Slow cooker whole chicken and stock recipe

slow cooker whole chicken | pamela salzman

Daughter #2 asked me the other day if I was “ever going to put that thing away?”  She was referring to my slow cooker, of course.  Not that Daughter #2 is complaining since she’s the first one to the dinner table every night and has always been the easiest one to cook for.  But she had a point.  That slow cooker has has become part of the family!

salting the chicken early is key!

But I wasn’t about to shelve my new baby so soon.  Just when I thought cooking a whole chicken couldn’t get any easier, I decided to put my Easy No-Fail Roast Chicken method to the test in…the slow cooker.  Believe me, I don’t normally mess with the easiest, most popular dinners in my repertoire.  But roasting a whole chicken is something that needs to be started well before I get home some days and I need a back-up.  That and I was on a roll and feeling lucky, so I figured this was going to work like everything else I’ve been trying.  I decided to prep the chicken in basically the same way I do an oven-roasted chicken — rubbed on the inside and out with some kosher salt early on, stuffed with a bit of fresh thyme and some crushed garlic and cooked on a bed of onions.  I usually add cut lemons to the cavity, but I was nervous that cooking the lemons for a long time would result in a bitter taste, so I left those out.  The only other change I made was to rub the outside of the chicken with a little olive oil mixed with paprika so that the skin would get a little color and not be pale and unattractive.

sprinkle with paprika and olive oil

The conclusion is that I think I should call this recipe “Easier than Easy No-Fail Roast Chicken and Still So Darn Good.”  The chicken was predictably fall-off-the-bones.  In fact, I had a hard time getting the chicken out of the slow cooker in one piece!  My kids love super soft meat and my husband likes chicken that is beyond well done.  I’ve made chicken once or twice a week for the last 17 1/2 years and he has asked me every single time if the chicken is cooked through.  No comment on whether or not that is annoying since my husband occasionally reads my blog AND Valentine’s Day is coming up.  Get my drift?  My point is that this chicken satisfies everyone, including me since it takes all of 5 minutes to prep and you can do it 8 hours before you want to eat dinner.  “Is this cooked through?”  “Darling, it’s been cooking for 8 hours.”

slow cooker whole chicken

So you all know I am completely obsessed with making homemade chicken stock.  I swear, if teaching cooking classes and blogging doesn’t work out, I will go into the homemade stock-making business.  The world must know the goodness of homemade stock somehow!  So before I served this chicken to the family, I removed and reserved all the bones.  I put the bones back in there with a chicken back I had in the freezer plus some stock veggies (onions, carrots, celery) and water and I made chicken stock overnight.  It was delicious.  And because there was no skin and foam and such, it turned out to be such a clear stock with minimal fat.  It’s crazy not to try this!  (Sorry I don’t have photos.  It was too dark in my kitchen and the images didn’t turn out well.)

lovely juices on the bottom can be used for gravy

Cooking a whole chicken in a slow cooker opens up so many possibilities for what you can do with the meat.  You don’t have to cut the chicken into traditional breast, thigh, drumstick pieces.  You can use the meat just as you would rotisserie chicken meat and heaven knows there have been more articles on what to do with rotisserie chicken meat than how to get your baby to sleep through the night.   Just to remind — chicken soup, enchiladas, tacos, pot pie, sandwiches, salads and so on.  For those of you who do not have a slow cooker and feel excluded, please revisit the Easy No Fail Roast Chicken Recipe.  I still love you and I will put away the slow cooker and come back to you.  Eventually.  Wink, wink.

falling off the bones

 

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Slow Cooker Whole Chicken and Stock
Author: 
Serves: 6
 
Ingredients
  • 1 whole roasting chicken, about 4-5 pounds (save the neck for stock)
  • kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 4-5 cloves garlic, crushed
  • ½ bunch fresh thyme or a couple sprigs of fresh rosemary
  • 2 Tablespoons unrefined olive oil
  • 1-2 teaspoons paprika
  • 1 brown onion, peeled and sliced into thick slices
  • For the stock:
  • Some additional bony chicken pieces if you have them, such as backs, necks, wings and/or feet, up to 2 pounds
  • 2 brown onions, cut into large pieces
  • 3 carrots, cut into large chunks
  • 3 celery stalks, cut into large chunks
  • 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
  • water (amount depends on size of your slow cooker)
Instructions
  1. When you get home from the market, unwrap the chicken and remove any giblets from the cavity. Save the neck for stock.
  2. Take a heaping tablespoon of kosher salt and rub it around the inside of the cavity. Any remaining salt on your hands can be rubbed on the outside of the chicken. Rewrap the chicken and refrigerate until ready to cook. This can be done up to two days in advance.
  3. The day you are making the chicken, remove it from the wrapping and sprinkle a few pinches of black pepper, as well as the garlic and thyme in the cavity of the chicken.
  4. Truss the chicken by tying the legs together. Rub the outside of the chicken with olive oil and paprika.
  5. Place the onion slices on the bottom of the slow cooker insert and place the chicken on top of the onions. You do not need any liquid, I promise. Cover and cook on LOW for 7- 8 hours or HIGH 4-5 hours.
  6. Serve with the cooked onions and pan juices, if desired.
Notes
Leave whatever you didn’t use in the slow cooker (juices and onions).
Remove all the bones from the entire chicken and place in the slow cooker with any additional chicken parts you have, including the neck from the chicken you just cooked. Add vegetables, vinegar, and enough water to come up to about an inch from the top.
Cover and cook on LOW for 8 hours or overnight. My slow cooker automatically goes to WARM mode after 8 hours.
Strain and use immediately if you don’t see too much fat at the top or cool slightly and refrigerate. When cold, skim and discard any fat from the top. Stock can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 4 days or frozen for up to 3 months.

 

 

Slow cooker chicken tacos recipe

You have all waited patiently while my life changed with the arrival of my new slow cooker. Apparently, I am very late to this party.  I had no idea there was this whole huge world of slow cooker devotees.  There are even websites devoted to only slow cooker recipes.  I could wallow in self pity right now, knowing that all these years I could have been starting my dinner first thing in the morning and then return at 6:00 pm to a fully cooked meal.  I could think about all the fall apart tender meats I missed out on or the flavorful soups and stews that could have been.  But who can be down when you’re in love?  Not me, friends.  Because I am in LOVE with my new slow cooker.

I use the words “slow cooker” instead of Crock Pot because Crock Pot is a brand which I don’t have.  But for all intents and purposes, they are used in the same way.  If you don’t have a slow cooker, I am not trying to sell you one here and I will provide directions in this recipe for how to make these tacos without one.  But seriously people, this machine rocks.  I don’t know what took me so long to get one.  I think part of my resistance was that I don’t have any room in my kitchen to store it.  I still don’t, but I did give away a box of Disney DVD’s in the garage to make space for it.  (Shhhhhh!)  I also never had a job where I left early in the morning and didn’t return until 6:00 pm to a house of hungry human beings.  Until now.

The irony is that I bought my sister a slow cooker a few years ago when she had her second baby because she does have a job like that.  She has been raving about it ever since!  A few months ago, I gave my other sister the same slow cooker when she moved into a new house and I think she just started playing around with it.  But I’ve used mine a few times a week since mid-December and I’m hooked.

Listen, no one needs a slow cooker, but here is why I love mine:

–if you spend a little time before you leave for the day, your slow cooker will make dinner and keep it warm for you until dinnertime;

–slow cookers cook at low heat for longer time.  Lower heat prevents nutrient loss.  Also, cooking above 350 degrees (which a slow cooker does NOT) can create AGE’s (advanced glycation end products) which are very inflammatory to the body and considered carcinogenic (ugh.)  Yup, you heard that right.  Preparing food in a slow cooker is better for your health!

–slow cooking can be very beneficial to tougher, leaner cuts of meat by breaking down the muscle and creating a very soft, tender meat;

–you can leave it unattended for up to 12 hours without overcooking your food or worrying about burning your kitchen down.

Again, I am new to slow cookers, and although I have learned a lot just by trail and error, I am no expert.  But so far, I’ve noticed that I prefer the recipes that ask you to brown meat or saute vegetables before adding them to the slow cooker.  You get much better flavor that way.  Yes, I realize you’re getting another pan dirty, but it’s worth it and you’re getting it over with in advance.  Also, I’ve made many non-slow cooker recipes in the slow cooker and just reduced the liquid a bit since there’s almost no evaporation happening and a lot of condensation.

The recipe I’m posting today is a super easy one which I made on Sunday.  This is truly a measure, dump and press start recipe.  I used two different kind of chicken parts to see how they would both turn out and I’ll tell you the truth — although my family much prefers white meat, no one could tell what was what.  Both the thigh and breast meat were super fork-tender.  I personally think thighs have more flavor, but that’s just me.  Everyone L-O-V-E-D these!  I set up a taco bar with lots of toppings so they could just help themselves so I could sit on the couch with a cozy blanket and the new issue of Bon Appetit while watching the football game.  Bliss.  Slow cooker + Me = Together Forever!

Any slow cooker love stories out there?  I want to know it all — how and when you met, how you keep the passion alive, recipes for success, etc!

 

5.0 from 1 reviews
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Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos
Author: 
Serves: 6
 
Ingredients
  • 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts and/or thighs (I used 2 breasts and 3 thighs.)
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • ½ teaspoon ground chipotle powder
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • black pepper to taste
  • 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • ½ cup prepared tomato salsa (I used pico de gallo.) + more for serving
  • suggested accompaniments: corn tortillas, guacamole, salsa, shredded lettuce, cilantro-lime slaw
Instructions
  1. Place the chicken in slow cooker and sprinkle with chili powder, cumin, chipotle powder, salt and pepper. Add garlic and salsa and rub around to combine. Cover; cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6-8 hours.
  2. Either shred the chicken with 2 forks right in the slow cooker or transfer to a plate to shred. Moisten chicken with cooking juices and serve with desired tortillas/taco shells and toppings. You could even serve the chicken over rice with salsa and diced avocados.
Notes
Leftovers are great in a quesadilla!

Oven method: preheat oven to 350 degrees. In step 1, place all ingredients (except accompaniments) in a 5-quart Dutch oven or ovenproof pot with a tight-fitting lid. Add 2 cups water or chicken stock. Cover and bake until chicken is fork-tender, about 2 hours. Proceed with step 2.

 

 

Deer Valley-Style Turkey and Black Bean Chili Recipe

Are we having fun yet?!  Good, good.  I have been running around the house yesterday and today like a busy bee, very excited that the big day is almost here.  I’m taking a quick breather from the Thanksgiving marathon just to touch base and check-in with you all.  Hope everything is going according to plan and that you’re enjoying the process.  What I am not doing today, however, is sharing a Thanksgiving recipe on the day before Thanksgiving because I know you are all planners and that ship has sailed!

Instead, I thought I would give all you super organized and efficient people a great way to use up any leftover turkey you might have on Friday.  I always make turkey stock and a simple turkey vegetable soup the day after.  I have also given in to chicken pot pie or shepherd’s pie with turkey.  But I also think it’s nice to make something on Friday that tastes NOTHING like the dinner you just spent a month thinking about!  It’s actually one of my strategies for getting everyone excited to eat leftovers even the day after Thanksgiving.

This recipe is inspired by the fabulous chili at the Deer Valley ski resort in Utah.  I first skied Deer Valley in 1994 when my husband and I were engaged.  He and his family have been going to the resort since it first opened over 30 years ago.  It is a really special place and we are fortunate to be able to go there a couple times each year with the kids.  Although I enjoy skiing and Deer Valley is absolutely stunning, I’m not super gung-ho about getting out there early and making the most of my day on the slopes.  I’m really in it for the food.  My favorite part about skiing is building up a good appetite and rewarding myself with a nice hearty lunch.  I actually start thinking about this turkey chili when I sit down on the chair lift for the first run of the day!

Turkey chili is one of the few items that the resort serves every single day.  I happen to notice the the lunchrooms also serve a roast turkey plate every single day.  Hmmm, could it be the kitchen needed to find a way to use up yesterday’s roast turkey?  Hmmm….  Anyway, we all love this chili because it’s lighter than a beef chili and a totally different take on the typical red, tomato-based ones that are so common.  This one is lighter and tastes fresher, perhaps because of all the delicious vegetables.   Regardless, all the signature shops on the mountain and many of the local grocery stores sell the special seasoning packet and the dried black beans in addition to the recipe so you can make it at home.  For $7 or $8 plus the cost of the turkey, vegetables and stock, you can make this pot of deliciousness at home.   Hmmm….$8 for 1/2 pound of dried beans and a few dried spices.  It wasn’t long before I decided I need to figure out what the heck was in that seasoning packet!

I can’t say this turkey chili is exactly like Deer Valley’s, but it’s close enough and I’m not sure my kids have noticed.  For sure I use half the amount of butter than the recipe calls for and I omitted the leeks, which I think don’t make or break this chili.  I also don’t use canned creamed corn, because ugh — canned and creamed and sugar don’t go with corn — so instead I just make a little corn puree.  The only ingredient you may not have lying around is masa, which is ground dried corn that’s been treated with lime.  It’s what corn tortillas and tamales are made from.  I have to say, it does thicken up the chili and give it a fabulous Southwestern corn flavor.  It’s also not an expensive ingredient, so I say definitely go for it.

Alrighty, dear readers, that’s all the time I have today. I am elbow-deep in sweet potatoes and butternut squash and my kids are starting to bicker about who gets to pick the music we listen to while we work.  Ahhh, sounds like Thanksgiving!  Hoping you all have a lovely holiday.  xoxo

 

5.0 from 3 reviews
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Deer Valley-Style Turkey and Black Bean Chili
Author: 
Serves: 8
 
Ingredients
  • 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter (you can use oil, but it won’t be as good) -- vegans can use organic Earth Balance
  • 2 pounds boneless, skinless turkey breast, cut into 1-inch cubes or cooked turkey, cubed -- vegetarians and vegans can add 5 cups of additional vegetables and beans
  • 1 red onion, chopped
  • 1 cup chopped celery, about 3 stalks
  • 1 sweet red bell pepper, chopped
  • 1 jalapeno, seeded (or leave seeds for extra heat) and finely diced (optional)
  • 2 cloves garlic, finely diced
  • ¼ cup masa harina (more if you like a thick chili)
  • 2 ½ Tablespoons ground cumin
  • 2 Tablespoons ground coriander
  • 2 teaspoons dried oregano
  • 1 teaspoon cayenne (cut back if you don't like spicy)
  • 2 Tablespoons maple sugar or natural cane sugar
  • 2 teaspoons sea salt (double if you’re using unsalted stock)
  • freshly ground black pepper to taste
  • 4 ½ cups of chicken or turkey stock, divided* -- vegans can use vegetable stock
  • 2 ¼ cups frozen sweet corn, thawed (about 12 ounces)
  • 5 cups or 3 15-ounce ounce cans cooked black beans (drained and rinsed)
Instructions
  1. Melt butter in a large pot. If using raw turkey, add half the turkey and sauté until lightly browned. Remove with a slotted spoon to a bowl. Repeat with the remaining turkey. If using cooked turkey, do not saute in butter, but add in step 3.
  2. Add the onion, pepper, celery, jalapeno, and garlic to the pot and sauté until tender, about 10 minutes.
  3. Add the masa harina, spices, sugar, salt and pepper to the pot and cook, stirring frequently for 5 minutes. Return turkey and any accumulated juices back to the pot.
  4. Add 4 cups stock, 1 cup corn and the beans to the pot. Take the remaining 1 ¼ cup of corn and puree with the remaining ½ cup stock in a food processor (a mini processor works too.) Add the pureed corn to the pot. Mix well and bring to boil over medium-high heat. Lower the heat to a simmer and cook, partially covered for 25 minutes. Serve with desired condiments (sour cream, cheese, minced onion, cilantro) or serve on top of a baked potato.
Notes
*If you only have stock in 32 oz. containers, no need to open a new one just for a ½ cup of stock. Puree corn in ½ cup water.

 

 

 

Deer Valley-Style Turkey and Black Bean Chili | Pamela Salzman

Roasted Whole Bone-In Turkey Breast Recipe

This is it, friends!  We’re in the home stretch and I’ve got one last recipe to share before the big day.  By now you know I get most excited about the side dishes, but in my classes I spend more time answering questions about turkey.  What size should I order?  What kind of turkey should I buy?  Why does my turkey always turn out dry?  How do I know when it’s done?  What do you think about deep frying a turkey?  (I don’t.)  And so on.  Even though I’ve been around this block quite a few times, and I’ll admit that I can get a little unnerved when it’s time to make the turkey.  With so many factors at play here, e.g. size, temperature of the bird, variance in oven temperatures, and so many methods, e.g. dry brine, wet brine, kosher, breast side down, basting every 20 minutes, etc., it can be a little tricky knowing how to achieve the best result.  I think most of my turkeys have turned out great.  But I’ve had my mishaps and I have learned there’s always a solution, even when I forgot to close the door to my garage refrigerator and my turkeys were about 80 degrees the next morning.  Total rookie move, and that was three years ago. (I didn’t cook them, by the way.  I went to Whole Foods at 7:00 am and bought 2 brined turkeys.  Problem solved!)

I’ve really only cooked two different versions of turkey, a whole roasted bird and a whole roasted breast.  Like I said, I get more excited and have more fun with the side dishes!  But traditionally since the turkey is the star of the show, I like to put my best foot forward and prepare a delicious bird.  Normally I roast two whole turkeys on Thanksgiving, but a whole roasted breast can come in handy for a smaller crowd or to supplement a whole turkey if most of your guests prefer white meat.  I’ve tested many methods for cooking a breast and this is hands-down my favorite.  It is also a little different from how I cook a whole turkey.  Whereas I prefer dry brining a whole turkey, I’ll go for the wet brine with a turkey breast which is much more easy to maneuver in a ziptop bag full of brining liquid. (Unlike the time in 2001 when my bag o’brine surrounding my 20-pound turkey exploded all over my kitchen floor.  Cleaning that mess was definitely NOT on the schedule.)  Either way, it is key to get that meat pre-seasoned with salt so it’s tasty and stays moist.  It makes a huge difference!

I’ve made a dozen of these whole breasts over the last couple weeks and each one has turned out moist and flavorful.  The best part is that with this straightforward method, there’s no constant basting and no worrying about wether or not the thigh meat will cook at the same rate as the breast.  Funny, the question I received the most after classes this month was “why do we only make turkey on Thanksgiving?”

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Roasted Whole Bone-In Turkey Breast
Author: 
Serves: 10-12
 
Ingredients
  • For the brine: (do not brine a kosher turkey)
  • 1⅓ cups Kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)
  • ¼ cup light brown sugar
  • 1 ½ teaspoons whole peppercorns
  • 1 quart water
  • 4 quarts ice water
  • 1 brining bag or heavy duty gigantic Ziploc bag
  • For the turkey:
  • 1 , 6-7 pound whole bone-in, skin-on turkey breast
  • 2 Tablespoons fresh thyme leaves, chopped
  • 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
  • 6 Tablespoons softened unsalted butter or unrefined, cold pressed, extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 cup chicken or turkey stock or water (stock will allow you to make gravy)
  • Gravy
  • ¼ cup white wine
  • 5 Tablespoons all-purpose flour (or a gluten-free flour blend, such as King Arthur's Multi-purpose)
  • 3- 3 ½ cups chicken or turkey stock, preferably homemade
  • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. Make the brine: In a medium saucepan over high heat, combine the salt, brown sugar, peppercorns and 1 quart water. Bring to a boil and continue boiling, stirring until the salt and sugar are dissolved, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and transfer to a large bowl. Stir the ice water into the brine and make sure this mixture is cool before proceeding, otherwise add more ice.
  2. Place the brining bag in a large bowl or pot and transfer the turkey to the bag. Pour in the brine into the bag with additional ice, if needed. Seal the bag securely! Refrigerate the turkey for 12 to 18 hours.
  3. About an hour before cooking, remove the turkey from the brine, rinse thoroughly with cold water and pat dry with paper towels.
  4. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Combine the thyme, black pepper and butter in a small bowl. Loosen the skin from the breast and open it to make a pocket. Spread the butter mixture directly on the meat. Rub a little all over the skin. Place the turkey breast-side down in a v-shaped rack in a roasting pan. Add the stock. Roast the turkey for 30 minutes.
  5. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees. Turn turkey breast-side up (I wear rubber gloves to flip) and tent with foil. Continue to roast until an instant read thermometer registers 160-165 degrees when inserted into the thickest part of the breast, about an additional 1 ½ to 2 hours, depending on the size of the turkey. The temperature of the meat is more important than how long the turkey is in the oven!
  6. Remove from oven and keep covered with foil and allow to rest at room temperature at least 30 minutes. Carve and serve with pan juices or prepare gravy. Don't forget to save the carcass for making stock!
  7. To make gravy: remove the turkey from the roasting pan, pour the pan drippings into a fat separator.
  8. Pour the wine and the pan juices (that have been separated from the fat) back into the roasting pan, and place over medium heat. Bring to a boil and boil for 2-3 minutes, scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to dislodge any brown bits. Strain into a bowl and set aside.
  9. In a saucepan over medium heat, warm the reserved fat until it is bubbly. If you don't get 3-4 Tablespoons of fat from the drippings, add some olive oil. Add the flour and whisk rapidly to cook the flour.
  10. Strain the mixture from the roasting pan into the saucepan and 2 cups of stock. Cook, while rapidly stirring, until smooth and thickened, 1-2 minutes. Add the remaining stock as needed to achieve desired consistency. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Notes
Check out my video on how to make gravy and carve the breast at the bottom of this post!

 

Thai (Grass-fed) Steak Salad Recipe (or with Chicken)

 

Thai Steak (or Chicken or Salmon) Salad Recipe | Pamela Salzman

 

Oh people.  We are on the brink of my favorite time of year.  A time of backyard barbeques, picnics at the beach, sand between my toes, fresh tomatoes and basil, peach pie, and long nights under starry skies.  Ahhhh, summer.  Beyond better weather and my favorite produce, life is just easier when the kids are out of school.  No homework, tests or book reports.  Sure, two out of my three have a summer reading list, but they always wait until the last week of summer to crack those books open, so it’s smooth sailing until then.

Because we live at the beach, we entertain most weekends in the summer, starting with Memorial Day which, being the East Coaster that I am, is the unofficial start of “the season.”  One of my favorite things to do right about now is start planning a few menus that I can rotate during the summer.  Whenever I am thinking of the ideal food to prepare — make ahead, room temperature and easy all come to mind.  Very often, we’ll go to the beach for the afternoon, come back to the house to freshen up before lingering over dinner in the backyard.  This doesn’t give me too much time to cook for a crowd, so I look for recipes which allow me to prep in the morning or the night before so I can do more assembling than cooking.

This Thai Steak Salad has never appeared on any of my summer menus since I just taught it a few months ago in my classes, but it will definitely be a regular this season.  There are so many reasons I love this salad — it’s light, I can vary it with chicken or tofu (even shrimp) and change up the vegetables according to what looks good, and there’s lots of prep in advance that I can do.  Oh, forgot to mention that my family loves it, too!  The first time I told my kids and husband they were eating “Thai” steak salad, I saw a bunch of sad faces.  “We don’t like Thai food.  It’s too spicy.  Or sour.”  “Guess what?  You’ve never had Thai food in your life!”  I only call this a “Thai” Steak Salad because of the combination of sweet, sour and sort of spicy in the marinade/dressing, plus the addition of cilantro and/or mint.  I have a feeling I am taking a lot of liberties with the word “Thai.”  I could probably get away with it if I added some fish sauce to the marinade.  Next time.  However, if I were to rename this recipe, I would call it Yummy, Fresh, Tangy, Gluten-free, Dairy-free, Vegan-adaptable, Paleo-friendly, Perfect for Summer Salad.  If you’re debating whether or not to veer from the standard burger fare this holiday, I have two words for you:  Pink Slime.

 

If you’ve been hanging out with me for the last year, you probably remember my post on how to reduce carcinogens when you grill.  Now’s a good time for a refresher.  Whereas you can definitely grill the steak or chicken here (I did grill the chicken), I prefer a more healthful way to cook the steak.  It’s a method I picked up from Cook’s Illustrated and it’s especially good for cooking grass-fed beef, which can get dried out if you’re not careful.  The only downside is that it takes a few minutes longer than grilling, but it’s a really tasty result and likely less carcinogenic.  No matter how you make this salad, it will surely be a delicious way to welcome in summer!

 

 

5.0 from 1 reviews
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Thai Steak Salad Recipe
Author: 
Serves: 6
 
Ingredients
  • Marinade/Dressing:
  • ½ cup freshly squeezed lime juice
  • ½ cup unrefined olive oil, divided
  • 2 Tablespoons shoyu (or gluten-free tamari)
  • 6 Tablespoons packed fresh cilantro or mint leaves, chopped (or a combo)
  • 1-2 small cloves garlic, minced
  • ¼ teaspoon chili flakes or ½ teaspoon chili-garlic sauce
  • 1 Tablespoon raw honey
  • freshly ground black pepper to taste
  • 1 ½ pounds grass-fed top sirloin or flank steak, about 1-inch thick
  • sea salt to taste
  • 1 Tablespoon unrefined coconut oil or olive oil
  • 8 heaping cups salad greens, about 6-7 ounces
  • 2 shallots, thinly sliced
  • a few handfuls of seasonal veggies*: thinly sliced cucumber or sweet bell pepper, sprouts, julienned carrots, fresh mint leaves, fresh Thai basil leaves
Instructions
  1. Combine lime juice, 6 Tablespoons oil, shoyu, cilantro, garlic, hot pepper, honey, and pepper to taste in a small bowl. Whisk together and set aside.
  2. If steak is thicker than 1 inch, place between two sheets of plastic wrap and pound on both sides. Remove wrap and place meat in a shallow nonreactive dish that is just small enough to hold the meat. Pour HALF the marinade (about ⅔ cup) over the meat. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour or up to 12 hours (longer is better). Take the reserved marinade in the bowl and add 2 Tablespoons olive oil. Set this aside as your salad dressing.
  3. Pull the steak from the refrigerator about 30-60 minutes before cooking it. Preheat oven to 275 degrees or preheat a grill.
  4. Insert a wire rack inside a baking sheet and place the meat on top of the rack and sprinkle with a pinch of salt. Bake for 20-30 minutes for medium to medium-well.
  5. Heat the oil in a heavy skillet, preferably cast iron, over high heat. Transfer the steak to the skillet and sear for 2-3 minutes on each side for medium to medium-well. Alternatively, grill over medium heat for about 10 minutes for medium doneness.
  6. Transfer meat to a carving board and allow to rest for 10 minutes, covered.
  7. Assemble the salad greens on a platter and drizzle with half the dressing (about ⅓ cup), tossing to coat. Drizzle the shallots and vegetables with half the remaining dressing (about 2 ½ Tablespoons). Toss to coat and arrange on top of the salad. Taste for salt and add as needed.
  8. Slice meat thinly against the grain on a diagonal. Arrange slices of meat on top of the greens and drizzle with remaining dressing.
Notes
* I used 1 whole red bell pepper and 2 Persian cucumbers.

To prep in advance, marinate steak or chicken the night before. Keep dressing refrigerated. Wash and cut all vegetables and keep refrigerated until ready to assemble.

 

 

The secret to great-tasting chicken

If you choose to eat animal protein, chances are you prepare chicken more than any other kind.  Chicken’s popularity is not surprising– it is very versatile to cook with, neutral in flavor, low in fat and more budget-friendly than beef or fish.  But I think chicken can sometimes be TOO neutral in flavor, i.e. tasteless.  And it can be TOO low in fat, such as with the breast meat and thus can end up getting dried out easily, especially when we’re being careful about cooking chicken all the way through.  After making mediocre chicken for many years, my life was changed once I learned a few simple tricks to making chicken taste a whole lot better.  Delicious, juicy chicken is in your future!

Quality:      I have done side-by-side taste comparisons with lots of different kinds of chickens and the best tasting bird I ever cooked was an organic, locally-raised pastured chicken by Healthy Family Farms.  There’s definitely a more pure, chicken-y flavor from birds that have been raised out in the open versus in cramped quarters.  And if it’s in your budget, I urge you to only buy organic meats.  Click here for a more in-depth comparison of the different options you may have for chicken.  Most people don’t have access to Kosher, organic, free-range chicken, but if you do, go for it and you can forgo all the pre-seasoning I’m about to recommend since kosher chicken has already been brined.

Salt:  The best thing you can do is to pre-season chicken with salt, especially a whole bird or thick bone-in, skin-on pieces.  Just sprinkling a little salt on top of your chicken right before cooking it will only season the surface.  But seasoning the chicken with salt well ahead of time or brining it in a salt-water solution will draw salt deep into the meat, resulting in a very tasty piece of chicken.  But also, and just as important, the salt changes the cells in the chicken meat so that they will draw and hold more moisture than the chicken had before.  So not only will the chicken be tastier, but it will be much juicier, too.  You kill two birds with one stone!  I did not just say that.  See below for instructions on how to dry brine and wet brine.

Timing:  Well-seasoned chicken needs some advance planning.  I sprinkle or dry rub kosher salt on chicken as soon as I get home from the market, rewrap it and put it in the refrigerator until I’m ready to cook it.  You can do this as much as two days ahead, but less than 2-4 hours ahead doesn’t produce quite the effect you’re looking for.  If you are pressed for time, (e.g. you get home from the market at 4:30 pm and you want to start cooking right away), then a wet brine is the perfect option since you can season bone-in pieces efficiently in 45 minutes.  Whole birds take longer.

Basic Wet Brine:  For 3 pounds of chicken pieces, in a large bowl dissolve 1/4 cup additive-free kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal) in 1 cup hot water.  Whisk to dissolve.   Add 1 cup ice water and make sure the water is cool.  If not, add a few pieces of ice.  Place the chicken pieces in the brine and allow to soak for 45-90 minutes.  If you’re cooking the chicken right away, you can do this on the countertop.  Drain the chicken and pat dry with paper towels before cooking.  For a whole bird, use 1 cup kosher salt and 4 cups water.  Brine for 2-3 hours in the refrigerator.  I don’t normally brine cutlets, but many people do.  You only need to soak boneless, skinless cutlets for about 30 minutes.

 

Basic Dry Brine:  Sprinkle 3 pounds of bone-in chicken pieces with 1/2 Tablespoon additive-free kosher salt or sea salt or a heaping Tablespoon for a whole chicken.  Wrap and refrigerate until ready to use.  Do not rinse.

You can apply these tips to any chicken recipe you have (such as one of my favorites, Orange and Rosemary Glazed Chicken pictured above), but you may want to cut back on the salt in your recipe slightly since the chicken will already be salted.  Look out for a fabulous recipe next week for Baked Chicken with Artichokes and Capers.  So delicious and perfect for Easter or Passover!

Turkey Meatballs Recipe

Have I shared with you that I don’t really like meat and poultry all that much?  It’s not even for ethical or health reasons.  I just don’t enjoy the texture and flavor of animal protein.  I was a pescatarian for about 8 years until I discovered I was slightly anemic, so I slooooowly started incorporating a little organic meat and poultry into my diet.  Maybe I eat 3-4 ounces a few times per week, just enough to help me feel a little stronger.  Before you think this is a post to convince you to eat animal protein, it’s not.  I’m not here to tell you what you should and shouldn’t eat.  Your body does an excellent job of that — you just have to listen.  The fact is that the rest of my family enjoys all types of meat and poultry and so does the majority of my students and their brood.  So I make sure I come up with at least one family-friendly meat or poultry recipe each month that I’ll enjoy, too.

One of the few meat dishes I will actually eat a normal serving size of is meatballs.  Is it that meatballs don’t completely resemble meat to me?  Or perhaps I enjoy them because they are generally swimming in marinara sauce, which I do love.   Regardless, meatballs are a favorite with many families and I had several requests for a turkey meatball recipe, so I gave it a go.  Substituting turkey for beef is not always straightforward.  Turkey doesn’t have the fat content or flavor that beef does, so I tend to use dark meat turkey and doctor it up a bit more by adding finely grated onion and fresh garlic.  Many meatball recipes add turkey sausage to the mix to add flavor and moisture.  You can do that, too, but I think it’s easier to just add 1/4 teaspoon of chopped dried fennel seeds to the mixture to get that unmistakable sausage flavor.  My daughters and I really liked it, but Mr. Picky gave it the thumbs down and his father, who grew up Jewish, said it made him “uncomfortable” to eat something that tasted like pork.  This is what I’m working with, people.

Here are some other suggestions for making a better meatball:

  • Bread crumbs really do help keep the meatballs tender.  I’ve used all sorts of bread here — spelt, gluten-free, a whole wheat onion hamburger bun.  You can make fresh bread crumbs by putting fresh bread in the food processor and processing it until you get crumbs.  Take those fresh bread crumbs and bake them in the toaster oven or regular oven for dried.  Of course you can buy dried at the store, too.
  • Bread-free?  I have substituted COOKED quinoa one for one with the bread crumbs and they tasted great, but “leaked” a little while baking. I also tried rolled oats once and my family thought I was taking it too far.  Rejected!
  • Flavor boosters:  Besides grated onion and garlic, I have used finely diced shiitake mushroom in place of the onion, chopped dried fennel seed, fresh basil and red chili flakes.
  • Forming with your hands:  Turkey meat can be sticky.  Putting a little water or oil on your hands can help make shaping the meatballs easier.
  • Baking vs. Frying:  Baking will not give you the brown crust on the meat that frying does, but it is much more healhtful.  Plus baking is 10 times easier to clean up!
  • Round Balls:  I have a thing against flat-bottomed balls.  So I allow the meatballs to sit in the fridge for an hour and then my OCD kicks in and I reroll them before they go into the sauce, so I get perfectly round balls, just the way I like ’em.  Shall we stop there?

5.0 from 6 reviews
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Turkey Meatballs
Author: 
Serves: makes 22
 
Ingredients
  • FOR THE MEATBALLS:
  • 2 eggs
  • ½ onion, finely grated (use a coarse microplane, a food processor or a box grater)
  • ½ cup dry whole grain bread crumbs
  • 1 cup fresh whole grain bread crumbs (2 slices of bread, crusts removed)
  • ⅔ cup grated Pecorino or Parmigiano cheese
  • 2 pounds ground dark meat turkey
  • 1 ½ Tablespoons finely chopped parsley
  • 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 1 ½ teaspoons sea salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper to taste
  • FOR THE SAUCE:
  • ¼ cup unrefined, cold-pressed extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 large onion, finely diced
  • 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 4 pounds fresh, ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded and diced or 2 28-ounce containers of crushed tomatoes
  • 1 7-ounce jar of tomato paste (optional, for a richer, thicker sauce)
  • Sea salt
  • A few leaves (a small handful) of fresh basil, thinly sliced
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees if you’re going to bake the meatballs right away. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. In a large bowl, beat eggs with onion, both bread crumbs and cheese. Add remaining ingredients and mix well until everything is well incorporated.
  3. Gently (don't pack the meat) form mixture into meatballs with your hands. You can use a medium ice cream scooper to help portion out the same amount for each meatball. Place meatballs on prepared baking sheet. If you have time, place the sheet pan in the refrigerator for an hour or longer. Cover them if they will be in there longer. The meatballs hold their shape better if you can refrigerate them.
  4. In a medium saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the onions and sauté gently until softened, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook another minute.
  5. Add the tomatoes and tomato paste with 2 generous pinches of sea salt and bring to a simmer. Cover the sauce and simmer for about 20 minutes. Taste for seasoning.
  6. Bake the meatballs in preheated oven for 20 minutes or until barely cooked through.
  7. Puree about half the sauce with an immersion blender or pass through a food mill. Put the sauce back into the saucepan.
  8. Add the basil and simmer for another 2 minutes. Add the meatballs, cover and simmer over low heat for 25 to 30 minutes until cooked through.
Notes
Meatballs freeze incredibly well and come in handy for a dinner for one or school lunches since you can pull a few out of the freezer and reheat them in sauce really easily. For this reason alone, it's worth convincing your kids to take a thermos to school.

 

“Special occasion” chicken pot pie and other ideas for a delicious Valentine’s Day

Chicken pot pie is one of my family’s favorite meals and this recipe, adapted from The Loaves and Fishes Cookbook, is the best one I’ve ever tried.  Pot pie falls in my “10%,” that is 90% of the time I try to eat as whole and clean as possible, and the other 10% is what it is.  For the last 15 or so years, I have made pot pie once a year and when I do, my son always asks me, “is it a special occasion?”  Many years ago, my younger daughter and I hosted a mother-daughter Valentine’s Day dinner at our home and we made a few of these pot pies with hearts cut out of the crust.  Since then, we decided to make this our family’s Valentine’s Day tradition.

 

Chicken Pot Pie is really comfort food at it’s best.  It’s a perfect winter dinner and I’ve never met a chicken-eating child (even Mr. Picky) or adult that didn’t think this particular recipe was just delicious.  Most pot pies are a blend of chunks of chicken meat and vegetables in a savory, tasty mixture and topped with a crust of sorts.  Usually I make a savory pastry crust, but in a pinch I have made a drop biscuit batter and topped the casserole with that.  Even though this recipe is pretty perfect as is, I think you can have equal success with leftover turkey, adding in different vegetables such as parsnips or turnips, or using store-bought pastry crust or puff pastry.

Pot pie is definitely not something you can decide at 6:00 pm that you would like to make for dinner and expect to sit down at 6:30.  But even if you are typically out of the house  in the few hours before dinner, there is no reason to be discouraged from making this recipe on a weeknight.  You just need to plan ahead and follow a few of these tips:

  • You can use pre-cooked chicken from a rostisserie or whole roasted chicken and shred the meat the day before.
  • You can chop your carrots and onions the day before or make the entire filling the day before and pour it into your casserole dish and refrigerate it, covered until you’re ready to bake.
  • You can make your pie crust a few days before.  Allow it to sit out of the refrigerator for about 20 minutes before rolling it out.  Or you can roll out the whole thing, lay it on parchment or plastic wrap and fold it in quarters to store it in the fridge.
  • Pot pie freezes very nicely, well wrapped.  It is best to thaw it for 24 hours in the refrigerator before baking.
  • If you use store-bought crust, defrost the crust before laying it on the casserole.
  • Puff pastry is also an easy way to cover the casserole.  Follow the directions on the box.
  • You can also use drop biscuits to cover instead of a crust.
I actually debated whether or not to post Chicken Pot Pie at all since it is not completely consistent with both the way I eat and the kind of food I teach in my classes.  But what I do try to encourage is cooking from scratch and with love and eating together as much as possible.  And I think we can agree that there’s as much to gain from those habits as there is from vitamins and antioxidants.
 
 
Chicken Pot Pie not your thing?  Here are some other ideas for making everyone feel a little extra love on Valentine’s Day:
 
  • Check out the recipe for Salmon with Roasted Beets and Blood Oranges.  You can make the recipe as is, or you can slice the cooked beets into 1/4-inch slices and cut out hearts with a heart-shaped cookie cutter.  Heart-shaped beets are an adorable addition to any salad.  See next idea for what to do with the leftover beet scraps.
  • For a shocking, hot pink vinaigrette, place 1/4 cup of chopped, cooked beet pieces in a blender with your favorite vinaigrette ingredients and process until completely blended.  Pick up some cooked beets from the supermarket salad bar to save time.  In this picture I used Everyday Salad Dressing #2, but stirred in the shallots after the vinaigrette was completely blended with the beets.  My kids freaked for it!
  • Orange and Rosemary-Glazed Chicken — Easy, delicious and fool-proof.  Serve with a rice pilaf with dried cranberries and a green vegetable like broccoli or spinach.
  • Fish in parchment — Season halibut with salt and pepper.  Add a dollop of pesto or slivered basil leaves and some halved cherry tomatoes.  Serve with Lemon and Cumin-Scented Quinoa or roasted potatoes and sauteed kale or roasted cauliflower.
  • Spice-Rubbed Wild Salmon served with baked sweet potato wedges and steamed asparagus with that fun pink vinaigrette.
  • Whole Roasted Chicken — comfort food at its simplest.  Serve with roasted root vegetables and green salad.
  • Chicken Paillard — serve with roasted cherry tomatoes instead of fresh.
  • Pantry Pasta with meatballs and a green salad
  • Chicken Noodle Soup with pasta hearts — cook lasagne noodles and cut out hearts with cookie cutter.  Add to soup.
  • Raspberry Sauce — Make a simple syrup by combining 1/3 cup water and 1/4 cup sucanat, coconut palm sugar or natural cane sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat.  Stir the mixture until sugar is dissolved.  Place 5 ounces (about 1 cup) frozen raspberries and simple syrup in blender.  Blend until smooth.  Strain if you don’t like seeds.  I like to serve the sauce with fresh raspberries on top of heart-shaped French toast, pancakes or ice cream.  Heart-shaped pancakes are not realistic for more than two people.  Heart-shaped French toast is great for a larger brood.
  • Cut a heart out of a piece of bread for sandwiches or toast.  Toast the hearts and use as croutons.
  • Hot pink hummus with heart-shaped chips — check here for how to make baked tortilla chips, but use a heart-shaped cookie cutter instead of cutting the tortillas into wedges.  Same basic steps to make pita chips.
  • Chocolate Fondue — Set a heat-proof bowl over a pan of simmering water.  Add 12 ounces of chopped dark, bittersweet or semisweet chocolate and 3/4 cup heavy cream.  Whisk until chocolate is melted.   Serve with fresh strawberries, apple wedges, or chunks of banana.  Always a hit for minimal effort!
  • Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies — makes a great Valentine gift!
Do you have any favorite Valentine foods?  Please share!
 
5.0 from 1 reviews
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"Special Occasion" Chicken Pot Pie
Author: 
Serves: 8
 
Ingredients
  • PASTRY
  • 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
  • ½ teaspoon sea salt
  • ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 12 Tablespoons (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
  • 1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
  • ¼ cup ice water
  • FILLING
  • 3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts (or equivalent amount of cooked chicken, shredded or chopped into bite-size pieces)
  • ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
  • 2 medium onions, peeled and chopped
  • 3 carrots, peeled and diced
  • ½ cup unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 1 ½ teaspoons sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 4 cups chicken stock
  • 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 10-ounce package frozen peas, thawed
  • ½ cup chopped fresh parsley
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1 Tablespoons heavy cream or whole milk
Instructions
  1. To make the pastry, place the flour, salt, pepper and butter in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Pulse 5 times. Add the lemon juice and water and turn on the machine for 3 seconds. Using your hands, scrape the dough onto a floured surface and work it together into a smooth ball. Cover with parchment paper or plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
  2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
  3. To cook chicken: bring a large pot of water to a boil and add chicken breasts. Simmer for 7-8 minutes. Drain. Save the pot for later use. When chicken is cool enough to handle, cut into bite-size pieces and add back to pot. It is fine if the chicken is not cooked all the way through. Set aside.
  4. Heat butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and carrot and sauté until onion is translucent. Add the flour and sauté for 3 minutes over medium-low heat, stirring constantly. Add the salt and paprika. Mix well. Add the chicken stock gradually while stirring and bring to a boil. Stir in the Worcestershire sauce. Taste the mixture for seasoning and add extra salt and pepper if needed.
  5. Add peas, parsley and onion-carrot mixture to chicken in the pot and combine well. Transfer to a 13 x 9–inch casserole dish.
  6. Roll out the pastry dough 1-inch larger than the area of the casserole dish. Cut hearts from the dough with cookie cutter, if desired, otherwise make a few small slits in the dough for steam to escape. Place the dough on top of the filling and crimp the edges.
  7. Beat the egg yolk with the cream and brush the top of the pastry with the mixture. Place dish on top of a baking sheet and bake for 50-60 minutes or until golden brown.
Notes
You can cut this recipe in half and bake it in an 8 x 8-inch pan. You can also make individual pot pies in oven-proof bowls or large ramekins.