Kickin' Chicken

Another Amy Foster recipe from Gilcrest Farms
It's called Kickin' Chicken Drumsticks

Ingredients:
8 Gilcrest chicken drumsticks
2 cloves minced garlic
3/4 cup bottled BBQ sauce
1/4 cup orange juice
2 TBL maple syrup
Salt and Pepper
2 TSP cooking oil
1/4 cup catsup
2 TBL molasses
Hot sauce to taste

Lightly coat a 15 x 10 x 1 inch baking pan with cooking spray. Skin chicken, if desired. Arrange chicken in prepared baking pan. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, for sauce, in a medium saucepan, cook garlic in hot oil over medium heat for 30 seconds. Stir in BBQ sauce, catsup, orange juice, molasses, and, if desired, hot pepper sauce. Heat through.

Carefully brush chicken with sauce. Turn chicken and brush with additional sauce. Bake for 20-25 minutes more or until chicken is no longer pink (180 degree oven). Reheat any remaining sauce; drizzle some of the sauce over chicken; pass remaining sauce. Makes 8 servings.

Firecracker Chicken Thighs

Firecracker Chicken Thighs

This recipe was brought to us by Amy Foster of Gilcrest Farms. Amy brings us most of our great recipes.

SERVES4

PREP TIME:5 minutes

COOKING TIME:35 minutes

INGREDIENTS

For the sauce:

• 1/2 cup hot sauce, such as Frank’s RedHot
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

For the chicken:

• 2 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (4 to 6 thighs)
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

Make the sauce:

1. Place all the ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until slightly thickened, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat. The sauce will thicken slightly as it cools. Meanwhile, arrange a rack in the center of the oven and heat to 400°F.

Make the chicken:

1. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels, then season all over with salt and pepper. Heat a 10-inch or larger cast iron or oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat for 5 minutes. Add the chicken skin-side down (work in batches if needed to not overcrowd the pan) and cook until the fat is rendered and the skin is crisp and golden-brown, 6 to 8 minutes.
2. Using tongs, flip the chicken. Pour about 1/2 of the sauce evenly over the chicken. Place the skillet in the oven and roast for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and spoon the sauce from the bottom of the skillet over the chicken. Pour the remaining reserved sauce over the top. Return to the oven and roast until chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165°F, 5 to 7 minutes more. Serve the chicken with the sauce.

RECIPE NOTES

Make ahead: The sauce can be made up to a day in advance and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Heat over low heat before preparing the chicken.

Chicken and Summer Squash

Chicken and Summer Squash

A recipe by KMSmokey, but Amy Foster at Gilcrest supplied the recipe at the Davidson Market.

Ingredients:

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

¾ pound yellow squash, sliced

¾ pound zucchinis, seeded and chopped

1 medium tomato, peeled, seeded and chopped

To Do:

1. In a large, nonstick skillet, melt butter in the oil over medium high heat. Season chicken with half of the salt and half of the pepper, and add to skillet. Cook until lightly brown, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer to large plate or platter, and cover to keep warm.

       2. Pour off fat from skillet, and add squash, zucchini, and tomato. Season with remaining salt and pepper. Cook and stir over medium high heat, and return chicken to skillet. Cover partially. Cook until squash is soft and chicken is white throughout but still juicy, about 5 minutes longer.

 3. Transfer chicken to platter, and cover with foil to keep warm. Raise heat to high. Cook vegetable mixture, stirring often, until almost all of the liquid has evaporated, about 2 minutes. Arrange vegetables around chicken, and serve.

Chicken Recipes from Amy at Gilcrest

As is often the case, when Amy Foster at Gilcrest isn't busily herding her critters and getting them to work for us,  she remains active creating new recipes for all of us to share and prepare. Here are two new ones from Amy, our most prolific menu deviser:

Rustic Roasted Chicken

 Ingredients:

1. 4 chicken leg quarters, trimmed

2. 3 TBL vegetable oil

3. 1 TSP paprika

4. 1 TSP seasoning salt

5. 1/4 TSP dried thyme

6. 1/4 TSP garlic powder

7. Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Pat chicken dry with paper towels. Season with salt and pepper. In a small bowl, whisk together oil, paprika, seasoning salt, thyme, and garlic powder. Lay chicken on a rack in a large roasting pan. Baste liberally with marinade. Bake for 60-75 minutes, until juices run clear. Halfway during cooking time, spoon some pan drippings over the chicken, and then again right before serving.

Gilcrest Hunter's Stew

Ingredients:

1. 3 TBL olive oil, divided

2. 1/2 cup of flour

3. Salt and Pepper

4. 4 leg quarters, separate leg and thigh if you wish

5. 2 medium onions, chopped

6. 2 cloves garlic, minced

7. 4 Roma tomatoes, chopped

8. 1 LB mushrooms, button or baby bella, sliced or quartered

9. 2 bay leaves

10. 2 cups chicken stock

11.  1 cup white wine

12. 2 TSP chopped fresh rosemary

13. 2 TSP thinly sliced, fresh basil

Dish will serve 4-8 servings/ Serve with rice, polenta, or egg noodles.

1.  Heat 2 of the tablespoons of olive oil in a Dutch oven and cook onions until soft, add garlic, and cook another minute. If you have a pan that can be used on trhe stove, and in the oven, this is ideal. If not, have a roaster pan handy.

2. While onion is cooking, combine flour and salt and pepper (to taste) and dredge chicken in tehe flour. Cook the chicken in the Dutch oven once the onions and garlic are removed until the chicken is browned on both sides -- 3-4 minutes per side. Add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil as needed.

3. Deglaze the pan with the wine, scraping up those yummy brown bits. Stir in the mushrooms, tomatoes, broth, rosemary and bay leaves and return to simmer. Add the chicken and onions back into the pan. If you can put your pan into the oven all ingredients will go back into the Dutch oven. If you are using a roaster, put the chicken and onions in the pan and pour the broth and vegetabvles over the chicken.

4. Cover the pan and bake for one hour at 325 degrees. The chicken will be very tender and delicious. Enjoy.

Chicken Thighs with brown Sugar, Garlic, & Herbs

Ingredients:

2 TBL white wine vinegar

¼ cup plus 2 TBL extra-virgin olive oil

Kosher salt & freshly ground pepper

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 TSP fresh thyme, stripped and chopped

4-6 bone-in, skin-on Gilcrest chicken thighs

1 lb Brussels Sprouts, cleaned and halved

½ lb carrots. Tops trimmed and halved

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a large bowl, combine ¼ cup olive oil, vinegar. 1 tsp pepper, garlic, brown sugar and thyme.

Marinate chicken for 30 minutes.

Add vegetables to baking sheet and drizzle with remaining oil, then season with more salt and pepper.

Nestle in chicken thigs. Bake until everything is golden and cooked through, 50 minutes. Enjoy.

 

Apple Cider Roasted Chicken with Butternut Squash

Ingredients:

4 cups butternut squash, peeled and cut into cubes

12 cloves garlic – whole, skin-on

½ cup apple cider

4 Gilcrest chicken breasts – boneless, skinless (6 oz each)

1 TBL cinnamon

1 TBL olive oil

1 TBL salt

½ TSP pepper

Chopped parsley – optional garnish

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F and line a roasting pan with foil

Scatter butternut squash cubes and whole garlic cloves on bottom of roasting pan and then pour cider on top.

Place chicken breasts on top of the squash/garlic and drizzle with olive oil.

Season chicken and squash with cinnamon, salt and pepper. (don’t be afraid to use your hands—the breasts need to be evenly coated and well seasoned.

Cover pan loosely with foil and bake for 45 minutes or until chicken reaches internal cooking temperature of 165 degrees.

Steaks from Gilcrest Natural Farm

These are two new recipes from Amy Foster at Gilcrest that accompanied Amy's latest e-mail Newsletter:

Garlic Herb Shoulder Tender

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

This garlic rubbed shoulder tender is coated in just a few fresh herbs to give the steak a vibrant summer flavor without weighing it down. A few of these shoulder tenders served with some salad or stir fried veggies will make the perfect dinner. 

(Gluten Free, Primal, Soy Free, Nut Free, Refined Sugar Free)

Ingredients

·         1 shoulder tender steak from Gilcrest farm of course

·         1-2 heads rosemary, chopped
·         2-4 heads thyme, chopped
·         1 teaspoon granulated garlic
·         2 teaspoons salt
·         1 teaspoon pepper
·         1-2 tablespoons butter, for cooking

Instructions

1.      Rub the chopped rosemary, thyme, garlic, salt, and pepper onto the shoulder tender. Heat a pan to medium high heat and grease with 1 tablespoon of butter. Place the shoulder tender in the pan and pan fry for about 10-15 minutes, flipping occasionally as needed and adding more butter if the pan dries out. Cook to 130 for rare, 135 for medium rare, and 140 for well done. 

Yields: 4 Servings 

Cook time: 15 minutes 

Black Pepper Teres Major Steak with Bleu Cheese and Bacon Cream Sauce

 Ingredients

·         2 teres major steaks from Gilcrest Farm (approximately 0.5 lb each)

·         kosher salt 

·         cracked black pepper 

·         1 tablespoon unsalted butter 

·         1 tablespoon flour 

·         1 cup whole milk 

·         2 oz. Maytag blue cheese 

·         2 slices thick-cut bacon (cooked and crumbled)

       And what is a Teres Major Steak you might ask?

·         The teres major is a sel­dom used mus­cle in the shoul­der that is sec­ond only to the ten­der­loin filet in ten­der­ness. This mus­cle requires skilled crafts­man to extract, but yields a won­der­ful din­ing expe­ri­ence and is a new lead­er in trendy white table cloth restau­rants.

·         The teres major steak is also referred to as a shoul­der ten­der. If sliced into medal­lions, they are appro­pri­ate­ly named petite ten­der medal­lions.”

·         It is very sim­i­lar to beef ten­der­loin (or filet mignon) in that it is also lean and uber ten­der, but not quite as lean as filet or ten­der­loin and thus it has bet­ter fla­vor and is gen­er­al­ly about a full third cheap­er. There’s a rea­son filets are wrapped in bacon. The bacon gives the filet fla­vor it just doesn’t have due to a lack of fat. While the petite ten­der is not quite as ten­der as the filet, it has more fat and thus is tastier. And when I say not quite as ten­der, I’m not say­ing it’s tough. It’s just about the most ten­der steak on the cow not named ten­der­loin.

·         Don’t both­er look­ing for a huge petite ten­der or teres major . They gen­er­al­ly don’t come larg­er than about 12 ounces. 

Instructions

Season both sides of the teres major steaks liberally with Kosher salt. Refrigerate steaks for 1 hour. Remove steaks from the refrigerator and allow them to come to room temperature. Prepare grill for high-heat cooking, approximately 500°F. Season both sides of the steaks with cracked black pepper and additional salt.

1. Grill steaks for 4–5 minutes per side until they reach an internal temperature of 130°F for medium rare.

2. Remove the steaks from the grill and close the grill’s bottom vents to lower the temperature to approximately 350°F.

3. Place a small skillet on the grill and add the butter. Once the butter has melted, add the flour and stir to make a paste. Add the milk and allow it to come to a boil. Once the sauce has thickened (approximately 2–3 minutes), stir in the blue cheese and crumbled bacon then add salt and cracked black pepper to taste.

Sticky Crockpot Drumsticks

A Favorite Recipe from Amy Foster at Gilcrist Farms.  We like to serve this with rice and vegetables and the leftovers the next day are even better.    

Sticky Crockpot Drumsticks

• 2 tsp. salt
• 1 Tbsp. paprika
• 2 tsp. chili powder
• 1 tsp. onion powder
• 1 tsp. thyme leaves
• 1 tsp. white pepper
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper
• 4 lbs. chicken drumsticks, or leg quarters
• 1 chopped onion

In a small bowl, thoroughly combine salt and all the spices. Rinse drumsticks and pat dry with paper towel. Rub the spice mixture into the chicken, skin side and bone side, making sure it is evenly distributed and pressed down deep into the skin. Place in a re-sealable plastic bag, seal, place in a baking pan to catch any drips, and refrigerate overnight.  (You can skip the overnight chilling and just put the meat in the crockpot.)  Place the onions in the bottom of a 4 quart crockpot and top with the chicken and spices. Cook on LOW for 4-8 hours until very tender. Serves 8-10.  From  Busycooks.about.com   Enjoy!