Drunken Baked Chicken

PREPPING

Since none of us have Sous Chefs at hand it is a good thing to prep before you start to cook so you are not rushing to get everything done all at once.

POTATOES

With potatoes you need to make sure to quickly use if and if you are
prepping for later use you can just put in a bowl or container and cover with water.
If you do not then the potato will start to turn color and change texture.

ONIONS

The easiest and fastest way to cut onion I have found is the half cut. The whole trick to this cut is that most of your cooking will always be made towards your cutting board and thus making the cutting time faster and the crying almost non existent.

Take the whole onion (L)
Cut off both ends (M)
Slice from top to bottom down the middle(R)

Peel the skin(L)
Slice to desired thickness(M)
Slice all onions to comparable size(R)

COOKING TIME

3 Medium Onions

2 Large Potatoes

1 Whole Chicken

1/2 cup of Olive Oil

1/2 cup of Lemon Juice

7 Fl Oz bottle of Corona (or any light beer)

1 Tablespoon of Garlic Powder

1 Teaspoon of Oregano

1 Tablespoon of Salt

1 Tablespoon of Black Pepper

(Prep time 10-15 minutes)

(Cook time 1 Hour 30 Minutes)

Using a medium size aluminum pan

Place potatoes in bottom layer
Then place onions over to cover all the potatoes.

The whole chicken will need to be butterflied

Turn Chicken Breast up and split with biggest knife.
Don't be scared to use a mallet to hammer the knife thru the cartilage
Turn chicken over and season the cavity with Salt and Pepper.
Cut off winglets and place over onions

Place chicken over all the mixture
Now I know what you are saying the pan has changed as a good cook you have to know how to improvise.
When I placed the chicken in the aluminum pan it was too big for the pan so I got a bigger pan.
Sprinkle the Garlic Powder, Oregano, Black Pepper and Salt over the chicken.

Drizzle Olive Oil over Chicken making sure some of the oil goes into the mixture
Repeat with Lemon Juice

Pour Beer over Chicken
Don't worry about the liquor as we know from the Vodka Sauce the alcohol cooks away 

Also make sure nothing ever goes to waste. I usually cover the whole pan
with aluminum but since my chicken and other food touched the pan I cannot use again.
So I just placed it over the pan to make the cover I need for the chicken.

Use more aluminum to make sure you make a tight seal around the pan.
Place in pre-heated oven at 350 Degrees for 45 minutes covered.

After the 45 minutes of the cooking take off the aluminum and
cook for another 45 minutes uncovered

Once your Chicken Breast have reached an internal temperature of 165 to 170
that means your chicken is done. You may need to check the temperature all around as not all the meat will be above the 166  to 170. If this is to happen simply lower the temperature by 25 degrees and continue cooking until all the chicken is above the 165.

If you enjoy your potatoes as is simply cut chicken into pieces.
You may drizzle some of the
Au Jus(liquid from the pan) over the meal.

If you enjoy your potatoes a little charred simply use your aluminum pan and

place all the potatoes and onions without the Au Jus. On the Broiler setting on your

oven for about 3 to 5 minutes depending on how charred you like them.

When you are ready plate and ENJOY.

Thank you for taking your time to read this. If you have any comments please post them. Questions, suggestions, hate mail, fan mail or anything you can write to me CookingMyBrain@hotmail.com.

See you later

Leo

Homemade Pasta with White Clam Sauce

HOMEMADE PASTA

As described in our other post Homemade Dough pasta is a very simple and inexpensive way to prepare a meal. You can take a day where you have time, make the pasta and freeze it for another day....

LIKE TODAY.

Separate the Pasta into handfulls easier to portion later

Once the Pasta has been in the freezer for more than 24 hours
Take out and place in a Zip-Lock back for storage

2 to 3 handfulls is enough for each person

WHITE CLAM SAUCE

You can make the clam sauce but we don't always have the time. So it is a good idea to know a good alternative to homemade. Good rule of thumb if the ingredients are not in your pantry then they cannot be all that good for you. This has to be the best White Clam Sauce I've had in a while and at about $3 a can it cannot be beat. 

Clam sauce is available online HERE.

INGREDIENTS

3 Handfulls of Homemade Fetuccine

1 Can of White Clam Sauce

1 Tablespoon of grated cheese(Optional)

(Total cook time 5 to 7 minutes)

In a large pot combine 3 quarts of water, 2 teaspoons of salt and a teaspoon of oil.
The oil will keep any pasta from clumping up into a ball.
Bring to a boil. In a separate smaller sauce pan put can of clam sauce in
medium heat so by the time the pasta is done the sauce will be hot and ready to go. 

Once water has come to a boil, drop in pasta and stir. When cooking fresh pasta it cooks a lot faster than store bought pasta. So try it and once you get it to your desired consistency, put through colander and stir into clam sauce.

Plate and sprinkle grated cheese over the plate.
I am not a photografer but I like to eat and this was DELICIOUS.

Thank you for taking your time to read this. If you have any comments please post them. Questions, suggestions, hate mail, fan mail or anything you can write to me CookingMyBrain@hotmail.com.

See you later

Leo