Chicken Feed (Christiana Cooks)

Chicken is the most popular type of poultry in the world. Owing to the relative ease and low cost of raising them in comparison to animals such as cattle or pigs, chickens have become prevalent throughout the cuisine of cultures around the world. With its mild taste and uniform texture, chicken presents a blank canvas for the flavour palette of almost any cuisine.

When you buy chicken, try to buy organic or at least free range. The skin should have a yellow tint, and the meat should be pinkish and natural-looking. Look for grass-fed chicken, rather than chicken that was fed corn or other feeds. Chicken can be labelled as ‘free-range’ if the producer can prove that the chickens have been given access to the outdoors.

The more humanely the chickens are raised and butchered, the less stress they endure and thus the more pristine their meat will be. If all you ever buy is boneless, skinless chicken breasts, you’re missing out on a lot. When seeking chicken, I recommend always going with thighs over another part of the bird, it’s the most tender, flavourful, and very versatile.

If you don’t mind picking a bone, apart from the thighs, one of the best parts are the wings. There’s a higher skin to meat percentage than any other part of the chicken and the skin of the wing helps create that succulent mouth feel.

Deep-fried, baked, buffalo, or teriyaki, they are all delicious. Chicken can be cooked in many ways. It can be made into sausages, skewered, put in salads, traditionally grilled, breaded and deep-fried, or used in various curries and stews.

One way to save a few dollars is to buy whole chickens and cut them yourself. Consider boneless, skinless chicken breast prices can cost as much as 5 times more per kilo!

The process of cutting apart a whole chicken can be intimidating. But it’s not too difficult once you get the hang of it. It’s matter of learning some chicken anatomy.

To explain it here in detail I would run out of space. I therefore recommend checking this easy tutorial out on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r86SgKX_8p0

Don’t waste the back bone. Use it to make stock for soups and freeze it in plastic containers.

OK, let’s get cooking!

Chicken Cacciatore

An Italian classic – comfort food at its best!
In Italian, cacciatore means hunter. When something is said to be made ‘al cacciatore’, it is referring to a hunter-style meal prepared with onions, herbs, tomatoes and wine.

This meal has been altered over the years, but still resembles the original dish from the 15th century. It was an easy meal for hunters to cook while away from home, out chasing wild game. They used what was available to them, which was frequently rabbit instead of chicken, and whatever herbs and vegetables they could find.

INGREDIENTS

• 8 skinless chicken thighs bone-in
• Sea salt
• Black pepper
• ¼ cup of olive oil
•1 medium onion diced
• 8 cloves garlic (minced)
• 1 small green capsicum, diced
• 1 small red capsicum, diced
• 1 large carrot peeled and sliced
• 300g mushrooms sliced
• 1/2 cup pitted black olives
• 8 sprigs thyme
• ¼ cup each freshly chopped parsley and basil plus more to garnish
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 150 ml dry red wine
• 820g crushed tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 Tsp. of chicken stock powder
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

METHOD

• Season chicken with salt and pepper.
• Heat oil in a heavy cast iron skillet and sear chicken on both sides until golden
• Take chicken out and save in a separate bowl.
• Fry the onion until transparent, then add the garlic and sauté until fragrant (about 30 seconds).
• Add the peppers, carrot, mushrooms and herbs; sauté for 5 minutes until vegetables are beginning to soften.
• Place the chicken back into the casserole
• Pour in the wine; allow to simmer and reduce down (about 4 minutes)
• Add the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, and chilli flakes.
• Add the chicken stock powder and season with salt and pepper to your taste
• Cover with lid, reduce heat to low and allow to simmer for 30-40 minutes or until the meat is falling off the bone. Stir occasionally.
• Add the olives, allow to simmer for a further 10 minutes. Garnish with parsley and basil and serve immediately.
• Traditionally, rustic bread or polenta was served with cacciatore, but can be served it just as well with pasta, mashed potato or rice.
• Pair with a red wine such as Chianti Classico or Pinot Noir

Spicy and crispy baked chicken wings

These wings are baked rather than fried, offering a healthier alternative to classic hot wings with the kick of my seasoning. They are easy to prepare and are quite addictive for chicken wing lovers!

INGREDIENTS

• 1 kg chicken wings
• ½ cup of olive oil
• ½ cup of soy sauce
• ½ cup of Sriracha sauce
•6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp ginger, minced
• ¼ cup of honey
• ¼ cup sweet chilli sauce
• ½ Tsp. cinnamon
• 1 Tsp. sesame oil
• 1 Tsp. cayenne pepper (optional)

METHOD

• Mix all ingredients together in a bowl
• Add chicken wings and marinate for at least 4 hours or overnight
• Preheat oven to 180 C
• Spread the chicken on a baking tray lined with baking paper or aluminium foil in a single layer and spray with olive oil spray.
• Roast the chicken for about 45 minutes, turning once or twice, until browned and crispy.