White-cut chicken with ginger-scallion oil

(bái qie ji) Adapted from KQED Food and The Woks of Life

Ingredients:
One 3-4 lb. free-range chicken, at room temperature
2 whole scallions, cut into large pieces
5 slices ginger
6 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
2 tablespoons Kosher salt, plus more to season the chicken
1 tablespoon sesame oil

Sauce Ingredients:
3 tablespoons finely minced scallion (white and light green parts only)
2 tablespoons finely minced ginger
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
salt
soy sauce (optional)

Directions:
1. Clean the chicken inside and out, removing any innards, rinsing with cold water. Optional: Rub salt liberally inside and out and sit for 1 hour. I didn’t.

2. Fill a large pot with water full enough to cover at least ¾ of the chicken. Bring the water to a boil, and add the smashed ginger, garlic, and 2 tablespoons of salt. Place the chicken in breast side up, cover, and bring to a boil. Switch it to low heat and let simmer for 45 minutes.

3. Flip the chicken, cover it and cook on low heat for some more time. Test if the chicken is done, insert a chopstick near the thigh. If the juices run clear, the chicken is done. To lift the bird out of the pot, slip 2 chopsticks beneath the wings and lift up. Let cold water run over the chicken for a minute or so “to cool the skin off quickly to give the chicken skin a “crunchy” texture.”

5. Pat the bird dry and rub with the sesame oil. Allow it to cool for 30 minutes before cutting — I started cooking late, so I just let it cool as long as it took to make the dipping sauce and boil some potatoes (my carbs for the meal, because I didn’t have a rice cooker).

6. Prepare the dipping sauce by heating the vegetable oil just until it starts to smoke. Pour it over the scallion, ginger, and salt, and mix together. Serve with the chicken immediately.

My friend Peggy highly recommends this recipe for times of sickness — I saved the broth afterwards, and it made a pretty tasty soup! I boiled some rainbow potatoes from Trader Joe’s for 10 minutes in the broth, to make the meal a bit heartier. Stay warm!

~Jessica

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Chicken cacciatore

Adapted from Simply Recipes

4 thin cut chicken breasts, organic
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 glugs of extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, thinly sliced root to tip
1 red or green bell pepper, seeded, sliced thin
140 g (5 oz) white cremini mushrooms, thickly sliced
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
80 mL (1/3 cup) white or red wine
800 g (28 ounce) can of plum tomatoes in their juice
1 teaspoon dry thyme
2 teaspoons fresh oregano, chopped

Rinse the chicken, let dry. Season each side with salt. Add some oil to the pan (big enough to fit everything), brown both sides of the chicken. Set aside. Make sure there’s enough oil/fat in the pan, then add the onions, saute until fragrant. Add the garlic, saute until fragrant. Add the rest of the sliced vegetables. Cook until they’re all a little bit softened, then deglaze with the dry white wine. Cook until half the wine has evaporated, then add the tomatoes and all seasonings. Taste the sauce and season accordingly. Add the chicken on top, turn down the heat to low and cook 20-40 minutes. Check the chicken is cooked through, and serve with  rice.

Amber was feeling like chicken cacciatore, so voila. Rike from Hamburg helped me prep and cook! Food for three plus leftovers for one. Cacciatore (“hunter”) suggests a working man’s meal, better with country bread or pasta, in my opinion. Next time I might try the recipe with bay leaf and rosemary sprigs. Also our “dry white wine” was some questionable cognac-looking Georgian wine, as in the country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Don’t try their wine. Someone brought it to the apartment for a house party, probably. Friends.

~Jessica

Roast chicken & giblet gravy

Adapted from Ina Garten

7 lb. roasting chicken
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 large bunch fresh thyme, plus 20 sprigs
1 lemon, halved
1 head garlic, cut in half crosswise
1/4 stick butter, melted
1 large yellow onion, thickly sliced
4 carrots cut into 2-inch chunks
1 bulb of fennel, tops removed, and cut into wedges
Olive oil

For the chicken: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Set aside the chicken giblets. Rinse the chicken inside and out. Remove any excess fat and leftover pinfeathers and pat the outside dry. Liberally season the inside of the chicken with salt, pepper, and herbs. Stuff the cavity with the bunch of thyme/rosemary, both halves of lemon/orange, and all the garlic. Stuff butter under the skin of the chicken. Cover the wing tips with foil. Place the onions, carrots, and fennel in a roasting pan (we didn’t have fennel, but added celery and potatoes). Toss with salt, pepper, 20 sprigs of thyme, and olive oil. Spread around the bottom of the roasting pan and place the chicken on top. Roast the chicken for 1 1/2 hours, or until the juices run clear when you cut between a leg and thigh. Remove chicken from oven, cover with aluminum foil and let rest for 20 minutes. Serve.

Adapted from Alton Brown

chicken giblets, etc.
onions, carrots, celery, rosemary, thyme, bay leaf } for giblet stock
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon potato starch (I’d use cornstarch)
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped
1 teaspoon fresh sage, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme, finely chopped
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

For the giblet stock: Heat the oil in a pot over medium heat until it shimmers. Add the neck and backbone and saute 5-6 minutes or until browned. Add the giblets, onion, carrot, celery and kosher salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are softened, 4-5 minutes. Pour in 2 cups of water and add the thyme, rosemary, bay leaf and black peppercorns. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Uncover, reduce heat to low and simmer for 1 1/2 hours or until the stock reduces by half. Strain the stock. Discard all but giblets (chop and set aside). Combine some of the cooled stock with flour and starch, and add this back to the stock, whisking constantly, raising the heat and boiling for 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat, and whisk until desired consistency achieved. Salt and pepper to taste. Add the chopped giblets and stir to combine.

~Jessica

Chinese fried chicken

Similar to The Woks of Life

8 chicken drumsticks, rinsed
black pepper, white pepper, salt
garlic powder, sugar, soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, sesame oil (optional)
1 egg
cornstarch, flour
oil, for frying

Marinate the chicken in salt and pepper overnight. Coat in cornstarch and flour. Fry in oil until dark brown. Serve with spicy chili sauce (e.g. Sriracha, tabasco).

~Kai-ling

Hainan chicken

Not adapted from Steamy Kitchen or Rasa Malaysia but for perspective..

8 chicken drumsticks
salt and pepper
4-5 slices of ginger
3 cloves of garlic, smashed
1-2 scallions

Dipping sauce
salt
3 cloves of garlic, grated
ginger, grated (equal amount to garlic)
1 scallion, sliced thin
oil

Rub the chicken in salt and pepper. Let sit for 3-4 hours. Boil water, and add the garlic, ginger, and scallions (I had cilantro so I threw that in as well!). Poach the chicken for half an hour. Remove and debone chicken. Heat oil separately, add salt. Remove, then mix in the rest of the sauce ingredients. Serve chicken with dipping sauce, rice, and sliced cucumbers.

~Kai-ling

Mom’s chicken fried rice

Just photos. SO yum.

~Jessica

Chicken, bok choy, and shiitake chow mein

Adapted from Ming Tsai

cornstarch
shaoxing wine
oyster sauce
grated ginger
4 scallion whites, save the greens for garnish
black pepper
sambal oelek, or some red chili paste
250 g skinless chicken meat — I prefer the leg/thigh meat
sesame oil
Canola oil to cook
6 cloves garlic, sliced thin
6 (shiitake) mushrooms, quartered
chicken stock
4 heads baby bok choy, core out, sliced
200 g blanched and refreshed egg lo mein noodles

baby bok choy and scallions

not shiitake

FYI, Sambal ulek/oelek is a bright red, thin, and sharp tasting raw chili paste. Didn’t have shiitake so used regular brown button mushrooms, and egg ramen instead of the proper chow mein.

~Jessica