Chicken Piccata

Chicken Picatta

(serves 4--3 cutlets per person)

(From Cooks Illustrated 25th Anniversary All-Time Best Recipes)

INGREDIENTS:

-2 lemons
-6 (6 to 8 oz) boneless, skinless chicken breasts, tenderloin removed, trimmed (freeze for 15 minutes to make easier to slice, if so desired)
-1/2 cup all-purpose flour
-6 tbsp vegetable oil
-1 small shallot, minced OR 1 garlic clove, minced
-1 cup chicken broth
-2 tbsp capers, rinsed
-3 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 3 pieces and chilled
-2 tbsp minced fresh parsley


DIRECTIONS:

1. Halve 1 lemon lengthwise. Trim ends from 1 half and slice crosswise 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick; set aside. Squeeze lemon juice from whole lemon and remaining half lemon into a small bowl. Set aside 1/4 cup lemon juice.

2. Adjust oven rack to middle and heat oven to 200 degrees. Halve each breast horizontally, then cover cutlets with plastic wrap and pound each to even 1/4 inch thickness with meat pounder. Spread flour in a shallow dish. Pat cutlets dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Working with 1 cutlet at a time, dredge cutlets in flour, shaking off excess, and transfer to large platter.

3. Heat 2 tbsp oil in 12 inch skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Place 4 cutlets in skillet and cook until golden brown on first side, about 3 minutes. Using tongs, flip cutlets, then reduce heat to medium and cook until no longer pink and lightly browned on second side, about 2 minutes; transfer cutlets to large ovensafe platter. Repeat with remaining 1/4 cup oil and remaining 8 cutlets in 2 batches. Tent with aluminum foil and transfer to oven to keep warm while making sauce.

4. Add shallot to now-empty skillet and cook over medium heat until fragrant, about 3 seconds. Stir in broth and lemon slices, scraping up any browned bits. Bring to a simmer and cook until reduced to 1/3 cup, about 4 minutes. Stir in capers and reserved lemon juice, bring to simmer, and cook until reduced to 1/3 cup, about 1 minute. Off heat, whisk in butter, 1 piece at a time. Stir in parsley. Pour sauce over chicken and serve immediately.

Pad Thai

Super simple but AMAZING-tasting pad thai! A much lighter, brighter option than take-out. I made them without egg and I did not miss that factor at all. Also swapped peanuts for cashews.

INGREDIENTS:

-4 tbsp. canola oil

-2 garlic cloves

-4 shallots, thinly sliced

-8-10 medium sized fresh prawns, cleaned and deveined OR 8 oz. chicken OR BOTH!

-2 eggs, lightly beaten

-1 pkg. Annie Chun's Pad Thai Rice Noodles (cooked, drained, and rinsed as directed)

-1 cup bean sprouts

SAUCE:

-4 tbsp lime or lemon juice

-3 tbsp fish sauce

-3 tbsp sugar

-1-2 pinches crushed chilies or pepper flakes

GARNISH:

-2 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped

-3 tbsp roasted peanuts, crushed

-3 tbsp scallions, thinly sliced

-1 lime, cut into wedges

DIRECTIONS:

Mix sauce ingredients together. 

Prepare pasta. 

Heat wok or pan over high heat. Add 2 tbsp oil, garlic, shallots, and prawns. Cook until prawns are opaque. Set aside. 

Add remaining 2 tbsp oil and 2 eggs, then scramble. 

Reduce heat to low; add sauce and noodles. Toss until well mixed. Add prawns and bean sprouts. Toss well. Garnish with cilantro, peanuts, scallions, and lime wedges.

Korean Chicken Tacos a la Blue Apron

It's been fun scamming the Hello Fresh/Blue Apron system (getting free trial boxes of ingredients and recipes then canceling immediately) and although Hello Fresh has emerged as the winner in terms of cool recipes, this Blue Apron chicken came out tasty enough that I wanted to preserve it for future reference.

NOTE: Blue Apron thinks all humans eat about 1/4c of food per meal. Proportions are weird, but the recipe yielded enough sauce to coat about 2 chicken breasts, so up to you to determine the ratio of sauce to protein.

INGREDIENTS:

-10oz. chopped chicken breast

-4 tortillas

-1 lb. sweet potato

-1 tsp furikake (sesame seeds and seaweed)

-2 tbsp creme fraiche

-1/2 lb. cabbage

SAUCE:

-2 tbsp black bean sauce (SOOOOO GOOOOOOD)

-1 tbsp gochujang

-1 tbsp rice wine vinegar

-1/4 c sushi sauce

-cornstarch *I recommend adding some while you are cooking the sauce to nicely thicken it up

NUTRITION: 820cal per serving (2 servings total)

DIRECTIONS:

-Roast the sweet potatoes however you want at 450 and garnish with the furikake when done.

-Thinly slice the cabbage and drizzle with half the rice wine vinegar and some olive oil.

-Mix the sauce ingredients together, adding gochujang to taste (try it beforehand--I used about half of it! REALLY good...)

-Chop and cook without stirring to brown the chicken (I used a wok)

-Add the sauce and cook til the sauce is nice and thick (add the corn starch if you want)

-Serve your chicken in the tortillas smeared with creme fraiche (with a little salt sprinkled on it) as well as the cabbage. Stuff the sweet potatoes in there too if you want! Otherwise, just a nice side. 

Roast Chicken

This is kind of straightforward and not too formulaic, but since the NYT Cooking site is pretty inconsistent letting non-payers into the recipe I wanted to record things here...

Recipe

Brine your chicken
For a 3-4 lb bird, use a tsp or 2 of salt, along with other delicious stuff: pepper, paprika, cayenne, garlic, lemon zest, whatever.  Rub it over the chicken, inside and out.  Let it sit for at least an hour, but up to a full day.  You may want to prop it up on something so the moisture doesn't collect in the bottom of the vessel and negate your dry brining efforts...

Once you're ready to cook, a roasting pan with a rack may be best - but in general you want something that elevates the bird and lets heat flow around and under.  Not having the recommended dishware, I've used a baking dish with a later of potatoes, onions, etc.  Pop it in the oven at 450 degrees, 45 minutes to an hour and a half.  It's done when the interior temperature is 165 degrees, you can cut into the thigh and see no more red flesh, and the juices run clear.

Notes

Comes out looking and tasting pretty awesome.  Picture next time!

Crockpot Garlic Parm Chicken

Once I realized this wasn't chicken parm, it looked like an interesting crockpot option.  From here, vaguely garbled via Reddit...

Recipe

2 lbs bone-in chicken thighs
1 lb baby red potatoes, quartered
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
lots of grated Parmesan cheese
parsley, chopped
olive oil, salt & pepper

Heat 1/3 c or so of oil in a large skillet, season your chicken with salt & pepper, and sear golden-brown on both sides, about 3-4 minutes.

In your slow cooker, toss the potatoes with garlic, thyme, some parm, salt & pepper, and a couple tbsps of olive oil.  Chicken goes on top; feel free to toss more, and sprinkle with more garlic and cheese.  Cover and cook on high 4 hours or low 8 hours.  Garnish with more cheese and parsley.

Notes

Browning the chicken takes away from some of the appeal of one-pot crockpot recipes.  But the crispy chicken skin is pretty worth it.

I bumped up the veggie / produce quotient a bit with the remainder of a bag of baby carrots and an onion.

Awesome garlic smell; not so awesome burned crust on my crockpot...

Sesame-Crusted Roast Chicken

(from Godmommy Jen by way of the NY Times)

INGREDIENTS:

1/3 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce or tamari sauce (or, allergen-friendly, Worcestershire sauce)

2 tbsp. toasted sesame oil

2 tbsp. sesame seeds

1 tbsp. grated fresh ginger

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 3 1/2-to-4 lb. whole chicken

1 lb. new yellow or red potatoes, scrubbed and halved 

1/3 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth (optional)

2 tbsp. coarsely chopped parsley (who cares.)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 425. In a small bowl, whisk together soy sauce, 1 tbsp. sesame oil, sesame seeds, ginger, garlic, and 1tsp. freshly cracked black pepper. Set aside. Pat chicken dry, season with 1/4 tsp. salt. Fold legs up over breast and tie legs with 100% cotton kitchen string. Twist wing tips under back. *(I did none of those things ;-p

2. Heat 12-inch cast iron skillet over medium-high heat until very hot, 3 to 5 minutes. Add remaining sesame oil to skillet, heat 30 seconds. Place chicken breast side down in skillet, sear 3 minutes or until golden and crusty. Turn chicken over and sear 3 minutes more. Remove skillet from heat.

3. Scatter potatoes around chicken. Pour soy sauce mixture over chicken and potatoes. Roast 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes until thermometer inserted in thighs reads 175. STIR POTATOES AND SPOON SKILLET DRIPPINGS OVER CHICKEN ONCE OR TWICE DURING COOKING. (If sauce evaporates during roasting, add broth.) Remove skillet from oven, cover chicken, let rest 5 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley before serving (if you're fancy).

NOTES: This is my FAVORITE roast chicken recipe now!! The sauce is SO addicting and the chicken completely soaks it in, not to mention how delish the potatoes get from sitting in all the sauce and juice. 

Roast Chicken & Fennel

Another NYT recipe that's very simple but seems at least somewhat refined?

Recipe

2 bulbs fennel, trimmed and sliced
3 lbs chicken drumsticks and/or thighs
olive oil, salt & pepper, lemon, parsley

Heat oven to 450 degrees.  Toss the fennel generously with olive oil and some salt and pepper, and roast in a layer about 10 minutes.  Season the chicken and put it skin-side up on top, and drizzle a bit more olive oil.  Roast about 30 minutes, basting about halfway through.  Garnish with lemon wedges and parsley.

Notes

It's really too bad I dropped the ball on a photo.  The chicken looked amazing, with crispy brown skin - forgot to take a good pic before digging in.  The fennel was a little watery anyway, still tasty though!  I ate my whole half or so preparation of the recipe, maybe could use some potatoes or noodles or rice to add some bulk.

One-Pot Chicken & Rice

Kicking off something of a one-pot cooking theme...  I don't usually think of the New York Times' Cooking section first for easy recipes, but this one hits a nice balance.

Recipe

1 onion, sliced
1+ lbs chicken (skinless)
3/4 c white rice
olive oil, salt & pepper
extras: saffron, parsley, cilantro, lemon/lime
optional: chicken sausage!

Start to boil 1 1/2 c water, and heat some olive oil medium-high in a skillet.  Cook your onions with some salt & pepper until soft and translucent.  Add the rice and stir until coated in oil.  (Stir in saffron if you're fancy like that.)  Nestle in your chicken, add the boiling water, and cover.  Simmer about 20 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through (very important), rice is soft (somewhat important), and the water has been absorbed/boiled away (not very important).  Garnish and serve!

Notes

Aside from saffron, it's got super simple, straightforward ingredients - and not many!  Not a lot of prep either - just slicing the onion.  I used boneless, skinless thighs, just plopped in whole.  I also added a sprinkle of frozen veggies to round out the food groups.  Fast, easy, not Halal Guys but still tasty!

I didn't get the ratio of liquids quite right so it didn't come out as picturesque as NYT's, but will definitely try again and update with visuals if I do better!

Roast Chicken with Garlic & Shallot Marinade

Having trouble coming up with a less generic name for this recipe; the original was simply Easy Roast Chicken...

Recipe

~8 pieces of chicken, one whole bird broken down or your choice, skin-on/bone-in

3 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp red wine vinegar (or my standby apple cider vinegar)

1 tbsp brown sugar

4 shallots, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

Mix everything into the marinade, and toss in the chicken.  Place chicken in a baking dish skin side up (spooning over extra sauce) and bake at 425 for 30 minutes.  Baste the chicken and flip, and cook another 10 minutes or more until done.

Notes

That sauce is pretty awesome.  I turned up the garlic (to the above amount) and probably the shallot too (what actually counts as one shallot?), and kept spooning sauce over and scooping it up with every bite.  Yeah, pretty awesome.

Vietnamese Caramel Chicken

This was one of the more straightforward recipes to pop up from America's Test Kitchen recently, but still different, and educational I guess...

Recipe

2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs, halved
1 tbsp baking soda
7 tbsp sugar
1/4 c fish sauce
2 tbsp grated ginger
2 tsp cornstarch

1. Mix the baking soda with 1 1/4 c water, and coat the chicken.  Let sit for 15 minutes, then rinse and drain.

2. Mix the sugar with 3 tbsp water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.  Once it's golden, reduce the heat to medium low and swirl until it's dark (and 400 degrees or close to it, if you're equipped to measure it).  Add (carefully) 3/4 c hot water, and dissolve over medium heat.

3. Add your caramel, fish sauce, ginger, and chicken to a skillet, cover, and simmer 30-40 minutes.  Flip the chicken halfway through.

4. Remove the chicken and boil the sauce to reduce it down.  Mix the cornstarch with a tbsp of water, and mix into the sauce to thicken it.  Season with pepper and serve over the chicken and sides.

Notes

Despite the baking soda rigmarole (apparently to protect the juiciness and tenderness), this is actually a pretty simple dish.  Very little prep required - a couple slices of the chicken, some grating of ginger, and I think that's it!  So it leaves you plenty of time for sides - ATK recommends serving with steamed broccoli and white rice.

The recipe promises that the dish is "intensely seasoned."  I was a little underwhelmed, though.  To be fair, I was trying to halve the recipe and kind of eyeballed the fish sauce and ginger.  Not that it wasn't tasty, in an interesting way!  Not nearly as sweet as I expected - I guess I did the caramel pretty well.  I'd probably add some crushed red pepper next time for a little more kick - yes, definitely worth doing again.  (Got lots of sugar & cornstarch to use!)

Chicken with Biscuits

Chicken with Biscuits aka "Chicken Potpie"ish

INGREDIENTS:

Biscuits:
-2 cups gluten free flour
-1/2 tsp xanthan gum
-1 tbsp baking powder
-1/2 tsp salt
-1/2 cup dairy-free, soy-free vegetable shortening, chilled
-1 cup plain vegan yogurt

Filling:
-2 tbsp olive oil
-1 stalk celery
-1/2 cup frozen pearl onions, defrosted
-2 tbsp superfine brown rice flour
-1/4 tsp dried thyme
-pinch of cayenne pepper
-1 cup chicken broth
-1/4 cup rice milk
-salt
-3/4 cup frozen peas and carrots
-2 cups diced cooked chicken
-2 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
-freshly ground pepper
-2 tbsp chopped parsley


DIRECTIONS:

1.) Preheat oven to 475. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2.) To make the biscuits, in a large bowl, whisk together the flour mix, xanthan gum, baking powder, and salt. Cut in the chilled shortening using a pastry blender, two knives, your fingers, until you have pea-sized crumbs. Add the yogurt and stir until just combined, making sure you incorporate the crumbs at the bottom of the bowl.

3.) Flour a work surface lightly with a little gluten-free flour mix and turn out the dough. Gently pat the dough into a 3/4-inch-thick disk, pressing in any loose bits. Don't overhandle the dough.

4.) Use a 2 1/2 inch flour biscuit cutter to cut out the biscuits. Cut them as close together as possible. Gather together the scraps and reshape into a disk and cut out the last couple of biscuits; you will have 8 total. Transfer the biscuits to the baking sheet. Bake in the center of the oven for 20 minutes, until golden.

5.) Meanwhile, make the filling. Heat the olive oil in a heavy pot over medium heat. Add the celery and pearl onions and cook, stirring a few times, for 2 minutes or until slightly softened. Add the brown rice flour to the celery and onions and sprinkle in the thyme and cayenne, and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes, until golden and aromatic. Combine the broth and rice milk in a glass measuring cup and heat for 1 minute in the microwave.

6.) Add the warmed broth-rice milk mixture to the celery and onion mixture a little at a time, stirring vigorously. Add a pinch of salt and cook at a simmer for about 2 minutes, until thickened. Add the peas and carrots, chicken, and lemon juice. Heat through at a simmer, 2 minutes more. Adjust the salt and pepper to taste. Serve over split biscuits with a sprinkling of parsley.


NOTES:

-You don't need a biscuit cutter! Just form loose mounds and let them bake...comes out fine.

Unballed Chicken with Lemon & Kale

Earmarked this recipe for allergy-friendly Boston cookings:

Recipe

2 shallots, minced
1 scallion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1 lb ground chicken
1 lemon, thinly sliced, seeds removed
2 c chicken broth
olive oil
salt & pepper

Heat a tbsp of oil in a pot or large, deep skillet.  Add one shallot, plus the scallion, garlic, and red pepper. Cook until soft and fragrant.  Next, add about a third of the chicken and cook through, breaking up and mixing in.  Transfer to a bowl, and mix in the remaining chicken with some salt and pepper.  Clump into about 8 (soft, loose) meatballs, 2+ inches each.  Wipe out your pot/skillet and heat another tbsp oil, brown your meatballs on all sides, and set them aside.  Cook the lemon with the remaining shallot a couple minutes, then add broth and meatballs back in.  Cover and simmer until meatballs cook through, then add kale and braise about 5 minutes until tender and bright green.  Season, divide, and serve.

Notes

As expected, with no binding agent (egg, bread crumbs, etc.), the meatballs ended up more as loose clumps that either fell apart as we put them in the skillet or would have as soon as we tried to pick them up and turn them.  So, we broke them up and ended up with more of a chili or soup.  And no regrets!  It simplified the process a bit - once the meat is browning, add the lemon, then broth, then kale.  And in the end it was still delicious!  The lemon tang goes great with the meat, and kale is always a nice element.

Chicken Paprikash

I've got a lot of great cookbooks, but a lot of their contents require ingredients I'll never use otherwise or a cooking setup that you just can't get in a simplistic NYC rental kitchen.  In the middle of Cook's Illustrated's selection of awesome-looking but totally impractical (for a single dude apartment-dweller) braised pork, chicken, and beef recipes, though, there's chicken paprikash:

Recipe

4 bone-in chicken thighs
1 tsp vegetable oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 bell pepper, halved widthwise and cut into thin strips
2 tbsp paprika
1/2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp dried marjoram
1/3 c white wine
1 14 oz can tomatoes, drained
1/4 c sour cream
parsley
salt & pepper

Preheat your oven to 300 and heat the oil in a dutch oven over medium-high.  Season the chicken with salt and pepper, and place skin-side down to brown, 5 minutes or so.  Flip and brown the other side, then remove and set aside.  Start browning the onions; when they're most of the way there, add the peppers.  Once browned/softened, add a tbsp and a half of the paprika, flour, and marjoram (if you have it) and stir up for a minute.  Add the wine and scrape up the browned bits; add the tomatoes, a sprinkle of salt, and the chicken.  Cover and cook for about an hour and fifteen minutes.  Lastly, mix up the sour cream and 1/2 tbsp paprika, stir in some warm sauce, and add to the sauce in the dutch oven.  Serve over egg noodles, rice, or mashed potatoes.

Notes

The cookbook did its best to make this recipe look complicated with a lot of different ingredients, but there's not really too much crazy in there.  I don't generally keep marjoram on hand, but otherwise...  the finished product was pretty good!  A lot like a stroganoff, if you like that...  It's nice to crisp the chicken up before braising it.  The recipe tells you to remove the skin once you've done all that work to brown it - but who really minds a little extra grease in the sauce?  Not me!

Chicken Hash

Upstate cooking lab is in full swing.  Today's afternoon session was a nice Martha Stewart brunch option:

Recipe

1/2 a chicken breast, cut into 3/4" cubes
12 oz small red potatoes, boiled and quartered
2 ears-worth corn kernels
1 scallion, thinly sliced
1 jalapeno, minced
4 oz cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 c chicken (or veggie) stock
salt, pepper, evoo

Step zero is to get your potatoes boiling...  Heat a skillet up high.  The first thing in is your chicken; brown for a few minutes, then set aside.  Add a few tsps oil, then the potatoes go in until golden-brown, a few minutes, then set aside.  Add another tsp oil, then the corn, scallion, and jalapeno, just a couple minutes until the corn is dark brown in spots.  Next, add the tomatoes and cook a minute or so.  Then add the stock and chicken, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Add the potatoes, and you're ready to go.

Notes

Martha's hash is a little upscale - you don't just plop things into a skillet one-by-one (or all at once) - you'll have some extra bowls to clean.  That said, this was a really nice one.  Everything browns up nicely to appropriate degrees...  I didn't follow the measurements too closely, eyeballing the amounts for pretty much everything.  Didn't effect the final product.  Fresh corn is a great element (I'm less of a tomato fan, but realize that's just me).  When I added the stock, whoosh it boiled almost immediately, but kept things from drying out too much.  All in all, Martha knows what she's doing.

Crockpot Chicken Curry

Paleo, DIY crockpot curry:

Recipe

1 1/2 lb boneless chicken breasts or thighs, cut into chunks
6 c of chopped veggies, e.g., onion, carrot, green beans, broccoli, tomatoes, red bell pepper
14 oz coconut milk
1 c crushed tomatoes (or tomato sauce)
1 tbsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
salt & pepper

Chop your chicken and veggies and put them in your crockpot.  Add the coconut milk, tomatoes, and spices.  Stir, cover, and cook low for 5-6 hours.  You can uncover for the last hour to help it thicken.

Notes

My spice selection wasn't quite up for the job this time: no coriander, and ran out of cinnamon.  So the end product lacked that distinct curry flavor.  You couldn't tell by the scent, though - the coconut is especially mouth-watering.  And ultimately, the taste was fine.  The chicken is super tender :)  I could do with a little more spice, and I guess coriander.  With the abundant vegetable options, this one's definitely worth keeping in mind.

The original recipe calls it "yellow curry"; mine was clearly a rich orange though:

Spicy Chicken Nuggets

Another recipe from the magic of social networks:

Recipe

1 lb boneless chicken thighs
1 egg
1/3 c milk (buttermilk, almond, etc.)
1 1/2 c bread crumbs
1/2 tsp paprika
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 1/2 tsp additional seasonings (basil, oregano, parsley, etc.)
salt & pepper

Cut the chicken into small pieces.  Whisk together the egg and milk, and let the chicken sit while you mix the dry ingredients.  Shake some of the moisture off of the chicken and roll in the breading.

You have your choice of cooking options: deep fry, shallow fry (a few minutes each side), bake (10 mins at 425?).

The recipe suggests a mix of honey, mustard, and mayonnaise for a sauce.

Notes

I went with a shallow fry, which was a bit tricky in the apartment from an air ventilation standpoint.  The nuggets were barely cooked through before the smoke became an issue.  Very tasty coating, and a lot of it on the small chicken bits.  Here's the much-needed hearty meal with mashed potatoes and baked kale:

Chicken Fajitas

Down the reddit /r/food rabbit hole...  This is the first of a couple cheap & easy dishes:

Recipe

1 large onion
2-3 bell peppers (various colors)
1 lb chicken breast
1 lime
2 tbsp oil

Seasoning
1 tbsp chili powder
1/2 tbsp paprika
1/2 tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp cumin
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

Mix the seasonings together.  Slice the onion, pepper, and chicken into thin slices, and place in a casserole dish.  Sprinkle the seasoning mixture and drizzle the oil over, and mix together until well coated.  Bake for 35-40 minutes at 400 degrees, mixing again halfway through.  Squeeze the juice from half of a lime over everything, and fix as desired - over rice, in tortillas, with sour cream or cheese, whatever.

Notes

This is super easy and, as per the website, cheap.  One main cutting board and dish.  And you don't seem to sacrifice flavor or texture by baking it instead of doing it up in a skillet.  Excellent to do as a big batch for some leftovers too.

Sweet & Spicy Chicken

Gave the top half of this recipe a try - will have to go back again for the sweet potato and bacon fritters.

Recipe

8(-ish) bone-in skin-on chicken thighs
1 tbsp coconut oil

Rub
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp salt

Glaze
1/4 c honey
1/4 c maple syrup
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

Preheat oven to 375.  Combine rub ingredients and get it on the chicken.  Heat the oil high in a cast iron skillet and brown the chicken, a few minutes each side to get the skin crispy.  Then transfer to the oven and cook for about 15 minutes.  Meanwhile combine the glaze ingredients, then brush on the chicken and cook until done (at least 10 more minutes).

Notes

The chicken came out well, but it felt like it could have been crispier and spicier.  Some of that may be on me/something that can be fixed.  Still ended up as a nice meal:

Hummus-Crusted Chicken

We're back after a little bit of a layoff for summer travels and being too hot to cook...  Original recipe here.

Recipe

boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 zucchini, chopped
1 yellow squash, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 lemons
hummus
smoked paprika
olive oil, salt, pepper

Season the chicken with salt and pepper.  Toss the veggies with some olive oil, salt, and pepper.  Put the veggies in a baking dish and the chicken on top.  Cover the chicken with hummus.  Squeeze one lemon over the chicken and veggies, and slice the other and put the slices under the chicken.  Sprinkle the paprika over everything, and pop in the oven at 450 degrees for about half an hour (until done).

Notes

It's interesting that the major flavor here ends up being the lemon in the veggies.  The hummus does add something to the chicken, but maybe slightly underwhelming?

The other advantage of this recipe is that everything goes into one dish.

Final note: The recipe says to cook for 25-30 minutes.  After 40-45, mine was still underdone.  I actually preferred the leftover chicken breast, which I just cooked the hell out of.

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.