Tag Archives: poultry

Speedy Chicken Stroganoff

This chicken stroganoff recipe from Bon Appétit delivers everything you love about the classic: savory mushrooms, a tangy-creamy sauce, and plenty of comfort — minus the beef. Inspired by traditional beef stroganoff, this streamlined version swaps in quick-cooking, thin-cut boneless, skinless chicken breasts for a faster, lighter weeknight dinner that still tastes rich and deeply satisfying.

For a comforting meal in under an hour, thin-cut chicken breasts cook quickly and brown beautifully, while a splash of white wine, Dijon mustard, and crème fraîche make a silky, deeply savory sauce. We served over mushroom tagliatelle but other options are egg noodles, rice, or mashed potatoes.

Most stroganoff recipes call for sour cream, which tends to break when cooked at too high a heat. Here, crème fraîche is swapped in because it has a higher fat content, allowing it to remain stable. The result is a supremely creamy sauce that clings to the chicken and mushrooms without breaking.

NOTES: If you want to save yourself a few bucks, buy ordinary boneless chicken breasts and pound them down to a thinner thickness. The directions indicate to cook the mushrooms in a single layer, undisturbed. There were too many shrooms for a single layer, so you may have to stir them an occasionally until they shrink and almost fit into one layer and turn deep golden brown.
Finally, we suggest powdering the cutlets (after they’ve been seasoned with salt and pepper), with a light dusting of flour—it helps retain their moisture.

FYI, this dish is best enjoyed shortly after it’s made. The leftover sauce can be tricky to reheat, and breast meat can dry out quickly.

Speedy Chicken Stroganoff

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

  • 4 small thin-sliced skinless, boneless chicken breasts (about 1½ lb. total)
  • ½ tsp. Diamond Crystal or ¼ tsp. Morton kosher salt, plus more
  • Freshly ground pepper
  • 7 Tbsp. (or more) extra-virgin olive oil, divided
  • 1 lb. cremini mushrooms, sliced ¼” thick
  • 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
  • 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
  • ½ cup dry white wine
  • 1 Tbsp. all-purpose flour, (plus more for dusting)
  • ½ tsp. paprika
  • 1½ cups chicken broth, preferably homemade
  • ⅓ cup crème fraîche
  • 3 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into pieces
  • 1 tsp. Dijon mustard
  • 2 dashes Worcestershire sauce
  • Chopped parsley and cooked egg noodles, mashed potatoes, steamed rice, or country-style bread (for serving)

Directions

  1. Lightly season 4 small thin-sliced skinless, boneless chicken breasts (about 1½ lb. total) all over with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. Heat 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Working in 2 batches and adding more oil between batches, cook chicken in a single layer, undisturbed, until golden brown underneath, about 5 minutes. Turn and cook on other side until nearly cooked through, 2–3 minutes. Transfer to a plate. (The pan may have browned bits stuck to it, but that flavorful fond will be deglazed shortly.)
  2. Increase heat to high; add 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil to pan. Arrange 1 pound cremini mushrooms, sliced ¼” thick, in pan in a single layer as much as possible and cook, undisturbed, until golden underneath, about 4-5 minutes. Stir; season lightly with salt (this will help draw out water from the mushrooms) and cook, undisturbed, until golden, about 5 minutes. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid released from mushrooms is mostly evaporated and mushrooms are deep golden brown, 2–3 minutes more. Transfer to a large plate, spreading out to keep from steaming.
  3. Reduce heat to medium and heat remaining 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil in pan. Add 1 medium onion, thinly sliced, and 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly softened, 3–4 minutes. Add ½ cup dry white wine; simmer, stirring occasionally and scraping up any browned bits, until almost completely evaporated, 1–2 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour and ½ teaspoon paprika; cook, stirring constantly, until a thin film starts to form on bottom of pan, 30–60 seconds. Gradually pour in 1½ cups low-sodium chicken broth, stirring constantly. Increase heat to medium-high; bring to a rapid simmer and cook until sauce is thick enough to lightly coat a spoon, about 3 minutes.
  4. Reduce heat to low; add ⅓ cup crème fraîche, 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces, 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard, 2 dashes Worcestershire sauce, and ½ teaspoon Diamond Crystal or ¼ teaspoon Morton kosher salt. Cook, stirring often, until butter is melted and emulsified, about 2 minutes. Taste sauce; season with more salt if needed. Return chicken and mushrooms to pan and cook, basting with sauce with a large spoon, until warmed through, about 1 minute. Remove from heat; top stroganoff with chopped parsley. Serve over cooked egg noodles, mashed potatoes, steamed rice, or country-style bread.

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Recipe by Hana Asbrink for Bon Appétit

Loaded Sweet Potatoes with Gochujang Turkey

While we don’t have a typical weekday meal “rotation,” for those that do, every now and then, it is fun to throw a surprise into the mundane. Well, this versatile dish is a dinner that can be dressed up, down, and sideways depending on whom you’re feeding.

And you can up the pizzaz with sour cream, yogurt, or shredded cheese as additional toppers for the sweet potatoes. Or why not put the meat mixture between toasted buns for a version of Sloppy Joes? The Hubs dubbed them Korean Sloppy Joes.

Swap in harissa paste or Thai red curry paste for the gochujang. In the spirit of meal prepping, consider doubling the meat mixture and freezing half as a gift to your future self. (Wish we would have done that 😦 )

The timing will vary on how large your sweet potatoes are. It so happens ours were huge and took one hour and 15 minutes before they rendered tender enough. Therefore two spuds, one half of a potato per, served with a side dish (in this case, sautéed edamame with shallots and garlic), was enough to satisfy 4 people.

Do Ahead: Sweet potatoes can be roasted 4 days ahead; transfer to an airtight container. Cover and chill. Turkey mixture can be made 4 days ahead; transfer to a separate airtight container. Cover and chill.

Loaded Sweet Potatoes with Gochujang Turkey

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

  • 4 medium sweet potatoes (1¼–1½ lb.), scrubbed
  • 2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
  • 1 tsp. Diamond Crystal or ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt, plus more
  • 1 large onion, finely chopped
  • 1 medium green bell pepper, ribs and seeds removed, finely chopped
  • 6 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 1 lb. ground turkey
  • ¼ cup double-concentrated tomato paste
  • 2 Tbsp. gochujang (Korean hot pepper paste)
  • 1 Tbsp. soy sauce
  • 1 Tbsp. toasted sesame oil, plus more for drizzling
  • 1 tsp. honey
  • 4 scallions, thinly sliced on a diagonal
  • ½ cup coarsely chopped cilantro
  • Lime wedges (for serving)

Directions

  1. Place a rack in middle of oven; preheat to 400°. Arrange 4 medium sweet potatoes (1¼–1½ lb.), scrubbed, on a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet; drizzle lightly with extra-virgin olive oil and turn to coat; season with kosher salt. Roast sweet potatoes until very tender, 50–60 minutes. (Will take longer if your spuds are on the larger size.)
  2. Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil in large skillet over medium-high. Add 1 large onion, finely chopped, 1 medium green bell pepper, ribs and seeds removed, finely chopped, 6 garlic cloves, finely chopped, and 1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal or ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt and cook, stirring often, until onion is golden around edges and softened, 8–10 minutes.
  3. Add 1 pound ground turkey to pan. Mix into vegetables, then spread out in an even layer. Cook, undisturbed, until almost cooked through, about 5 minutes. Add ¼ cup double-concentrated tomato paste, 2 tablespoons gochujang (Korean hot pepper paste), 1 tablespoons soy sauce, 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil, and 1 teaspoon honey; cook, stirring often, until tomato paste is deepened in color, about 5 minutes. Add 1 cup water and cook, stirring often, until liquid is reduced by about half and mixture looks saucy.
  4. Transfer sweet potatoes to a platter, split lengthwise with a small knife (don’t cut all the way through), and open up like a book. Using a fork, lightly mash flesh, making sure to keep skins intact; season lightly with salt.
  5. Spoon turkey mixture over sweet potato halves. Top with 4 scallions, thinly sliced on a diagonal, and ½ cup coarsely chopped cilantro. Drizzle lightly with more sesame oil. Serve with lime wedges for squeezing over.

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Recipe from Millie Peartree for Bon Appétit

Chicken Thighs with Shallots and Tomatoes

Here is a simple, excellent one-pot recipe for an easy feast, full of rich flavor, with a sauce that you’ll be drooling over. The original recipe (adapted from Sam Sifton for NYTimes Cooking) indicated the process took 1 hour and 15 minutes. In actuality, it took us over 2 hours, so not exactly a weeknight option for those with a busy schedule.

Anyway, it is worth the time because we loved the crispy skin, jammy shallots and delicious sauce. Speaking of shallots, unless you have small ones, do yourself a favor and cut them in half lengthwise, otherwise the chicken thighs are done before the shallots are soft enough.

This main entrée can be served with egg noodles (our choice), mashed potatoes or crusty bread to mop up the sauce. An additional side salad makes a fresh accompaniment.

Chicken Thighs with Shallots and Tomatoes

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

  • 8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
  • 2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
  • 1 Tbsp. kosher salt
  • 1 Tbsp. black pepper
  • 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
  • 12 to 15 whole medium shallots, peeled, cut in 1/2 lengthwise
  • 2 cups white wine
  • 2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
  • 2-4 tarragon sprigs, more for garnish
  • 2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved

Directions

  1. Pat the chicken thighs very dry with paper towels. Sprinkle poultry with salt and pepper. Add flour to a plastic or paper bag, insert chicken thighs 4 at a time ,and shake until thoroughly coated. Repeat with remaining 4 thighs.
  2. Melt the butter in a large, heavy-bottomed pot or skillet set over medium-high heat. When the butter foams, cook the chicken, in batches if necessary, until well browned and crisp on all sides. Set aside. (If your pan is not large enough to hold all 8 without squeezing them in, brown in 2 batches.)
  3. Add the whole shallots to the pot and sauté them in the butter and chicken fat until they begin to soften and caramelize, about 10 to 12 minutes. (Depending on the size of your shallots, this step could take longer.) Add the wine to deglaze the pot, stir with a large spoon, then add the mustard and tarragon, then the chicken thighs. Cover the pot, turn the heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes.
  4. Remove the lid, and allow the sauce to reduce and thicken, 15 to 20 minutes.
  5. Add the cherry tomatoes to the pot, stir lightly to combine and serve immediately.

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Recipe from Andrew and Rishia Zimmern, adapted by Sam Sifton for NYTimes Cooking

Slow Roasted Duck with Orange-Sherry Sauce

A very interesting combination, with amazing results! Now you might say this takes a lot of time and effort to only get two to three servings—and we would have to agree. But sometimes when we have a long non-scheduled afternoon ahead of us, we find a culinary challenge fits our MO. Plus, we love duck! OK, maybe “masochist” might be an appropriate adjective?

Typically a duck is scored in order to render the fat properly. However, in this recipe, there is no need to prick the skin beforehand due to the long cooking time. Plus, après roasting, the skin of the breast is removed from the meat and is fully crisped at a higher temperature just prior to serving.

Under the Ingredients category, we made a few changes, starting with the fact that our bird was 7 pounds instead of 5 — providing 3 full servings. Also, unable to buy 4 ounces of loose creminis, we had to purchase an 8-ounce package and decided to use them all. Finally, we garnished our dish with diagonal slices of scallion (already had on hand) as opposed to 1-inch pieces of chives.

The original Directions were a bit wonky and unclear in places, so we altered them for clarification. For instance, instead of draining the fat every hour (the duck roasts for 4 1/2 hours), just place the bird on a rack in the roasting pan, then at the end of cooking you can remove the fat all at once. (Of course it is liquid gold, so save for future culinary endeavors. We ended up with about 3 1/2 cups worth!)

Ducks and chickens belong to the avian family, yet their anatomical structures exhibit some significant differences. The texture also differs; duck tends to be denser and more succulent, while chicken can be more delicate and prone to shredding.

Ducks possess dark meat, which has a higher fat content and a more robust flavor. This fat contributes to the bird’s juiciness and tenderness. However once you pick it from the carcass, make sure to wrap the meat tightly in tinfoil and keep warm while you finish making the dinner, so that it won’t dry out.

This dish gives a huge nod toward the New Orleans’s legendary street food tradition of gravy-soaked po’ boys laden with French fries; usually NOT my go-to option. Home cooks can substitute shoestring potatoes, mock frites or hash browns. Either way, it’s told, the interplay between the moist meat, luscious sauce and crisp potatoes is nonpareil.

Slow Roasted Duck with Orange-Sherry Sauce

  • Servings: 2-3
  • Difficulty: moderate
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Ingredients

  • 1 lb. yellow onions, peeled and coarsely chopped
  • ½ stick unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 5-lb duck, rinsed and patted dry
  • Salt
  • Freshly ground pepper
  • 2 large rosemary sprigs
  • 2 cups fresh orange juice
  • 1 cup dry sherry
  • ½ cup soy sauce
  • 2 medium carrots, peeled and julienned
  • 4 oz. cremini or white button mushrooms, trimmed and sliced thin
  • 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
  • 17-oz. jar roasted red peppers, rinsed, drained and cut into strips
  • 2 fresh chives, cut into 1-inch lengths
  • Hash browns, OR French fries

Directions

  1. Heat oven to 500 degrees. In a large bowl, toss onions with melted butter. Season duck inside and out with salt and pepper. Place rosemary sprigs inside duck’s cavity and then tightly pack with buttered onion mixture.
  2. Place duck in medium-size roasting pan, and roast for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees and cover pan loosely with foil. Roast for about 4½ hours, draining fat every hour.
  3. Remove pan from oven and carefully discard as much fat as possible with a ladle. Add orange juice, sherry and soy sauce. Return pan to oven and roast uncovered for 30 minutes. Transfer duck to a platter and let cool slightly. Pour pan juices (about 4 cups) into a saucepan, discarding any pieces of skin. Skim off fat and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
  4. Add carrots and reduce to 1½ cups, strain and keep on the side. In same pan, sauté mushrooms with 2 tablespoons butter until brown. Add red peppers and briefly sauté, then add reduced sauce. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Keep warm over low heat.
  5. Remove onions and rosemary from duck’s cavity and discard. Remove meat from bones. Place skin from duck breasts onto rimmed baking sheet and bake at 400 degrees until skin starts to foam, about 5 to 10 minutes. (Ours took 13 minutes to crisp up.)
  6. Cover bottoms of individual plates with sauce and top with either pasta, shoestring fries, hash browns or unsalted potato chips. Place a generous amount of duck meat on top, then garnish with crispy skin, vegetables and chives or scallions.

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Adapted by a recipe from Greg Sonnier; originally by Pableaux Johnson

Braised Chicken Thighs with Fennel, Orange and Cracked Olives

Awesome sauce—literally!! Of course using your own homemade chicken stock amps up the depth of flavor tremendously, and The Hubs had recently made a double batch. This stove-to-oven method produces well-rendered skin, meltingly-tender meat, and a savory ready-made sauce.

The braise is started by searing bone-in, skin-on thighs to crisp the skin. The thighs are then transferred to the oven where they simmer, skin side up, in a flavorful mix of chicken broth, orange juice, fennel, and Pernod until they reached 195 degrees and turned tender and juicy.

To finish that incredible sauce, the braising liquid is reduced to concentrate its flavors before whisking in a cornstarch slurry to thicken it to a luxurious, velvety consistency. Last-minute additions of olives, orange zest, and minced fennel fronds make for a deliciously fragrant finish.

French Pernod is made with star anise, fennel, and other herbs and botanicals. The anise or black licorice flavor is strong, though not quite as potent as liqueurs like absinthe and pastis. Not having any Pernod on hand, we substituted Greek Ouzo, a dry anise-flavored aperitif.

NOTES: Other brine-cured green olives such as Cerignola or Picholine can be used for the Castelvetrano. Sambuca or Ouzo can be substituted for the Pernod. Serve with your favorite potatoes, rice, or buttered noodles and a vegetable side dish.

Braised Chicken Thighs with Fennel, Orange and Cracked Olives

  • Servings: 4-6
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

  • 2 1⁄2 lbs. bone-in chicken thighs, trimmed
  • 1¼ tsp. table salt
  • ½ tsp. pepper
  • 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
  • 1 small fennel bulb, 2 tsp. fronds minced, stalks discarded, bulb halved, cored, and chopped fine
  • ¼ tsp. red pepper flakes
  • 1 cup chicken broth, preferably homemade
  • ½ teaspoon grated orange zest plus 1 cup juice (2 oranges)
  • 2 Tbsp. Pernod, OR Sambuca, OR Ouzo
  • 2 Tbsp. lemon juice
  • 2 tsp. water
  • 1½ tsp. cornstarch
  • 20 pitted Castelvetrano olives, cracked

Directions

  1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Pat chicken dry with paper towels and sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper. Heat oil in 12-inch ovensafe skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add chicken, skin side down, and cook, without moving it, until well browned, about 8 minutes. Using tongs, flip chicken and brown on second side, about 3 minutes. Transfer chicken to large plate.
  2. Pour off all but 2 tablespoons fat from skillet. Add chopped fennel and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring frequently, until fennel is lightly browned, 4 to 5 minutes. Add broth, orange juice, and Pernod; bring to simmer, scraping up any browned bits. Return chicken to skillet, skin side up (skin will be above surface of liquid). Transfer skillet to oven and bake, uncovered, until chicken registers 195 degrees, 35 to 40 minutes. Whisk water and cornstarch together in small bowl; set aside.
  3. Using tongs, transfer chicken to serving platter and tent with aluminum foil. Place skillet over high heat. Cook, occasionally scraping side of skillet to incorporate fond, until sauce is thickened and reduced to 1½ cups, 8 to 10 minutes. Adjust heat to medium-low. Whisk cornstarch mixture to recombine and then whisk into sauce and simmer until thickened, about 1 minute. Off heat, whisk in lemon juice, olives, and orange zest, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Pour sauce around chicken, top with fennel fronds, and serve.

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Adapted from a recipe by Steve Dunn for Cook’s Illustrated

Skillet Cooked Smothered Chicken

A whole roasted chicken with mashed potatoes and homemade gravy will always fall into the “comfort food” category for me. This recipe is adapted from Craig Claiborne, a child of Mississippi who started as food editor of The NY Times in 1957, and believed a cast-iron skillet to be essential for the authentic preparation of this dish. All of it is done on the stovetop, no need to heat up the oven.

We took the liberty of enhancing the recipe with a few more aromatics including garlic and fresh thyme (noted below). Our variation when making the gravy, was to add 3 cloves of minced garlic along with the butter into the fat in the pan, cooking until fragrant.

Some vermouth was also included along with homemade chicken stock. Our bird weighed in at more than 4 pounds, so we adjusted the liquid to produce a bit more gravy—which we wanted to drench the creamy mashed potatoes.

Now you can substitute bone-in, skin-on thighs for the whole chicken, but we love the leftover parts for making our homemade stock. And if you have both white meat and dark meat lovers at the table, an entire bird makes sense. The white meat is super moist when cooked in this fashion.

Our choice sides included steamed broccoli and garlicky mashed potatoes.

Skillet Cooked Smothered Chicken

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

  • 1 chicken, about 3½ to 4 lbs., spatchcocked (split down the backbone, breast left intact and unsplit)
  • Kosher salt, to taste
  • Freshly ground pepper, to taste
  • 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
  • 2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
  • 1 Tbsp., fresh thyme leaves, chopped
  • 3 large garlic cloves, minced
  • 1½ cups chicken broth, ideally homemade
  • 1/4 cup dry vermouth

Directions

  1. Sprinkle the chicken on both sides with salt and pepper. Select a skillet large enough to hold the chicken comfortably when it is opened up, as for broiling. Fold wings under to secure them.
  2. Melt the butter in the pan and add the chicken, skin side down. Cover chicken with a plate that will fit comfortably inside the skillet. Place a heavy pot, stone or brick on top of the plate to weigh it down. Cook over low heat, checking the chicken skin, until it is nicely browned, about 25 minutes.
  3. Remove weight and plate. Turn chicken so skin side is up. Replace plate and weight and continue cooking for about 15 minutes more.
  4. Remove chicken and pour off fat from the skillet, leaving about 2 tablespoons in the pan. Add the minced garlic and flour to the fat, stirring with a wire whisk over medium heat. Gradually add the chicken broth and dry vermouth and, when thickened, return chicken to the skillet, skin side up. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cover with the plate and weight and continue cooking over low heat about 20 to 30 minutes longer or until the meat is exceptionally tender.
  5. Cut chicken into serving pieces, and spoon the sauce over it. Serve with the extra sauce and fluffy rice or mashed potatoes on the side.

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Adapted from a recipe from Craig Claiborne and Pierre Franey

Pan-Roasted Chicken and Summer Vegetables with Herbes de Provence

In this simple skillet dinner, the skin side of bone-in chicken breasts are seared, then roasted on top of a bed of sunny Mediterranean vegetables. Keep in mind, the recipe advises the use 12-ounce chicken breasts, using larger ones will require a longer cooking time and thus overcook the veggies. The only pieces available when we shopped weighed in at 18 ounces, 50% larger! (The first grocery store we visited, had no bone-in breasts at all.)

*The Hubs Hack: Because of the larger pieces, after browning the skin, we put the pan with the chicken skin side up in the pre-heated oven for 10 minutes before removing them and adding the vegetables. The breasts were then placed on top of the veggies and the skillet was returned to the oven until the chicken reached an internal temperature of 160°F., about 30 min. (Check temp after 20 minutes.)

Before cooking, the veggies are tossed with herbes de Provence, an aromatic seasoning blend that typically includes rosemary, thyme, savory, marjoram and oregano, and sometimes other spices and herbs such as fennel, sage, lavender and tarragon.

Dry vermouth, with its herbaceousness, is an ideal deglazing liquid for the browned bits left in the pan after searing the chicken, but dry white wine works, too. The vermouth and caper brines are important because they really help take this dish over the top and not just an average chicken and vegetable dish. We usually like thighs over breasts in similar recipes, but these turned out juicy with good crispy skin.

Another food item that the store was completely out of was zucchini, so we just substituted a yellow summer squash. And again, because of the enormous breast size, we roasted only two, which was still enough to feed four people.

Pan-Roasted Chicken and Summer Vegetables with Herbes de Provence

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

  • 4 12-oz. bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts, trimmed of excess fat
  • Kosher salt and ground black pepper
  • 3 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, divided
  • 2 Tbsp. herbes de Provence
  • 6 medium garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
  • 1 medium red onion, halved and sliced about ¼ inch thick
  • 1 yellow, orange or red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, cut into ¼ slices
  • 1 pint grape tomatoes, uncut
  • 1 small zucchini, halved lengthwise and sliced crosswise ¼ inch thick
  • ¼ cup drained capers, plus 1 Tbsp. caper brine
  • ½ cup dry vermouth
  • 1 cup lightly packed fresh basil, torn (optional)

Directions

  1. Heat the oven to 475℉ with a rack in the middle position. Season the chicken on all sides with salt and pepper. In a large bowl, stir together 2 tablespoons of oil, the herbes de Provence, ¼ teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. Add the garlic, onion, bell pepper, tomatoes, zucchini and capers, then toss to combine; set aside.
  2. In a 12-inch skillet oven-safe skillet over medium-high, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil until shimmering. Add the chicken skin down and cook without disturbing until golden brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Using tongs, transfer the chicken skin up to a large plate. (If your chicken weighs much more than 12 ounces each, see note above.*)
  3. Pour off and discard all but 1 tablespoon fat from the skillet. Add the vermouth, bring to a boil over medium-high and cook, scraping up any browned bits, until reduced to about 2 tablespoons, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the vegetables and cook, stirring, until just warmed through, about 1 minute, then distribute in an even layer. Nestle the chicken skin up in the vegetables and add any accumulated juices. Transfer the skillet to the oven and cook until the thickest part of the breast reaches about 160°F, 20 to 25 minutes.
  4. Remove the pan from the oven (the handle will be hot). Transfer the chicken skin up to a serving platter. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the vegetables the platter, arranging them around the chicken.
  5. Set the skillet over high, bring the liquid to a simmer and cook, stirring, until slightly thickened and reduced, 1 to 2 minutes. Off heat, stir in the caper brine, then taste and season with salt and pepper. Pour the sauce around the chicken and over the vegetables. Sprinkle with basil (if using).

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Adapted from a recipe by Rose Hattabaugh for Milk Street

Chicken with Artichokes and White Wine

Maybe you have never of Artichauts à la barigoule, a classic Provençal braise that combines fresh artichoke hearts with aromatic vegetables, herbs and white wine. If not, this recipe is worth a try. Here, chicken thighs are seared on the stovetop and while they finish cooking in the oven, canned artichokes are used to put together a simplified barigoule that serves as both a vegetable accompaniment and a flavorful sauce.

For subtle lemony notes, strips of zest are simmered with the artichokes. A Y-style vegetable peeler is the best tool for removing zest in strips from the fruit, but try to take only the yellow peel, as the white pith underneath is bitter. If desired, serve with warm crusty bread and or a side salad.

Don’t use marinated artichoke hearts for this recipe. The seasonings will overpower the other ingredients. Instead of spooning the artichoke mixture on and around the thighs, we laid the mixture in a deep platter and placed the chicken on top to prevent the crispy skin from getting soggy before serving.

Chicken with Artichokes and White Wine

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

  • 2½ lbs. bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, trimmed and patted dry
  • Kosher salt and ground black pepper
  • 1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
  • 3 Tbsp. salted butter, cut into 1-Tbsp. pieces, divided
  • 1 medium yellow onion, halved and thinly sliced
  • 2 medium carrots, peeled, halved lengthwise and sliced crosswise ¼ inch thick
  • 4 medium garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 cup dry white wine
  • 2 14-oz. cans artichoke hearts, drained, cut into quarters if whole
  • 3 3-inch-long strips lemon zest, plus 2 Tbsp. lemon juice
  • 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
  • ¼ cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Directions

  1. Heat the oven to 475°F with a rack in the middle position. Season the chicken all over with salt and pepper. In a 12-inch skillet over medium-high, heat the oil until barely smoking. Add the chicken skin down and cook without disturbing until golden brown on the bottoms, 5 to 8 minutes. Using tongs, transfer the chicken skin up to a rimmed baking sheet and roast until the thickest part of the thighs reach 175°F, 15 to 20 minutes.
  2. While the chicken roasts, pour off and discard all but 1 tablespoon fat from the skillet. Set the pan over medium and melt 2 tablespoons of butter.Add the onion, carrots and ¼ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper, then cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is translucent, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the wine and cook, scraping up any browned bits, until reduced by about half, 2 to 4 minutes.
  3. Stir in the artichokes, lemon zest and broth. Bring to a simmer over medium-high and cook, uncovered and stirring occasionally, until the carrots are tender and the liquid is slightly reduced, 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, cover and set aside.
  4. When the chicken is done, using tongs, transfer it to a plate. Remove and discard the lemon zest from the artichoke mixture. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon butter and stir until melted, then stir in the lemon juice and parsley. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Transfer the mixture to a deep platter and place the chicken thighs on top to keep the crispy skin from getting soggy before serving.

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Recipe from Rose Hattabaugh for Milk Street

Yogurt-Marinated Chicken Thighs with Potatoes and Broccolini

This sheet pan dinner features yogurt-marinated chicken thighs with charred broccolini and potatoes. Juicy chicken thighs and roasted vegetables come together in this effortless sheet pan dinner. The lactic acid in yogurt, responsible for the dairy’s characteristic tang, gently tenderizes the chicken thighs as they marinate.

To ensure crispy potatoes and charred broccolini, prevent overcrowding by roasting the vegetables and chicken on separate sheet pans. The flavorful chicken drippings are liquid gold — drizzle them over the chicken and vegetables just before serving.

Yogurt is ideal to use in a marinade for both its flavor and ability to tenderize meat. It contains lactic acid, which tenderizes more slowly and gently than a citrus juice – or vinegar-based marinade. However, in this recipe, we also add a bit of lemon juice to bump up the marinade’s acidity and reap some of its benefits in a shorter time frame.

OK, yeah so it is two sheet pans instead of one. But, roasting the vegetables and chicken on two separate pans means you get the best of both worlds: crispy and tender vegetables and juicy chicken thighs with crispy skin and lots of schmaltzy pan drippings. Can’t argue with that.

Yogurt-Marinated Chicken Thighs with Potatoes and Broccolini

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup plain whole-milk strained (Greek-style) yogurt
  • 2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
  • 2 garlic cloves, grated
  • 1 tsp. coarse-ground Dijon mustard
  • 1 tsp. paprika
  • 3/4 tsp. ground coriander
  • 5 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, divided
  • 3 1/2 tsp. kosher salt, divided
  • 1 1/2 tsp. black pepper, divided
  • 3 lbs. bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (about 8 small thighs)
  • 1 lb. baby gold potatoes, halved
  • 1 8-oz. bunch broccolini, trimmed
  • 2 lemons, halved crosswise

Directions

  1. Whisk together yogurt, lemon juice, garlic, mustard, paprika, coriander, 2 tablespoons oil, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper in a large bowl until smooth. Add chicken thighs; toss to coat, rubbing yogurt mixture evenly over chicken. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to 4 hours.
  2. Preheat oven to 425°F with racks in the upper and lower third positions. Toss potatoes and broccolini with remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil, remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a large bowl until evenly coated. Arrange potatoes, cut sides down, in a single layer on a large rimmed baking sheet; set broccolini in bowl aside. Remove chicken thighs from marinade; place chicken, skin side up, on a second large rimmed baking sheet; discard marinade. Arrange lemon halves, cut sides down, around chicken.
  3. Place baking sheet with chicken on upper rack and baking sheet with potatoes on lower rack of oven; roast for 25 minutes. Remove potatoes from oven, and flip using a thin metal spatula; arrange broccolini on baking sheet with potatoes, making sure to drape some stalks over the potatoes so as not to completely char. Return to oven; continue roasting until potatoes and broccolini are tender and a thermometer inserted into thickest portion of chicken registers 165°F, 12 to 15 minutes. (Ours only took another 11 minutes.)
  4. Skim off fat from chicken pan juices and discard. Drizzle pan juices over chicken and vegetables. Serve hot.

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Recipe by Nicole Hopper for Food & Wine

Braised Chicken with Olives and Capers

With chicken being the most popular meat in America, it’s no wonder there are an endless variety of recipes worth your time and effort! This lovely Mediterranean-influenced braised dish from Williams Sonoma’s Test Kitchen is right up there with the best of them.

Braising chicken in white wine instead of red results in a lighter, brighter flavor, which in this recipe is heightened with piquant olives and capers. If desired, serve with a good loaf of bread, some mashed potatoes, or polenta so you can soak up the flavorful braising liquid, because it is worth every drop.

Instead of cutting up a whole chicken, you could certainly save some time buying a selection of bone-in, skin-on pieces such as thighs, breasts and legs. For us, the positive in using an entire bird, is saving the leftover parts (back, wingtips, etc.) for making home made stock at another time.

The regular amounts of white wine (3/4 cup) and chicken broth (2 1/2 cups) were way too much, thus causing the reduction time to increase considerably, from 5 to 20 minutes. The opposite was true of braising the chicken. Instead of the hour to hour-and-a-half noted in the original directions, the pieces were overdone after only 45 minutes.

To offset the chicken (especially white meat) from being overcooked, the oven temp gets lowered down to 325°F (braises are typically low heat). Additionally, pile the breast pieces on top of the dark meat 15 minutes after the the braise goes into the oven. In Step 3, the stovetop burner was reduced to medium. All of our corrections are noted in the recipe below.

To complete our meal, we served the chicken with sides of glazed carrots and a potato-parsnip mash. WOW, was that sauce amazing!!

Braised Chicken with Olives and Capers

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

Ingredients

  • 1 whole chicken, about 3 1/2- to 4-lb, cut into 8-10 serving pieces
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
  • 1 Tbsp. olive oil
  • 3 Tbsp. unsalted butter
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 2 garlic cloves, chopped
  • 1/2 cup dry white wine
  • 1 1/2 cups chicken broth, preferably homemade
  • 3/4 cup pitted olives, such as Kalamata, halved
  • Zest of 1 lemon, peeled into strips using a vegetable peeler and
      then julienned
  • 3 Tbsp. capers, drained and rinsed
  • 2 tsp. fennel seeds
  • 8 oz. cup cherry tomatoes

Directions

  1. Preheat an oven to 325ºF.
  2. Pat the chicken dry and season with salt and pepper. In a Dutch oven over medium-high heat, warm the olive oil. Working in batches, brown the chicken on all sides, 8 to 10 minutes per batch. Transfer the chicken to a plate and carefully pour the fat from the Dutch oven.
  3. Reduce heat to medium. Add the butter to the Dutch oven. When it has melted, add the onion and sauté until translucent, 4 to 6 minutes. Add the garlic and continue to cook for 1 minute more.
  4. Add the wine and cook, stirring to scrape up the browned bits from the bottom, until the wine reduces slightly, about 2 minutes. Add the broth, olives, lemon zest, capers and fennel seeds.  Return the dark meat chicken to the Dutch oven and top with the tomatoes.
  5. Cover, place the Dutch oven in the oven. After 15 minutes of cooking, place the breast pieces on top of the dark meat, cover, and cook until the chicken is tender, 20 minutes more — 35 to 40 minutes total, checking with an insta-read thermometer at 35 minutes. The breast meat should register 155° and the thigh meat should be 165°.
  6. When the chicken is cooked, transfer the chicken pieces to a plate and place the Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Cook until the braising liquid is thickened a good bit, about 10-15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and return the chicken to the Dutch oven. Serve immediately.

http://www.lynnandruss.com

Recipe was loosely adapted from one by Williams Sonoma Test Kitchen

Spring Chicken With Mushroom and Lemon

For a main course, chicken-noodle anything is always an attractive option, and here, boneless, skinless chicken thighs come together with button mushrooms and a sauce of chicken broth, white wine and crème fraîche for a bright, filling stew.

To make it sparkle, it’s all finished with a generous handful of tender sweet herbs and lots — lots! — of lemon zest. To serve, ladle over egg noodles, or fresh pasta, such as pappardelle; all are a good choice.

Spring Chicken With Mushroom and Lemon

  • Servings: 4-6
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

Ingredients

  • 4 Tbsp. unsalted butter or extra-virgin olive oil, plus more as needed
  • 1 lb. button mushrooms, or a mix of other mushrooms, sliced
  • Salt and black pepper
  • 1½ lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into ½-inch pieces
  • 2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour, for dusting
  • 2 large shallots, diced
  • 1 small bay leaf
  • ½ cup dry white wine or vermouth
  • 2 cups chicken broth
  • 12 oz. wide egg noodles or wide-cut pasta, for serving
  • ¼ cup crème fraîche
  • 1 cup frozen peas (optional)
  • 2 Tbsp. snipped chives
  • 2 Tbsp. roughly chopped dill
  • 1 Tbsp. roughly chopped tarragon
  • 1 Tbsp. roughly chopped mint
  • 3 Tbsp. roughly chopped chervil or parsley
  • Zest of 2 lemons (about 2 Tbsp.)

Directions

  1. Put 2 tablespoons butter or olive oil in a Dutch oven or deep, wide skillet over medium-high heat. When butter sizzles, add mushrooms, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring, until mushrooms are lightly browned and softened, 3 to 4 minutes. Turn off heat. Transfer mushrooms to a plate, and set aside.
  2. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Dust lightly with flour; shake off excess. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons butter to the same Dutch oven and turn heat to medium. When butter sizzles, add half of the chicken, letting it brown on all sides, about 5 minutes per batch. Remove from the pot. Add remaining chicken and repeat, setting aside the chicken. (You may have to add more butter or oil.)
  3. Add shallots to the Dutch oven, and cook over medium-high heat until softened, about 2 minutes. Add bay leaf and wine, and simmer for about 2 minutes, scraping the pot to deglaze any browned bits. Return chicken to pot and turn heat to high.
  4. Add chicken broth and bring to a boil. Turn down heat to maintain a brisk simmer and cook, uncovered, until the chicken is tender, about 20 minutes, then raise heat to high and let liquid reduce by half, about 5 minutes.
  5. Meanwhile, cook noodles or pasta in salted water.
  6. Add reserved mushrooms, crème fraîche and peas, if using, to the stew. Reduce sauce again, until thickened to a gravy- like consistency, a few minutes more. Taste and adjust seasoning. To finish, stir in half of the chives, dill, tarragon, mint, chervil and lemon zest, reserving part of the herb mix to sprinkle over top.
  7. Drain noodles or pasta, transfer to a warm serving platter and spoon chicken and sauce on top, and finish with more of the herb mixture.

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Recipe by David Tanis for NYTimes Cooking

Chicken with Artichokes and Lemon

The original recipe called for using fresh artichokes, which adds a lot more time and effort to this tasty dish. And since we had a 12-ounce bag of frozen artichokes at the ready, we opted to make this recipe in a more time-sensitive manner. And it didn’t disappoint.

This chicken dish partnered well with our side of Mushroom Risotto with Peas. The meal was absolutely delicious!

Chicken with Artichokes and Lemon

  • Servings: 4-6
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

Ingredients

  • 1 large lemons
  • 12-oz. bag of frozen artichoke hearts
  • 6-8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (about 2 lbs. total)
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 2 Tbsp. olive oil
  • 1 medium yellow onion, diced
  • 4 garlic cloves, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley, plus more to garnish
  • ½ tsp. saffron
  • ½ tsp. ground cinnamon
  • 1½ cups chicken broth, plus more if needed

Directions

  1. Pat chicken dry, then season all over with salt and pepper. In a large skillet, warm the olive oil over medium-high heat, then add the chicken, skin-side down. Cook, undisturbed until well browned, 7 to 8 minutes. Flip and brown the other side, about 5 minutes. Transfer chicken thighs to a plate and spoon out about 3 tablespoons of fat from the pan, if desired. (You can discard the excess fat or save for another use.)
  2. Return the skillet to medium heat and add the onion, garlic, parsley and saffron. Season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle the cinnamon over the onion, then stir to combine.
  3. Add the broth to deglaze, scraping the bottom of the pan, and bring to a simmer over medium-high. Return the chicken to the pan, nestling it into the pan skin-side up. Arrange the artichokes between the chicken pieces, cover, and simmer over medium-low until the chicken is cooked through, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove the chicken with a slotted spoon and transfer to a plate.
  4. Raise the heat to medium-high and cook until the sauce is thickened and the artichokes slightly browned, about 5 minutes. Stir in the juice from half the remaining lemon, taste, and adjust with salt and more lemon juice if needed. Spoon artichokes and pan sauces over the chicken, sprinkle with parsley to garnish, and serve.

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Adapted from a recipe by Joan Nathan for NYTimes Coooking

Butter-Lemon Roasted Chicken with Herbs

A whole roasted chicken with citrus and fresh herbs always brings me back to my childhood when Mom would make Sunday dinner and serve her Orange Juice Chicken/Turkey. To this day, whenever The Hubs and I cook a similar recipe, those warm memories come flooding back.

This simple roasted chicken recipe from Milk Street makes a buttery yet bright sauce. Tucking fresh herbs and lemon halves in the cavity flavors the juices for the incredible sauce; cooking mellows the lemon’s acidity. We used a mix of rosemary and tarragon sprigs for the cavity, and chopped for a garnish.

Roasting on a flat wire rack in a rimmed baking sheet allows for improved circulation, resulting in better browning and even cooking. Resulting in a super-juicy chicken with crispy skin.

With just a handful of ingredients, and a mostly hands-off approach, this dish comes together quickly. While the bird roasts in the oven, you can attend to your guests, and/or prepare any sides you wish to serve.

Butter-Lemon Roasted Chicken with Herbs

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

Ingredients

  • 4-lb. whole chicken, patted ry, fat near the cavity removed and discarded
  • 6 tarragon OR rosemary OR thyme OR flat-leaf parsley sprigs, plus 1 Tbsp. chopped
  • 1 lemon, halved crosswise
  • 1 Tbsp.extra-virgin olive oil
  • Kosher salt and ground pepper
  • 3/4 cup dry wine
  • 4 Tbsp. salted butter, cut into 4 pieces

Directions

  1. Heat the oven to 425°F. Place the chicken on a wire rack set in a rimmed baking sheet.
  2. Place the lemon halves and the herb sprigs in the cavity, tie the legs together with kitchen twine, and tuck the wings back.
  3. Brush the bird with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast until the thighs reach 175°F, about 1 hour, 15 minutes. tilt the chicken so the juices run out of the cavity into the pan, transfer to a cutting board; let rest.
  4. Meanwhile remove the rack and pour half of the wine onto the baking sheet. Scrape up any browned bits, then pour the mixture into a medium suace pan; add the remaining wine. Simmer over medium until reduced by half, about 10 minutes.
  5. Remove from the heat, untie the chicken, remove and reserve the lemon halves. Carve the chicken, transfer to a platter and pour on any accumulated juices. Return the sauce to simmer, then remove from the heat and whisk in the butter until melted.
  6. Add chopped herbs, then squeeze in 2 tablespoon juice from the lemon halves. Season to taste. Serve the sauce with the chicken.

http://www.lynnandruss.com

Recipe from Milk Street

Braised Chicken with Endive

This Braised Chicken with Endive is a reinterpretation of coq au vin. This Food & Wine recipe features white wine-marinated chicken thighs and caramelized endive in a gorgeous pan sauce. So yes, we fell in love with yet another braised chicken dish. The flavors are just amazing, and amped up by using homemade chicken stock which bursts with depth of flavor.

You may have to brown the chicken in two batches (we did), so as not to crowd them in the pan which would steam the thighs causing flaccid skin. Not the result you are looking for.

If you’ve never had braised endive, you are in for a treat! Mske sure to get Belgian endive, which is shaped like a torpedo and grows to about six inches in length. It has tender white leaves with either yellow or red-colored leaf edges. The leaves offer a soft texture and delicate crunch with a pleasantly bitter flavor.

And our potato side dish also used homemade chicken stock and were the creamiest little spuds ever!

Braised Chicken with Endive

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

Ingredients

  • 2 1/2 lbs. bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, fat trimmed
  • 2 tsp. kosher salt, divided, plus more to taste
  • 1 cup dry white wine
  • 1/2 tsp. black ppper
  • 3 thick-cut bacon slices, cut crosswise into 1/4 inch pieces
  • 4 Belgian endive heads, trimmed and halved lengthwise
  • 1/2 cup chicken stock
  • 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, chilled and cut into pieces
  • 1 tsp. Dijon mustard
  • 2 Tbsp. finely chopped mixed tender herbs (such as chives, parsley and tarragon)
  • Crusty bread for serving

Directions

  1. Sprinkle chicken evenly with 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt; place in large bowl. Add wine, and turn chicken to coat. Cover with plastic wrap, and marinate in refrigerator at least 8 hours or up to 24 hours.
  2. Preheat oven to 400°F. Remove chicken from bowl; reserve 1/2 cup of the wine liquid. Pat chicken dry with paper towels, and sprinkle evenly with pepper and remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt; set aside.
  3. Cook bacon in a large nonreactive skillet over medium, stirring often until crisp and fat has rendered, about 8 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer bacon to a small bowl; set aside. Reserve rendered fat in skillet. Place chicken thighs skin side down in skillet. Cook over medium-high, undisturbed until skin is deeply browned, about 8-10 minutes. Transfer chicken skin side up to a large plate, set aside. Reserve 2 tablespoons drippings in skillet, discard the remaining drippings.
  4. Return skillet to heat over medium-high. Add endive halves, cut sides down. Cook, undisturbed until browned, about 3 minutes. Flip endive cut sides up, and add stock, cooked bacon, and reserved 1/2 cup of white wine. Nestle chicken skin side up, in skillet. Bring to a boil over high.
  5. Transfer skillet to preheated oven. Roast until endive is tender and a meat thermometer inserted in thickest portion of chicken registers at least 170°F, about 15 minutes. Transfer chicken and endive to a large platter, reserving sauce in skillet.
  6. Bring sauce in skillet to a simmer over medium-high. Simmer, undisturbed, until slightly reduced, about 4 minutes.
  7. Remove from heat, and stir in butter, mustard and herbs. Spoon sauce over chicken, and sprinkle with slat to taste. Serve with crusty bread if desired.

http://www.lynnandruss.com

Recipe by Liz Mervosh for Food and Wine

Roast Duck with Orange and Ginger

For a festive occasion, a burnished whole duck makes quite an impression — fancier than chicken and more elegant than turkey. When I was growing up, Mom roasted duck a few times a year, a favorite for most of the family.

I remember as a young teen going out to eat at a Chinese restaurant for the first time because it was my sister’s birthday and that was her venue of choice. Picky as I was, I was not a happy camper as I walked in, but was a convert when I walked out because I had ordered Wor Shu Opp (pressed almond duck).

Roasting the duck is not so difficult to do. Seasoning the duck ahead and leaving it in the fridge overnight helps to deepen the flavor and keeps work to a minimum the following day. This one is seasoned with orange zest, along with fair amount of ginger and five-spice powder, which gives it a marvelous perfume. We paired ours with a Kobocha-Cauliflower Mash.

The ingredient list is minimal, and the hands-on prep doesn’t take long—most of the time the duck is either in the refrigerator or the oven. Because the bird gets glazed often, the skin will be a gorgeous burnished tawny color, but the skin won’t be extra crispy.

Keep in mind when serving more than 4 people, you will need two ducks. Of course there is no need to wait until a special occasion…

Roast Duck with Orange and Ginger

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

Ingredients

For the Duck:

  • 1 Pekin (Long Island) duck, 5- to 6-lb.
  • 3 Tbsp. kosher salt
  • 1 Tbsp. five-spice powder
  • 1 large orange, zested and cut into 6 wedges
  • 1 Tbsp. grated ginger
  • 1 Tbsp. grated garlic

For the Glaze:

  • 2 cups orange juice
  • 1 Tbsp. honey
  • 2 Tbsp. Demerara sugar
  • 2 Tbsp. soy sauce
  • 1 piece ginger, (2-inch) thickly sliced
  • 3 star anise

Directions

  1. Rinse duck and pat dry. Remove neck and giblets and save for another purpose. Remove excess fat from cavity and tail area and trim off a bit of flappy neck skin. Prick duck skin all over with tip of sharp paring knife, making sure not to penetrate meat.
  2. Mix together salt and 5-spice powder. Season interior of duck with 1 tablespoon salt mixture; use remainder to generously season exterior (you may have a little left over).
  3. Combine orange zest with grated ginger and garlic, then smear mixture inside cavity. Place orange wedges in cavity. Tie legs together. Secure neck flap with wooden skewer or toothpicks. Place duck on rack in roasting pan breast-side-up and refrigerate overnight, uncovered.
  4. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Meanwhile, bring duck to room temperature and make the glaze: Bring orange juice, honey, sugar and soy sauce to a simmer. Add sliced ginger and star anise, then reduce mixture until you have a medium-thick syrup, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
  5. Roast duck for 2 hours, carefully pouring off fat and turning duck over every 30 minutes. Paint with glaze and roast for another 30 minutes (2 1/2 hours in all). Tent with foil if the glaze begins to get too dark. Duck is done when the temperature at the thickest part of the leg reads 165 degrees.
  6. Paint the duck once more, keep it warm and let rest for 20 minutes. Use poultry shears to cut into quarters (remove backbone first) or carve in the traditional way, removing legs from carcass and slicing breast.

http://www.lynnandruss.com

Recipe by Dave Tanis for NYTimes Cooking