CHICKEN, CHICKEN, CHICKEN (631 views)

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Regarding 180°C, I would suggest setting your oven to 350°F. That's the setting I use when Swedish recipes that call for 175°C.

CLASSIC CHICKEN AND WILD RICE HOTDISH

Excerpt From: Thielen, Amy. “The New Midwestern Table.”
SERVES 6 TO 8

Year-round in Minnesota, hotdishes (known as casseroles everywhere else) are both standard and redemptive fare, offered up for school lunches, sports potlucks, weekday dinners, friends who are grieving, neighbors who have a new baby. The ingredients are usually pretty homespun, but I have a hunch that the rhythm of the returning fork—the tempo of scooping that a hotdish requires—is a big source of the comfort.

Hotdishes grow more valuable—essential, even—in the winter. When the sky begins to darken at 3 o’clock and the arctic wind picks up and starts to blow mean, it’s nice to make a bubbling hot dish. Around here, chicken–wild rice is the most famous of them all, and it’s even better when made in an updated style, with delicate wood-parched wild rice and a simple fresh mushroom sauce in place of the traditional canned creamy-soup base.

My husband, Aaron, remembers returning home from outdoor hockey practice after school, walking from the black driveway toward the bright lights of the kitchen window just in time to see his mother pull a hotdish from the oven, its thick juices blowing big, blond, creamy bubbles as it made its journey to the trivet in the middle of the table. With his toes tingling from the nip of frostbite (like ice cubes on fire) and with the wet, sticky, thawing sensation that only hockey practice in subzero wind can create, he would shovel in the mixture of creamy chicken, fragile grains of wild rice, and crunchy cracker top before it had a chance to steaming.

½ cup natural wild rice
Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 dried bay leaf
6 tablespoons (¾ stick) salted butter, plus more, at room temperature, for the baking dish
2 leeks, white and green parts, cut into small dice (2½ cups)
3 stalks celery, cut into small dice
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1½ cups whole milk
⅔ cup heavy cream
¾ cup chicken stock, low-sodium store-bought or homemade
¾ teaspoon dried thyme leaves, or 1½ teaspoons fresh
¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg
2 cups roughly chopped cooked chicken meat
4 ounces aged Gouda or aged cheddar cheese, grated (1½ cups)
2 cups coarsely ground buttery crackers, such as Ritz or Club (about 2 sleeves)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Put the rice in a fine-mesh sieve and rinse it under cold running water, swishing the rice with your hand until the water runs clear. Transfer the rice to a medium bowl, and add water to cover. Pour off any black bits or floating kernels, pour the rice back into the sieve to drain, and then put it in a small saucepan. Add 1¼ cups water, a pinch of salt, and the bay leaf, and bring to a simmer. Cover the pan and reduce the heat to low. Steam for 25 minutes, or until the rice is tender and the water has evaporated. (If liquid remains after the rice is done, drain it in a sieve.)

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375°F.

While the rice cooks, heat the butter in a large, high-sided skillet over medium heat. Add the leeks and celery, and season with ¼ teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Cook until tender, about 10 minutes.

Add the flour to the vegetables and stir until well combined with the butter. Pour in the milk and bring to a simmer, whisking to prevent any lumps. Add the cream, chicken stock, thyme, nutmeg, and ½ teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Simmer over low heat until the floury taste dissipates, about 5 minutes. Add the cooked chicken, wild rice (minus the bay leaf), and half of the cheese, and heat until the cheese melts.
Put the crushed crackers in a heavy plastic bag and add ¼ teaspoon pepper and the olive oil. Shake to combine, and set aside.

Rub a 9 × 13-inch baking dish with a thin layer of soft butter. Pour the hotdish mixture into the dish and top with the remaining cheese. Bake for 25 minutes.

Pull the dish from the oven, sprinkle the cracker mixture evenly over the top, and bake until the crackers turn dark golden brown and the hotdish bubbles in the center, about 25 minutes. Serve immediately.

NOTES: If you have leftover gravy on hand, by all means use it in place of the chicken stock in this recipe.

You can use a supermarket rotisserie chicken for the cooked chicken, but in that case, reduce the salt by ¼ teaspoon.

CARA CARA CASHEW CHICKEN

Serves 8 - 10

Source: Nancy Vienna - The Third Thursday Community Potluck Cookbook

5 tablespoons peanut oil, divided
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 pounds boneless chicken breast, cut into bite-size pieces
2 medium onions, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
6 carrots, cut diagonally into ½-inch pieces
4 ribs celery, sliced diagonally into ½-inch pieces
2 cups sugar snap peas
½ cup orange marmalade
½ cup chicken stock
¼ cup soy sauce
¼ cup sherry
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 cup cashew halves
1 bunch scallions, chopped, for garnish
1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped, for garnish

Pour 3 tablespoons of the peanut oil and the sesame oil into a large skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. When the oils are heated but not smoking, add the chicken and fry until the pieces are nicely browned, about 5 minutes.

Remove the chicken from the skillet and set aside in a bowl. Reduce the heat to medium.

Add the remaining 2 tablespoons peanut oil to the cooking vessel and heat. Add the onions and cook until translucent, about 2 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.

Continue stir-frying each vegetable, beginning with carrots. Cook them for 2 minutes, then add the celery. Stir-fry for 2 minutes, then add the sugar snap peas. Stir-fry for a minute. Remove from heat while you make the sauce.

In a saucepan over medium heat, add the orange marmalade, chicken stock, and soy sauce. Stir well. Pour the sherry into a small bowl and whisk in the cornstarch, ginger, and red pepper flakes. Pour the sherry mixture into the pan. Stir and cook until bubbling.

Add the cooked chicken back to the pan with the stir-fried vegetables. Stir in the cashews. Pour the heated orange marmalade sauce over the chicken and vegetables, folding to coat everything well. Garnish with chopped scallions and cilantro.