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The Perdue Chicken Cookbook
by Mitzi Perdue
Copyright (C) Mitzi Perdue
November, 1999 [Etext #1979]
Project Gutenberg Etext The Perdue Chicken Cookbook, by Mitzi Perdue
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This Etext prepared by Mitzi Perdue <mitzi@eggscape.com>
The Perdue Chicken Cookbook
by Mitzi Perdue
Copyright (C) Mitzi Perdue
From: "Mitzi Perdue" <mitzi@eggscape.com>
The Perdue Chicken Cookbook
by Mitzi Perdue
Copyright (C) Mitzi Perdue
Preface: Why I Chickened Out
Introduction: You Don't Need to Wing It!
Let Frank Take You Under His.
Everything You Wanted or Needed to Know about
Selecting, Storing and Cooking Chicken
Chapter 1. Chicken for Everyday
Tips on Cooking in a Hurry,
plus: Quick Recipes,
Simple Recipes,
and Family Favorites
Chapter 2. Chicken for the Microwave
Tips for Using the Microwave,
plus: Quick Microwave Recipes,
and Classic Recipes Adapted for the Microwave
Chapter 3. Chicken for Dieters
Tips for Dieters,
plus: Low Calorie, Low Cholesterol Recipes
Chapter 4. Chicken for Children
Tips on Cooking for Kids,
plus: Recipes for Kids to Eat
and Recipes for Kids to Cook
Chapter 5. Chicken for Barbecuing
Tips for Cooking Outdoors,
plus Recipes for Barbecuing
Chapter 6. Chicken for Crowds
Tips on Quantity Cooking,
plus Recipes for Crowds
Chapter 7. Chicken for Tomorrow-or Next Week
Tips on Storing and Freezing,
plus Cook Ahead Recipes
Chapter 8. Chicken for Holidays
Chicken and Holiday Cooking,
plus: Menus and Recipes for
the Chinese New Year,
Valentine's Day,
Mother's Day,
Fourth of July,
Thanksgiving,
Chanukah,
and Christmas
Chapter 9. Chicken for Important Occasions
Chicken for When You Want Something Different and Exciting,
plus Show Stopper Recipes
Chapter 10. Chicken for Planovers
Tips on Food Safety,
plus Recipes for the Rest of the Bird
Conclusion: A Rare Bird
What Frank Is Really Like
Acknowledgements
I've often thought that inspiration is one of the greatest gifts one person
can give another, and there are several people who were an inspiration in
writing this book. First is a woman whom I would term the Godmother of this
book, Connie Littleton, the Director of Advertising and Marketing Services
at Perdue. She is a woman totally committed to excellence, and if that
commitment to excellence meant she had to read and edit until the wee hours
of the morning, she always did it as if it were a matter of course. With
each passing day, I gained increasing respect for her professionalism,
judgment and knowledge. Bev Cox, a home economist and food stylist, was an
inspiration for her meticulous attention to detail, her enthusiasm, and her
unfailing good humor no matter what. Beth Fusaro, who typed most of the
recipes in this book, is a Renaissance Woman, who knows not only about food
and typing, but also about everything from making pottery to preserving the
environment. It's been a privilege to work with Beth. Gretchen Barnes, who
assisted Bev Cox in editing, learned a whole new computer program, Word
Perfect, in order to get the job done quickly. Sharon Sakemiller, who is
already a Word Perfect expert, also helped with typing and retyping recipes.
She impressed everyone with how rapidly she could get things done.
My sincere thanks to the members of American Agri-Women who over the years
have shared their food tips with me. Also, deepest thanks to the U.S.
Department of Agriculture's Cooperative Extension. One of Cooperative
Extension's major activities is helping to educate consumers, and I owe
Cooperative Extension a deep debt of gratitude for the education I've
received through their many publications, broadcasts, classes, seminars,
meetings, and personal contacts. The following Cooperative Extension
members-many of whom are good friends as well as professional
colleagues-have been invaluable resources for food tips and food knowledge:
Dorothy Thurber, Kathryn Boor, Christine Bruhn, Ellen Pusey, Sally Foulke,
Bonnie Tanner, Bettie Collins, Sue Snyder, Chuck Waybeck, and George York.
Also thanks to Dot Tringali of the National Broiler Council, to Connie
Parvis of the Delmarva Poultry Industry, to Joy Schrage from the Whirlpool
Corporation, and Lisa Readie from the Barbecue Industry Association.
PREFACE
WHY I CHICKENED OUT
Want to know a high stress situation? Try being a food writer and cookbook
author, and then marry Frank Perdue. You come home from the honeymoon,
everything has been wonderful and then...it's time to Cook the First Meal!
Frank wants to eat chicken and you're supposed to be a good cook.
I remember that afternoon so vividly. I knew he'd be coming home around
six and that he'd be hungry. Now up until that day, I had always felt
fairly confident in the kitchen. After all, I love cooking and trying new
recipes is my favorite pastime. But cooking chicken for Frank Perdue? I
began to get stage fright. As I was trying to find where the pots and pans
were in his kitchen, I started calculating that there were probably few
people in the world who've eaten chicken more times than my husband.
"He's been eating chicken almost daily for his entire life" I thought,
"he likes it, he cares about it, and my cooking is about to be judged
by a world class expert."
As I rummaged around looking for the right herbs and spices-and couldn't
find the ones I liked - my stage fright grew worse. "This man must be one of
the world's greatest experts on cooked chicken," I thought to myself. "He's
attended dozens and dozens of chicken cooking contests, he's been part of
hundreds and hundreds of taste testings for Perdue products. Everywhere he
goes, people know he likes chicken and the best chefs and hostesses in the
world have served it to him." In my mind I ran through some of the times
when together we'd driven an hour out of the way to go to a restaurant that
cooked chicken particularly well, and how he always seemed to have lists of
the restaurants he wanted to visit.
Help! My stage fright was getting still worse. The thirty year old oven
didn't seem to be heating right, but I couldn't be sure because there wasn't
any oven thermometer. The "elbow test," which our grandmothers used to use
before the days of thermometers (you stick your elbow in the oven and feel
how hot it is), told me that things weren't right, but I didn't know how far
off the oven was so I didn't know how to compensate. As I rubbed my elbow
with my other hand, I thought of Frank's reputation for being demanding. If
you've seen the ad that we call "Boot Camp," you know what I mean. (He
plays the part of a drill sergeant in this ad and teaches the new Perdue
recruits the 57 quality points that they have to inspect -- and then he's
all over one recruit for missing what seems like an invisibly small hair.)
It's a funny thing, but when you start losing your confidence, you start
asking some basic questions about what you're doing. Part of me was saying
that cooking chicken is pretty simple; after all, I'd been doing it for most
of my life. But another part of me realized when attempting to cook chicken
for Frank the first time, that I knew very little of the basics of cooking
chicken. Like, for example, what makes a chicken tender? How do you
really know when it's done-and not over done? How do you get the best
flavor? Should you salt before or after cooking?
In desperation, I made a two-part promise to myself. First, I'd let myself
take the easy way out that first meal, and not even try to cook the chicken
myself. Instead, dinner would be a never-fail salad, pasta (Frank loves
pasta), plus store-bought fully-cooked Perdue Tenders. In return for
letting myself off so easily, I'd make it my business from then on to learn
how to make the best chicken every time. That meant asking Frank every
question that popped into my head; checking with the food technologists who
work for Perdue; getting tips from the farmers who grew the Perdue chickens;
and systematically going through the thousands of recipes that Frank has in
his files, trying a different one each night.
Dinner that night wasn't the show piece I would have liked to create, but
it was good enough and Frank happens to love his own Tenders so the chicken
part of the meal was a success. In the time since, I've tried to live up to
the second part of the promise, the one about learning how to serve the best
chicken every time.
In this book, I'd like to share with you the most useful cooking tips and
the most appealing, most successful recipes developed by Perdue Farms over
the last twenty years. The first chapter contains the kinds of information
I wished I'd known from the beginning. You don't need to read this chapter,
because chicken isn't that hard to cook; but there are tips in it that can
save you time and money and that can enable you to cook with greater
confidence. This chapter also has the latest tips on food safety.
The remaining chapters are organized, not by method of cooking or whether
the food is an appetizer or salad or whatnot; but rather by the kind of
occasion you're facing. You want to put some spark and variety into every
day meals? You want to make the most of your microwave? Or you're in a hurry
today? Maybe you need something that will please kids? Or you're dieting?
You've got a bunch of leftovers? You have to cook for a hundred people
tomorrow night? I tried to think of the kinds of situations in which you
could need recipes and then I organized Frank's recipes around them. Jean
Brillat-Savarin, the famous French gourmet, once said, "A chicken to a cook
is like a canvas to a painter." Enjoy the recipes and tips that follow, and
may they help you to feel the creativity and confidence that make cooking
fun and eating a joy!
YOU DON'T HAVE TO WING IT!
LET FRANK TAKE YOU UNDER HIS.
Everything You Wanted or Needed to Know about Cooking Chicken
Frank gets roughly 40,000 consumer letters a year. Half of these are
requests for pamphlets, but many of the others are requests for
information on selecting, storing, serving, or cooking his products.
These letters are tremendously important to Frank. Often I've been with
him when he has a few extra minutes, such as waiting for an airplane, and
he'll dash to a pay phone to answer one of the letters with a phone call.
He also likes to attend store openings or conventions or other public places
because he genuinely wants to hear what people are thinking. One of the
marketing men once told me that he was embarrassed about a day he had
planned for Frank because it included meetings with people who owned just a
few stores. When I passed this on to Frank, he answered that these were
some of the best meetings because the owners of the smaller stores were so
close to their customers. He went on to say that the reason he likes to
visit butchers (and in New York, he's called on as many as 30 in two days)
is that these men are close to the needs and wants of their customers and he
can learn things from them that he'd learn in no other way.
I've heard that there's almost no other head of a Fortune 500-size company
who would spend as much time with the people who buy his products. People
are often surprised that a man with his responsibilities would take the time
for this much face to face contact. But the fact is, learning what people
care about is almost a religion to him.
Here are some of the questions that people either write to Frank or ask him
in person. In answering the questions, I've either used the information
I've heard Frank give, or else I've checked with the Perdue food scientists
or home economists.
What should I look for when I shop for chicken?
Whatever city we're in, whether it's on the East Coast, or Puerto Rico,
or even London or Moscow or Tokyo, Frank visits supermarkets the way other
people visit museums or monuments. He notices the following kinds of things
himself and would recommend that you do also when selecting chicken.
Give the package a little squeeze. Are there signs of ice along wings,
backs or edges? Frank explained to me that some chicken producers blast
their birds with air as cold as -40o F, but he never does. Freezing causes
a breakdown in protein, loss of natural juices, and reduced tenderness.
Also, when you cook a frozen bird, the bones and nearby meat may turn an
unappetizing dark color.
Look at the thickness of the meat in proportion to the bone. If, for example,
the breast looks scrawny, you're paying a lot for bone rather than meat.
Read the labels so you know what you are getting. Many different parts
and combinations are available, and some look surprisingly alike even to
Frank's trained eye. The label tells exactly what is inside.
Ask questions. If any meat or poultry product doesn't look, feel,
or smell just right, check with the professionals behind the counter.
Notice the pull date. Most stores are scrupulous about removing chicken
before the pull date expires-but sometimes there's a slip-up.
Was the chicken well-cleaned? Or are there little traces of feathers
or hairs? These can look really unattractive when the bird is cooked.
Is the chicken stored correctly on the chilling shelf, or are the trays
of chicken stacked so high that the top ones aren't kept cold? When that
happens, the shelf life of the top ones is seriously shortened.
Is the meat case kept so cold that the fresh chicken is frozen and ends up
with ice crystals on the tray? If so, complain to the manager.
Look at the ends of the bones. Are they pink or are they turning gray?
Generally, the more pink the bone ends are, the fresher the chicken.
How should I store chicken at home?
Chicken, like all meat, is perishable. It should be stored in the coldest
part of the refrigerator (40F or below), sealed as it comes from the market,
and used within two or three days of purchase.
Should I freeze chickens?
Frank doesn't recommend freezing poultry. However, if a bird must be held
beyond three days, freezing will keep it wholesome.
How do I freeze poultry?
When freezing is necessary, seal chicken or other poultry in an airtight
container, heavy plastic bag, plastic wrap, foil or freezer paper.
Try to have the wrapping tight against the chicken because any place where
it isn't, small ice crystals will form. That means moisture has been drawn
from the meat, and where that's happened, the meat will be tough and
breading won't stick.
Frozen uncooked chicken can be stored up to six months; frozen cooked
chicken should be used within three months. (Personally I try to avoid
freezing chicken since I know that freezing makes the chicken less tender
and less juicy. Still, in spite of good intentions, I sometimes end up doing
it. I've learned to make it a point to have a wax marking pencil and freezer
tape handy, so I can label the package with the date and contents. I wonder
if you've found, as I have, that it's unbelievably easy to lose track of how
long things have been in there.)
Do not stuff poultry before freezing, and freeze cooked birds and stuffing
separately.
Can frozen chicken be thawed and frozen again?
Each time you freeze chicken, you sacrifice quality. If carefully handled,
however, it is safe to defrost uncooked chicken and to freeze it again after
cooking. If frozen after cooking, do not thaw and freeze again.
Why is chicken sometimes implicated in illness?
In a warm, moist environment, illness-causing bacteria can grow in
high-protein, low-acid foods such as meat, fish, poultry, eggs and milk.
But there is no reason to become ill from eating or serving these foods, if
they are cooked thoroughly and served or refrigerated immediately. To
prevent transferring bacteria from one food to another, use warm water and
soap to wash hands, utensils and work surfaces before and after use.
What makes chicken tender -- or tough?
Frank does his best to make Perdue chickens as tender as possible, but
there's also a lot you can do.
Don't let chicken dry out in the refrigerator; dry chicken is tough
chicken. Keep it wrapped in the package it comes in until you use it.
Avoid freezing it. When the juices inside the cells freeze, they act like
little spears and they'll rupture some of the cell walls. When you defrost
the chicken, you'll lose some of the juice and the chicken will be less
tender.
Cook chicken to the proper temperature, using a meat thermometer or pop-up
guide. Cook bone-in chicken to 180 degrees and boneless chicken to 170
degrees. Undercooked chicken will be tough and rubbery because it takes a
fairly high internal temperature to soften the proteins in the muscles and
make them tender. But don't overcook chicken either, because moisture will
start to steam off, and the more chicken dries out, the tougher it gets.
Keep the skin on chicken during cooking. The skin helps keep juices in,
and tenderness and juiciness go hand in hand. I've tried this both ways, and
the difference is significant. (When you cook chicken with the skin on,
approximately half the fat from the skin is absorbed into the meat; if
calories and cholesterol are very important to you, you might want to remove
the skin before cooking even if it means a less tender result.)
When microwaving any chicken product, cover with a loose tent of waxed
paper to prevent drying.
Some authorities feel strongly that you should not salt the chicken before
cooking because salt draws the juices out during cooking and toughens the
meat. In my experience, there is a detectable difference in tenderness
between salting before cooking and salting afterwards; the chicken that I
salted afterwards was slightly more tender. Still, I would guess that most
people, myself included, wouldn't notice a big difference unless they were
specifically paying attention to it. The difference doesn't jump out at you
as it does with overcooking or freezer burn.
Fry or roast breast pieces rather than microwaving them if tenderness is a
top priority for you. Microwaving is significantly faster, but there's a
greater risk of toughness when you microwave breast meat. Breast meat is
fairly dry to begin with, and you don't have a whole lot of latitude between
overcooking and undercooking. With breast meat, there's a trade-off between
the speed of microwaving and the reliability of frying or roasting.
Why are some chickens yellow skinned and some white?
A chicken's skin color comes from the diet it was fed and the same bird
could have a white skin or a yellow skin, depending on what it ate. The diet
that produces a yellow skin is more expensive than the usual diet, but the
people at Perdue Farms feel it's worth it because a yellow skin color is one
of the fastest ways Frank's inspectors have of finding and disqualifying an
inferior bird. If a bird is sick or off its feed, it doesn't absorb
nutrients well and won't develop the rich golden color that is
characteristic of Perdue birds. Also, if part of a bird's outer skin is
"barked", that is, rubbed off due to rough handling during processing, the
Perdue inspectors can detect it more easily than with a white-skinned bird.
Detecting and removing and chicken with a barked skin is important because
damaged skin shortens the shelf life and dries out and toughens the meat.
No white colored chickens get by the inspectors.
Sometimes when I open a package of chicken, there's a pungent odor that
doesn't smell spoiled, but it's definitely unpleasant. Should I throw the
chicken out?
If the odor lasts only a matter of seconds, your chicken is probably fine.
Meat is chemically active, and as it ages, it releases sulfur. When you open
a bag that doesn't have air holes, you may notice the accumulated sulfur,
but it will quickly disperse into the air. In fact, I've heard of cases
where a wife will lean over to her husband and say, "Smell this, I think
it's gone bad." He'll take a deep whiff and find nothing wrong with it.
She'll take another sniff and then wonder if it was her imagination. It
wasn't. It's just that once the package was opened, the sulfur smell faded
into the air like smoke rings.
If the chicken still smells bad after a couple of minutes, that's an
entirely different story. The problem is bacterial spoilage or rancidity or
both. Return the chicken to the store where you bought it and write to
Frank. If a chicken's been around too long you can smell it, and if you
can't detect it at room temperature, you probably can as it cooks, since
rancidity is more obvious at higher temperatures. Rancidity can occur
without bacteria if the freezer where the meat was stored wasn't cold enough
or if the product was kept there for a very long time, such as more than six
months for uncooked chicken, or more than three months for cooked chicken.
(By the way, I don't like to focus on this unpleasant stuff, but I do want
you to get your money's worth when you're buying chicken.)
Are chickens given hormones?
Never. I remember when I lived on the West Coast, there was a small
company that advertised that its chickens were grown without hormones. I
thought this was unethical, because it implied that other chickens were
grown with hormones. The fact is none are.
Can I cook frozen chicken, or do I have to let it defrost first?
In a pinch, go ahead, but allow extra cooking time. For the best texture
and tenderness, however, you're better off starting from refrigerator
temperatures; you can be more sure of getting an evenly cooked product.
How long can I keep chicken at room temperature?
From the point of view of food safety, you're taking a risk if you leave it
outside the refrigerator for more than two hours. Unfortunately, bacteria
grow and multiply at temperatures between 40 degrees and 140 degrees, and
they flourish at room temperature. To avoid food borne illness, all foods of
animal origin should be kept either hotter than 140 degrees or colder than
40 degrees. If you know you won't be returning home directly after
shopping, bring along an insulated bag or box to keep cold foods cold until
you can get them into the refrigerator.
Do I need to rinse chicken before cooking?
Advice on this has varied over the years, including the advice Frank gives.
The latest research shows that from a health point of view, washing is not
necessary. Any microbes that you'd wash off will be entirely destroyed by
heat when you cook the meat. It's actually far more important to wash your
hands, your cutting board, and your utensils since they won't be sterilized
by cooking.
How do I get the best flavor?
That depends on whether you're after a mild and delicate flavor, or a
strong and robust flavor. The younger the bird, the milder the flavor. A
game hen, which is five weeks old, will have the mildest flavor of all. A
broiler, at seven weeks, will still have a quite mild and delicate flavor; a
roaster, on the other hand, is usually about five weeks older than a broiler
and it will have a much more pronounced "chickeny" flavor. (Frank and I
enjoy chicken at all ages, but if we had to choose on flavor alone, we'd
most often go for the roasters.) For a really strong, chickeny flavor, see
if you can find fowl or spent hens or stewing hens. These birds are around
18 months old, which means they're going to be quite tough, but if you use
them in soups or stews, they'll add an excellent flavor.
I've had chicken in the freezer for a year. Is it still edible?
From a health point of view it would be ok, but the flavor and texture will
have deteriorated and it just won't be particularly tasty. I stored chicken
in the freezer for a year once as an experiment, just to see what it would
be like. It wasn't awful, but it was kind of flat and tasteless. I remember
wondering if this was what cotton tasted like -- although to be fair, it
wasn't really that bad.
Why are bones sometimes dark?
Darkened bones occur when the product has been frozen. Freezing causes the
blood cells in the bone marrow to rupture and then when the chicken is
thawed, these ruptured cells leak out and cause visible reddish splotches on
the bones. When cooked, these discolorations will turn from red to almost
black.
Is it true that breast meat is the least fattening part of a chicken?
Yes. Breast meat has about half the fat of thigh meat. If calories or
cholesterol are important to you, choose the breast meat. Frank watches his
cholesterol and I've never seen him go for anything but breast meat. Is it
better to cook a chicken quickly at a high temperature-or slowly at a low
temperature?
Both work, but with high temperatures, you run a greater risk of uneven
cooking, with the wings and legs becoming overcooked before the rest of the
bird is done. Usually we recommend a moderate temperature of 350 degrees
for whole birds and 375 degrees for parts. If you are in a hurry and want to
use a higher temperature, then shield the wings and legs by wrapping them
with aluminum foil if they're starting to become too brown .
How much should I allow for shrinkage when cooking chicken?
For each 3-ounce serving of cooked poultry, buy an extra ounce to allow
for shrinkage and an extra two ounces to allow for bone.
If I want to use different parts of the chicken from what the recipe calls
for, how do I go about making substitutions?
This table should help:
Name of Part Approximate No. to
Equal One Whole Chicken
Whole breasts 3
Half breasts 6
Whole leg (thigh and drumstick) 6
Thigh 12
Drumsticks 14
Wing 14
Drumette (upper part of wing) 24
When using cooked chicken, allow one pound of whole uncooked chicken for
each cup of cooked, edible chicken meat.
How do you truss a chicken?
HERE HAVE ILLUSTRATION SHOWING HOW
What's the best way to carve a chicken?
HERE HAVE ILLUSTRATION SHOWING HOW
Some of your recipes call for roasters. I don't live in an area where Perdue
chicken is sold, and I haven't been able to find roasters in the stores.
What exactly is a roaster, and can I substitute a broiler?
A Perdue Oven Stuffer Roaster is a 12 week old bird especially developed
for a broad breast. Roasters are bigger than broilers, and have a more
favorable meat to bone ratio than broilers. Because they are older birds,
they also have a much deeper, richer flavor. You can use broilers in roaster
recipes, but plan on the chicken's being done sooner and having a noticeably
milder flavor.
Frank, by the way, is the man responsible for creating the roaster market.
Back in the early 1970s, when few people had ever heard of a roaster, he was
the one who worked to breed these broad-breasted birds, and who put the
effort into advertising so people would learn about the new product. He
surprised his colleagues by how determined he was in his developing and
marketing efforts. One of the men who worked with Frank told me that he was
amazed that Frank, who will hang onto an old pair of shoes to save $50, was
willing to spend millions to let people know about the product, and further,
he did it without a qualm, because he had such belief in it. If you haven't
tried an Oven Stuffer Roaster and you're visiting the East Coast, try one,
and you'll see why Frank believed in it so much.
Chapter One: CHICKEN FOR EVERYDAY
Napoleon's cook once bet that he could cook chicken a different way every
day of the year. The cook found that this was an easy bet to win, and I can
see why, having looked at the recipes in Frank's files. Chicken's
versatility seems almost endless. Perdue Farms home economists have been
developing chicken recipes since the early 1970s and as a result, Frank has
more than 2000 chicken recipes. If only Napoleon had chosen to bet with me,
I could have won even if he'd said the bet was for six years!
In this chapter, you'll find some of Frank's and my favorites for every day
cooking. But there are different kinds of every day cooking, so I've divided
the chapter into three sections to take care of three different every day
situations.
The first section, Fast Food Chicken from Your Refrigerator, is for when
you're in a hurry and want dinner on the table in the shortest possible
time. None of these recipes takes more than 15 minutes, and many are ready
in five. However, you will find special tricks to make the food more
interesting than just heat and serve.
The second section, Perdue Plus Five, is for when you don't mind if dinner
isn't ready for another hour or so, but you want your part of the
preparation to be as brief as possible. The recipes in this section use only
five ingredients in addition to chicken, salt, and pepper, and all of the
recipes are simple to preparenthough they may take a while to cook.
The third section, Family Favorites, is for relaxed times. When you don't
mind spending some time putting together something your family will really
like, try this section.
FAST FOOD CHICKEN FROM YOUR REFRIGERATOR
(PHOTO:
The most valuable player on the TV Football-party table might be
Perdue Done It![TM])
Frank loves to tell people that they can pick up delicious, fast-food
chicken within easy walking distancentheir refrigerators. "When you're
hungry and in a hurry," he says, "you don't need to rush across town for
great chicken. You can just walk (slowly) to your refrigerator and pick up
my Perdue Done It![TM] chicken."
Although fried foods are notoriously high in fat, particularly fast food
ones. Perdue Done It![TM] is an exception. Frank flash fries the Perdue
Done It![TM] products. They are in oil for seconds only. Further, to assure
the chicken is as low in saturated fat as possible, Perdue uses only
polyunsaturated soybean oil.
In the recipes that follow, I've used generic nuggets, cutlets, tenders,
and other fully cooked products. However, try for the Perdue Done It!® if
you live in the Perdue marketing area, which is the East Coast and some of
the Mid Western states. The Perdue nuggets, cutlets and tenders come from
white meat fillets, while some of the other brands are pressed and formed
from dark meat chicken and don't have the best texture or flavor.
TENDERS, AND NUGGETS
Chick on a Biscuit: Split hot baked biscuits. Fill each with a breaded
chicken nugget and a thin slice of ham; top with mustard.
Chicken Mexicali: Top cutlets or tenders with prepared salsa and avocado
slices.
Chicken Parmesan: Top partially heated cutlets with spaghetti sauce and
sliced mozzarella cheese; broil briefly to melt cheese.
Super Caesar Salad: Quarter heated nuggets and toss with croutons, Romaine
lettuce, and Caesar salad dressing.
Holiday Crepe: Heat breast tenders and place on a warm crepe. Top with
cranberry sauce and roll up; serve with sour cream.
Japanese Meal-in-a-Bowl: Prepare Japanese-style noodle soup (ramen) as
directed. Add heated chicken breast nuggets or tenders, sliced scallions
and a dash of soy sauce. (I often put this in a Thermos and bring it to
Frank at his office when he's working late.)
Nugget Sticks: On metal skewers, alternately thread 4 to 5 chicken breast
nuggets with 2 inch pieces of bacon. Heat in oven as directed on nugget
package. Dip into prepared chutney or sweet-sour sauce.
Stir-Fry Snack: Stir-fry wings in a little oil with red bell pepper strips,
scallions and sliced water chestnuts. Season with soy sauce. Serve over
rice.
Substantial Sub: Split a loaf of Italian bread lengthwise. Pile on heated
breaded chicken cutlets or tenders, provolone cheese, sliced tomato, sweet
onion, pimentos and shredded lettuce. Douse with bottled salad dressing and
dig in.
Tenders Under Wraps: Brush Boston lettuce leaves with prepared hoisin sauce
or Chinese-style duck sauce. Place a heated tender or 2 nuggets and a piece
of scallion on top. Roll up lettuce around tender, securing with a
toothpick.
PRECOOKED HOT & SPICY WINGS
Chicken Antipasto: Arrange hot & spicy wings on platter with slices of
provolone cheese, sliced tomatoes, marinated artichoke hearts and olives.
Out-of-Buffalo Wings: Warm hot & spicy wings and arrange with celery sticks
around a blue cheese dip. Combine 3/4 cup mayonnaise, 1/3 cup crumbled blue
cheese and 1 minced scallion in a small bowl.
Speedy Arroz Con Pollo: Prepare a box of Spanish rice mix as package
directs. During last 10 minutes of cooking time, add 1 package hot & spicy
wings, 1 package thawed frozen peas and 1/2 cup sliced olives. Cover and
heat through.
PRECOOKED BARBECUED WINGS
Tostados Platter: Arrange heated wings on platter with wedges of avocado
and tomato, chunks of cheddar cheese, crisp taco chips and a bowl of
prepared taco sauce for dipping.
Wings 'n Ribs: Serve hot wings on platter arranged with small barbecued
spareribs and thick-cut French fries. Pass additional bottled barbecue
sauce on side.
ROASTED CHICKEN AND CORNISH HENS
Aloha Salad: Halve a fresh pineapple and cut fruit into chunks. Toss with
chunks of roasted chicken, toasted almonds, and chopped scallions. Blend in
mayonnaise flavored with curry powder and spoon back into pineapple shell to
serve.
Cheesy Chick: Prepare packaged stuffing mix as directed, adding 1 cup
shredded Jarlsberg or Swiss cheese. Stuff whole roasted chicken or Cornish
hens with mixture; heat until warmed through.
Chicken Frittata: Shred roasted chicken or cut breaded chicken into cubes.
Add to beaten eggs, along with mushrooms, onions, and any leftover
vegetables. Cook mixture quickly, forming into an open-faced omelet or
frittata.
Chicken Normandy: Arrange cut-up roasted chicken or Cornish hen meat in a
shallow baking dish and scatter thinly sliced apples around pieces. Cover
and heat until hot and apples are tender. Stir in a little light or heavy
cream and warm to serve.
Chicken Reuben: Thinly slice roasted chicken. Pile on sliced rye that's
been spread with Russian dressing. Top with prepared sauerkraut, a slice of
Swiss cheese, and another slice of rye. Grill or pan fry sandwiches until
cheese melts.
Chicken Sesame: Brush roasted chicken or Cornish hens with bottled salad
dressing; sprinkle surface with sesame seeds and heat as directed.
Fabulous Fajitas: Slice roasted chicken into strips. Saute in oil, adding
lime juice, garlic, and ground cumin to taste. Roll up in warm flour
tortillas and top with chunks of avocado, chopped scallion, and cherry
tomatoes.
Pasta Pizazz: Saute pieces of roasted or breaded chicken with sliced
zucchini, chopped onion, sliced mushrooms, and garlic. Add a dash of heavy
cream and toss with hot cooked spaghetti or noodles.
Power Pita: Slice roasted chicken and stuff into a whole wheat pita bread.
Top with shredded carrots, alfalfa sprouts, red pepper strips and a
tablespoon of dressing made of plain yogurt seasoned with lemon juice,
curry powder and salt and pepper to taste.
Stir Fried Chicken: Dice roasted chicken into a wok or skillet and stir-fry
with scallions, celery, mushrooms, and peas. Add cooked rice and soy sauce
to taste; toss well.
Super Spud: Halve a baked potato and top with shredded roasted chicken
mixed with a little mayonnaise. Pile on shredded Swiss cheese, bacon bits,
and chopped chives; bake or microwave until cheese melts.
Taco Perdue: Cube roasted chicken and serve in taco shells, topped with
shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, onion, shredded cheese, and taco sauce.
PHOTO: Harvest fruit adds seasonal flavor to chicken - 3
Golden Nugget Salad: Heat 1 package of chicken breast nuggets. Combine with
Romaine lettuce, halved cherry tomatoes and diced avocado. Toss with your
favorite dressing.
NUGGETS OR TENDERS WITH DIP
Fully cooked breaded chicken breast nuggets (14-18 per package)
or
Tenders (6-8 per package)
Following package directions, warm nuggets or tenders in a conventional oven
or, using package tray, heat in a microwave oven. Serve with ketchup or
your favorite mustard. For myself, I've been trying some of the more exotic
mustards from the supermarket and sometimes I put out several kinds in
pretty little dishes that I'd otherwise use for nuts. Instead of a wine or
cheese tasting, my guests end up trying different mustards.
PERDUE PLUS FIVE
When was the last time you baked a pie from scratch?
I'm asking you this question because I'm guessing that you're like many
other people who've told me that today they'd never have time to bake a pie
from scratch. They might have once, but they don't have the time any more.
In the last few years I've asked this question to dozens and dozens of
audiences when giving talks. Almost always, I get the same answer: that
people who once had had the time to do a lot of cooking now seldom do. The
want to eat well, they enjoy cooking, but they just can't find the time.
If you were to ask me that question, I'd have to answer that I haven't
found time to bake a pie from scratch in years either. Frank keeps me so
busy that sometimes I think that I'm married to a whirlwind. People joke
that he's the only man you'll ever meet who can enter a revolving door in
the compartment behind you and come out ahead of you. They also joke that
he doesn't get ulcers-but he's a carrier.
Knowing quick recipes has become more important to me than ever, and this
section contains a selection of the best. The heating and cooking time may
take an hour or so, but your part in the kitchen should be no more than
fifteen minutes. In this section, you'll find uncomplicated recipes with
few steps, and none of the recipes have more than five ingredients in
addition to chicken, salt, pepper and water.
If like me, you also are looking for ways to prepare meals that taste good,
look good, give you more satisfaction than microwaving a store bought
frozen dinner, but don't require a long time in the kitchen, this section
is for you.
BAKED ONION CHICKEN Serves 4
Recipes don't get much easier on the cook than this. Anne Nesbit developed
it for Perdue Farms. One of her jobs as a Perdue home economist was to
translate some of the world's most successful recipes into ones that were
both easy to assemble and quick to prepare. "I'm an admirer of simple
recipes," says Anne. "My heart was in this work because I believed in it.
People want food that looks good and tastes good, but they don't have time
to put a lot of work into getting there." I've never met Anne, except over
the phone, but from this comment, I know I would like her. The recipe isn't
fancy, and it may be old-fashioned, but it's a treasure when you're in a hurry.
1 chicken, cut in serving pieces
dehydrated onion soup mix
Preheat oven to 350F. Roll chicken in dry soup mix, using about as much
mix as you would salt. Place chicken in a single layer, skin side up, on
baking sheet. Bake, uncovered for 55 to 65 minutes until cooked through.
BASIC FRIED CHICKEN Serves 4
This is fried chicken in its simplest form. It's good enough so that the
last time I made it, the grandchildren were making off with pieces almost as
fast as I could cook them. Frank's daughter Anne Oliviero particularly
recommends basic fried chicken served cold the next day for picnics. She and
her family love to explore some of the islands off the coast of Maine, where
they live, and cold fried chicken is just about always on the menu.
1/3 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt or to taste
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper or to taste
1 chicken cut in serving pieces
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
In a large plastic bag combine flour with salt and pepper. Shake chicken in
bag with mixture. In a large, deep skillet over medium heat, melt
shortening. Cook chicken uncovered, heat for 20 to 30 minutes on each
side or until cooked through.
OVEN-FRIED CHICKEN, SOUTHWESTERN STYLE
Any basic fried chicken recipe may be adapted for oven frying. It is a
useful technique when cooking larger quantities of chicken and is less messy
than stovetop frying. (Especially if you have a self-cleaning oven.)
Simply follow the basic cooking instructions as given in the Southwestern
version below.
1 chicken, cut in serving pieces
1 cup buttermilk
3/4 teaspoon Tabasco, optional
Vegetable oil for frying
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup corn meal
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
Place chicken in a large bowl. Sprinkle with Tabasco. Pour buttermilk over
all and allow to marinate for 10 to 15 minutes. Preheat oven to 425oF.
Place 1/2 inch of oil in the bottom of a heavy baking pan large enough to
hold chicken without crowding. Place pan in oven to heat for 10 minutes.
In a plastic bag combine remaining ingredients. Shake chicken in seasoned
flour. Remove pieces one at a time and quickly slip into hot oil. Place in
oven and bake for 20 minutes. Turn and bake for 10 to 15 minutes longer or
until chicken is cooked through. Drain chicken on crumpled paper towels.
BASIC ROAST CHICKEN Serves 4
Sometimes there is nothing else that will fill the bill like roasted
chicken. Here's the easiest way to do it. You can brush the surface with
melted butter, margarine or oil, but it isn't really necessary.
1 whole chicken
1 teaspoon salt or to taste
1 package (7-1/2-ounces) stuffing mix, prepared as directed on package
Sprinkle cavity of chicken with salt. Stuff with favorite prepared
stuffing. Or skip stuffing if you're really in a hurry. Place chicken in
baking pan (no rack needed).
ROASTING CHART
Approximate Amount of Additional Cooking
Cooking Time Stuffing Time if Stuffed
at 350F [in cups]
Broiler/Fryer 1-1/2 to 2 cups 15 to 20 minutes
1-1/4 to 2 hours
(2-1/2 to 4 pounds)
Oven Stuffer Roaster 3 to 3-1/2 cups 20 to 25 minutes
2-1/4 to 2-3/4 hours
(5 to 7 pounds)
Cornish Game Hen 1/2 to 3/4 cup 15 to 20 minutes
60 to 75 minutes
(18-24-ounces)
BIRD OF PARADISE Serves 4
The recipe calls for a chicken cut in serving pieces, but naturally you can
substitute any parts that you particularly like, such as breasts or thighs.
Three breasts or 6 thighs with drumsticks attached would come out to about
the same amount as the 1 chicken called for in this recipe.
1 chicken, cut in serving pieces
Salt and ground pepper to taste
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon salt or to taste
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 cup sherry
Season chicken with salt and pepper. In a shallow bowl combine egg and
milk. Place cheese in a shallow baking pan. Dip chicken in egg mixture;
then roll in cheese. In a large, deep skillet, over medium heat, melt
butter. Add chicken and brown for 5 to 6 minutes on each side. Add sherry.
Cover and cook at medium-low heat for 35 to 45 minutes or until cooked
through.
CORN CRISPED CHICKEN Serves 4
I grew up on this recipe. It's not new, but it's good and the preparation
time is minimal. If you don't have cornflakes, you can substitute almost any
breakfast flakes as long as they don't have raisins in them. (The raisins
can scorch in the oven.) For variation, you can add 1 teaspoon dried italian
seasonings or 1 teaspoon chili powder or 3/4 teaspoon curry powder to the
cornflake crumbs.
1 cup cornflake crumbs
1 teaspoon salt or to taste
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
1/2 cup evaporated milk, undiluted
1 chicken, cut in serving pieces
Preheat oven to 350F. On a sheet of wax paper combine cornflake crumbs,
salt and pepper. Place evaporated milk in a shallow bowl. Dip chicken in
milk; then roll in seasoned crumbs. Place chicken, skin side up, in a
baking pan. Bake, uncovered for 1 hour, or until cooked through.
CUTLET PAILLARDS WITH BASIL BUTTER Serves 4
When I made this recipe, I happened to be in a hurry, and didn't have time
to get fresh basil so I used dried basil instead. Frank liked it and had
seconds. The name "Paillard," by the way, comes from a European restaurant
famous at the end of the 19th Century.
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves or 1 thin sliced boneless roaster
breast
1 tablespoon olive or vegetable oil
6 tablespoons butter or margarine
3 tablespoons minced fresh basil, or 1 tablespoon dried
1 small clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon lemon juice
salt and ground pepper to taste
lemon slices, for garnish
Place chicken between sheets of plastic wrap and pound to 1/2 inch
thickness. If using thin sliced boneless Roaster breast, omit placing in
plastic wrap and pounding. Brush cutlets lightly with oil, Grill over hot
coals 3 to 4 minutes per side, rotating to form crosshatch marks
characteristic of paillards, or broil 3 to 4 minutes per side or until
cooked through. Place butter, basil, garlic and lemon juice in a small pan
and melt on the side of the grill. Spoon butter over paillards and season
with salt and pepper. Garnish with lemon slices.
EASY OVEN CHICKEN Serves 4
This recipe has been one of my favorites since college days. The true
chicken flavor comes out with just a touch of garlic.
1 chicken, cut in serving pieces
1/4 cup olive or vegetable oil
1 teaspoon salt or to taste
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
1 small clove garlic, minced
Preheat oven to 350F. In a shallow baking pan arrange chicken in a single
layer, skin side up. Pour oil over chicken. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and
garlic. Bake, uncovered, for about 1 hour, or until cooked through.
HONEY LEMON CHICKEN Serves 4
This recipe was originally designed for broiling, but this version requires
less attention. 1 chicken, cut in serving pieces
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt or to taste
Preheat oven to 350F. In a shallow baking pan arrange chicken in a single
layer, skin side down. In a small bowl combine honey, lemon juice and salt.
Pour half of this sauce over chicken. Bake, covered for 30 minutes. Remove
cover; turn chicken. Pour other half of sauce on chicken. Replace cover.
Bake another 25 to 30 minutes or until cooked through, removing cover last
10 minutes for browning.
HONEY-MUSTARD BAKED BREAST Serves 4
Have you ever been concerned about whether the honey you have in your
cupboard is fresh or whether it should be thrown out? Not to worry! Honey
is itself a natural preservative and samples of honey have been found in the
tombs of Ancient Egypt that were still edible. If it's crystallized, it may
look bad, but it's still a wholesome food. Just heat it gently until it
reliquifies.
1 whole boneless roaster breast
salt and ground pepper to taste
4 tablespoons melted butter or margarine
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon curry powder
Preheat oven to 350F. Season breast with salt and pepper. Combine butter,
honey, mustard and curry powder. Spoon half of sauce into a shallow baking
dish. Add breast and turn to coat well. Bake, uncovered, for about 1 hour
or until cooked through. Turn and baste with remaining sauce once during
cooking time.
IT'S A DILLY CHICKEN
When I read this recipe in the files, I noticed several hand-scrawled notes
saying that it was really good, and someone described it as "a dilly of a
recipe." Yet from reading the recipe, it didn't sound as special as the
notes indicated, especially since the ingredients include canned mushrooms
rather than fresh. I was curious enough that I went to the kitchen and made
the recipe, expecting that this would be one of the recipes that I wouldn't
include in this book. But to my surprise, I discovered that yes, dill seed
and canned mushrooms, along with the juice from the mushrooms, really do
something terrific for chicken. It's not rich or creamy, but there's an
attractive, aromatic flavor that permeates the chicken.
1 chicken, cut in serving pieces
1 teaspoon salt or to taste
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
1 can (4-ounces) whole small mushrooms (with liquid)
1/2 teaspoon dill seed
Preheat oven to 350F. In a shallow baking pan arrange chicken, skin side
up, in a single layer. Add salt, pepper, mushrooms (with liquid from can)
and dill. Cover with foil. Bake at for 1 hour or until cooked through.
KIWI GLAZED CORNISH HENS Serves 2
Kiwifruit is only sweet and mild when it's fully ripe. A kiwifruit grower
told me that kiwifruits are ripe when they're "soft as a baby's bottom."
When they're underripe, they taste like something between a lemon and a
crabapple. If your kiwifruit is hard when you bring it home, give it a
couple of days to ripen on your kitchen counter.
2 fresh Cornish game hens
salt and ground pepper to taste
3 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 tablespoon sugar
1 ripe kiwifruit, peeled and mashed
Preheat oven to 350F. Remove giblets. Season hens inside and out with
salt and pepper. Tie legs together, fold wings back and arrange in baking
pan. In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, melt butter. Brush hens
with 2 tablespoons butter, reserving remainder. Put hens in oven, and while
they are cooking, prepare kiwi glaze. Add sugar to remaining butter in pan
and heat over medium-low until sugar dissolves. Add mashed kiwi and cook
one minute. Remove from heat. After 45 minutes of cooking time, brush hens
generously with kiwi glaze. Continue baking for 15 to 20 minutes or until
juices run clear with no hint of pink when thigh is pierced.
FAMILY FAVORITES
In contrast to the preceding recipes, these recipes have more ingredients
and require more preparation time, but if you've got the time, they're worth
it. If you want to minimize time in the kitchen using these recipes, here
are some suggestions.
Tips for Saving Time in the Kitchen
To halve baking time, select boneless chicken breasts. Cooking time
is only 15-20 minutes at 350F. A bone-in breast takes 35-45 minutes.
Stir fry chicken can be done in as little as 4 minutes.
Cook double batches and freeze the extras in serving size packages. On
days when time is short, pop a package into the microwave for "fast food."
Take advantage of your supermarket's time-saving convenience items. If
you're in a hurry, don't bother to slice and chop your fresh ingredients.
The salad bar has probably done it for you. You can also find time savers
such as shredded cheese and frozen chopped onion. (The supermarket industry
has watched restaurants and fast food stores take more and more of your food
dollars away each year. They're now doing everything they can think of to
reverse this trend and make supermarket shopping so attractive, quick,
convenient and economical that you'll want to cook at home.)
Learn to cook chicken in the microwave. A pound of broiler parts that
would take 40 minutes in a 350 degree oven takes only 6-10 minutes in the
microwave. See Chapter Four, Chicken in the Microwave.
SOUPS
PHOTO: Pot of soup with fresh vegetables surrounding outside - 2
Wherever there are people and chickens, there are chicken soups. Virtually
every immigrant group arriving in America brought along favorite chicken
soup recipes and often the treasured family soup pot, too.
If you grew up on canned, frozen, and dried soups, you may not realize how
easy it is to make truly wonderful soups at home. If so, try it for
yourself, perhaps with these American classics. All the soups are based on
a key ingredient: rich, homemade chicken stock, made from either whole
birds or from parts, in about three hours. Stock takes little tending, just
slow easy cooking to bring out all the flavor and wholesome goodness. Why
not try making one of these soups now? And then, with the help of your
freezer, enjoy the results many times in the coming months.
Basic Guide to Chicken Soup
Older, larger birds, such as the 5-7 pound roasters, make the best soups.
An older bird will have developed more of the rich, intense chickeny flavor
than the younger, milder-flavored broilers or Cornish hens. I've made soup
from broilers and while it wasn't bad, it wasn't as good as it could be.
Use roaster parts if you want to save time. They cook faster and are
excellent when you need only a small amount of broth. The richest flavor,
by the way, comes from the muscles that are exercised most, which happen to
be the dark meat muscles. All parts will make satisfactory soup, but the
legs, thighs and necks provide the fullest flavor.
For clear, golden broth, do not add liver. It turns stock cloudy. And
avoid a greenish cast by using only parsley stems and the white parts of
leeks or scallions.
As the stock cooks down, foam will float to the top. Skim it off, or
strain it out through double cheesecloth when the stock is complete. Tie
herbs and greens in cheesecloth as a "bouquet garni," so you won't
inadvertently remove them during the skimming.
Always simmer stock over low to medium heat. It's not a good idea to boil
the stock for the same reason it's not a good idea to boil coffee; too much
of the flavor would boil away into the air. oLeftover vegetables and those
past their prime are good pureed in cream soups. When thickening such
recipes with egg, prevent curdling by stirring a cup of hot soup first into
egg, then back into soup. Also, be careful to keep the soup from boiling
once you've added the egg.
Most soups develop better flavor if you'll store them, covered, in the
refrigerator for a day or two. To seal in the flavor while you're storing
the soup, don't remove the fat that's on top. When you're ready to serve
the soup you can lift the congealed fat off as a sheet. To remove the last
particles of fat, place unscented paper towel on the surface. Draw towel to
one side and remove.
When freezing stock, allow 1/2- to 1-inch head room in containers so soup
can expand. Freeze some in quart-sized or larger containers for use in
soups. Ladle the rest into ice cube trays or muffin cups for adding to
vegetables, sauces, or gravies. Freeze and then transfer frozen stock cubes
to a plastic bag or freezer container and keep frozen until ready to use.
Soup may be stored in the refrigerator two or three days or frozen for
three to four months. When reheating, make sure to bring the broth to a
boil. Soups enriched with eggs are, unfortunately, not good candidates for
reheating; they're apt to curdle.
BASIC CHICKEN STOCK
Makes about 8 cups
If you need to, you can make the following substitutions for the roaster: 1
stewing hen or spent fowl (5-7 pounds); 2 fresh young chickens (2-4 pounds);
or 6 pounds fresh chicken parts, preferably dark meat portions. (As I
mentioned earlier, young chickens will not provide as rich a flavor as the
older birds but the taste will still be good.) Cooking times for meat will
vary from 3 hours for stewing hens or spent fowl, to 1-1/2 hours for 2
smaller birds to slightly less time for parts. In each case, time from
beginning of simmer and return bones to stock for an additional 1/2 hour
after you've removed the meat.
Chicken stock is delicious served as a simple broth with herbs,
shredded or julienne vegetables, slivers of meat, or rice. It also is the
base from which countless other soups are made.
1 roaster (5-7 pounds)
chicken giblets, except liver
1 large bay leaf
2 whole cloves
1 teaspoon white peppercorns
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried
4 quarts water or enough to cover chicken generously
1 cup dry white wine, optional
2 medium onions, quartered
2 large carrots, sliced
2 ribs celery, sliced
1 leek, white part only, cleaned and sliced, optional
1 bunch fresh parsley, stems only
1 teaspoon salt or to taste
Remove giblets from roaster and discard bird-watcher thermometer, if it has
one. Place roaster along with giblets in a large stockpot (8 to 10 quarts)
or other large sauce pot. Wrap bay leaf, cloves, peppercorns, and thyme in
cheesecloth as bouquet garni; tie closed with string. Add to stockpot along
with remaining ingredients. Cover pot and simmer over medium-low heat for
2-1/2 hours or until meat is tender. Carefully skim stock from time to time
with a ladle or spoon to remove fat particles and foam.
To check roaster for doneness, pull back a leg or cut into meat close to
bone; it is cooked when no pink color remains in meat. Remove pieces with a
slotted spoon. Cut away meat from bones and return bones to stock; simmer
30 minutes longer. (See Chapter 10: Cooking with Leftovers for uses for the
cooked meat.)
Strain stock through a fine sieve. If you want, prepare in advance to this
point and refrigerate or freeze. Skim off top fat before using.
To make a soup, bring as much stock as needed to a simmer. Then follow
the soup recipe, adding chicken, vegetables, thickeners, seasonings,
and garnishes.
CHICKEN-IN-EVERY-POT SOUP Serves 4-6
For the best flavor, use fresh vegetables, varying them according to the
season. Speaking of fresh vegetables, do you know how to tell a good carrot?
Look at the "crown," (that's the stem end). If the crown is turning brown
or black or has regrowth visible where the stem was, you've got a carrot
that's been around awhile. If the crown and shoulders are a bright orange,
you've got a nice, fresh carrot.
1 cup potatoes, cut in 1/2-inch cubes
4 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup dry sherry
1 teaspoon salt or to taste
1/8 teaspoon ground pepper
1 cup onions, halved and thinly sliced
1 cup carrots, in 1/4-inch by 2-inch sticks
1 cup celery, in 1/4-inch by 2-inch sticks
1 cup fresh or frozen green beans, in 2-inch pieces
2 cups cooked chicken, in 1/4-inch by 2-inch julienne strips
1 cup zucchini, in 1/4-inch by 2-inch sticks
Place potatoes in a saucepan with enough salted water to cover. Bring to a
boil over medium-high heat. Cook potatoes 5 minutes; drain, rinse under
cold water and set aside. In large saucepan over medium-high heat, bring
broth and sherry to a boil. Season with salt and pepper. Add onions,
carrots, and celery and simmer 5 minutes. Stir in green beans and chicken
and heat soup to boiling. Add zucchini and potatoes and simmer 1 minute
longer or until vegetables are as tender as you like them.
Variation: Chicken Minestrone
Add 1 cup chopped stewed tomatoes in their juice and 2 cups cooked, drained
fusilli or other pasta and 1/2-cup cooked kidney beans when adding zucchini
and potatoes. Stir in 1/2-cup grated Parmesan cheese just before serving.
Other fresh vegetables may be added according to their cooking times.
Minestrone happens to be one of Frank's favorites, although he skips the
cheese because of its cholesterol.
NEW ENGLAND CHICKEN 'N' CORN CHOWDER Serves 4-6
Chowders are thick soups which take their name from the large French pot
used in soup-making called a "chaudiere." You can use fresh corn in this
recipe, but I deliberately suggested frozen corn first because frozen corn
can actually taste sweeter and fresher than the fresh corn you buy at the
supermarket. Corn loses 50% of its sweetness in just 24 hours at room
temperature, and it can take days for corn to get from the fields to the
supermarket to your house. In contrast, frozen corn is rushed from the
fields to the freezer in just a few hours, and once frozen, it stops losing
its sweetness. Strange as it may seem, with corn, frozen can taste fresher
than fresh.
1/4 pound bacon or salt pork, diced
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
4 cups chicken broth
2 cups peeled potatoes, cut in 1/2-inch cubes
1 package (10 ounces) frozen corn or kernels from 2 ears of corn
1 teaspoon salt or to taste
1/8 teaspoon ground pepper
2 cups cooked, diced chicken
1 cup (1/2-pint) heavy cream
Oyster crackers, for garnish
In large saucepan over medium-high heat, saute bacon for 3 minutes until its
fat has been rendered. Add onions and celery and cook 3 minutes longer.
Stir in broth and bring to a boil, whisking constantly. Add potatoes and
corn, season with salt and pepper and cook 5 to 10 minutes or until tender.
Stir in chicken and cream, simmer 3 minutes and serve with oyster crackers.
Variation: Shellfish Chowder
Add 1 cup chopped green pepper and 1 cup cooked crab or shrimp to soup when
adding chicken.
HEARTY LANCASTER CHICKEN, VEGETABLE AND DUMPLING SOUP Serves 4
This is a famous Pennsylvania summer soup made with extra vegetables for
hearty winter eating. You can substitute noodles for the dumplings, or add
crackers, pretzels - and some people have told me that even popcorn works.
I'm skeptical about the popcorn, but if you're feeling adventurous, give it
a try.
6 cups chicken broth
2 cups cooked, diced chicken
1 teaspoon salt or to taste
1/8 teaspoon ground pepper
1/2 cup parboiled potatoes, cut in 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 cup parboiled carrots, cut in 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 cup shredded green cabbage
1 cup thinly-sliced leek, white and tender green parts only, or 1 medium
onion, thinly sliced
1 package (10-ounces) frozen corn kernels from 2 ears of corn
Knepp
In large saucepan over high heat, bring broth to a boil. Add other
ingredients and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 3 minutes while making
dumplings.
Knepp (Little Dumplings)
1 egg
3/4 cup flour
1/3 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt or to taste
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon minced, fresh parsley, optional garnish
In small bowl, beat egg; stir in flour, water, salt, baking powder, and
nutmeg. Drop batter by half teaspoons into the simmering soup. When
dumplings rise to top, stir in parsley and serve.
Variation: Chicken Spinach Straciatella
Omit dumplings. Clean and stem 1/2 pound fresh spinach; stack and cut into
1/2-inch strips. Whisk together 2 eggs with 1/2-cup grated Parmesan cheese.
Stir in spinach with chicken, then heat soup just to boiling. Immediately
pour in the egg mixture in a thin stream, while stirring. The goal is to
end up with thread-like strands of cooked egg. Cook until soup simmers
again; stir gently just before serving.
STEW FROM BAVARIA Serves 4
If you like mild sauerkraut, instead of just draining it, as the recipe
suggests, rinse it in a colander or strainer.
1 roaster boneless breast, cut into bite-size pieces
salt and ground pepper to taste
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 pound sauerkraut, drained
1 can (16 ounces) whole berry cranberry sauce
1 large apple, peeled, cored and sliced
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
Season breast pieces with salt and pepper. In a flame proof casserole or
Dutch oven over medium heat, melt butter. Add chicken and onions. Saute
until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. In a bowl combine sauerkraut,
cranberry sauce and apples. Spoon over chicken and onions and toss gently.
Cover and simmer over medium-low heat for 20 minutes. Sprinkle with walnuts
just before serving.
MAIN DISH RECIPES
RECIPES WITH CHICKEN BREASTS
Unlike women, chickens have only one breast. A single serving would usually
be a breast half.
The recipes that follow will refer to "breasts" and "breast halves." A
cutlet is a breast half (or thigh) that is both skinless and boneless and
sometimes has been pounded to flatten. A scaloppine is a cutlet sliced
almost in half lengthwise and then opened, like the wings of a butterfly or
a thin slice from a large roaster breast. To save time, look for chicken
scaloppine which have already been made for you: the Perdue thin-sliced Oven
Stuffer Roaster Breasts are ready-made scaloppine.
The recipes will also specify whether to use a chicken breast or a roaster
breast. You can interchange them, but the results will be different. A
roaster has a more intense flavor and is juicier. It's also bigger, and
requires longer cooking.
BAKED BREASTS WITH CHEESE Serves 4
When the Perdue Oven Stuffer Roasters and Roaster Parts first came out,
Frank used to have recipe cards put in each one because it was a new product
and most people didn't know how they should be cooked. The practice was
discontinued once Roasters became well-known. The woman in charge of
distributing recipes told me that sometimes the recipes on the cards became
family favorites, and when a person lost one of the family favorite cards,
he or she would actually take the trouble to write to Frank for a
replacement. I asked how often this happens and learned that over the
years, Frank has received thousands of letters requesting replacement cards.
This is one of the recipes that people have asked for over and over again.
3 tablespoons butter or margarine, divided
1 roaster boneless breast
salt and ground pepper to taste
2 scallions, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley
1 and 1/2 teaspoons fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried
1/2 cup chicken broth
3 tablespoons dry white wine
3/4 cup grated Swiss cheese
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons bread crumbs
Preheat oven to 375F. Lightly butter a shallow baking dish. Place chicken
in baking dish and sprinkle with salt, pepper, scallions, parsley, and
thyme. In a measuring cup combine broth and wine and pour over chicken.
Cover and bake 20 minutes. In a small bowl combine cheeses and bread
crumbs. Remove chicken from oven and sprinkle with cheese mixture. Dot
with remaining butter and place under broiler until cheese is melted and
golden.
BERLINER SCHNITZEL BREAST Serves 4
You'll notice that the "hard-cooked" egg in this recipe isn't called
"hard-boiled." The reason is that the egg producers tell me that it's better
never to boil an egg, but rather to cook it until it's hard in water that's
just below boiling. If you cook your eggs in boiling water, they'll end up
with an unattractive greenish color where the yolk meets the white. At lower
temperatures, the yolk will be more tender and won't discolor.
1 roaster boneless breast or a package of thin sliced boneless roaster
breast.
2 eggs
3/4 teaspoon salt or to taste
Ground pepper to taste
1/3 cup flour
1 cup dry breadcrumbs
vegetable oil
6 tablespoons butter or margarine
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons capers, drained
1 hard-cooked egg, finely chopped
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
Separate fillets from breast halves and then cut breast halves in half,
lengthwise. Place breast pieces between sheets of plastic wrap. Pound
chicken to a 1/4-inch thickness to form scaloppine. If using thin sliced
breast skip this step. In a shallow bowl beat eggs with salt and pepper.
Place flour and bread crumbs
End of
The Perdue Chicken Cookbook
by Mitzi Perdue
Copyright (C) Mitzi Perdue