Cuisine: Chicken

Roasted Lemon Garlic Chicken

I subscribe to a YouTube chef called Sam the Cooking Guy, and saw him make this Roasted Lemon Garlic Chicken. It looked so good that I made it. This chicken is spatchcocked, which is butterflied or flattened by removing the backbone. This method is a great way to roast a chicken because it cooks a lot more evenly. He slathers this bird with a paste made of butter, lemon zest, herbs (I used fresh, he used dried), and a dash of soy sauce. The chicken sits on a bed of thickly sliced lemons with a splash of vermouth (you can use white wine) and roasted for about an hour in the oven. Man, this is the juiciest, most delicious chicken ever!

You can find many videos of how to spatchcock a chicken on YouTube.

By Leslie Blythe

Sheet Pan Chicken Thighs with Sweet Potato and Broccoli

I love sheet pan dinners - easy to prepare and minimal clean up. This Sheet Pan Chicken Thighs with Sweet Potato and Broccoli is a nice combination of flavors and can be scaled up or down to serve 2 or 8 people.

By Leslie Blythe

Chicken Paillard

I had this divine Chicken Paillard in the desert last weekend at a French/Japanese fusion restaurant. It was absolutely delicious. Paillard is a French term for a boneless piece of meat that has been pounded thin or butterflied. The process of pounding the meat tenderizes the chicken and it cooks faster with less moisture loss.

By Leslie Blythe

New Mexico Stacked Enchiladas

Jessica here, guest-blogging for Leslie.

This is a photo of our tasty New Mexico-style stacked enchilada. It’s a family favorite, especially during this dark pandemic winter.

How to make it? Well, as we lawyers say, it depends. There’s an easy way and a hard way.

The easy way? Buy everything: shred a roast chicken, open a can of refried beans and another of enchilada sauce; layer it all evenly between three corn tortillas, bake at 400° F for 10-15 minutes, top with a fried egg – and there you have it.

The hard way is what you see in this photo. But it was actually a collaborative effort. My husband made green chile using Hatch chiles that he’d roasted, frozen, and defrosted.

I poached chicken breasts in white wine, water, and some aromatics (black and pink peppercorns, chile powder) and shredded them.

Then, I realized I had no canned refried beans. What to do? Well, I had a can of pinto beans, so I made my own. And may never use canned ones again, because these were so delicious.

By Leslie Blythe

Za’atar Chicken Cutlets with Cabbage Salad

I happened to have all the ingredients to make this Za’atar Chicken Cutlets with Cabbage Salad. The Za'atar coating on the chicken is excellent. The leftovers, if there are any, would be great to serve in pita bread with the cabbage salad.

By Leslie Blythe

Chicken Stroganoff

I had a hankering for beef stroganoff but only had chicken. This Chicken Stroganoff is equally as delicious over a bed of noodles. 

By Leslie Blythe

Country Captain

By Leslie Blythe

Quick Rosemary Lemon Chicken

If you don't have time to marinate your chicken, this Quick Rosemary Lemon Chicken is the ticket. By pounding the lemon, garlic, rosemary mixture into the chicken before cooking, it adds a lot of flavor and is ready in no time. You can use any herbs you like and serve it on pasta, rice, or with potatoes.

By Leslie Blythe

Curried Chicken with Asparagus

My friend Melanie gave me a Hollywood Bowl cookbook from the '80s. It has many great recipes from famous people who attended the Bowl. My parents used to have a box there, which in those days was a pretty big deal. My mother, being a designer, and the most elegantly dressed woman on the planet, used to sew tablecloths and decorate the table differently every time they went. The people sitting in adjacent boxes use to eagerly await her arrival wondering what her theme was that week. I would give anything if someone would have taken photos of all of them, this was the pre-cell phone days!

Anyway, last night I made this Curried Chicken with Asparagus, which was quite popular then. I made several changes and added Homemade Cream of Chicken Soup, though you can throw caution to the wind and peel off the lid of a can! This recipe is ridiculously simple and can be made ahead. I'm not sure this recipe would travel, especially to the Hollywood Bowl given that it needs to be hot!

By Leslie Blythe

Chicken Pot Pie Soup for a Crowd

Over the years in my catering life, I have done many crazy events. Last weekend, I was hired to serve lunch for 35 people outside at a Springer / Cocker Field Trial event about an hour and a half north of Pasadena (north of Lake Arrowhead). I served chili on Saturday (the obvious choice) and on Sunday, this Chicken Pot Pie Soup topped with a buttermilk biscuit. It had to be something I could heat up on a camping stove. The night before I had a panic attack (common before catering!) and realized it was going to be very windy. Because I could not find a "wind guard" for my stove, my extremely handy husband, made one out of sheet metal and insisted on painting it to look nice (not necessary!). Anyway, the soup was a big hit. After all that, I made dinner for 6 on Sunday for my friend/client. I am a bit too old of all of this, given that I have a VERY scary birthday coming up soon. I spent all of yesterday recovering from the whirlwind of a weekend. I also have a 4 - 6 serving recipe for Chicken Pot Pie Soup.

By Leslie Blythe