leanKitchen » Chicken

Poultry Roasting Tips

leanKitchen — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 03:21:29 +0000

As I’ve told my readers in the past, I love roasting chickens on Sundays. It’s time spent lazily lounging around with my kids, all of us eagerly anticipating the removal of the bird from the oven so that we can chow!

A couple of tips I’ve learned in my hundreds of Sundays roasting chickens that I’d like to share are:

1. Stuff, but not with stuffing! Let me clarify-to keep the shape while roasting in the oven, you need to stuff the caivty with something-just please, do NOT let it be stuffing! By stuffing with moist aromatics, not only are you infusing the bird with moisture (instead of having your birds juices get pulled into the stuffing instead of the meat), but you’re also infusing with the flavors of the aromatics. My favorites? Onions, oranges, apples, herbs, celery, carrots, and garlic.

The best part? You don’t have to peel the onion, apple, orange. Just stuff ‘the bird, and enjoy the awesome smells all day! If you want stuffing inside, simply remove the aromatics after you’re done cooking the bird, and stuff with your already-prepared stuffing!

2. The Gizzards. We’ve all done it- cooked a chicken or turkey with the plastic or paper bag of gizzards. Ok, maybe I’m one of the only ones, but yeah-I did it. I learned that they make flavorful gravy, but I really didn’t know what that meant. I always used the drippings at the bottom of the pan to make my gravy, so here’s my bright idea:

After stuffing the bird (after rinsing well, drying with paper towels, and salt and peppering the skin generously), put in the roasting pan right along with the bird. This assures the juices you make the gracy with will be extremely flavorful, rich, and delicious! Yum!

Chicken Tenders

leanKitchen — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 01:42:05 +0000

Saturday night, my kids had the desire for chicken tenders. Strangely, so did I.

I preheated the oven to 350, took some chicken breasts ( I cut up about 3 breasts total), and cut them into even sized strips.

Next, I whisked an egg on a flat plate for breading them. On a separate plate, I took about a cup of that green canister powder parmesan cheese, some dry parsley, and mixed that together on the second plate.

I lined a cookie sheet with aluminum foil (shiny side up!), sprayed it well with non-stick spray, and set aside.

I coated the breast in egg, then the parm/parsley mix, and put on the cookie sheet.

Bake until browned, cooked through, and crispy on the outside (30ish minutes), until they look like this:

Beautiful, perfect tenders. Yeah, same concept as the chicken nuggets, but a little different execution.

Dharma Chicken Sausages with Onions and Pineapple

leanKitchen — Mon, 24 May 2010 10:21:00 +0000

SOOO…as many of you know, I am, er…WAS, a HUGE fan of the show LOST. Remember back on day 1 of the last season I made Island Boar with Coconut Rice and Mango Salsa to celebrate? Well, last night there was NO time to spend cooking a big intense dinner; season finale specials lasted pretty much the entire afternoon till 11:30 at night. So, what to do for dinner?

Why, chicken sausages with onions and pineapple, of course!

I took some garlic and onion chicken sausages, put them in a grill pan, made nice grill marks, and sautéed them alongside some fresh pineapple chunks and red onion. Enjoy!!

Goodbye, LOST- thanks for 6 fabulous, intelligent seasons. I’ll miss you!!

Perfect Grilled Chicken

leanKitchen — Thu, 20 May 2010 08:30:14 +0000

As many of you know, my mom passed away a few months back from Cancer. Since then, I’ve done lots of preventative research. I was surprised along the way to read that research shows that charred meats can increase your risk of developing cancer. Lower temperatures, and avoiding charring the meat seems to be the way to go.

So I started grilling my meats in foil, to end direct contact to the heat.

But, I missed was the grill lines!!!

So, here’s what I did:

1. Rinse and paper-towel-dry the chicken. Salt and pepper both sides.

2. Get your hot grill pan (with no oil or anything), and sear the chicken, giving it that nice grill mark without the deep, black char that might be dangerous.

3. On a square of foil, squirt a squeeze of Italian dressing. Top with the seared breast, top with another squirt of dress, fold into a packet, and grill.

After 25-30 minutes wrapped on med hi heat on the grill, remove, till juices run clear. Let it sit on the counter for 15 or so minutes for the juices to redistribute. Your chicken should look like this:

Enjoy this delicious chicken, and worry less about possible grill char!

Lobster, Shrimp, and Scallop Scampi

admin — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 04:35:44 +0000

Scampi, one of my favorites.

While it does have it’s variations from place to place, one thing remains: it typically is shrimp broiled in garlic and butter. A lot of the time, it’s served over pasta. The reduction/sauce usually also contains wine, which I’ve omitted from this recipe.

So to cut corners are far as time went, I bought 1 lb. pre-cooked and shelled lobster (my favorite!), 1/2 pound of cooked shrimp (medium to large, really whatever you like), and 1/4 pound of raw sea scallops. You can use the little ones, I just like mine jumbo! You can also substitute fish, use other seafoods, use raw instead of cooked, etc. to suit your tastes and needs, just be careful. This is shellfish. Keep it in the forefront of your mind to keep the raw stuff TOTALLY separate from the cooked stuff ’till they meet in the skillet, cook the raw seafood first, and add the cooked stuff at the very end to prevent overcooking (as well as cross-contamination).

Scallops, Lobster, and Shrimp

First, I coated the bottom of a heavy-bottomed skillet with olive oil, eye it, but it was roughly 2-3 tbsp. of oil. Turn the heat to medium, and to that, add another 1-2 tablespoons of butter (Yeah, I know, but this serves 4, so you’re not really eating 5 tbsp. of fat…and scampi’s not scampi without the butter!), 2 + cloves of chopped garlic (more or less to your taste- I used 4 or 5 cloves, ’cause I love it!).

When the butter is fully melted, add the chopped garlic. This infuses the butter with the garlicky goodness! When it starts to slightly bubble, add the scallops gently to the pan. Before you add the scallops, however, you need to rinse them, paper towel them, and sea-salt-and fresh-cracked-black-pepper both sides.

Scallops in Olive oil and Butter with garlic

To that, you next add and 1/4 of a red onion, diced small, that you have prepped and waiting on the side, plus the pre-cooked (and re-rinsed and paper-toweled previous to adding to the skillet) shrimp and lobster. In the event that the oil/butter mixture starts to reduce too much, add more drizzles of oil. You don’t want this to cook hard, you’ll want gentle heat, so that the seafood doesn’t overcook, you don’t burn your garlic, and the liquid doesn’t reduce too much or too fast! Your goal here is to keep the liquid part as semi-clear and pale as possible, not burnt/dark orange. The butter will burn if too much is used, hence why the higher concentration of oil to butter.

Only keep the shrimp and lobster in long enough to warm through-basically, add to the pan, cover, and remove from the heat after a few quick stirs. Mine looked like this:

Ready to put on the Spagetti Squash!

Next, take your spagetti squash out of the microwave (that you’ve prepared using this technique), put it in a serving dish or bowl, and top with the scampied seafood with some fresh chopped parsley, and small strips of sundried tomatoes.

Seafood Scampi

This was unbelievably delicious, with a hint of decadence, while staying true to supportive eating. You can top with cheese, and add any other add-in’s you’d like (black olives, spinach, artichokes, etc.). This was a HUGE hit in my house.

Don’t like seafood? My mom didn’t, either. You could definitely subsitute chicken or veggies here, and serve the same way!

Bon Appetit’!

(Oh, and while we’re on the subject of garlic, do you want to know my method of easily peeling the skins? Click here to see how the leanKitchen does it!)

Cranberry Chicken Walnut Salad

admin — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 10:26:31 +0000

This weekend was wonderful! I took an overnight trip to Burlington, and got to try all sorts of wonderful food. I had the most wonderful dinner (escargot with garlic and Gruyère, Petit Sirloin with Garlic Shrimp with Roasted Asparagus, and for dessert, a creamy, delicious, and decadent vanilla bean Creme Brulee) at the Windjammer Restaraunt in Burlington, Vermont. It was amazing. For breakfast this morning, I had another incredible meal, a gourmet treat; the breakfast buffet at G’s Restaurant, also in Burlington. Both highly recommended, fantastic, superb meals!

But on the unexpected journey to Burlington, I stopped at a deli, where they had freshly prepared salads. Trying to keep my food choice supportive, I opted for a Cranberry Chicken salad. It gave me inspiration to come home and try it myself! It was made with onions and mayo, but I did a little bit of a switcheroo, and did a few things different..all I can say is, “Yum!”

First, I took 1/3 cup of dried cranberries (if you can find the ones without sugar at the health food store, use those!), and mixed them into a big bowl with a 6 oz. container of Chobani plain yogurt. This softens/constitutes/plumps the cranberries. Make sure to coat the berries completely so that the plump-up will happen!

Cranberries with Chobani

Cranberries and Yogurt

Next, as always on Sundays, I poached some chicken (3 breasts)and diced it up. I cut up 2 stalks of celery, 1/3 cup of chopped walnuts, salt and pepper, and a smidge of celery salt.

: Cranberry Walnut Chicken Salad

This was a delicious, supportive treat, with lots of different textures, flavors, and a sweet and salty mix. So fantastic!

To the Windjammer and G’s; thanks for giving me such a food-centric, tastebud-popping, and enjoyable weekend.

Chicken "Noodle" Skillet Soup

leanKitchen — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 23:56:34 +0000

I hate sore throats.

Every year since I was 7, I get a sore throat which consequently turns into laryngitis. I lose my voice for a week twice a year, usually in the Spring, and once in winter, without fail. My kids love those two weeks : )

Last Friday, I woke up with the sorest throat. I had some veggies and some yummy broth to use up, so I started by cutting up 2 carrots and 2 ribs of celery (I used big, organic, garden-fresh carrots and celery from the local food co-op-YUM!), plus half a red onion (use whatever-this is what I had in the fridge). I put olive oil in the skillet (enough to cover the bottom), and turned the stove on to medium high heat. I took one breast of chicken, rinsed it, paper-toweled it off, covered it with salt and pepper on both sides, and seared both sides. When it’s on the second side, I added the carrots, celery and onions (the trifecta of soup veggies, if you ask me!) until they were colored and carmelized.

Chicken and Veggies

When the veggies were nice and carmelized, and the chicken had cooked a little, I removed the breast of chicken (allowing more saute time for the veggies, as well) and cut it into chunks. I added a 32 ounce carton of chicken broth (for this I used some awesome free-range, low sodium, full-flavored, incredible chicken stock) right to the skillet. Next, add the chicken back to the broth, bring to a boil, then simmer till chicken is cooked through.

Simmering Skillet Soup

Next I have a great tip: if you have kids, or partners who eat pasta or rice in their soup, boil a SEPARATE pot to cook the noodles or rice in, then take it out and put it next to the soup for them to add themselves. This is great for two reasons: 1. I like my pasta al dente’ and I used to hate soggy noodles in soup and 2. If you’re a non-starchy-carb eater, YOU GET THE HEALTHY CHICKEN “NOODLE” SOUP WITHOUT THE NOODLES!

Chicken "Noodle" Skillet Soup

Score!

And the good news, albeit probably not for my kids? I still have a voice ; – )

The Tale of 2 "Chicken" Nuggets

leanKitchen — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 01:12:04 +0000

Once upon a time, there was a Princess who made her opinion very well known. A haughty, beautiful, very opinionated young lady, fear gripped those who dared cross her. She had sass, attitude, and was two years old. All the terrible two’s had to offer was at the very disposal of her Mommy.

Tonight, here was the conversation with my daughter (who happens to be the Princess in this Fairy Tale)

Me: What do you want for dinner?

Jasmine: Chicken Nuggets.

Me: Nope.

Jasmine: Yes! (More like a shrill, high-pitched scream that only dogs can hear)

Me: No.

Jasmine: Yes!!!! (Again, the shriek shatters windows)

This ridiculous banter goes on for a couple of minutes until I realize..you know…I’m going to make her chicken nuggets! I WILL win this battle! I will!! But how…trickery, magic, something.

I picked up a package of ground turkey, got home, and microwaved a cup and 1/4 of broccoli for 1 minute 45 seconds. I drained it well, and dumped that and the ground turkey in the food processor:

Ground Turkey with Broccoli

Next, I oiled (olive) a piece of foil, put it on a cookie sheet, heated the oven to 425 degrees, and made nuggets. I made sort of a meatball, and smooshed/flattened (very technical terms, I know) into a nugget shape, then dipped in egg, Parmesan cheese (the powdered kind from a container that I don’t ever use, but worked well for this) mixed with dried parsley (for color more than anything) and put on the oiled foil.

Nuggets, ready to bake!

Next, I baked for 25-30 minutes, without turning, till they were brown and cooked through.

Broccoli Chicken Nuggets

Wow!!! They looked really comparable…

and the Princess??

waiting for the Princess' decision...

..silence grips the land, as the Princess decides whether she enjoys the nugget…everyone waits with bated breath until:

It's a HIT!!!

The Princess has spoken!!!!! And, she is pleased!!! This makes a very happy little girl, and an even happier Mommy!

Cheers grip the land, birds chirp, the sun shines, and butterflies fly in bliss throughout the land. It is peaceful again.

And we all lived happily ever after (well, ’till bathtime.. and that’s another story!)

Carrot Ginger and Chicken Soup

leanKitchen — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 03:21:45 +0000

As many of you know, my favorite food is SOUP! One of my all-time favorite soups is carrot ginger. Because it’s basically veggies and broth, it’s not supportive, as there’s no lean protein. Well, I changed that!

First, I softened 3 cloves of garlic, 2 onions, a 1 one or two inch peice of ginger, and roughly ten carrots (don’t bother peeling, I just washed and chopped) in about 4 tbsp. of olive oil.

Carrots, Ginger, Onions, and Garlic

Once soft, add a 32 oz jug of low sodium chicken broth:

Simmering in Chicken Broth

once the carrots are thoroughly cooked through, puree (either with an immersion blender or in a regular blender), and add back to the pot.

I pre-cook my proteins on Sundays, so I had some chicken breasts in the freezer. I took 1-1/2 breasts out, thawed, chopped up, and added to the puree.

It looked like this:

Carrot Ginger Chicken Soup

Super-fast, super-delicious, and super, super flavorful. Give this one a try, you won’t be sorry. Yum!!!

And for all my vegetarian friends, simply omit the chicken and subsititute chicken broth for vegetable broth.

P.S – No clue what’s in this picture, pretty sure it was a scratch in my camera, because I know it’s not a hair in my soup!

P.P.S- Hallie brings up a good question in the comments section below. Read what she has to say, and the response.

Spaghetti Night

leanKitchen — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 01:14:03 +0000

It’s pasta night here in the leanKitchen, as I have some spaghetti-lovin’ kiddo’s in my house. I thought that tonight, it would be fun trying to pull the wool over their eyes. So I started by poking some holes all over a whole Spaghetti Squash:

Spaghetti Squash-Pokin' Holes

Next, I stuck it in the microwave for 9 minutes, took it out and cut it in half. Here’s how it looked:

Cooked Spaghetti Squash, cut in half

I scooped out the seeds and was left with this:

Forkin' out the "Spaghetti"

….and THAT’s the moment I knew, this scandalous trick, this slight of hand, this Tomfoolery was gonna work. My kids were gonna fall for this one hook line and sinker.

Next up, the sauce. I’ve gotta tell you, I don’t love regular canned/jarred sauce for two reasons. These are 1. all the added sugar and carbs, and 2. the preservatives. I also wanted to make it supportive by adding a protein source, so I took some chicken sausages (I used Bilinski’s All Natural Chicken Sausage – Spinach and Garlic flavored) cooked ‘em up nicely in a hot frying pan (no oil) till they were cooked through, then covered them with 2 cans of stewed tomatoes, and turned off the burner. Because the pan was already hot, it warmed the sauce without burning it. I typically use the most natural tomatoes I could find, with just tomatoes and water. The one I used tonight was the “Italian style,” so it also had basil, onion, and garlic.

Pasta Sauce

I used a fork to scrape the squash out, topped with the sauce and shredded cheese, and put some bread on the side (kids are used to bread with their pasta) and …ummm…I couldn’t tell the difference!!! I sure as heck didn’t think they could!

Pasta night in the leanKitchen!

So I put it in front of them, watching, waiting. They knew something was up (well, I had a camera in their faces, so that could be why), but had no clue what it was…

The Princess is fooled...

: …and the Prince twirls it like real Spaghetti!

..and continued to clean their plates. Ahhh. And while they always eat their veggies anyway, it always feels good when you know you’re giving your kids the best!