Friday, January 22, 2010

"insert chicken dance music here" flap, flap, flap, flap


Why doesn't that song have words? I mean the music is catchy as heck, it's been in my head since my post yesterday when I mentioned the chicken chunks I was contemplating. And I think cooking on a griddle has to be on of the most fun ways to cook, like I'm running my own Diner. I have a pass through on a kitchen counter to add to the feel, a large flat metal turner, and a collection of homemade sassy retro aprons, all I needed was a hair net and I'd have been in business!

I peeled 5 small-med size potatoes and gave them about a 1/2 inch dice (while sitting at the desk watching Hulu). Par steamed them in the microwave (place in bowl with an inch or two of water and a plate as a lid then hit the trusty baked potato button 3 times) drain and let dry a bit.

Dice 1 1/4 lbs chicken breast into bite size pieces season with poultry seasoning and garlic, salt and pepper, lightly coat with olive oil, spread on hot griddle and cook till golden on all sides. Place in large bowl and set aside.

Re-coat the griddle with olive oil and spread the potatoes in one layer, season with marjoram, salt and pepper. The key is slow and med heat to get all the sides a nice crisp golden color. Once all sides are crisp place in bowl with chicken.

Thinly slice an onion, cook on griddle till caramelized, add to bowl.

In a pot on the stove steam 1lb collard greens with 14 oz chopped baby carrots and 1 pkg ham flavor (picked up in the Hispanic section remember?) till tender. Drain WELL. Add to bowl. I had this cooking while I cooked the chicken and the potatoes.

Toss contents of bowl, check for seasoning (salt) the potatoes should still be crisp on the outside but tender on the inside, the chicken moist and flavorful, and the greens should look like confetti through out with the carrots bringing a nice pop of color and sweetness.

This dish was a little more time consuming than I'd have liked but well worth the effort on the flavor front! I think next time I'll do some of the prep work earlier, so that at supper time all I have to do is man the griddle. Most importantly it was a hit all around.

2 comments:

  1. Is this one of those plug-in electric griddles? Those are COOL! How's cleanup with those things?

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  2. pretty easy, mines of the non-stick variety so I use a plastic scraper thingy and some soap and water.

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