Coconut Curry Chicken

by Proficient Foodie | May 12, 2019 | Bird, Dinner

While this is nearly the same as the Coconut Curry Whitefish post, I didn’t feel like I should simply make an addendum to that one because the chicken requires more prep and cook time, which means it gets an extra eggplant on the easy-rating scale.

Plus, I added a can of diced tomatoes. And chopped cauliflower. And green beans. Okay, so it’s not nearly the same at all. Hence the new post!

When the onion is sufficiently soft (remember, it’s going to cook for another 35-45 minutes, so it’ll get softer), add the coconut milk and mix it up (I had to add this separately because, well, the milk had separated).

Stir in the tomatoes, veggies, turmeric, chicken broth, agave nectar, and red pepper flakes.

Marvel for a moment at how very easy it is to make a curry broth with veggies (cuz it’s about to get a little weird).

Remove the skin from the chicken and save them for chicken-skin chicharrónes (which you’ll hear about eventually because I made them for the first time the next day after making this and they were amaaaazing).

Lay the bird pieces on top of the liquid and pop a lid on it. Set a timer for 35 minutes and take a shower, walk the dogs, watch an episode and a half of The Office, or do whatever you do. When the chicken temps at 165°, it’s ready to enjoy!

Pop some rice in a bowl and, using a non-slotted spoon, scoop some veggies and yummy broth onto the plate. Top with a chicken thigh. Enjoy the steam.

You will have plenty leftover and it reheats really well. Make your coworkers jelly by bring this to lunch the next day!

Coconut Curry Chicken

This uses a basic coconut curry sauce in which to cook the chicken.

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Prep Time 25 mins

Cook Time 35 mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine Mediterranean

Servings 6

Ingredients

  

• 1 Tbsp coconut oil
• 1 med yellow onion halved, thinly sliced
• 6 garlic cloves finely grated
• 14 oz coconut milk can (full fat)
• 14 oz diced tomatoes can
• 2 c cauliflower chopped
• 2 c green beans cut into 2" pieces
• 2 tsp turmeric
• 1 Tbsp yellow curry paste
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• 2 c chicken broth
• 2 Tbsp agave nectar
• 4 chicken thighs skin removed (save for other use!)
• salt to taste
• white pepper to taste
• steamed white rice to serve

Instructions

 

• Heat coconut oil over medium in a 2-4 qt. dutch oven.
• Heat curry paste in the melted coconut oil until softened.
• Add the onion and garlic and sauté until soft; about 5 minutes.
• Throw in the coconut milk, diced tomatoes, cauliflower, beans, turmeric, and red pepper flakes. Cook until veggies are soft; about 10 minutes.
• Stir in the chicken broth and agave nectar and bring to a simmer.
• Gently place thighs on top of the simmering liquid and cover. Leave for 35 minutes or until chicken measures at least 165° at the thickest part.
• Serve over white rice (or any rice, really—even some naan would do).

Turkey Burglers!

by Proficient Foodie | Apr 13, 2019 | Bird, Dinner

We made these for dinner last night and when I woke up this morning, I said to the fella, “I have to post these next because The People need to know.”

We’ve been using the organic ground turkey* from Costco for these and I’ve found that defrosting the meat in the microwave gives it a different consistency that I don’t really care for. So, we have to plan ahead and defrost in the fridge, or make ’em fresh after purchase.

*I’m sad to report that the turkey from Costsco is Butterball brand.

Get out your favorite medium-sized bowl and crack the egg. Using the shell halves to separate the yolk from the white, let the white fall into the bowl and do whatever you want with the yolk (I compost it with the shell, but we’re toying with the idea of using the whole egg next time).

Whip the crap out of the albumen so it gets air bubbles. Sprinkle in your garlic and parsley (I will confess here, that I use McCormick Minced Garlic and Lighthouse Parsley because they are super-convenient). Add to the bowl some chopped-up white onion and diced-up pepperoncinis (these can be mild or hotish, so know your audience).

Throw the hunk of raw, ground turkey into the bowl and start to incorporate everything with your hands. Doing this is kinda squishy, so you and your cookin’ partner will have to Rochambeau over the task. The person whose hands are the cleanest gets to pour in the panko crumbs. I haven’t used regular ol’ bread crumbs, but if that’s all you have at hand, give it a try!

After the panko is mixed in, make a slow-motion karate chop through the center of your bowl and eyeball two halves. Get the panko-pourer (i.e., the person with clean digits) to lay out two pieces of waxed paper. The patties will hang out here until the pan is ready.

Heat up a drizzle of oil over medium and start the oven (to warm up the buns—skip this part if you’d rather). When the pan is heated, carry your patties over and plop ’em upside down. These are big burgers, and they take about 10 minutes per side, so this is a good time to get your condiments out of the fridge and prepare your toppings.

After 10 minutes, peek at the bottom. When they’re sufficiently browned, give ’em a flip.

We recently found the best buns for these burgers; they can handle the heft and don’t get soggy while you’re eating. Throw them in the oven to toast for about 5 minutes.

A secondary attribute of these that I like is that the list of ingredients is as short as it should be.

This is when having a digital meat thermometer is really handy. Find the thickest part and slide the business end of the thermometer in halfway. If it doesn’t read at least 165°, don’t touch ’em. If it’s close (160°-close), top with cheese and cover for 3 to 5 minutes.

We load ’em up with mayo, mustard, lettuce, tomato, and raw onion; but since it’s your face, you can put whatever you like on them. Sometimes we have a side, like pasta salad or putt-putts (the posts for both of which are on my list), but sometimes the nearly 1/2 lb. burger is just enough.

Turkey Burglers

Ground turkey with deliciousness mixed in.

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Prep Time 15 mins

Cook Time 20 mins

Total Time 35 mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Servings 2

Ingredients

  

• 1 egg white beaten
• 1 garlic clove minced
• 2 tsp parsley chopped
• 1 Tbsp onion chopped
• 1 c panko
• 2 pepperoncinis diced
• 1 lb ground turkey
• 2 burger buns toasted
• 1 piece cheese, your favorite optional

Instructions

 

• In a medium bowl, beat egg white until fluffy. Stir in parsley, garlic, onion, peppers until fully mixed.
• Place turkey in the bowl and mix up with hands until everything is fully incorporated.
• Add panko and mix gradually until well distributed.
• Place a large pan over medium heat with a drizzle of olive oil.
• Divide turkey mixture in half and place each half on its own piece of wax paper and shape into a large, flat patty.
• When the pan is hot, place each patty and cook 10 minutes on each side or until the center of the largest part reaches at least 165°.
• When patties are cooked, place cheese on top and cover for 3 minutes, or until cheese is melted to your liking.
• Transfer patties to your toasted buns; garnish with mayo, mustard, tomato, and sliced onion. Go to town!

Roasty Chick and Veggies

by Proficient Foodie | Apr 7, 2019 | Bird, Dinner

I’ve had the Pampered Chef Shallow Baker (NLA) for almost two years now and, while I haven’t baked anything in it, I use it exclusively for roasting.

When only feeding one person was the goal, I would roast everything in the pan together, letting the chicken hang out in the oven for ten minutes before adding the rest.

Fast-forward (do kids even know what that means these days?) a couple of years, and find that I like making chicken and veggies a whole lot more and my partner likes eating it, so it’s a win-win!

One fateful night, I ripped open the entire Family Size package of Just Bare Chicken and we quickly realized the thighs wouldn’t fit in the shallow baker. WHAT TO DO?!

I grabbed the (then) infrequently-used carbon-steel pan and sprayed an adequate amount of Avocado Oil and got to work, picking through my seasonings. I usually settle on Stubb’s Chicken Rub and a couple shakes of Penzey’s Third Ward Italian Spice Mix (this spice deserves its own post).

I placed the chicken thighs skin side down on the heated pan and asked Alexa to set a chicken timer for three minutes. This gives the skin time to get seasoned and gives us time to start chopping up the veggies*.

Flip the chicken, set another three- minute timer, and keep chopping veggies.

Once all the veggies are chopped, I sprayed some oil on the roasting pan, arranged the veggies in a pleasing manner and pop both vessels in the preheated oven.

A third timer is set for 40 minutes and then we wait (we call this time our half-hour hour-of-music where we sit on the couch and jibber -jabber).

Alexa beeps and boops when dinner is ready and we serve!

*Use any kind of veggie you can stand and have too much of. Roasting makes everything taste like the first time you see a magic card trick and can’t explain it; Brussels, cauli, pots, carrots, parsnips, radhishes, asparagus (though, this should be roasted for only about 15 minutes).

Roasty Chick and Veggies

Pan-seared and roasted chicken thighs and roasted vegetables.

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 15 mins

Cook Time 45 mins

Total Time 1 hr

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Servings 2

Ingredients

  

• 2 trips around the pan avocado oil spray divided
• 4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
• 1 tsp Stubb’s chicken rub per thigh
• 1 tsp third ward spice per thigh
• 1 cup little potatoes quartered
• 2 cups Brussels sprouts halved
• 2 cups cauliflower florets chopped
• salt to taste
• pepper to taste

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 400°.
• Heat a skillet over medium, and take one trip around the pan with the avo spray. Sprinkle your (or my) favorite spices on the oil and when you can see the ground up herbs start to dance, put the chicken thighs in the pan, skin-side down for three minutes.
  

  Flip chicken and pan-fry for another three minutes.
• Slice, cut, and chop the vegetables into similar sizes (this helps them all cook at the same speed). Take a trip around the roasting pan with the avo spray. Spread the veggies out and season.
• When the oven is ready, put the roasting pan on the bottom rack and the carbon steel pan on the top one. Roast for 40 minutes or until chicken reads at *least* 165° on a meat thermometer.
• Plate and serve.

I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that I learned a lot from Car to Table (a Mini Cooper-sponsored Isthmus feature that takes Madison chefs and does a sort of Iron Chef cooking bit in some rando’s house); especially Laila as she stresses the safety precaution of washing one’s hands after handling raw chicken.

Skip straight to 8m 10s if you want to miss the part where the randos do not have garlic in their condo (wtf?!).