Easy crispy chicken breast with little cleanup

Boneless, skinless chicken breasts were on sale this week for $1.99 a pound, so although that's not my preferred form of chicken, I bought a tray of them. 

I learned a while back that rice flour makes a nice coating for chicken (or other meats) that doesn't get as gloppy as flour coatings but still helps hold in the moisture. 

For two plump chicken breasts:

Put into a plastic bag, like an empty bread bag, that you save for re-use like this! 

• about a cup of brown rice flour
• 1 tsp  salt
• about 1/2 tsp each paprika, ancho chili powder, white pepper. Use any other herbs and spices you like.

Break an egg into a bowl that is big enough to hold at least one chicken breast at a time. Stir the egg with a fork.

Put each chicken breast into the egg to coat it, then one at a time into the bag. Shake the bag to make sure the breast gets fully coated.

Turn on the oven to 350F. 

On the stovetop, heat a cast iron skillet, and pour in enough vegetable oil to coat the bottom of the skillet to about 1/4 to 1/2 inch. Place the chicken in the skillet and brown on each side about 4 minutes -- but use your eyes, not just a timer! Use tongs to carefully flip them over to avoid splatter. 

Then turn off the burner and slide the skillet into the oven. Cook for approximately 25 minutes, or until internal temp is 165F.

Remove from oven. Put chicken on a platter or dish and let rest 10 minutes before slicing.

 

 Easy spicy chicken thighs

 When chicken is on sale, I can't resist. This is an easy way. 

Ingredients: 

• Chicken thighs. I used 5 of the skinless bone-in ones. Use whatever's on sale!
• Rice flour, about half a cup. If you don't have it, use cornstarch. If you don't have it, use flour. 
• An egg.
• Chili sauce, about 2 Tablespoons (see note*)
• soy sauce, about 1 tsp
• salt (optional, but c'mon)  and pepper
• cooking oil, about a tablespoon -- enough to cover the bottom of the pan you are using
• water or broth or wine or beer, about half a cup -- enough to cover the bottom of the pan to about 1/2 inch.

Implements: 

Cast iron "chicken fryer" or Dutch oven or other burner-to-oven vessel large enough to hold the number of chicken thighs you are using, but see note**

baking sheet or a platter

2 pie pans or wide bowls or one of each

Procedure

Salt the chicken. Or not. Add pepper, or not.

Put the rice flour in one  or pie pan and the egg and soy sauce in the other.*** Mix the egg with a fork. Dip each chicken thigh in the egg mixture, then in the rice flour, and transfer to the baking sheet/platter.

Set the oven to 375F. 

Heat the oil in the cast iron pan over high heat. When it's hot, add the chicken thighs, in two batches if necessary to avoid crowding the pan. After about 5 minutes, check for brownness and if it's there, flip them over for another 3 or 4 minutes. (If you have to work in batches, I'm fine with putting the browned ones back on the baking sheet where the raw ones were because they are going to be cooking at 375F.)

Put all of the browned chicken pieces back in the pan and spoon in the chili sauce and whatever liquid you have chosen.

 Put in the oven, which should have hit 375 by now. Set timer for 30 minutes. If you are going to serve with rice or noodles****, this would be a good time to prepare them. 

Notes: 

 * I used Chili Garlic sauce that is apparently "Vietnamese style," but there are dozens of kinds of garlic sauce, ranging from sweet and mild to hot. Start mild unless you know you like fire. You can always add hot sauce. If I were using regular sweet chili sauce, I would probably add garlic to it at least.

**If your skillet isn't ovenproof (sometimes handles aren't) or your ovenproof casserole dish isn't suitable for stovetop cooking, you could actually cook the chicken right on the baking sheet. Careful with the water, though -- you might not be able to use as much, therefore you will have less sauce at the end. 

***I use rice flour, if I have it, or cornstarch, which I always have, because it produces a lighter "breading," more like tempura. Also, it's less messy than the flour-egg-breadcrumb breading that one typically uses on fried chicken. You do you.

****I love having this with buttered egg noodles. Lots of butter. The starch at butter seem to meld really well with the spiciness of the chili-garlic paste.
 

 

Clearly, you could add any number of veggies to this, including onions and bell peppers, or even cashews. 

 

Hoppin’ John

Adapted from Southern Living

Active time 25 minutes

Total time: 1 hr 30 minutes plus soaking time for peas/beans

Servings: 6 very generous – makes 3+ quarts

 

Ingredients:

6 slices thick-cut bacon, chopped

2-4 celery sticks, chopped (about 1-1/2 cups)

1 medium yellow nion chopped (about 1-1/2 cups)

1 red bell pepper, chopped (about 1 cup)

3-4 garlic cloves, chopped

1 tsp fresh thyme, chopped, or ½ tsp dried thyme

½ tsp black pepper or to taste

¼ tsp each of smoked paprika, ancho chili powder, chipotle chili powder and cayenne (adjust to preferences, taste)

1-1/2 tsp kosher salt

8 cups ham stock (use chicken stock if ham stock not available)

1 lb. dried black-eyed peas or cow peas (if available), soaked/prepared as directed; or use fresh or canned, 4 cups

1-1/2 cups long-grain white rice, preferably Carolina Gold

1-2 T additional bacon grease or vegetable oil if needed

 

Directions:

If using dried peas or beans, soak as directed on package; generally that’s using a big pot of boiling water, boiling for 3 to 5 minutes, then cover and let sit for an hour.  This gives you time to chop the vegetables. Be sure to drain and rinse the peas.

 

In a big Dutch oven, cook the bacon and as it releases fat, “sweat’ the celery, onions and pepper in the bacon grease. Add the salt and spices.

Add the rice and “toast” it just until edges start to turn translucent, 3 to 4 minutes.

 

Add the broth and peas and bring to a boil, stirring a bit to make sure rice doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot. Reduce heat to simmer and simmer until peas are tender, about 40 minutes.

 

Keep an eye on the liquid and add more if mixture is getting too dry as the rice absorbs liquid – but it doesn’t need to be soupy!

 

Serve with cornbread and cooked collard (or other) greens.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Buvette Warm Chicken Salad

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 55 minutes

Servings: 6

 

Ingredients

For the Chicken:

• One 3-to-4-pound chicken
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon ground fennel seeds (note from Pat: I despise fennel, so I leave these out, but thought I should include in the recipe, for the sake of those who like the anise/licorice flavor)
• 1 tablespoon Herbes de Provence
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste, but don't be stingy!
  

For the Dressing:

• ½ cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
• 1 tablespoon warm water
• ½ tablespoon Dijon mustard
• ½ tablespoon whole-grain mustard
• ½ teaspoon minced thyme
• 1 shallot, minced
• 1 garlic clove, grated
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

For the Salad:

• 12 ounces baby new potatoes
• 6 ounces haricots verts, trimmed and halved
• 2 endives, sliced into 1-inch pieces*
  
• 1 head Bibb lettuce, leaves roughly torn*
• 1 head frisée, stem removed and leaves roughly torn*
• 6 radishes, thinly sliced

 

*I use whatever greens I have, even if it is a bag of Spring Mix from the store.

Directions

1.     Make the chicken: Preheat the oven to 400°. Tie the legs of the chicken together at the ankles with butcher's twine. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels. Place the chicken in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish and rub with the olive oil, ground fennel and herbes de Provence. Season liberally with salt and pepper. Cook until golden brown and an internal temperature of 165° is reached, 55 to 60 minutes. Let it rest for 10 minutes before carving. Roughly chop the breast, thigh and leg meat, keeping the skin on, and transfer to a bowl. Discard the carcass** and pour the pan drippings over the chicken.

2.     Meanwhile, make the dressing: In a medium bowl, whisk together all the ingredients except the salt and pepper until smooth. Season with salt and pepper, then set aside.

3.     Prepare the salad: In a pot of boiling salted water, cook the potatoes until tender, 12 to 15 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove the potatoes and transfer to a bowl, slicing in half lengthwise once cool enough to handle. To the pot of boiling water, add the green beans and cook until tender, 3 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare an ice bath to transfer the green beans to after they are cooked. Once cool, drain the green beans and set aside.

4.     In a large bowl, toss the endive, Bibb lettuce, frisée and radishes with ¼ cup of the dressing. Lay out on a platter; toss the potatoes and green beans with another ¼ cup of the dressing and scatter on top of the lettuce. Top the salad with chopped chicken and serve.

** Do not discard the carcass!!! These are the words of the original recipe, not mine! Make chicken broth!  Make soup!

You can make the chicken -- and really even the potatoes and beans -- ahead, but do warm them up for serving, because part of what makes this so enjoyable is the contrast of the warm food and the cold, crisp food! The vinaigrette is also useful for just about any salad. And of course, you can add or exchange just about any veggies, such as sugar snap peas for green beans. 

You can even use a store-bought rotisserie chicken if you really have to, but it won't taste as good! The Herbes de Provence on this just makes it really yummy.