Get Your Man Chicken - the Neelys Recipe - Food.com (2024)

FAQs

How to infuse flavor into chicken? ›

Marinating not only adds flavor, but the combination of healthy fat and acid in most recipes also helps tenderize the meat. A good marinade is roughly three parts oil to one part acid, plus salt and other seasonings like spices, crushed garlic, or a little natural sugar.

Just because the chicken is already cooked doesn't mean it can't benefit from a rub. Before reheating, make a custom blend of your favorite spices like paprika, cayenne, onion or garlic powder. Mix in dried herbs or a bit of sugar for beautiful caramelization, then sprinkle it evenly over the skin.

You see, without a generous sprinkling of kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, your chicken is basically destined for blandness. After you've pulled your chicken out of its marinade (or even if you're not using a marinade), always sprinkle all sides of the breast with salt and pepper.

This is a quicker, more effective way of doing it. Essentially, slashing the chicken to the bone helps the flavor of sauces and marinades penetrate faster and deeper for more flavor. "You take chicken and you actually cut through, right to the bone, about every inch. Turn it over, do the same thing.

The reaction of cysteine and sugar can lead to characteristic meat flavour specially for chicken and pork. Volatile compounds including 2-methyl-3-furanthiol, 2-furfurylthiol, methionol, 2,4,5-trimethyl-thiazole, nonanol, 2-trans-nonenal, and other compounds have been identified as important for the flavour of chicken.

Drizzle a light layer of olive oil onto the chicken if you want the rub to stick better. Olive oil helps the dry rub adhere to the meat so it's less likely to fall off while you're cooking it. Put a coin-sized amount of olive oil on the chicken and spread it evenly across the sides of the chicken.

To stretch out the flavour from the chook as much as possible, the broth from cooking the chicken is used to boil the rice. But first, rendered excess fat from inside the bird's cavity is used to stir-fry the grains with garlic. Hot stock, pandan leaves and ginger slices are then added to build aroma and depth.

Garlic Cream Sauce

A creamy and garlic-infused sauce can take your chicken and rice to new heights of deliciousness. This sauce combines the richness of cream with the bold flavors of garlic, resulting in a smooth and savory delight.

Stock is generally made from bones, and broth is generally made from flesh. In both cases, they are often supported with aromatic vegetables, but in the case of stock, left unseasoned for maximum flexibility in recipes, whereas broth will usually contain at least salt and pepper.

How do you season chicken like a pro? ›

If you are seasoning it with more than salt and pepper, combine your spice mixture (I love the simplicity of freshly minced garlic and a mix of herbs like rosemary, sage, and thyme) in a bowl, then rub all over. Again, don't forget about the inside of the bird!

You can marinate chicken anywhere from 2 hours up to 24 hours, though marinating chicken for even 15 to 30 minutes can impart flavor and moisture into smaller pieces of meat. Generally, bone-in cuts of chicken, such as wings, drumsticks and breasts, will require a longer marinade time than their boneless counterparts.

Add the chicken pieces and submerge them in the marinade. To ensure that the flavor gets into the meat, you could slash the meat a few times with your knife beforehand, but it's not essential. Close the container and transfer it to the refrigerator to marinate for a maximum of 24 hours.

You can marinate chicken anywhere from 2 hours up to 24 hours, though marinating chicken for even 15 to 30 minutes can impart flavor and moisture into smaller pieces of meat. Generally, bone-in cuts of chicken, such as wings, drumsticks and breasts, will require a longer marinade time than their boneless counterparts.

Try brining, or soaking your meat in a salty solution for a longer period of time to see this result. This works for roast chicken, grass-fed beef, Angus beef, lean beef, pork, lamb, and any other dark meat or white meat you can think of. Brining can be especially helpful if you are roasting or grilling.

Leave it to infuse

Simply leaving the rub seasoning on the meat allows it to soak in all the flavours—delicate cuts of meat need only around 15 minutes to absorb the flavour. But, for tough cuts of meat—think pork, shoulder, or brisket—a longer time might be more beneficial.

Place all of the flavoring agents into the liquid you are infusing and seal them in a sous vide bag, Mason jar, or heat-proof glass bottle. Heat the infusion in the water bath until the flavor profile you are seeking is achieved. This is usually 1 to 4 hours for vinegar or alcohol and 3 to 12 hours for oil.