Bourbon Chicken

 August 2025

Recipe from Cook's Country, August 2021

I learned about this recipe from an episode of Cook's Country on PBS. Bourbon chicken is apparently served in many mall food courts and some chain restaurants, though I don't recall seeing it. However it looked good on the TV show, the recipe had no exotic ingredients, and it looked to be easy to prepare so it was worth trying.

The recipe is for 2 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken thighs . For the two of us I bought 1.15 pounds of chicken and halved the other ingredients. For the sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar, water, bourbon, toasted sesame oil, and pepper were whisked in a measuring cup, heated in the microwave, then whisked again to ensure all the sugar was dissolved. The chicken was cut into bit-sized pieces then tossed with cornstarch and some of the soy mixture, a process called velveting which helps keep the chicken tender and thickens the sauce. The chicken was browned in a 10" skillet. Grated ginger and minced garlic were cooked until just fragrant and the soy sauce mixture was added. It was brought to a boil and cooked until syrupy. Off heat some cider vinegar was added. The preparation time was 40 minutes.

This recipe made chicken for two dinners. It lived up to its promise of being easy and quick to prepare. Moreover it tastes good. The teriyaki-like sauce has a lot of flavor and the chicken is tender and juicy. It was a little salty, probably from the soy sauce; this could be addressed by using a low-sodium soy sauce.

Crispy Salmon Cakes

 July 2025

Recipe from America's Test Kitchen, Season 25

This is the second salmon cake recipe I have tried recently. We enjoyed the first recipe both for the flavor  as well as the convenient preparation. It has been a few months since we tried the first recipe, too long for  a side-by-side tasting, but we can find out it if these salmon cakes are worth having again. 

I used two filets measuring just over 10 ounces total with the skin on; the recipe specified 9 ounces. The salmon was removed from the skin and pulsed a few times in the food processor to a coarse texture, not a paté. A binding agent was made by mixing panko, dill (I used 1 tsp of dry dill rather than 1 tbs of minced fresh dill), mayonnaise, minced shallot, lemon juice, and Dijon mustard. The chopped salmon was folded into this mixture along with chopped smoked salmon and capers. The salmon mixture was divided into four portions which were shaped into 1-inch high cakes. These were a little fragile and thus were handled with care. The cakes were coated with panko bread crumbs. The cakes were fried in vegetable oil until golden brown and crisp on both sides, 2-3 minutes per side. Total time to prepare and cook four salmon cakes was about an hour.

As usual for us and "for two" recipes, this recipe provided us with two dinners. The cakes were crispy with good salmon flavor and not at all fragile. They were a little salty which we speculated came from the smoked salmon. Diane thought they needed a condiment; I had skipped making the tartar sauce that was in the recipe and forgot to serve lemon juice on the side. The leftovers cakes were warmed in a covered skillet over medium-low heat. They came out nice and crispy and were served on slider buns, which they fit nicely. These are worth having again for all the same reasons as the cakes made from the earlier recipe, but maybe without the smoked salmon.

Braised Chicken Thighs with Lemon, Spices, and Torn Basil

June 2025

Recipe from Cook's Illustrated, March 2023

We've made Chicken with Vinegar, a simple easy-to-make dish of braised chicken thighs, several times. Apparently it was so popular that ATK developed several variations which they published a few years ago. I finally got around to trying one of them.

This dish uses mostly pantry ingredients, the only exceptions being fresh basil leaves and coriander seeds. The published recipe is for 8 bone-in chicken thighs, way too much for the two of us, so I halved all of the ingredients; 4 chicken thighs provided us two dinners. The chicken thighs were trimmed, patted dry with paper towels, and seasoned with salt and pepper. They were then browned with oil in a 10" skillet over medium heat and transferred to a large plate. To make a braising liquid, all but 1 tablespoon of fat was poured off from the skillet. Minced shallot and garlic were cooked then ground cumin and coriander were added and cooked briefly. Chicken broth and lemon juice were added and brought to a simmer. The chicken was returned to the skillet, skin side up, and baked in a 325° oven until the chicken registered 195°. The chicken was removed to a serving platter and tented loosely with foil. The skillet was placed on high heat and coriander seeds (lightly crushed in a mortar and pestle) were added. The mixture was brought to a boil and cooked until reduced to about ¾-cup. The heat was lowered to medium-low. A slurry of corn starch and water was whisked in and cooked for one minute. Off heat, lemon zest and butter were whisked into the sauce. The chicken was topped with torn basil leaves and served with the sauce. Total time was 95 minutes, about 30 of which were hands off.

Like Chicken with Vinegar, this is a very good chicken dish. It is easy to make and can be done on a weeknight. The lemon juice adds acidity taking the place of vinegar in the original recipe. The sauce was good on the chicken but didn't go well on potatoes like a gravy would. Also, the torn basil added little to the end product so could easily be skipped. A good dish but not necessarily better than Chicken with Vinegar.

Salmon with Lentils

 June 2025

Recipe from Cook's Illustrated, March 2023

I learned about this classic French preparation, Saumon Aux Lentilles,  on a recent episode of America's Test Kitchen on TV. Salmon is our favorite fish and this recipe seemed to provide a new and easy method to prepare it. In addition, the lentils, which we had heretofore only had in soup, seemed a good pairing for the fish, so this recipe made it onto my list of things to try.

I made a few modifications to the ingredients: I cooked two rather than four salmon filets, used green lentils in place of French du Puy lentils (hard to find), and replaced sherry vinegar with red wine vinegar. 

First the lentils were prepared. Onion, celery, and carrot were diced fine and cooked with salt in olive oil until softened. Minced garlic, tomato paste, dried thyme, and pepper were added and cooked. Water and lentils were stirred into the mixture and simmered until the lentils were tender. Just before serving vinegar, Dijon mustard, and olive oil were stirred into the lentils. The lentil preparation, mostly hands off, took about 70 minutes. 

The salmon was brined for 15 minutes then patted dry with paper towels. It was placed, skin-side down, in a cold non-stick skillet that had been sprinkled with salt and pepper. Additional salt and pepper were sprinkled on the top of the salmon and the skillet was heated on medium-high. The salmon was cooked until the skin started to brown and the bottom ¼-inch turned opaque. The salmon was carefully turned over and cooked to 125°. It took about 15 minutes to cook the salmon. The total time to prepare lentils and salmon was about 85 minutes.

We both liked this dish. This simple method of cooking the salmon ensured that the flavor of the fish was preeminent with no distractions from a sauce or glaze. We also liked the lentils and can imagine fixing them again to go with other entreés. They provide a a strong earthy accompaniment to the rich salmon. For leftovers the lentils were simply reheated while cooking two new salmon filets.