Chicken and Garlic

This recipe is absurdly easy and extremely good. I haven't included onion when I cooked it, so I can vouch for it being great without them. The hardest parts are:

• Already having a bottle of vermouth
• Believing that the foil part matters (I think what's happening is that the vermouth steam is gathering, spreading, and merging the flavors, and the foil keeps the steam circulating tightly)
• Believing it can be this simple

Added thought: is there another meat and flavor combination that would like being steamed with something alcoholic this way?

Chicken with a LOT of Garlic

This is James Beard's recipe, cut in half and without the hassle of fresh parsley.

INGREDIENTS

8 chicken thighs (the kind with bones and skin)

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

3 celery ribs

1 teaspoons dried tarragon

1/3 cup dry vermouth

1 teaspoon salt

A little freshly ground black pepper

A little  nutmeg

20 garlic cloves

French bread (or something else crusty)

NEEDED EQUIPMENT

Dutch oven or heavy casserole with a tight fitting lid

Aluminum foil.

STEPS

Preheat oven to 375.

Peel the garlic cloves (you’re going to use them whole).

Cut the celery into thin half moons, and put it on the bottom of the dutch oven.

Put the tarragon on top of the celery.

Dry off the chicken.

Put the oil in a shallow dish and turn the chicken in the oil to coat on all sides. 

Put the chicken in the casserole, ideally in a single layer.

Sprinkle the chicken with the salt, pepper, and nutmeg.

Sprinkle the garlic over the chicken, spreading it out kind of evenly.

Pour the vermouth over everything.

Put a piece of foil over the chicken and press it down as a tight cover. Put the lid on the casserole.

Cook for an hour and a half and serve hot from the pot.

Spread the garlic on pieces of the bread, like it was butter.

Paprika Chicken Thighs

This family favorite is from my first cookbook, modified to kick up the flavor and simplify the eating. It is also easy to double and cook for a crowd

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter (one full or two half-size sticks)
3 pounds of chicken thighs with bones and skin
1/3 cup of flour
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon salt
some ground pepper

Steps
Preheat oven to 425.

Cut the butter up into big chunks and drop into a 9 x 12 baking pan. Stick the pan in the oven for five minutes to melt the butter most of the way, without letting it start turning brown.

Pat the chicken dry with paper towels.

Mix the remaining ingredients in a bowl.

Take the butter pan out of the oven.

In pairs, toss the thighs round in the flour mixture until all sides are covered, and then place them skin side down in the butter pan.  Repeat until all the thighs are in the pan.

Cook at 425 for 30 minutes.

Turn the thighs skin side up and cook for 15 minutes.

Remember that the liquid in the bottom of the pan is butter with great flavor.  Use it on rice or noodles for added fun.

Lemony Chicken and Farro in Half an Hour

General concept: While the farro cooks, you cut the chicken and start it cooking.  Then you prep the shallot and garlic and lemon while watching and turning the chicken. It's fast because you're doing it all at once.

Tools
Saucepan with lid, large skillet with lid, tongs, knife, cutting board,

Ingredients
2 cups farro
1 pound boneless chicken breast
1 lemon
1 shallot
2 cloves garlic
12 ounce bag of frozen peas
Olive oil
Cornstarch
Salt
Pepper

Steps
In saucepan, bring four cups water to boil
Add the farro
Bring back to a boil, cover, and lower heat to a simmer
Set timer for 20 minutes.  All the other cooking can be done in those 20 minutes

Start heating skillet over medium heat
Cut chicken into bite size pieces
Add olive oil to skillet to cover the bottom very lightly, and heat until you smell it
Add chicken pieces to oil, spreading them out

Peel and mince shallot and garlic

Check a piece of chicken to see if it has some nice brown on the bottom.  If it does, turn over all the pieces so they cook on another side.

Cut lemon in half and squeeze juice into a cup.
Add water to make the cup a full cup.

Check the chicken again and turn

Watch the chicken, turning as need to get all sides to look cooked and have some nice brown sides.

When all sides look cooked, add the shallots and garlic, stirring them rapidly around the pan until you smell them and then for another 10 second

Add the lemon and water to the skillet and bring to a boil
Add the peas to the skillet, spread them out, and bring back to a boil
Cover the skillet and turn the heat to low
Cook for about five minutes

While chicken and peas cook, combine two tablespoons of water with one tablespoon of cornstarch (or flour) to make a smooth liquid

After chicken and peas have cooked the five minutes, stir in the cornstarch liquid to thicken the liquid.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

When timer goes off, drain any remaining liquid from farro, and combine it with the sauce.

Serve in big bowls or mugs

Quick Chicken, Mushrooms, and Rice

This happened this evening, starting with a Martha Stewart recipe and adjusting for ingredients on hand. Since Rebecca approved, I'm making sure I can do it again.

Ingredients
One pound of skinless chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
A cup of white rice

Eight ounces of mushrooms, sliced

Half an onion, diced
Three tablespoons butter, divided into one tbsp and two to use at different moments
One tablespoon olive oil
A tablespoon of dried thyme
A teaspoon of "Better than Bouillon"
Three cups water ready to be heated in your nice countertop kettle

Steps
Turn on the kettle.

Check all your ingredients and do any final chopping.

Put the rice into a pot and use the same cup to measure two cups of water when it boils.  Put pan on the stove over low heat, cover it, and set timer to 20 minutes.

Heat the olive oil and one tablespoon of butter in a skillet or dutch oven.  Check that it's ready for the meat by dropping a tiny piece in and being sure it sizzles.

Add half the meat, turning it once a minute until it's a pale brown all over and a nicer looking brown in spots.  Remove that meat to a plate.  Repeat with the second half of the meat, including removal.

Add the other two tablespoons of butter and push them around until mostly melted.  Add the onions and stir for half a minute. Add the mushrooms, spread them around pretty evenly, and then stir roughly once a minute for about five minutes.

While the mushrooms brown, put another half cup of hot water in the measuring cup and add the "Better than Bouillon" and the thyme to it. Stir well.

Add the liquid to the mushrooms and onions, stirring well and gently scraping the pan bottom to get the beautiful brown flavor-filled stuff down there to merge into the liquid.  Cook that on medium for two minutes.

Add back the chicken, stir everything together, turn the heat to very low and give it about ten minutes to all merge nicely into shared flavor and matching heat.  Check once to be sure the liquid isn't disappearing, but you don't need much of it since you'll use it mainly to flavor the rice.

Put rice in bowls, add a share of the chicken and other ingredients and enjoy.

(First time through, I actually started with the world's simplest salad: a pile of spinach, a quick drizzle of olive oil, and a  quick little bit of ground salt.  I ate that while the chicken finished, then put the rice and chicken in the same bowl.)

(Martha Stewart used fresh thyme, didn't use the onions, and replaced half the bouillon and water with white wine.  I suspect that would be at least as good.)