Marinated Oven-Fry Chicken with Cornflake Crust

1 whole chicken, cut up

EDIT: Aaack! I left the salt off the ingredients for the marinade. (And it's really a brine, anyway.)
2 Tbsp kosher salt
1 Tbsp spicy mustard
2 Tbsp chunky rooster sauce
dash Worcestershire
dash lemon juice
1 cup water

6 cups cornflakes
1 Tbsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp table salt
1/4 cup flour (optional)
approx. 1/4 cup olive oil

Mix the salt, mustard, chunky rooster sauce, Worcestershire, lemon juice, and water. Pour into a gallon-size zip-top bag. Add the chicken pieces. Seal the bag, squeezing out as much air as possible. Marinate in the refrigerator for 2-4 hours, turning and squishing the bag occasionally to ensure thorough coverage.

Preheat the oven to 400F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Put the cornflakes, garlic powder, salt, and flour in a food processor. (The flour can be omitted for the gluten-intolerant but it helps the crumb cling better to the chicken.) Process until the mixture is more or less the texture of (coarse) panko breadcrumbs, then slowly drizzle in the oil. You want the final mix to be moist enough to cling to the sides of the workbowl when you stop the blades and then slowly slump down.

Put the crumb into another zip-top bag. Rinse and drain the chicken. One at a time put the chicken pieces in the crumb bag and go all shake-and-bake on it, and place on the sheet pan. Bake at 400F for approximately 45 minutes or until the internal temperature of the thigh pieces passes 165F.

Mock Tandoori Chicken

1 whole roasting chicken

8 oz. tofu-based sour cream substitute OR if kashrut/lactose is not important, 8 oz. plain yogurt

2 Tbsp honey

2 tsp chunky rooster sauce

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp ground cumin

1/8 tsp fresh ground nutmeg or ground allspice

1/2 tsp onion powder

generous pinch salt

juice of 1/2 to 1 lemon

1/4 cup chopped fresh mint (optional)

Tandoori is Indian-style chicken, roasted in an earthenware oven and marinated with yogurt and spices. This is a substitute for those of us with kosher or dairy-intolerance problems and/or without an earthenware oven that can get up to 650F.

Preheat the oven to 450F. Mix together sour cream substitute or yogurt, honey, chunky rooster sauce, garlic powder, ginger, cumin, nutmeg or allspice, onion powder, salt, mint (if desired and not outrageously expensive) and juice from 1/2 lemon. Set aside.

Put the chicken in a glass roasting pan or cast-iron skillet. When oven is up to temp put it in and set timer to 45 minutes. As the timer gets close to zero, check the sauce and adjust saltiness and tartness as desired.

Baste the chicken liberally with the sauce, put back in the oven and set the timer for 10 minutes. Repeat twice more (so the chicken is basted at 45, 55, and 65 minutes). Remove after 75 minutes (1-1/4 hour) and baste once more. Allow the bird to rest for at least 10 minutes before carving. Serve with the remaining sauce as a condiment.

Quick Szechuan Chicken

2 large chicken breasts, boned and cut into bite-size pieces
1/2 can coconut milk (don't open the can yet!)
3/4 cup hot tap water or stock
handful peanuts
1 Tbsp miso paste
1 tsp chunky rooster sauce
1 Tbsp garlic powder
1 thumb fresh ginger, peeled and diced
3/4 cup frozen peas
1 Tbsp oil
Rice or pasta

Put the peanuts into a small Ziploc bag and use the unopened can of coconut milk to smash them into little pieces. Pour the peanuts into a bowl. Open the can and mix the coconut milk, chunky rooster sauce, garlic powder, and diced ginger. Whisk the miso into the hot water or stock until dissolved and combine.

Heat the oil in a skillet or saucier over a medium-high flame. Add the chicken and brown, 1-2 minutes on each side. Reduce heat to medium, pour in the miso-coconut mixture, and poach, covered, for 5 minutes. Uncover and poach for an additional 5 minutes. Add the frozen peas and poach for another 4 minutes.

Serve over rice or pasta, and sprinkle with peanut pieces.

Curried Seitan With Vegetables

So, I'm not a big fan of seitan - done right and in some kind of stew application it's nearly indistinguishable from meat, so what's the point?

Well, if you've ever despaired of communicating what cut of meat you want from a butcher with whom you have no language in common and it's the end of a long, hot, sticky day and your air conditioner keeps freezing up and leaking water all over your coffee table, and you just don't have the energy to deal with One. More. Thing, you'd understand the point.

I started with this recipe, adapted for my preferences and on-hand.

8 ounces beef flavor seitan
2 T oil
8 oz mushrooms, coarsely chopped
1/2 bell pepper cut in large squares
1 onion, sliced
2 green onions, sliced in 1-inch lengths

marinade:
dash coconut cream
dash Worcestershire sauce
1/2 T green curry paste
1 T peanut butter
1 oz fond
juice of 1/2 lemon
splash water

curry sauce:
2 T green curry paste
1 can coconut cream
dash Worcestershire sauce
1 T chunky rooster sauce
3 large cloves garlic, smashed and minced

Mix up the marinade in a large bowl; cut up the seitan and let it marinate while preparing the curry sauce. Mix the sauce ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a simmer over low heat.

Meanwhile, brown the seitan with the marinade in the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. When the sauce is simmering, add the mushrooms, bell pepper, and onion. When the seitan is well-browned add it as well. Simmer for  10 minutes, add the green onion, and simmer for 5 minutes more.

Serve over starch, rice or cubed potatoes.

Quick Kung Pao-ish Fried Tofu

8 oz firm tofu, cubed
2 T cornstarch
1/4 c panko breadcrumbs
1/4 c Worcestershire sauce
3 T tomato paste
1 T chunky rooster sauce
1 drizzle honey or 1 t dark brown sugar, if desired
4-6 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
1/2 bell pepper, sliced thin
half a dozen mushrooms, sliced
3 green onions, coarsely chopped
small handful peanuts
oil for frying

Press the tofu for an hour or so to remove excess moisture, then marinate in Worcestershire sauce for half an hour. Dredge the tofu in cornstarch and then panko (reserving the Worcestershire), and pan fry over high heat until the breading is GBD. Remove the tofu and add to the remaining oil the bell pepper, mushrooms, green onions, and garlic. Saute for just long enough to stir the tomato paste and chunky rooster sauce into the Worcestershire, adding the honey or brown sugar if desired. Then reduce the heat to low and pour the mixture over the vegetables, tossing until coated. Add the peanuts and simmer for 3-5 minutes.

Serve the vegetables over rice, topped with the tofu. The sweetener, if added, will provide a nice counterpoint to the fiery garlic sauce. But sometimes you just want your Scoville units straight up.