Prick Your Tongue with Chicken Piccata

As with any old recipe, there are numerous theories as to how the dish came to be named. The one I subscribe to claims it's an Italian adaptation of the French word "piquer," which means to prick or poke with something sharp. This makes absolutely no sense, until you taste it.

The "to prick" is apparently a metaphor for the sharp, intensely flavored sauce. Thanks to lots of lemon, capers, and wine, this sauce is about as subtle as a right hook (apologies to non-boxing fans for the reference).

Here, I've demonstrated a very basic version of a recipe that begs for variation. I'll sometimes add minced shallots, or garlic; sometimes I'll use wine, other times just straight lemon. Italian parsley is wonderful as the finishing herb, but switching that out for tarragon or basil will also bring much pleasure.

One note about the chicken: I like to use larger breasts, pounded to about 1/2-inch thick. If you are using small 6-oz chicken breasts, there's no need to pound out. Most versions I've seen call for the meat to be pounded extremely thin, but I believe this comes from the fact that the original recipe used thin veal medallions, aka scaloppini.

At home we have the luxury of a few extra minutes, and I think the slightly thicker chicken gives you a little nicer bite. Anyway, I hope this post "piques" your interest, and you give this quick and delicious recipe a try!

Chicken Piccata Ingredients:

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, pounded to 1/2-inch thickness

salt and fresh ground black pepper as needed

cayenne to taste

all-purpose flour for dredging

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon capers, drained (tip: for more intense flavor, mince 1 teaspoon of the capers, leaving the rest whole)

1/2 cup white wine

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup water or chicken stock

3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut in 1/4-in slices

2 tablespoon fresh Italian parsley, chopped

Just Chicken and Mushrooms

This chicken and mushrooms recipe video is an experiment in extreme self-control. I wanted to challenge myself to make a chicken and mushrooms recipe using only chicken and mushrooms. By the way, if it was still Fat Tuesday, I would have totally called this recipe, "Almost Naked Breasts," but on Ash Wednesday, that just doesn't seem appropriate.

While chefs are always preaching about keeping things uncomplicated, and letting the natural goodness of the main ingredients shine though, we rarely follow our own advice. There are so many ways to flavor and enhance breasts like these that it's easy to forget simplicity and instead start, "layering the flavors."

As I mention in the video, while this may seem like it was intended as a lesson for novice cooks, it's actually dedicated to the advanced cook who may have forgotten just how wonderful a two-ingredient recipe can be.

Now, before the more anal among you start sending in the, "there are actually five ingredients" comments and emails, I'll tell you right now, I'm not counting salt and black pepper as ingredients, nor am I including the fats. Hey, I have to sear that skin in something.

Anyway, the real point is to get you to try and see how much flavor you can coax out of these two main players by simply using great technique, and the right equipment. Of course, that's easier said than done, and the vast majority of you will be unable to resist the minced garlic and the cayenne shaker. Either way, enjoy!

Speaking of the right equipment, that stainless-steel skillet you'll see in the video is my lovely new All-Clad 12-inch aluminum core frying pan. We're going to be doing some work together, and this recipe was the first real test run. I've used their stuff countless times in pro kitchens, but I've never the pleasure of working with it in my home kitchen until now. It was perfect for this recipe's required techniques.

Ingredients:

2 large chicken breasts, boneless, skin-on

salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

2 tablespoon olive oil

8 oz thickly sliced mushrooms

1/2 cup water

1 tablespoon butter

Loafing with Chris Lilly's Loaf Pan Chicken

We arrived back in San Francisco after a fun, but tiring few days at Kingsford University. I have a great recap planned, but neither the time nor the energy to post it today. 

So, if you'll pardon my "loafing," I'd like to share this cool loaf pan chicken recipe from Chris Lilly instead. 

Please forgive the low-res video and poor sound, as it was shot on my cell phone, but stay tuned for my upcoming HD version, which I'll adapt for the oven. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
3 1/4 pound chicken

3/4 cup apple sauce

3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce to taste

Any dry rub, enough to coat

Valentine's Special: Average Betty and Fabio Sexy-Up Chicken and Rice!

I'm still in West Chester, PA, after a fascinating day of training at QVC. Since I have no new video recipe to share, I'll have to do the next best thing, and use somebody else's. 

Here's my buddy Sara from Average Betty getting all female on international playboy, and Top Chef All-Star, Fabio Viviani, who in return gets all Fabio on her. Together they bring you a rustic Chicken Marsala recipe served with an unusual, but erotically charged Strawberry Champagne Risotto. This menu is so Fabio and Average Betty, it hurts.

I've posted my slightly less steamy version below, and it's one of the recipes I always recommend for Valentines Day, especially for new cooks. It's fast, easy, and always impresses that special someone. I hope you enjoy both videos!

Be sure to check out the full blog post on Average Betty, which includes recipes and lots more information! 

Chef John's Chicken Marsala


See Chef John's original Chicken Marsala post here, and get all the ingredients and more info.

Predicting the Super Bowl Winner with Chicken Wing Bones

I feel kind of guilty. I've been publishing this blog for four years now, and I this is the first time I'm letting you in on my magical method for picking the Super Bowl winner. I can't tell you how or where I learned how to do this (long story short, I'd be killed by a very tall, dreadlocked gypsy if I did), but I can tell you it's a sure thing. 

Normally, I'd never give insane advice like withdraw your children's college funds, and bet everything on the game, but here, it would be crazy not to. ;-) Enjoy!

Speaking of Buffalo Chicken Wings – They're Now Available in Convenient Dip Form

My friend, Stephanie Gallagher, About.com's Guide to Cooking for Kids, just posted this video recipe for an Buffalo Chicken Dip. If you want all the taste of Buffalo wings without the bones, check out this easy appetizer. You can get the ingredient list here.

Honey-Brined, Southern-Fried Chicken Breasts – Boneless, Skinless, Low-Fat, and Delicious?

Is there anything less inspiring than a boneless-skinless chicken breast? There must be, but for the sake of this post, let's say there's not. So, how do we turn this culinary snoozer into something worthwhile? Fry it. Hey, that was easy.
Of course, the problem here is there's no flavorful skin on which to attach a crunchy coating. To add insult to injury, the fatty skin also protects the bland breast from drying out. Despite these obvious issues I decided to attempt Southern-fried boneless-skinless chicken breasts anyway.

As fate would have it, the same day I bought the chicken, Alton Brown was doing a honey-brined pork shoulder on Good Eats. To combat the dreaded dry chicken I decided to use a simplified variation to soak my breasts.I won't bore you with all the scientific details, but through osmosis, brining raises the internal temperature at which the moisture is forced out of a protein. Even though I only brined my breasts for an hour, it worked like a charm. As you'll see in the recipe video, the meat was very juicy.As far as the skinless-coating went, I was also pleasantly surprised. Even though it was incredibly thin, it stayed on the meat throughout the frying, and the final result was nothing short of quite good.And yes, I am calling this low-fat (relative to regular Southern-fried chicken). When you eliminate the skin, you significantly reduce the calorie count, and even though we're cooking this is lots of oil, the coating is too thin to absorb very much of it.

If frying isn't your thing, still I encourage you to give this ultra-simple brine a try anyway. I think you will be impressed with its effect. I plan on using this on a regular basis this summer while rocking the grill. Enjoy!




Ingredients:
2 boneless-skinless chicken breasts
3 cups cold water
1/4 cup kosher salt
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup buttermilk
1 cup flour1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon onion salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
lots of cayenne
vegetable oil for frying

View the complete recipe

Spicy Orange Chicken Wings - It's Not a Party Until the Panda Wings Come Out!

Here they are – easy and delicious, spicy orange chicken wings, cleverly named (according to me anyway) after the spicy orange chicken served at Panda Express. By the way, this recipe has nothing to do with killing, riding, eating, rubbing, growing wings on, or otherwise abusing panda bears.

We are right smack in the middle of chicken wing eating season, and with the Super Bowl just around the corner (Go Jets!), I figured it was high time for a new wing fling. The recipe could not be simpler to make, and if you can somehow manage to whip up a batch of these oven-fried chicken wings to glaze, you'll be in sticky-finger-heaven.

Since this was my first time trying this, I went very basic, and was extremely happy with the results. It was very similar in taste and texture to the Panda orange glaze, and done so with no gloppy cornstarch, which is not very nice cold.

Next time I will try the additions of ginger and garlic, and maybe some toasted sesame seeds. In the meantime, I really hope you give these a try, and please let me know how your particular variations come out. Enjoy!

Spicy Orange Chicken Wings Ingredients (enough for about 5 lbs of wings):

2 big tablespoons Sambal, or other Asian-style chili paste to taste, or may sub red pepper flakes to taste

1 cup orange jam or marmalade, (strain if contains an excess of orange rind pieces)

1/3 cup rice vinegar

1/4 cup hoisin sauce

1 tablespoon soy sauce

"oven-fried" Buffalo chicken wings

Suggestions for optional additions:

finely minced garlic cloves

finely grated fresh ginger, optional

minced green onions

toasted sesame seeds

In a Fowl Mood: A Fabulous Last Supper 2010

Just wanted to say Happy New Year to you all, and share what Michele and I enjoyed for our final meal of 2010. The first course was a superb Moroccan-style chicken crépinette seasoned with preserved lemon from Fatted Calf. I served it over a salad of raw, shaved asparagus, and garnished with kumquats candied in a chili syrup. 

For our main course I continued my exploration into equipment-less sous vide, which produced the finest duck breast I've ever eaten. I served it with a huckleberry gastric, and green lentils, The meat was perfect beyond description. I can't wait to show you how amazing and simple doing sous vide cooking at home actually is. Stay tuned!

Thanks to J. Kenji Lopez-Alt over at Serious Eats for his "Sous-Vide 101: Duck Breast" post, which served as the guide for the duck technique.

Kung Wow Chicken – Because Who Doesn't Love Fake Chinese Food?

Well, I'm back in lovely San Francisco after our whirlwind trip to New York City, and even though I have a serious case of jetlag, I wanted to post this highly simplified and quite Americanized version of Kung Pao chicken. Of course, I only mention the jetlag to explain any increase in the frequency of typos (I know you'll have my back as usual).

If I ranked my top email requests, "an easy chicken stir-fry" is certainly in the top five. Of course, as I mention in the video, I don't even own a wok, so this isn't technically a "stir-fry," but it's close enough for the internet, so save your cards and letters.

This fairly simple dish is loosely based on the spicy, Chinese take-out classic, Kung Pao chicken. The origins of the name, "Kung Pao" are difficult to trace, especially when you are too tired and lazy to do any research, but I assume the recipe's history is fascinating.

I've pretty much stripped this down to the bare essentials, and as I mention in the video, it's a recipe that you'll really want to play around with. All the ingredients you see listed below are literally, "to taste."

Speaking of ingredient amounts, the quantities below are what I think the average viewer would find most enjoyable, so don't be alarmed if what you actually see me tossing in is a little more or less. I don't generally measure when cooking something like this, and I think the more often you make it, you'll find yourself becoming just as carefree.

If you like your Kung Pao-esque chicken dishes to be extra saucy, thick, and sticky (more like the traditional Chinese-American take-out style), you can double the sauce ingredients, and almost triple the cornstarch/water mixture. It's really up to you – I just prefer a little lighter version. Enjoy!




Ingredients for 4 Servings Kung Wow (Kung Pao) Chicken
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts. cut into 1-inch cubes
For the marinade:
1 tablespoon white wine
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon brown sugar
white parts from 3-4 green onions, chopped
For the sauce mixture:
1 tablespoon white vinegar
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons white wine
1 tablespoon soy sauce, or to taste
2 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon Asian chili paste (sambal), or more to taste
2 teaspoons ketchup
4 cloves minced garlic
Other ingredients:
2 tablespoons peanut vegetable oil for frying
2 cups cubed zucchini
1 cup cubed red bell pepper
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon cornstarch, dissolved in 2 tablespoon water
1/4 cup green onion tops, chopped
handful roasted, salted peanut halves
4 cups cooked white rice

Green Coconut Chicken – This Could Be a Curry Recipe

I was calling this green coconut chicken recipe a curry all the way up until I started writing the post. The problem with calling something a curry is that people expect it to taste like a curry, and that could mean a whole bunch of things, not all of them good. So, I decided to call it something that wouldn’t necessarily recall a strong taste memory.

While there is a nice dose of red curry powder in the braise, it's certainly not the dominate flavor. For something that may seem quite exotic and boldly spiced, this a surprisingly mellow dish. If you've never cooked with coconut milk, this would be a nice recipe to change that.

The coconut milk adds a subtle sweetness and richness that makes it a great vehicle for moving around all kinds of tastes and textures. I've used this same exact procedure for countless versions using beef, pork, lamb, duck, and seafood, with great results. It's not low in fat, but my sources deep inside the coconut industry tell me the fat is quite unique and healthful.

Regarding the red curry powder: I decided to use a standard supermarket brand as to make this as accessible as possible. I went with the McCormick Gourmet Collection Red Curry Powder, which contains coriander, cumin, chili pepper, red pepper, and cardamom.

This blend does have some heat to it, but if you like your green coconut chicken on the spicy side I suggest a little extra blast of sambal or sriracha. Enjoy!

UPDATE: We have a report that using regular limes, and leaving them in the stew, made the recipe too biter. I used those small key limes, which are very mild, so mine was fine. So, if using regular limes, maybe best to just use the juice and leave them out. Thanks, Qin.




Green Coconut Chicken Ingredients:
4 full leg sections (thigh and drumstick)
salt
vegetable oil
1 onion, sliced
6 thick slices of fresh ginger
1 tablespoon red curry powder
3 green jalapeño
6 cloves garlic
1/2 bunch green onions, light parts
1 bunch cilantro
1 can coconut milk
2 tablespoons fish sauce or to taste, or soy sauce to taste
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 lime, juiced
eggplant or zucchini, cut in 1-inch chucks
2 cups sweet potatoes or butternut squash, large cubes
thai basil

Homemade Chicken Stock – Buy Low, Sell High

With over 400 video recipes produced thus far, it probably seems odd that I'd never done a proper chicken stock recipe. In the early days of the blog, I decided that I wouldn’t do video recipes that would eventually appear in the online culinary academy curriculum.

I had planned on having a selection of videos featuring key techniques that people would pay to watch, but with all the various projects going on, I've never quite been able to get that together. Anyway, this chicken stock video recipe would have been included in that collection.

While I can often be seen using my carton of all-natural chicken broth, there's nothing like homemade. It does take a long time to simmer, but the actual work is minimal, and the procedure quite simple. It's also a very frugal undertaking, with the bones I used costing 80-cents a pound. That's three quarts of chicken stock for about $3 in costs!

Please note that you can use this exact same recipe/procedure with roasted chicken bones. In fact, most of the homemade chicken stocks I make are the result of a roast chicken dinner, but for this video I decided to go classical. Unlike beef and veal, chicken stock is not traditionally made from roasted bones.

You should try both ways, and see which you like, and for what dishes. By the way, even though I didn't roast the chicken bones, I still got quite a nice, richly colored stock, which comes in large part to leaving the skins on the onions. I don't remember exactly why that is, which is fine since I really I don't care that much. Enjoy!




Ingredients:
3 pounds chicken bones, backs and necks
1 large onion, skin on
2 carrots, peeled, cut in large chunks
1 large or 2 small ribs celery cut in large chunks
1 bay leaf
9 black peppercorns
4 springs thyme
2 cloves garlic, peeled
3 quarts cold water

Rochester's Famous "Chicken French" - Spoiler Alert: Only Half the Name is Correct!

Chicken French has everything I love in a recipe. It's delicious and easy, frugal, yet fancy, and everyone loves it. Better yet, it has a vague, confusing history and completely preposterous name.

This not-French recipe hails from the Rochester area of New York State, where it's a staple on virtually every Italian-American restaurant menu. It's something of a mystery why this recipe would have exploded in popularity in this one city in particular, but that's exactly what happened.

The origins of the recipe go something like this. Italian cooks in northern Italy have a sautéed veal dish called vitello francese, which uses a wine/lemon/butter pan sauce similar to ones used in France. The recipe comes to New York City with the first wave of Italian-American immigrants, where it becomes known by the locals as "Veal French."

Eventually, the recipe migrates to Rochester's large Italian-American community, where chicken is substituted for the more expensive and harder to find veal. The rest, as they say, is history – delicious, tender, moist, buttery history.

Since I'm from the Rochester, NY area, it's a little surprising I haven’t done this one already. Thankfully, a wonderful dinner at my Aunt Joyce's on a recent trip home caused me to realize I hadn’t yet immortalized this hometown favorite. I really hope you give it a try. Enjoy!




Ingredients for about 4-6 portions:
1 1/2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast
4 eggs, plus 2 tablespoon milk, beaten
1 cup flour
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
cayenne to taste
2 tablespoon olive oil, plus 1 tablespoon butter for sautéing

For the sauce:
Juice of 2 lemons
1/2 cup good white wine or dry sherry
1 cup vegetable broth or chicken stock
4 tablespoon cold butter, cut in cubes
1 tablespoon chopped Italian parsley
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

A Cure for the Common Quail

Hopefully you’ve been playing along at home, and now have a nice batch of cured lemons to start experimenting with. If not, you can catch-up in no time – just check out this video recipe for Thomas Keller’s cured lemons posted last week.

I ended up using these lovely lemons in a super-simple, but really gorgeous roast quail recipe. This would make a great special occasion first course, and really shows off the unique flavor of the preserved lemons. The recipe is stark, because I really wanted to taste what the lemons could do.

I usually don't tell you how to eat, but here I'm going to. You want to make sure each bite of quail has at least a tiny piece of the preserved lemon mashed on to it.

You can gauge your own personal tolerance for how much of the condiment to use, but it totally makes the bite. The way just a little bit draws out the flavors of the meat is a lot of fun.

I know many of you will ask, so I'll tell you right up front, you can find quail. Higher-end stores like Whole Foods will carry them frozen, and any decent poultry purveyor can find some for you. If all else fails, you can simply order them online.

If you can’t find quail, you can easily adjust this for game hens, or even chicken breasts (using the slice of cured lemon under the skin). By the way, I was thrilled with how my lemons turned out, especially in this recipe, and would love to hear what your experiences are. Enjoy!

Bonus Coverage: If you're as big a Thomas Keller fan as I am, check out this great post by YumSugar about the chef's demo, "The World's Best Preserves," from the 2010 Food & Wine Classic in Aspen. That's where this whole cured lemons obsession started for me.




Ingredients:
4 whole quail
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon coriander
pinch cayenne, optional
1 cup chicken broth
1 slice cured lemon, minced fine

Is That Why They're Called Game Hens?

Of course they're not called game hens because they're so great for pre-game tailgate cookouts, but they could be. I'm not exactly sure when it will happen, but sometime this summer you will reach your grilled chicken limit, and when you do, this simple marinated game hen recipe will be there for you.

The idea here is borrowed from the highly successful Cornell chicken experiments, and uses a similar acid/salt/oil/egg concoction, only this time the part of egg is played by mayo. Needless to say you can season this a million ways, and use any combination of hot chilies, but the little kick the habanero adds is really nice.

You can, and so many of you probably will, use regular old chicken halves for this recipe, but the smaller, sweeter hens are a nice change of pace, and a half of one makes for a perfect picnic-sized portion per person. I hope you give it a try. Enjoy!



Ingredients:
2 Cornish game hens, halved or chicken halves
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded
1 habanero pepper, seeded
4 cloves garlic
2 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 tablespoon sherry vinegar
2 tablespoon mayonnaise
2 teaspoon salt

UPDATE: Cornell Chicken - Longer is Better

As promised, I used some of the leftover basting sauce from our Cornell chicken video recipe for a test batch with a longer marination. The first time I only let it soak about 1 1/2 hours, this time it went 4. The results were very delicious! I believe I like this even better, as the flavors were more pronounced. The last test will be an all-nighter. Stay tuned!

Dr. Baker's Famous Cornell Chicken – Ivy League Taste on a Community College Budget

Unlike most of America's regional culinary specialties, the origins of the Cornell chicken recipe are undisputed. According to nearly all reports, as well as the college itself, this famous grilled chicken recipe was created by Dr. Robert C. Baker, Professor of Animal Sciences at New York's Cornell University.

They say Dr. Baker was simply trying to invent an easy and delicious way to grill smaller, younger chickens, so that the local chicken farms could sell more birds, sell them sooner, and more affordably. The doc's tasty recipe ended up being such a success that sales in the area soared, and the recipe became a statewide favorite.

While that all makes sense, there was something that just seemed to be a bit odd. I mean, why would a college professor be so unusually motivated to increase chicken sales? Then I thought, what if he had no choice? Maybe I've been watching too many straight-to-cable movies, but what if the real story was much more sinister and diabolical.

What if Dr. Baker just didn't love chickens, but really, really, "loved" chickens? What if someone inside the local poultry industry found out about the professor's "love" and blackmailed him into devoting his life's work to promoting the succulent grilling of their chickens. That's completely insane, you say? Well, is it? Is it? Yes, actually that is ridiculous. Never mind.

Anyway, the results of my Cornell chicken experiment were exceptional. I love this basing sauce. The combination of the egg, oil, and vinegar created a super flavorful, and very moist chicken. I used the original recipe "as is," but as I explain in the video, Dr. Baker's method was intended to be done over a barbecue pit. If you want to see his original plans, you can see them here on the Cornell University website.

I have a bunch of the sauce leftover, so I'm excited to play around with some different variations, so stay tuned for that. I hope you give this a try, since grilling season will soon be in full swing, and you can never have too many ways to do chicken. Enjoy!




Ingredients:
2 cups cider vinegar
1 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
3 tablespoons salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon poultry seasoning

So What's the Deal with Cornell Chicken?

I'm planning to do a video recipe for Cornell chicken, so if you have any information, tips, secrets, anecdotes, memories, or other pertinent details, I'd love to hear about it! In case you've never heard of Cornell chicken, here's a little video tease I found on someone called skeeler1954's YouTube channel. By the way, as someone who appreciates a well-done voice-over, the British narrator in this clip is awesome.

If you're from upstate or western New York, and feel like getting all nostalgic, you may want to take a peak at the other videos posted there. Enjoy!



Note: I couldn't find a decent photo of Cornell chicken for this post, so I used this picture from our grilled lemon yogurt chicken recipe.

Original Buffalo Chicken Wings (Shaken, Not Stirred) – Totally Authentic, Or So I Hear

If you know someone from Buffalo, they know someone who told them the secret ingredients to the Anchor Bar's famous Buffalo chicken wings. I know people from Buffalo. This is my version, as described to me many years ago, over almost as many beers.

Now that we've established it's absolute validity, I should tell you, I'm not a huge fan. Just because a recipe is authentic, doesn’t mean it's a great recipe. Don't get me wrong, I've never turned down plate of Buffalo-style chicken wings, I'm just saying there are about 20 wings sauce recipes I like better (like the ones I've already posted on the blog - see below)

Having said that, people really seem to love these, and I encourage you to give them a try. The wings are always fried in Buffalo, but a really hot oven works just fine.

To see the technique for baking the wings, click this link and watch the famous Clifton Springs Chicken Wings video, or this link which has all three of our previous chicken wing videos. Enjoy!




Ingredients:
2/3 cup Frank's Louisiana hot sauce
1 stick (1/2 cup) cold unsalted butter
1 1/2 tablespoons white vinegar
1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon Tabasco sauce or other hot sauce (like the Sriracha I used)
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
salt to taste

Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo – Since it was Loose, You Must Reduce

I usually don't film things I'm trying for the first time. There is so much set up involved, and time invested when I do one of these video recipes, that it's just too painful to have something not work and end up with nothing to show for all the effort.

I thought this chicken fettuccine Alfredo recipe was going to fit that description. I'm putting this recipe in the cookbook, and I wanted to try one that uses chicken broth, the same one used to poach the breasts, in place of some of the heavy cream.

I was so sure I had the right proportions that I decided to film it without a test. I was wrong, or as the kids say these days…Fail (which by the way, is getting really annoying, so cut it out).

The dish tasted great; the fortified chicken broth worked perfectly as a partial cream substitute, and I also managed to not use any butter or olive oil – another goal of this recipe. The problem, as you'll see, is I simply had twice as much chicken broth as I needed.

So, in case I'm not clear in the video. You poach the breasts in 2 cups of broth, but before you continue with the recipe, boil that poaching liquid down to 1 cup and you will be in slightly-less-caloric chicken fettuccine Alfredo heaven.

Also, be sure to undercook the pasta by at least a minute, so you can allow it to absorb the sauce at the end, as it rests covered. The last piece of advice you've heard before… DO NOT attempt this recipe unless you have a nice hunk of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. It's like the main ingredient, so that green can is not going to cut it. Enjoy!




Ingredients for 4 large servings:
2 large chicken breasts
2 cups low sodium organic chicken broth
1 pound fettuccine
2 cups heavy cream
4 cloves garlic, very finely minced
2 large egg yolks
1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley (in summer toss some nice fresh basil in for a little different version)
2 cups freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

King Ranch Casserole – Revenge is a Dish Best Served Ironically Named

There are three things all real Texans love: high school football, executing people, and the King Ranch casserole. From what I hear, it's impossible to go to any sort of potluck and not see one of these.

I love posting about these regional culinary favorites, especially when no one knows for sure where the name came from. It allows me to put forth my own, often ridiculous, theory. There is indeed a King Ranch in Texas – they say it's one of the most famous ranches in the world, but as far as claiming credit for inventing this casserole goes, they're not interested. You can't really blame them…a legendary cattle ranch the birthplace of a famous chicken recipe? I don't think so.

Here's what I bet happened. You don’t build a cattle ranch without making a few enemies along the way. To get revenge, someone invented this dish and called it the King Ranch casserole just to annoy them. It was a brilliant plan. Without firing a shot, or bloodying a knuckle, they inflicted the ultimate cattleman humiliation.

Regarding this recipe, I have a few things to explain. I'm testing it for the cookbook, and so I wanted to stay true to the original formula, which explains the cans of soup. Also, as you'll hear me say in the video, I tried to add an extra layer of tortilla on the bottom, which was a mistake. It threw off the meat to grain to condensed soup ratio. Two layers are plenty; so if you make it, take note.

Lastly, since condensed soup is dangerously high in sodium, I didn't add any, but after sampling I decided that it did need some after all. Best to taste the sauce mixture and decide for yourself. Enjoy!




Meat from one cooked chicken
10 corn tortillas
1 white onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
8 oz cheddar cheese, grated
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1 cup of chicken broth
1 can Ro-Tel diced tomatoes with green chilies
2 tablespoons sour cream
2 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon ancho chile powder
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon chipotle
1 teaspoon salt, maybe