Sarasotas French Inspired Creamy Chicken Vegetables Food

CREAMY CHICKEN WITH VEGETABLES AND NOODLES

Steps:

• heat olive oil in a non-stick skillet and add chicken thighs.
• brown about 4 minutes on each side. turn off heat. (don't worry if it's under-cooked. it will finish in the cream).
• in a med. dutch oven, melt butter until it begins to foam. add onions and cook about four minutes on a little less than med heat, until clear.
• add carrot, celery and mushrooms. sautee until soft and the moisture from the mushrooms has begun to evaporate.
• add chicken broth and cream to the vegetables in the dutch oven. turn heat up to med-high. get to a nice simmer, but not a boil!
• take chicken thighs and cut into bite-size pieces with a knife, or kitchen scissors as i prefer. add to your dutch oven.
• dump all but about one tablespoon of your fat/oil from your non-stick skillet. return to about med. heat and add the flour, whisking all the time. after it forms a paste add about 1 tablespoon of either cream or milk. whisk until creamy and then add to your dutch oven mixture. stir well.
• add sour cream, peas and corn.
• spice the mixture to your taste. i add about half a table spoon of salt and fresh ground pepper. poultry seasoning to taste, lots of parsley, some thyme and maybe a little garlic powder.
• add the sherry and the noodles. turn heat to just above low and put a lid on the pot. let simmer about 40 minutes or until the noodles are cooked through. STIR OFTEN to keep from sticking on the bottom. should become nice and thick. add a little more cream to thin it out if you want.
• note: if you want it a little thicker, just melt a little butter in your skillet and whisk in some flour. add that to your dutch oven. it just takes a little practice to get to know how thick or thin you like it.

FRENCH ROAST CHICKEN AND MEDITERRANEAN VEGETABLES IN WINE

Steps:

• Make a batch of French Roast Vegetables with Hot Balsamic & Olive Oil Dressing, (Recipe #195130) up beforehand - OR use your own roasted vegetable or Ratatouille recipe if you wish!
• Preheat oven to 180C or 360°F.
• Grease a sturdy roasing tin or tray with a little of the olive oil.
• Brush the rest of the olive oil over the chicken or chicken breasts/pieces & season liberally with salt & freshly ground black pepper.
• Place the fresh thyme or rosemary over the top of the chicken and roast in the oven for about 45 minutes to 1 hour, dependant on the size of your chicken and/or chicken pieces. Remove from the oven and drain any excess fat away.
• Add the roasted vegetables & wine to the chicken, gently mix through or scatter around the sides of the whole chicken and turn up the oven to 220C or 450°F.
• Put the chicken and vegetables back into the oven to roast for a further 15 to 25 minutes; the chicken should be just falling off the bone, golden brown and crispy and the vegetables should be heated through & charred slightly!
• Serve with jacket potatoes or peppered potato wedges, Recipe #193370.
• N.B.
• I have cooked the vegetables alongside the chicken before, but I find that it takes up too much of the chicken fat & juices - great if you are wanting to cook a Chicken & Vegetable casserole, but in this dish I wanted the flavours to be independant of each other!

SARASOTA'S ROASTED WHOLE CHICKEN WITH A WHITE WINE SAUCE

Steps:

• Prepare -- Clean the chicken, rinse and pat dry. Add 1/2 the salt and pepper into the cavity along with the orange, lemon, onion and garlic.
• Mix the olive oil, butter, remaining salt and pepper along with the parsley and cayenne pepper. Brush this all over the chicken.
• I tuck the wings under the chicken and set in a roasting pan on my cut thick onion slices, or celery, or even carrots. If you don't want to use a natural vegetable rack you can use just of baking rack but I just love the flavor the vegetables give the gravy. I do not like to truss or tie my legs together. To me they get done more evenly when not tied.
• Time to bake -- Now I like to add 1 cup chicken broth or you can just use water in the bottom of the pan. It gives a little moisture along with the dripping from the chicken. Heat the oven to 450 degrees and cook the chicken uncovered for about 20 minutes. Reduce to 375 and cook for another 40-60 minutes depending on the size of your chicken. I always remove when the internal temperature reaches 170-175 and the juices will run clear when you stick a knife or fork in the thigh.
• Resting -- Make sure you remove from the pan to a plate and cover with foil. Let rest at least 15 minutes. Temperature will rise to 180 easily.
• Gravy -- First remove most of the grease from the drippings, just use a tablespoon, there shouldn't be too much. Then put the pan on the stove top and on medium heat, deglaze the pan with white wine about 1 cup and scrape up all the drippings. At this point, I still keep all the vegetables I used as the rack still in the pan. Then I add 2 cups of chicken broth and let it reduce 5 or so minutes as the chicken continues to rest.
• I finish by adding a teaspoon of butter and then thickening just a bit with corn starch mixed with just a little water (a slurry) just lightly, I don't want it too thick, and then strain the gravy. I then add a little parsley right at the end (optional). And drizzle over the cut up roasted chicken. It is perfection.