Dear Home Ec 101,
The store had a fantastic sale on both drumsticks and chicken thighs. Now, I have a lot of chicken, but I need to make sure it’s not boring. Suggestions?
Signed,
Hen Pecked
Heather says:
The great thing about chicken is its mild flavor. With its fairly neutral taste, you can use the same basic technique for very different results.
Marinate and then bake (350°F for 45 minutes) or grill. If you bake the chicken consider broiling for the last few minutes to crisp the skin.
Here are some marinade suggestions:
- Italian dressing
- Buffalo sauce
- Carmelized Garlic Chicken
- Greek chicken – olive oil, oregano, lemon juice
- The marinade from Shawarma Inspired Chicken
- Barbecue sauce
- Use the raspberry sauce in this recipe and lightly season the chicken with poultry seasoning before baking (sage, thyme, and marjoram)
- Garlic and Soy Chicken
Finally, pilau, chicken bog, and even chicken salad can all be made with dark meat.
For other ideas, we have a restaurant chain in the area that boasts 31 flavors of wings.
Submit your questions to helpme@home-ec101.com.
Italian dressing works great, especially if you reduce it a little and make it more of a glaze, then sprinkle on some Italian seasoning or garlic and oregano. Also, you can never underestimate the power of curry, either yellow mild or spicy red.
This may sound odd, but it’s my new “preggo craving”. I have found that a marinade (only 15 minutes is really needed) in Balsamic Vinaigrette dressing is really yummy! Just dump the whole thing in the frying pay or dish.
You can also make things easier by boiling all the chicken, removing the bones and freezing it (freeze broth seperately). This can be pulled out for easy pasta dishes, soups, and more!
Don’t forget, you don’t have to eat all that chicken right away. What about throwing the chicken and marinade in a freezer ziplock bag-then tossing in the freezer. Just pull it out and defrost later-it will marinate as it defrosts (although you may want to pull it out the night before to defrost in the fridge)
With wings, I have the simplest recipe in the world.
First cut off the tips and divide in half at the bone. I buy them already cut. Now wash them good to get the germies off. Heat up your deep fat fryer. When it is ready, drain the water off and salt and pepper them well. Then do salt and pepper again. It will look like you have over did it, but I promise you it will be delicious. Fry until golden brown and floating. Serve with ranch dressing, and fries and fruit of your choice, and you have an easy, cheap, fun dinner in less that 20 minutes.
Since my fryer can only cook about 8 at a time, this is a great meal for those nights when each person has to run a different direction. I can feed them in order that they need to leave, and not be bothered by the fact that we aren’t eating dinner together. We are, just in shifts. LOL
Favorite Grill Marinades
-Ginger, Garlic, Fish Sauce, Soy Sauce & Pinch of Sugar. It grills up SO yummy. And we cheat with Trader Joe’s Crushed Garlic and Minced Ginger in a jar. Toss a ton of green onion over it!
-Orange Marmalade, Garlic, Oregano, Olive Oil, S&P
-Olive Oil, Balsamic Vinegar, Honey, S&P
-Lemon juice, Oregano, Olive Oil, S&P
Seriously, no more chicken for me. I am more into fish right now..
Google “dump chicken” for recipes that you just add ingredients to your chicken and freeze. Most of the time it’s a wet ingredient, sometimes it’s a rub. There’s loads of different ones. 🙂 We also love one called Mimi’s Sticky Chicken – you can do it for parts too you don’t have to use a whole chicken. And Recently Gordon Ramsey just put out a cookbook with a Lemon Sticky Chicken one I’d like to try:
Reading your article is really makes me hungry, thanks for sharing your tips here, i'm surely gonna try it 🙂