Poultry Archives - A Byte of Life

DIY Turkey Frills

Thanksgiving is in a matter of hours. Are you in denial too!? Okay, now back to the matter at hand. Turkey. Twenty pounds of turkey. Turkey that still needs to be brined. This year we decided that we’d stay put for the holidays so my dear side of the family gets us and the misters cuzzie who’s up to visit from Portland. Mum and I decided that we’ split Thanksgiving cooking so I’m on turkey, pie, gravy and side dish duty! Pie crust, pumpkin pie and pecan pie recipe are already posted but stay tuned for the others!

No Thanksgiving turkey would be complete in presentation without the little turkey frills! Hey Google, thanks for the help! Below is a super simple Turkey Frill DIY, just remember to put them on for the presentation part and don’t cook them in the oven!

DIY Turkey Frills
1 sheet of white copy paper
scissors
tape

Quick & Easy Fall Meal: Delicata Squash, Quinoa, Chicken

There are nights that you get home and the LAST thing you want to do is cook. But, a bowl of cereal just isn’t going to cut it either. Image one of those days then add a three day moving process where so many things wen’t wrong you’ve lost count, and you just want it all to be over. That’s how the past week has been. I’ve been tired before, but I’m pretty sure I’ve never felt this level of exhaustion…falling into bed because I can’t bear to keep my body upright or my eyes open any longer. But I also can’t seem to stomach the idea of consuming another meal that doesn’t come from my own kitchen. I vowed that tonight was be the night, without and idea of what magic would happen to result in a consumable meal.

A quick triage of the fridge, pantry and cooking dishes quickly indicated that tonight was going to be a “throw together” meal and it was time to get a little creative. This was one of the meals where I just started chopping, sautéing and hoping that adding enough herbs would do the trick to result in a meal that was worth eating. There are a few kitchen staples that are always on hand (a post to come about that!) so that I can throw together a decent meal on little time and minimal ingredients and effort. One of my go-to fall meals is a simple combination of toasted quinoa, butternut squash and toasted chickpeas. I decided to do a variation on this meal with some delicata squash I picked up at the market and a few frozen chicken breast I had in the freezer. I have to admit, there were a few points in the evening that I started to calculate how quickly a pizza could be delivered but the end result was just delicious! This is for sure getting added to the “fall staples” list! Delicata squash are a city chef’s dream. They’re much smaller than other fall and winter squash (save maybe acorn squash) so you’re not lugging 15 pounds of squash home and you don’t have to peel them! They’re super simple to thin slice and pan cook or roast in the oven on a foil sheet at 425 to get that delicious, caramel, melty, amazing squashey goodness!

To make this recipe vegetarian, substitute the chicken with toasted chickpeas.

Delicata Squash, Quinoa, Chicken

1 medium Delicata squash
2 chicken breast
1/2 cup dry quinoa
Fresh chopped or dried parsley
Cracked pepper to taste
Grapeseed oil

In a medium stock pot, toast the quinoa over medium heat, moving the quinoa in the pan, until you see it start to brown. Remove from heat, wash, place back in pan with 1 cup water, cracked pepper and fresh chopped or dried parsley. Cover and bring to a boil then turn off the heat and let it sit until the rest is ready.
Meanwhile, pre-heat a pan with grapeseed oil or any other high cooking heat oil. Wash Delicata squash exterior, cut in half, scrape out seeds and slice thin then add to the pre-heated pan with some fresh cracked pepper and parsley. Move in pan until lightly browned.
Cube the chicken and add to pan with the squash. Add cracked pepper and parsley to taste.
Move contents of pan chicken and squash are browned. Cut one of the pieces of chicken in half to assure it’s cooked throughout.
Serve in a bowl with peanut sauce, fig or stone fruit compote, or balsamic drizzle.

Kombucha, Som, Pok Pok and a new Kitchen

Dear friends! As you can tell, I’ve been on a bit of a writing hiatus the past few… months! Works been busy, personal life has been busy, there’s been travel and apparently it’s important to sleep every now and then?! What a cramp on a busy gals schedule hey? But i’ve dearly miss and you and even though I haven’t been posting, I have still been cooking up a storm and gathering new recipes to share! We had the weekly staples- batches of kombucha,and almond butter.We traveled to visit our family and threw in a few beer soaked grilled bratwurst, paleo chocolate chip banana bread and Pecan Pies with fresh homemade crust (of course!). I can’t visit without baking a few pies! One of my favorite parts about visiting family is playing the role of both ‘imported resident chef’ and ‘kitchen instructor’. I have So much fun teaching the niece and nephews to cook! We had a ball in the kitchen and they do great!

But, as I was saying. This entire summer has been booked SOLID with both work and play. And just when I thought things would calm down in the fall, our landlord decided to sell the condo after four years of renting so we had to find a new place. Luckily, we found a place that we just LOVE and we move this weekend. THIS WEEKEND! A matter of hours away! I’m so excited I can barely handle it! I can’t wait to unpack and organize the new kitchen! With the fast pace of the last 3 months, cooking as been more of a chore than it usually is. I’ve really leaned on simple recipes, the local pho restaurant, and cereal for dinner. But with a new kitchen comes new recipes and excitement to cook! Which brings me to my fall and winter sports.

I HATE to, and won’t, drive in snow and/or ice… so my fall/winter sports consist of cooking, baking, menu planning from the ridiculous amount of time I spend on Pinterest (A Byte of Life boards here), testing out my wine cellar, catching up on all the shows that everyones been raving about and listening to the rain falling outside. Oh, and pumpkins! I LOVE PUMPKIN! I’ll eat slow roasted pumpkin right off the baking sheet! And Gingerbread. I LOVE gingerbread! But back to the point- my winter sports are gingerbread and/or pumpkin flavored, with a side of wine, and a good show in the background.

This year, I have a new hobby to add to the list. Pok Pok. If you’ve NEVER been to Pok Pok, you HAVE to go to either Portland or New York and experience their wings and one of their drinks with their drinking vinegar called som. Som is a drinking vinegar that has been an age old practice in many cultures around the world for it’s health benefits. Pok Pok has been serving their drinking vinegars since 2005, both as a cocktail mixer and diluted with soda as a soft drink. They use organic cane sugar for sweetener and let me tell you, while I’m not a soft drink person in the slightest, this stuff is downright addicting! You can purchase the Pok Pok Som online form both Pok Pok and ChefShop.com. A girlfriend and I just took an amazing cooking class at ChefShop.com so you can expect future blog post about them too!

Well, their chicken wings are known nation wide, and their cocktails are red-eye flight worthy. This, coming from a confirmed wine and anti-chicken wing girl. Let’s just keep this short and say that Pok Pok changed my life, as evidenced by the fact that after the first bite I waived down the waiter and asked if I could PLEASE purchase their cookbook but only if the amazing chicken wings were included. He handed me a copy to review. Each page coated in plastic which was an amazing idea because I was pouring over it as I was elbow deep in eating amazing chicken wings,The Pok Pok cookbook holds a special spot on my shelf , I personally confirmed that the chicken wing recipe is included, and it has been added to the list of fall and winter hobbies.

Tune in for more amazing thai inspired recipes from the Pok Pok cookbook, updates from this years International Food Bloggers conference (last years post) and to see how the Som Kombucha turns out! I had a bit of Som leftover and had a batch of kombucha ready tonight so I figured I’d do a little variation on my blueberry ginger kombucha and try some ginger som kombucha. I’ll let you know how it goes!

Baked Chicken with Tomatos and Basil

Everyone needs a few of those dishes that can be thrown together and are sure to please. For me, that’s baked chicken. It’s so easy to take a few chicken breasts, spastically cover them in dried herbs and spices, wrap them in aluminum foil and throw it in a pre-heated oven until they reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees. This recipe takes it one step further with a little trick, searing. When you sear the chicken, it locks in the flavor, keeps the chicken most, and creates a delicious crispy and pretty coating!

Apologies to all of you for not having a better picture of the final product, I got hungry and broke my OWN rule of taking a picture first! I’ll update the post next time I make this dish and have a better “finished product” picture for you!

Baked Chicken with Tomatoes and Basil
Ingredients

One chicken breast per guest
Heirloom tomatoes (Or Roma tomatoes will work)
Optional-one slice of cheese per guest (Fontina or Mozzarella)
Fresh Basil
Minced Garlic
Cracked Pepper and salt
Parchment Paper and Baking sheet
Frying pan and oil to sear chicken

Directions

1. Wash and dry the basil. Wash the tomatoes and thinly slice them. Pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees. Cut individual sized pieces of parchment paper or aluminum foil to bake the chicken on. Since the chicken has natural juices, you’ll need to think about how you’re cooking the chicken. If you’re cooking it alone (no other veggies on the pan in the oven) a parchment paper is just fine. But, if you’re making other veggies at the same time as I often do, I find it easier to use aluminum foil so I can curl up the sides and contain the chicken juices so that it doesn’t touch the other veggies.

2. Wash the chicken breasts off, and pat them dry. Lay out chicken on a cutting board and “butterfly” it- which means slicing the chicken lengthwise, but don’t cut it enough to separate the two sides. Pre-heat a pan on the stove and cover with cooking spray or some EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil).

3. Crack fresh pepper over the surface of the chicken. On one side of the chicken, that will be the bottom side, lay the washed basil down, followed by the tomato. (If you want to get really fancy, you can sauté some spinach and garlic and include it in this step). If you’re using cheese, lay it in between the basil and the tomato. Close the top side of the chicken over the bottom side, making sure that the tomato and basil don’t pop out. You can secure them with a tooth pick if needed.

4. Carefully transfer the closed chicken breasts to the pre-heated pan and sear each side until golden brown. I use a wide spatula for this and you have to be careful when turning the chicken breast over so that none of the tomato or basil fall out. When they are seared on both sides, transfer the chicken to the individual pieces of parchment or aluminum foil and secure the openings with a toothpick if they’re still trying to let the tomatoes and basil fall out.

5. Place the chicken on the baking sheet and bake for for 25-35 minutes or until meat thermometer reads 165 degrees for internal temperature.

6. Remove the chicken from the oven and serve! I usually like to serve with some toasted quinoa, blasted broccoli, or yam fries.

Prosciutto Wrapped Chicken & Asparagus

January is about fresh starts, renewal, clean slates and expansive opportunity ahead. I’m not big on “resolutions” necessarily but I do like the atmosphere of new beginnings that January holds.

In an effort to combat the grey day and finding myself with a night at home to relax and unwind, I decided that it was time to cook a recipe from my many Pinterest “pins”. This meal finds its way to us from my “A Meal A Day” Pinterest Board, where I keep all my for a “Rainy Day” recipes to try, and today was as rainy as it will get!

The fresh light yet peppery flavor of the salad paired perfectly with the cured meat and cheesy flavors of the chicken!

Tips:
Measurements Everything on this meal should be “to taste”. I actually HATE having measurements on there since everyone likes their meals a different way but experiment with the flavors and ratios and have fun!

Prosciutto Choose a lean cut that isn’t too salty and ask your butcher to slice it a bit thinner than lunch meat so it will not be an overpowering flavor but will still hold its integrity when you wrap it.

Prosciutto Wrapped Chicken & Asparagus
(Kale Grapefruit Salad with Avocado and EVOO Recipe Below)
Recipe Adapted from Inspired.ca

2 boneless and skinless chicken breasts
Fresh cracked pepper to taste
8 slices prosciutto
½ bunch young green asparagus, washed and trimmed
Shredded mozzarella, to taste (approx. ½ cup)

Pre-heat the oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper.

Wash the chicken and pat it dry. Then, slice each chicken breast in half horizontally to make four equal sized cutlets and set aside. Depending on the ratio of chicken to prosciutto you like, you may want to half each cutlet. Lay out the chicken on a plate so you can crack fresh pepper on the surface of each chicken breast.

Pre heat a sauté pan on the stove. You’ll place the wrapped chicken in the hot pan to sear the prosciutto closed before placing on the baking sheet so make sure you have a spatula handy to transfer the wrapped chicken.

Lay two slices of prosciutto side by side, slightly overlapping. Sprinkle with mozzarella. Place one piece of chicken horizontally across the prosciutto so the prosciutto is vertical and the chicken completes a cross horizontally across the center.

Lay a few springs of asparagus on top of the chicken, also in a horizontal pattern. Carefully wrap the prosciutto around the chicken and asparagus tightly and place into the pre-heated sauté pan with the seam on the bottom. Sauté for a few seconds until the seam on the prosciutto is closed, then turn over for a few additional seconds to get a nice crisp to the prosciutto then transfer to the lined baking sheet with your spatula.

Repeat with the remaining prosciutto, chicken and asparagus.

Bake the chicken 15-18 minutes, until the internal temperate of the chicken reaches 165°F. When you transfer the chicken to the plate, there will be some juice from the chicken so let that drip into the lined baking sheet before placing on your plate. You can garnish with more mozzarella or cracked pepper if you desire, but we liked it just as it was!

Kale Grapefruit Salad with Avocado and EVOO
Kale
Grapefruit, cubed and peeled from the flesh
Avocado, cubed into whatever size you desire
EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)

Wash the Kale and pat dry. Pull the leaves from the stock and chop. Wash the outside of the grapefruit and avocado, slice in half and cube. For the grapefruit, pull the each of the sections out of the fleshy membrane and use only the citrus “meat” portion.

Assemble all ingredients on the plate drizzle with EVOO . (Optional Addition: toasted Almonds)

Shake & Bake…Homestyle

We don’t do freezer dinners. Actually, we don’t really use our freezer. If you were to take an inventory you’d find a LOT of homemade Limoncello, Jägermeister, a box of frozen waffles and ice. Hungry man dinners were created for a reason… luckily the man of the house has his own short order chef to replace a TV dinner and microwave love child.

Being little miss do it yourself, I couldn’t bring myself to give up a chance to “make it from scratch”. If it gives you any indication about my infatuation with DIY food, a few of my other make from scratch adventures yet to come: wheat thins, graham crackers, english muffins and beet chips. So, when presented with the request for Shake & Bake, I flew to the bloggosphere and found a recipe to tweak!

Homestyle Shake & Bake
Yield: 1 cup = one chicken breast

1 cups dry bread crumbs (can be gluten-free too!!)
1 tsp paprika
few grins of fresh black pepper
1/4 tsp garlic
small pinch of: dried basil, dried parsley. oregano
1 egg, beat with a dash of olive oil
(the recipe also said to include 1 part celery salt to half part garlic salt to 1/4 part minced onion. I had none of these so I simply omitted)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a large resealable plastic bag combine the crumbs, oil, salt, paprika, celery salt, pepper, garlic salt, minced garlic, minced onion, basil, parsley and oregano.

Dip the chicken breast in the egg it in egg.

Place no more than two chicken breasts in bag, seal and shake all ingredients together.

Bake the breasts for 20 minutes if the chicken is boneless, or 45 minutes if it does have bone, or until the internal temperature reaches 165-170.