Grand Prize Recipe

Baked Chicken in Garlic and Apple Cider Sauce

Serves 6

Chicken:

  • 6 Empire Kosher chicken breasts
  • ½ cup chopped scallions
  • ½ cup chopped shallots
  • 1 cup chopped carrots
  • 1 cup chopped celery
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 head garlic, cloves separated, peeled, and trimmed
  • 12 ounces kosher sparking apple cider or apple juice, about 1 ½ to 2 cups liquid
  • 1 cup dried cranberries
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon white pepper
  • ½ teaspoon basil

    • Sauce:

  • 4 tablespoons margarine or olive oil
  • 4 tablespoons flour
  • ½ cup kosher chicken broth
  • 1 ½ cups strained cooking liquid




    • *Note: You can use boneless skinless chicken breasts or with the skin and bones still on. The bone-in skin-on chicken breasts will take a little longer.

    Chicken: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place the scallions, shallots, carrots, celery, bay leafs, and garlic cloves in the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish. Pour the apple cider over the vegetables. Place the dried cranberries in the liquid on top of the vegetable mixture. Sprinkle the chicken breasts with the salt, pepper, and butter. Bake for 1 to 1 ½ hours or until juices run clear and chicken is tender. If using the skin on chicken, the skin should be crisp and nicely browned

    Sauce: Place the chicken breasts on an oven-safe serving platter and keep warm in a 200 degree oven. Strain out the cooking liquid and measure 1 ½ cups cooking liquid. Make a roux in a medium saucepan by melting the margarine or olive oil and slowly whisking the flour into the heated fat. Pour the measured cooking liquid into the roux and whisk over medium heat to remove lumps and allow to thicken. Add the chicken broth near the end of the cooking time to prevent curdling. Add a little more chicken broth or cooking liquid if there is not enough liquid or sauce is too thick. Correct seasoning with salt and pepper. Pour sauce over chicken. Strain out as many of the cranberries as possible and sprinkle over the chicken. Serve with steamed herbed vegetables such as carrots, zucchini, and potatoes, and home made baking powder biscuits.







    1st Prize Recipe

    Sophie's Stuffed Chicken

  • 1 large (5 to 6 pound) Empire Roasting Chicken (thawed and blotted dry)
  • peanut oil
  • garlic salt to taste
  • paprika to taste for color

    • Stuffing:

  • 2 tablespoons peanut oil
  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 1 medium carrot, diced
  • 1 large stalk celery, diced
  • ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 (1 pound) loaf of challah, cubed
  • 1 small egg
  • ½ cup chicken giblet broth

    • Gravy:

    Neck and giblets except liver
  • Water to cover
  • 1 quarter medium onion
  • 1small carrot
  • 1 small stalk celery including leaves
  • 3 peppercorns
  • salt to taste
  • 2 tablespoon all-purpose


    • Start with stuffing. Spread bread cubes out on a clean tray and set aside to dry overnight. Transfer to a large mixing bowl.

    Place neck and giblets in a large saucepan, add onion, carrot, celery, peppercorns and water to cover. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and set aside to simmer slowly for at least an hour.

    Meanwhile, clean cavity of chicken with cool water, blot dry and set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

    Heat peanut oil in a large heavy skillet until hot, add sliced onion, carrot and celery. Sauté, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are lightly caramelized. Cool and add to bread cubes along with egg, giblet broth, parsley, and salt & pepper to taste. Toss well and use to stuff the crop and cavity of chicken.

    Tie chicken legs together tightly to hold stuffing in cavity; tuck neck skin underneath the bird to hold in crop stuffing. Rub bird lightly with a little peanut oil and sprinkle with garlic salt and paprika. Place bird in a roasting pan and roast, uncovered, at 350 degrees until skin is crisp and brown and a tester inserted in fleshy part of thigh runs clear yellow juices, approximately 1 to 1 ½ hours. Let bird stand to redistribute juices for 15 minutes before carving.





    2nd Prize Recipe


    Persian Delight

    Ingredients:

  • 1 four or five pound Empire roasting chicken
  • 2 quarts water
  • 1 medium onion, chopped finely
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 8 whole black peppercorns
  • ¼ tsp. Each dried Thyme, sage, and marjoram
  • 6 sprigs fresh parsley
  • 1 stick cinnamon
  • 1 cup raw basmati rice
  • 1 cup raisins
  • 1 Tbsp. Peanut oil
  • 1 handful of freshly shelled pistachio nuts
  • 1 Tbsp. Salt
  • 1 fresh pomegranate, seeded

    • Instructions:

    Place chicken, water, onion, peppercorns, bay leaf, salt, cinnamon stick, herbs and parsley sprigs into a large soup pot. Bring to a boil and simmer uncovered until the chicken is very tender (about an hour). Skin and remove meat from the bones in large pieces. Strain the stock and measure 4 cups. Add this strained stock back into the soup pot along with the raw basmati rice. Boil uncovered over high heat for 12 minutes. Add chicken, oil, and raisins and mix well. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees until all the liquid is absorbed (about 30 min). Sprinkle with the pistachio nuts and pomegranate seeds and serve.

    Notes:

  • Often I prepare and cook the chicken in a crockpot overnight.
  • One can soak the raisins in a little dry wine to plump them before adding to the rice.
  • One can use sliced almonds in place of pistachios
  • One can use fresh herbs in place of dried.




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