Wizard Recipes

The USDA recognizes three types of chicken: “fryers” or “broilers” (under 7 weeks old with a cleaned weight of 21 ?2 to 4 pounds), “roasters” (about 4 months old and 5 to 7 pounds), and “stewers” (a large laying hen up to 11 ?2 years old).

Although stewing hens are tougher, better for braises, there’s little difference between a fryer and a roaster (besides weight and age), given modern feeding practices. In the end, follow these four rules when you’re at the market:

1. Choose chicken by weight, buying what the recipe requires.

2. Look for supple skin with a pale pink cast, neither leathery nor spongy.

3. Check the expiration date and note whether it is a “sell by” or a “use by” date. There is no government standard or requirement for dating poultry. All dating is voluntary, done without third-party supervision.

4. Rely on your sense of smell. A fresh chicken should have almost no odor-if any, it should be bright, a little bracing and fresh, not sulfurous or metallic.

Some processed chickens are injected with a saline solution in a chicken broth base. Read all labels carefully. While juiced birds are more succulent for the grill, they have a higher sodium content and are prebrined, like kosher birds. Reduce the salt in the recipe - you can add more at the table.

One final note. Contrary to common lore, the pink liquid in the package is not blood. It’s water absorbed during the initial chilling process, tinted by residual hemoglobin in the meat. All blood is removed during processing; only a little remains at the joints. Blood in the meat renders a processed chicken unfi t for human consumption by U.S. law.

Cooking Poultry to the Right Temperature

The USDA recommends that most poultry (with the exception of oddities like pheasant) be cooked to an internal temperature of 180°F at the thigh and 170°F at the breast. Pop-up timers, a modern convenience, are usually placed in the breast; but truth is, the roasted internal temperature is more accurate at the thigh.

The breast’s varying thickness makes it a fairly unreliable gauge.

We prefer a lower temperature at the thigh, around 165°F. Frankly, almost all bacterial growth stops at 140°F and most bacteria are eliminated by 160°F. Plus, we like the meat slightly pink at the bone. (By contrast, most Continental chefs take the bird out of the oven at 150°F or lower-that is, bloody at the bone.)

If you choose to cook a bird to a temperature below the USDA guideline, you should understand both the benefits (juicier, more tender meat) and the complications (some pathogens may remain). If you’re in doubt or if you prefer absolutely no pink bits in the meat, hold out for the higher temperature.

The only reliable way to determine the roasted temperature is with a meat thermometer. By and large, you have two choices: an instant-read thermometer, inserted at the moment you want to know the temperature; or the traditional, leave-it-in-while-roasting probe, inserted before the bird goes into the oven. Don’t confuse the two; an instant-read thermometer’s dial will melt in the oven.

Insert the needlelike shaft into the thigh at its thickest part, the part that juts out toward the smaller opening at the back of the bird (that is, the neck opening). Make sure the shaft gets to the center of the thigh but doesn’t touch the bone. If it will not stay stationary, try again on the other thigh.

Some recipes in older cookbooks recommend you take a bird out of the oven when it’s 10 degrees below the required temperature. While this trick works with cuts of beef and pork, it doesn’t work as well with poultry.

Yes, a turkey will continue to gain as much as 7 or 8 degrees as it sits; a whole chicken, perhaps 4 or 5 degrees. But a boneless skinless chicken breast? No more than a degree or two.

For safety’s sake, cook the meat to the required temperature, rather than relying on the slipshod method of letting the temperature rise by atmospherics.

When nomadic hunters and gatherers first became farmers, they realized the importance of raising birds. The egg could be eaten, the feathers were used for bedding and clothing, and the flesh made a fine roast.

It also was economical to keep poultry; cattle needed miles of grazing land, but a chicken could peck around a yard and keep itself fed. Until mass production techniques, poultry meat was fairly expensive; new technology has made poultry more affordable through breeding and production techniques.

Today, poultry is defined as any domestic bird used as food. There are many domesticated varieties of poultry, including chicken, turkey, duck, goose, Rock Cornish hen, guinea fowl, and pheasant.

Generally, all types of birds are sold fresh, frozen, or cooked. They can be purchased whole, halved, or in pieces, such as boneless breasts, strips, or medallions. Buying a whole bird is typically least expensive because additional processing adds cost.

Poultry is a versatile addition to any meal and can be prepared with just about any cooking method. A recommended serving, no matter how it is prepared, is still about 2 to 3 ounces ready to eat, without bone or skin.

Nutrition

All poultry, which is defined as any domestic bird used as food, is a nutritional star. Classified as a complete protein, poultry meat is a good source of phosphorus and zinc and an excellent source of niacin.

The fat content of poultry depends on the bird. Goose and duck are the fattiest types of poultry.However, poultry generally contains less fat than meat from other animals. To eliminate significant fat, do not eat the skin.

Cooking the meat with or without the skin makes little difference in fat content. The meat will be more moist if the skin is left on during cooking.

Selection

When buying fresh poultry, look for meat that is supple and moist and has no dry or discolored patches. Another important criterion is odor. Avoid birds that have an objectionable smell.

Do not buy frozen poultry that is dried out or is covered with frost. A sure sign that a bird has been frozen, thawed, and refrozen is the presence of pinkish ice on the carcass.

Storage

Always keep poultry refrigerated at 40°Fahrenheit. Poultry can be stored in its original wrapping. If freezing, over-wrap with airtight foil or freezer bags to prevent freezer burn.

Frozen poultry can be stored for up to 12 months if it is purchased whole and 6 to 9 months if it is purchased as poultry parts. Frozen poultry should always be defrosted in the refrigerator and cooked in less than 24 hours after thawing. Refrigerated poultry should be cooked within 2 to 3 days.

Safety Issues

Poultry is a particular concern when it comes to food-borne disease. The gastrointestinal systems of poultry frequently harbor harmful microorganisms. Mass slaughtering processes offer ample opportunity for these organisms to contaminate the meat.

Outbreaks of Salmonella, a bacterium that causes vomiting and diarrhea, are often associated with eating contaminated poultry. Another microorganism found on chicken is Campylobacter, a bacterium that can cause severe diarrhea and stomach cramping.

At the store, avoid cross contamination by putting poultry in plastic bags to prevent leakage onto other foods.

At home, prevent raw poultry from coming into contact with other foods by using separate cutting boards and utensils during meal preparation. Always quickly disinfect any surface or utensil that has come in contact with any raw poultry.

In addition, wash hands with hot water and soap, lathering for 20 seconds or more, after handling raw poultry. In addition, disinfect any surface or utensil that came in contact with the raw bird.

Thorough cooking destroys any disease causing organisms (pathogens) in meat. Use a meat thermometer and cook poultry until the internal temperature reaches 180° Fahrenheit.The center of the chicken should be white with no sign of pink.

Sauteed poultry should be tender and juicy, its flavor developed by pit browning. Additional flavors come from a sauce made by deglazing the pan usually with wine, and adding garnishes, seasonings and liquids. Stir-frying is a popular method of sauteing poultry; boneless pieces are cut into strips and quickly cooked with assorted vegetables and seasonings.

Selecting Poultry to Saute

Most poultry is quite tender and well suited for sauteing. Although small birds such as squab can be sauteed bone-in, large pieces and bone-in cuts from larger birds should not be sauteed. Boneless breasts, supremes, scallops and cutlets are the most common and practical cuts for sauteing. Because they are high in fat, boneless duck breasts (called magrets) can be sautéed without additional fat.

Seasoning Poultry to be Sauteed

Poultry has a delicate flavor that is enhanced by a wide variety of herbs, spices, condiments and marinades. Flavor combinations are limited only by your imagination. When poultry items are dusted with flour before sauteing, the seasonings may first be added to the flour.

Cooking Temperatures

The saute pan and the cooking fat must be hot before the poultry is added. The temperature at which the poultry is then sauteed is determined by its thickness and the desired color of the finished product. A thin, boneless slice Squires relatively high temperatures so that its surface is browned before the center is overcooked. A thicker cut such as a supreme requires lower temper­atures so that neither its surface nor the fond are burned before the item is fully cooked. Adjust the temperature throughout the cooking process in order to achieve the desired results, never letting the pan become too cool.

If the pan is overcrowded or otherwise allowed to cool, the poultry will cook in its own juices and absorb oil from the pan, resulting in a poor-quality product.

Determining Doneness

Thin cuts of poultry cook very quickly, so timing is a useful tool; it is less useful with thicker cuts. Experienced cooks can tell the doneness of an item by judging the temperature of the saute pan and the color of the item being cooked.

A more practical method is to press the item with your finger and judge the resistance. Very undercooked poultry will offer little resistance and feel mushy. Slightly underdone poultry will feel spongy and will not spring back when your finger is removed. Properly cooked poultry will feel firm to the touch and will spring back when your finger is removed. Overcooked poultry will feel very firm, almost hard, and will spring back quickly when your finger is removed.

Accompaniments to Sauteed Poultry

Sauteed poultry is usually served with a sauce made directly in the pan in much the item was cooked. The sauce uses the fond for added flavor. A wide variety of ingredients, including garlic, onions, shallots, mushrooms and toma­toes, are commonly added to the pan as well as wine and stock.

Sauteed items are often served with a starch such as pasta, rice or potatoes.

Procedure for Sauteing Poultry

1. Heat a saute pan and add enough fat or oil to just cover the bottom.

2. Add the poultry item, presentation side down, and cook until browned.

3. Turn the item, using tongs or by tossing the item back upon itself using the pan’s sloped sides.

4. Larger items can be finished in an oven. Either place the saute pan in the oven or transfer the poultry to another pan. The latter procedure allows a sauce to be made in the original pan as the poultry cooks in the oven.

Hold smaller pieces that are thoroughly cooked in a warm place so that the pan can be used for making the sauce.

Procedure for Preparing a Sauce in the Saute Pan

1. Pour off any excess fat or oil from the saute pan, leaving enough to saute the sauce ingredients.

2 Add ingredients such as garlic, shallots and mushrooms that will be used as garnishes and sauce flavorings; saute them.

3. Deglaze the pan with wine, stock or other liquids. Scrape the pan, loosening the fond and allowing it to dissolve in the liquid. Reduce the liquid.

4. Add any ingredients that do not require long cooking times such as herbs and spices. Adjust the sauce’s consistency and seasonings.

5.     For service, the poultry’ can be returned to the pan for a moment to reheat it and to coat it with the sauce. The poultry should remain in the sauce jus long enough to reheat. Do not attempt to cook the poultry in ihe same.

6.    Serve the poultry with the accompanying sauce.

Chicken Saute  with Onions, Garlic and Bash

Ingredients:

How to make:

1. Split the chicken breasts and remove the cartilage connecting the halves.

2. Season the chicken with salt and pepper: dredge in flour.

3. Saute the breasts in the butter, browning them and cooking a point. Hold in a warm place.

4. Add the onions and garlic to the fond and butter in the pan; saute until d onions are translucent.

5.Deglaze the pan with the white wine and lemon juice.

6. Add the tomato concassee and chicken stock. Saute to combine the (Ian reduce the sauce to the desired consistency.

7. Add die basil to the sauce and return the chicken breasts for reheating. Ad­just the seasonings and serve 1/2 breast per portion with a portion of the sauce

The versatility, the popularity, and the relatively low cost of poultry  items make them ideal for all kinds of food service operations, from elegant restaurants to cafeterias and fast-food restaurants. Also, chicken and turkey are popular among diet-conscious people because they are lower in fat and cholesterol than other meats.

Game birds, such as pheasant, are also increasing in popularity and availability because they are now raised domestically by many producers. Farm-raised game birds are similar, in many ways, to chicken, so learning techniques for cooking and handling chicken teaches you a great deal about handling these other birds as well.

Learning about poultry is, in some ways, easier than learning about meats like beef and lamb. Because chickens, turkeys, and other poultry are much smaller, they are not cut up in such detail.

However, poultry has its own cooking problems, so it is important to observe both the similarities and the differences between meat and poultry.

COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE

The flesh of poultry and game birds is muscle tissue, as is the flesh of beef, lamb, veal, pork and game. Its composition and structure are essentially the same as those of meat.

Remember that muscle tissue is composed of

Water (about 75 percent)

Protein (about 20 percent)

Fat (up to 5 percent)

Other elements, including carbohydrate, in small quantities

Remember that muscles consist of muscle fibers held together in bundles by connective tissue.

MATURITY AND TENDERNESS

We know that the tenderness of a piece of meat-or poultry-is related to connective tissue and that connective tissue increases with

• Use or exercise of the muscle.

• Maturity or age of the animal or bird.

1. Use or exercise is of less concern in poultry. Most poultry is so young that it is relatively tender throughout. However, there are some differences , between light meat and dark meat.

2. Maturity is a major consideration when selecting poultry. Young, tender birds are cooked by dry-heat methods, such as broiling, frying, and roasting, as well as by moist-heat methods. Older, tougher birds need slow, moist heat to be made palatable.

Maturity is the major factor in categorizing each kind of poultry. Skin color is determined by diet and is not related to the flavor or tenderness of the poultry.

FREE-RANGE CHICKENS

Most chickens on the market are produced by large operations that house their poultry indoors in carefully controlled environments and feed them scientifically monitored diets. This process enables the industry to raise healthy chickens quickly and in large numbers to meet the great demand. Many people feel that these chickens lack flavor because they are not allowed to move around outdoors. Some farmers, in response, offer free-range chickens, which are allowed to move around freely and eat outdoors in a more natural environment.

It is important to note that there is no legal definition of free-range, and that freerange chickens are considerably more expensive than ordinary chickens. Many people, however, feel that free-range chickens are more flavorful and are worth the extra cost.

Because quality varies from producer to producer, it is necessary to do careful taste testing to determine whether you want to purchase free-range poultry for your operation

A term related to free-range is organic, which has recently been defined by the USDA as food produced without using most conventional pesticides, fertilizers made with synthetic ingredients or sewage sludge, bioengineering, or ionizing radiation.

LIGHT MEAT AND DARK MEAT

Poultry is not divided into as many small cuts as are meats. Chicken and turkey, however, are usually thought of as consisting of two kinds of parts, depending on the color of the meat. These color differences reflect other differences:

“Light meat”-breast and wings

Less fat

Less connective tissue

Cooks faster

“Dark meat”-legs (drumsticks and thighs)

More fat

More connective tissue

Takes longer to cook

Duck, goose and squab have all dark meat, but the same differences in connective tissue hold true.

The dark color of dark meat is due to a protein called myoglobin. This protein stores oxygen for muscles to use during periods of great activity. The breast muscles of birds are used for flying, and because chickens and turkeys rarely, if ever, fly, these muscles don’t need a great deal of myoglobin.

In flying birds, such as ducks, the breast muscles have more myoglobin and thus are darker. Active muscles, in addition to being darker, also have more connective tissue.

The cook must observe these differences when preparing poultry.

1. Cooking whole birds.

Everyone has tasted chicken or turkey breast so dry it was difficult to swallow. In fact, light meat is overcooked more often than not because it cooks faster than the legs and is done first. In addition, the breast has less fat than the legs, so it tastes much drier when cooked (or overcooked).

A major problem in roasting poultry is cooking the legs to doneness without overcooking the breast. Chefs have devised many techniques to help solve this problem. Here are some of them.

• Roasting breast down for part of the roasting period. Gravity draws moisture and fat to the breast rather than away from it.

• Basting with fat only, not with water or stock. Fat protects against drying, but moisture washes away protective fat.

• Barding, or covering the breast with a thin layer of pork fat.This is usually done with lean game birds.

• Separating breast from leg sections and roasting each for a different time.

This is often done with large turkeys.

2. Cooking poultry parts.

Many recipes have been devised especially for certain poultry parts, such as wings, drumsticks, and boneless chicken breasts. These recipes take into account the different cooking characteristics of each part. For example, flattened boneless chicken breasts can be quickly sautéed and remain juicy and tender. Turkey wings, when

braised, release enough gelatin to help make a rich sauce.

Many of these items have especially high customer appeal, especially boneless chicken breast, and are served in the most elegant restaurants.

Those that use cut-up whole chickens can easily be adapted for specific parts. For example, you may want to buy whole chickens, braise the leg sections, and reserve the breasts for other preparations.

Without doubt, poultry is the most versatile of all meats. We eat poultry any way imaginable except raw. Chicken, particularly today’s quick-raised supermarket broilers, have relatively little flavor. It is cooking and flavoring that transform that low-flavor chunk of meat into a delicious dish. Check this out for yourself.

Steam or poach a piece of chicken breast and add nothing but salt. Your cat might even turn its nose up at the bland flavor. But poultry has the admirable quality of snatching, borrowing and soaking up flavors that you either add directly or into the liquid it cooks in. But that’s not all. The chemical reactions triggered by heat, particularly

browning, what transform the bland to delicious.

The two broad categories of cooking poultry are:

Dry heat cooking:

¨ grilling (barbecuing) or broiling

¨ sautéing

¨ deep-frying

¨ stir-frying

¨ baking

Moist heat cooking:

¨ braising

¨ stewing

With dry heat cooking methods, high temperature without additional liquid cooks the meat. The change in moist cooking occurs at a lower temperature with additional flavored liquid.

A second major difference between the cooking methods is the final internal temperature of the poultry. In dry heat cooking strive to reach an internal temperature of slightly above 150°F (66°C). This gives the juiciest poultry meat. In moist cooking, the final temperature is the same as the liquid the meat cooks in-simmering temperature.

Dry cooking

In grilling, broiling and baking you add nothing to the meat but flavoring and sometimes, if the poultry is too dry, a little fat. In sautéing, deep-frying and stir-frying, oil and high temperature convert the meat into a succulent dish.

All dry-cooking methods use high temperature, at least 300°F (157°C) in baking, much higher in grilling and broiling. At such high heat browning and the accompanying flavor changes are assured, and the changes happen quickly. Stand by with a thermometer in one hand

To arrive at the desired internal temperature, you need a good instant-read thin-stemmed thermometer, digital or analog. When you think you are near the end of the cooking period, monitor the progress often. Stop socializing, bring your glass of wine in the kitchen and concentrate on the bird.

If you let the temperature go too high, the meat fibers contract, releasing some of the juices. The meat gets drier, less tender, less palatable. Your aim is to stop cooking it as soon as your thermometer hits 150° to 155°F (66° to 69°C) in the thickest part of the meat. If the piece of poultry is large, for example, when you’re roasting a whole chicken or turkey, or even a turkey leg, stop at 145°F (63°C). The temperature will creep up for a few more minutes after you remove it from the heat, still reaching the target temperature.

Roasting a whole bird

The biggest challenge in poultry cooking is roasting a whole bird. How can you get both white and dark meat to come out at the same degree of doneness? That is a challenge. Dark meat forms thick chunks in the legs and thighs with a thick bone in the center.

It takes longer to heat such massive pieces to the correct temperature than the breast meat which is less bulky and with only thin bones as support.

Creative cooks have found some solutions to this problem, none of them easy. You can rotate the bird in the oven part way through roasting to have the legs and thighs exposed to heat as much as possible and drape cheesecloth over the breast to keep it moist and slow its cooking slightly. (Remove the cheesecloth during the last half hour to allow the breast to fully brown and crisp.)

Basting frequently also helps. The cooking time remains the same, but the breast tends to retain more moisture when you baste. A troublesome technique that works perfectly well is to debone the entire bird and butterfly the meat (split it through the center so only a narrow piece of meat remains to hold the two halves together, then unfold it like butterfly wings).

Sounds like a lot of work, but if you have a little experience with cutting up chicken or turkey, you can do the job in about 15 minutes. The butterflied bird, when flattened, cooks quickly and evenly in the oven or over the coals, and it is a snap to cut it up into serving pieces.

Roasting duck and goose produces delectable crisp skin and deliciously succulent, moist meat. The challenge is what to do with the extra fat. The fat is in a thick layer between the meat and the skin. You can melt most of it out by starting to roast in a slow oven. Later, raise the heat to finish browning the meat. To facilitate melting the fat, slip your hand between the meat and the fat layer (not between the fat and the skin) and separate the two.

A Chinese Peking duck technique is more complicated but very efficient and elegant. Immerse the duck or goose in boiling water for a minute, then let it air dry in the refrigerator for a full day. This rest time tightens the skin over the fat layer. When in the oven, the pressure of the tight skin helps to melt the fat.

Unlike in chicken and turkey, there is less distinct white and dark meat in goose and duck. That helps to finish cooking both to the same degree of doneness.