Oven BBQ Chicken (recipe)

Summer is the time to fire up the grill… at least that’s what the US food programs and magazines tell me. Here in Trinidad, I’ve never really known or been part of a huge grilling or BBQ culture. As a kid there was a time when my father went on a BBQ kick, that lasted about a month after which the grill was determined to difficult to clean and fell into disuse. I have no idea what became of it or the bag of coals that were so enthusiastically bought for it.

My next initiation into the world of BBQs was as a fundraising mechanism in both primary and high school. There was nothing like the smell of multiple grills all working in tandem to fill up the flimsy paper boxes that our paper chits would procure. The funds from these BBQs (and their equally popular counterpart the Curry-Q) presumably going to help fund the upkeep of a school or to support the mission of an organization. Even then my favourite BBQs had to meet certain requirements. The flavour had to be both sweet and smoky. The sauce had to be thick and shiny. And the chicken? Well the chicken had to have dark, crunchy, practically charred bits. Should any of these characteristics be lacking, and the BBQ would be a failure in my eyes.

Wednesday Chicken Recipes: Joyful Jamaican Jerk Grilled Chicken & Veggies

I’m writing with a hungry stomach today & I’ve got a serious craving for chicken. It’s funny, I was reviewing my last few posts and it looks like I’ve been in a sweet tooth mood lately! Well, say hello to my little friend- the Joyful Jamaican Jerk Grilled Chicken recipe. It’s delicious, it’s easy & you’ll want more.

Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons jerk sauce, found in the dressing section of grocery
• 2 large chicken breasts, boneless
• 1 plantain, sliced
• 4 oz okra, cut into 1/2″ round
• 2 red jalapenos, sliced
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 3 tablespoons white wine
• 2 tablespoons butter

What’s Next:

Marinate chicken breasts with 2 tablespoons of your jerk sauce & and 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil for about an hour. Make sure to keep marinade, you’ll be using this again soon.

Go ahead & get your grill heated up.

In a large skillet- deep fry plantain slices until golden brown, set aside.

Place chicken on grill & baste every 5 minutes with leftover marinade. Grill for 15-20 minutes, or until juices run clear & no longer pink inside.

While you have the grill going, in a large skillet- saute okra & jalapeno with butter for three minutes.

Add wine, fried plantain & 2 tablespoons jerk sauce, mix well. Remove from heat once mixture is warm all over.

Once chicken is done, set veggies on plate & place chicken on top. Now you are ready to serve & to enjoy this joyful meal for two.

Steamed Fish Teochew Style

Tag:easy chinese recipe, Fish, Steamed Fish, teochew

Steamed fish, Teochew style is typically done with the simplest of ingredients - shredded ginger, pickled sour plums, mustard greens (salted vegetable), sliced shitake mushrooms and garnished with green onions. However, being a pork lover, I could not resist adding in a bit of minced pork to add more juice and flavor to the fish gravy.

Although I am a Teochew, I am shy to say that the only dishes I am familiar with, off the top of my head, are Teochew Steamed Fish, Teochew Porridge (Congee) and Or Nee (Yam Paste).

Amy Beh from Kuali has a great Teochew-Style Steamed Fish recipe. What I have below has a few more ingredients.

Ingredients (Serves 2):

- 1 pomfret (you can also use garoupa fish)
- 1 tbsp ginger, shredded
- 1 stalk spring onions, shredded
- 1/4 lb (or less) minced pork, seasoned with salt, pepper and corn starch
- 2 shitake mushrooms (I used dried ones, so I soaked them in warm water before slicing them up)
- 1 tomato, cut into wedges
- 1/4 lb preserved green mustard, cleaned and shredded
- 2 preserved sour plums (I used a Japanese brand preserved plums that are red in color)

Seasoning for fish:

- 1/2 tsp salt
- a few dashes white pepper
- 1/2 tsp corn starch
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tsp fish sauce
- 1 tbsp rice wine or shaoxing wine
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1/2 pc chicken stock dissolved in 1/2 bowl warm water

Garnish:
- 1 stalk spring onions, shredded
- 1 red chilli, shredded

Preparation and Cooking Method:

1. Wash fish and pat dry. Make a few slits on each side of the fish. Rub lightly with salt, pepper and corn starch. Remember to do this within the fish stomach as well. Then stuff a few shreds of ginger and spring onions into the slits and fish stomach.

2. Heat up 1-2 tbsp oil. Add in shredded ginger, pork and mushrooms and stir fry until fragrant, then add in the rest of the ingredients and seasoning and bring to a boil.

3. Arrange fish on a steaming tray and pour mixture from (2) over the fish.

4. Steam over high heat for 12-15 minutes or until cooked. Garnish with shredded spring onions and chilli.

Cook’s Note:

- According to Amy, when the eyes of the fish has popped out, this is an indication that the fish is cooked.

- This Teochew Style Steamed Fish can be a bit salty becos of the presence of many salty ingredients like light soy sauce, fish sauce, chicken stock and preserved green mustard. You may wish to omit the chicken stock and just use plain warm water.

Bite This!

Baked Stuffed Fish recipe

Baked Stuffed Fish

Ingredients

White fish,enough for
-4-6
2 c Soft bread cubes,about
-1/2″ cubes
1 Small onion,chopped
-fine
1 Green pepper,blanched
-and,Chopped
8 oz Imitation crabmeat
1/4 c Lemon juice
1/2 c HELLMANS mayo
Salt & pepper,To Taste
Instructions:
Mix all these ingredients together and roll up in fish fillets,
securing them with toothpicks. Divide it among four or five
good-sized pieces. Bake at 400 for 30 minutes. During last 10 minutes
pour newburg sauce over fish.

It’s good with flounder, but any white fish will do. I’ve used large
cod and catfish fillets and butterflied them. Just enough so you can
roll it up over the stuffing.

Recipe: Ginger and Cilantro Baked Tilapia

This quick and easy fish bake is one of the first things we learned to cook after college, setting up house on our own. It seemed exotic at the time; now it's a pleasant, familiar standby on a busy weekday evening.

It's sweet and spicy, salty from the soy sauce and melting in the middle. We use tilapia since it's the most easily available thin white fish these days, but any thin fish fillet would do. It does, we admit, heat up the oven, but only for about 15 minutes! It makes great leftovers, too...

Ginger and Cilantro Baked Tilapia
serves 2, or 1 with lunch leftovers

2 large tilapia fillets (or similar thin white fish) - about 3/4 pound
1 jalapeno pepper (optional)
3 garlic cloves
1 inch grated ginger (1 tablespoon)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 cup white wine
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
Scallions, chopped for garnish
Extra cilantro, to garnish

Heat the oven to 475F. Pat the fish dry and season lightly with salt and pepper. Place in a glass baking dish.

Chop the pepper and garlic, and grate the ginger. Put in a small food processor with the soy sauce, white wine, sesame oil, and cilantro. Whir until blended. Pour the sauce over the fish, rubbing it in a little. Bake for about 8 minutes, or until the fish flakes easily and is cooked through. It will be very moist and gelatinous, still.

Serve immediately over brown rice, garnished with scallions and cilantro.

Fish Recipes

Salt and pepper flounder with a lemon snow pea shoot salad (Each fish serves 1 as a main, 2 to share as an entrée)

Ingredients:
1 whole medium-size flounder
salt and pepper mix (recipe below)
200 mL egg wash
50 g snow pea shoots
2 lemons, segmented
40 mL light soy sauce
olive oil for shallow or deep frying

Salt and pepper mix
1 cup cornflour
¹/₄ cup salt
2 teaspoons cracked black pepper
1 small chilli, chopped
¹/₂ bunch coriander, chopped

Method

Wash flounder and pat dry with a clean towel. Dust with salt and pepper mix, dip in egg wash, then dip in mix again. Mix snow pea shoots and lemon in a bowl and dress with soy. Heat oil in frying pan to 170⁰C, place whole fish in pan and cook for 5-6 minutes. Drain on paper towels. Place fish on large plate and top with snow pea shoots and lemon.

Source: Australian Seafood Users Manual

Moroccan Chicken - Recipe

Moroccan Chicken

Moroccan Chicken
With Char Grilled Vegetables & Orange Couscous

Ingredients:

1 boneless chicken breast per serve. Honey
Moroccan spice Vanilla Pod
Couscous Cream
Oranges Butter
Sweet Potato Capsicum (Red or Yellow)
Capsicum


Directions:

Marinate chicken in a little oil and Moroccan spice, leaving overnight. Soak couscous, segment oranges, dice capsicum add ingredients together and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Parboil sweet potato and slice. Cool and brush with a little oil and char until grill marks apparent. Slice capsicum and do the same as the sweet potato.

Seal chicken and cook in a hot oven for 12-15 minutes depending on size.

Cut and scrape vanilla pod and add to cream, reduce and add honey a little at a time depending on sweetness and finish by whisking in a little butter.

To plate up, add one breast of chicken per serve, couscous can be served either hot or cold.

IMBB #24: Amanda Hesser's Lemon Chicken

I might have teased a few readers and friends some posts ago, promising to write the next day about the most amazing chicken recipe I'd made - but then the Tweety Scramble got in the way, and before I knew it it was Friday and people were accusing me of not delivering on the goods. And who am I to stand in the way of hungry, righteous cooks and their recipes?

Without further ado, I present to you the dish that made Ben look up from his plate a few days ago and proclaim firmly that this was the best thing I'd ever cooked for him. Ever. And I tell you, Ben's not the kind of guy to go throwing about proclamations like that as if they were peanuts. I have to admit that he does have a point. This chicken is good. And it's easy. Do I sound like a broken record sometimes with the "easy" and the "simple"? It's just that I feel those things so much contribute to the pleasure of a tasty meal. And in any case, this time it really is sort of the point.

The recipe comes a piece in the New York Times that Amanda Hesser wrote a few years ago about creme fraiche. Creme fraiche is Amanda's best friend: she has single-handedly done more publicity for the joys of creme fraiche than any other contemporary food writer I know. After buying a pot of creme fraiche for the Lemon Pizza last week, I spent the week using up the rest of it. There are certainly worse things in life: a dollop in my scrambled eggs, a fillip swirled into my soup, and several spoons cooked down into the silkiest, most fragrant sauce for chicken I have ever tasted.

All you do is fry some bone-in and well-seasoned chicken (I used two whole legs and two breasts) in a very hot pan until the skin is beautifully browned and crisp. Then you slide the pan into the oven to continue cooking until done. When the juices run clear from the chicken, remove it to a plate while you pour off most of the fat, add in the lemon juice and then the creme fraiche. Pour this golden gravy over your chicken, sprinkle it with a fluffy pile of lemon zest and you're done. The dish tastes bright and creamy at once - if you seasoned the chicken well, you've got a whole sparkling array of flavors to contend with.

To make this a contender for Too Many Chef's "Make It In 30 Minutes" Is My Blog Burning event, put a pot of rice on to boil in chicken stock as you're frying the chicken. While the chicken cooks in the oven, wash and dress a bowl of butter lettuce. By the time you've spooned the sauce over your chicken, the people you're cooking for will be practically begging you to feed them.

Lemon Chicken
Serves 4

1 1/2 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
4 whole chicken legs (thighs attached)
Coarse sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
1/2 cup creme fraiche

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Heat a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. After 3 minutes, add the butter and oil. Season the chicken generously with salt and very generously with pepper. Place the chicken, skin side down, in the skillet and brown well on both sides, turning once.

2. Transfer the skillet to the oven. Bake for 15 minutes, or until the juices run clear when the chicken is pierced with a knife.

3. Return the skillet to the stovetop. Transfer the chicken to a platter and keep warm. Remove all but 1 tablespoon of fat from the skillet. Place over medium heat, add the lemon juice, and stir to scrape up any pan drippings. Simmer for 1 minute, then add the creme fraiche and stir until melted and bubbling. If the sauce is too thick, add a few tablespoons of water. Pour the sauce over the chicken and sprinkle with lemon zest and additional pepper. Serve hot.

Sesame and Lemon Chicken

4 small to medium chicken fillets
half a lemon
0.5 tsp salt
0.25 tsp black pepper
1 egg
6 Tbsp plain flour
3 Tbsp sesame seeds
3 Tbsp breadcrumbs
vegetable oil for frying

Flatten the chicken fillets slightly by placing them between two sheets of clingfilm and gently beating them with a rolling pin. Place in a large shallow dish, season with salt, pepper and lemon juice on all sides. Cover and leave to marinate for half an hour in a fridge.
Break the egg into a soup plate, whisking it a little.
Place flour into another plate.
Mix sesame seeds and breadcrumbs on the third plate.
When ready to cook, toss the chicken fillets, one after another, in the flour, then quickly dip into the egg, and finally press into the sesame seed mixture, to ensure they're covered evenly.
Heat oil in a large skillet/frying pan over moderate heat, and cook the chicken fillets on both sides until golden brown and cooked through.
Serve with lemon slices, steamed rice and some steamed broccoli or other vegetables. Or simly with some dressed salad leaves.

Oven BBQ Chicken (recipe)

Summer is the time to fire up the grill… at least that’s what the US food programs and magazines tell me. Here in Trinidad, I’ve never really known or been part of a huge grilling or BBQ culture. As a kid there was a time when my father went on a BBQ kick, that lasted about a month after which the grill was determined to difficult to clean and fell into disuse. I have no idea what became of it or the bag of coals that were so enthusiastically bought for it.

My next initiation into the world of BBQs was as a fundraising mechanism in both primary and high school. There was nothing like the smell of multiple grills all working in tandem to fill up the flimsy paper boxes that our paper chits would procure. The funds from these BBQs (and their equally popular counterpart the Curry-Q) presumably going to help fund the upkeep of a school or to support the mission of an organization. Even then my favourite BBQs had to meet certain requirements. The flavour had to be both sweet and smoky. The sauce had to be thick and shiny. And the chicken? Well the chicken had to have dark, crunchy, practically charred bits. Should any of these characteristics be lacking, and the BBQ would be a failure in my eyes.

Although there is no substitute for BBQ from the grill, oven-baked chicken recipes are in my eyes are perfectly acceptable substitute as the results of this recipe will testify!

Oven Baked BBQ Chicken
Adapted from a recipe on KraftFoods.com
Serves 6

INGREDIENTS:
½ cup Italian Dressing
1 broiler-fryer chicken (3 lb.), cut up
1 cup Hickory Smoke Barbecue Sauce
1 scotch bonnet pepper, chopped

DIRECTIONS:
1. Clean chicken pieces with lime
2. Season with salt and pepper
3. Pour dressing over chicken in resealable plastic bag. Seal bag; turn to evenly coat chicken.
4. Refrigerate 1 hour to overnight.
5. Remove chicken from marinade; discard bag and marinade.

6. Preheat oven to 450F
7. Blend barbecue sauce and chopped pepper; set aside.

8. Arrange chicken pieces in a single layer in a nonstick, glass, or ceramic baking dish.
9. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the skin loses its raw look.

10. Pour about 2/3 of the bbq sauce mixture over the chicken and turn to coat

11. Bake for 25 - 35 minutes, basting with some of the remaining sauce in the pan every 5 to 7 minutes.

12. Place the chicken on a serving plate and spoon a portion of the remaining sauce on each piece

Chicken Marsala

Authentic Marsala is finished with a small amount of the wine and does not necessarily have mushrooms. Enjoy this authentic Italian chicken recipe!

Ingredients:

3 1/2 lbs skinless, boneless chicken breasts
2 eggs
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter
2 cups fresh mushrooms
1/2 bulb garlic
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup Marsala wine

Preparation:

1 - Rinse the chicken and pat dry with paper towels. Place the breasts between layers of plastic wrap, and pound until thin. Beat the eggs in a bowl. Cut the butter into small pats. Clean and slice the mushrooms. Peel and mince the garlic.

2 - Dust the chicken with the flour. Dip in the eggs, and return to the flour. Shake off excess flour.

3 - Heat the oil to medium-high temperature in a large saute pan. Add the chicken, and brown on one side. Turn over, and add the mushrooms and garlic.

4 - Pour in the wine, and reduce to half the volume.

5 - Add the pats of cold butter, and stir into the sauce. Serve the chicken with the sauce.

Crunchy Onion Chicken Recipe

Attributed to:

1 1/3 cups French's® Original or Cheddar French Fried Onions
4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
1 egg, beaten

Directions

1. Place French Fried Onions into plastic bag. Lightly crush with hands or with rolling pin.
2. Dip chicken into egg; then coat with onion crumbs, pressing firmly to adhere. Place chicken on baking sheet. Sprinkle with additional crumbs, if desired.
3. Bake at 400°F for 20 minutes or until no longer pink in center.

Grilled Jerked Chicken Skewers With Mango Salsa

Serves 6
Caribbean Jerk Rub adds Jamaican flavor to chicken in this recipe. Pork, lamb, steak, and seafood would all be good substitutes for chicken.

Chicken Ingredients :

3.5 oz (1 jar) Raptor Caribbean Jerk Rub
3 Chicken Breasts
2 oz. Olive Oil
18 Bamboo skewers *soak in water*

Mango Salsa Ingredients:

1 cup Mango (small diced)
½ Red Onion (small diced)
1 tsp. Red Jalapeño (minced)
1 tsp. Ginger (minced)
3 Sprigs Cilantro (chopped)
6 Mint Leaves (chopped)
2 Scallions (chopped)
1 tbs. Red Wine Vinegar
Salt and Pepper to taste

Weight Watchers Kung Pao Chicken recipe

This Chinese chicken recipe is for Andreea, who requested some Asian recipes (I'm going to post some Japanese ones soon, as I'm a big sushi fan).

Kung Pao chicken is a classic dish in Sichuan (or Szechuan) cuisine. It has 11 points per serving, but it's worth trying at least once because it's so delicious.

Weight Watchers Kung Pao Chicken recipe
Makes 3 servings

Ingredients
3 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch, divided
5 teaspoons soy sauce, divided
5 teaspoons dry sherry, divided
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 boneless skinless chicken breast halves, cut into bite-size pieces
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons chicken broth or water
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
3 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
1/3 cup salted peanuts
6-8 small dried hot chili peppers
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh ginger, minced
2 green onions, with tops, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
green onions (for garnish)
dried hot chili peppers (for garnish)

Preparation
1. For marinade, combine 2 tsp. cornstarch, 2 tsp. soy sauce, 2 tsp. sherry and salt in large bowl; mix well.
2. Add chicken; stir to coat well.
3. Let stand 30 minutes.
4. Combine remaining 1 1/2 tsp. cornstarch, 3 tsp. soy sauce, 3 tsp. sherry, vinegar, chicken broth and sugar in small bowl; mix well, set aside.
5. Heat 1 tbsp. oil in wok or large skillet over medium heat.
6. Add peanuts; cook and stir until lightly toasted.
7. Remove peanuts from wok; set aside. Heat remaining 2 tbsp. oil in wok over medium heat.
8. Add chili peppers; stir-fry until peppers just begin to char, about 1 minute. Increase heat to high.
9. Add chicken mixture; stir-fry 2 minutes.
10. Add ginger; stir-fry until chicken is no longer pink in center, about 1 minute. Add peanuts and onions; stir-fry 1 minute. Stir cornstarch mixture; add to wok.
11. Cook and stir until sauce boils and thickens.
12. Garnish, if desired.

Grilled Lemon Basil Chicken Recipe

6 boneless skinless 1 tablespoon 1 teaspoon 1 teaspoon 1/2 teaspoon 1/2 teaspoon 1/2 teaspoon 1/4 teaspoon	chicken breast brown sugar lemon pepper dried basil garlic powder onion powder salt paprika

Tandoori Chicken Baked in Oven

Tandoori Chicken Baked in Oven

The word Tandoori is synonomous to India. Tandoori Chicken is so famous in India as Pizza is in Italy.

My Tandoori chicken recipe is not made in the traditional Tandoori oven but can be baked in our home conventional oven or on a Barbaque Oven.

It has a simple recipe and except for the time to bake all that takes is a 3-5 minutes to prepare the marinade for marinating the chicken overnight.

It tastes better when consumed fresh and hot. So at times when we feel we may not finish all the chicken that is marinated, bake only the amount that can be finished at that time. We can save the remaining for the next day to bake it fresh.

Ingredients:
Chicken Thighs with Drum sticks : 4 (Skin and fat removed)
Magarine to coat a Baking Tray lined with foil.
Marination:
Yogurt : 1/4 cup
Ginger Garlic Paste : 1 Tbsp
Tandoori Chicken Masala : 2 Tbsp ( I use Kissan Brand)
Finely chopped Mint and Coriander leaves - 1/4 cup
Salt - to taste
Oil - 1 tsp
Optional
A hint of Seekh & Bihari Kabab Masalas - 1 tsp together ( I use Shan brand)
Red chilly powder - 1/4 tsp (for extra spice)

Procedure:
1. Prepare marinade with the marination ingredients above.
2. Marinate the chicken in the marinade masala, preferably overnight or atleast for 3 hours, in the fridge.
3. Pre heat the oven for 350 C,
4. Arrange the Chicken on the foiled tray and place it in the oven to bake for 20 - 25 minutes on one side.
5. Now drain off the excess water and the oil that comes out of the baking chicken in the tray and turn the chicken peices and bake them on this side for another 10 - 15 minutes.
6. Again drain off any excess oil and water, turn the chicken again and bake for 5 minutes more for the final finish and the red color.
7. Remove the tray from the oven, keep aside for 5 minutes and then transfer the chicken peices into the serving plate.

This is served with a salad, slices of cucumber, onions and lemon.

Easy Lemon-Pepper Barbecue Chicken

D.Schmidt

Easy Lemon-Pepper Barbecue Chicken

This Easy Lemon-Pepper Chicken Recipe is juicy and extremely delicious, plus very easy to make. The simple lemon and black pepper marinade marry beautifully with grilled chicken, leaving the flesh succulent and tender. Make the marinade in less than 10 minutes, toss with the chicken, then barbecue - or bake in the oven. Serve this barbecue chicken any way you like - with rice or potatoes, over salad, or even Western-style: sandwiched between a bun. It's delicious any way you grill it, and makes barbecue chicken easy as a summer breeze!

Grandma's Secret Chicken Recipe (Best of 2007)

There's a certain magic in preparing a family recipe. Some recipes have been passed down from generation to generation. If we're lucky we make a point of writing down the delicious recipes of our childhood. Sometimes "secret" ingredients and recipes never make it onto paper. This is very sad. (The death of a recipe!) Make a point of recording your family recipes on a regular basis. Your kids will appreciate it so much, and special family memories will always be remembered through your favourite dishes.

I have a recipe my grandma used to make and then my mom used to make it, and now I make it. It's not a complicated recipe, but it will always be in our family because it tastes so good. It also conjures up some carefree childhood memories for me. We'd often have this dish on a hot summer day. My mom would make it ahead of time in the morning and we would it eat cold with rice for supper. I remember sneaking pieces before dinnertime because the taste was so addictive...

Here's the recipe:

Mix together: 1 packet of dry onion soup mix, 250ml of Russian salad dressing and 1 c. of apricot jam. Add 2 lbs. of chicken drumettes. Mix well. Chop up 8-10 dried apricots into slivers and place on top of the mixture. Bake covered at 400 degrees for 30 minutes, then bake for 20-30 minutes at 350 degrees uncovered. The sauce tastes great over rice or mashed potatoes.

Oven-Fried Chicken

This recipe is truly wonderful and is low fat and low calories. What more can you ask for? The secret to the success of this recipe is to make sure that both the chicken and the yogurt are very cold (hence, soaking the chicken in the ice water). The preliminary soaking will help the breading adhere and produce a crisp coating much like that of fried chicken.

For more great Low Fat Recipes, Low Calorie Recipes, Low Carbohydrate Recipes, and Diabetic Recipes, check out my Diet Recipe Index. Also check out my Nutritional Chart for fat grams, carbohydrate grams, and calories for all your favorite foods.

Check out more great Poultry Recipes and how to Brine Poultry for a moister and tastier dish.

---

Oven-Fried Chicken

12 chicken drumsticks, skinless*
3 1/2 cups ice water
1 cup plain non-fat yogurt
Breading Mixture (see recipe below)

* The U.S. Department of Agriculture, as well as food agencies in the United Kingdom and elsewhere, advises against washing poultry. Rinsing chicken will not remove or kill much bacteria, and the splashing of water around the sink can spread the bacteria found in raw chicken. Cooking poultry to 165 degrees Fahrenheit effectively destroys the most common culprits behind food-borne illness.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a large baking sheet heavily with vegetable-oil cooking spray. In a large bowl with ice water, place chicken pieces; set aside.

In a shallow bowl, place yogurt. Remove one piece of chicken at a time from the ice water; roll each piece of chicken in the yogurt. Place one chicken piece into a plastic bag with Breading Mixture, reseal and shake to coat thoroughly. Transfer breaded chicken to prepared baking sheet. Repeat process until all chicken pieces are breaded. Spray chicken lightly with vegetable-oil spray.

Place baking sheet onto bottom shelf of oven and bake, uncovered, 1 hour, or until a meat thermometer registers an internal temperature of 165 degrees F. (juices will run clear when cut with the tip of a knife), turning the chicken pieces every 20 minutes to allow even browning. Remove from oven and transfer onto a serving platter. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Makes 6 servings.

Breading Mixture:
1 cup bread crumbs
3/4 cup all-purpose Ffour
1 tablespoon Creole seasoning
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper
Red (cayenne) pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed
1/2 teaspoon dried basil, crushed
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed

In a large resealable plastic bag, combine bread crumbs, flour, Creole seasoning, garlic powder, pepper, cayenne pepper, thyme, basil, and oregano. Seal and shake well to mix.

Recipe: Southern Fried Chicken with Moroccan Spices

If you live in the South, you had better know how to make fried chicken.

Your “friends”-–all excellent home cooks--will be persnickety, so you have to get it right, especially if you’re a Johnny-come-lately who didn’t learn how to make perfect fried chicken standing at her Mama’s elbow. The meat must be succulent, enveloped in rich, crispy, golden brown skin, fried but lightly so, with just enough grease to make you whimper with pleasure as you’re devouring your third piece. And you’d do well have a little twist—a mystery ingredient--that makes your chicken different from your neighbor’s.

I’ve been told that I make great fried chicken and I owe it all to Salli. It started one foggy morning in Nantucket, when my children and I were curled up in bed watching a fried chicken cook-off between Martha Stewart and her friend Salli LaGrone. Martha’s dark mahogany-colored chicken, which had soaked overnight in buttermilk and was dusted with cayenne-spiked flour, reposed magnificently on a platter, garnering lavish praise--while Salli’s plate of fried fowl was almost licked clean by a hungry crew who couldn’t wolf it down it fast enough. (Go here to see Salli’s original recipe.)

One of Salli’s secrets is a pinch of cinnamon added to the flour in which the chicken is coated. Over the years, I’ve gradually increased the pinch to a scant teaspoon. I love the way cinnamon’s sweetness coaxes out the natural flavor of the chicken, while its astringent edge contrasts pleasingly with the luscious fried skin. One other change I’ve made is substituting peanut oil for the shortening, which I dislike on principle. Peanut oil is great for frying and gives the chicken a tasty flavor. I’ve developed my own timetable for turning the chicken as it cooks, but these are minor tweaks to a truly stellar recipe.

One shouldn’t fiddle with success, but last week I added a teaspoonful of ras-el-hanout, the robust Moroccan spice blend that works so well with chicken cooked in a tagine, to the flour. It too contains cinnamon, but also black pepper, nutmeg, mace, allspice, ginger and turmeric. The results were subtly different, the chicken even more devilishly delicious than usual. “Your best ever,” said my husband, reaching for a forbidden fourth piece.

Now that’s my secret for great fried chicken.

Recipe: Southern Fried Chicken with Moroccan Spices

(adapted from Salli’s Fried Chicken on Martha Stewart Living)

Ingredients:

3/12 to 4 pound chicken, cut into 8 pieces
Salt to taste
1-3/4 cups flour
1 scant teaspoon cinnamon
1 scant teaspoon ras-el-hanout (see note)
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Peanut oil
1-1/2 cups buttermilk

Lemon wedges (optional)
Siracha or other hot sauce (optional) (see note)

Equipment:

Cast iron frying pan
Deep frying thermometer

Method:

1. In the refrigerator, soak the chicken overnight in a bowl of cold water covered with plastic.
2. When you are ready to cook, pat dry with paper towels and sprinkle with salt to taste. If the breasts are large, cut them in half with kitchen shears.
3. In a large bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, ras el hanout and black pepper. Dip each piece of chicken into the flour mixture and shake off the excess. Let the flour dry for 15 minutes. Pour the buttermilk into a large bowl and set aside.
4. In the meantime, pour about 1 inch of peanut oil into a cast iron frying pan and turn the heat to high. When the oil reaches 350 degrees on a deep frying thermometer, adjust the heat to maintain that temperature.
5. Dip half of the chicken pieces in the buttermilk and then into the bowl of flour, shaking off the excess. Carefully place them in the hot oil, skin side down, using tongs if necessary. Fry the chicken until it is light golden brown, turning frequently.
6. Place the chicken skin side down, cover the pan and turn the heat to low. Cook the chicken for 6 minutes, then turn and cook, covered, for another 6 minutes. Remove the top and turn the heat to high. Cook the chicken until it is crispy, about 2 minutes, then turn and cook until the other side is crisp, about 1 minute.
7. Remove the chicken from the pan and drain on several layers of paper towel. Place them on a baking sheet in a 250-degree oven to keep them warm.
8. Repeat steps 5-7 with the remaining chicken. Be sure to bring the temperature of the oil back to 350 degrees before putting the second batch of chicken in the pan.
9. Serve the chicken on a platter with wedges of lemon and small bowls of siracha, the Vietnamese hot sauce, if desired. I like to accompany it with a bowl of cole slaw made from red and green cabbage dressed with a white balsamic vinaigrette.

Note: I made Kitty Morse’s recipe for ras el hanout. You can also buy good ready-made versions from www.chefshop.com and www.herbies.com.au. Siracha, the fiery Vietnamese hot sauce, can be found at most Asian markets.