Hey, it’s the first French Fridays with Dorie of 2012 (for me, anyway)! And this week….M. Jacques Armagnac Chicken. This is a pretty easy and delicious weeknight dinner. I typically prefer roasted-type birds with golden, crackly skin, but to its credit, this was one helluva moist bird. And, with the new year’s resolutions and all, it’s probably best to not be tempted to eat all that tasty, golden, crackly skin.

Notes:

1. My bird was about 2.75 pounds and I roasted it for 55 minutes. It came out perfectly done and super moist. 2. I used a mix of gold, red and purple potatoes and two rosemary sprigs (no thyme). 3. I added garlic to the pot (duh). 4. I only had fairly cheap brandy. I used that, although, I did contemplate using some marsala wine instead. The cheap brandy seemed to work fine. 5. I wish I had salted . . . → Read More: FFwD: M. Jacques Armagnac Chicken]]>

Hey, it’s the first French Fridays with Dorie of 2012 (for me, anyway)! And this week….M. Jacques Armagnac Chicken. This is a pretty easy and delicious weeknight dinner. I typically prefer roasted-type birds with golden, crackly skin, but to its credit, this was one helluva moist bird. And, with the new year’s resolutions and all, it’s probably best to not be tempted to eat all that tasty, golden, crackly skin.

Notes:

1. My bird was about 2.75 pounds and I roasted it for 55 minutes. It came out perfectly done and super moist.
2. I used a mix of gold, red and purple potatoes and two rosemary sprigs (no thyme).
3. I added garlic to the pot (duh).
4. I only had fairly cheap brandy. I used that, although, I did contemplate using some marsala wine instead. The cheap brandy seemed to work fine.
5. I wish I had salted everything just a smidge more.

Okay, onward to the photos and here’s a link to everyone’s chicken posts.

Onions, carrots, potatoes and rosemary in the pot. Is there room for the chicken?

Yes. If it’s tiny. Notice the sliced garlic cloves.

I put foil around my lid nob knob just in case it wouldn’t be oven-safe at 450 degrees F.

After almost an hour…chicken-y deliciousness.

After removing the chicken and adding water (if I had any chicken stock on hand, I would have used that, I think).

Oh look how moist the white meat is!

Plated and ready for dinner.

I’d like to begin this post by admitting that I am turkey-challenged. It’s the one thing that I can’t seem to have come out right, ever…until now. Yes, I devoted a whole weekend in December to finding a turkey recipe that I could make and have work. And while this one wasn’t perfect, (it wasn’t quite as moist as I was hoping for — that was my own fault for not checking it about 10 minutes earlier), it was pretty damn good.

It was the moistest turkey I’ve ever made (yes, I realize that’s not saying a lot). But, seriously, I almost can’t wait until next Thanksgiving to pop this one out of the kitchen to cheers and gasps of amazement. Even jwa, who is not a big fan of turkey, thought this was “pretty good.” Hey, I’ll take it.

And the sauce. Oh my . . . → Read More: Cranberry-Molasses Glazed Turkey]]>

I’d like to begin this post by admitting that I am turkey-challenged. It’s the one thing that I can’t seem to have come out right, ever…until now. Yes, I devoted a whole weekend in December to finding a turkey recipe that I could make and have work. And while this one wasn’t perfect, (it wasn’t quite as moist as I was hoping for — that was my own fault for not checking it about 10 minutes earlier), it was pretty damn good.

It was the moistest turkey I’ve ever made (yes, I realize that’s not saying a lot). But, seriously, I almost can’t wait until next Thanksgiving to pop this one out of the kitchen to cheers and gasps of amazement. Even jwa, who is not a big fan of turkey, thought this was “pretty good.” Hey, I’ll take it.

And the sauce. Oh my god, the sauce. I seriously could have slurped that down with a straw.

So, come next Thanksgiving, if I am making a feast, I will be making a turkey (is it wrong to have even started a menu? This, with smoked gouda mashed potatoes and some kind of sauteed greens to start).

I’m so happy to finally have a turkey recipe even I can’t ruin. Plus, a big bonus with this turkey is that it can sit out, after the initial roasting, for 30 minutes to 1.5 hours. That’s oven time you can use for something else! Something baked and cheesy! Yay!

There’s not as many pictures here because turkey-makin’ is hard work.

Cranberry-Molasses Glazed Turkey
Adapted from a recipe in Cook’s Illustrated.
1 (12- to 14-pound) turkey, giblets and neck removed and reserved for another use
2 tbsp + 2 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp ground black pepper
2 tsp baking powder
2 large onions, peeled and halved
Glaze
3 cups apple cider
1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries
1/2 cup mild molasses
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
2 tbsp unsalted butter

Okay, the first part is: butterfly the turkey. This basically means you use kitchen shears or a knife and cut out the back bone (I’ve found this to be pretty easy with shears). If you’ve done this to a chicken before, it’s pretty much the same, just bigger. You’ll need a big work surface, because it may get messy. After you’ve got the back bone out, flip it over and push down on the breast area to flatten it out a bit. *crack* Done. Here’s a video that shows how to do it pretty well.

Using your fingers, carefully separate skin from thighs and breast. Using a skewer or fork, poke 15 to 20 holes in fat deposits on breast halves and thighs. Rub bone side (what was the inside of the turkey) evenly with 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper.

Flip turkey skin side up and rub 1 tablespoon salt evenly under skin. Tuck wings under turkey. Tie legs together with kitchen twine, so that they are kind of pushed up and resting a bit on the lower portion of breast.

Combine remaining tablespoon salt, remaining teaspoon pepper, and baking powder in small bowl. Pat skin side of turkey dry with paper towels. Sprinkle surface of turkey with baking powder mixture and rub in mixture with hands, coating skin evenly. Transfer turkey to large roasting pan, skin side up. Place 1 onion half under each breast and thigh to elevate turkey off bottom of roasting pan. Allow turkey to stand at room temperature 1 hour.

Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 275 degrees F. Roast turkey until instant-read thermometer registers 160 degrees when inserted in thickest part of breast and 170 degrees in thickest part of thigh, about 2½ to 3 hours (start checking after 2 hours because you never know). I had a 12lb bird and mine took about 2 hours and 45 minutes to get to 169 in the breast. Yeah, I know, a little too done. I had it up on a rack, though, so I think it cooked fairly quick. Next time, I will use the onions and keep the bird down in the pan a little bit more.

Remove roasting pan from oven and allow turkey to rest in pan for at least 30 minutes or up to 1½ hours. Thirty minutes before returning turkey to oven, increase oven temperature to 450 degrees.

While turkey rests, bring cider, cranberries, molasses, vinegar, mustard, and ginger to boil in medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until reduced to 1½ cups, about 30 minutes.

Strain mixture through fine-mesh strainer into 2-cup liquid measuring cup, pressing on solids to extract as much liquid as possible and discard solids. Transfer ½ cup glaze to small saucepan and set aside.

Brush turkey with one-third of glaze in measuring cup, transfer to oven, and roast 7 minutes. Brush on half of remaining glaze in measuring cup and roast additional 7 minutes. Brush on remaining glaze in measuring cup and roast until skin is evenly browned and crispy, 7 to 10 minutes. Transfer turkey to cutting board and let rest 20 minutes. Now, when I did this, my turkey started getting quite dark, so I only did two 7-minute cycles of the glaze (using all the rest of the glaze, on the 2nd pass).

While turkey rests, remove onions from roasting pan and discard. Strain liquid from pan through fine-mesh strainer into fat separator (you should have about 2 cups liquid). Allow liquid to settle 5 minutes, then pour into saucepan with reserved glaze, discarding any remaining fat. Bring mixture to boil over medium-high heat and cook until slightly syrupy, about 10 minutes. You will taste it and say, “Oh geez. That’s just really fucking good.” Then you may taste it again, just to make sure. Yeah, if you keep doing that, you will taste it about ten times. Just stop. It’s good. Save it for the turkey.

Remove pan from heat and whisk in butter. Butter! It gets even better! Carve turkey and serve, passing sauce separately.

It seems like I hardly ever sit around on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon anymore and watch cooking shows. I used to do that all the time. Now, meh. I should really try to get back in the habit of doing that, as I feel like I’ve been in a little bit of a food rut lately.

Now this recipe…this is what happens when I actually see something on a cooking show and right then, go out and get what I need to make it. Except, in this case, I forgot limes. Thankfully, I found an orange in the fridge that I used as a substitute. And, although I think that limes would work really well in this recipe (duh), I have to admit, the orange was quite nice. A little sweeter, but it complimented the tomatillos and jalapeno well.

Plus, this is seriously some braising . . . → Read More: Braised Chicken with Tomatillos and Jalapenos]]>

It seems like I hardly ever sit around on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon anymore and watch cooking shows. I used to do that all the time. Now, meh. I should really try to get back in the habit of doing that, as I feel like I’ve been in a little bit of a food rut lately.

Now this recipe…this is what happens when I actually see something on a cooking show and right then, go out and get what I need to make it. Except, in this case, I forgot limes. Thankfully, I found an orange in the fridge that I used as a substitute. And, although I think that limes would work really well in this recipe (duh), I have to admit, the orange was quite nice. A little sweeter, but it complimented the tomatillos and jalapeno well.

Plus, this is seriously some braising weather lately. Go braise something! Why not this?

Braised Chicken with Tomatillos and Jalapenos
Adapted from a recipe by Anne Burrell (she with the crazy hair). Serves two as written below. Double it up and you’ve got lunches for the next day as well!
3 tomatillos, husked
1 jalapeno pepper
Extra-virgin olive oil
4 chicken drumsticks
Kosher salt and black pepper
1 medium white onion, cut into 1/4-inch dice
1 carrot, peeled and diced
1 green bell epepper, cored and diced
3 cloves garlic, smashed and finely chopped
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 orange, zested and juiced
2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro, plus a few more leaves for garnish

Citrus Sour Cream:
1/4 cup sour cream
1 limes (or 1/2 orange), zested and juiced

Place the tomatillos and jalapenos on a foil lined baking sheet and put under the boiler, turning as needed, until charred and black. When they are done, remove and put in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap or foil to steam. After a few minutes, you should be able to peel the blackened skins off. Chop the tomatillos and jalapeno (removing some of the jalapeno seeds, if you want it less spicy).

Coat a large, wide straight-sided saute pan with olive oil and bring to medium-high heat. Sprinkle the chicken generously with salt. Add the chicken legs to the hot pan. Brown the chicken well on all sides. Remove from the pan and reserve.

Remove any excess fat from the pan and add a few drops of new oil. Add the onion, bell pepper and carrot, season with salt and cook 7 to 8 minutes. Add the garlic to the pan and continue cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Next, add the reserved tomatillos and jalapenos. Stir to combine and add the chicken stock, orange juice and zest. Taste and season with pepper and more salt if needed. Return the chicken to the pan and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cover. Cook for 15 minutes. Remove the lid and let cook for 15 more minutes, allowing the sauce to reduce. Taste for seasoning and adjust if needed.

For the sour cream: Combine the sour cream with the lime (or orange) zest and juice.

To serve: Remove the chicken from the pan and stir in the cilantro. Spoon the sauce over the chicken, sprinkle with cilantro leaves and serve with the citrus sour cream.

I have really been looking forward to this week’s French Fridays with Dorie as I love duck and I hardly ever cook it at home. I had no idea it could come together so quickly. Although, I think the reason I never make duck at home is that a). it seems expensive — my frozen duck breast was about 1lb and $14 and b.) jwa’s not crazy about duck. But, I made this anyway (haha!) and he liked it and so did I.

Notes: 1. I sliced the breast in half before cooking, figuring it would cook a little faster (more in line with the directions). So, each piece was about 8 oz. 2. I did the 8 minutes on the skin side and then let them go for about 4.5 minutes on the 2nd side and I got nicely medium-rare duck. 3. A splatter screen was a really . . . → Read More: FFwD: Twenty Minute Honey-Glazed Duck Breasts]]>

I have really been looking forward to this week’s French Fridays with Dorie as I love duck and I hardly ever cook it at home. I had no idea it could come together so quickly. Although, I think the reason I never make duck at home is that a). it seems expensive — my frozen duck breast was about 1lb and $14 and b.) jwa’s not crazy about duck. But, I made this anyway (haha!) and he liked it and so did I.

Notes:
1. I sliced the breast in half before cooking, figuring it would cook a little faster (more in line with the directions). So, each piece was about 8 oz.
2. I did the 8 minutes on the skin side and then let them go for about 4.5 minutes on the 2nd side and I got nicely medium-rare duck.
3. A splatter screen was a really valuable thing to have here.
4. Honey, balsamic and lime juice FTW!!!
5. On the side we had roasted sweet potatoes and a kale, lemon and Parmesan salad.
6. Great Tuesday night meal! I think the sweet potatoes took the longest amount of time to make.
7. Excuse the blurring, but I did manage to get some duck fat on my camera lens!
8. Am I the only one who saved the poured-off duck fat for roasting potatoes this weekend?

On to the photos and here’s a link to everyone’s posts.

Scored duck, ready for the pan.

Skin side down in the hot Dutch French oven.

The back-up players.

Mmmmm…duck fat…

Balsamic, honey and lime juice.

Duck after a brief rest in the 250 degreee toaster oven.

All the accumulated resting juices…destined for the pot.

Almost ready.

Plated and ready to eat!

The flavor of these chicken pot pies is really deep and delightful and I took the advice of a lot of the posters on epicurious and doubled up on the spices. I also opted to use puff pastry as I had some in the freezer and this seemed like as good of a use as any. These turned out so well that I made then twice in one month.

As with any topping application of puff pastry, I’ve learned it give it a few minutes head start on a baking sheet, then flip it over and top it on whatever it’s a lid for. You only need to bite through uncooked, doughy puff pastry once before you develop a workaround.

This is like a really fragrant, tasty tagine topped with puffy, golden dough. How could it not be delicious?

Moroccan Chicken Pot Pies Recipe adapted . . . → Read More: Perfect for Fall: Moroccan Chicken Pot Pies]]>

The flavor of these chicken pot pies is really deep and delightful and I took the advice of a lot of the posters on epicurious and doubled up on the spices. I also opted to use puff pastry as I had some in the freezer and this seemed like as good of a use as any. These turned out so well that I made then twice in one month.

As with any topping application of puff pastry, I’ve learned it give it a few minutes head start on a baking sheet, then flip it over and top it on whatever it’s a lid for. You only need to bite through uncooked, doughy puff pastry once before you develop a workaround.

This is like a really fragrant, tasty tagine topped with puffy, golden dough. How could it not be delicious?

Moroccan Chicken Pot Pies
Recipe adapted from Bon Appétit magazine — makes four individual pie or one large one.
1 lb skinless boneless chicken breast halves, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 tsp smoked paprika
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 lemon
3 tbsp butter
1 large onion, diced (I used a red onion)
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 red bell pepper, cored and diced
1 cup imported green olives, pitted, coarsely chopped
1/3 cup golden raisins
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 cup low-salt chicken broth
1 sheet of Puff Pastry, defrosted

Preheat oven to 425°F. Mix chicken cubes with paprika, cumin, and cinnamon in large bowl to coat. Sprinkle chicken generously with salt and pepper. Let sit about 20 minutes at room temperature.

Cut lemon in half; squeeze juice and add to chicken mixture; stir to blend.

Melt butter in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, olives, garlic, bell pepper and raisins. Sauté until onion is almost tender, about 4 minutes.

Add chicken mixture and stir 1 minute. Sprinkle flour over; stir 1 minute. Add broth and bring to boil, stirring occasionally.

Transfer filling to four individual oven-proof containers or a 9-inch-diameter deep-dish glass pie dish.

From the puff pastry sheet, cut out puff pastry lids for your individual containers (or trim a large circle for a single pie dish). If you have lids you can trace around do that, otherwise you can cut around the containers before you fill them. Also, remember there will be pastry shrinkage. I always seem to forget about that…

When I am using puff pastry for a topping like this, I like to give it a head start. It’s a lot easier to get it cooked all the way through this way. Lay your puff pastry out on a parchment-covered baking tray and bake for about 10 minutes alongside the vessels of Moroccan chicken goodness.

Then take it all out and top the pot pies with the semi-puffed pastry, sprinkle the tops with a little extra paprika, return to the oven and continue baking for about 20 more minutes.

Serve with perhaps an arugula salad on the side? Yes, I think so.

It’s also really delicious served with a little garlicky yogurt on the side that you can stir into the pot pie as you eat it!