A Chicken in Every Pot

Based on the available evidence, I’d say “home
cooked meal” has no entry in the student lexicon. But this
need not be the case—even the most ill-equipped dorm kitchen
can turn out food that would make your mom proud. So if
you’ve spent the week buying all your food at Koronet’s
or leaning over the sink while wolfing down a Cup of Noodles, read
on for your own sake.

The chicken recipes here all call for one cut-up chicken, bones
and all. Fret not: chicken on the bone is tastier and cheaper, and
no harder to cook than boneless, skinless breasts. If you
don’t cook often, freeze half of the chicken until
you’re ready to deal with it.

Deferring to the student lifestyle, we’ll skip the classic
roast chicken (for now) and start with a simple, quicker, and more
flexible method, a combination of sautéing and roasting.
Even easier is the roasted zucchini accompaniment, which is
surprisingly delicious. The same technique works equally well with
asparagus or broccoli. If you don’t own an eight-inch
ovenproof sauté pan, buy one. However, starting the chicken
in your sauté pan and then transferring the contents to a
baking dish will suffice (and double-duty washing will encourage
you to acquire the ovenproof pan).

To begin, preheat the oven to 500 degrees and move the rack to
its lowest position. Trim the ends off 2 small zucchinis and cut
into 1/4 inch slices. If using asparagus, trim the bottom 2-3
inches of the stalk. For broccoli, slice off the end of the stem
and quarter the whole stalk lengthwise. In a baking dish, toss the
zucchini with salt, pepper, and about 2 tablespoons olive oil (if
using a baking sheet for the zucchini, this step is best done in a
bowl before moving the zucchini slices onto the sheet). Put the
vegetables in the oven for about 15 minutes, shaking the pan once
or twice to keep them from sticking. The zucchini is ready when
golden-brown; the broccoli or asparagus, when tender (press them
with a fork: if they give a little, they’re done).

For the chicken, put your sauté pan over high heat, and
add 2 tablespoons olive oil, or 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1
tablespoon butter. When the oil is hot (but not smoking), sprinkle
salt and pepper on the chicken pieces and add them, skin-side down,
to the pan; leave them to brown for about five minutes. Once the
chicken is browned, turn the pieces over, put the pan in the oven,
and then clean up, call your mom, smoke a cigarette, or whatever
you can do in about 10 minutes of free time. Poke the breast, and
if the juice is clear, take it out of the pan and cover with foil
to keep it warm (if it’s not clear, give it another few
minutes and check again). The dark meat takes 5-10 minutes more.
Test the same way. Pour most of the juices from the chicken into a
container for another day, and if you’ve cooked an extra
piece or two, set aside any chicken you won’t eat that
night.

If you have a little bit of juices left, you can either pour
them over the chicken or, for a basic pan gravy, put the skillet
back on the stove, add 1⁄2-1/3 cup of water or chicken stock
(or water with half a stock cube), stir and boil until it’s
reduced by half, then stir in a bit of butter.

Slightly lesser-known among the repertoire of chicken soups, the
Greek soup avgolemono—chicken soup with rice, lemon, and
egg—deserves your attention for its unique balance of
lightness and richness. Here is a short-cut version using leftover
chicken and store-bought stock. If you buy low-sodium broth, good
for you, but I usually don’t rise above a decent cube on
weekdays. For two filling portions, bring four cups of
“stock” to the boil (start with two cubes, then taste
as you go along). Add about 1/3 cup uncooked white rice and
1⁄4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley. After 10 minutes, add
3⁄4-1 cup diced, cooked chicken. In a bowl, beat one egg with
the juice from one lemon. Once the rice is cooked and the chicken
hot, take the pot off the heat. Pour a small ladle of stock into
the bowl with the egg and mix quickly; repeat. Slowly pour the egg
into the soup, stirring off the heat so it doesn’t scramble.
Check the seasoning and add more chopped parsley.

Once you are finally ready to cook the other half of the
chicken, use this classic recipe for chicken roasted with lemon
juice, olive oil, honey, rosemary, and garlic. Heat the oven to 400
this time, and put the chicken pieces straight into a baking dish.
Sprinkle salt and pepper, squeeze a lemon over them, drizzle about
2-3 tablespoons olive oil and 2 tablespoons of honey, throw in a
few unpeeled cloves of garlic, and add rosemary (2-3 sprigs if
fresh—you can leave them whole—or 3⁄4-1 teaspoon
dried). If you don’t have the honey, garlic, or the rosemary,
you’ll be fine, but do try to use them. Toss everything
around to mix, using your hands. Now, you can either marinate the
chicken overnight (in the fridge, covered) or put it straight into
the oven (allow a few extra minutes in the oven if starting from
the fridge). You can add a potato or two, cut into one-inch pieces.
Put the dish into the oven and leave it for about 40 minutes. As in
the previous recipe, check the white meat, remove and cover with
foil until the dark meat is ready as well. (Try to save a leg or
thigh, and use the meat in the pasta recipe below). You can reduce
any juices on the stove or just pour them straight over the
chicken. Keep using the parsley by sprinkling some, chopped, over
the final dish, and try to eat your vegetables: salad would be good
here. The reserved juices from the sauté/roast recipe, plus
any leftover meat, make an easy pasta sauce for fettuccine or any
wide, preferably eggy noodle.

Cook the pasta as directed (between a nickel and quarter-size
bundle, depending on your appetite). Skim some of the fat off the
chicken juices and pour them into a small saucepan with 1⁄2-1
cup of water or weak stock. Add rosemary (1/4 teaspoon dried,
1⁄2 sprig fresh), as well as any uncooked vegetables you
might have around, asparagus or broccoli (in small pieces), or
sliced mushrooms. Boil it to reduce to about 1/3 of the original
amount of liquid, then add leftover chicken (or precooked
vegetables, or frozen peas) and continue reducing to 1⁄2 the
liquid, or thick enough to sauce your pasta. Check the salt and
pepper, add some chopped parsley, and toss with the fettuccine.
��