Once cherries came into season I wanted to make something with them besides a dessert. I tired this chicken with cherries recipe and was actually surprised that it came out so well. I am not usually one to combine savory and sweet in the same dish but I thought I'd give it a try and it worked. With cherries in abundance this time of year, they are inexpensive, so that means it is time to make this dish.
Serves 2.
2 tsp olive oil
2 chicken breasts
Salt and Pepper
I small shallot, chopped fine
1 or 2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup chicken stock
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup pitted and halved cherries
The process here is that you are going to cook the chicken first, then remove it from the pan, and deglaze the pan to get all that chicken stuff on the bottom, all the while making the sauce for the chicken.
In saute pan add the olive oil, season the chicken with salt and pepper and saute until done. This will vary based on the size of the breasts. Remove from the pan and keep warm. To the pan add the shallots and garlic and saute for 1 minute, do not allow to burn. Add chicken stock to deglaze and scrape up all the brown bits. Cook and stir for a couple minutes. Add the balsamic, cherries and chicken and heat through. Remove from the heat and serve pouring the sauce over the chicken.
As you can see in the picture I served it with some spinach salad and some grilled veggies but any side dish would work. Have fun with it.
Pollo Alla Diavola translates to devilish chicken. Alla Diavola refers to using chili's in the recipe as it's supposed to be hot and spicy like most Latin things are. However, I have to say that we were quite surprised that this dish was not really hot. It had an excellent flavor but no real heat, so don't be afraid to make it if you are not a fan of hot food. The chili sauce added great flavor, and it was moist and juicy.
This dish was inspired by Bobby Flay's show BBQ Addiction on Food Network. It is our new favorite show. I have never seen my husband watch a cooking show and be so focused. He even rewinds the DVR sometimes if he has to see something over again. He is totally channeling Bobby these days and I am the lucky recipient of his work.
For this recipe you need a whole chicken. There are only two of us and I always experience a little sticker shock when I buy a whole organic chicken. I don't usually spend $18 on meat for one meal. But then I realized that this chicken would feed us for more than one meal. As it turns out we got three meals out of this one, so that's only $6 a meal. I'm sold.
Pick any combination of dried chili's you like. We had a few different kinds in the pantry so we used all three. We used an ancho and a generic California chili because they provide that deep depth of flavor but they are not hot. Then we added a couple of the tiny little red Asian chili's that for the heat. We used only half of this chili oil for the whole chicken we grilled and kept the other half in a glass jar in the refrigerator. A week later we made chicken again and used the rest of the oil.
1 whole organic chicken, butterflied
3/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp salt
4 to 6 black peppercorns
4 or 5 dried chili's
3 large garlic cloves
In a small dry saute pan heat the chili's for a few minutes to bring out the flavor. Add the peppercorns, garlic, oregano and 1/2 cup of the olive oil.
Heat on low simmer for about 5 minutes until the oils release and the air is fragrant Turn off heat and allow to sit for 15 minutes. Pour into a food processor or blender, add the salt and puree until smooth. If needed you can add an additional 1/4 cup of olive oil. Pour into a glass jar for storage.
Butterfly the chicken by cutting out the backbone. We used a pair of kitchen shears which made it a pretty easy process. Then press it down flat to help it cook evenly. There are videos on line if you want to watch a how to.
With a pastry brush brush on the chili oil all over the chicken. Allow to marinate for at least 30 minutes. Put chicken on the grill and cook for approximately 10 minutes on direct heat, skin side down. You want a nice brown crisp skin. Flip it over and cook approximately another 30 minutes on indirect heat. Try to maintain the temperature at 400 degrees. Check the internal temperature until it comes to 160 degrees Remove and allow to rest for 10 minutes before carving.
Chicken, chicken, chicken. We all seem to be eating lots of chicken. I don't know about you, but I get board with it pretty quickly. One night I had this lonely chicken breast staring back at me as if it was challenging me......waiting for me to do something creative with it. So this recipe is what I came up with. I love the orange chicken we get at the Asian restaurant so I thought this might be good. It's nowhere near as good as the restaurant but it'll due for a quick week night meal.
Serves 2
Ingredients:
3/4 cup brown jasmine rice
Zest of one orange
1/2 cup orange juice, freshly squeezed
2 Tbsp soy sauce or liquid amino
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1 Tbsp coconut oil
1/4 of a red onion, thinly sliced
pinch of red pepper flakes
1 large chicken breast, cut into bite sized pieces
Sea Salt
Pepper, freshly cracked
Snow Peas, a large handful, enough for 2 servings
Sesame Seeds
Rinse the rice well and allow to drain. In a small sauce pan heat 1 1/2 cups of water and a 1/4 tsp sea salt, add the rice. Bring up to a boil, then lower the heat and cook very slowly, slightly covered, for 35 minutes. Turn off the heat, stir, and allow to sit, fully covered, for 10 minutes before serving.
To make the sauce: Zest the orange, juice the orange and put into a small bowl, add the soy sauce and cornstarch. Whisk until the cornstarch is fully dissolved.
In large sauce pan or wok, heat the oil, add the onions and pepper flakes. Saute for 30 seconds. Add the chicken, salt and pepper. Stir fry for approximately 4 minutes. Add the sauce and snow peas. Cook and stir until the sauce has thickened and the peas are done, approximately 2 minutes.
Serve in a bowl, brown rice down first, then chicken mixture over the top. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.
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a gaggle of wings
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This sauce is sweet and sticky and can also be a little spicy if you want. It's a great sauce to use when grilling chicken. I used chicken wings but I would also suggest using drumsticks. You want to pick this up with your figures to really get in to it. You can serve this as the entree or an appetizer. If serving as an appetizer split them apart, separating the three parts, so you are only dealing with one piece at a time.
The process is that you want to prepare your chicken. Then make the sauce.
Ingredients:
1 /12 cup dry red wine
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce or liquid amino
2 tbsp finely grated fresh ginger
2 large garlic cloves, minced
Salt
Chicken of your choice
Combine first 5 ingredients in a medium saucepan. Bring it to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer. Do not cover. Reduce until it is the consistency of honey. It will take about 45 minutes. Allow to cool.
Season the chicken with salt. Grill to within a couple minutes of completion, probably 20 to 25 minutes. Brush the chicken with the sauce, turn and brush the other side. Do this a couple times until the chicken is completely covered with the sauce and the heat has started to caramelize it on the surface.
Option: We like a little spice in ours. And I do mean just a little. We don't like it really hot, we just like a suggestion or an under laying note so we added a tablespoon of Sambul to the sauce. One tablespoon is very mild so if you would like a little more heat add more. That way you get that sweet and hot thing going.
Finger licking good!
Serve this with some typical summer BBQ food like potato salad or coleslaw.
