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Week 4: Spice-rubbed chicken with charred summer corn and sweet pepper cream
THIS MISUNDERSTOOD CONCEPT is how chefs can cook tastier dishes with dirt-cheap ingredients than you can with A5 Wagyu beef.
The secret?
They cook with many of the same ingredients that you do...
But they make the most of the things you leave behind.
Here's what I mean:
Instead of adding more ingredients TO to a dish...
Chefs use the aromatic liquids created during the cooking process to stack flavors WITHIN a dish.
Examples:
Natural juices from roasted chiles -> pureéd into a sauce
Turkey pan drippings -> mixed with breadcrumbs for stuffing
Juice from steaming clams -> saved to make linguine w/ clams
Pasta blanching water -> added to finish a pasta sauce (creamier texture)
Roasted chicken pan drippings -> reserved for steaming rice (arroz con pollo)
At the highest levels of cooking, the leftovers from cooking Ingredient 1 often become a flavor enhancement to Ingredient 2.
And when you learn to stack flavors on top of each other...
Creating a dish that's more than a sum of its parts...
You're unlocking a cooking superpower:
Building flavors.
Spice-rubbed chicken with charred summer corn and sweet pepper cream
This week's high-protein meal is a spice-rubbed chicken with charred summer corn, black beans, cilantro-lime rice, and sweet pepper cream.
It's a great example of building flavors in 2 ways:
The rice is steamed in water PLUS the leftover cooking juices from roasting the chicken, infusing it with all the rich aromas of the chile powder, cumin, and chicken.
The roasted chile juices are strained and pureéd together with the peppers and sour cream. I like it because it adds an extra charred/savory dimension to the dish that's twice as intense as the charred peppers alone.
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I round it out by tossing the rice with some black beans, charred summer corn, chopped cilantro, and a splash of lime juice.
I'll plate the rice mixture on the bottom of the bowl, top it with the diced roasted chicken, and drizzle the sweet pepper cream on top using a squeeze bottle.
This recipe makes 5 portions, and it took me 2 1/2 hours to make, but that's because I was recording the process on my phone...
So it shouldn't take you more than 1 1/2 hours.
Here's the nutrition breakdown for 1 portion:
Calories: 724
Protein: 56g
Carbs: 62g
Fat: 28g
P.S. If you have kids, let them do the squeeze bottle-drizzling part. They can even use it to write their names in sauce.
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Recipe: Spice-rubbed chicken with charred summer corn, black beans, cilantro rice and sweet pepper cream
Cooking time: 90 minutes
Makes 5 portions
Ingredients
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2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs https://amzn.to/3x4uWc7 (order 2)
1 cup basmati rice (rinsed) https://amzn.to/3yPIBnQ
1/2 cup dried black beans (soaked overnight in 1 cup water) https://amzn.to/3x7C6fD
4 ears fresh yellow corn https://amzn.to/3XjTTuV
3 Tbsp avocado oil https://amzn.to/4aUQ9CY
1/2 cup sour cream https://amzn.to/4aSgB0i
2 red bell peppers https://amzn.to/4c6ay96 (order 2)
Juice of 3 limes https://amzn.to/4aSLem3
4 tsp salt https://amzn.to/4erqlSf
2 Tbsp Chile powder https://amzn.to/3yQm7mB
1 tsp ground cumin https://amzn.to/3x4t5nD
1 bunch cilantro, chopped https://amzn.to/3yVX020
DIRECTIONS:
For the chicken:
Toss the chile powder, ground cumin and 1 tsp salt together in a mixing bowl, add the chicken and mix until coated. Pour 1 Tbsp avocado oil onto a sheet pan, rub to coat the pan. Place the chicken on the pan in one flat layer. Broil the chicken on the top-middle rack of the oven until cooked, about 12-15 minutes.
When it's cooled, transfer the cooked chicken onto a cutting board and dice it into 1/2 inch cubes.
For the beans:
Pour the soaked beans into a saucepan with 2 cups of water and 1 tsp salt. Bring it to a boil, and turn the heat down to low. Simmer until tender, about 30 minutes. Let cool.
For the rice:
Pour the chicken pan drippings into a dutch oven or a rice cooker. Add the rice, 2 cups water, and 1 tsp salt to the pan. Bring it to a boil, cover with a lid, and seal it with something heavy. When it's boiling, turn the heat to low and cook for 15 minutes. Place the pan off the heat to cool.
For the charred corn:
Trim the husks and the fibrous pieces off the ears of corn. Place them on a sheet pan and drizzle them with 1 Tbsp avocado oil. Set the pan in the oven under the broiler and broil until charred, turning as needed. Cut the ends off, and slice the kernels off the cobs.
For the sweet pepper cream:
Place the red bell peppers on the sheet pan and drizzle them with 1 Tbsp avocado oil. Place them under the broiler to cook until charred, turning as needed. Remove the pan from the oven, and transfer the charred peppers to a mixing bowl. Wrap the bowl in plastic and set it aside to cool.
After 15 minutes, gently open the charred peppers and allow the juice to drain into a bowl. Peel off the charred skin and the seeds, and place the cleaned peppers into another bowl. Using a strainer, strain out the pepper liquid into the bowl with the cleaned peppers, and discard the skin and seeds.
In a clean bowl, add the sour cream, charred peppers, 2 Tbsp water, and 1 tsp salt. Puree the mixture until smooth using a stick blender or an upright blender. Using a rubber spatula, transfer the sweet pepper cream into a squeeze bottle.
To finish:
In a large mixing bowl, add the cooked rice, cooked beans, charred corn, lime juice, and chopped cilantro. Mix together until combined.
Divide the rice mixture evenly between 5 meal prep boxes. Place the diced chicken on top, and drizzle the sweet pepper cream on top of each portion. Seal the containers and store them in the refrigerator until you're ready to reheat.
