Chicken

[Kalzazz]

How does one create chicken?

Ive noticed that chicken (other than the liver) is far and away the most neglected of the common meat bearing creatures in my families diet of food we cook at home, yet ranks highly in the form of meat bearing creatures we bring home in a pre cooked fashion (as in from WalMart deli or Churches or whatever)

So, what are some good yet simple methods of turning chicken into food?

[marmalade]

You can substitute ground chicken or turkey for many dishes you would normally make with ground beef, like spaghetti sauce, chili, or meatballs.

[marmalade]

If you want the finished product to still resemble chicken, then Shake&Bake or a homemade version of same is about as simple as it gets.

Kabobs are also easy.

Stir fry is easy and tasty but involves copious chopping.

Chicken schnitzel is fun because you get to use a meat mallet.

[Stephane]

Chicken schnitzel is fun because you get to use a meat mallet.
Haha.. That was funny.

You have stir-fry. Roasted Chicken. You can also have "tournedos". You can buy those pre-assembled and ready to cook (Chicken with bacon around it). Quite tasty.

There are lots of recipes, but I'm running out of ideas right now.

[Cranky Dog]

It's a pretty common meat in my family's diet. Though like you, it often comes already prepared in some fashion.

Yet we still occasionally eat homemade oven cooked chicken.

Very simple recipe, stuff your chicken with whole onions (peeled), put in a cast iron pot, add water to half the height of the chicken, add onion soup mix to the water, cover it, cook it, serve it with mashed potatoes and green peas.

For a nice glaze, use some commercial chicken broth concentrate and dab some on the surface of the chicken and add a bit of spare onion mix.


Cranky Dog
"I have a chicken eating opinion, international!"

[TinSoldier]

We eat a lot of chicken. Generally we coat it with bread crumbs (the kind that come in a can) and bake it at 350F for about an hour. That's for bone-in.

We usually buy whole legs though, so it's not a problem.

I love making hot wings but that's more of a snack than anything else.

I cut up the wings and bake them at 375F - 400F for 20-30 minutes, then I toss them in a bowl with some Frank's Red Hot sauce and some melted butter. Then serve.

Since the rest of the family doesn't like hot very much, I sometimes substitute barbecue sauce for the Frank's Red Hot.

You can also use other cuts of chicken if you wish.

[Paulypalooza]

I'm to lazy to write out my recipe for chicken with 40 cloves of garlic so I'm pasting one from the food network
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_31318,00.html?rsrc=search

Chicken with Forty Cloves of Garlic Copyright 2004, Barefoot in Paris, All Rights Reserved
Show: Barefoot Contessa
Episode: Dinner and a Movie

3 whole heads garlic, about 40 cloves
2 (3 1/2-pound) chickens, cut into eighths
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 tablespoons good olive oil
3 tablespoons Cognac, divided
1 1/2 cups dry white wine
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons heavy cream

Separate the cloves of garlic and drop them into a pot of boiling water for 60 seconds. Drain the garlic and peel. Set aside.
Dry the chicken with paper towels. Season liberally with salt and pepper on both sides. Heat the butter and oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. In batches, saute the chicken in the fat, skin side down first, until nicely browned, about 3 to 5 minutes on each side. Turn with tongs or a spatula; you don't want to pierce the skin with a fork. If the fat is burning, turn the heat down to medium. When a batch is done, transfer it to a plate and continue to saute all the chicken in batches. Remove the last chicken to the plate and add all of the garlic to the pot. Lower the heat and saute for 5 to 10 minutes, turning often, until evenly browned. Add 2 tablespoons of the Cognac and the wine, return to a boil, and scrape the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Return the chicken to the pot with the juices and sprinkle with the thyme leaves. Cover and simmer over the lowest heat for about 30 minutes, until all the chicken is done.

Remove the chicken to a platter and cover with aluminum foil to keep warm. In a small bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup of the sauce and the flour and then whisk it back into the sauce in the pot. Raise the heat, add the remaining tablespoon of Cognac and the cream, and boil for 3 minutes. Add salt and pepper, to taste; it should be very flavorful because chicken tends to be bland. Pour the sauce and the garlic over the chicken and serve hot.

[Water Jess]

The Campbell's Supper Bakes are really really good, because they use fresh chicken. It has all the sauce and crumbs inside the box, and the box is only about $3... usually another $3-4 in chicken (which is on sale a LOT here) and you have a cheap meal that feeds 4 people... or 2 with lots of leftovers.

[silverwhisper]

i've found that chicken is a canvas for creativity. no form of meat takes on the flavors of a sauce as well as chicken does, IMX, so it's actually to me a fun thing to cook with.

fried chicken is always fun but messy to make & eat. but i think my favorite thing to do w/ chicken is to prepare it milanese (http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_30083,00.html?rsrc=search), or in the style of milan. the linked recipe suggests serving it with salsa rosa, which i think is unnecessary, and gray salt, which i think is a bit extravagant. it's a fun summer preparation, but not as good in cool weather IMHO.