Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Teriyaki Chicken, Roasted New Potatoes and Broccoli


This was a nice and easy meal to make, though it did require a little bit of prep work on the teriyaki sauce.

Teriyaki Chicken

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Serves: 6

Ingredients:

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (you can use any type of chicken though, just adjust your cooking times)
1 tbl cornstarch
1 tbl water
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees

2. In a small saucepan over low heat, whisk together the cornstarch, water, sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, ginger and ground black pepper. Let simmer, stirring frequently, until sauce thickens and bubbles.

3. Coat your chicken with the sauce and the place it on a cooling rack over a rimmed cookie sheet (if you're like me and dread the clean-up, line the sheet with foil first). Baste the chicken with the sauce every 10 minutes during cooking.

4. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes. Turn pieces over, and bake for another 20 minutes, until no longer pink, juices run clear and the internal temperature is 180 degrees. Let the chicken rest for 10 minutes, lightly tented with foil to absorb all their juices.
NOTES: Because Oliver was having a major freak out during cooking, I didn't baste the chicken at all during cooking and it still tasted quite good. I just threw some sauce on at the end and cranked the broiler up for a minute. I've also made chicken thighs like this (boneless, skinless), by putting them in a glass baking dish and just covering with the sauce (no basting) and it was great too.


Roasted New Potatoes

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Bake Time: 45 minutes
Serves: 6
 
Ingredients:
 
2 lbs small new potatoes (I prefer red)
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tbl salt (I prefer freshly ground sea salt)
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp Old Bay Seasoning (this stuff is like gold, check your spice isle)
 
Directions:
 
1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees
 
2. Slice the small potatoes into halves, and medium to large potatoes into quarters. Just try to make the potato pieces close to the same size.
 
3. Put the potato chunks onto a rimmed baking sheet and top with the oil, salt, Italian seasoning and Old Bay Seasoning. Use your hands to mix it all together, making sure that each piece of potato is well and evenly coated with oil and the spices. Make sure that the bottom of the pan is covered in oil too.
 
4. Arrange all the pieces skin side down. Doing this first ensures that the cut edges cook a bit, and means that they won't stick to the baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, and then toss the potatoes so that they're now cut side down. Bake 15 minutes and then toss again.  Bake for a final 15 minutes. 
 
Quick Cook Broccoli
 
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Serves: 6
 
Ingredients:
 
3 heads of broccoli, tips cut into manageable pieces and stalks removed
4 tbl butter
salt and pepper to taste
 
Directions
 
1. Add the broccoli and butter to a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir frequently until softened and bright green in colour, about 8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
 
NOTE: A few other tasty additions to this broccoli are minced garlic, slivered almonds, chopped peanuts, sliced bell peppers or red pepper flakes (for some heat)

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