Braised Chicken in Milk

Braised Chicken in Milk

Sometimes you just have to ignore comments on a recipe and just go with it. This is one I followed some suggestions from the original recipe, and they didn’t work out for me. Plus the fact that my husband insisted he didn’t want “split milk” and that the original instructions stated “you can add a few tablespoons of fat to keep the sauce from curdling” but failed to read on that “the split sauce is actually the point.”

Well I came out with a LOT of sauce that wasn’t split, and it was much too watery. Many readers said they did not have enough sauce and wish they kept the pot covered, which I did. SOOOOO, lesson learned? If you are going to make a recipe from someone as famous in the culinary world as Jamie Oliver, just try it exactly as is and then modify as needed on the next go-round.

However, the chicken was exceedingly moist and tender, and the sauce was delicious even if too much and too watery. For the leftovers, I scraped off the fat that solidified to the top (the butter and olive oil) the next day after refrigerating it and reduced the strained sauce over the stove. BINGO! Split milk curdly sauce.  OMG it was delicious!!! Both me and my daughter ate the leftovers right up. Next go-round with this? Original recipe. I will link to that. My variations are in the recipe below, which is probably not the best help for you. Comments are added to NOT do some things I did. 😉

I served this with homemade mashed potatoes and sauteed spinach with some of the lemon juice from the lemon I zested for this.

Braised Chicken in Milk Ingredients

Braised Chicken in Milk
Adapted from Jamie Oliver’s Chicken in Milk on the Food52 website

One 3 to 4 pound organic chicken (Mine was 3 1/2 pounds)
Salt or Mrs. Dash, to taste
Ground black pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons real butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cinnamon stick
3 sprigs fresh sage (use more if you have some, that’s all I had)
Zest of 1 very large lemon, peeled in thick strips with a peeler
10 to 15 garlic cloves, skins left on. (Some of mine were very small)
2 cups whole milk (not half or skim)

Snug Chicken in a Pot!

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and use a snug-fitting pot for the chicken (My 3 1/2 pound chicken fit snugly in a 3 quart saucepan that had an oven proof lid, however you may not want a lid).

Season the chicken all over with salt or Mrs. Dash and pepper, and fry it in the butter and olive oil. Turn it 1/4 turns until golden-ish all over. This took about 20 minutes.

Browned Chicken

Remove from the heat then put the chicken on a plate. Here was my first mistake. I left the butter and olive oil in the pot. Don’t do that. Remove it for another use, such as sauteing some veggies.

Put your chicken back in the pot with the rest of the ingredients, then cook it covered (DON’T) in the preheated oven for 1 1/2 hours. Baste with the cooking juice when you remember. (I forgot, OY!) However, if you do want more sauce you can partially cover it. I did end up taking the lid off in the last 20 minutes to brown the skin a bit more.

The Rest of the Ingredients Added to Chicken Ready to Finish Cooking

When done, remove from oven, then cut and divide the chicken on to your plates. Spoon over plenty of juice and curds (if you have them!). Serve with wilted spinach or greens and mashed potatoes.

Braised Chicken in Milk Meal

As an aside, here is what the “reduced” gravy after taking out the fat looked like with the chicken in it the next day (I added the chicken after reducing the sauce just to heat the meat back up.) That sauce was WAY better that way. Just remember, curdles aren’t all that bad, even if your spouse disagrees! 🙂

Split Milk and Lemon Sauce Done Right

 

Download and Print this Yummy Recipe!

 

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Spinach and Artichoke Stuffed Tomatoes

Spinach and Artichoke Stuffed Tomatoes

The first of our cherry tomatoes have ripened on one of our plants! I do believe this is a record for us, to have some ripe tomatoes in early July. So I was flying solo last night (hubby is out of town overnight and the daughter left for a four day camping trip too) so I decided to whip up something “just for me” using three of our ripe wee tomatoes, plus one organic tomato hanging out on the counter.

Ripe Cherry Tomatoes

I scrummaged through the fridge and pantry to see what I could concoct out of these beauties. I found a lonely Laughing Cow Garlic and Herb Cheese wedge, a bag of spinach I brought on our camping trip last week and in dire need of using up, a half lemon, and a can of quartered artichoke hearts. OK. So it’s only me. I can do this. I will use part of the spinach and open a can for one artichoke heart quarter, but I promised myself I’ll make something out of the rest when the fam gets home.

Tomatoes, Spinach, and Artichokes, et. al.

I seriously just made this up on the fly. I’d briefly googled some recipes with a few of the ingredients, but nothing really popped out at me so decided just to throw some stuff together and see what happened. I ended up using twice the amount of spinach in my photo, as I still haven’t mastered the art of how much fresh spinach reduces but I have the correct amount below for one serving.  Since this is only a recipe for one, feel free to double, triple, or quadruple the amount! Oh, and yes, this was divine. Very decadent, just the right amount of spice, herbs and all over yumminess. I so enjoyed popping those stuffed cherry tomatoes just out of the oven into my mouth with the creamy spinach filling. I can’t wait until we have more tomatoes for more great recipes!

Spinach and Artichoke Stuffed Tomatoes

1 small tomato plus three cherry tomatoes
Spray or splash of olive oil
2 large handfuls of fresh spinach, chopped
1/4 artichoke heart, chopped small
1 wedge Laughing Cow Garlic and Herb cheese (you can sub with some cream cheese with fresh herbs mixed in)
1 lemon wedge, squeezed
1 tablespoon sour cream
1 wee pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
Shredded Parmesan or Mozzarella cheese for topping
Bed of fresh spinach

Cut off a small slice off the top of the tomatoes, then core them. So what did I do with the centers and seeds? I ATE them! I simply could not throw out the centers of my first cherry tomatoes and a lovely organic one. Yumm. Nothing wrong with eating the centers of tomatoes, I can tell you that.

In a skillet over medium heat, spray some olive oil and add the spinach, artichoke hearts, cream cheese, lemon juice, sour cream, and crushed red pepper flakes. Stir around and smoosh around until spinach is wilted and cheeses have melted. The sour cream was a last minute addition as the one small wedge of cream cheese just didn’t cut it. Remove from heat, then stuff the cored tomatoes. Eat any amount that doesn’t fit in the centers, OK? Now top the tomatoes with shredded Parmesan or Mozzarella cheese. I was out of Parmesan and would have preferred that but the Mozzarella was a good sub.

Place the tomatoes in a foil lined pan under the broiler for about  five minutes until the cheese starts to melt and brown. Remove from pan with tongs and serve over a bed of fresh spinach. Chow time!

Cored Tomato and Juices ~ Eat all the centers of them!