Beginning with chicken

[vilasman]

I dont like chicken, don't eat it, haven't in years. My wife, bless her heart, is manuvering me into cooking for her most of the time, and she likes, chicken.
Mainly boneless thighs and wings. My wife is exercise challenged and I am trying to do this as a baked thing and not a fried, to sort of help her with the challenge.

Now I know I can salt,pepper and olive oil the bird, and I have heard that I can mix the salt and pepper in with a vinegrette dressing and make a marinade and then bake it and present it over a rice dish.
Although we have green beans and new potatos in the ice box already made.

What I am looking for is either a quick way to prep and cook thighs /wings in the evening or, something I can whip up before work and then pop in the oven when we get back home 10 to 12 hrs later. And it has to be small servings, at best my wife will eat the same thing 3 times in a 2-3 week period.

Any thoughts? Also what herb combination is like the standard for chicken? That I could make up like I make essence and put in a shaker can and have at the ready?

[Alix]

-Brush with mustard and sprinkle with seasoned salt

-Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with lemon pepper

-Mix dijon, garlic worcestershire sauce, brush this on chicken and sprinkle with a mixture of parmesan and bread crumbs. (1/2 and 1/2 of each)

Does she like hot food? Try brushing with Franks Hot sauce.

I do lots of things with chicken, but I mostly use breast meat. If you are looking at lower fat content in your food you may want to try that.

[tomchef]

90%+ of the fat in chicken is located in the skin.losing that is a good start.
a high quality olive oil is a lot of things but unhealthy aint one of them.
it you cook legs and thighs slowly in the oven on a rack,this will render the fat out of the meat and allow it to drain off.
breast meat is much leaner than any other part of the bird

[Mr. D]

Try Bruschetta Chicken. Diced Tomatos, Red Onions, Green Peppers, Fresh Thyme Basil, Oregeno, and S&P. Spoon This Mixture over Your Chicken And Cover With Mozzarella And Parmesan Cheese. Place In Refridgerator as is and throw in the oven when you get home. While Chicken Is Cooking You Can Get Everything Else Ready.

[vilasman]

thanks for the tips, DW is a carb junkie, so if it dosen't have some fat she won't eat it. I am trying to wean her off of going to mcdonalds every day for dinner.I am creating a reciepe and cooking notebook and these tips and goodweeds pancake mix will be the first entries.

[Mr. D]

Try breading your chicken with breadcrumbs, Thyme, Marjoram, basil, and Parsley.

[Andy M.]

First, switch to breast meat as it's much lower in fat.

Try this recipe.

[Chopstix]

You can try Chinese restaurant-style Lemon Chicken. I normally use skinless boneless thighs. Also, please omit the ginger. This dish tastes much better without it.

Vilasman, very nice of you to cook for your wife and to care about her diet.

[kitchenelf]

OK, I have to ask - are you going to be able to eat this chicken as in ANY chicken? Pork cutlets I'm sure would work if you can't just hack it down.

Take some melba toast (1 5-oz box) and blend in food processor until almost done - add about 1 TBS garlic powder, 1 TBS poultry seasoning, 1/2 tsp - 1 tsp kosher salt, 1/2 tsp white pepper, and I think that's all I use - oh, I think I also use about 1 TBS of dried thyme.

Egg wash and dredge the chicken - saute in a med - medium high pan the your very best olive oil - yes, very best - the fruitier the better - it is AWESOME!

[vilasman]

Well my history with chicken.... I was raised vegetarian and aside from the occasional foray into the world of meat with something like hot dogs or chicken, I pretty much stayed that way until I was in my 20's. Now I would say I am not a heavy meat eater, i like pepperoni on pizza, and I like johnsonville brats, and I like enough meat in other dishes to season it, like pork in baked beans, and bacon in green beans and new potatos...
I do like fish, and I like lamb more than beef.
But, as I transcended from not being a vegetarian, I had a jamaican girlfriend who I think attempted to make some curry chicken one time and it absolutely tore my stomach up. And every since then, sometimes even the smell of chicken will make me sick. I dont like turkey either, but i also partially attribute this to growing up in a family of women who cannot cook. Well who cook everything to death.
I did know some women from church who could cook, which got me into a semi love of cateering and entertaining and my wife/MIL cook at least as well, probably better than anyone else I know. Then I also have a close friend who is a CIA graduate, who tries to show me how to cook things the right way. My wife and MIL cook, the , dare I say southren way... if you put enough butter in it you can make anything taste good.

All that aside, I am keeping this valuable cooking information,
I do have a package of boneless/skinless chicken thighs in the kitchen. Looks to be 6 of them in the pack.
I dont know if any of you are Marshall's afficianado's but you should be, it's a great place to get pots and pans and other kitchen toys cheap, but
in the spice aisles there are a collection of herb blends by Lesley Elizabeth.
(It would be just my luck, that she's in here reading this) I love the Texas Steak one, and the Salmon one and the KC Steak ones are pretty good as well.
But alas we are coming to chicken, and the theme I am getting from reading the above is give it some oil and give it some seasoning and let the oven do it's work. As per usual it is 4:40 as I write this, I need to pick her up at 6 and she is a 30-60 min drive away depending on traffic.

So to keep this simple. I do have green and red pepper and mushrooms and yellow onion and garlic to contribute to this dish.

I also have the following herb blends
Herbs de Provence
Oh so Garlic
Cajun Bayou
Pepper blend
South of the Border
Jamaican Jerk
and Garlic Seasoning and rub

My wife grew up in the SF bay area and used to treat herself to some the finest dining that that area had to offer. Then she got hitched and is still trying to rejoin the real world after 5 years. Totally blew my mind when the 2 of us and 5 of her nearest and dearest friends blew $1200 for a birthday dinner in Crustaceans in SF.

Anyway which of the above seasonings should I use?
PS. I also picked up a heavy glass mortar and pestle at marshalls or ross and have been pulverizing herbs and spices ever since. Should I not be pulverizing? And is it ok not to wash it, since it is only being used for dry spices and herbs. All that layering of flavors stuff that people are always touting.

Thanks for any suggestions.