Sweet and Sticky Oven Baked Chicken Thighs

I was searching the internet the other day looking for something new to try with chicken thighs.  Seems that more and more of my weeknight meals revolve around them and the family is getting a little tired of my normal baked thigh recipes.  Luckily this recipe caught my eye and it is definitely a keeper!!! 
Kristen from Dine and Dish makes these using chicken wings but thighs are what I had.

Sweet and Sticky Oven Baked Chicken Thighs (from Dine and Dish)
Ingredients:
1 cup honey
1/4 cup molasses
1/3 cup ketchup
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon Spanish paprika
1 Tablespoon seasoned salt
1/8 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper 
1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt 
1/4 teaspoon minced garlic
2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 Tablespoon mustard
1 ½ cups brown sugar
8 chicken thighs
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together all ingredients except the chicken thighs
2. Line metal baking sheet with aluminum foil and place a rack to elevate the chicken.
3. Pour the barbecue sauce over chicken thighs in a large re-sealable plastic bag. Seal tightly and shake until sauce is well distributed.
4. Arrange chicken thighs on the rack over the aluminum foil lined baking sheet.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour or until crisp and cooked through.

So I spatchcocked a chicken...

Doesn't that look incredible???

And I have to tell you it is my new favorite way to prep chicken for cooking!!! The chicken is given a chance to cook more evenly and much faster than if you were to leave it whole.

Spatchcocking is simply the process of cutting out the backbone and the sternum and pressing your chicken flat. It has always intrigued me but I was a little intimidated to do it myself. When I was over at Jaden's house (Steamy Kitchen) the last dish that we started on was a spatchcocked chicken (seasoned with curry) that was browned up stove top in a cast iron skillet and then placed in the oven to finish cooking. She had added a split head of garlic and several halved clementines. She used the clementines and garlic to slightly raise the chicken from the bottom and then let it cook away in the oven. I had to leave but before the chicken was done but I couldn't stop thinking about it...

So here's what I did:

Took a small chicken and spatchcocked it, quite nicely too, and flattened it out. I seasoned it with some mixed seasoning, slat and pepper. Heated up my cast iron skillet (layer of oil on the bottom) on the stove top. Preheated the oven to 350 degrees.

Browned the chicken skin side up first then flipped it over. Squeezed a couple of clementines over the chicken and added them to the pot and stuffed them underneath the chicken along with some garlic and slices of ginger. I also threw in 2 Kafir lime leaves (Jaden had give me from her tree).

After about 35 minutes my chicken was done...I swear! This is the fastest and simplest way to cook chicken yet!!!

As Always...

happy Entertaining!!!

Judy

www.nofearentertaining.com

Roast Chicken and Rice and Gravy???

This is the chicken roasted with lots of garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper. See all of the great gravy juices??? Perfect for topping rice! (crappy picture...remember the wine???)

One of the favorite meals in our house happen on very rare occasions seeing as we really don't have enough time on a normal week night for the whole roasting chicken process. For some reason last night we had nothing going on. Or if we did I forgot about it and we just didn't go???!!!

Everyone here loves roast chicken. Forget the beef, lamb or anything else that you can roast...they want chicken!!! I really think though that the only reason they like it is for the side dishes that come with it. They get to have rice and gravy. Now I was talking to my friend Jenn-The Left Over Queen and I mentioned that we were having rice and gravy. She said "hmmm that sounds good, never had it". WHAAAAT???

I guess though that until T. I had never had it either. It is sooo much better than potatoes and gravy...I kid you not! It is the best.

Unfortunately last was a "too much wine night" and by the time we got around to dinner I forgot to take any pictures. You see on nights like these it is just so nice to be able to sit and all of us to talk.

Roasted Chicken

Ingredients:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

4-5 pound chicken, organic and free range
6 or 7 cloves of garlic
2 Tbsp of olive oil
1/2 lemon
1/2 tsp poultry seasoning (Usually I just sprinkle by sight. A nice light dusting is good)
salt
fresh ground pepper

Directions:

• Rinse out the chicken and remove the bag of giblets (these can be frozen and used at Thanksgiving or some later date). Place the chicken breast side up on a cutting board. (I once cooked a chicken upside down so now I always check by holding the bird up and pretending it's walking. The breast is on the bottom so I know I need to flip the bird over. This was years ago when we first married but I have never lived it down!!!).
• Mince the cloves of garlic and mix it with the olive oil.
  
• Take the half lemon and place it in the cavity.
  
• Take the oil and garlic mixture and rub onto the birds skin. This will add flavor to the juices as well as make the skin nice and brown.
• Sprinkle poultry seasoning and salt and pepper on the outside of the bird.
• Gently place the chicken in your pot and place in oven.
• Cook uncovered for about 1 3/4 - 2 1/2 hrs or an internal temp of 180 - 185 degrees.

On a side note: I guess most of you know that we are having some major health issues going on with T's Dad. As of right now he is in Cleveland Clinic in ICU. They did a CAT Scan on him last night and hopefully we will know a bit more soon. Please send prayers and well wishes his way. It's a tough time for us to be so far away!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

It all started with a chicken...

Roasted Chicken

One day last week I thought it would be a great idea to roast a chicken. The weather was nice and cool and the kids always eat a roasted chicken real well. I was at the grocery store and bought a chicken. It was a 3 pounder but, get this, it cost me around $8???!!! Yes, it was organic, free range, no antibiotics or hormones, but still that is a lot for a small chicken. I figured though that I would be sure to make 2 meals out of it so could therefore justify the expense!

So have you ever made something and it turned out so delicious but you knew that because of all of the crazy components involved in the meal you would NEVER be able to recreate it? That's what happened here. First of all for dinner on Wednesday night I roasted the chicken. I roasted it my standard way...lost of garlic, butter to brown the skin, salt, pepper, poultry seasoning and half a lemon inside the cavity. I always roast this chicken in a large, heavy casserole dish because I love how moist the bird is when it is done. Anyway that with a salad was dinner on Wednesday. Chicken Stock Cooking

I saved all of the bones, drippings and the leftover meat and let them sit in the fridge over night. In the morning I took the bones out and threw them into a pot with the drippings, celery, onion, onion tops, parsley, and white pepper. I let this just barely simmer all day. Around dinner time I strained the stock and put the cleaned stock back on the stove and added the left over meat (cut into small pieces) and, now here is where it gets loopy, I had made stuffed eggplant during the week and had a bunch of leftover lentil stuffing so I tossed that into the pot as well. The smell of this soup cooking was out of this world. You had the lemony smell from the roasted chicken, cinnamon from the lentil mixture, and the wonderful savory smells from the stock that I made. To top it all off I made some dumplings to go in the pot. This soup was amazing but I will probably never be able or want to make it again. Next time it will be a bunch of different leftovers used in the pot!

Pot Full of Chicken Soup with Dumplings!

Dumpling Recipe

2 cups of all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
4 tsp baking powder
1 egg beaten
2 Tbsp melted butter
2/3 cups milk

Directions: Sift the dry ingredients together and the beaten egg, melted butter and milk. Stir gently until dry ingredients are just moist. Drop by teaspoon into the boiling soup pot and caver and cook for about 18 minutes. They should be nice, light and fluffy!

What a Great Bowl of Soup!

At least I can justify the $8 chicken now!!!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Roasted Whole Chicken

I though now that seeing that I had finished and sent out my e-book (if you have received it great...if not you should sign up for my newsletter and you will receive it FREE) I would like to try out one of the methods of cooking. Today it is all about roasting a chicken. Now for a quick family meal without all of the trimmings this is a great thing to do. It needs no supervision just pop it in a wait! I use a big Dutch oven (this is the one we use http://www.nofearentertaining.com/lecreuset.htm) to roast this type of chicken (a deep casserole dish will work just as well). If you really want a nice crispy skin you need to use a roast pan (This is the one we have : http://www.nofearentertaining.com/roastpan.htm). For a quick chicken in the middle of the week cooking it in a Dutch oven dish makes for a nice moist, no hassle meal.

Roasted Whole Chicken

Ingredients:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees

5-6 pound chicken
whole head of garlic
2 Tbsp of butter
1/2 lemon
1/2 tsp poultry seasoning (Usually I just sprinkle by sight. A nice light dusting is good)
salt
fresh ground pepper

Directions:

• Rinse out the chicken and remove the bag of giblets (these can be frozen and used at Thanksgiving or some later date). Place the chicken breast side up on a cutting board. (I once cooked a chicken upside down so now I always check by holding the bird up and pretending it's walking. The breast is on the bottom so I know I need to flip the bird over. This was years ago when we first married but I have never lived it down!!!).
• Mince about 5 cloves of gralic and mix it with the butter.
• Take 5 or 6 cloves of garlic (peeled and cleaned but still whole) and place it the cavity.
• Take the half lemon and place it in the cavity as well.
• Take the butter and garlic mixture and pat onto the birds skin. This will add flavor to the juices as well as make the skin nice and brown.
• Sprinkle poultry seasoning and salt and pepper on the outside of the bird.
• Gently place the chicken in your pot and place in oven.
• Cook uncovered for about 1 3/4 - 2 1/2 hrs or an internal temp of 180 - 185 degrees.

You can use the juices from the pan to make gravy which is great over rice!!! This one is a family favorite.

Happy Entertaining!!

Judy

http://www.nofearentertaining.com/