Chicken Marsala w/ Escarole and Potatoes

Chicken Marsala may be a staple of catering hall buffets, but it’s one of my favorites. Marsala is a sweet fortified wine with a long shelf life, so I always have it in the pantry. On the side, I chopped and sautéed one head of escarole in garlic with a dash of chicken stock.I also nuked a couple russet potatoes, removed the skin, chopped into chuncks and sauteed in olive oil and herbs. Easy.

Ingredients:

• 8 Chicken Thighs, skinned, de-boned and pounded flatFlour seasoned with salt, pepper and dried herbs – Wondra works best.


• 1/4 cup olive oil


• 8 oz chopped mushrooms1 finely diced onion


• 6 cloves garlic


• 1 cup marsala wine


• 1-2 cups chicken stock


• 2 tablespoons butter
  

Directions:

1. Dredge the chicken in the flour.


2. Pour olive oil in 12” skillet and add whole garlic cloves and chicken, then turn on medium heat (trust me)


3. Brown chicken on both sides and set aside.


4. Stir about two tablespoons of the dredging flour into the olive oil to create a loose paste (roux).


5. Add mushrooms and onion and stir until cooked through.


6. Add marsala and scrape and fond off pan.


7. Crush up those garlic cloves.


8. Add chicken and enough stock to half cover the other ingredients.


9. Continue cooking until sauce thickens and chicken is cooked through, adding more stock or flour to get the desired gravy consistency.


10. After turning off heat, stir in a few tablespoons of butter to enrich the sauce.
    

Frugal Factor: 2lbs chicken at $1.89/lbs, $3.78. Mushrooms, $2, onion, garlic, wine, stock, oil, butter: $1.50 (est.). I made four servings, so that’s $1.82/serving not counting the sides, which would probably add $0.75/serving, for a total of $2.47/serving.

Balsamic Chicken with Eggplant and Roasted Vegetables over Polenta

As the local growing season ends, I’m back to getting my veggies at the supermarket. One way to make supermarket produce shine is roasting, which concentrates the flavors and brings out the sweetness. This recipe also uses canned roasted peppers, sundried tomatoes and capers – essential pantry items for the winter. This recipe has a few make-ahead steps, but is well worth the effort. The chicken is optional, but as always, dark meat is best if you plan to freeze and reheat.

Ingredients:

• 1 large eggplant



• 1 red onion



• 6 portabella mushrooms



• 1/2 cup sliced sundried tomatoes, soaked in hot water until soft and drained



• 2 cans roasted red peppers



• 1 bulb garlic (preferably North American)



• 1 lbs chicken thighs, sliced



• 2 tbsp capers



• 1 tsp. red pepper flakes



• 1 tbsp. dried Italian herb mixture (fresh works too, but it’s winter)



• Parmesan cheese – to taste



• 1 cup balsamic vinaigrette (see below)



• 1 6x9 dish of polenta (see below)

1. Marinate chicken strips in half the balsamic vinaigrette for one hour or overnight.



2. Peel eggplant and slice into quarters and the slice into ½ inch pieces.



3. Lightly salt eggplant and layer on paper towels for 1 hour or overnight (rinse and pat dry



4. Slice onion in half and then into slices



5. Rinse the mushrooms and cut out the black gills and discard.



6. Slice the mushrooms into bite sized pieces. If stems were included, chop off the duty end and discard, and slice the stem into thin pieces.



7. Toss each vegetable separately in some olive oil, herbs and pepper flakes and put on roasting pans (keep veggies separate in case their cooking times are different.
   Place veggies, as well as whole bulb of garlic, in a 450 degree oven until browned but not burned. 20-30 minutes on average.



8. Open cans of peppers. Drain the first can and and slice into bite sized pieces, set aside. Run the other can, liquid and all, in a blender until smooth.



9. Pat dry the marinated chicken and sauté under high heat.



10. Add all the veggies



11. Squeeze roasted garlic cloves into mixture.



12. Add a dash of the vinaigrette, the pureed peppers, and the capers



13. Serve over warmed polenta squares with grated cheese. Fresh parsley might be nice too.

For the balsamic vinaigrette: 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar, 2/3 cup olive oil, 1 tsp prepared mustard, 2 tbsp lemon juice, salt and Tabasco to taste. Put it all in a blender and blend until opaque and emulsified..

For the polenta: Bring two cups water/stock to a boil, lower heat to simmer, whisk in 1 c cup cornmeal and stir slowly for 30 minutes, until mixture pulls away from pan (add water if it gets too thick to stir). Pour into greased casserole, cool, and cut into squares.

Frugal Factor: This makes six servings. $2 for the eggplant, $4 for the mushroom, $1 for the onion, $4 for the chicken, $1 for everything else. That’s $2/serving. A little high – darn those mushrooms.

Chicken Waffle Pie w/ Yeasted Multigrain Waffles

Ever since I got an old waffle iron at Goodwill (since replaced with a new retro Black & Decker) I have been disappointed with the waffles I made. The ones from a mix were passable but never had that crispy crust and tender interior I loved from the make-your-own Belgian waffle station in my college dining hall. My attempts to make them from scratch were even worse - rubbery and bland. Then, while researching my pretzel project, I came across a recipe for yeast-risen waffles which promised the qualities I was looking for.

They were the perfect foil for a fave of mine, Chicken Waffle Pie. Basically a chicken pot pie filling served over waffles. As much as I love chicken pot pie, pastry dough is fattening and time consuming (plus butter is $3.50/pound). Waffles can also be toasted separately, which makes for a more freezable recipe.

Waffles.

I followed this recipe, but I replaced 1 cup of white flour with 3/4 cup of whole wheat and 1/4 cup of multigrain flour. Actually, I didn’t have multigrain flour but I did have some rye, oats, barley and wheat hot ceral I don't care for, so I ground it by hand with my mortar and pestle for a couple minutes (you could use a mini food processor but mine’s a pain to clean). I also added 1/4 cup of some Mexican malt milk powder I had around.

These are supposed to be “overnight” waffles so I was worried about making the batter at 11 p.m. and then using it the next day at 7 p.m. (that’s 20 hours in the fridge) because some recipes said “no more than 16 hours” but it all worked out. I had to add a 1/4 cup of milk to the batter to thin it out a little. Otherwise, they came out great.I used 1 1/2 tsp. of instant yeast.

Optional: If you want to make waffles only for the chicken as opposed to saving some for breakfast, adding “better than bouillon” to the milk in the recipe and throwing in 4 tbsp. of thyme, dill, parsley etc. or even some cayenne can really kick it up a notch.

A few caveats: These rise in the waffle iron more than regular waffles so use a little less batter per batch. With my old-school 4-waffle iron, I had to spread no more than 1 cup of batter – I did 1/3 in each of the four compartments and had a waffle volcano. Also, they cook fast so the old waffle-making trick about waiting for the steam to stop will result in overcooked waffles. Use your nose.

Chicken Pie Filling

3 pounds chicken thighs, trimmed of fat and cut into bite-sized cubes; Flour for dusting; 2 onions, chopped; 1 20-oz bag frozen mixed vegetables; 1/2 cup white extra-dry vermouth or white wine; 2 cups chicken stock (better than bullion works great here), 2 tbs. fresh thyme (or 1 tsp. dry), 1/2 tsp. cayenne, 1/4 stick butter, 1 small can evaporated milk or heavy cream.

• Toss chicken cubes in flour (season flour with salt and pepper if you wish) to lightly coat. Heat butter in 12” skillet and add chicken carefully un one layer. Brown and flip. When browned on all sides, remove chicken from pan and put aside.
• Sauté onion in pan over medium-low until soft, ass vermouth to deglaze pan, scrapping brown bits (unless using a nonstick pan)
• Add vegetables and chicken and half the chicken stock and heat on med-high until boiling, stirring frequently (but don’t use metal spoon on a non-stick pan). Mixture should thicken; keep adding the rest of the stock in 1/4 cup increments until thick enough to stay on a waffle but just a little gloppier than you would want to eat. Then, off the heat, stir in evaporated milk or cream
• Serve over two waffles. Freeze separately from wrapped waffles so that filling can be nuked and waffles toasted.

Notes: This recipe calls for dark meat for several reasons: White meat is easy to overcook and that’s even truer when freezing and reheating. In fact, when people say they don’t like dark meat, it’s usually because dark meat tends to be undercooked, leaving it chewy and gross. In this recipe, you cook it long enough so that it is tender. It’s also cheaper. I use vermouth here in place of white wine because an open bottle keeps for a long time. This recipe works for a reg. pot pie or biscuit-topped casserole too, just add a little more water for a thinner consistency since baking will further thicken.

Frugal Factor: Readington Farms Free Farmed chicken thighs, $1.89/pound at Shop Rite ($5.67); 2 onions, $0.60, frozen veg, $2.00; 5 oz can evaportated milk $0.60; 2 cups chicken broth, $0.80 (better than bullion, free if made from leftover bones after cutting up chicken); vermouth, $1.25 (1/3 of a $4.00 355 ml bottle); 3 cups flour (2 2/3 cups for waffles and rest for dusting chicken), $1; 1/2 yeast packet, $0.25; 3 cups milk @ $4.00/gallon = $0.75; 2/3 stick butter @ $3.50/4-sticks, $0.58 (waffles and chicken) = $13.50 for 8 generous portions, $1.69/portion.