Tag Archives: chicken

Butter Chicken Breast with Saffron Aioli

SKIN-ON CHICKEN BREAST LIGHTLY SEASONED AND MARINATED AND SEARED IN BUTTER. SAFFRON-LEMON AIOLI. FONDANT POTATO BRUSHED WITH ROSEMARY, THYME, FINISHED IN HOMEMADE CHICKEN STOCK.  ASPARAGUS AND MUSHROOMS IN SEASONED CHICKEN OIL. MICROGREENS AND RADISH SLICES.


Oh boy, it’s good to be back in the kitchen! Over the last couple years, I realized just how poorly I eat when food isn’t a priority. Cooking can become a total chore in between being at the hospital and studying for exams. After way too many one-pot curries and stews at home, and burrito bowls in between caffeine shots, it became obvious how important texture is to enjoying food. How many times have you heard someone describe a food as having “a crunchy outside, and a soft and creamy inside” to advertise its deliciousness? In the multi-step process of tasting food, texture is second only to sight, and in my opinion is what separates great dishes from average ones. And so I was inspired to play with textures as I renewed my cooking creativity, keeping flavors simple and using just the technical basics – breaking down a whole chicken, keeping chicken breast moist, and making a simple sauce that brightens up the rest of the flavors on the plate.

How do different textures feature in this French-inspired ensemble? First, the crispy skin is obligatory. I borrowed a technique chefs often use for whole chicken – loosening the skin from the meat and seasoning the space underneath to both draw moisture away from the skin surface and to season the meat. Second, the sides. A fondant potato develops a delightfully crusty exterior that contrasts with a heavenly creamy interior that soaks up the flavors of chicken and butter that it cooks in (also, it looks like a scallop and Pea loves scallops). Then, veggies are cooked in the oil left over from the rendered chicken skin, just far enough to take off the raw edge but leave some crunchy freshness.

So, regardless of what you eat or cook, I hope you start discovering the magic of textures in your homecooking, taking it to another level! – Boo


Servings: 2 (main portions)
Difficulty: 

Crispy chicken breast:

  • 1 (~12 oz) skin-on boneless chicken breast
  • Marinade
    0.5 tb butter
    0.5 ts coarse salt
    0.5 ts coarse black pepper
    0.25 ts ground coriander
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed
  • 1 rosemary sprig
  • 2 thyme sprigs
  1. Pat the chicken dry, then slide fingers under the skin to separate skin from meat, keeping one long edge of skin attached.
  2. Rub butter on the meat underneath the skin, then evenly apply other marinade seasonings underneath the skin.
  3. Refrigerate chicken breast to marinate, 8-12 hours.
  4. Before cooking, rest chicken at room temperature, 1-2 hours.
  5. In olive oil over medium-high heat, place chicken skin-side down to sear until crisp, ~8-10 minutes. Meanwhile, use tongs to hold rosemary, thyme, and garlic together and brush in oil and on the chicken while cooking.
  6. Flip, and cook over medium heat until cooked through (internal T = 155 F), ~8-10 minutes. Continue to brush herbs over chicken skin.
  7. Rest chicken on cutting board, 5 minutes. Meanwhile, make saffron aioli.
  8. (optional) Saute 2 servings of vegetables in remaining chicken oil.

Saffron aioli:

  • 1 egg yolk
  • pinch of saffron threads
  • 1 garlic clove, grated
  • 1 tb lemon juice
  • 0.5 c extra-virgin olive oil
  • 0.25 ts salt
  • 0.25 ts white pepper
  1. In a small bowl, soak saffron in 1 tb hot water. Set aside.
  2. In a mixing bowl, whisk egg yolk with lemon juice and garlic until slightly thickened.
  3. Gradually add oil in a slow stream while whisking until thickened.
  4. Beat salt, pepper, and saffron into aioli.
  5. Serve with chicken.

Olive Oil Poached Chicken Breast

olive oil poached chicken close upMOIST, SLOW-POACHED CHICKEN BREAST ENRICHED WITH OLIVE OIL AND DASHED WITH BLACK PEPPER. SIMPLE, FRESH BALSAMIC SALAD. TORCHED BRIE OVER HONEY. LEMON WEDGES AND WHOLE-LEAF BASIL.


In 95% of cooked dishes, “color equals flavor”, meaning that the best flavor comes from the deliciously crispy, golden-brown crust that gives each bite traces of hundreds of different flavors through perhaps the most famous chemical reaction in the culinary world – the Maillard reaction. Other than in meats, the Maillard reaction also gives us fries, caramelized onions, classic caramel, and freshly baked bread.

But there’s much to appreciate in the other 5%, like the simplicity and the clean taste of fresh ingredients. In this dish, the chicken is seasoned with nothing more than salt from the water, pepper, and olive oil. It’s amazingly moist because it’s poached gently and allowed to soak in some of the olive oil as it chills. This recipe is really about the technique for the poached chicken, but we included our choice of sides, too, which are also lightly seasoned to let the flavors of the main ingredients shine and meld with each other. I hope you give this technique a try, and perhaps inspire even more interesting ideas! – Boo


olive oil poached chicken top view

Servings: 2 (small courses)
Difficulty: 1 star

Poached chicken:

  • 2 chicken breast halves (or 1 chicken breast, halved into cutlets)
  • Poaching liquid
    4 c water
    1 tb salt
  • 2-3 tb olive oil
  • Seasoning
    black pepper
    olive oil
  1. In a saucepan, bring water and salt to just under a simmer. Add chicken to poach, keeping water just under a simmer, until cooked through, 9-12 minutes.
  2. Remove chicken onto a plate, and drizzle olive oil over chicken. Wrap plate in plastic wrap, and refrigerate until chilled, 30-45 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare sides.
  3. Thinly slice chicken, and season to taste.

Sides:

  • Salad
    1 roma tomato, diced
    0.5 c cucumber, diced
    1 tb balsamic vinegar
    0.25 ts salt
  • Torched brie
    2 brie wedges
    2 tb honey
  • Garnish
    4 lemon wedges
    2 basil leaves
    olive oil
  1. Stir salad ingredients together, and set aside.
  2. Bake or torch brie over the honey until softened.
  3. Garnish plate as desired, and serve with poached chicken breast.

Crispy Roasted Cilantro-Lime Chicken Thighs

cilanto-lime chicken thighsEASY, TANGY, FLAVORFUL MARINATED CHICKEN THIGH OVEN-CRISPED AND SERVED OVER ROASTED DICED VEGETABLES.


We’ve all had those long days at work. You want (or need) something delicious and comforting, but the last thing you want to do when you get home is be on your feet another hour prepping and cooking dinner. Even passionate home cooks need a break sometimes, and so this recipe was born with those days in mind.

All you have to do is toss the marinade together the previous night or the morning of, and let the refrigerator do the rest of the work for you! You can come back home, move the chicken from the fridge to the oven, and relax for 45-55 minutes until you have a juicy, succulent, tangy chicken with a crispy skin waiting for you. If you want to round out the meal with some vegetables and starch, Pea and I found that roasting up a couple diced bell peppers and potatoes (2-3 extra minutes!) worked amazingly with this. So with simple, comforting dinner that you can look forward to through a tough day, hopefully you can turn your frown upside down 😀 – Boo


Yield: 4 chicken thighs
Difficulty: 1 star

Oven: 400 F, 45-55 minutes

Marinade:

  • 0.25 c cilantro, minced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 0.25 tb cumin
  • 0.25 tb coriander
  • 1 ts salt
  • 3 limes, zested and juiced
  • 3 tb olive oil

Directions:

  1. Thoroughly coat chicken thighs with marinade. Seal/cover and refrigerate, at least 8 hours.
  2. Shake off excess marinade, and place chicken thighs skin-side up on baking tray. Bake on upper-middle rack until cooked through, 45-55 minutes. Serve.
  3. Optionally, boil excess marinade in a saucepan for 2 minutes, and spoon over chicken or side dishes.