Recently in Poultry

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 stick chilled unsalted butter, cut in chunks
• ¼ cup chilled duck fat
• 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
• 1 egg

In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour, butter, duck fat, sugar until crumbly.  Beat egg in a small bowl and, with processor running, add in a slow stream until dough comes together.  Add ice cold water, if needed, to bring dough together, depending on flour hydration.  Wrap pastry and chill until firm (crust is very tender due to the low melting point of the duck fat).

Filling:

• 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thigh meat (free range is most flavorful)
• 2 cups chicken broth (homemade preferred)
• Shiitake mushroom trimmings or stems
• Duck fat
• Olive oil
• ½ pound fresh chanterelles or other mushrooms, sliced thick
• 10-12 cipolline onions or pearl onions, peeled
• 10-12 fingerling potatoes, or cut up Yukon gold potatoes
• 3 carrots, peeled and sliced
• 3 sticks celery, sliced
• 1 cup fava beans (cooked and peeled), can substitute fresh or frozen peas
• Salt and pepper to taste
• ½ cup all purpose flour
• 1 stick unsalted butter
• 1 cup heavy cream or whole milk
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
• 2 tablespoons brandy or sherry
• ½ cup chopped Italian parsley
• White truffle oil

Place chicken, mushrooms/stems and broth in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Cover, bring to a boil, and simmer 5 minutes or until chicken has cooked through.  Let chicken cool in broth, remove.  Strain broth, discarding mushrooms and chill.

Preheat oven to 400F.  Melt 2-4 tablespoons duck fat and toss with potatoes and onions.  Roast in oven until lightly caramelized and softened.  Heat olive oil in a sauté pan and sauté celery and carrots until tender, about 5 minutes, season to taste with salt and pepper.  Heat olive oil in clean sauté pan over medium high heat and sear mushrooms until golden and fragrant.  Deglaze the pan with a dash of brandy or sherry, adding salt and pepper to taste.

Shred chicken into bite sized pieces and combine in a bowl with vegetables, tossing gently to combine, set aside.

Make a roux with butter and flour, stirring constantly and cooking until golden and aromatic (like biscuits).  Whisk in cream and reserved chicken broth, along with any accumulated juices from the chicken.  Add thyme and remaining brandy or sherry and simmer until thickened.  Season to taste with salt and pepper and cool slightly.  Pour sauce over chicken and vegetable mixture, tossing gently to combine.  Add fava beans (or peas) and parsley, stirring again gently.  Mixture can be chilled and held up to two days at this point.

Divide dough into four balls, rolling each one out to a circle slightly larger than the rim of your ramekins (I use 14oz).  Divide the filling between the four ramekins (oil each one lightly with olive oil or pan spray).  Drizzle a little truffle oil over the filling in each ramekin.  Carefully place a top crust on each pot pie and crimp around the inside edge of the ramekins.  Chill until crust is firm again, and then cut the vent.  Brush crust with egg wash and bake in a 400F oven until crust is golden and filling bubbles out of the vent hole.  Serve hot.

• 1 chicken, cut up (3-3.5 #)

Marinade

You'll need two batches of marinade so double quantities of ingredients below:

• 1/2 cup lemon juice (from 3 lemons)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp white pepper
• 1 tsp salt

Season chicken with salt and pepper

Paella with Seafood, Chicken and Chorizo

There is something so festive and inviting about Paella . . .especially when it's prepared over a wood fire or on the beach.  I don't claim that this recipe is an authentic or traditional version which would probably have rabbit and lima beans instead of chorizo and gabanzos.  But I believe a 20 inch paella pan can be like an artist's canvas.  Have fun with it and make it reflect your own taste or event.  Even if you take some liberty with the ingredients, everyone including the Paella purists will be coming back for seconds!

Trick:  Most recipes say to cook the seafood with the remaining ingredients prior to serving.  For a nice touch, saute the seafood in a mixture of olive oil, lots of garlic, smoked paprika and add parsley and pour over Paella just before serving.

Serves 8-10

Ingredients:

• Brine for chicken
• 1 cup olive oil
• 4-6 chorizo sausages, sliced
• 3 garlic cloves, diced
• 3 heads of garlic, not skinned but cloves detached from heads
• 8 Spanish Piquillo peppers, cored, seeded and sliced lengthwise
• 6 pounds of chicken thighs (bone in)
• 4 Spanish onions, chopped
• 5 Roma tomatoes (optional... some prefer not to include tomatoes)
• 1 bunch flat leaf Italian parsely, chopped
• 6 cups chicken stock, homemade or organic (but not low sodium)
• 1-2 cups of white wine
• 20 saffron threads
• 2 1/2 teaspoons Spanish smoked paprika
• 5 cups uncooked Valencia short-grain rice
• 2 16-ounce cans garbanzo beans (optional)
• 1 pound asparagus, chopped into 1 inch sized pieces
• 1/2 pound fresh baby artichoke hearts
• 1/2 pound wide green sweet peas or green beans (cut into 1 inch pieces)
• 5 Meyer lemons, cut into wedges, for garnish

For seafood saute'

• 24 jumbo whole shrimp (don't remove shells but split up the back to devein)
• 24 New Zealand Green Lip mussels or fresh black mussels (which ever look better)
• 24 small clams
• olive oil
• lots of extra garlic cloves, chopped
• extra parsley, chopped

Brine for Chicken:

• 1 gallon cold water
• 1 cup Kosher salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 TBSP sweet paprika
• 2 TBSP cracked peppercorns

Brine chicken for 4 hours in the refrigerator.  Drain brine, place chicken on a cookie sheet and pat dry with paper towels.

Heat a large paella pan over medium-high heat (preferably over an open kindling sized fire in BBQ or firepit) Add a small amount of olive oil to the pan and saute the chorizo until browned then set aside.  add remaining olive oil and garlic heads and peppers.  Lightly fry peppers.  Remove  just the peppers and set aside.

Add chicken legs and thighs to the pan, brown on all sides. When chicken is golden, add the onions and chopped garlic and saute until onions are translucent. Add tomatoes (if using)  most of the parsley, chicken stock and wine to the pan.  Simmer for about 30 minutes until liquid has reduced. Meanwhile, crush the saffron and the smoked paprika in a mortar and pestle and add it to the stock.

After a half hour, stir in the rice and let it simmer for about 20 minutes.  Do not stir or cover the rice. Gently move the pan to reposition it over the heat to ensure all sides cook.  As the rice cooks, add artichoke hearts, asparagus, peas and garbanzo beans

During the final 10 minutes, in a separate pan quickly saute the shrimp and shellfish in bunch of garlic, olive oil, smoked paprika and parsley them pour them on top of the Paella just when you are ready to serve it.

You'll know when it's ready when all the liquid has been absorbed by the rice and you can just start to smell the rice carmelizing on the bottom of the pan (it should be lightly toasted rice on the bottom but don't let it burn!)... Remove paella from the fire cover with newspaper or butcher paper and let stand for 10 minutes.  Garnish with added lemon wedges and remaining parsley.  Serve directly from the pan with wooden spoons.

photo by David Lawrence

Ultimate Fried Chicken

by Tyler Florence

My friend Chef David Lawrence beat me to the punch on posting this one.  This fried chicken recipe looks absolutely delectable.  I must admit that I've never been very good at frying chicken and my kitchen usually needs a power wash to get rid of the oil.  David suggested I try this recipe developed by Tyler Florence.  This immediately drew me in and I believe it is deserving of it's "Ultimate" title.

Because I am always entertained by David's writing in his new blog, www.forkingdelicious.blogspot.com.  I have included his comments.  If you haven't checked out his blog yet, please do... you can also follow him on Twitter @ChefDaveLA.  Tyler Florence has also recently become very active on Twitter @TylerFlorence.  You'll enjoy following them both to get recipes, tips and updates on their latest books and television appearances.

from David Lawrence:

I'm here today to talk about fried chicken. It's a dish that is so common, so ubiquitous that it's available on every street corner and at every grocery store deli counter. There are so many bad versions of it that it's easy to forget the sheer genius of a plump piece of chicken rolled in perfectly seasoned flour, dipped in egg wash and deep fried to a glorious, golden brown, all crispy on the outside with a crust that gives way to succulent, juicy meat inside.

Admittedly, even I hadn't given much thought to fried chicken lately, even though it was a staple in my home growing up. That is to say, until I stumbled upon this recipe for Tyler Florence's Ultimate Fried Chicken. It was the picture that first grabbed my attention. I'm a card-carrying sucker for good food porn and was drawn in by the gorgeous pile of freshly-fried chicken with the beautiful bunch of deep fried herbs and garlic cloves perched on top, and scattered about with lemon wedges. Lemon and chicken, absolutely! Lemon and fried chicken? Nice! Intrigued, I dove into the recipe and soon found out that the aromatics were heated slowly, along with the oil, gently perfuming it with their essential oils and removed just before frying the chicken itself. The result: a piece of chicken that is delicately flavored with the herb and garlic essence and the crispiest, most flavorful skin you’ve ever tasted. Made better only by the suggestion of a scattering of sea salt and a spritz of fresh lemon to give it some edge. GENIUS!

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

• 1 (3½ pound) chicken, cut into 10 pieces
• Juice of 2 lemons

• 1 gallon peanut or vegetable oil, for deep-frying
• ¼ bunch of fresh thyme
• 3 big sprigs fresh rosemary
• ¼ bunch of fresh sage
• 2 fresh bay leaves
• ½ head of garlic, smashed, husks still attached

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• Sea salt & freshly cracked black pepper
• 4 large eggs
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• Lemon wedges, for serving

METHOD:

Rinse the chicken pieces and pat dry. Put them in a large bowl and squeeze the lemon juice over them, turning the chicken so that the lemon gets all through. Let it marinate while you heat the oil.

Pour the oil into a large pasta pot. Add the herbs and the garlic and heat over medium-high heat until the oil registers 375 degrees on a deep-fry thermometer.

Meanwhile, put the flour in a large, shallow dish and season generously with salt and pepper. Be sure to taste the flour mixture, you should be able to taste the salt and pepper. Crack the eggs into a large, shallow dish; add a drizzle of olive oil and a couple tablespoons of water and whisk together.

When the oil reaches 375 degrees skim off the herbs and garlic and reserve. Dredge the chicken pieces in the seasoned flour and shake off the excess, then dunk them in the egg wash. Carefully drop the chicken into the hot oil and cook for about 20 minutes, turning it with tongs every now and then to keep the color even until it’s cooked through. Keep an eye on the thermometer and adjust the heat to keep the temperature as even as possible.

When the chicken is done, sprinkle it with salt and a dusting of black pepper. Scatter the reserved herbs and garlic over the top. Serve hot, with big lemon wedges spritzed over .

Brining a Whole Chicken

1 1/4 gallons cold water

3/4 cup kosher salt

1/2 cup sugar

2 bay leaves

1/2 bunch fresh thyme, or 2 tbsp dried

1/2 head of garlic, peeled and smashed

1 tbsp cracked black pepper

1. combine all the ingredients into a large pot or brine bag (you can buy them at your grocery store)
2. add one whole chicken. ideally  refrigerate for at least 12 hours... however you can put it in the AM and roast the bird in the evening.
3. remove the chicken and pat dry. drizzle the skin with a little olive oil.
4. roast chicken until done. i usually roast it at 375 for 1.5 – 2 hours, depending on the size of the chicken.  Or if you have  Big Green Egg please try this wonderful recipe -http://laurasbestrecipes.com/2009/04/25/butterflied-chicken-big-green-egg/

Chicken Marsala

First of all. . . I didn't think to take a photo of this when I made it. And it's too bad because the it's very rich looking with the red color in a Marsala sauce.  This recipe only uses sweet Marsala wine instead of other ingredients like chicken broth.  Next time I make this I will be sure to take a photo...

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 4-5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 4 tablespoons of good quality extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 ounces pancetta, diced very small
• 8-10 ounces white button mushrooms (you can use crimini but I think the buttons are better for this recipe) - slice them very thin
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon minced shallot
• 1 teaspoon of organic tomato paste
• 1 3/4 cup - good sweet Marsala wine (not dry!)
• 2 tablespoons - fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons butter- cut into three equal pieces and keep chilled
• 3 tablespoons freshly minced Italian parsley

Heat the oven to 200 degrees and place the rack in center position.  Place flour in a square baking dish or pan, shake lightly to spread.

Rinse the chicken breast and pound lightly until the breast is an even thickness to ensure it cooks evenly.  Trim off all excess fat and edges.  Dry with a paper towel and season with sea salt and pepper.  Dredge breasts in flour to coat. Make sure all ridges are well covered.  Shake lightly to remove excess.

Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a 12-14 inch skillet over medium-high heat until the oil is just shimmering and lightly smoking.  Add the chicken and brown lightly.  This should take about 10 minutes.  When chicken is browned place it in a baking dish and place in the pre-heated oven to keep it warm.

Add 2 more tablespoons of oil and return to medium high heat.  Add the pancetta and mushrooms.  Cook until the pancetta is crispy and the mushrooms and lightly cooked and browned (about 10 minutes.)  Stir in the garlic and shallot cook for 1 minute until blended then add  tomato paste and cook for another  minute until paste browns lightly.  Add Marsala.  Scrape up any browned bits in the pan and simmer lightly until the Marsala has reduced and has a slightly sticky consistency like a syrup (about 8-10 minutes.)

Add the fresh lemon juice and any juices from the chicken that have accumulated in the baking pan in the oven.  Turn heat on very low and gently whisk in the 3 chilled tablespoons of butter one piece at a time until melted and well blended.

Turn off the heat... stir in the fresh Italian parsley and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Add chicken breast to sauce pan and dredge in the sauce and each side to cover.  Then place chicken over your pasta of choice (I use Fettuccine) and spoon the sauce including all mushrooms and pancetta.  Sprinkle with freshly micro-grated parmesan cheese.

Carter's Turkey Brine

Submitted by: Carter Snead

It's been said by some that Carter's Thanksgiving turkey is the best they've ever had.  I asked him to share his technique to brine the turkey. I'm so glad I did!  On Thanksgiving, I followed his recipe and it was the best turkey I've ever made.  When we were carving it, juice was literally squirting at us (even from the breast.)

Brining is the process of soaking the bird in a salt/broth or water mixture in order to add flavor and moisture.  Be sure to start with a fresh, organically raised free-range turkey....There are hundreds of variations of brine recipes to accomplish different levels of flavor (savory, sweet, smoky etc).  This is Carter's own recipe, in his own words:

Laura, to brine the turkey make the brine using 1 gallon of water with 1 cup of sugar, 1 cup kosher salt and 3 tablespoons of cracked black pepper. If you want an herby flavor you can add a bunch of fresh thyme and fresh sage to this mixture - I like it plain and don't use the herbs. I use a large plastic bag, but you can also use a deep casserole if you have one. soak the turkey in the brine for 24 hours. if it is not immersed you can make another gallon or turn it frequently. should keep it in the fridge, but I usually put it in a cold room that is close to outside temp overnight since this time of year here it is 20-30 degrees outside.

The other trick to making a good turkey is to use a maple syrup/butter basting mixture. basically, you melt 1/4 pound of butter in 1/2 cup maple syrup over a low to med. heat. once the turkey has been in the oven for 10 min or so, long enough to warm it up, pour the maple syrup/butter over it and then baste it every 20 min.

Note from Laura:

Last year my husband and I purchased a "Big Green Egg" slow cooker.  For any kind of smoking, grilling or roasting - this large egg shaped outdoor grill is second to none.  The egg is made of a high tech ceramic designed after the ceramic ovens people have been using in the Orient for thousands of years.  The ceramic walls keeps all the moisture in during the grilling or smoking process.  Gone are the days of dry turkey on Thanksgiving!  The design also allows for terrific temperature control over long periods of time - just what you need for exceptional smoking.  Aside from that great smoke flavor, meats are incredibly juicy and tender.   This year I will be cooking a 20 pound turkey on my Big Green Egg.  For more information about them, see the link in the Kitchen Gear section or click here... http://www.biggreenegg.com/index.html

Happy Thanksgiving!