Barefoot Bloggers: Chinese Chicken Salad

Today's recipe from "Barefoot Bloggers" is Ina Garten's Chinese Chicken Salad. This recipe was chosen by McKenzie of Kenzie's Kitchen. and is from Ina's Barefoot Contessa Parties! cookbook. I just got back from a weekend away AND am trying to get ready for Passover, so I decided to make my life a bit easier and use a rotisserie chicken from Costco. I have roasted chicken breasts per Ina's instructions before and they turned out great, but the store-bought chicken worked out fine in this recipe. I also omitted any extra salt, as the soy sauce contains plenty of salt, and many commenters said that the recipe as written was too salty. I felt that the 1/4 C of peanut butter was a bit too much and added a bit more vinegar and soy to compensate. Next time I would start with 1/8 C of peanut butter and taste before adding more. I also added a package of Chinese noodles and some snow peas, making this a Chinese Chicken Noodle Salad. The salad was delicious and I would definitely make it again. Ina, although a bit of a salt freak, certainly knows her stuff!

CHINESE CHICKEN SALAD
from Barefoot Contessa Parties!

INGREDIENTS

4 split chicken breasts (bone-in, skin-on)
Good olive oil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 pound asparagus, ends removed, and cut in thirds diagonally
1 red bell pepper, cored and seeded
2 scallions (white and green parts), sliced diagonally
1 T white sesame seeds, toasted

FOR THE DRESSING

1/2 C vegetable oil (I would probably use a bit less next time)
1/4 C good apple cider vinegar
3 T soy sauce
1 1/2 T dark sesame oil
1/2 T honey
1 clove garlic, minced (I grated it using a Microplane)
1/2 T peeled, grated fresh ginger (I also used a Microplane to grate this-and I probably used more than 1/2 t)
1/2 T sesame seeds, toasted
1/4 C smooth peanut butter (I would start with less and taste before adding more)
2 t kosher salt (I omitted)
1/2 t freshly ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350º. Place the chicken breasts on a sheet pan and rub the skin with olive oil. Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, until the chicken is just cooked. Set aside until cool enough to handle. Remove the meat from the bones, discard the skin, and shred the chicken in large bite-sized pieces. (Or just go buy a rotisserie chicken and shred.)

Blanch the asparagus in a pot of boiling salted water for 3 to 5 minutes until crisp-tender. Plunge into ice water to stop the cooking. Drain. Cut the peppers into strips about the size of the asparagus pieces. Combine the cut chicken, asparagus, and peppers in a large bowl.

Whisk together all of the ingredients for the dressing and pour over the chicken and vegetables. Add the scallions and sesame seeds and season to taste. Serve cold or at room temperature.

Barefoot Bloggers: Chicken Piccata

The latest recipe from "Barefoot Bloggers" features Ina Garten's Chicken Piccata. I am weeks late on the last recipe, Meringues Chantilly, but it is coming soon. The current recipe was chosen by Lindsey of Noodle Nights and Muffin Mornings. This recipe is from Ina's Barefoot Contessa at Home cookbook and it is a keeper! I actually have made this before, following Ina's instructions to the letter. I liked it but found the sauce not "saucey" enough--in other words, there wasn't enough sauce, and a bit too lemony, if that is possible. This time around I added about a 1/2 cup or so of chicken broth at the same time as the wine. I also added some capers at the end or, in the words of Boy #2, "What ARE these things???" I will definitely make this again--it is easy and delicious!

CHICKEN PICCATA
from Barefoot Contessa at Home

(This recipe makes 2 servings. Adjust quantities accordingly for more.)

INGREDIENTS

2 split (1 whole) boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 C all-purpose flour
1 extra-large egg (NOTE: Ina always uses extra-large eggs--she feels they are the best value for the money)
1/2 T water
3/4 C seasoned dry bread crumbs
Good olive oil
3 T unsalted butter, room temperature, divided
1/3 C freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons), lemon halves (scrubbed clean) reserved
1/2 C dry white wine
1/2 C chicken broth, optional (NOTE: I added this to the recipe)
sliced lemon, for serving
Chopped fresh parsley leaves, for serving (NOTE: I forgot to get parsley at the store, so mine were parsleyless)
1 T or so capers, optional

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 400˚F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

Place each chicken breast between 2 sheets of parchment paper or plastic wrap and pound out to 1/4-inch thick. (NOTE: You can also ask your butcher to do this for you at the store). Sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper.

Mix the flour, 1/2 t salt, and 1/4 t of pepper in a shallow plate. In a second plate, beat the egg and 1/2 T of water together. Place the bread crumbs on a third plate. Dip each chicken breast first in the flour, shake off the excess, and then dip in the egg and bread crumb mixtures. NOTE: This works best if you use one hand only to dip the chicken in all three mixtures.

Heat 1 T olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium to medium-low heat. Add the chicken breasts and cook for 2 minutes on each side, until browned. Place them on the sheet pan and allow them to bake for 5 to 10 minutes while you make the sauce.

For the sauce, wipe out the sauté pan with a dry paper towel. Over medium heat, melt 1 T of the butter and then add the lemon juice, wine, the chicken broth if you are using it, the reserved lemon halves, 1/2 t salt, and 1/4 t pepper, and capers if you like. Boil over high heat until reduced in half, about 2 minutes. Off the heat, add the remaining 2 T of butter and swirl to combine. Discard the lemon halves and serve 1 chicken breast on each plate. Spoon on the sauce and serve with a slice of lemon and a sprinkling of fresh parsley.

Barefoot Bloggers: Coq au Vin

In an effort to get myself to post more regularly, I have joined a group called"Barefoot Bloggers" -- a group of people who love to cook and bake and also looooove that Barefoot Contessa . Every month two members of the group each pick a Barefoot Contessa recipe and members make it and write about it on their blogs. The first recipe this month was selected by Bethany of this little piggy went to market..... . It is Coq au Vin. I have never made Coq au Vin but I have always thought of it as a chicken stew. Imagine my surprise when I pulled out my "Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics cookbook "and opened to page 115 to read the Coq au Vin recipe. In her notes before the recipe, the Contessa says that for years she had tried many times to make Coq au Vin with disappointing results until her TV producer told her that it's just beef bourguignon with chicken and she thought, "So it is!" So it is, Ina, although many of us just call beef bourguignon beef stew. So anyway, here is Ina Garten's Coq au Vin--or, for those of you who are intimidated by French--chicken stew in wine.

I followed this recipe exactly as written, which I often do when trying a recipe for the first time. I used brandy, not cognac. Actually, the only thing I didn't do was to light the brandy on fire. I'm not that daring. I'm not sure if it was "good" brandy as Ina instructed, but at $6.99 a bottle, how good could it really be? Nonetheless, the dish turned out great! The only change I would make in the future is that I would remove the chicken skin from the chicken after I browned the chicken. Ina didn't tell me to, so I didn't, and the stew had a lot of fat in it that I removed after it was done. It would have been much easier and probably just as good to get rid of the skin after the browning process and have less fat to skim off after the dish was done. The Coq au Vin was delicious---the chicken was fall-off-the-bone moist, and the gravy had a great flavor that I don't think would have been there if not for the $6.99 brandy!

INA GARTEN'S COQ AU VIN
from her Back To Basics cookbook
Serves 6 (according to Ina)

Good olive oil
8 oz good bacon or pancetta, diced
2 (3- to 4-pound) chickens, each cut into 8 pieces
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 pound carrots, cut diagonally into 1-inch pieces
2 yellow onions, sliced
2 t chopped garlic (2 cloves)
1/4 C Cognac or good brandy
1 (750-ml) bottle good dry red wine such as Burgundy
2 C chicken stock, preferably homemade
1 bunch fresh thyme sprigs
4 T (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature, divided
3 T all-purpose flour
1 pound frozen small whole onions
1 pound porcini or cremini mushrooms, stems removed and thickly sliced

Preheat the oven to 275°F.

Heat 1 T olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the bacon and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, until lightly browned. Remove the bacon to a plate with a slotted spoon.

Meanwhile, pat the chicken dry with paper towels. Liberally sprinkle the chicken on both sides with salt and pepper. After the bacon is removed, add a few of the chicken pieces in a single layer and brown for about 5 minutes, turning to brown evenly. Remove the chicken pieces to the plate with the bacon and continue to add the chicken in batches until all the chicken is browned. Set aside.

Add the carrots, onions, 1 T salt, and 2 t pepper to the pot and cook over medium heat for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions are lightly browned. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute. Add the Cognac, stand back!, and carefully ignite with a match to burn off the alcohol. NOTE: I DID NOT DO THIS STEP AND THE DISH TURNED OUT GREAT!! Put the bacon, chicken, and any juices that collect on the plate into the pot. Add the wine, chicken stock, and thyme sprigs and bring to a boil. Cover the pot with a tight-fitting lid and place in the oven for 30 to 40 minutes, until the chicken is just no longer pink. Remove from the oven and place on top of the stove.

Mash 2 T of the room temperature butter and the flour together in a small bowl and stir the paste into the stew. Add the frozen onions. In a medium saute pan, melt the remaining 2 T butter and cook the mushrooms over medium-low heat for 5 to 10 minutes, until browned. Add to the stew. Bring the stew to a simmer and cook for another 10 minutes. Season to taste. Serve hot.

Food Network Wannabe

I must admit that sometimes when I watch the Food Network, I can almost envision myself doing everything the TV chef is doing. I see myself smoothly dicing that onion, evenly sprinkling salt over the soon-to-be roasted vegetables, and rolling basil leaves together to chiffonade them. In my imagination, I can whip together a fabulous dinner in 30 minutes and serve it up to my eager family, who of course will appreciate my hard work and compliment the finished product. Or maybe not. The other day I watched a new Food Network show, The Gourmet Next Door. I think the host, the Gourmet, earned a spot on the Food Network line-up by winning a competition, which was also a show on the Food Network. Of course it was. Anyway, she whipped up an easy and impressive-looking chicken with a pan sauce as well as roasted potatoes and an endive and roasted beet salad. She also found time to make a layered ice cream terrine for dessert. I know--it's amazing--all in only 30 minutes. So I decided to make the chicken and potatoes. And some roasted broccoli. For some reason when I was at the store I also bought beets--but not for the salad--just to roast in solidarity with the Gourmet. The chicken was easy and very delicious. I didn't need her recipe to roast potatoes, but I used it anyway, so as not to hurt her feelings. Now if I could only get her staff over to my house to wash the dishes......

AMY FINLEY'S HERB-MARINATED GRILLED CHICKEN PAILLARDS WITH PAN SAUCE

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, tenders removed and trimmed of any cartilage
1 lemon, zested and juiced, 1 tablespoon juice reserved
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small shallot, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
3 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
3 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon leaves
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
Salt, for seasoning
Pepper, for seasoning
1/2 cup white wine
1 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon cold butter


One by one, place the chicken breasts between 2 pieces of plastic wrap, or inside of a resealable plastic bag, and pound with a meat mallet or rolling pin or heavy-bottomed pan until about 1/2-inch thick. In a glass baking dish, combine the zest and all but 1 tablespoon of the lemon juice with 1/4 cup of the olive oil, the shallot, garlic, and a little more than 2 tablespoons of each of the chopped fresh herbs. (Reserve the remaining chopped herbs.) Add the pounded chicken breasts to the herb mixture and turn to coat. Season generously with salt and pepper, cover the dish with plastic wrap, and put in the refrigerator to marinate, at least 20 minutes and up to 1 hour.
Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large saute pan over high heat. Add the chicken breasts to the pan and cook, turning once, until cooked through and golden brown on both sides, about 4 to 5 minutes per side. Cook the breasts 2 at a time if the pan is too small. Transfer to a serving platter and keep warm.

Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and the white wine to the pan, scraping to loosen any brown bits, and reduce until almost dry. Add the chicken broth and reduce by half, then off the heat add the reserved herbs and cold butter, swirling to melt the butter and thicken the sauce. Pour over the chicken paillards and serve immediately.


AMY FINLEY'S OVEN-ROASTED POTATOES

1/2 pound purple Peruvian potatoes, scrubbed clean (NOTE: I used all Yukon Gold potatoes)
1/2 pound red bliss potatoes, scrubbed clean
1/2 pound small new potatoes, scrubbed clean
8 small garlic cloves
2 large shallots, peeled and quartered
Rosemary or thyme sprigs (NOTE: Rosemary is great with potatoes. You can also omit both herbs and the potatoes will still be very good)
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
Heat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Cut the Peruvian potatoes in half or in quarters, about the same size as the small new potatoes. Do the same for the red bliss potatoes. Place all potatoes, garlic cloves, shallot quarters and rosemary sprigs on a baking sheet. Season well with salt and pepper and drizzle oil on top. Toss all to combine and coat in oil.

Place the potatoes in the oven and roast for about 30 to 40 minutes, shaking the baking sheet occasionally, until the potatoes are nicely browned and fork tender and the garlic cloves and shallots are caramelized.

Remove rosemary sprigs and serve immediately.