Glazed Chicken Breasts

Cooks Illustrated Science of Good Cooking again...

Recipe

1 1/2 c apple cider
1/3 c light corn syrup
3 tbsp honey
1 tbsp mustard
1 tbsp vinegar
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 c flour
2 bone-in chicken breasts
1 shallot, minced
oil, salt & pepper

Whisk together the cider, corn syrup, honey, mustard, vinegar, red pepper, and a little salt and pepper.  Preheat the oven to 375 and heat a couple tbsps of oil in an oven-safe skillet.  Pat the chicken dry, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and coat the chicken in the flour.  Brown skin-side down for 8-14 minutes, flip and cook another 5 minutes.  Set the chicken aside and cook the shallots for a couple minutes, then add the glaze and simmer until thickened and reduced, about 10 minutes.  Remove from heat and tilt the skillet, roll each piece of chicken to coat, and put skin-side down in the skillet.  Pop the skillet in the oven for 25-30 minutes, flipping the chicken halfway through.  When it's done, remove the chicken, heat the glaze for a few minutes to thicken again, and spoon over the chicken to serve.

Notes

There are a couple substitutions the cookbook recommends.  The recipe above is more or less the ones I chose - didn't have corn syrup so I just used extra honey.  It maybe kept the glaze from thickening a bit, but the end result did not suffer.  You should end up with plenty of glaze.  I sopped up the last dregs with a slice of bread.  Maybe all the concentrated sugar undermines the healthiness of the dish (and the steamed green beans), but I'm not complaining.

Beef Stir Fry with Green Beans & Shiitake

Tons of recipes to work through in the Cooks Illustrated Science of Good Cooking cookbook (cook cook cook)...

Recipe

Sauce
1/2 c vegetable broth
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp mirin
1 tsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

Stir Fry
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp honey
12 oz flank steak, sliced (with grain then across)
2 tbsp oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp ginger, grated
8 oz shiitake mushrooms, cut into 1" pieces
1 onion, chopped (optional but why not)
12 oz green beans, trimmed and halved
1/4 c water
3 scallions, cut into 1 1/2" pieces, white(-ish) pieces quartered lengthwise

Rice - cooked separately

Combine the (stir fry portion) soy sauce and honey and marinate the meat for 10 minutes to an hour.

Whisk the sauce ingredients together.  Separately, combine 1 tsp oil, the garlic, and the ginger.

Drain the beef.  Heat a tsp of oil in a large skillet - get it real hot - then brown the meat, in two batches if needed.  That means let it sit for a minute NO TOUCHING, then stir occasionally for another couple minutes.  Rinse skillet when you're done.

Add a tbsp oil, then cook the mushrooms (a couple minutes, till starting to brown (and onion too if you want)).  Add the green beans and cook 3-4 minutes, then add the water and steam for 2-3 minutes (covered, if possible).  Uncover, clear some space in the center of the skillet, and add the garlic-ginger mixture, mash it into the skillet a little for about a minute, then stir it all up.  Stir in the beef (and any juices), scallions, and sauce.  After another minute or so you're ready to go.

Serve over rice.

Notes

Part of the appeal of the stir-fry concept is that you cook everything in one wok, which in theory reduces cleanup.  Well, somehow I ended up with a teetering stack of dishes to clean after this one.  The recipe calls for a lot of ingredients that you really have to prep in advance, then reserve to be added in phases.  So if you're looking for a quick, simple Asian-inspired meal, go with something simpler.  But this one is pretty good (even left over) for when you're ready to go the extra mile.

I guess the other appeal is that you get your veggies and protein all at once.  This one at least looks pretty healthy!

Lastly, the cookbook used a couple beef stir fries to illustrate the Maillard reaction - browning beef pretty good to maximize flavor.  I don't think I nailed it this time, but it didn't ruin dinner and I'll go hotter next time...