Roast Chicken with Root Vegetables

Hunger Games Week: Every day this week, I'm going to post a recipe that was inspired by food mentioned in The Hunger Games  trilogy.  In anticipation of the movie, Cleveland's Plain Dealer hosted a Hunger Games recipe contest.  The recipes had to be original, and we were allowed 50 words of description and one photo. 
I submitted six recipes, and I've already revealed Creamy Mushroom Soup, Goat Cheese Wrapped in Basil, and District 12 Ration Grain Biscuits. 
The winners of the recipe contest were announced in the Taste section of today's paper and the Roast Groosling with Sweet Roots WON!  Check out the paper's web version here.  The recipe below is what I submitted, you'll notice it's a little different than the one in the paper because they adapted the recipes.  

Side Note:  I don't agree with their choice of winner for the Breads of Panem category.  The winning bread is not at all like the District 12 bread described in the book (flat and dense).  However, it's a great fit for District 11 (crescent shaped and sprinkled with seeds), so maybe it was just a typo.  If that's what happened, then I think it was a good choice.

Groosling shows up quite a bit as a source of food, especially in the Arena.  An important alliance between Rue and Katniss was developed while sharing a meal of groosling.  Foraged root vegetables make a great accompaniment to the roasted meat.

Roast Groosling with Sweet Roots (aka Roast Chicken with Root Vegetables)

Original Recipe

Yield:  6 servings

3 lbs various root vegetables (carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes, parsnips, katniss roots, etc.), chopped into similar sized pieces (~ 1 1/2 inches)

2 onions, peeled and quartered, root ends removed

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 tsp dried rosemary

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1 (~4 lb) groosling (chicken can be substituted), plucked, head, feet and innards removed and cleaned

2 Tbsp olive oil

Salt
Pepper

Preheat oven to 425 F.

In a large bowl, place the chopped vegetables.  Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with dried herbs.  Mix until everything is thoroughly coated.  Distribute evenly around the pan leaving space in the center for the groosling.

Rinse the groosling with water and pat it dry.  Rub with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Place in the prepared roasting pan.

Place the pan in the oven and cook for 20 minutes.  Turn the oven down to 375 F and cook for 80 minutes or until juices run clear and thigh meat registers 165 F.  

Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and let it rest for 15-20 minutes before carving.  If the vegetables aren't done, put them back into the oven while the chicken rests.  When the vegetables are done cooking, mix them around with the pan juices.  Carve the chicken and serve with the roasted root vegetables.

 

Coq Au Vin

Coq au vin is the chicken equivalent to beef bourguignon:  meat cooked in wine with bacon, mushrooms and onions.  The chicken comes out tender and delicious, and the mushrooms and onions add a nice earthiness to the dish.  Mashed potatoes or egg noodles make a nice base for everything, and they work well for catching the sauce.
When cooking the mushrooms, don't crowd them in the pan.  They need room to breathe so they brown nicely, you don't want them to steam.

A word of warning, the chicken turns purple.  It's unexpected until you think about it, it is cooking in red wine afterall.  When you make beef bourguignon, you don't notice because the meat is already dark.

This dish would be great for a dinner party.  You can make it ahead of time, then reheating right before dinner.


Coq au Vin (Chicken in Red Wine with Onions, Mushrooms and Bacon)
Adapted from Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking as seen on Smitten Kitchen
Yield: 4-6 servings

1 (3-4 oz) chunk of bacon (I used 4 slices of bacon, chopped)
2 Tbsp butter
1- (2.5-3 lb) frying chicken, cut into 8 pieces
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/4 cup cognac (I omitted)
3 cups young, full-bodied, red wine such as Burgundy, Beaujolais, Cotes du Rhone or Chianti
1-2 cups chicken stock, brown stock or canned beef bouillon
1/2 Tbsp tomato paste
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp thyme
1 bay leaf
Brown-braised onions (recipe below)
Sautéed mushrooms (recipe below)
Salt and pepper
3 Tbsp flour
2 Tbsp softened butter
Sprigs of fresh parsley (for garnish)

1. In a Dutch oven, sauté the bacon slowly in hot butter until it is very lightly browned. Remove to a side dish.
2. Dry the chicken thoroughly. Brown it in the hot fat.
3. Season the chicken. Return the bacon to the Dutch oven with the chicken. Cover and cook slowly for 10 minutes, turning the chicken once.
4. Uncover, and pour in the cognac. Averting your face, ignite the cognac with a lighted match. Shake the Dutch oven back and forth for several seconds until the flames subside. (I skipped this whole step.)
5. Pour the wine into the Dutch oven, and add just enough stock or bouillon to cover the chicken. Stir in the tomato paste, garlic and herbs. Bring to the simmer. Cover and simmer slowly for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the chicken is tender and its juices run clear when the meat is pricked with a fork. Remove the chicken to a side dish.
6. While the chicken is cooking, prepare the onions and mushrooms (recipes below).
7. Simmer the cooking liquid in the Dutch oven for a minute or two, skimming off the fat. Then raise the heat and boil rapidly, reducing the liquid to about 2 1/4 cups. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and discard bay leaf.
8. Blend the butter and flour together into a smooth paste (buerre manie). Beat the paste into the hot liquid with a wire whisk. Bring to a simmer, stirring, and simmer for a minute or two. The sauce should be thick enough to coat a spoon lightly.
9. Arrange the chicken in the Dutch oven, place the mushrooms and onions around it and baste with the sauce. If this dish is not to be served immediately, film the top of the sauce with stock or dot with small pieces of butter. Set aside uncovered. It can now wait indefinitely.
10. Shortly before serving, bring to the simmer, basting the chicken with the sauce. Cover and simmer slowly for 4 to 5 minutes, until the chicken is hot enough.
11. Serve from the dutch oven or arrange on a hot platter. Decorate with sprigs of parsley.

Oignons Glacés a Brun (Brown-braised Onions)
Mastering the Art of French Cooking

18-24 white onions, peeled, about 1 inch in diameter (I used a 10 oz bag frozen pearl onions, thawed)
1 1/2 Tbsp butter
1 1/2 Tbsp oil
1/2 cup of brown stock, canned beef bouillon, dry white wine, red wine or water
Salt and pepper to taste
A medium herb bouquet: 3 parsley springs, 1/2 bay leaf, and 1/4 teaspoon thyme tied in cheesecloth (I used dried parsley and thyme, a small bay leaf and skipped the cheesecloth)

When the butter and oil are bubbling in a large skillet, add the onions and sauté over moderate heat for about 10 minutes, rolling the onions about so they will brown as evenly as possible. Be careful not to break their skins. You cannot expect to brown them uniformly.

Pour in the liquid, season to taste, and add the herb bouquet. Cover and simmer slowly for 40 to 50 minutes until the onions are perfectly tender but retain their shape, and the liquid has evaporated. Remove the herb bouquet (since I didn't tie them in the cheesecloth, I just had to fish out the bay leaf). Serve them as they are.

Champignons Sautés Au Buerre (Sautéed Mushrooms)
Mastering the Art of French Cooking

2 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp oil
1 lb fresh mushrooms, cleaned with a damp cloth, left whole if small, sliced or quartered if large
1 to 2 Tbsp minced shallots or green onions (optional)
Salt and pepper

Place a large skillet over high heat with the butter and oil. (If you don't have a 10" pan , cook the mushrooms in batches, they need room in order to brown.)  As soon as you see the butter foam has begun to subside, indicating that it is hot enough, add the mushrooms. Toss and shake the pan for 4 to 5 minutes.

During their sauté, the mushrooms will at first absorb the fat. In 2 to 3 minutes the fat will reappear on their surface, and the mushrooms will begin to brown. As soon as they have browned lightly, remove from heat.

Toss the shallots or green onions with the mushrooms. Sauté over moderate heat for 2 minutes.

Sautéed mushrooms may be cooked in advance, set aside, then reheated when needed. Season to taste just before serving.

Chicken With 40 Cloves of Garlic

I really need to cook more with my dutch oven so I'm dedicating March to dutch oven recipes.  Up first is Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic.  This chicken was amazing!  It was juicy and full of flavor.  I poured the sauce over the chicken and mashed potatoes as if it was gravy, an herby, garlicky gravy.

Normally when I cook a whole chicken, it's pretty basic.  When making this chicken, I looked for something different and wanted to use my dutch oven.  When I found this recipe which includes lemon zest, herbs and garlic, I made my mind up right away.

Don't be afraid of the 40 cloves of garlic.  The garlic flavor becomes less intense and slightly sweetens as it roasts.  So delicious, I love roasted garlic!  By the way, 40 cloves is about two heads of garlic (give or take a few cloves).  Cloves will vary depending on the size of the head and size of the cloves.  You don't have to be exact, just use two good sized heads of garlic.

Here's a tip for peeling all that garlic:  smash the head of garlic to separate the cloves, put everything in a bowl (size doesn't matter), invert a second bowl of the same size over top and shake vigorously.  The agitation will peel most of the garlic for you in very little time.  If you need a visual, check out this video.

Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic
Adapted from Williams-Sonoma
Yield: 6 servings

1 (~4 lb) chicken, cut into 8 serving pieces
Salt and freshly ground pepper
3 Tbsp olive oil
40 garlic cloves (about 2 heads of garlic), peeled
1 Tbsp fresh rosemary, minced
1 Tbsp fresh thyme, minced
Zest of 2 lemons
1/4 cup white wine
3/4 cup chicken stock
3 Tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into pieces

Preheat oven to 400. 

Season the chicken with salt and pepper. In a wide Dutch oven over medium-high heat, warm the olive oil. Working in batches, brown the chicken, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate. 

Add the garlic to the pan and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat. Add the chicken, rosemary, thyme and lemon zest and stir to combine. Cover the pan, transfer to the oven and roast for 20 minutes. Baste the chicken with the accumulated juices. Continue roasting, uncovered, until the chicken is cooked through and the juices run clear when the meat is pierced with a knife, about 30 minutes more. 

Transfer the chicken to a platter; leave the garlic in the pan. Cover the chicken loosely with aluminum foil. 

Set the pan over medium heat and mash the garlic with the back of a spoon. Add the wine and cook for 3 minutes. Add the stock and cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Whisk in the butter a few pieces at a time. Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Transfer to a warm gravy boat.  Serve the chicken immediately and pass the sauce alongside.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

This chicken tortilla soup is ridiculously quick, full of flavor and very satisfying.  I highly recommend you make it soon.

Instead of the hunting down dried chili peppers, I used chipotle chili powder which gives the soup some smoky chili flavor and heat.

When serving, I sometimes skipped the sour cream, but do not skip the lime juice.  A good squeeze of lime adds a brightness to the soup that you don't want to miss.


Sopa Azteca (Chicken Tortilla Soup)
Adapted from Live to Cook . . . at Home, originally from Rick Bayless

1/2 tsp chipotle chili powder
1 (15 oz) can pureed tomatoes
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
5 garlic cloves, peeled & smashed
2 qts chicken stock
2-3 cups cooked chicken, shredded or cubed
1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
Salt and Pepper, to taste

For garnishing
1 large ripe avocado, pitted, flesh scooped from the skin and cubed
Cheddar cheese, shredded
Tortilla chips, roughly broken
Sour cream
1 large lime, cut into 6 wedges, for serving

Put the tomatoes with their juice in a blender jar along with the chili powder (a food processor will also work).

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic once the oil is hot and cook until caramelized, about 7 minutes.

Once the onions and garlic have caramelized, add them to the blender and process until everything is completely smooth.

Return this mixture to the pan over high heat and cook until it is the consistency of tomato paste, about 6 minutes. Add the chicken stock and simmer for 15 minutes.  Add the chicken and black beans and simmer for 5 minutes.  Taste and season with salt and pepper, if necessary.

While the soup is simmering, garnish each bowl with tortilla chips, avocado, and cheese.

When the soup is ready, fill each bowl and serve with sour cream and lime.

Cranberry Chicken

I had some Cranberry Vinaigrette and little bleu cheese leftover so I made cranberry chicken. This was a really easy entree with almost no prep (if you count defrosting chicken as prep).  It turned out pretty good, and the chicken was moist and flavorful. The cranberry and bleu cheese combo is a definite winner.  So if you're looking for another use for cranberry vinaigrette, make this chicken.

Cranberry Chicken
Original Recipe
Yield: 2 servings

2 pieces of chicken (I used boneless thighs)
Salt & Pepper
1 Tbsp oil
1/2-3/4 cup cranberry vinaigrette
2 Tbsp bleu cheese crumbles

Preheat oven to 400.

Rinse the chicken with water and pat it dry.  Season the chicken on both sides with salt and pepper.  In a medium hot pan, heat up the oil and place the chicken skin side down.  Sear both sides of the chicken for about 2 minutes each.

Pour the cranberry vinaigrette in a small baking dish.  Add the chicken skin side up and cover the dish with foil.  Bake for 20 minutes.  Remove the foil and place some cranberries on the chicken and top with bleu cheese.  Bake for 5 more minutes.

When serving, scoop up any cranberries left in the bottom of the pan to serve with the chicken.  Discard the liquid that's left.

Buffalo Chicken Chili

I saw this recipe in Google Reader and the next day I made it.  I'm pretty sure that's the fastest turn around I've ever had.  The only thing keeping me from making it the first day was a trip to the store for chili beans.  I had never heard of chili beans, but what do ya know, there they were in the canned bean section next to the black beans and kidney beans.  While this is described as buffalo chicken (I mean, it's got all the right ingredients: chicken, celery, carrots, hot sauce, bleu cheese), it's not like you're eating buffalo wing flavored chili.  Don't get me wrong, this chili is really good!  I was just expecting something a little more "Buffalo wingy" flavored.  Maybe using dark meat and adding a little more hot sauce right before serving would do the trick? 

With Thanksgiving coming up, this would be a great way to use up some of that leftover turkey.  Just add chunks of cooked turkey when you add the tomatoes and beans.

Buffalo Chicken Chili

Adapted from My Bizzy Kitchen via Green Dog Wine

1 Tbsp olive oil

2 lb boneless, skinless chicken, roughly chopped

2 large carrots, roughly chopped

3 stalks celery, roughly chopped

1 large red pepper, roughly chopped

5 cloves of garlic

5 Tbsp of chili powder

2 Tbsp ground cumin

1 Tbsp paprika

1/2 cup Frank’s Red Hot sauce

2 (15 oz) cans tomato sauce

1 (15 oz) diced tomatoes

1 (15 oz) black beans, drained

1 (15 oz) chili beans in sauce (do not drain)

Salt and pepper to taste
Bleu cheese crumbles for serving

Put chicken in food processor to grind up – if you can find ground chicken breast, you can use that too.  Heat oil and add ground chicken and cook about 10 minutes on medium heat until no longer pink.  Rinse out processor and add carrots, celery, garlic and red pepper.  Process until veggies are minced finely.  Add to chicken mixture and cook about 5 minutes until veggies start to soften.  Add the rest of the ingredients, bring to a simmer and cook for 1 hour.