Chicken and Dumplings

Heather says: This recipe for chicken and rolled dumplings is my riff on the Lee Bros version which can be found in The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook. I love their recipes and while I think their idea for sweet potato dumplings sounds intriguing, I chose to go with classic rolled dumplings. Many people include shortening …

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What Kind of Chicken Should I Buy?

Heather says: There is an older post (and yes, I need to retake the pictures) on How to Roast a Chicken here on Home-Ec 101. Over the weekend, a commenter asked, “What kind of chicken should I buy?” To be very clear, we’re talking about different kinds of chicken for cooking, not other types of …

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Can I Substitute Chicken for Fish in a Recipe?

Dear Home-Ec 101, I see a lot of recipes that sound really good that call for fish–salmon, tuna, and so on. The thing is that I don’t like fish. With recipes like “Glazed Salmon,” can I substitute chicken in the recipe? Thanks, Truly Chicken When it Comes to the Sea. . .food Heather says: Absolutely. …

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Easy Grilled Buffalo Wings

Heather says: Sometimes I go on food kicks. I don’t know why, not too long ago it was Tex Mex all the time. Right now, I just can’t get enough of buffalo sauce. While I would love to indulge in buffalo chicken sandwiches frequently, that’s just not a reasonable choice. As it gets hotter and …

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Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches

Heather says: Buffalo chicken sandwiches are my weakness. I don’t know why, maybe it’s the combination of crunch, heat, and the cool of the blue cheese. Buffalo chicken sandwiches are a sometimes food, meaning I don’t pretend they are healthy and I won’t make them often, but when I do? Hoo boy, I enjoy them. …

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How to Butterfly or Spatchcock a Chicken

Heather says:

Did you know there’s a way to increase the amount of crisp skin on your chicken while decreasing the cook time? I tell the truth, you just use a five minute technique called Spatchcocking -that sounds dirty, doesn’t it?- or butterflying and you’ll greatly increase the surface area of your roast chicken. Not only is the surface area increased, but the amount of meat in direct contact with the cooking surface -in our case a baking sheet- is also increased. Both of these conditions work together to reduce the overall cook time of your bird and keep any skin out of the pan juices.

This technique cuts the cook time for a 3 .5 – 5lb bird down to around 50 minutes. Now you don’t have to save your chicken for Sunday afternoon. Who knew?

As a courtesy to vegetarian Home Ec 101 readers, I’ll go ahead and hide the rest of this post behind a jump. Just click more, if you want to see the tutorial.

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