Chicken.....It's what crossed the road....

While it looks pretty innocent to cook, Chicken tends to be one of those things that even if you cook it 10 different ways, there is the tendency for it all to taste the same and for it to be really bland and dry.... But, with it being such a staple in folk's diets, it is fun to jazz it up once in a while. So this week I would like to bring you along on a chicken journey.... Now, I don't usually like to talk about my food in a way that may make some sort of emotional connection to the "item de jour"...... as I think that is pretty weird and gross.. but merely we will start with the basics of the chicken and end up with more culinary evolved recipes...thanks to Giadda de Laurentiis, Ina Garten and Tyler Florence......

And lucky for us, my fellow preschool mommy, Angie Regali, has graced us with her delectable dessert recipes. In addition to being adorable, she is a hard working mom of four girls and in her "spare time" whips up some mouth watering desserts.. By the looks and taste of it, my hope is that she will stick around with us for a while :) Thanks Angie!

So without further ado.... I bring you, the chicken...

Menu
Simple as 1.2.3

Basic Roasted Chicken
* Really basic, but tastes oh so good. Great for a Sunday night meal with the roasted red potatoes

Chicken Piccata
* This is really great with a side of mashed potatoes.

Channeling My Inner Julia Child
Pan -Roasted Chicken with Mushrooms, Shallots, and Rosemary
* A wonderful meal to make for guests.. You will be impressed with yourself!

Orcietta with Chicken Meatballs
* This is a great meal to make with the kids.

Delectable Desserts
Famous Chocolate Chip Cookies
* From Angie - I call these "Famous Chocolate Chip Cookies" because people will often ask me to bring my chocolate chip cookies. They are always a favorite!!

Chocolate Fudge Cake

* From Angie - I found this recipe, in a now defunct magazine, many years ago. The intro claims that is a "fabulous recipe that's so well known to French women" and a "dessert that they eagerly offer to bring to dinner parties." This cake is so yummy and is made with little effort. Everytime I've made it, it has been eaten with many, "YUMMMMM's" and groans of delight.

Basic Roasted Chicken






3 1/2 - 4 pound chicken, giblets removed, rinsed and pat dry
3 whole cloves garlic peeled
1 lemon or 1/2 orange cut in quarters
Salt and Pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Salt and pepper the chicken, inside and out. Put fruit and garlic inside chicken.
Please breast side down on a rack in a roasting pan.
Roast 30 minutes. Turn over, breast side up and roast 45 minutes longer, until golden.
Cover and let rest for 15 minutes.
Click here on directions how to carve a chicken.


Chicken Piccata
* Ina Garten - Barefoot Contessa at Home





4 split boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Kosher salt and freshly ground back pepper
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 extra large eggs
1 1/2 cups seasoned dried bread crumbs
Olive oil
3 Tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons), lemon halves reserved
1 /2 cup dry white wine (you can substitute with chicken broth)
Sliced lemon for serving
Chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, for serving


Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper

Place each chicken breast between 2 sheets of parchment paper or plastic wrap and pound it out to 1/4 inch thick. Sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper.

Mix the flour, 1tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp pepper on a shallow plate. In a second plate, beat the eggs and 1 Tbsp water together. Place the bread crumbs on a third plate. Dip each breast first in the flour, shake off the excess, and then dip in the egg and bread crumb mixtures.

Heat 2 Tbsp olive oil in a large saute pan over medium to medium-low heat. Add 2 chicken breasts and cook for 2 minutes on each side, until browned. Place them on the sheet pan while you cook the rest of the chicken. Heat more olive oil in the saute pan and cook the second 2 breasts. Place them on the same sheet pan and allow them to bake for 5 to 10 minutes while you make the sauce.

For the sauce, wipe out the saute pan with a dry paper towel. On medium heat, melt 1 Tbsp of the butter and then add the lemon juice, white wine or chicken broth, the reserved lemon halves, 1/2 tsp salt, and /2 tsp pepper. Boil over high heat until reduced by half, about 2 mins. Off the heat add the remaining 2 Tbsp of butter and swirl to combine. Discard the lemon halves. Serve one chicken breast on each plate, spoon on the sauce, and serve with sliced lemon and a sprinkling of fresh parsley.

Pan -Roasted Chicken with Mushrooms, Shallots, and Rosemary
* From Tyler Florence's book - eat this book

1 Chicken (about 3 pounds) quartered or 3-4 legs or thighs.
*You can ask the butcher to cut up the chicken for you.
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
20 fresh white mushrooms, halved
8 medium shallots, unpeeled, split in half
4 fresh Rosemary sprigs
1 cup water
Juice of 1 lemon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Season chicken on both sides with a generous amount of salt and pepper. Put 2 large cast-iron or regular ovenproof skillets on the stove (you can also do this in one really large pan such as this) over medium heat and get them good and hot. Drizzle each pan with a 2-count of oil and lay the chicken in the hot fat, skin side down. Cook about 5 minutes, or until the skin begins to set and crisp. Divide the mushrooms, shallots, and rosemary between the pans or place all in the one saute pan. Place pan(s) in oven for about 30 minutes or until the chicken is cooked and the mushrooms and shallots are soft and roasted.

Take the pans out of the oven. To finish up you want to make a quick sauce using the flavors left in the bottom on the skillet(s). Take all of the stuff out and place on a platter to keep warm while you prepare the sauce. Pour out all but 1 Tbsp of the rendered chicken fat in (if there is that much) and return the skillet to the stove top. (If you have got a lot of juices, boil them down until all you have left is fat and pan drippings; then pour off all but 1 Tbsp of the fat, if there is that much). Stir 1 cup water and then juice of a lemon into the pan and cook over medium heat, scraping up the flavors with a wooden spoon. Cook the liquid down to a syrup, 3 to 5 mins. Drizzle the pan sauce over the chicken and vegetables, season with salt and pepper, and serve immediately.

Orcietta with Chicken Meatballs
* From Giadda de Laurentiis' book - Giada's Kitchen. New Italian Favorites








1 pound orecciette pasta
1/4 cup plain bread crumbs
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 Tbsp whole milk
1 Tbsp ketchup
3/4 cup grated Romano cheese
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 pound ground chicken
1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/2 cups low sodium chicken broth
4 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
8 ounces bocconcini (small mozzarella balls) halved
1 cup chopped fresh basil leaves

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite - approx 8-10 mins.

In a medium bowl, stir together the bread crumbs, parsley, eggs, milk, ketchup, Romano cheese, salt, and pepper. Add the chicken and combine well. Using a melon baller (or a teaspoon measure) to scoop up the mixture, roll the seasoned chicken into a 3/4-inch mini meatballs.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Working in batches, add the meatballs and cook without moving until brown on the bottom, about 2 mins. Turn the meatballs and brown the tops, about 2 mins longer. Add the chicken broth and tomato and bring to boil, using a wooden spoon to scrape up the brown bits that cling to the bottom of the pan. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until the tomatoes are soft and the meatballs are cooked through, about 5 mins.

Drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup of the pasta water. Transfer the pasta to a large serving bowl and add 1/2 cup of the Parmesan. Toss to coat the pasta lightly, adding some of the reserved pasta water to help make the sauce. Add the meatball mixture, bocconcini, and 1/2 cup of the basil and combine. Garnish with the remaining 1/2 cup of Parmesan and the remaining basil.

Famous Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 egg
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
2 sticks, 1/2 pound melted butter
1 egg
1/2 tsp salt (iodized)
1 tsp baking soda
splash vanilla (about 1 tsp)
2 1/2 cups white unbleached flour
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. I bake mine in convection mode.

Mix brown sugar and white sugar in bowl of electric mixer. Melt butter in micro for about one minute. Or throw it in the bowl if your butter is at room temperature; I can never plan ahead nor is my house warm enough to make the butter soft! Mix butter and sugar until well combined. Add egg and vanilla. Whip on high until light and fluffy. Add salt and baking soda. Continue whipping. Add flour. When well combine add chocolate chips and blend until fully incorporated. Add 1/2 cup more chocolate chips if you like your cookies supper chocolaty.

Drop dough onto ungreased cookie sheet by the spoonful. You can use parchment or a silpat if you want, but I generally use a plain old cookie sheet. (You can tell by the photos that I need new cookie sheets!) I get about 28 cookies per batch (that's with lots of tasting from the girls). Now here is the most critical part of the entire recipe... Bake dough for only 8 minutes. You want to take out your cookies when they still look pale and doughy. Remove from cookies sheets and cool on a wire rack.

Chocolate Fudge Cake

7 ounces bittersweet chocolate (I only had 3 ounces, so I substituted 4 ounces of Euphoria dark chocolate.)

1 stick unsalted butter (I used Kirkland brand butter.)

3 eggs, at room temperature (bring eggs to room temp quickly by placing warm water.)

2 tablespoons flour
2/3 cup sugar

Optional (We did not use; I was too tired & the cake stands for itself!)
powdered sugar, freshly whipped cream, shaved chocolate

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a loaf pan (9 x 5 x 3)

Melt butter, chocolate and 2 tsp water in the top of a double boiler. (I don't own one- I have too little space for such a non essential item- so I use my 5 quart soup pot and a ceramic mixing bowl. It works very well!) This is a safe way for busy cooks to melt butter/chocolate as you can put the ingredients in the double boiler and walk away; it does not have to be attended to every 30 seconds or constantly stirred. Save the water from the double boiler to add to the bain-marie (a water bath used to cook delicate foods). When melted, remove pan from double boiler and let cool briefly.

Beat eggs, flour and sugar in a bowl of an electric mixer until light and pale in color. Add melted chocolate and blend well. Mixture will be runny.

Pour batter into greased loaf pan and place pan in a larger baking dish. Place in oven and pour warm water into glass dish to a depth of 1 inch. Check cake after 30 minutes. If it's browning too quickly, tent with foil for the last ten minutes (total baking time of 40 minutes). The top will be crunchy but the inside will be moist.

Remove pan from bain-marie and allow to cool slightly. We enjoy this best when it is warm, but it can be served at room temp. Spoon onto dessert plates or eat it right out of the pan! Add optional toppings (if you're not too tired!) but this cake is delicious on it's own. Tonight I heard from our young guests a few times, "This is the best cake I've ever eaten!"

Click here for photos of these yummy treats.