365 Ways to Cook Chicken

Perhaps you've forgotten what chicken tastes like. I can imagine how you might. If you've been feasting at the rich end of the table, your chicken has been decorated with pungent, fruity and spicy sauces. It's been accompanied by strongly flavored vegetables and fragrant rice or pasta and moistened with wine. Indeed, the whole thrust of French cooking since the days of Careme and American cooking since we discovered the kiwi fruit has been to dazzle the diner with elaborate (or at least clever) taste structures. If your meals have been at the low-rent end, you've had your share of spicy flavors and crunchy textures, often with a lot of fat added. In some trash food operations, the fat itself carries a flavor that's much stronger than anything to which chicken can aspire and the drinks-colas and starchy shakes are real taste-killers. At either end of the dining spectrum, the flavor of the chicken itself has been lost. The loss isn't just because of our ways of cooking. The whole world of industrial poultry-farming conspires to give us pretty bland meat. All it takes is a trip to a place like Austria to be reminded that there's a lot more flavor in poultry than we are used to getting. This is not a book that's going to lead you back to some original taste of chicken, nor does the author seem particularly concerned that most of our cage-raised birds are so bland. Instead this is a book that will inspire you to create more interesting dishes with the chicken we've got. It's also worth noting that many of the recipes require less than 30 minutes cooking and preparation time. So this book is useful for the busy cook as well as the one who just needs a few good ideas. -Lynn Hoffman, author of THE NEW SHORT COURSE IN WINE and the forthcoming novel bang-BANG from Kunati Books.9781601640005

. . . and probably the best investment! I've used this book hundreds of times for ideas. While the recipes aren't particularly "fancy," there are a number that are "dinner-party" calibre. The chapter on "The Well-Traveled Chicken" includes my favorite Coq au Vin recipe. In the "Could Be Veal" chapter, the recipe for "Lemon Chicken Scaloppine with Artichokes" is particularly nice and remarkably easy, and always results in requests for the recipe. There's an entire chapter devoted to the Cornish Game Hen (called "Chicken Little"), with some creative ways to fix these little birds (one of my favorites is Apricot-Glazed Cornish Hens Stuffed with Wild Rice).I've had very good luck with the entire _365 Ways to Cook ..._ and _365 Easy ... Recipes_ series published by Harper & Row (I think it's Harper Collins now). While many of the recipes are so simple that I find myself wondering "Now, why didn't *I* think of that? ," the fact is, I **didn't** think of it. If you're looking for *really* good basic fool-proof chicken recipes easily put together by an average cook in an average kitchen, this is definitely the book for you.

My copy of this book is signed by you. I bought it at a party given by Susan F. in Riverside, CT before it was shipped to bookstores at one of those girl group dinners. You were pinning your fortune on it. Now, all these years later, I'm buying 10 copies to give to my immediate family members for the holidays. It is the most tatered, stained, smeared and well-used cookbook I have. I hope that it has brought you all the rewards you were hoping for, and I must say, I have never had a bad result using any recipe in it, although my cooking skills are not my strength. Thank you for many years of good eating. Janice Lee in Cleveland Ohio