Thursday, January 14, 2010

Butter Roasted Chicken

1 Roasting chicken
1 stick of unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp pepper
1-1/2 tsp parsley
1/2 tsp ground rosemary
1-1/2 tsp garlic powder

Mix butter with all of the spices, place in fridge to harden. Rinse chicken and place breast side up in a baking dish, loosen the skin on the breast by sliding your hand under it. Take spoonfuls of the seasoned butter and place them under the skin until all of the butter is used. Cover the pan with foil and bake at 350 for 15 minutes per pound.

These are just the spices I used last night, you can use anything you like though.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Barbecued Ribs


Yum! This experiment was a mix of Alton Brown's braising liquid, this spice rub from Tasty Kitchen, and Famous Dave's Rich 'n Sassy sauce. I'm not sure how much of this was essential, but it turned out well!
For 2 racks of ribs:

Spice Rub
  • 1 teaspoon Garlic powder
  • 1 Tablespoon Dried Rosemary
  • 1 Tablespoon Black Pepper
  • 1 Tablespoon Marjoram
  • 1 Tablespoon Ground Cinnamon
  • 3 Tablespoons Ground Cumin
  • ½ Tablespoons Salt
  • 1 Tablespoon Brown Sugar
  • 1-½ Tablespoon Ground Cloves (SEE NOTE)
Mix and rub on the ribs (both front and back). Wrap the ribs with nonstick aluminum foil. Seal the wrap and store in the fridge overnight. (Slacker that I am, mine only marinated a few hours.)

Braising Liquid
  • 1 cup white wine
  • 2 tbls. white wine vinegar (I used raspberry blush vinegar, but just because that was what I had on hand.)
  • 2 tbls. worchestershire sauce
  • 1 tbls. honey
  • (He also called for 2 cloves of minced garlic, but his rub didn't have any garlic in it. I did not add it to this liquid.)
Make a boat out of heavy duty foil and seal all the edges (except one end) so it will hold the liquid. Put each on a sheet pan to support it and contain the liquid in case your foil is not watertight. Pour 1/2 of this liquid into each rib packet and seal the end so it will hold all the liquid while cooking.

Bake at 250 for 2 hours.

It was at this point that I departed from both recipes and started making it up for myself. :-)

I opened the foil packet and discarded it. Place the ribs on new foil and brush both sides with the prepared BBQ sauce. Bake for another hour at 350. I did not cover them because I wanted to sauce to bake on. They would also be good (and maybe more tender) covered.

NOTES:
I would use fewer cloves - maybe about a teaspoon total.
I used a cheap cut of ribs - pork "small spare ribs" ($1.50/lb.)


Friday, January 1, 2010

Creamy Almond Chicken

Ew...I hate using the word "creamy," since it's always associated with "creamed" in my mind. But since the sauce is sour cream, it seems appropriate here.

Adapted from the "Chicken with Grapes" recipe in Country Classics.

2 c. diced cooked chicken
2 tbsp. flour
2 tbsp. butter
1/2 c. chicken stock
1/3 c. chopped green onions
2 tbsp. white wine (plus a little extra)
1/3 c. coarsely chopped almonds
1/2 c. sliced mushrooms
1 c. sour cream
salt and pepper to taste

Melt the butter in large pan, add chicken and flour, stirring to combine flour and butter. Add chicken stock, onions, 2 tbsp. wine, almonds, and mushrooms. Stir to combine, and simmer until vegetables are tender (add more chicken stock or wine if necessary to steam). Stir in sour cream, heating if necessary until melted. Serve over rice.