Chicken With Vinegar Mark Bittman Food

CHICKEN WITH VINEGAR

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Set a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil; when it is hot, place chicken in the skillet, skin side down. Cook undisturbed for about 5 minutes, or until chicken is nicely browned. Turn and cook 3 minutes on the other side. Season with salt and pepper.
• Place skillet in the oven. Cook 15 to 20 minutes, or until almost done (juices will run clear, and there will be just a trace of pink near the bone). Remove chicken to an ovenproof platter. Place it in the oven; turn off the heat, and leave the door slightly ajar.
• Pour all but 2 tablespoons of the cooking juices out of the skillet (discard them). Place skillet over medium-high heat, and add shallots; sprinkle them with a little salt and pepper, and cook, stirring, until tender, about 2 minutes. Add vinegar, and raise the heat to high. Cook a minute or two, or until the powerful acrid smell has subsided somewhat. Add 1/2 cup water, and cook for another 2 minutes, stirring, until the mixture is slightly reduced and somewhat thickened. Stir in butter, if desired.
• Return the chicken and any accumulated juices to the skillet, and turn the chicken in the sauce. Serve immediately.

CHICKEN WITH VINEGAR (MARK BITTMAN)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450. Set large skillet (with steep sides to minimize spattering) over med-high heat. Add 2 T. oil and wait a minute. When it is good and hot, place chicken in skillet, skin side down. Cook undisturbed for about 5 minute or until nicely browned. (For breasts, it was only 4 minutes.) Turn and cook for 3 minutes on the other side. Season with salt and pepper if desired.
• Place chicken in oven. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes or untl just about done (juices run clear and there will be the barest trace of pink near bone). Transfer chicken to an ovenproof platter. Place in oven. Turn off oven and leave door slightly ajar.
• Pour off most of the cooking juices from skillet. Place over med-high heat. Add scallions. Cook, stirring, until tender about 2 minutes. Add vinegar. Raise heat to high. Cook for 1 or 2 minutes until the powerful smell has subsided somewhat. Add 1/2 cup water. Cook another 2 minutes, stirring until it's slightly reduced and somewhat thickened.
• Return chicken and any accumulated juices to skillet. Turn chicken in sauce. Serve immediately.
• Paul Bocuse Poulet au Vinaigre: In step 1, brown chicken in 1 stick butter. In step 3 add 3 T. butter to reduced vinegar sauce, stirring until it thickens.

CHICKEN WITH VINEGAR

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 450°F. Set a large skillet-preferably with steep sides to minimize spattering-over medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoons butter and wait a minute. When it is good and hot, place the chicken in the skillet, skin side down. Cook undisturbed for about 5 minutes, or until the chicken is nicely browned. Turn and cook for 3 minutes on the other side. Season with salt and pepper.
• Place the chicken in the oven. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes, or until it is just about done (the juices will run clear, and there will be the barest trace of pink near the bone). Transfer the chicken to an ovenproof platter and place the platter in the oven; turn off the oven and leave the door slightly ajar.
• Pour most but not all of the cooking juices out of the skillet. Place the skillet over medium-high heat and add the shallot; sprinkle with a little salt and pepper and cook, stirring, until tender, about 2 minutes. Add the vinegar and raise the heat to high. Cook for a minute or two, or until the powerful smell has subsided somewhat. Add 1/2 cup water and cook for another 2 minutes, stirring, until the mixture is slightly reduced and somewhat thickened. Stir in the butter if desired.
• Return the chicken and any accumulated juices to the skillet and turn the chicken in the sauce. Serve immediately.
• Paul Bocuse's Poulet au Vinaigre
• This is closer to the original and much richer: In step 1, brown the chicken in 8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter. In step 3, add 3 tablespoons butter to the reduced vinegar sauce, stirring until it thickens.

CHICKEN WITH PANCETTA AND BALSAMIC VINEGAR

Steps:

• Heat oven to 400 degrees. Put oil in a large skillet, preferably nonstick; turn heat to medium-high. A minute later, add pancetta, and cook, stirring occasionally, about a minute. Add chicken, skin side down, and turn heat to medium. Season with salt and pepper; scatter the garlic in the pan.
• Cook chicken, rotating pieces so they brown evenly. After 10 to 15 minutes, when skin side is brown, turn. Season again. Cook until nicely browned all over and nearly done. Remove to a plate, and put in oven.
• Remove all but 2 tablespoons of fat from pan. Add wine or water; raise heat to high. Cook, stirring occasionally and scraping bottom of pan to loosen browned bits. When sauce is thick and glossy, barely covering bottom of pan, turn off heat, and stir in vinegar. Spoon sauce, pancetta and garlic over chicken, garnish with parsley, and serve.

CHICKEN WITH PANCETTA AND BALSAMIC VINEGAR

Steps:

• Heat oven to 400 degrees. Put oil in a large skillet, preferably nonstick; turn heat to medium-high. A minute later, add pancetta, and cook, stirring occasionally, about a minute. Add chicken, skin side down, and turn heat to medium. Season with salt and pepper; scatter the garlic in the pan.
• Cook chicken, rotating pieces so they brown evenly. After 10 to 15 minutes, when skin side is brown, turn. Season again. Cook until nicely browned all over and nearly done. Remove to a plate, and put in oven.
• Remove all but 2 tablespoons of fat from pan. Add wine or water; raise heat to high. Cook, stirring occasionally and scraping bottom of pan to loosen browned bits. When sauce is thick and glossy, barely covering bottom of pan, turn off heat, and stir in vinegar. Spoon sauce, pancetta and garlic over chicken, garnish with parsley, and serve.

CHICKEN UNDER A BRICK (MARK BITTMAN)

Steps:

• Place the chicken on a cutting board, skin side down, and using your hands, press down hard to make it as flat as possible. Mix together the rosemary leaves, salt, pepper, garlic and 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, and rub this all over the chicken. Tuck some of the mixture under the skin as well. If time permits, cover and marinate in the refrigerator for up to a day (even 20 minutes of marinating boosts the flavor).
• When you are ready to cook, preheat the oven to 500°F Preheat an ovenproof 12-inch skillet (preferably nonstick) over medium-high heat for about 3 minutes. Press rosemary sprigs, if using, into the skin side of the chicken. Put remaining olive oil in the pan and wait about 30 seconds for it to heat up.
• Place the chicken in the skillet, skin side down, along with any remaining pieces of rosemary and garlic; weight it with another skillet or with one or two bricks or rocks, wrapped in aluminum foil. The idea is to flatten the chicken by applying weight evenly over its surface.
• Cook over medium-high to high heat for 5 minutes, then transfer to the oven. Roast for 15 minutes more. Remove from the oven and remove the weights; turn the chicken over (it will now be skin side up) and roast 10 minutes more, or until done (large chickens may take an additional 5 minutes or so). To check for doneness, insert an instant-read thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh; it should read 155-165°F Serve hot or at room temperature, with lemon wedges.

MARK BITTMAN'S ROAST CHICKEN PARTS WITH BUTTER OR OLIVE OIL (PLU

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Put the oil or butter in a roasting pan and put the pan in the oven for a couple of minutes, until the oil is hot or the butter melts. Add the chicken and turn it couple of times in the fat, leaving it skin side up. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and return the pan to the oven.
• After the chicken has cooked for 15 minutes, toss about 1/4 of the herb or herb mixture over it and turn the pieces. Sprinkle on another quarter of the herb and roast for another 10 minutes.
• Turn the chicken over (now skin side up again), add another quarter of the herb, and cook until the chicken is done (you'll see clear juices if you make a small cut in the meat near the bone) a total of 30-40 minutes at most. Garnish with the remaining herb and skim excess fat from the pan juices if necessary; serve, with some of the juices spooned over it.
• Variations:
• Add several cloves of garlic (20 wouldn't be too many).
• Add a cup or so of chopped onion, shallot, or leek.
• Add a cup or so of sliced fresh mushrooms, after the first 15 minutes of roasting.
• Add 2-3 lemons (oranges and limes are good, too). When the chicken is done, squeeze the hot lemon juice over it.
• Use Compound Butter, Flavored Oil, or a Vinaigrette from the beginning of the cooking or as a basting sauce during the cooking.
• Stir in a dollop of grainy French-style mustard when the chicken is done.
• Add a couple handfuls of cherry tomatoes and some black olives after turning the chicken skin side up again.
• Stir in a cup of any salsa in the last 10 minutes of cooking or spoon on top of the cooked chicken before serving.

SAUTéED CHICKEN WITH GREEN OLIVES AND WHITE WINE

Steps:

• Put oil in a deep skillet or casserole, preferably nonstick. Turn heat to medium-high. When oil is hot, add chicken, skin side down, and brown it well, rotating and turning pieces as necessary, about 10 to 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
• With chicken skin side up, add wine and olives. Adjust heat so mixture simmers vigorously, 10 to 15 minutes.
• When chicken is almost done, place sliced lemon on it, and cook 2 to 3 minutes more. Arrange chicken and lemon on a platter, and stir walnuts into sauce. Taste, and adjust seasoning, then spoon sauce over chicken. Sprinkle with parsley, and serve.