous Gulf shrimp saying, “The boats hadn’t been able to go out because of the flotsam left by the storm.”

Roast Chicken and Tomatoes

A fairly simple recipe with just a few ingredients but when it’s done it has complex flavors. And it looks like you put a lot more effort into it than you actually did.

Pre-heat oven to 425^o

Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 325°. Heat the oil in a pan and sauté the chicken until golden brown. Do same to pork and remove.