Sticky Chicken

Maybe the easiest recipe we've done yet, it may win the award for the dish you'd be most likely to make if you just got home and want something easy and good.  It's got a pretty rustic flavor and could use a bit more spice.

Sticky Chicken

To be honest, I never knew this had a name, until I saw one of Chef Paul's shows and he cooked up some. "Sticky Chicken" is so easy to fix yet so full of flavor. My pop would always make it in a covered casserole. I'll do that sometimes, but most of the time I'll use the ole trusty iron skillet.

 

ingredients:

one cut up fryer (or your favorite parts. no more than one skillet layer of chicken)

1/4 cup of each: chopped small, yellow onion, bell pepper, celery, green onion, parsley

1/2 tbsp minced garlic

1/2 stick of butter (slice into chips)

one lemon

olive oil

flour

seasonings:

salt, lemon pepper, Creole seasoning (your favorite), oregano flakes, Worcestershire

 

   Season each chicken piece with your seasonings. Don't hold back...really season'em up! Pat flour on each chicken piece to coat and set in the ice box for the time being.

   Heat up a large iron skillet and add just enough olive oil to cover. Sauté' the chopped vegetables, parsley and garlic until wilted.

   With your spatula (wooden one I hope), spoon-out the vegetables into a bowl. Add a little more oil to the skillet and begin to brown the chicken. You're just browning, not frying, so it's ok to fill the skillet as long as the heat is consistent. Cook for about 5 minutes and use tongs to flip each piece over and cook for 5 more minutes. Sprinkle on a little more Creole seasoning.

   Ok, this next step will appear like I'm defeating the purpose, but trust me. With your spatula, scrap the bottom of the pan to loosen up those great "brown things". Add about 1/4 cup of water (or white wine) then add the chicken back to the skillet. Cover the chicken with the vegetables, butter chips and just a drizzle more of olive oil. Cover with a lid or foil and bake at 300 degrees for one hour.

   Remove the skillet to remove the lid. Flip the chicken over. Give another little dash of oregano and a squeeze of juice from the lemon. Place back into the oven with no lid. Cook for 30 minutes longer.

  

   That's it! A nice slow cooking dish that gives you time to cook a couple of side dishes to go with your chicken. Makes a great excuse to cook some homemade cornbread or oyster dressing and gravy to keep toned-up  for the holidays.

Crawfish Stuffed Bell Peppers

My parents were in town not to long ago for a week-long vacation.  As we have done in the past we took the opportunity to cook something together for this blog.  And we felt obligated to use a famous cajun ingredient that is currently in season: crawfish!  Not only that, my parents bought the already boiled but unpeeled crawfish to heighten our experience.  As I had been told by others, there is a surprisingly small amount of meat inside that exoskeleton.  I perfected the "toothpaste method", where you take off the head and then squeeze from the bottom of the tail to force the meat out.  To my delight that was fairly successful, but still takes awhile for even just a cup and a half of crawfish meat.
We all liked this dish very much.  The crawfish add a spicey-salty-slightly seafoody taste.  The stuffing would be great for Thanksgiving, a cajun-style one that is.

Stuffing
3 Tbs. salt butter
1 cup chopped onion
1 Tbs. chopped celery
1/3 cup chopped green onion
2 Tbs. finely minced parsley
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/8 tsp. cayenne
1/8 tsp. dried thyme
1/8 tsp. allspice
1 1/2 cup crawfish meat
1/2 cup soaked crumbled bread

6 or 8 large green peppers

In a large heavy skillet melt butter over low heat.  Add the vegetables and the parsley and saute until the vegetables are soft and just beginning to brown, then add the seasonings and blend thoroughly.  Add the crawfish meat and bread and toss lightly.  Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, for about 8 to 10 minutes.  Remove pan from heat.
Cut off the tops of the green peppers and remove seeds.  Place peppers standing open side up in a heavy saucepan with an inch of salted water, bring to a boil, cover pan, lower heat, and cook for 6 minutes.  Remove peppers from pan and drain.  Stuff with crawfish stuffing and set in a shallow baking dish, side by side but not touching.  Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 25 minutes.

Chicken Pontalba

This was a recipe that I had my eye on from the start of this blog.  Nothing in particular about it; it just looked goooood!  I tried this dish months ago when we went out to Jacques-Imo's, a well known creole cuisine restaurant not far from where we live.  And it was fantastic there, although the chicken itself was not fried like it is in this recipe.  I had never fried anything in my life and this didn't work out to well for me.  The chicken was mushy because the coating never crisped up.  But the rest of the dish was great (and rich).  We agreed this one was a recipe to repeat; however, it would be just as good if you just sauteed the chicken.

Chicken Pontalba

(serves 4)

One of the grandest chicken dishes we know.  A layer of ham and vegetables sauteed in butter, then covered with a layer of crisp lightly fried pieces of deboned chicken then topped with simmering bernaise sauce.

1/2 cup of butter

1 cup chopped onion

1 1/2 cup sliced green onion

1 Tbs. finely minced garlic

1 1/4 cup diced potatoes

1 cup diced ham

1 1/4 cup thinly sliced mushrooms

1/2 cup dry white wine

1 Tbs. parsley

1 cup flour

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1/8 tsp. cayenne

2 lb. deboned chicken breast, leg, and thigh (about 2 small fryers)

1 cup vegetable oil

2 cup Bernaise Sauce

In a heavy 10 inch skillet, melt the butter over low heat.  Add onion, garlic, green onion, and potatoes and cook over low heat until the vegetables are browned (about 15 minutes) stirring frequently.  Add the diced ham, mushrooms, wine, and parsley and cook for 8 minutes more.  Turn off the heat.  Remove the vegetables and ham with a slotted spoon and place in a large dish, allowing excess butter to drain back into the pan.  Put the dish in a 200 degree preheated oven.

In a shallow bowl, combine the flour, salt, black pepper, and cayenne.  Cut up the larger pieces of the chicken so that none are thicker than 1/2 inch or longer than 1 1/2 inches.  Dredge the pieces of chicken in the seasoned flower.  Add the vegetable oil to the to the butter in the pan then heat the oil and butter mixture until it sizzles lightly.  Fry the chicken until they are cooked through and golden brown on all sides (about 8 to 10 minutes) turning frequently with tongs.  Remove the chicken, drain for a minute on paper towels, then arrange the pieces evenly over the vegetables in the gratin dish.  Put the dish back in the oven while you prepare the bernaise sauce, then spoon the sauce evenly over the entire dish and serve.

Bernaise Sauce

1/4 cup chopped fresh tarragon leaves

2 shallots, minced

1/4 cup champagne vinegar

1/4 cup dry white wine

3 egg yolks

1 stick butter, melted

Salt and pepper

Make the bearnaise reduction first. In a small saucepan, combine the tarragon, shallots, vinegar and wine over medium-high heat. Bring to a simmer and cook until reduced by half. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

Blend yolks and bearnaise reduction together. With the blender running, add 1/3 of the butter in a slow steady stream. Once it emulsifies, turn the blender speed up to high and add the remaining butter. Season with salt and pepper and set aside in a warm spot to hold the sauce.