Chicken

Heat Large Sauté Pan over Medium High Heat, and add 2 T of olive Oil.

Dredge chicken in Flour, and gently place in to pan and sear on both sides for 4-5 min or until golden brown.

Remove Chicken from pan, and place on tray lined with paper town to absorb extra grease.

Now add mushrooms to pan, add pinch of salt, and sauté until nice and tender 3-4 min.

Deglaze pan with marsala wine, and let cook down until reduced by half of liquid amount.

Add chicken stock to pan and bring up to light simmer.

Add Chicken back to pan, and add butter.

Turn heat off and swirl around.

Garnish with Basil

Put the chicken in a gallon zip lock bag and pour in the buttermilk and hot sauce. Let it marinate in the fridge about 4 hours or as long as overnight.

About an hour before you want to cook, bring the chicken out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature.

Whisk the spices together in a small mixing bowl.

Whisk the flour and cornstarch in a large mixing bowl.

Pre-heat a dutch oven with about 2-3 inches of oil to 350 – 360 degrees.

Drain the chicken in a colander and transfer to a rimmed baking sheet.

Generously season your chicken with the spice mix.

Then coat the chicken with the flour mixture.

Choose your method of coating the chicken. Some people use a large paper bag (the old school grocery bags) to shake and coat the chicken. Others put the dry mix on a baking sheet or in a pie tin. Whichever method you use, coat the chicken thoroughly.

LET THE CHICKEN REST 2-3 minutes after coating. The coating will adhere better to the chicken.

Fry the chicken, adjusting the burner as necessary to maintain the oil temperature between 300 and 325 degrees for about 13 - 15 minutes, to a deep golden brown, cooked throughout and very crisp.

Remove the chicken to a wire rack or a tray lined with paper towels and sprinkle with salt.

Check the internal temp on the chicken to confirm it’s cooked through. You want a temperature of 165 degrees. If it isn’t, you can put the chicken in the oven at 350 for about 25-30 minutes to finish cooking.

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees

Cut the backbone out of the chicken.

Rinse the chicken off, then dry the chicken as best you can with paper towels.

Set the chicken in a baking dish. Leave room for potatoes, carrots, or whatever else you want to go with your chicken.

In a small mixing bowl, mix together the butter, thyme, and minced garlic.

Smear some of the butter mixture on the chicken skin.

Put the rest of the butter mixture under the skin of the chicken.

If you are cooking the chicken with veggies, put those in the baking dish.

Place chicken in baking dish breast side down.

Put in the oven and bake for 30 minutes.

Turn the chicken over, breast side up and bake for another 40-45 minutes until chicken is done.

Let the chicken rest at least 5 minutes before cutting.

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Place the chicken, whole onions, and carrots on a baking sheet.

Rub with olive oil, then season with salt and pepper.

Roast the chicken and veggies for 35-40 minutes or until cooked.

Set aside until cool enough to handle, then remove from the bone. Discard the skin and bones.

Cut the chicken into large pieces.

In a small sauce pan, heat the chicken stock and dissolve the bouillon cubes in the stock.

In a large pot or Dutch oven, melt the butter and saute the diced onions over medium-low heat until translucent.

Add the flour and stir constantly for 2-3 minutes.

Add the chicken stock slowly, stirring constantly to avoid lumps.

Stir until thick.

Add about 1/2 teaspoon of pepper. Check the sauce to see if it needs salt. The stock and bouillon have a lot of salt, so check if it needs any more.

Add the chicken and the rest of your veggies, and mix well.

If you're making the pastry, now is the time to start that. If you are using a packaged pie dough you can start assembling the pie.

Pour the filling into the vessel(s) of choice, then cover with the pie dough.

Brush the top of the pie with an egg wash (1-2 scrambled eggs and a tablespoon or two of water) to give the dough that golden color.

Press the sides of the dough down around the edges of the vessel and cut a few slits in the top of the crust.

Sprinkle with sea salt or kosher salt and a few turns of freshly ground pepper.

Place on a baking sheet and bake for 1 hour at 375 degrees or until the top is golden brown.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the olive oil, lemon zest and juice, and the spices. Mix well.

Add the chicken, onion and mushrooms to the bowl and mix to coat them.

Transfer to a one gallon zip lock bag and put in the fridge for at least two hours, overnight would be better.

You can prepare this a couple of ways, on a vertical rotisserie (if you have one!), on skewers and grilled, or on a sheet pan in the oven. Preheat the rotisserie, grill, or oven. If cooking in the oven, preheat to 450 degrees.

If cooking on the grill or rotisserie, begin skewering the mushrooms and onions, alternating Portobello, onion, shitake. Keep them tight on the skewer. Skewer the chicken separately as it will take longer to cook. Or simply grill the chicken pieces whole and then slice later.

Once on the grill, be sure to turn the skewers every 3-4 minutes to ensure each side gets grilled. Remove after each side has been grilled and veggies are cooked through.

If cooking in the oven, simply put the chicken on a small sheet pan. Spread the mushrooms and onions evenly on a large sheet pan. Bake for 20 minutes, then remove and flip the veggies with a spatula.

Cook for an additional 15-20 minutes and remove the veggies.

Let the chicken continue to cook an addition 15-20 minutes.

While the veggies are cooking, warm the pita. If you’re grilling, toss the pita in any open spot. I love those toasty, charred bits from grilled pita. Otherwise put in the oven or microwave oven to warm through.

Cut the pita in half and then spread a little tahini inside.

Fill the pita halves with the mushroom/onion mixture along with some cucumber and tomato.

Top with a little tahini sauce and enjoy!

Chop/shred the chicken. I used leftover baked chicken, so all I had to do was chop it up.

Shred your cheese on a box grater. I know you’ll be tempted to buy pre-shredded. Don’t. The shredded cheese has anti-caking agents on it.

Pre-heat a pan over medium heat, put in your olive oil, jalapeno, and the onions.

When the onions are translucent, reduce the heat to low, add the garlic, corn, and enchilada sauce.

Put the refried beans in a microwave safe bowl and add a few spoonfuls of the enchilada sauce.

Put in microwave for 30 – 45 seconds. Incorporate the beans and enchilada sauce. If it’s still too thick repeat until fully incorporated.

Put the flour tortillas in microwave oven for 30 seconds to a minute to warm them up and make them more pliable.

Arrange ingredients for assembly.

Ladle enough of the enchilada sauce to cover the bottom of your baking dish (13x9).

Dip a flour tortilla in the enchilada sauce, coating both sides. I use tongs and don’t worry about the little uncovered bit where the tongs hold the tortilla.

Lay the tortilla in the baking dish and spoon in about ¼ cup of the chicken, enough refried beans to lightly cover the chicken, and then sprinkle in some of each cheese.

Tightly roll the enchilada up and leave the seam down.

Repeat until the baking dish is full.

Cover the tortillas with the enchilada sauce you made.

Sprinkle the rest of your cheese on top along with the green onions.

Bake for 40 minutes, then put the broiler on high to give the cheese a nice golden brown color.

Let rest for about 10 minutes before serving.