Don't Ask Why Rotisserie Chicken Thighs

Bake these and you'll have individual portions of rotisserie chicken!

We buy the thighs in bulk from Costco, but thighs are one of the more inexpensive parts of the chicken at any grocery store. So, if you are looking to wow on a budget, look for medium to large sized thighs, bone-in. There is so much more flavor and moistness in a chicken thigh. Once you try thigh, you'll never ask why!!

*Preheat oven to 325.

Needed:

Chicken thighs (as many as you want; we suggest at least 2 per person)
One pat of unsalted butter for each thigh
salt
paprika
a mild dried herb, such as marjoram, parsley or basil


Rinse and pat dry the thighs. Spray a large, high-edged baking pan. Liberally salt both sides of each thigh. Loosen the skin on top of each thigh by sliding your finger underneath the membrane, and placing a pat of unsalted butter, centered up under there. Sprinkle paprika and your herbs on top.

Cook, uncovered, for one and a half hours.

This will make the skin get crispy and the bottoms of the thighs will remain moist, because they are sitting directly in the pan. (Do not use a rack inside your pan!)
If you have a meat thermometer it should quickly read over 160 when you test them at this point. You won't have any pink showing--you want them to be almost over-cooked and easily coming off the bone.

*We used a self-correcting convection oven set to 325 and baked for one hour and twenty minutes. If your convection oven does not self-correct, set it to 300 degrees.
If you are using a conventional (plain 'ole regular oven), bake for at least one and a half hours. Keep an eye on them, of course.

Watercress and Blue Cheese Butter

This is from BaconSlut, who discovered it in the cookbook "Minnesota's Bounty: The Farmers Market Cookbook", by Beth Dooley.  Spread on burgers and steaks, or on bruschetta topped with roasted red pepper or sliced tomato. 

3 oz. blue cheese  (I luuuuuurve Moody Blue smoked blue for this.)

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup loosely packed watercress sprigs, stemmed

In a food processor fitted with a steel blade, pulse together the blue cheese and the butter.  Then pulse in the watercress.  Scrape the butter into a dish or shape into a log.  Store in the refrigerator, covered. 

Aunt Alice's Health Bread

From Spoonbread and Strawberry Wine by Norma Jean and Carole Darden (1978)*

1 tblsp safflower or corn oil                         1 (1/4 oz) pkg active dry yeast
1 tblsp butter                                                 1/4 c warm water
1 tblsp honey                                                3 c whole wheat flour
1 tblsp molasses                                           2 c soy flour or unbleached white flour
1 tblsp brown sugar                                      1/2 c wheat germ
2 1/4 tsp salt                                                 1/2 c bran
1 c boiling water                                           1 c scalded milk

Place oil, butter, honey, molasses, brown sugar and salt in large mixing bowl.  Pour in hot water and scalded milk, stir well, and let cool until lukewarm.  Mix yeast in 1/4 c warm water and add to bowl of lukewarm liquids (hot liquid will kill rising action of the yeast).  Stir in flours, wheat germ and bran, blending well until dough is moist but not sticky. 

Turn onto floured board, let rest for 10 min.  Knead, adding more of any flour as necessary, until dough is elastic, smooth ball.

Place dough in greased bowl and turn that entire ball is oiled.  Cover bowl w/tea towel and let dough rise in warm place, 70-80 degrees [direct sun, on TV, near hot stove, etc.].  Leave until double in bulk; 1-2 hours depending on heat.

Punch dough down, sprinkle with flour, knead lightly on floured board, shaping into 2 loaves.  Place in 2 greased 8" bread pans, cover, and let rise again until doubled in size; 45 min to 1 hour.

Bake in preheated 350 degree oven, 45 min - 1 hour, until bread browned and edges have shrunk from pan.  Remove from pans and cool.


Fresh Herb Butter

1 pint heavy cream
1 tsp combined chopped fresh chives, parsley and dill
1/4 tsp salt

Place cream in a mixing bowl and beat with electric beater until water separates from a solid mass.  Pour off the liquid, season the butter with herbs and salt, and spoon into decorative dish


*a collection of maternal and paternal family recipes, with mini-bios of the Darden ancestors, family and friends.  Aunt Alice was the college roommate of the Dardens' Aunt Norma; an excerpt from Aunt Alice's bio:  "Aunt Alice was a 'divorced woman' at a time when that label carried a hint of mystery and intrigue.  She left her native Birmingham (although the accent never left her) in the late forties and went to New York to seek her fortune and a better education for her daughters Vicky and Leah.  For many years she taught home economics in the public school system and ran an alteration shop evenings and Saturdays.  After her girls began careers of their own, she decided to see a bit of the world, packed her bags, and toured Europe and Africa, sending us a postcard from nearly every port.  From Spain she wrote that she had just left Morocco and had settled in a villa near Palma for the winter.  That simply knocked us out!"