Chicken in Milk

Chicken in milk

 

A few weeks a go I came across a recipe for Chicken and Milk by Jaime Oliver.  The recipe used one of my favorite ingredients--a whole chicken.  It seemed simple (code:Lazy) enough for me to try.   It didn't require much more than adding the ingredients to a pot and letting it braise for an hour or so.  It also featured another one of my favorite ingredients-lemon with the addition of the milk--taste buds were anticipating  chicken stewed in a creamy lemon sauce. The sauce was not as creamy as I had anticipated and hoped for, but it was still a great sauce none the less.  While Jaime Oliver's recipe looked amazing, I did add a few of my own touches to the recipe.  I have been reading about the use of lemon leaves, (from a lemon tree), in cooking.  The leaves are usually used in the same way that bay leaves are used. You use them to impart flavor but you never eat them.  If you have a lemon tree, pick two of the most beautiful leaves that you can find, wash them and add them to this dish.  Also be grateful that the next time you trim your lemon tree, you will have an alternative way to use the leaves--you can dry them just like bay leaves! If you don't have a lemon tree call a friend or neighbor who does and ask for a few! Just make sure to ask if they use any pesticides on their tree.   If that attempt fails, just cook this without the lemon leaves. I also added poultry seasoning, I didn't have any fresh sage, which Jaimie's recipe calls for.  The poultry seasoning has sage, so I used it.

 

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Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 1.5 hours mostly non active

 

Ingredients:

5 pound Whole Organic Chicken

10 cloves of garlic (whole no need to remove the skin)

Zest of two lemons (1 Tablespoon of lemon zest)

2 Leaves from a Lemon Tree

3-4 Tablespoons of olive oil

1/2 teaspoon of poultry seasoning

1/2 stick of cinnamon

Sea Salt and Black Pepper to taste

 

Directions: Pre-heat the oven to 375F  Rub the chicken generously with the olive oil, and season with a good amount of sea salt and black pepper.

 

Then Brown both sides of the chicken over medium high heat. Once brown add in the Lemon zest, garlic, poultry seasoning, cinnamon, and milk.  

 

 

Cover the pot with a secure lid, then transfer the pot to the oven and cook for 1.5 hours   Remove from oven. serve and enjoy!

Roast Chicken with Cilantro Pesto

Roast Chicken With Cilantro Pesto

I make roast chicken a lot for my family. Mainly because it's easy, and I know everyone will enjoy it. However, because I make it so often, I am always trying to come up with ways to make it differently, ways in which I can add flavor, this pesto does exactly that. It adds a ton of flavor, but requires minimal extra work. You throw all the ingredients in the blender or a food processor, push a button and it's done! Leftover, pesto, if you have any, can be spread on bread as the condiment to leftover chicken salad sandwiches...talk about yum! If you don't want to roast an entire chicken, you can scale this down and use just 2 chicken breasts, it doesn't matter. I find that buying a whole organic chicken is often less expensive than buying just 2 organic chicken breasts. So I always prefer to save money and buy the whole chicken. I reinvent the leftover chicken into tacos, salad, soup or tostadas.


Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 45 minutes
Total time: 55 minutes

Ingredients:
1 whole Organic Nongmo Air-chilled Chicken
2 cloves of garlic
2-3 Tablespoons of Olive oil
1/2 teaspoon of thyme
Sea salt and black pepper to taste

Ingredients for Cilantro Pesto:
2 cups of cilantro
1/2 cup of olive oil
1/2 cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup of  toasted hazelnuts
Sea salt and black pepper to taste

Directions: Pre-heat the oven to 425F. Season the chicken generously with sea salt and black pepper, then rub it with the garlic and oil. Line a baking dish with foil, place the chicken on it and place it in the oven and cook for 45 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Meanwhile, place all the ingredients for the pesto in a blender or processor, and blend until smooth.  Serve the pesto however you'd like, I smear it on the chicken, with an additional spoonful or two, so that I can dip as I go. It's so delicious!!!! If you haven't read my blog on  How to roast Chicken, Steps to making the perfect roast chicken  now would be a great time. My recipe for  Roast Chicken with Lemon and Garlic works the pesto as well.

Roasted Chicken Thighs with Lemon and Oregano

Roasted Chicken Thighs with Lemon and Oregano

It is officially lemon season! I love lemons, I love the smell of them, the tastes of them, but most of all I love cooking with them. This recipe is perfect for the cold weather we are having here in California. Nothing warms up a house better than roasting chicken, and while I avoid using my stove  11 months of the year, I always love to use it in December. Maybe it's the Christmas season, I don't know, but there is just something about pulling something out of my actual oven  that makes me feel in tune with the season.

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:
4 chicken thighs skin on
1 lemon divided in half with one half sliced thinly into rings and the other half cut into 2 wedges
1/4 cup of onion chopped finely
1 teaspoon of dried oregano
1/8 teaspoon of red pepper flakes
1/4 cup of white wine Sauvignon Blanc
1/2 cup of low sodium chicken stock
1 clove of garlic
3 tablespoons of olive oil
Sea salt & pepper to taste

Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 425 F. Add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil to a skillet. Season chicken with sea salt and black pepper, then add it skin side down to the skillet. Allow to brown, without turning for 10 minutes or until chicken is cooked half  through. Pour off excess oil, maintaining a thin layer of oil in the pan. Place half the lemon slices on the bottom of the pan, and the other half on top of the chicken.  Move the skillet to oven and allow chicken cook through about another 6-8 minutes. Remove chicken  from oven, and transfer to a plate. Add in the onion, oregano, garlic and red pepper flakes to the skillet and let cook for 2 minutes, remove the skillet from the fire, add in the wine and give a quick stir. Return the skillet to the fire  cook for 2 minutes and add the chicken stock cook for another 3 minutes or until the sauce has thickened a bit,  add in the remaining olive oil. Return the chicken to the skillet. At this point you can taste the sauce to see if you need more lemon, I usually add in the juice of one of the two remaining wedges. Add sea salt and black pepper if necessary,  serve and enjoy!

What is your favorite cold weather oven meal?

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