Big Piggy Belly: chicken

Monday, November 7, 2011

Week 11 Into Cooking Class

Hi guys!

Ahh.. the month of November. My favorite month of the year! (I wonder why.. :P ) Well! Of course, it's Thanksgiving month, which means lots of love and family time and.... FOOD! :) Yes! Lots and Lots of food :)
I am looking forward for all the great food and family and friends time. It's going to be so exciting!

This week, we made lots of great dishes like the Spicy Chicken Cacciatore, Thai Chicken Soup, Orzo soup, Gumbo, and Chicken and bean stew! Once again, we are dealing with poultry! Sadly, the next two weeks will be our last two weeks cooking in the class since the semester is almost over! :( But, I am very much looking forward to cooking seafood the following two weeks!

Our group made the Spicy Chicken Cacciatore! It was, delicious! I have to say that my two favorite were the cacciatore and the gumbo! I. Love. Gumbo! I was so happy that we got to make gumbo and actually eat it in class!! :D

Here is the recipe for the Spicy Chicken Cacciatore along with the pictures! Enjoy!!

I.C.A.
Ms. Piggy.

SPICY CHICKEN CACCIATORE

INGREDIENTS
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
8   Boneless chicken thighs (3 lbs)
to taste   Salt
to taste   Ground Black Pepper
1    Medium Onion, thinly sliced
1   Red bell pepper, thinly sliced
2   Pickled hot peppers, thinly sliced
3   Garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1/2 Cup   Red Wine
1 1/2Cup   Chicken Stock
1 lb   Ripe plum tomatoes, coarsely chopped
2 Tbsp   Chopped flat-leaf parsley

PROCEDURE:
1) In a deep skillet, heat the olive oil. Season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper, and add the chicken to the skillet, skin side down. Cook over moderately high heat, turning once until lightly browned and crisp, about 8 minutes. Transfer to a plate.

2) Add onion, bell pepper, pickled peppers, and garlic and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 10 minutes. Pour in the wine and simmer, stirring occasionally, until nearly evaporated, about 5 minutes.

3) Add the chicken stock and tomatoes to the skillet and season lightly with salt and pepper. Return the chicken to the pan, nestling in the vegetables skin side up, and bring to a simmer. Cover partially and cook over moderate heat for 30 minutes, until the chicken is tender and the sauce is reduced by half. Sprinkle with the parsley.

Spicy Chicken Cacciatore just out of the oven

Spicy Chicken Cacciatore finished product!

Top view :)

Corn Bread!

mm Corn Bread

Escarole and orzo soup with turkey Parmesan meatballs

Orzo soup!

Green Chile chicken and Pink Bean Stew

Another view!

Chicken and Smoked Sausage Gumbo

I love gumbo..

Thai Chicken Soup

Monday, October 31, 2011

Week 10 into my cooking class!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

It's Monday and here we are again with all the delicious food we made in my cooking class! This week, we learned about poultry, different ways we cook poultry and learned the different ways of cooking flying birds and just ground birds!

Our group made Chicken with Escarole, apples, and potatoes! Also a French dish! Our dish actually came out really good! We thought we did a poor job in the beginning when we had to sear the chicken, but our final product came out really good! Here is the recipe for it! At any time, if you guys want me to send you guys other recipes that the other groups have made (look at the pictures), I will gladly post them up or email you guys! :D

Enjoy!

CHICKEN WITH ESCAROLE, APPLES, AND POTATOES

INGREDIENTS:
12 oz Small new red potatoes
4   8 oz chicken boneless chicken breast with skin (we used chicken thigh)
to taste   salt
to taste   ground black pepper
as needed   Olive oil, for pan-frying chicken
5 Tbsp   Unsalted butter
2   Semi-tart apples, peeled, cored, and cut into eights (Empire/Fuji/Macoun)
1     Garlic clove, smashed and peeled
1 lb   Escarole, leaves torn
1/2 Cup   White wine

PROCEDURE:

1. Heat oven to 250F
2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add potatoes and cook until tender, about 7 minutes. Drain and place on a plate in a single layer to cool.
3. When potatoes are just cool enough to handle, flatten each one slightly by gently pressing on it with a hand. Set aside.
4. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Heat oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken, skin side down, in batches if necessary, and cook until skin is golden, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a baking sheet pan, cover with foil, and place in the oven.
5. Drain oil from skillet, return to medium-high heat, and add 2 tablespoons of butter. add only as many apples as will fit in a single layer and cook, turning apples as they brown, until golden on all sides, 3-4 minutes. Transfer to plate. Repeat with remaining apples.
6. Once finished with apples, add 2 more tablespoons of butter to skillet. Add only as many potatoes as will fit in a single layer in skillet, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and cook over medium to high heat, turning once, until potatoes are warmed through and golden, about 2 minutes, per side. Repeat with remaining potatoes, set aside.
7. Add garlic and escarole as you can fit into skillet, increase heat to high, and cook, stirring, until escarole starts to wilt and you can add no more, about 1 minutes. Add remaining escarole and cook until wilted. Add wine and cook until escarole is tender and wine is slightly reduced. Add apples and cook until warmed through, about 2 minutes. remove from heat.
8. Remove chicken from oven and pour any juices from the pan into skillet with escarole and apples. Stir to combine.
9. Plate with potatoes as a base, then top escarole / apple mixture, and chicken. Reduce juices left in a skillet, mount with cold butter, to make a sauce. Pour sauce over chicken.

I.C.A.
Ms. Piggy.