Shoe Makers (Scarpariello) Chicken

Shoe Makers (Scarpariello) Chicken - Spicy Italian-Style Chicken with Sausage, Peppers, and Onions—
Serves 4 to 6

This dish is fairly spicy. To manage the heat, adjust the amount of cherry peppers as desired. If you cannot find hot cherry peppers, pickled banana pepper rings can be substituted. If your skillet is not oven safe, add the cornstarch mixture to the skillet in step 3 (instead of step 5) along with the vinegar and simmer until slightly thickened, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the sausage and transfer mixture to 13 by 9-inch baking dish. Arrange the chicken over the mixture and bake as directed. To make this dish with chicken thighs, increase the cooking time in the oven to about 25 minutes, or until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of chicken registers 175 degrees. Serve with a green salad and mashed potatoes, orzo, or soft polenta.

INGREDIENTS

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
8 ounces sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
2 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken breast halves, trimmed of excess fat and skin and cut crosswise into 2 or 3 pieces
Table salt and ground black pepper
1 medium onion, halved and sliced 1/4 inch thick (about 1 1/4 cups)
1 large red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and cut into 1/4-inch strips (about 1 1/2 cups)
3-5 pickled hot cherry peppers, stemmed, seeded, and cut into 1/4-inch strips (about 1/4 cup)
3 medium cloves garlic, minced or pressed through a garlic press (about 1 tablespoon)
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
1/3 cup white wine vinegar plus 2 additional tablespoons
3/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth plus 1 tablespoon
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley leaves


1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Heat 1 teaspoon oil in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add sausage and cook, stirring to break sausage into 1/2-inch pieces, until browned, about 3 minutes. Transfer sausage to plate lined with paper towels. Remove skillet from heat; pour off fat into small bowl and reserve; wipe out skillet with paper towels.

2. Return skillet to medium-high heat and heat remaining 2 teaspoons oil until smoking. Pat chicken dry and liberally season with salt and pepper. Add chicken, skin side down, and cook without moving until well browned, 3 to 5 minutes. Using tongs, turn chicken and brown on other side, about 3 minutes. Transfer chicken to large plate. Remove skillet from heat and pour off fat into bowl with sausage fat; wipe out skillet with paper towels.

3. Return skillet to medium-high heat and heat 1 tablespoon reserved fat until shimmering. Add onion and cook until beginning to soften, about 2 minutes. Add bell pepper and cherry peppers and cook, stirring occasionally, until bell pepper begins to soften, about 4 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add sugar, 1/3 cup vinegar, and 3/4 cup broth; bring mixture to boil, scraping up browned bits from pan bottom.

4. Add sausage and chicken (with any accumulated juices) to skillet, arranging chicken pieces in single layer, skin side up, on top of peppers and onion. Transfer skillet to oven and cook until instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of chicken registers 160 degrees, 18 to 22 minutes, removing smaller pieces sooner if necessary. Meanwhile, combine cornstarch, thyme, and remaining tablespoon broth in small bowl.

5. Carefully remove skillet from oven (handle will be very hot) and transfer chicken, skin side up, to platter or individual serving plates. Place skillet over medium-high heat and stir in cornstarch mixture. Simmer sauce mixture until slightly thickened, 2 to 3 minutes. Off heat, taste sauce and add up to 2 tablespoons vinegar. Adjust seasonings with salt and pepper. Spoon sauce around chicken, being careful not to pour it directly over chicken. Sprinkle with parsley and serve immediately.



A big thanks to Tommy!

From June 07 - Grilled Polo Asado

Summer Greetings Foodies, or better said, Hola Foodies.

One of my favorite gems is The Country Meat Store, in Holtville, CA – near the Mexican border between San Diego and Arizona and I am in love with this recipe so I had to share it with you all. It’s perfect for a summer BBQ!
Cheers
Aaron
**
Grilled Pollo Asado

Needs 24 hours to marinade before being grilled

3 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs and or breasts – rinse and pat dry
Place chicken in a large glass (not metal) bowl and coat/mix the chicken with the Adobo seasoning below:

Makes ½ cup of Adobo seasoning mix:

Place all of the below in a jar and shake well to combine. Lasts up to 2 months if kept cool and dry.

1 ½ tablespoons sea salt
1 ½ tablespoons onion powder
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 ½ tablespoons ground black pepper
¾ teaspoon ground Mexican oregano
½ teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon ground clove
½ teaspoon dried orange zest
½ teaspoon saffron – crumpled with your fingers
½ teaspoon achiote powder (find in Mexican market or use two teaspoons ground chipotle chili)

Once mixed, add the juice of two lemons and ½ cup orange juice. Mix in one tablespoon raw cane sugar. Mix well and store in refrigerator for 24 hours in large zip lock bags. Another option at this point is to freeze some and use some fresh. I always freeze a batch for later.

Bring the chicken to room temp and heat grill

Grill chicken until well browned, discard the extra marinade, and remove from heat to let rest for the same amount of time it took to cook.

Slice the meat and cover with the juice of a fresh lime and serve hot

Best when served with warm whole beans, warm rice, warm tortillas, fresh salsa, sliced avocados, and some ice cold beer.

Enjoy

From May 07 Paella of Catalunya

Greetings foodies – fresh from a trip to Spain, it feels appropriate to share some yummy Spanish foods….. First, Paella, next, Tapas…..
Cheers,
Aaron

**
Paella for 6 to 8 persons
3 ltr of strong fish- or chicken stock
2 white onions, chopped roughly
1 bay leaf
1 sprig of fresh thyme
LOTS of chopped parsley
A little saffron
Olive oil
(Sea) salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 chicken
12 giant shrimps or king prawns
1 green pepper, seeded and cut into strips
2 large tomato, peeled and chopped
At least 4 cloves of garlic
1 pound long grained rice
2 teaspoons of paprika
2 pounds fresh (closed) mussels, cleaned and debearded (cook in aforementioned broth)
1 pound fresh (closed) clams, cleaned and debearded (cook in aforementioned broth)
1 small white fish
1 pound squid, cleaned
Lemon wedges for decoration

Cut the chicken in cubes. It's not necessary to remove the bones.
Shave the clams and clean them. Clean the squid and be sure to remove their insides unless you bought them already cleaned. Wash the shrimps and the white fish. Remove head, tail and insides. Cut it in pieces.
Put all seafood, except clams, in a bowl. Make your own fish broth using head and tail of the fish and shrimp, onions, garlic, clean water, peppers. Cook the clams and mussels in the broth until they open and keep them apart for later.
Cut the onions and peppers; don't care about their size. Put all the vegetables, except the onions in a bowl.
Heat your pan with plenty of olive oil and get it steaming hot.
Throw in the chicken, season it with salt, black pepper and garlic. Fry until golden brown. Remove chicken from the paella and repeat the procedure with the seafood. Wait until the squid is done before adding the salt.
Remove the seafood and repeat the same action with the veggies; frying the onions until caramelized first.
Put all the ingredients, except the shrimps and clams + mussels into the paella and add one cup of rice per person. Add saffron (don’t try and fake this part) Fry for about one minute and pour the sieved fish broth onto the rest of the ingredients. Use roughly two cups of broth for one cup of rice.
Taste the broth. Good paella needs to be well salted. You may want to add salt and pepper. Put the parsley in and stir the ingredients. This should be the last time that you stir the paella.
Let the paella cook and slowly lower the fire during the cooking process. It should take about twenty minutes to cook the rice. Just add some broth when your paella starts to look dry.
Garnish the paella with the mussels, clams and shrimps or just throw them on top of it all. When the rice is cooked and almost dry, your Real Spanish Paella is ready to be served.
¡Salut

*** Variants – all vegetable, just pick your favorite seasonal veggies and add once the rice is cooked; use vegetable stock

From March 07 - The Cave Creek Coffee Company Cranberry Scone

The Cave Creek Coffee Company is a local institution run by two New York expatriates. They are the premier coffee roaster of the southwest and have won many awards. All their beans are roasted on site in Cave Creek. The CCCC has a double life as a wine bar and live music venue after the coffee is been served. It’s a local community gathering place with a great front porch to watch the world go by – you will find me on the porch swing. Dogs get their own play area; Hogs (motorcycles) gather here on the weekends, there is free WIFI etc….. They have a sign by the counter where you order that has a Starbucks cup on it that says "Friends don’t let friends drink (insert starbucks cup)…….

This is my favorite scone….
Cave Creek Coffee Company Cranberry Scones
3C Flour
1Tbs Baking powder
1C (2sticks) Unsalted butter @ room temp
1/4C Sugar
3Lg Eggs
1/3C Buttermilk
1C Dried cranberries
Zest from 1 orange
Sift together flour and baking powder.
In a separate bowl, cream butter, add the sugar, beat until fluffy.
Add eggs 1 at a time, and then add the flour mixture and the buttermilk.
Sprinkle the cranberries and zest from orange over the dough and gently fold them in.
Place mounds of dough onto a cookie sheet or roll out into circles and cut into wedges after baked.
Bake for 20 min.
This batter will be sticky.
Do not use much flour if you roll them out
Glaze (optional)
½ Stick butter room temp
Juice from 1 orange
1C powdered sugar
Pinch of salt
Glaze will be slightly runny.
Pour over cooled to the touch scones.

Here are a few tidbits about coffee that you may or may not be aware of....
Coffee is the 2nd largest commodity traded world wide. (oil is #1)
All coffee grows between the tropics of Cancer & Capricorn near the equator
Coffee plants produce cherries....each cherry contains 2 coffee beans
Coffee beans are green before the roasting process
Roasted coffee will lose 50% of it's flavor in 7 days after roasting
A light roast coffee contains MORE caffeine than a dark roasted coffee
97% of the coffee sold in the United States is stale BEFORE the consumer purchases it

BG Mango Curry Chicken Salad

Mango Curry Chicken Salad

A dish I have been eating at Bergdorf Goodman Café 745 for years……

2C Chicken breast (cooked and chopped)
¼ C Mayo
¼ C Red onion minced
½ cup fresh grapes
1 Fresh Mango pealed and diced
1 apple pealed and diced
2 stalks celery diced)
TT(to taste) sea salt & fresh cracked pepper
TT Cayenne pepper – just a dab
1Tbs Dry mustard
2Tbs spicy curry powder
Pay attention to the size of your dice for the chicken and mango – they should be about the size of the grapes and diced apples.
Combine all ingredients together and left rest in fridge for one hour before serving.

Cave Creek Rattle Snake Chicken

Cave Creek Rattle Snake Chicken
High walled skillet with lid
Heat skillet until hot (almost smoke point) and add
· 4 tablespoons olive oil · 2 tablespoons crushed red chili peppers (like the ones on pizza) · 2 large cloves of garlic chopped · One half white onion coarsely chopped · Cook the above on high heat with the lid on stirring frequently until the onions are translucent
· Add 4 halved boneless skinless chicken breasts – push them to the base of the skillet so that the above is around them – brown them on high heat about 5 minutes on each side for plump chicken.
· Add three chopped fresh tomatoes · One tablespoon dried basil · One cup white wine · Bring to a boil and turn to simmer for 40 minutes · Turn the chicken once in this period and mix around the stuff
· When time is up, remove from heat, remove chicken to serving dishes · Turn back to high heat and add the juice of one lemon · Heat and stir until its one the moist side of dry · Scoop onto chicken and serve
· Awesome with corn bread · I have tried this with the chicken sliced and on top of pasta and or a salad · Its also darn good wrapped in a cooked tortilla