Chicken again? How to create an economical gourmet chicken recipe
If you're the household cook, you don't need me to tell you that chicken is a cornerstone of our menus. Chicken is a healthy and budget friendly meat, but when it fills in two or three dinner menus a week, the family may be screaming “Uncle!” before long. What you need is a gourmet chicken recipe to break the boredom. A recipe you might find at a pricey restaurant that doesn't cost an arm and a leg to produce at home. Here we offer some ideas on turning that ho-hum chicken into a dish everyone will applaud. You may even get requests for seconds and repeat performances.
Chicken is actually one of the most versatile of meats. Its mild flavor and, properly cooked, juicy texture, can be the perfect foil for a number of gourmet chicken recipe ideas. Let's see what you can do with the humble chicken.You will love this chicken recipe.
A whole roasting chicken is the most economical. Watch the sales and stock up on whole roasters as your freezer space allows. With the whole chicken, you get the giblets and neck, which can be saved up for a terrific gravy broth, or used in a stuffing mix.
Stuffing the bird is an automatic head start on the gourmet chicken recipe. Cook the giblets and neck, chop up the meat and mix it up with some croutons, celery, sliced mushrooms or water chestnuts for a delicious side dish. Rice pilaf, made with a mix of white and wild rice, giblets and neck meat and some poultry seasoning is another winner. In either case, lacing your chicken broth with a teaspoon or two of Grand Marnier qualifies your creation as a gourmet chicken recipe. Liquor stores carry small bottles of fine liquors just for the creative cook's purpose.
Orange and chicken go together like two peas in a pod. It's easy to make up your own orange and ginger glaze to brush over the illustrious bird. Mix a cup of orange juice with a half cup of brown sugar and a teaspoon of powdered ginger. Simmer until it thickens and boil it down a bit. After stuffing the chicken, use a basting brush to coat the outside of the chicken. Baste again, once, halfway through cooking. Boil the remaining sauce for three minutes and then drizzle over each serving portion. Ooh-la-la!
A half cup of lemon juice mixed with cornstarch and cooked over medium heat until it coats a spoon is another delightful gourmet chicken recipe secret sauce. Drizzle a spoonful or two over each serving and wait for the applause!
Here's another trick to creating a gourmet chicken recipe. Place the washed whole chicken on a cutting board. Use your fingers to carefully separate the skin from the meat. Go as far down into the thighs as you can without breaking the skin. Melt some butter and toss in a sprinkling of the herbs of your choice. Set the turkey on end and pour the herb and butter mix under the skin, distributing the mixture with your fingers to coat all of the meat. This technique creates an automatically basting bird. The flavor of the herbs permeates the meat, while the butter keeps the meat moist.
Try stuffing the bird with a Spanish rice pilaf and dressing the meat with a few snips of fresh cilantro-spiked salsa at the table.
Creating your own gourmet chicken recipe is easy! You won't hear any more complaints of the “Chicken – again?” variety.
