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by snebbu

Braised Hunter’s Chicken

Cold winter weekend nights are the perfect time for a slow-cooked meal. Chili is often a favorite, stews, roasts, you name it. We’re on a budget and cut out eating out, so we wanted a homestyle restaurant-quality meal for dinner. After going back and forth between pork, beef, and chicken, we compromised and decided on chicken thighs. After some brainstorming and the chef-like brains of my wife, hunter’s chicken was created. And it was delicious.

Hunter’s chicken can really be whatever you want it to be. Apparently, it comes from Northern Italy with many variations. Dark meat works best, but other than that it can pretty much be a free-for-all. The wife made this with a mix of veggies, broth, and some red wine. Top it on a bed of polenta and BOOM.

Braised Hunter’s Chicken

Ingredients

Boneless, skinless chicken thighs
Salt & Pepper
Olive Oil
1 Onion (diced)
3 Carrots (diced)
2 Cups Red Wine
2 Cups Chicken Broth
1 Large Tomato (diced)
1 Cup Sliced Baby Bella Mushrooms
2 Sprigs Thyme
2 Sprigs Rosemary
5 Cloves of Garlic (chopped)
Flour

Recipe

Pre-heat oven to 325

Season chicken thighs and dredge in flour. Add olive oil to a dutch oven and brown on all sides on high heat. Remove chicken thighs.
Reduce the heat to medium and add onions, carrots, and garlic, cooking 2-3 minutes. Pour in the vino, scrape and stir the bottom of the pan.
Bring to a boil and cook for 2 minutes. Add broth, salt and pepper, tomato, mushrooms.
Add chicken and herbs, put on the lid, and cook in oven for 1 hr and 40 minutes.
Serve on top of polenta, wild rice, or mashed potatoes.

by BS

Not Your Grandma’s Roast Chicken

Photo: Sideways.nyc

For most serious foodies, chicken has long been that “other” item on the menu — the one that you might order if it’s fried, but otherwise would never prioritize over pork or beef. But lately I’ve seen more than a few restaurants that put fowl front and center, making the humble bird their centerpiece dish. None more so than Le Coq Rico, which I first read about in The New York Times earlier this summer, and simply had to have their gloriously golden roast chicken, 100-degree weather be damned.

The restaurant was kind enough to share Chef Antoine Westermann’s recipe for the perfect roast bird, a deceptively simple dish where butter and olive oil rubbed all over — and inside — the chicken make a world of difference.

Roast Chicken, Westermann Style

by BS

Food Porn Champion: Larb Chicken Flatbread

Our friend Bakers Royale has been branching out into the world of savory foods lately, and we couldn’t be more glad. Have you ever seen a simple chicken flatbread that packs in this much beauty?

in Fowl / Photos 0 comments

by Emily

Slow Cooker Ginger-Honey Chicken

I can’t believe it took me so long to blog this ginger honey chicken dish, because it was SO GOOD. While winter is in its last gasps I encourage everyone to make and enjoy this super-easy slow cooker recipe. As with all the best slow cooker situations, it’s quick to prep, makes your house smell delicious, and seems like you put waaaay more work into it than you actually did. Score, score, and score.

Slow Cooker Ginger-Honey Chicken

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by Emily

Southwest Spiced Slow Cooker Chicken

Some of my friends and I are in a Bachelor fantasy league. Feel free to make fun of me, I don’t care. It’s awesome and a legit excuse to drink a questionable about of wine on a weeknight. It’s kind of like fantasy football, but we “draft” the hot messes from each season of the Bachelor franchise and then hate-watch and track whose players earn the most points (from achievements like “revealing a sob story,” “secretly has a kid,” “hot tub bonus make out” etc.).

We take turns hosting – whoever is on weekly host duty is also in charge of dinner. I hosted the premiere last week and needed to make a big batch of healthy food – and this southwest spiced chicken was perfect. I was able to prep everything the night before, throw the chicken in the slow cooker before work the morning of, and when I came home dinner was basically done.

Now that is worth some major bonus “hot tub make out” points. (If by “hot tub” we mean “slow cooker” and “make out” we mean “cooking.”)

Southwest Spiced Slow Cooker Chicken

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by snebbu

Endless Pairings: Negra Modelo

Mexican beer and fall-themed food. The perfect complement? Well, that’s what were determined to find out when Negra Modelo sent us a “pairing kit” to put it to the test. When presented with the opportunity to taste test, my answer is almost always yes. Negra Modelo sent us a box full of spices from The Spice House, two tulip glasses, a wooden cutting board, and a $50 Visa gift card to purchase the goods. Challenge accepted. Think of it as the at-home version of Chopped. Being seasonal food fans (mainly fall), we began planning a menu of fall foods that would highlight the spices (follow The Spice House recommendations) and pair well with a Vienna (dark) lager. Yes – a European beer style from Mexico. Here’s the menu:

Aged Cabot Cheese with apples, fig jam, balsamic glaze, and crostini
Spiced roasted brussels sprouts
Sweet potato puree with nutmeg and cinnamon
Ribeye steak with Quebec beef spice
Cornish Hen with bicentennial seasoning
Pork with bavarian style seasoning

We had a friend over and made a beer pairing tasting menu. Negra Modelo was served with the appetizer, followed by a taste of each protein with the sides. The beer and food was judged based on the flavor of each, whether the spices complemented the food, and if the beer paired well with each “course.” On to the tasting notes:

Negra Modelo (ABV: 5.4%)

Appearance: Dark caramel with a red hue

Aroma: Sweet scents with subtle scents of toast

Taste: Sweet malts give caramel flavor, biscuit flavor with light herbal and earthy tastes

Mouthfeel: Clean and crisp with lingering sweetness

Overall: A pleasant surprise, Negra Modelo provides more character than expected. While it is an InBev beer, I can forgive that if the brew offers some flavor. For a lager from Mexico, it offers the basic profile of a lager with extra sweetness of caramel and a toasty flavor as well. Tastes like it would pair well with fall foods. So here we go!

in Cheese / Drinks / Fowl / Pig / Red Meat 1 comments

by Emily

Green Coconut Curry Chicken, Crock Pot Style

As I recently mentioned, I got me a crock pot! I’ve been trying to embrace my new slow cooker lifestyle by ummm, Pinterest-ing a lot of recipes to get an idea of good technique (such as the meat-searing tip in my recipe below!). I’ve also been trying not to be such a hot mess in the kitchen – usually I’m holding my phone to look at recipes, photos, etc. while simultaneously chopping and sautéing and almost dropping it into the sink. Horrible. So I have to give a shout out to the silly-named Monkey Kit, which holds up the iPad so I can cook hands-free like a normal person. They sent me a sample model and it has truly been a game changer, two thumbs up. Between this and the crock pot I really am becoming a human adult, I guess.

SO! This is the next meal I’ve perfected with my new slow cooker. For this recipe you could totally use red or yellow curry paste if you prefer it over green. Red curry paste is actually my favorite, but green is what I had on hand and it worked well with the vegetables I used and my pumpkin seed garnish. As with most dishes, you can feel free to swap out the vegetables with whatever your favorites are… just keep in mind cooking time. Softer vegetables you can just add in at the end of the day, about a half hour before you plan on serving. Harder vegetables with a longer cook time can be added in the beginning at the same time as the chicken. Got it? Great.

Homemade Green Coconut Curry Chicken (in the crockpot!)

in Fowl / Recipe 1 comments