spices and recipie for sautéing please.
I usually bake garlicnand herb chicken, or use a pre made bbq dry rub.... but I need to change shit up. Getting bored.
wtf, why did my pic get all stretched out and rotated... lol.
If you can find a target which has a food section, look for their "archer farms" brand spice blends. Archer farms is target's "premium" in-house brand, so I don't think you can find it anywhere else, but their spice blends are great, imo. For this particular batch, I used the blends "House Blend", "French Bistro", and "Stone Ground Mustard" blends.
My "recipe" is more about convenience than anything, this 3lbs of meat took me about 40 minutes to prepare:
1. Slice breast very thin at an angle. This is the most time consuming part. Using thighs is actually better, because you can cut them into thin strips more easily and quickly.
2. Dump all the chicken into a bowl. Pour olive oil in until its glistening (not swimming), and dump the spices in. Not too much, not too little. Mix around with hands to until the spices are evenly distributed.
3. Get a THICK non-stick very hot, with just a little olive oil. Must use something high quality, like hard-anodized aluminum. For this amount of meat, I actually got my stainless steel pan going at the same time.
4. Coat the bottom of the pan with chicken (don't layer it up or it will steam, instead of saute). Don't touch it until almost all of the pink has disappeared. If you cut the chicken thin enough, then, at this point, the bottom will be nicely carmelized. Flip the chicken around with tongs or w/e and let the other side cook. Rinse and repeat until you've cooked every batch.
5. Plate some chicken/broccoli, and grate some parmigiano-regianno over the top.
At the same time, put some broccoli in a steamer. I can't emphasize enough how much I like using steamers like
http://www.amazon.com/Hamilton-Beach-37537-Digital-Steamer/dp/B002SB8LPA/ref=sr_1_3/175-0430294-7434434?ie=UTF8&qid=1381610205&sr=8-3&keywords=steamer. Just pop the broccoli in, set it to like 15-25 minutes (depending on how much you have) and when it comes out it will be perfect, delicious, melt-in-your-mouth soft.
Two other saute recipes I use:
Stir fry:
1. Cut a couple pounds of thighs into thin strips, put in a bowl and coat lightly with some combination of the following:
a. msg (optional, just a sprinkling)
b. hoisin sauce
c. soy sauce
d. fish sauce
e. oyster sauce
(I usually just go with hoisin sauce, msg, and a little bit of soy).
2. Pour a small amount of oil into the chicken, as you shouldn't need to put any in the saute pan later.
3. Chop up a handful of thin-cut carrots into strips.
4. Slice up a medium sized (or half) yellow/sweet onion.
5. Heat up high-quality nonstick very hot, with a little seasoned wok oil (can find at any grocer's oriental section, will have ginger and garlic in ingredients)
6. Toss in handfuls of carrots, sugar snap peas, broccoli, and sliced bell pepper (optional), and sautee until the broccoli is soft (it's the most stubborn, so when it's done the rest are too). Transfer each batch into a bowl, when finished.
7. Sautee the chicken in batches (as described in first recipe). Transfer into bowl with vegetables when done.
8. Mix meat/vegetables until well distributed, and garnish with some chopped scallions.
Sounds like a lot of steps, but can actually be done quite quickly, with a little practice. The use of seasoned wok oil is a big time saver, since you can get the garlic/ginger flavor without having to mince/grate these yourself. You can also add sesame oil.
Restaurant-style teriyaki:
I'm kind of proud of this one, it's very easy and just as good as the average teriyaki joint.
1. Rinse two cups of sushi rice in a strainer until the water runs clear.
2. Put rice in glass dish, cover with an inch of water and steam for 40 minutes (using a steamer as linked above).
3. Chop a couple lbs of thighs in thin strips. Add a tablespoon of msg (dont be a bitch, trust me).
4. Mix 1/3 cup soy sauce, 1/3 cup honey, and 1/3 cup mirin (if you cant find mirin, use sake) in a dish.
5. Put a little canola oil (or other light oil) in a high-quality nonstick and get it very hot.
6. Saute the chicken in batches as described in the first recipe. When it comes time to flip, pour in some of the sauce mixture (i.e. if its 1/3 of the chicken, use one third of the sauce).
7. When the sauce bubbles have become quite large, wait a minute or two, then you're done. Transfer batch to a bowl and repeat with the rest of the batches.
8. By now, the rice should be done. Spoon rice onto a plate, pour some chicken/sauce over it and garnish with some chopped scallions and, optionally, sesame seeds.
Anyway, by now I'm sure you see the theme to my recipes... lots of sauteed chicken, steamed or sauteed vegetables, and some light flavorings... "bodybuilding style". You need a couple of good bowls, a good chefs knife, a high quality nonstick, and a couple of implements to flip things. I use this pan:
http://www.amazon.com/Le-Creuset-Hard-Anodized-12-Inch-Nonstick/dp/B002N2YPL8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1381611501&sr=8-1&keywords=le+creuset+hard+anodizedIt's great. Heavy, durable (can't count the number of times I've had it on high heat for 20+ minutes... and it looks as good as the day it came out of the box), browns food well, and cleaning is a simply case of wiping it out once or twice with a towel.
