Chicken Parmesan

This is another family recipe. I figured out to make it based on watching other family members cook it so sorry that there aren’t any quantities listed. It was particularly challenging to cook this in the community kitchen dorm tonight. The community kitchen sink was clogged and it looked as if the kitchen hadn’t been cleaned in about two months. It’d be nice to have my own kitchen, but needless to say my friends and I managed to cook the Chicken Parmesan without having any of our food touch any of the community kitchen surfaces (ie: the table, the stove, the sink, etc.).

Ingredients:

Before it was placed in the oven.

Chicken breast

Breadcrumbs (Progresso Italian style)

Eggs

Flour

Olive oil

Marinara Sauce

Parmesan Cheese Grated

Fresh Mozzarella Cheese Sliced

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Prepare the chicken breasts by trimming away the fat and cutting them into smaller chicken breast pieces. Set aside and set up three bowls; one filled with some flour, one filled with whisked eggs, and one filled with some breadcrumbs. Also, set aside a skillet with a good amount of olive oil on the stove and a pan to be placed in the oven.

Then cover each chicken breast completely in the bowl of flour then cover them completely with egg in the egg bowl and then cover them completely with bread crumbs in the bread crumb bowl. When the olive oil in the skillet is hot begin to brown the chicken on both sides in the pan adding more olive oil as needed. When the chicken is browned place it in the oven pan you set aside earlier.

Cover each chicken with some marinara sauce. Then sprinkle some Parmesan cheese over the sauce and place slices of mozzarella cheese on each breast of chicken too. Once everything has been covered place it into the oven for about 25 minutes or until the chicken is cooked all the way through. 

Serve the chicken with pasta with marinara sauce. I also chose to serve it with some salad.... We ate on my dorm room floor... maybe next year I'll have a table.

Ravioli

About 8 years ago or so I started making a chicken ravioli recipe from a Williams-Sonoma cookbook on pasta. It became one of my standards, something I could usually throw together from the ingredients I had on hand if I didn't know what else to make for dinner, and a darn good way to use up all those chicken breasts that I don't really want but have left over from making stock! I never deviated much from the recipe until the other day; I had a little wave of inspiration and decided I wanted to make the chicken ravioli with a bit of an earthy twist, so I added some bacon and black summer truffles and a bit of gruyere cheese along with the usual parmesan. It was a nice little change. The point in all of this is that ravioli is a very flexible dish, perfect for experimentation, and limited only to a cook's imagination!

Below I will show you the steps I took when I made ravioli this past Monday, but I invite you to not just duplicate it, but use it as a springboard for making your own unique creations. Just a month ago I used the filling from the Alain Ducasse stuffed summer vegetables for making a ravioli. You can use anything you desire just as long as it's not too wet I guess!

So, for my most recent creation, I first made a mirepoix as I usually do for my chicken ravioli, mixing equal parts chopped onion, carrot and celery and sauteeing in butter. Once you get this going, fill a big pot with water to get it boiling so it will be all ready for the ravioli.

Then I fried up some bacon

and then drained it on some paper towels to take away the grease.

I mixed the bacon in with the mirepoix, adding some chopped black truffles and chopped leftover roasted chicken, as well as some gruyere and parmesan cheeses.

All of this was chopped even more finely before mixing in a little beaten egg to bind it together.

Then I moved on to making my dough. Three eggs to two cups of all-purpose flour will make roughly one pound of pasta. Make a well in the center of your flour and crack the eggs into the well.

Mix together with a fork until the ingredients are well-blended.

Knead until smooth.

Roll long, thin sheets of dough through a pasta machine, taking the dough to the very last setting. I roll a quarter pound of dough at a time, so before I roll I cut my ball of dough into four equal pieces. Make sure your work surface is well-floured to prevent the dough from sticking. I do it all on a long sheet of parchment paper, which makes the eventual transfer to the pot of boiling water much easier!

Evenly space your filling, maybe a little over a tablespoon per "square", to begin forming your ravioli.

Next I dab a little water or egg white around the exposed dough, and then place a new sheet of dough on top, or sometimes I fill half the sheet and then fold the other half over. The water or egg white helps the top sheet of dough to adhere to the bottom sheet so that the ravioli will not separate during cooking.

Next the ravioli squares are cut using a pastry wheel.

Now they are ready to be boiled, which takes only a few minutes.

Serve topped with olive oil and grated parmesan cheese.

Buon appetito!

Chicken Soup

This is one of the recipes that no one ever taught me how to make, I just did it in my own way from the outset. It is so simple, yet so satisfying, and it even has a special "signature ingredient" without which it would not be "my" chicken soup and would definitely seem to be missing a certain something to me and my family.

My special ingredient is tarragon, a wonderful herb that is reminiscent of anise in its aroma. I use it either dried or fresh, depending on what I have on hand. I always add it toward the end of cooking, so that the flavor is fresh and pronounced.

Another component that always goes into my chicken soup is fresh, homemade egg noodles. Making fresh egg noodles is a key technique in this household, as I have made many an impromptu meal from this simple dough consisting of only flour and eggs. It yields a fresh, classic pasta that can be topped with any number of other ingredients or filled to make a ravioli. When I use it in soup as egg noodles, I roll it out just a little thicker than I would for a pasta.

First I start just as I would for a chicken stock, filling a pot with water, a whole chicken, and aromatics such as celery, leek tops, parsley. onions (skin on for color), a small sprig of thyme, peppercorns and a little salt. This cooks for about 90 minutes.

I remove the chicken and chop it up.

Meanwhile I make the pasta dough by kneading together 3 eggs with 2 cups of flour, and then passing the dough through a pasta machine.

The dough is then cut into strips.

To finish the soup, I strain the broth through a colander into a clean pot to remove all of the stock ingredients, then I add some sliced carrots to the boiling broth. After they have become almost tender enough, I add the noodles to cook for about 2-3 minutes, along with the fresh or dry tarragon and extra salt to taste. The chopped chicken pieces are then added back to the soup and it is ready to serve.

A perfect bowl of nourishment on a rainy night or for a family member who is feeling a little under the weather...

(A little note: if I make this soup in advance I always refrigerate the broth overnight before finishing the soup so that I may skim off the chicken fat that floats to the top; in that case I would make the noodles the following day.)

Oven-Roasted Chicken Thighs with Carrots and Yukon Gold Potatoes

Truth be told we are not that big on chicken around here. However, I use chicken stock frequently for dishes that don't actually contain chicken meat. Since I buy whole chickens for making the stock, quartering the chickens and reserving the meat, this leaves me with chicken pieces that I then need to find recipes for. I know, what a burden, right?! :-D Until now, I really only knew one excellent way to prepare chicken... more on that later... then this week I found a new chicken recipe which is actually quite good! I found it on Epicurious.com. You can link to the actual recipe, which I have rewritten here to illustrate the steps as I did them, by clicking on the link in the title. The photos are my own.

Oven-Roasted Chicken Thighs with Carrots and Yukon Gold Potatoes
Bon Appétit | March 2009

by Greg Atkinson In this simple chicken bake, the skin gets good and crispy, and the juices make the vegetables extra-succulent. Yield: Makes 6 servings 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided 6 large chicken thighs with skin and bones (preferably organic; about 2 1/4 pounds total) 1 tablespoon coarse kosher salt 2 teaspoons dried thyme 1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated or ground nutmeg 2 pounds unpeeled medium Yukon Gold potatoes, scrubbed, cut into 2-inch-long, 1/2-inch-thick spears 2 pounds medium carrots, peeled, cut into 2-inch-long, 1/2-inch-thick spears Preheat oven to 450°F. Place chicken in a single layer in a baking dish. Coat chicken pieces with olive oil and set skin side up. Mix salt, thyme, 1½ teaspoons pepper, and nutmeg in small bowl. Sprinkle half of mixture over chicken. Roast until chicken starts to brown and some fat has rendered, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, combine potatoes, carrots, 2 tablespoons oil, and remaining salt/thyme mixture in large bowl. Transfer thighs to medium bowl; set aside. Transfer potato-carrot mixture to same baking dish; turn to coat with drippings. Roast until vegetables soften, 30 minutes. Place thighs on vegetables; pour accumulated juices from chicken over. Return baking dish to oven. Roast until chicken is cooked and vegetables brown, 15 minutes longer. As you can see we served ours with some green beans. It was really tender and juicy and well-seasoned.

Chicken Stock

Making your own chicken stock is easy and very economical, and best of all, it tastes so much better than shelf products. The process is as follows: quarter the chicken to remove the breast, thigh and leg meat, and reserve any desired organ meat found inside the carcass. Place the carcass inside of a stock pot, add aromatics (herbs, etc) and enough water to cover, and simmer for approximately 90 minutes.

I used 3 carcasses for my stock, so in the process obtained 6 boneless breasts, 6 tenderloins (found on the underside of the breast), 6 legs, 6 thighs, 3 livers, 7 1/2 quarts of stock, and cooked meat scraps picked from the carcass upon completion. Some people also save the gizzards for making gravy, but I'm not much of a gravy person. Ditto on the wings... save them and cook them if you want, but mine go in the stock pot.

A little economic incentive to purchase a whole chicken to quarter yourself and prepare your own stock:

The whole chicken cost me $1.89/lb.

The same brand of chicken is priced at:

$2.19/lb for legs and thighs

$4.99/lb for boneless breasts

$5.99/lb for tenderloins

$1.39/lb for livers (OK, so this is less per pound, but considering many people just toss them in the garbage, consider them sort of thrown in for free.)

Chicken Stock retails in the supermarket for upwards of $3/quart.

The vegetables used have some monetary value, however many of the parts used are parts that we do not otherwise use in cooking, for example the innermost ribs of celery, the tough tops of leeks, and the stems of parsley.

It's a win-win all around; you save money and end up with a superior product.

To start, locate the breastbone in the center of the breasts. Using a boning knife, make an incision along one side of the breastbone, and work your way down along the rib cage until you have completely separated one breast from the carcass. The skin can be effortlessly pulled off. Turn the breast around to locate the tenderloin which can also be removed by hand with ease; it is barely even attached. Repeat for the other side.

You end up with this: 2 boneless breasts and 2 tenderloins.

Next, turn the chicken around so that the back is facing up. With one hand pressing down on the back, pull one leg up until you hear the joints snap. Using your knife, cut around the thigh bones to remove the meat from the carcass. You will now have the thigh and leg all in one piece. You can leave them attached if desired, or cut them apart by severing the joint. Again, repeat for the other side.

Here is the liver meat that was removed from inside the carcass. I use chicken livers in certain Italian sauces as well as Spanish style rice.

Repeat the de-boning process with as many chickens as you would like to use for your stock; just make sure they will all fit in your pot! :)

Wrap up the breasts, thighs, legs, livers, etc. and refrigerate or freeze for future use.

Next, chop up your aromatic vegetables. I use yellow onions, leaving the skins on to color the stock, the innermost ribs of celery, the dark green tops of leeks, sprigs of thyme, parsley (normally I use only stems but had depleted my supply making stock last week and had only leaves left, so in they go...) . I also add bay leaves, whole black peppercorns, and a little salt (not too much, you will want to save most of your seasoning for later).
Add the aromatics to the pot along with the carcasses, and fill with enough water to just cover everything. Simmer for 90 minutes.

Once I have finished, I strain the stock into quart containers. If I don't need it right away, I refrigerate it so that I can easily skim the fat off the top before using. I always make extra and freeze it so that I always have some on hand.

Oh yes, one more bonus! I picked all of this meat off of the carcasses once the stock was finished. It can be used in chicken soup, chicken salad, or casseroles, etc.