Easy baked chicken

In our house, I make it a point to have a whole organic chicken in the freezer at all times. I usually get the butcher at the store to cut it up for me so that it's easy to thaw and easy to cook. Sometimes I use parts of it - like breasts for marsala chicken or thighs for stir fries, but lately, my favorite recipe is a one pot dish that lasts us for a few days.
While most people make roast or rotisserie chicken a staple in their monthly menus, I find that baking chicken is faster, easier and requires much less work and cleanup. All you have to do is get cut-up chicken, rub with herbs and spices and pop it into the oven. The leftovers can be used in wraps, salads or simply heated up to counter the effects of a night of heavy drinking.

I know this is a superbly simple recipe that has made its rounds on the food blogosphere, but to me, it's something so supremely easy that everyone must try it at some point and be wowed by such a great dinner fixin'. This is my regular take on baked chicken using my favorite herb mix of paprika and Mediterranean herbs, but you also make this with teriyaki sauce, a combination of other spices or a really spicy chicken with cayenne pepper, ancho chili powder and dried cilantro.

Easy baked chicken

1 whole roasting chicken, about 4lbs, cut into 10 pieces with back removed
2 tsp smoked paprika
2 tsp black pepper
2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried thyme
Olive oil

Pat the chicken pieces dry and lay them down in a roasting pan, skin side up. Put the bigger pieces like the breasts and thighs in the middle of the pan.

Massage the chicken all over with the herbs and spices and drizzle GENEROUSLY with olive oil.

Pop into preheated oven at 400°F for about 35 minutes + 5 minutes for each pound of chicken. So a 4lb chicken would take about 55 minutes. Double check with a meat thermometer - 180°F for chicken breast piece to be cooked.

Remove from oven, tent with aluminum foil for about 10 minutes and serve.

A New Year's Roast-olution

2009 went by in such fury I cannot believe it's already mid-January of a new year. I think somewhere along the way - amidst the hustle of grad school, taking care of a crazy dog with thyroid issues, and trying to save a nickel for myriad reasons, I lost the will and drive to cook. Most days at the end of 2009 were spent eating store-bought rotisserie chicken, having canned soup for lunch and gorging on raspberry croissants from The Essential Bakery during tea-time. A combination of these eating methods have not only left me inches bigger but I swear I'm more lethargic, more acne-prone and more

My belated New Year's resolution includes these things that I hope you dear readers will share with me:

1. Cooking all 76 recipes in Cooking with Coolio in 365 days. I received the cookbook for Christmas and have been constantly bemused and somewhat befuddled by the names of recipes (Yappa Dabba Snappa!) and funny descriptions. Fo' shizzle!
2. Cooking on a budget - reading through Coolio's cookbook and having had discussions with some food-discerning friends, I've come to the conclusion that trying to eat well and healthy these days really does cost a lot.
3. Cooking ethically. Speaks for itself.

In the meantime, to start off my resolutions, I went to the Farmer's Market on Saturday and bought a frozen pastured chicken. The fresh chickens were about 50cents/lb more expensive and the very nice lady told me to go for the frozen chicken instead and let it thaw out in the fridge over two days. Since all my herbs died in an early frost (and because I allowed them no water or fertilizer over September), I am using dried herbs for this recipe and it works equally well - particularly since it's winter and when else better than to use dried herbs. I plan to split this meal into four parts for Brian and I; you can be pretty sure we'll be sick of roast chicken by the end of this week. The recipe is an adaptation from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Giada de Laurentiis' roast chicken recipes, cooked in a cast-iron skillet for ease of preparation and crispy well-done skin. Put that stupid, overprice All-Clad roaster aside and taste the magic of Lodge Logic.

Easy Skillet Roast Chicken
Makes 4 servings and leftovers!

3 lbs. fresh/frozen chicken (preferably organic/pastured)
1 head garlic
1 lemon
1 orange
2 tsp dried marjoram
2 tsp dried oregano
Paprika
Salt
Finely ground pepper
Olive oil

1. Remove your fully thawed chicken from the refrigerator and rinse it gently with cold water.
2. Wipe the inside and outside completely dry with paper towels (remember to compost your paper towels!). You want to make sure the chicken is super dry or else it will steam in the oven and produce wilty-slimy skin. Allow the chicken to sit at room temperature for 15 minutes, covered in paper towels so that the any remaining liquid is soaked up. Salmonella schmonella. Pish.
3. Preheat the oven to 400°F. On a stovetop burner, set your cast-iron pan on medium heat to warm it up. If you're using a roasting pan, chuck it in the oven for a brief while.
4. Rub some salt and pepper into the cavity of your chicken.
5. Smash and peel your garlic bulb, quarter your lemon and orange. Stuff two lemon quarters, two orange quarters and about 3/4 of the garlic cloves into the cavity of the chicken.
5. Sprinkle salt and pepper, oregano, marjoram and paprika over your chicken. Top with a few glugs (as Jamie Oliver will say) of olive oil and rub the spices all over your chicken. It's quite obscene, but your raw chicken will love the massage. Make sure you get all the nooks and cranny and both sides of the chicken.
6. Truss (fancy term for tie) end of chicken drumsticks.
7. Set marinated chicken onto heated cast-iron pan or roasting pan gently and chuck into preheated oven.
8. Roast at 400°F for 40 minutes and 450°F for 15 minutes until a thermometer inserted into thickest part of the thighs is about 160°F.
9. Turn off the oven, leave the door slightly ajar and let the chicken rest for 15 minutes before carving.

Serve with warm potatoes, chicken gravy and tons of wholesome vegetables.

Rendang Ayam (Chicken Rendang)

Chicken rendang is one of those dishes I grew up eating but never realized how bad it actually is for me. Rendang is basically and Indonesia or Malaysian style curried chicken simmered in coconut milk and dessicated coconut. I remember ladling spoonfuls after spoonfuls of it for my morning "nasi lemak" jaunt.

When I first started cooking chicken rendang, then I realized that unless I wanted to die of a heart attack at 29, I had better cut it out of my diet immediately! I haven't eaten chicken rendang in over a year, and it just seemed an appropriately Malaysian dish to cook for my couples' date night (part of my surburban, growing old ritual). This recipe is something I've spend a long time perfecting, and which I promise you, will be one of the best rendang recipes you'll ever find.

If you can't find screwpine (pandan) leaves in the fresh produce section of an Asian supermarket, try the frozen aisle. If you're in Seattle, Vietwah supermarket down in the ID has it frozen (It's call La Dua in Vietnamese), alongside some frozen banana leaves. I literally had to run to four different stores just to locate pandan leaves and kaffir lime leaves. So if you want to attempt this dish, make sure you have a decent Asian market close to you. You need tons of shallots and lemongrass to ensure that you have a thick gravy instead of a wussy, soupy one.


I also used fresh chillies instead of dry ones - I think dried chillies are much spicier and definitely not as tasty. Jalapenos or habaneros don't really work for this either - instead I used Korean chillies, also known as the Holland varietal which is milder, sweeter and the skin is much smoother and blends easier. If you can't find any Korean chillies, use 2 red Jalapenos and 8 dried chillies, soaked and deseeded.

Chicken Rendang
Makes 6 servings

2 lbs chicken (I used 6 chicken drumsticks and 6 pieces skinless, boneless thighs)

8 fresh red chillies, deseeded and rinsed and cut into 1 inch pieces
15 shallots, peeled and quartered
4 cloves garlic, smashed
1 piece fresh ginger (about 2 inches long), coarsely chopped
2 teaspoon ground turmeric

1/3 cup olive or vegetable oil

4 pieces lemongrass
5 pieces kaffir lime leaves
2 screwpine (pandan) leaves, knotted
1 1/2 cups coconut milk
1 1/2 cups dessicated (shredded) coconut
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon salt

In a frying pan over low heat, toast the shredded coconut until it becomes a dark golden hue. Set aside to cool. Cut the lemongrass into 3 inch pieces and give each piece a whack with a rolling pin to release the flavors.

Grind the chillies, shallots, ginger, turmeric and garlic in a food processor until fine, but do not puree.

In a large wok or dutch oven, heat the oil over high heat. Add in the grinded chilli mixture and fry for about 15 minutes until the mixture is golden and fragrant.

Add in the chicken and stir fry for an additional 10 minutes, until the chicken turns yellow from the turmeric and is coated through with the chili mixture.

Add in the coconut milk, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves and pandan leaves. Bring the mixture to a boil, cover and simmer over low heat for about 45 minutes until the chicken is tender and cooked through.

Toss in the toasted, shredded coconut, and stir to mix thoroughly. Allow the rendang to simmer uncovered until the gravy is thick (about 15 minutes). Add in salt and sugar, stir and turn the heat off.

Remove the lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves and screwpine leaves and serve the chicken rendang with rice, bread or "nasi lemak"!