RECIPE: Rec: Chicken and Potatoes--a method to feed people on irregular schedules

RECIPE:

richard-in-cincy

Well-known member
I adapted Lidia Bastianich's recipe for "Chicken and Potatoes" (a wonderful comfort food recipe) for feeding lots of people on different schedules and it worked really well and was quite tasty. Her original recipe is available with a Web search if anyone is interested. But here is how I adapted it over several days:

Ingredients:

3 chickens, cut into 8 serving pieces each, or 6-7 lbs. cut up chicken parts

3-4 pounds red bliss potatoes

12 medium onions, peeled and halved

2 heads garlic, peeled and separated into individual cloves

6 branches fresh rosemary

1 lb sliced bacon, slices cut in half, rolled up, and secured with a toothpick.

1 large jar whole pickled Italian sweet cherry peppers, drained

Place all of this into a very large roasting pan(s). Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Bake, turning pieces once or twice, until just done.

Here is how I used this for 3 different meals with very little time to prepare:

1st evening: Place pre-baked chicken parts in a skillet with some olive oil and some of the bacon rolls, cover and brown on both sides over medium heat . In another skillet, place potatoes, cut in half in some olive oil to brown. Surround them with some of the onions and peppers. When the potaotes are nearly done, add some of the garlic. Serve chicken with vegetables, and crispy bacon rolls.

2nd evening: Place roasting pan (I left what wasn't used in the original roasting pan and refrigerated it) in the oven, covered with foil, heat for about an hour, or until everything is piping hot. Serve baked chicken and vegetables.

3rd evening: Fry remaining chicken as in the first night to brown and crisp. Skim fat from roasting pan (the pan will have a jelled stock layer and a layer of fat that is easily skimmed off with a spatula).

Make roux with pan fat and flour. Heat roasting pan, add some water and a splash of dry sherry, deglaze pan, and strain. Use pan juices with sour cream and paprika, to make sauce. Heat remaining vegetables as before. Pile everything on platter and nap with sour cream paprika sauce and pass rest. Optional: make buttered egg noodles with caraway to serve with sauce. Add salad and additional vegetables as needed.

The three evening were spaced over the week and it worked really well, especially by turning it into chicken paprikash on the last day and serving something else in between chicken evenings.

 
Richard, I'm always worried about an "off taste" with reheated poultry or potatoes. Does the

sauteeing avoid that?

Sounds delicious, especially the paprika and cream finale.

 
Joe, I am the same way,

especially with potatoes. However, the sauteeing really makes it seem freshly made and not leftover. Put a really nice deep brown crust on the chicken. Also, leave the potatoes whole and slice right before you're going to saute them and crisp them up.

For me, there were no potatoes left over for the third dinner and I had to come up with something else, so the noodles are a good choice and very traditional with the paprika cream sauce.

What was so great about this, is you pre-bake a large starter pan, then use it in different ways to make quick and very tasty home cooked meals very quickly. It keeps very well in the roasting pan (because everything is coated in chicken and bacon fat and aspic), sealed with foil. And I'm sure you could go off in other directions with it, like finishing off on the grill one night, etc.

 
Thanks, I bet it's leaving the potatoes whole that does the trick. Sounds like you have a

full house lately!

 
Thanks Richard, this will work for me when I haven't a clue how many

I have for a meal, start of jobs, shipyard etc.

And it just looks so tweakable!

Happy, Happy Holiday Season to You,

Nan

 
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