Chicken Bones and Kitchen Shears

As Passover draws closer, I start my obsession of squirreling away chicken frames. (Don't worry... I mean this in a good way, not in a Girl, Interrupted way.) I am proud to say that 2.5 chicken frames (bones and necks) are currently resting in my freezer, and another half sits in the refrigerator waiting to be picked of meat and reserved. You see, I like to make my own chicken stock. Most of the time I just throw whatever chicken I have into a pot with some stray veggies and call it a day; not true for Pesach. I like my broth to be just right for High Holidays.

I bought a chicken during the week with the intent to roast it. For some reason this never happened. The chicken needed to be cooked or frozen, and seeing as we have had gorgeous weather, Dan and I decided to combine my powers of cooking with his of grilling. Let's grill a chicken under a brick! This is where the kitchen shears come in.

If there is one thing I would not get very far in the kitchen without, it is our kitchen shears. I use them for everything. It isn't that I don't know how to wield a knife, but shears make it so much easier. In order to get a chicken flat enough to grill quickly and evenly, you need to butterfly it. A slippery raw chicken and a sharp knife are not a great combination. In fact, the last time I resorted to using a knife for this task, I ended up with food poisoning and didn't eat chicken for 3 months. But shears, with their strong blades and sturdy grip? Not a problem! Just a few snips up either side of the backbone and ta-da! a butterflied chicken. (You also have to lay it flat and press on it like you are trying to revive the poor bird. I save the back and wing tips - also snipped off - for stock.) Once you get the chicken butterflied, rinse and pat dry both sides, and revel at how simple that was.

That is it? you think... no! The shears made quick work of trimming extra fat and making my kitties a tasty treat when I snipped the gizzards into kitty-appropriate pieces and fried them up.


Now we move back to the chicken.

I used about 4 parts olive oil and 1 part lemon juice (enough liquid to cover the bottom of my glass baking dish) mixed with 1/2 TBS chopped garlic, 2 tsp salt, 4 sprigs of fresh rosemary (chopped with - you guessed it! - kitchen shears! No longer is my kitchen covered in chopped rosemary!) and 1 tsp thyme to rub the chicken with. Rub both the meat and bone side of the chicken.
I let it marinate in this mixture meat-side down for 2 hours (refrigerated).

We have bricks in our garden. I didn't want to pull them up to grill with, even if I was going to wrap them in foil. Instead, we used the bottom of our cast iron skillet. Regardless if you use one heavy cast iron skillet (ours is a 10 inch pan), grill-safe pizza stone, or 2 bricks, wrap whatever you use with foil and grease with leftover marinade.

Here's what to do about that beautiful bird:

Heat the grill to medium. Grease with leftover marinade (careful, as it will flare up... use tongs and a paper towel...) and put the bird as spread out and center as you can, bone side down. Put any large pieces of rosemary that are in the marinade on the chicken, and make sure it is well-basted. Put the skillet (stone, brick) on top, and press a little, especially over the legs, where the chicken is thickest.

Our bird was about 4 lbs, and I let it cook like this for 25 minutes. If your bird is heavier, increase this time by 5 minutes per half pound, if it is smaller, decrease by 5 minutes per pound.

After this time has passed, get a team assembled. Remove the pan, then the bird, then regrease the grill. Place the bird skin side down, return the weight, and decrease the heat slightly. Let the bird cook like this for 20 minutes, or until the juices run clear. (You've crushed most of the joints, so that is not a good test.)

Being careful not to tear the skin (which we did because we didn't regrease the grill... oops...) lift the bird off the grill and place on a serving platter. Try not to eat all the delicious crispy skin yourself, as you may regret this later.

Enjoy!

(I can't get the photos working right now, so you will need to imagine the deliciousness.)

Unintentional Jambalaya

Happy Fat Tuesday!

I honestly didn't start this as jambalaya, but that is how it ended.

It also ended up extremely spicy, since I underestimated the power of my Cajun seasoning and the linguica I used. (The recipe has been adjusted to compensate for this.)

I wanted a red beans and rice dish that would use up the chicken I had waiting patiently in the refrigerator. About half way through typing this I realized I had made (and consumed) jambalaya. I blame the Baby Brain for this major oversight.

You will need:

3 pearl onions, peeled and diced
1/2 large red pepper, diced
1/2 large green pepper, diced
2 links of linguica (or a milder smoked sausage if you don't want it spicy) cut into bite-sized rounds
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed
1 can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can diced tomatoes
2 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 bag of 10 minute rice (You can use regular rice, but add 1/4 c. broth and extend cooking time.)
2 TBS my blend of Cajun seasoning (recipe below) for medium heat
(1 TBS for mild and 2.5 TBS for spicy... 3 was borderline "too spicy", and I like spice.)


In a large frying pan, saute onion and peppers over medium heat for 3 minutes, or until onions are transparent. Remove from pan.
Brown chicken so that no pink remains on the outside, about 7 minutes.
Add seasoning, tomatoes and broth to the pan.
Make a well in the center of the pan and add rice. Stir, making sure rice stays submerged.
Bring to a boil and lower heat to a simmer.
Return the peppers and onion to the pan and add beans and linguica. Do not stir!
Simmer for 15 minutes (or longer if it is needed for the rice).

Enjoy!

Cajun Seasoning:

1.5 TBS salt
1 TBS smoked paprika
1 TBS cayanne pepper
1 TBS oregano
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder

Makes a little over 6 TBS, so make this in something resealable unless you are tripling the above recipe.