![Lemon Chicken Paillard]()
by Yvonne Maffei | Jun 23, 2017 | Chicken, French, Poultry Dishes
Paillard is a French culinary term thinly sliced or pounded meat, which is easier to cook and has quicker cooking times as a result of that.
I love pillared and actually do it to beef as well, but this chicken dish has a special place in my heart because of all my favorite flavors in it: sea salt, olive oil, lemon, fresh herbs like oregano and thyme.
I start out with some beautiful boneless, skinless raw chicken like breast meat chicken tenders, which you can get from Billy Doe Meats (everything is Halal).
Then, I wrap it in plastic wrap and use something heavy like a mallet or even my cast iron pan to pound the meat thin.
Once that’s done, I prepare the pan. I use a cast iron pan, but you can use any skillet. My secret to the chicken never sticking is to salt the bottom of the pan then add the frying oil. I season the chicken, too, but am careful with the salt because there will be plenty of salt in the pan. 
I cook it for about 5 minutes on one side and never move it until it’s ready. You can tell by looking at the edges of the meat, which starts to pull away from the pan. Flip the meat over, then add the lemon slices and fresh herbs on top. Let it cook for another 3-5 minutes, depending on the size of the pieces, then move to a paper-towel lined plate to soak up any excess oil.
I like to add a few more cut fresh herbs on top for flavor, but what I also love about this dish is that you can lift the meat from the pan and still have the lemons and fresh herbs on top looking untouched, so the presentation is pretty- and all the flavor has been cooked into the meat so nicely. It’s just one of the easiest and quickest things you can do to put a great meal on the table- a side of rice, couscous or pasta would all be fantastic, although even a little rustic bread would be lovely, too. It doesn’t get much simpler or easier than that, particularly for the last Iftar of Ramadan.
[yumprint-recipe id=’111′] ![Roasted Eggplant with Ground Meat]()
by Yvonne Maffei | May 29, 2017 | Chicken, Mediterranean, Middle Eastern
Whenever I think of stuffing vegetables, it seems like a really tedious and cumbersome process- stuffed zucchini, stuffed cabbage, grape leaves, you name it. It seems like something I don’t have time for now want to spend an afternoon doing.
This recipe, however, isn’t like that at all. It’s a sort of twist on actually ‘stuffing’ and slow cooking because it’s sped up by cooking the ground meat ahead of time and using the inside flesh of the eggplant in that ground meat. The eggplants are then left sort of thin enough to bake nicely in the oven with enough time to just give the meat that seared taste.
I love this recipe so much and I hope you will, too.
The one secret I have to making and keeping the meat moist is by adding plenty of broth to the meat and also to the pan I’m cooking it in. It doesn’t impart any other meat flavors but since it has herbs in it, it imparts a nice flavor and aroma to the meat.
See the recipe below- ft’s a fantastic choice for any time of year, but truly satisfying this time of year when we love something substantial but not too heavy for Iftar.
The simple way to serve stuffed vegetables is right here in this two-step recipe that will leave you wondering why you ever spent more time worrying it would be too cumbersome to make!
Ingredients
Instructions
- Cut the eggplants in half and using a spoon, scoop out all of the flesh. Roughly chop it into small cube-size pieces and set aside.
- Gently heat the oil in a saute pan.
- Add the onions and cook until translucent, about 3-4 minutes.
- Raise the heat and add the chicken, the chopped eggplant, and the spices. Stir until all the chicken is mostly cooked, about 6-7 minutes. Add half of the container of the broth. Continue cooking on medium high heat until the broth has mostly evaporated, about 5-6 more minutes. Set aside to cool slightly.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Place the eggplant shells in a semi deep oven-safe baking pan. Add the meat mixture to each shell, then top with fresh parsley. Drizzle each with a bit of olive oil.
- Add the remaining broth to the bottom of the pan.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes, uncovered, or until you see that the meat has significantly browned on top. Remove and let cool slightly before serving with rice, potatoes or pasta.
By Yvonne Maffei | My Halal Kitchen
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![Chicken Burrito Bowl]()
by Yvonne Maffei | Apr 6, 2016 | American, Chicken, Latin, Mexican, Poultry Dishes, Recipes
One of the only ‘restaurants’ I ever go to is Chipotle. I’ve always loved how fresh their ingredients are, but never eat any of the meat because it’s not dhabiha. I actually don’t eat out very much anymore mainly because I’m always testing recipes for my latest cookbook and this site, but I do crave certain dishes I really like at my favorite eateries or the ones I wish I could have with the meat in it. Such is the Burrito Bowl with Chicken at Chipotle. I always get the veggie bowl, and it is substantial but sometimes I just want the meat, too, so I decided to make my own at home.
Actually, you might be surprised that you probably have most of the ingredients at home: Rice, beans, chicken, lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, salsa or hot sauce, avocados, tortilla chips and fresh cilantro. If not, you can easily get them at any grocery store.
Additionally, fresh or frozen non-GMO corn. Very important.
I use frozen corn – it’s frozen when it’s fresh. If you buy organic, it should not be GMO, so that’s one way to know. Also, any type of lettuce or greens you like. I personally like Romain lettuce chopped finely.
I love white sharp cheddar cheese, which I get from Trader Joe’s as a raw milk cheese variety. I just use a hand grater and grate it nicely, just like it looks at Chipotle.
Chopped tomatoes of any variety. If you have time, remove the seeds so your burrito bowl doesn’t become soggy or watery. If you’re going to eat it right away, then don’t bother.
Somewhere in the process, I prepare my chicken. I buy boneless skinless chicken thighs and cook them in this manner, although I don’t put any herbs and instead add ground cumin and a pinch of turmeric. Beans and rice are cooked separately, too.
The bowl-making begins by placing the cooked rice at the bottom, then the beans then the meat and fresh veggies.
On top are the greens and cheese.
And topped with sour cream, freshly diced avocado and some hot sauce. You can add salsa, too. I just didn’t have any already made on hand, but it’s particularly delicious with this tomatillo salsa.
And so, in my opinion, it’s even better at home. You can feed a lot of people this way, and best of all, you know exactly what’s in everything you’ve just put into your very own Chipotle-style Chicken Burrito Bowl.
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by Yvonne Maffei | Mar 21, 2016 | Chicken, Cooking Techniques & Kitchen Tips, Mediterranean, Recipes
I recently filmed this quick video to show how I make one of my favorite chicken dishes ever. It’s pretty versatile, but the way I use it most is when making my recipe for Chicken Pita Rolls with Hummus & Tabbouleh.
If you have any questions about the technique please leave them below. Enjoy!
![Classic Roasted Chicken with Seasonal Vegetables]()
by Yvonne Maffei | Nov 20, 2014 | By Season, Chicken, Dinner, Entertaining, Fall, Poultry Dishes, Recipes, Winter
Everyone loves a classic roasted chicken and there are countless recipes in the world on to make the perfect one, and I certainly have my own that I stick to pretty much every time I have a craving for the comfort food that it is.What’s my secret?
Two things:
1) Butter and 2) fresh herbs.
They’re stuffed right under the bird’s skin and before roasting so that you don’t need to put much, if any oil on top or worry about basting the bird while cooking, either. You can also season the butter prior to stuffing it, but I simply season the top of the bird because it’s just less messy that way.
This beautiful bird below is a Crescent Halal chicken (whole roaster) that I purchase at my local Joe Caputo & Sons. They’re antibiotic-free, hormone-free, vegetarian-fed, 100% halal raised and processed (I’ve actually seen how it’s done, farm to fork both here and here).
I also tie the bird with cooking twine- once around the feet and once or twice around the body both vertically and horizontally so that it will cook more evenly and the wing tips don’t burn. You can also do this with turkey, on a much larger scale of course.
Speaking of temperature, it’s imperative to check the internal temperature of any meat and to do it away from the bone. It’s best to have a meat thermometer on hand for things like roasted chicken, turkey, pot roasts, lamb shanks, etc. All you have to do is know what’s the ‘done’ or ‘safe’ temperature for the type of meat and cut. In the case of roasted chicken, 165° F away from the bone (which is hotter) is considered safe by the USDA. Enter our giveaway here, sponsored by Crescent Foods, for your very own meat thermometer.
I also love to have vegetables with my chicken, pretty much any root vegetables like potatoes and carrots, especially in the Fall and Winter seasons, although I don’t cook them with the chicken (i.e. same pan); instead I put the bird on its own roasting pan and let it have its space and then in another part of the oven like on a separate rack, I let the vegetables roast with their own seasons, and of course olive oil and/or butter, too. It prevents the bird from sitting in oil while cooking and then worrying about all the separate cooking temperatures to deal with.
Enjoy the warmth of being indoors and cozy with family and friends over wonderful, delicious and healthy halal food this winter and give this recipe a try to see if it’ll be your go-to roasted chicken recipe, too.
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![Quick and Easy Chicken Wings]()
by Yvonne Maffei | May 28, 2014 | American, Appetizers & Snacks, By Meal Type, Chicken, Halal-Certified Products, Poultry Dishes, Recipes
My love of eating chicken wings began in college when I really got a taste of how wonderful they were- mild, hot and spicy and always with some sort of creamy dip and a side of fries. It’s the college kid ting to do, right? Well, the saucy wings weren’t the first kind I was exposed to, but the first kind I actually liked. My mom used to order the southern style fried wings that came with fries and gravy smothered on top, a sort of specialty in our small town’s tiny but popular mom and pop restaurant called Rainbow Kitchen. But as a kid, I couldn’t appreciate anything but the fries…
Looking back, it’s the stuff people crave now- totally homemade meals like mom used to make, reminiscent of the olden days when things really were farm to fork on a daily basis. It was also a time when people weren’t so wigged out by cooking with the raw product.
When you have a beautiful and clean product to work with, there should be nothing to get squirmy about, although wings should probably be cut in half (which I did not do in this recipe and wish I had) for ease of eating, having more bites available for more people and for the pure aesthetics of it, as wings look better cut in half.
I simply got carried away with this recipe and went full force preparing and photographing before even thinking about all that because it’s so easy to make, and so quick, that it’s just delightful to get right into the cooking and eating part.
All you need are a few things:
About 1 and 3/4 pounds chicken wings (that’s often how the packs come), one tablespoon of date vinegar (but you can use just about any other type of vinegar you like), one teaspoon of sea salt, 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper, and one packet of Saffron Road’s Tikka Masala Simmer Sauce (although it’s delicious with the Moroccan Tagine Simmer Sauce, too).
Make sure to use a good sea salt (coarse or fine) and a pungent black pepper. I know the Simmer Sauce has spice in it already and if you like your wings mild, my recipe will keep it that way with the addition of a tiny kick. If you like things hotter, add some chili flakes or chili powder.
Check out that gorgeous color of the Tikka Masala Simmer Sauce, which has no artificial color, additives or preservatives. It’s also gluten-free, low in carbs (only 3 grams) and calories (only 20). To top it off, it’s ingredients are non-GMO, which is not easy for food companies to do anymore.
Next, pour on the vinegar. I like to use either apple cider vinegar or date vinegar in this recipe, but you can liven it up with other types of vinegar you have on hand, preferably something dark. The Simmer Sauce already has some vinegar in it, but since we’re either oven-roasting or grilling these wings, the additional vinegar helps give the sauce a little more cooking liquid without liquefying the dish-basically so it doesn’t become one big mess that doesn’t stick to the chicken.
Add the salt and pepper.
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Mix it all together to coat the chicken well.
Alternatively you can do this in a bag instead of a bowl: simply place everything in a bag instead of ever using a bowl and shake it up. It’s easy to marinate for a bit this way, too, although there is no need for marinating the chicken in this recipe unless you want to do that.
Now here’s another alternative: You can either opt to grill or oven-roast these wings. You can also do a little bit of both stove-top grilling then oven roasting or use the oven the whole time. I’m giving you the recipe for all three at the end of this post, but in the rest of the post I’m going to show you how to oven roast them only. If you were to use the stove top or outdoor grill, be sure to crank up the heat nice and high before adding the chicken.
Otherwise, prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper. You can thank me later about how much less the cleanup is.
Add the wings. Be sure to spread them apart nicely so they can roast evenly. The oven should be preheated to 375°.
Let them roast on one side, without turning, for 20 minutes. Crank up the heat to 425° for 15 minutes, then turn each one over. Continue roasting for another 15 minutes, or until nicely browned and fully cooked on the inside. Remember, chicken should read at least 165° F on a meat thermometer, away from the bone.
Looks like they’ve been grilled outdoors, don’t they? You can also do a bit of stovetop grilling first and then move to the oven to get this effect, but oven-only grilling will do the same if you crank the heat up to broil for the last five minutes of cooking. Not necessary, but it’s a nice effect.
Plate the finished chicken however you like. In this case, I added chopped cilantro, cut radishes and lime to the top because I planned to make tasty tacos out of the wings.
I’ve sort of adopted that, too. Just add tortillas, sour cream and salsa and you’ve got it together. In this case, though, the wings are great all on their own.
Can you believe a Simmer Sauce can help you do this so easily? What other Simmer Sauces by Saffron Road would you try that you think would be great on wings?
Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post, however, all opinions and recipes are my own and not that of the sponsoring company.
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