Chicken Marsala.

The wonderful flavor comes from the right wine to the right ingredients.

The cooking process utilize saute-ing (a type of dry-heat cooking with fat, cooking techniques). Use a pan that's large enough so you don't crowd the chickens when you brown them. If the pan is too small, the heat will drop too much when the chicken hits the pan and the chicken will end up simmering in their own juice. By the time they are properly browned, they will be overcooked and grainy.

If the pan is too big, there will be areas of the pan without food to absorb the heat, where the oil may burn in those areas. If this happens when you are cooking, pour a few drops of cooking wine to prevent the burn. (More tips about high heat cooking and browning.)

Ingredients (yield 2 servings):

• 2 chicken thighs or boneless chicken breasts, skin on, about 1 inch thick
• 2 shallot minced
• 2 cloves of garlic minced
• 3 tablespoons fresh parsley
• 3 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoons butter 
• 8 button mushrooms, sliced
• 1/3 cups chicken stock
• 1/3 cup dry or regular Marsala wine ( or dry Sherry, Madeira, or use white wine such as sauvignon blanc)
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 branch of thyme
• 2 tablespoon heavy cream or butter
• 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper 

Directions:

1. Season both sides of the chicken with salt, pepper.
2. Place a heavy pan on medium high heat and let it heat for 3 minutes. 
3. Make sure there is no liquid left in the pan when you are ready to add oil, or it will burst, spatter and splash very vigorously and burn you. 
4. Add the high smoke-point oil. Once the oil begins to creep around the pan, almost as if you can see the convective movements in action and oil forms wavy patterns. Add the chicken when the oil is ready and hot. Make sure you put it away from you so you don't burn yourself.
5. When the browning is beginning, turn the heat to medium. It takes about 3 to 4 minutes to brown one side of chicken. Flip and cook another 3 to 4 min to brown. Then transfer the chicken to a plate and set aside. The chicken should be golden brown on both sides and the skin should be crispy. Let it rest in a warm spot while you make a pan sauce from the fond.
6. Put the pan back on medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon butter and sliced mushrooms to it. Cook about 4 to 5 minutes.
7. Add minced garlic and shallots and saute about 1 minute. 
8. Add the wine to deglaze and scrape off the bottom of the pan. Add chicken stock to reinforce the chicken flavor. Add bay leave and thyme. Let it simmer and reduce until nearly dry (French term: A sec). Add cold butter or heavy cream to thicken and cook another 3 minute. The sauce should be thickened to coat the back of a spoon (French term: Nappé). Taste the sauce and season with salt, pepper to taste.
9. Turn down the heat and add the chicken back in just to warm it up very briefly.
10. Place the chicken on plate and spoon the sauce over it to serve, garnished with chopped parsley for the colorful presentation.

Notes:

• This is a classic chicken dish with chicken breasts. You can cut the chicken breast to about 1 inch thick and saute-ing 3 to 4 minutes per side. Or pound the cutlets to about 1⁄4" thick before saute-ing 1 to 1 1/2 minutes per side to render them tender. 
• You can dredge the chicken cutlet in 1/4 cup flour before cooking to make the skin more crispy.
• Marsala wine originates from the Italian city of Marsala, which is in Sicily. It is similar to Spanish Sherry. It has a complex, slightly sweet flavor with a little acidity that makes it the perfect choice for this great chicken and mushroom dish. 
• You don’t need to buy an expensive Marsala, but make sure it’s just regular Marsala wine, and not “Sweet Marsala” which is a desert wine and is too sweet for this dish. 
• This same recipe can also be made the with Sherry or Madeira wine with very nice results.
• Saute-ing is a high-heat method that requires plenty of heat in the thermal mass of the pan. A heavier pan retains more thermal mass than a lighter pan does. Well-seasoned cast-iron pans are great at retaining almost all the heat.
• You also need a oil that has high smoke point, such as vegetable oil, peanut oil or canola oil. If you use olive oil, make sure it's the refined light or extra light olive oil that can tolerate high heat in saute-ing. However, you should never use olive oil for frying.
• Meat should generally be cooked for 8 minutes per inch of thickness. 

Easy Oven-Roast Chicken Drumstick.

You could use this recipe for chicken thighs or chicken quarter legs as well. It's an easy and low maintenance recipe with the minimum care. (Yeah, just like the stewed chicken drumsticks dish.)

Ingredients:

• Three chicken drumsticks or thighs, or two quarter leg.

Dry rub mix:

• salt, pepper to season
• 2 teaspoon brown sugar, optional
• 1 teaspoon onion powder, optional
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper or paprika, optional
• 1/2 teaspoon Chinese five spice powder, optional

Sauce option 1:

• Your favorite barbecue sauce or Asian Char Siu Sauce. 

Sauce option 2 (Fusion BBQ sauce):

• 3 tablespoons honey or maltose (or brown sugar)
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons ketchup
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar or Worcestershire sauce
• 2 teaspoons sambal chili sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon Chinese five spice powder

Sauce option 3 (Asian BBQ sauce):

• 1/3 cup hoisin sauce
• 1/4 cup honey, cane syrup, maltose or brown sugar
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 4 tablespoons of dry sherry or Chinese ShaoHsin cooking wine 
• 2 teaspoons  Red chili pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon Chinese five spice powder
• 1 tablespoon minced ginger, optional

Sauce option 4: Try my barbecue sauce recipe!

Directions:

1. You could cut into the drumsticks (or thighs, legs) at the thickest part so the flavor can get inside the chicken.
2. Rinse the chicken. Line a rimed baking sheet with foil so you don't have to clean up the greasy sticky mess afterwards.
3. Mix together all the ingredients in dry rub.
4. Rub the salt and pepper, or dry rub mix all over the chickens.
5. Bake in a 375F degree pre-heated oven for 20 minutes.
6. Remove the pan from the oven and brush the chicken with the sauce of your choice. Turn each chicken over and return to the oven to bake for 10 more minutes. 
7. Test the chicken with a fork. The fork should go through to the bone with a little resistance. Or cut through the thickest part close to the bone to check if the fluid/juices run clear. 
8. Serve with chopped green onions and/or sesame seeds on steamed rice. 

Notes:

• This can be served with baked potatoes. However since you're baking the chicken, I suppose it is more efficient if you cook your carbs some other way, such as boiling (pilaf, pasta, rice or noodles) or steaming (rice). You certainly could serve it with fried rice.
• You can grill the chicken outdoors.
• You can use the sauce for pork or shrimps.

Easy Chicken Drumstick Stew.

You could use this recipe for chicken thighs or chicken quarter legs. It's an easy and low maintenance recipe with the minimum care. It serves well with steamed rice. You can also cook Chinese noodles or Udon noodles and season with the cooking sauce to go with the chicken.

However, it is important to set the timer and remove the chicken on time so your chicken won't be overcooked. Total cooking time should be around 15 to 20 minutes.

Ingredients:

• Three chicken drumsticks or thighs, or one quarter leg.
• 3 cups of water
• pinch of salt, pepper to season

Sauce option 1:

• 1/2 medium onion, sliced
• 2 tablespoons of soy sauce
• 1 tablespoons of sugar
• Two teaspoon sesame oil

Sauce option 2:

• 1/2 medium onion, sliced
• 2 green onion, cut into sticks
• 2 red chili pepper, sliced
• 4 slices of ginger
• Two teaspoon soy sauce
• Two teaspoon sugar
• Two teaspoon sesame oil
• One tablespoon dried hot chili pepper (or one teaspoon red chili pepper flakes), optional depending on your preference for heat)

Sauce option 3:

• All items in sauce option 2
• 1/4 teaspoon of ground white pepper
• one teaspoon of Chinese fermented bean paste (dou-ban-jiang) or one teaspoon of oyster sauce (what?)

Directions:
Option 1 (Easy):

1. You could cut into the drumstick at the thickest part so the flavor can get into the flesh.
2. Rinse the chicken. If you have time, parboil the chicken in boiling water for 1 min to get rid of blood and scums. Rinse in cold water.
3. Put the chicken, onion slices, green onions, red chili pepper, ginger slices, all seasonings and water into pot. The water should cover the chicken. Taste the sauce and add salt to adjust. It should taste like a dipping sauce.
4. Bring to boil on high heat and turn to low heat, cover to simmer gently for 10 min. 
5. Turn the heat off but do not remove the cover. Let it sit in the pot for 10 min.
6. Serve with chopped green onions and/or sesame seeds. 

Option 2:

1. Rinse the chicken.
2. Heat up the pan or pot and add 1 teaspoon of sesame oil. Add the chicken skin side down. Cook 5-6 min to brown. Flip to the other side and add green onions, ginger, onions and red chili pepper to brown. Cook another 5 min. 
3. Add all seasonings and water. Make sure the water covers the chicken. Taste the sauce and add salt to adjust. It should taste like a dipping sauce. 
4. Bring to a boil on high and turn to low heat. 
5. Cover with lid and simmer 5 min and turn the heat off.
6. Let it sit for 5 min covered. 
7. Serve with chopped green onions  and/or sesame seeds. 

Notes:

• The procedure is a basic stewing process (a moist-heat cooking method).
• You can vary the sauce with this same process and enjoy chicken thighs/drumsticks/legs in many different flavors.
• You can replace ginger with garlics (about 3-4 cloves, preferably sliced). 
• Don't toss away the cooking liquid. Add bean curds, kombu (soaked to soften), tofu, boiled eggs to make stewed side dishes. Or use the liquid to make salad dressing.

Chicken Adobo With a Touch.

Chicken Adobo, which is originated from Spain and the name was given to an indigenous Philippine dish by Spanish colonists.

Ingredients:

• 12 chicken drumsticks or chicken thigh
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 dried bay leaves
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 3/4 cup white wine vinegar
• 3/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 3 tablespoons of arrowroot or cornstarch
• 2 to 3 tablespoons of lime juice from 2 large limes
• 2 tablespoons of chopped flat-leaf parsley or cilantro
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• lime wedges
• kosher salt and ground black pepper to season

Directions:

1. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. 
2. Combine the chicken garlic, vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, red pepper flakes, and broth until mixed well.
3. Heat up the oil over medium-high heat in a skillet. Put the chicken in the hot pan and cook 5 min to brown on all sides.
4. Add the vinegar, soy sauce mixture and the bay leaves in the pan with browned chicken and bring to a boil. Use a spoon to scrape the fond (brown bits) at the bottom of the pan. 
5. Reduce the heat and simmer for 30 min. Turn the chicken half through.
6. Transfer the chicken to a plate. 
7. Mix the arrowroot (or cornstarch) with lime juice and add that into the pan with the liquid. Bring to a boil. cook 5 - 10 min to thicken the liquid.
8. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
9. Garnish the chicken with chopped parsley or cilantro.
10. Serve the chicken with the sauce on top, or on the side, together with the lime wedges. 

Note:

• Adobo means "marinade" in Spanish. There is also Portuguese version of it and thus is common in South American dishes.

Simple Tomato and Ham Soup!

This soup is what I made out of the chicken bones, removed from the chicken breast (my homemade chicken breast sandwich meat). I had some sandwich ham from last week so I threw that in.

When use the sandwich ham or the cooked chicken breast slices to pump up the protein, don't put in too early and overcook them. Add them lastly after everything else is fully cooked to your desired doneness.

There are many vegetables that can add natural savory flavors to your soups or dishes. (I will talk about that later.) Tomato is one of them. The dried Chinese yam and longan also help to bring more complexity to the result, with a touch of sweetness.

The soup is infused with all the natural flavors released from the ingredients that I add no other seasoning to my soup, but if you like it, season away with some salt.

Ingredients (yield 2 servings):

• 1 cup of cut or diced tomatoes
• three longan pulp or with pit (out of shell)
• 3 to 4 pieces of dried Chinese yam (huai shan, what?), rinsed and drained
• one scallion, cut to short sticks
• 1/4 cup enoki mushrooms, cut into shorter strips
• 3 cups of water
• 2 teaspoon of goji berries, rinsed
• 1 slice of ham.
• salt to season (optional)
• ground white pepper (optional)
• chopped scallions (or green onions) to garnish

Directions:

1. Place tomatoes, longan, dried Chinese yam, scallion sticks, enoki mushrooms and water in a soup pot. Bring to boil and cook at least for 30-40 minute. I cooked for 1 hour. 
2. Lastly, put in your ham or chicken to warm up before serving. 
3. Put the rinsed goji berries in. At this point you can turn the heat off and let it seep for 5 min.
4. Serve with chopped green onions and ground white pepper. 
5. Season with salt if desired. 

Homemade Chicken Breast for Sandwiches.

I like buying chicken or pork with bones because the bones are the flavor bombs. They are the reasons for broth and stock to be the flavor foundation for every savory dish. Foodies know the meat next to bones are the tastiest part of the whole.

I buy the bone-in skin-in chicken and cook them with bones and skin for the flavor. Then I remove the skin and separate the bones from the flesh. Collect those bones and make broth with vegetables. Here is how.

I placed a 8 3/4 inch chopstick along each side of the chicken in the picture. The left piece is around 18 ounces and the piece on the right is 15 ounces, just to give you an idea.

Ingredients:

• Chicken breasts about 17 to 18 ounces and 2 inch thick each piece with skin on and rib cage bones. (To save time, you can use boneless and skinless chicken breast but the cooking time needs to cut back 4-8 min.)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons salt
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 quart of water to cook chicken
• Formula for brine (for 1 days):
• 1 tablespoon sea salt
• 2 teaspoon sugar
• 1 quart (4 cups) of water

Directions:

1. If you choose to brine, use the formula above and brine in the refrigerator for at least one day, up to two days. Mix salt and sugar in water and submerge chicken breasts in it. Leave in the refrigerator for 24 hours. 
2. Take the chicken breasts out of refrigerator and drain the brine liquid. Rinse the chicken breasts. If you don't want to cook with the skin, you can remove it. 
3. Heat up 1 quart of water with 1 1/2 tablespoon sea salt, 2 teaspoons sugar and bring to a boil.
4. Put the chicken breasts in. For 1 quart of water, you can fit 2 pieces. Bring to a boil on high. Turn to low heat as soon as it starts to boil. Cover and simmer for 16 minutes and turn the heat off. If you have an electric stovetop, make sure to turn heat off early, around 14 to 15 min as it will take sometime for the stove to respond and to cool. I turn my electric stove off around 15 min. (If you find your chicken breasts on the grainy side, adjust the cooking time and turn the heat off earlier next time.)

5. Put the lid on and keep it covered. Let it sit there in the hot water for 10 min to 12 min. Check after 10 min with one chopstick or a fork. You need to be able to stick it through the cooked flesh with a little resistance. If you can't stick it pass the center, let it sit there covered for another 5 to 10 minutes and check with fork again.
6. Transfer the chicken breasts to the plate and let it cool completely before cutting. 
7. At this point, if I cook more, I'll freeze some pieces after removing the skin and bones for later use. This will effect the texture a little but saves me time.
8. Remove skin and bones. Toss away skin but keep the bones to cook in soups.
9. Slice chicken into slices for sandwiches or soups.

Note:

• Why do I make my own while it's so convenient to get it from the supermarket? I don't like what they add in there to prolong the shelf life, neither the amount of sugar they use in it. I like my chicken to taste like chicken with just enough salt.
• Chicken breasts can be really dry and grainy when overcooked. The solution is to brine them to keep them moist at the cost of some flavor. Use less salt (2 teaspoons) if you are to leave it for 2 days.
• I don't brine my chicken as I like full chicken flavor but I watch the cooking time closely to make sure it's not overcooked.
• You can choose to dry-brine (aka extended salting). Rub one to two teaspoons of salt all over chicken breast and leave it in the refrigerator overnight. Rinse when you're ready to cook it.
• Cook time is about 7-8 min per inch of meat in simmering water plus 10 min leaving in hot water after the heat is turned off. 
• For a 16 ounce skinless boneless chicken breast, cook 8 minutes per inch and leave it in hot water covered for 10 minute.
• Always let cooked meat rest before cutting or the juice will run out and the meat will be dry.