What's for supper?

**TheGreekTitan** · 05-26-2013, 11:21 PM

Originally Posted by kingbeefy

Shit far that looks good.

Ha! Damn good I tell ya.

Originally Posted by craig

Mmmmm. Looks yummy.

What's the green at the bottom of the picture / bottom of the salmon? The topping looks like it has dill in it?

You sir are correct, and thank you. It is dill, along with a bit of garlic powder, black pepper and fresh ground Himalayan sea salt. The green at the bottom is extra virgin olive oil. I find that with some wild caught fish you need extra fat, especially cooking low and slow. Without it the fish would be very dry, unlike cooking at a high temp over a campfire for instance, which doesn't need anything but seasoning.

**craig** · 05-26-2013, 11:57 PM

Ah. Interesting. I come from a family of West coast salmon fishermen, and when my Aunts smoked salmon they would constantly drown it in soy sauce. (The natives used a brine solution IIRC.) The result formed a kind-of 'crust' of dried-out flesh that kept the moisture in, but the meat was too salty for my liking.

(Pan-fried salmon is my favourite. :-)

**badwhale** · 05-27-2013, 02:13 PM

Today is wifey's b-day.

So, I'm doing a 3 hour smoke with chicken thighs. Prepped them by cutting off excess skin / fat. Poked the hell outta them with a fork, and applied all purpose rub. Let sit. Made salad, veggie tray, swiss chard / kale rabe. That's all done.

Got them in there on the 1st hour on the rack, just rub. Next hour will be in pans with some brown sugarwater, last hour has the "oh yeah" sauce on it.

I'm shooting for a better "bite through" skin this time. If not, it's still pretty tasty. Have the inlaws comin' over tonight.

And! I'm making a cake.

**TheGreekTitan** · 05-27-2013, 05:42 PM

Originally Posted by badwhale

Today is wifey's b-day.

So, I'm doing a 3 hour smoke with chicken thighs. Prepped them by cutting off excess skin / fat. Poked the hell outta them with a fork, and applied all purpose rub. Let sit. Made salad, veggie tray, swiss chard / kale rabe. That's all done.

Got them in there on the 1st hour on the rack, just rub. Next hour will be in pans with some brown sugarwater, last hour has the "oh yeah" sauce on it.

I'm shooting for a better "bite through" skin this time. If not, it's still pretty tasty. Have the inlaws comin' over tonight.

And! I'm making a cake.

Sounds awesome!

**ggiese** · 05-27-2013, 08:47 PM

Originally Posted by badwhale

Today is wifey's b-day.

So, I'm doing a 3 hour smoke with chicken thighs. Prepped them by cutting off excess skin / fat. Poked the hell outta them with a fork, and applied all purpose rub. Let sit. Made salad, veggie tray, swiss chard / kale rabe. That's all done.

Got them in there on the 1st hour on the rack, just rub. Next hour will be in pans with some brown sugarwater, last hour has the "oh yeah" sauce on it.

I'm shooting for a better "bite through" skin this time. If not, it's still pretty tasty. Have the inlaws comin' over tonight.

And! I'm making a cake.

Sure as hell beats the hell out of my grilled burgers and peach pie ala mode dinner for my parents...

**ash13brook** · 05-27-2013, 09:33 PM

Homemade pizzas (as in dough and sauce) on the grill while my son mixed Mojitos as fast as I could get them down.
A toast and heartfelt thanks to those and their families who paid for the privileges I have.

**badwhale** · 06-05-2013, 06:11 PM

Did a 2.5# chicken breast with bone in in the microwave. 7.5min per pound, flip half way. Guessed a soy sauce / olive oil marinade for under the skin.

Boiled rice / steamed broccoli. Yummy. The chicken carcass is in a pot now boiling to become broth for future use. Probably leek soup.

Will

**TheGreekTitan** · 06-05-2013, 06:41 PM

Originally Posted by badwhale

Did a 2.5# chicken breast with bone in in the microwave. 7.5min per pound, flip half way. Guessed a soy sauce / olive oil marinade for under the skin.

Boiled rice / steamed broccoli. Yummy. The chicken carcass is in a pot now boiling to become broth for future use. Probably leek soup.

Will

You lie.

**badwhale** · 06-05-2013, 07:35 PM

Originally Posted by TheGreekTitan

You lie.

Huh? I guess you're one of those "purists" that don't cook in the microwave? I've met "you people" before.

I'll be damned if it isn't one of the juiciest / easiest ways to cook whole(ish) chicken.

**kingbeefy** · 06-05-2013, 07:51 PM

Originally Posted by badwhale

Huh? I guess you're one of those "purists" that don't cook in the microwave? I've met "you people" before.

I'll be damned if it isn't one of the juiciest / easiest ways to cook whole(ish) chicken.

I make a killer microwave chili. I even posted the recipe in this thread one time.

In all seriousness, I have never heard of nor have I thought of cooking a whole chicken in the microwave. You have yet to let me down with your food ideas/recipes, so, I'm sure I will try it soon and I'm sure I will love it.

**buzz** · 06-05-2013, 07:58 PM

**TheGreekTitan** · 06-05-2013, 08:06 PM

Go for it KB. I myself will stick to grilling, smoking, baking, frying, sautéing and even boiling. But nuking a raw chicken? You're one sick puppy Will. Yuck!!!!!

and again.

**badwhale** · 06-05-2013, 09:03 PM

Originally Posted by TheGreekTitan

Go for it KB. I myself will stick to grilling, smoking, baking, frying, sautéing and even boiling. But nuking a raw chicken? You're one sick puppy Will. Yuck!!!!!

and again.

I can tell I've struck a cooking nerve...

If you visit sometime, I'll trick you into having some, and it'll be like the taster's choice challenge.

**TheGreekTitan** · 06-05-2013, 10:12 PM

Originally Posted by badwhale

I can tell I've struck a cooking nerve...

If you visit sometime, I'll trick you into having some, and it'll be like the taster's choice challenge.

Ha! No need to trick me. I'll try just about anything once. But, WHY? Please tell me, WHY would you do that?

On occasion, I enjoy bologna sandwiches, liverwurst, and plenty of other sketchy stuff as much as the next guy. But microwave chicken?

Can't wait to hear KB's review.

ETA. I may be flying in to AC this fall, and might be able to manage a brief HERF if the stars align. Please don't serve me any chicken if I can swing it. A beer would suffice.

**badwhale** · 06-05-2013, 10:27 PM

Originally Posted by TheGreekTitan

Ha! No need to trick me. I'll try just about anything once. But, WHY? Please tell me, WHY would you do that?

On occasion, I enjoy bologna sandwiches, liverwurst, and plenty of other sketchy stuff as much as the next guy. But microwave chicken?

Can't wait to hear KB's review.

A long time ago, in a galaxy far away (the 80s), wifey's parents actually took a course on cooking in the microwave. This is something they've passed down.

I'm telling ya, it's good. Even a plain oven roaster, nothing on it, comes out tasting all juicy and buttery. We do this with turkey breast too. If I'm real ambitious, I'll post up the rub that you put on it.

Liverwurst is great. Bologna sandwiches...that's slummin' it. Last night, made a box of spaghetti, and heated up jarred Prego.

Here's the rub (that I ad libbed for tonight's chicken):

herbed turkey breast
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons finely chopped green onions
1 tablespoon rubbed sage (can substitute 1 teaspoon dried sage)
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried majoram
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 bone in turkey breast (5.5-6 pounds)
1 tablespoon oregano (additional ingredient)
3 garlic cloves - minced (additional ingredient)

In a small saucepan, combine the first 8 ingredients (this is a stupid instruction. Put everything but the turkey in the pan); bring to boil. Remove from heat
Place turkey breast in a shallow roasting pan (I use corningware for the microwave)

Rub the mix under the skin, and all over the turkey breast. Inside & out. Use wax paper to cover.

I'm going with 7.5min per pound. So, if you have a 6# turkey breast, you're looking at 40-45 min. Start with breast side down first, and flip 1/2 way through.

I modified it off the cuff for what I did tonight.

Now, I want to hear KB's experiment too.

**badwhale** · 06-05-2013, 10:28 PM

Originally Posted by TheGreekTitan

snip
ETA. I may be flying in to AC this fall, and might be able to manage a brief HERF if the stars align. Please don't serve me any chicken if I can swing it. A beer would suffice.

**CptnBlues63** · 06-06-2013, 09:50 AM

So my wife hit me with a new one I had to share in light of this "microwave a chicken" talk.

She discovered a "new" (to her and me) way to roast a whole chicken in the oven. I'm going to try it on the grill this weekend.

First, you take your whole chicken and you cut the backbone out. I used a pair of heavier "Henckel" scissors that came with my knife set. Once that's done, get your grilling pan out, or a cookie sheet, and put the open side down on it and flatten it spreading the bird open. Spice to your taste (I like to rub real butter on it, a touch of seasoning salt, a healthy dose of poultry seasoning). Preheat your oven to 425 F and place the bird at least one rack above the middle of your oven, two if you have a big roomy oven, and cook until done.

With a whole chicken, weighing about 3 lb's, which I would normally roast "whole" for 1.5 hours at 325 F, this flattened bird was done in about 40 minutes and tasted just as good as a "normally" roasted chicken. If you're feeling lazy, you take your grilling pan and pull the top off. Line the bottom with tinfoil and put a healthy dollop of cooking oil in it. Slice up enough potato to fill the bottom and do so and then flip the potato slices so both sides are oiled. Season, add a chopped onion and put the top (with chicken on it) back on the bottom part and cook as above.

I'm going to try this on the grill this weekend. I'm going to soak the chicken in BBQ sauce for about 24 hours, preheat the grill and start the chicken bone side down. After about 15 I'm going to flip it. After another 15, I'm going to flip it back and brush some more BBQ sauce on top and cool like that until it's done.

Oh yeah, wifey dubbed this "Road Kill Chicken" LOL

**TheGreekTitan** · 06-06-2013, 12:56 PM

That's called "spatchcock". It's a french technique and very good, you'll love it. It allows you to cook the bird much faster than if left in tact, plus easier to crisp up the skin.

Just my opinion, but: I don't think marinating in BBQ sauce will yield much of a result, as it won't penetrate the flesh. (mmmm flesh) I think you would probably enjoy it more if you marinated overnight in a Greek dressing. You could use Italian too, I guess.

**Sailor71** · 06-06-2013, 02:30 PM

Spatchcocking is the only way I do my chickens now. I have even done a small Turkey. They always come out fantastic and super easy to cook.

**CptnBlues63** · 06-07-2013, 09:21 AM

Originally Posted by TheGreekTitan

That's called "spatchcock". It's a french technique and very good, you'll love it. It allows you to cook the bird much faster than if left in tact, plus easier to crisp up the skin.

Just my opinion, but: I don't think marinating in BBQ sauce will yield much of a result, as it won't penetrate the flesh. (mmmm flesh) I think you would probably enjoy it more if you marinated overnight in a Greek dressing. You could use Italian too, I guess.

I stab the chicken all over with a fork after smearing some BBQ sauce on it. I've only done that with chicken breasts mind you (both boned and boneless) and it seems to work well on those when grilling them.

I use all kinds of salad dressings for marinating steak. One of my favorite being sundried tomatoes. But I've never tried it on chicken. I may just have to this weekend!