Thursday, September 15, 2011

Chicken Two Ways: One-Pot Wonders (and a giveaway!)

Chicken is such a versatile ingredient, and I found quite a few interesting chicken dishes in Emeril's upcoming cookbook, Sizzling Skillet and Other One Pot Wonders. Yep, I got an early copy of the book. Nineteen other bloggers got the book too, and we're all previewing it for you. Fun, hmmm?

The book has an interesting method of organizing recipes. Since they're all one-pot meals, it's not like you could have the usual appetizer, main dish, etc., method. It also doesn't organize by the protein involved. Instead, it's organized by the type of cooking vessel.

At first, I thought that was a little odd. But then it made sense. Some days I want to cook something quickly on the stove top. Another day, I might want to chuck something in the crock pot and let it simmer away while I do other things. If I'm planning ahead, I can browse that section of the book and see what my options are for the type of equipment, and then pick a recipe that looks good.

On the other hand, if I want to use a particular ingredient, I can look for it in the index. The best of both worlds.

Since I knew I was going to make at least nine recipes from the book, I browsed through the whole thing Every page and every recipe. By the time I was done, there were so many sticky notes jutting out of pages that it looked like a porcupine. When I went through those to narrow down my options even more, I saw that there were two recipes that started with a whole chicken. One cooked in less time in a dutch oven on the stove, and the other was a long-cooking crock pot dish.

I decided to make both. With one chicken.

Or, more accurately, I cut up one chicken and used half for each recipe. Am I the only one who likes cutting up chickens? It make me feel so cheffy.

And of course, to make the recipes come out right, I halved all the ingredients for those recipes, so the proportions were correct.

First on the agenda was chicken cacciatore, which was made in a dutch oven on the stove. This was the third recipe I made from the book, and the second one that used the rind from parmesan cheese as a flavoring ingredient. I need to keep that in mind for my own recipes.

On the first night I served it, I didn't bother with rice or noodles, as suggested, but I think noodles would have been perfect. And while the recipe suggests serving it right away, this is the kind of dish that makes great leftovers. I could also see making this ahead, then pulling the chicken meat off the bones cutting it into serving-sized pieces, and serving with the sauce over pasta. That might make it a little less messy to eat, if that's a consideration.

The book suggests drizzling a little olive oil over the top before serving, but I think that a little Poof! of  parmesan on top would also be nice. I mean, how can you turn down grated cheese? Or the chance to say "Poof!" in the kitchen?

Oh - and if you're a mushroom fiend, I see no problem with adding more. Mmmmmushrooms!

The second chicken post will be along a little later. One at a time ...

And now for the giveaway! (Contest is closed)
... and the winner is Sara!

Since it's my birthday week and I was planning on doing some giveaways, the nice people at Morrow offered to give one my my readers a really sweet 12-inch covered anodized Emerilware skillet made by All Clad.

For your first entry, leave a comment here telling me what your favorite chicken dish is.

For your second entry, follow me on twitter and tweet a link to this contest, then come back here and leave a comment telling me that you tweeted.

Entries will remain open through September 22, at midnight, mountain time.

This contest is open to US residents only.

For my part in this party, I've been given a copy of the cookbook, a jar of Emeril's Essence and some serving bowls made by Zak! I'll also have a book and serving bowls to give away (stay tuned for that). Bloggers who participate in this party and complete the 3-week assignment will receive some additional books by Emeril as well as a small cash reimbursement. One blogger will be chosen to receive a 6-quart Emeril-branded crockpot made by T-Fal.

For more information on Morrow's cooking blog, see The Secret Ingredient. Want to pre-order the book? Clicky-clicky right here.

Are you on Facebook? The Secret Ingredient and Emeril have pages there. Or if you prefer Twitter, you can find Morrow Books and Emeril there as well.
Yum

36 comments:

PlumGaga said...

My daughter makes a wonderful "Cultured Chicken" with a sauce that involves buttermilk, yogurt, dill and tomatoes.

Amanda said...

Chicken Mirabelle from the Silver Spoon cookbook. Something so yummy and earthy about it

Matt said...

i,also love cutting up chickens.Prolly coz thats what I do for a living!We used to race each other,at work, cutting whole chickens into frying pieces.My fastest time was 20 seconds!LOL.My fave chicken dish is extremely simple.Rotisserie chicken on my grill,basted with garlic,lemon juice and olive oil!

looloolooweez said...

It's hard to chose just one favorite. Lately... like for the last 3 weeks... I've been craving and making and eating and then craving again chicken mole.

Angela Michels said...

I love chicken alfredo! I could eat it with some breadsticks every day! :)

Angela Michels said...

I am following cookistry and Donna Currie on Twitter.

http://twitter.com/#!/lilsweeper76/status/114403758510837760

lilsweeper76 at yahoo dot com

Miss @ Miss in the Kitchen said...

That looks like a most delicious chicken!! Happy birthday & that's awesome that Morrow is providing a skillet to giveaway!

Arm70 said...

I like Chicken Parm, Chicken Marsala, chicken salad, any kind of chicken!

Arm70 said...

I'm not much of a tweeter Donna but I tweeted the link!

Catherine Peart said...

Oh my gosh, I need that pan! It is mine, all mine!! :-)

diabeticFoodie said...

Brilliant idea to use one chicken for two dishes.

Mona said...

Lemon chicken or Rotisserie chicken or just about any chicken dish.

Sorry if this double posts.

Brooke said...

Oh, I have so many chicken recipes that I love. Alice Springs Chicken is one of them, I love making Chicken fried Chicken and I have a really awesome spice rub that I make for grilled chicken.

brookekittle@hotmail.com

Ace Dans said...

I love lemon chicken and chicken satay! Especially when there is a peanut dipping sauce on the side! Yum yum.

Ace Dans said...

I tweeted this "Yum! Looks like dinner to me. Chicken Two Ways: One-Pot Wonders (and a giveaway!): http://bit.ly/oP7Wtg via @AddThis"

Tupper Cooks! said...

Cordon Bleu!

Anonymous said...

vegetarian so no favorite chicken dishes.

happy birthday.

jacquieastemborski AT comcast DOT net

Sara said...

Happy birthday! Great giveaway...my favorite chicken dish is chicken tikka masala

CatBoy said...

Donna, I think my favorite is a perfectly roasted chicken, but that chicken tikka masala just mentioned sounds awfully good right now.

Debbie said...

It's hard to chose a favorite. I love Ina's roast chicken, Cook's Illustrated Fried Chicken and Kung Pao Chicken.

The Food Hunter said...

Happy birthday!!

Aaron said...

I like to keep it simple with charcoal-grilled brined chicken breasts. Yum! People have had a religous experience after trying those breasts. Hard on its heels though would be my chicken pomodoro made with fresh tomatoes and basil from the garden...

Excuse me...I need to go into the kitchen for a while...

Happy Birthday!

Dan said...

For maximal returns on the least amount of time invested, I like to cut out the backbone of a whole chicken, butterfly that sucker, give it a quick spice rub and throw it on the grill. 30-40 minutes to cook a whole chicken is not bad, and it cooks quick so stays super juicy.

Anonymous said...

[sorry, posting again while logged-in]

For maximal returns on the least amount of time invested, I like to cut out the backbone of a whole chicken, butterfly that sucker, give it a quick spice rub and throw it on the grill. 30-40 minutes to cook a whole chicken is not bad, and it cooks quick so stays super juicy.

Jason said...

I love grilled chicken... with or without BBQ sauce, but preferably over coal/woods, and not gas. YUM.

Jason said...

Followed and tweeted!

(http://twitter.com/#!/archi77)

Happy birthday!

Kirsten Hrobsky said...

Warm, creamy and flaky chicken pot pie!

pianolady3 said...

My favorite chicken dish is Chicken ala Diavola, using the recipe from America's Test Kitchen. Though today, since it's unseasonably cool, chicken noodle soup sounds really good.

Jan said...

I love fried chicken; hot or cold.

allensmall said...

Roast chicken!

Clydesdale Jogger said...

Lately my favorite chicken "dinner" is grilled breast on romaine lettuce with asiago cheese and a balsamic vinaigrette.

JoeyfromSC said...

OMGOSh that food is making me so hungry ha

My fave chicken dish is a casserole my mom learned to make from a lady at her church years ago...I miss my Mom's cooking(R.I.P.)

It has cubed poached chicken breasts with cream of mushroom soup and stuffing mix on top..you can also mix broccoli in before adding the stuffing mix..yum!! Seems like it has cheese too, but can't remember..I have not made it myself in forever!

Thank you for the chance to win!

ajoebloe(at)gmail(dot)com

JoeyfromSC said...

*Meant to say that I need this skillet SO badly lol..My cookware is in desperate need of an upgrade

Tweeted:

http://twitter.com/#!/JoeyfromSC/status/115120936314863616

ajoebloe(at)gmail(dot)com

susitravl said...

Chicken Divan!
susitravl(at)gmail(dot)com

Anonymous said...

My simple favorite is a smallish whole chicken, washed and thoroughly dried, skin oiled, salted and the cavity stuffed with halved lemons and limes then sutured tightly closed. Roasted in an open pan at high heat until the thermo says the thigh is ~10F under-done. Remove, tent and rest ~20 minutes, reusing any escaped juices as-is or as the base for sauce of choice. I usually add oven-roasted red potatoes with OO and rosemary and a steamed green veggi. It is easy. If there is a downside, the high temp open roasting makes a serious mess in the oven. Of note, I do not like chewing on dried herb bits, especially rosemary. I use a reserved coffee grinder to reduce them to dust at the moment of use. Just my thing. Best wishes. -Craig (Cedarglen)

Donna Currie said...

Contest is closed. Congrats to SARA for winning the skillet!

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