Grandma Alice's Baked Chicken

This is a recipe my grandma used to make. I think she got it from the newspaper at least 6o years ago. It's always been one of my favorites and now is one of my girls' favorites as well. I like to cook rice in the oven to go with it, or baked potatoes, since you've got the oven all that time anyway. Pop a cobbler or fruit pie in the oven and you're all set! Find a baked vegetable dish or make a green salad or cook up an easy vegetable on the stove and it's great for entertaining, with no last minute fussing.

I did tonight with all drumsticks, but usually do it with a whole cut up chicken. The skin is not crispy like the "oven fried" recipes you might see. The chicken broth makes everything moist and it's very flavorful, despite its humble ingredients. And I imagine if you're into gravy, you could make some fantastic stuff from the drippings here, but I don't. I've modified one thing from my grandma's original. She sprinkled the chicken with garlic powder and added salt to the flour mix. I just sprinkle garlic salt onto the chicken and omit the salt from the flour.

6 -8 bone-in chicken pieces
garlic salt
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp paprika
1/4 - 1/2 tsp pepper, depending on your spice preference
1 cup chicken broth, divided

Preheat the oven to 400.

Mix the flour, paprika, and pepper together in a shallow dish or pie pan.

Pour 1/2 cup of chicken broth into a baking dish that's big enough to hold all your chicken pieces without them touching each other.

Sprinkle the chicken pieces all over with garlic salt, then roll into the flour mix. Place the chicken skin side DOWN into the baking dish and bake 30 minutes. Pull the pan out of the oven and turn the chicken pieces, so the skin side is UP and pour the other 1/2 cup of chicken broth into the pan. Bake another 30 minutes or so, until done.

Fantastically Wonderful Chicken Marinade

I saw a whole cut-up chicken marked down 50% when I went to the store on Sunday morning, so bought it and did a quick marinade in this (just a few hours):

1/4 cup Worcestershire
3/4 oil (could probably cut this down)
3/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp pepper
2 Tbs dry mustard

I think I may have posted this before and can't remember where I got it from at this point. It makes a LOT of marinade, enough for a chicken and a half at least. I oiled the grill a bit, then put the chicken parts on skin side down for 15 minutes over about 450 (according to my gas grill thermometer). I had to turn the grill way down. Turned and basted and cooked another 15 minutes. Then cooked another 15 minutes, turning once more halfway through, putting the white meat pieces on the "cooler" side of the grill and leaving the dark meat pieces on the hotter side of the fire.

This came out fantastic! Would have been even better if I'd turn the grill down just a bit more a bit sooner, as the skin was charred. But charred in a good edible way, not in a gross burnt way. But a little less would have been even more perfect. I had a leftover piece for lunch today and it was equally fantastic.

I served the chicken with a big potato pancake, cut into wedges, and stir fried bean sprouts, which surprisingly were also fantastic as leftovers, maybe even better. I think I liked them not hot, but just room temperature, with just a bit more salt than last night.

Orzo - the pasta that looks like rice

Perusing my new old favorite cookbook, How to Cook Without a Book: Recipes and Techniques Every Cook Should Know by HeartI saw the section on orzo, so bought a box at the store. Why have I never cooked this before? We play around with little pastas all the time, yet somehow this was a new one. She has lots of flavor combos, but I opted for the simple butter and Parmesan version, although the lemon and parsley sounded great, too.

Anderson says you can cook it like pasta (lots of water, then drain) or like rice (with measured ratios of water to pasta, although, as an aside, you can also cook rice like pasta if you'd like, in lots of water and then drain). Not having made it before I opted for her "rice-like" method. This made a great side dish for the maple-Dijon chicken thighs I made the same night.

1 quart water
1/2 pound orzo (1 1/3 cups)
1 tsp salt
2 Tbs olive oil or butter
1/4 cup or more grated Parmesan
black pepper to taste

Bring the water to a boil. Add the orzo and salt and stir. Cook uncovered 8-9 minutes, until the orzo is soft and has absorbed most of the water. Add the butter or oil, cheese, and pepper to taste. Stir and serve.

This was her plain version. The variations include blue cheese and walnuts; basil and pine nuts; tomatoes, feat, and olives; roasted red peppers and basil; and spinach and Parmesan.

Maple Dijon Baked Chicken Thighs

Here's another great recipe from The Six O'Clock Scramble: Quick, Healthy, and Delicious Dinner Recipes for Busy Families I did this with thighs but you could easily use any bone-in chicken pieces, of course. She called for split chicken breasts and thighs, which tend to cook a little faster so I just left my thighs in the oven a bit longer. Also, I have not yet tried this, but I think this would be a fantastic way to freeze chicken pieces. Just put the sauce and chicken pieces in a freezer bag and freeze. Thaw and dump in a baking dish to bake. Notice that the recipe is basically equal parts apricot jam, Dijon mustard, maple syrup or honey, plus some tarragon or sage, and a sprinkle of paprika, so it's very easy to adjust for more or less. I'll put the quantities she gave below, but I just eyeballed everything to cut it in about half last night since I was only cooking 3 chicken thighs. It was great. Even the child who thinks of chicken as a last resort loved it.

8-10 bone-in chicken pieces

1/3 cup apricot jam
1/3 cup Dijon mustard
1/3 cup maple syrup (or honey says the recipe)
1/4 cup white wine
1 tsp dried tarragon or sage
paprika to taste (we like lots!)

Preheat the oven to 350.

Put your chicken parts in a baking dish. Mix up the sauce and pour over the chicken, turning the chicken pieces to coat. End with the chicken skin side up, then sprinkle paprika over the chicken.

Bake until done, about 45 minutes to an hour.

I served this with orzo and asparagus.