Roasted Chicken and Grapes

I discovered this recipe online while searching for a way to use up fresh grapes that had become a little too wrinkled to eat.  The original recipe calls for things I didn't have at hand, so I made a few substitutions and it was still absolutely delicious.  This is a very quick and easy recipe, and smells incredibly good while cooking.

Ingredients for Roasted Chicken and Grapes

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For the grapes:  

• 1/2 lb grapes red, green, or a mix; can be wrinkly
• 1 tsp olive oil
• Pinch of salt 

For the chicken:

• 4-6 chicken thighs boneless, skinless
• 1 tsp garlic powder or can use minced
• 1/2 tsp rosemary or can use fresh sprig
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1 TBSP olive oil
• 1 TBSP wine (red or white)

For the pan sauce:

• 1 TBSP onion minced
• 1/4 cup wine white or red
• 1/4 cup chicken stock
• 1 TBSP butter unsalted, cut into 4 small cubes.  Hard margarine is also okay.
• 2 TBSP fresh minced parsley(optional)
• Salt
• Lemon juice  

 

Prepare the Grapes and Chicken

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• Preheat oven to 450F.
• Rinse grapes and remove stems.
• Place in a large ovenproof skillet and toss with olive oil (1/2 tsp) and salt (pinch).
• In a medium bowl, mix together garlic powder (1 tsp), rosemary (1/2 tsp), salt (1/2 tsp), pepper (1/4 tsp), olive oil (1 TBSP), and wine (1 TBSP).
• Add the chicken and use your hands to rub the mixture in gently but thoroughly.
• Nestle the chicken in the pan with the grapes, smooth-side up.
• Bake at 450F for 30 minutes before moving on to the next step.

Prepare the Sauce

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• Transfer the cooked chicken and 2/3 of the grapes to a serving dish and keep warm.
• Put the skillet with the remaining juices and grapes on the stove on medium-high.
• Add minced onion (1 TBSP) and wine (1/4 cup).
• Cook until wine has reduced, stirring and scraping the bottom of the skillet until the onion is soft and the pan is clean.
• Reduce heat to medium and add chicken stock (1/4 cup) and boil gently to reduce until sauce is nicely thickened.
• Remove from heat and add butter (1 TBSP) one small cube at a time, stirring between each addition.
• Taste and add a dash of salt; taste and add a dash of lemon juice; taste again and decide to add more salt or lemon juice based on your own preference.
• Stir in minced fresh parsley (if using).
• Spoon sauce over chicken and enjoy!

Original Recipe Link: http://food52.com/recipes/19299-simple-roasted-grape-chicken

Umani -- "Delicious Boil" -- Japanese New Year's Day Feast

 Pictured: tori niku (chicken meat, top centre); uzaru (quail) eggs (top right); shiitake mushrooms (right); renkon (lotus root, bottom centre); konnyaku (yam alimentary paste) ribbons (top left); and satoimo potatoes (middle).

This delicious dish, traditional New Year's Day fare, is made by cooking several items separately and combining them at the end. 

Although each item requires preparation, the cooking is actually quite easy if the prep work is done in advance (preferably leisurely throughout the day).

The completed umani is a slightly sweet ginger dish, with each item in it bringing its own delightful flavour and texture.  

Ingredients

10 satoimo potatoes

1 lb chicken thigh meat ("tori niku")

6 small shiitake mushrooms, dehydrated

1 package fresh quail eggs ("uzaru")

1 block yam alimentary paste ("konnyaku")

1 package lotus root ("renkon")

1 bottle sweet cooking sake ("mirin")

1 bottle soy sauce ("shoyu")

Bonito Fish Stock ("hondashi")

Fresh Ginger

Sugar 

Pictured: Ingredients for Umani, Namasu, and Soba

First, get the mushrooms rehydrating:

 Put dehydrated mushrooms in a large bowl and fill with water.  Flip mushrooms throughout the day to get them nice and succulent.  The water will turn a little brown -- this is good.  This "mushroom juice" is used in the umani.  I did the whole pack (above) to have extras for the soba and cooking the next day, but only 6-7 are used in this recipe.  Once rehydrated, discard the mushroom stalk and slice the caps into strips.  Set aside.

Prepare the konnyaku ribbons:

Slice the konnyaku into thin rectangles.  Then cut a slit down the middle of each, being careful not to cut through either end.  Carefully push one end through the centre slit, forming the ribbon.  Blanch in boiling water for 5 minutes, drain, and set aside.

Peel the hairy potatoes (satoimo).  Blanch in boiling water for 5 minutes, drain, and set aside.

Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces and set aside.

Place the quail (uzaru) eggs into boiling water and boil for 5 minutes.  Plunge into cold water and gently peel.  Rinse, drain, and set aside.

Open package of lotus root (renkon); rinse, drain, and set aside.

Boil 1 cup of water and add 1/2 tsp of hondashi stock.  Set aside.

Your prepped ingredients should look like this:

Quail eggs, bottom left; satoimo potatoes, top left; shiitake mushrooms, top right; lotus root, right; konnyaku ribbons, middle.

To expedite the process of cooking, have three pots on the go at the same time: one large and two medium.

* In medium pot #1, bring 2 cups water to a boil and then add:

  1 tsp hondashi soup stock

  1 tsp soy sauce

  1 TBSP sugar

  1 TBSP mirin

* Add the peeled quail eggs and boil until flavours are absorbed, about 8 minutes.

* Scoop out eggs when done and set aside.

* In the large pot, stir together:

  1 tsp fresh grated ginger

  2 TBSP mirin (sweet cooking sake)

  3 TBSP sugar

  3 TBSP soy sauce

* Add the chicken and boil, covered, in sauce until cooked, about 10-15 minutes.

* Scoop chicken out when done and set aside.

* In medium pot #2, stir together:

  5 TBSP mushroom juice

  2 TBSP sugar

  1 TBSP mirin (sweet cooking sake)

  1 tsp soy sauce

* Add the shiitake mushrooms and boil in sauce until cooked, about 10 minutes.

* Turn down to low and cook for another 5-10 minutes.

* If mushrooms are large, double the amount of sauce, above.

* Pour sauce out with mushrooms when done and set aside.

* Once the quail eggs are removed from medium pot #1, add the following to the juice left behind:

  1 tsp sugar

  1 tsp soy sauce

* Add the konnyaku ribbons and boil in the juice until soft, about 15 minutes.

* When done, scoop out and set aside.

* Once the chicken is removed from the large pot, add the satoimo potatoes to the remaining juice and boil until cooked, about 15-20 minutes.

* Add more base sauce while the potatoes cook:

  3 TBSP sugar

  3 TBSP soy sauce

  2 TBSP sugar

  1 tsp grated ginger

* When done, pour sauce out with potatoes (it will be caramelized) and set aside.

* Once the konnyaku ribbons are removed from medium pot #1, add the following to the juice left behind:

  2 TBSP mushroom juice

  1 TBSP soy sauce

  1 TBSP sugar

  1 TBSP mirin (sweet cooking sake)

  1/2 cup hondashi stock to cover

* Add lotus root (renkon) to sauce and boil until tender-crunchy, about 10-15 minutes.

At this point you should have all the ingredients cooked.  Put them all into one bowl, and mix it up.

Every bite of this is pure delight.

This dish can be served hot, or made the night before and served cold on New Year's Day.  Waiting a day makes the flavours really absorb into the food -- the mushrooms in particular are like eating luscious jewels.

Serve with rice and namasu (jellyfish salad)

If only it could be New Year's Day every year.  Mmmm!

I made more the next day using regular potatoes instead of satoimo (they were good, but the satoimo are much better).  I also added julienne carrots cooked in the same mirin/soy sauce/sugar base, and poached a couple of regular eggs in the leftover sauce from the quail/konnyaku/renkon pot.  

 

The white in the middle is poached egg.  Mmmmmmmm.

 Thank you so much to my mother-in-law for teaching me how to make this excellent food :)

Happy New Year!