I had every intention of posting an Apartment Dining Challenge entry today. The meal was cooked over the weekend, I took plenty of photos, and even promised it in my recent Facebook and Twitter updates. Well, things have been a bit crazy since Monday and in anticipation of my new job starting next week, I decided to escape to the Adirondacks for a few days to recharge and refocus. I completely forgot to grab the AD Challenge photos off of my hard drive, so Tuesday was my first night here and my mother made one of her mother’s dinner staples: rice krispie chicken.

I asked my mother for the recipe, and not only did she provide me with it, she also pulled out my Grandma Mangan’s recipe book (she of giblet gravy fame). It’s a Home & Garden cookbook bursting with small pieces of loose leaf paper, newspaper and magazine clippings, pieces of prepared food packaging, and paper scraps with recipes ranging from spaghetti pie to chicken marsala. She had a separate set of index cards with her own recipes (or those from Dom DeLuise), but I’m fascinated by the recipes from other sources she chose to save over fifty years of cooking.

All of this—along with my lack of a printer for my computer—inspired me to go out and purchase a three-in-one printer/scanner/copier so that I can document these clippings and not have to deal with the Staples Copy Center on a regular basis. I will be spending much of Thursday scanning my favorite items so that I can create a feature here called “Grandma’s Recipes” where I post the clipping, prepare it myself, and share the results.

I wasn’t able to find the actual clipping for the rice krispie chicken, however my mother was able to write it out from memory.

Rice Krispie Chicken
-4 cups Rice Krispies (or similar generic cereal brand)
-1 tsp. kosher salt
-1/2 tsp. black pepper
-1/2 cup butter
-6 chicken legs and 2 breasts, rinsed and patted dry

1) Pre-heat oven to 350º.

2) Put Rice Krispies, salt, and pepper in food processor and process until they are the consistency of sand. Pour into shallow dish.

2) Melt butter in a medium bowl.

3) Lightly grease a baking sheet and create a small assembly line on your counter. Dip the chicken in the butter, roll in the cereal, and then place on the sheet. Repeat the process until all of the chicken is coated.

4) Bake for 1 hour. Can be eaten plain, or if you’re anything like my sister, enjoy with ranch dressing on the side for dipping.

I’ve been trying to keep food bills to a minimum the past few months, so Ramsey and I have been eating a lot of chicken and pasta. There are endless pasta variations that can be easily improvised, but I’ve been searching for more ways to prepare chicken beyond my standbys of roasting and pan-searing. A quick flip through my cookbook library yielded a technique I had never tried in my kitchen before: braising. It calls for searing meat and/or vegetables in a bit of oil, then slowly simmering them in flavorful liquid until they’re cooked through. It’s easy, delicious, and best of all, it’s cheap.

Braising is best for poultry and tougher cuts of meat, as the slow-cooking allows for a breakdown of connective tissue and an infusion of flavor. You can also braise vegetables alone by sauteing them for a few minutes, then adding vegetable or chicken stock and simmering, covered, for an additional 2-3 minutes. I decided to braise both chicken and vegetables with this adapted recipe from Alice Waters’ The Art of Simple Food.

While this recipe doesn’t technically have only five ingredients, it does call for a number of common ingredients you may already have in your pantry (oil, bay leaves, salt, pepper, garlic), so I’m counting it as a Five Ingredients entry.

Braised Chicken Legs
-4 chicken legs (with skin)
-2 tbs. olive oil
-1 red onion, diced large
-1 yellow onion, diced large
-4 garlic cloves, sliced thin
-2 bay leaves
-1 rosemary sprig (keep whole, don’t remove the leaves)
-1 12 oz can whole tomatoes, diced (make sure to include the juice)
-1 cup chicken broth

1. Season the chicken legs with salt and pepper. Heat the olive oil in the bottom of a large saucepan (that you have a lid for) over medium heat and place the chicken legs in the pan, skin side down. Let them cook about 12 minutes, or until crisp and well browned. Flip and cook for an additional four minutes.

2. Remove the chicken and place on a nearby plate. Add the diced onions to the saucepan and cook until translucent. Add the herbs and garlic and cook for two minutes, stirring often.

3. Add the diced tomatoes and juice, then scrape the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to pull up any brown bits that are still holding on.

Cook for 5 minutes and then place the chicken in the pan, skin side up, on top of the tomatoes and onions.

4. Add the chicken broth, bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer. Cover and cook for 45 minutes.

5. Pour the braising liquid into a medium bowl, remove the bay leaves and rosemary sprig, and skim the fat. This can be done by tilting the bowl to one side, then using a large spoon to scoop out the fat that has collected. Discard the fat by placing it in a small bowl and allowing it to congeal, covered, in the fridge (yes, it’s a bit gross). Once congealed, scrape out the fat and throw it in the trash, unless you want to use it in place of cooking oil in a dish the following day. This will avoid any unfortunate clogs in your kitchen sink.

6. Return the braising liquid to the pan and serve the chicken, topping with the onions and tomatoes and a spoonful of liquid.

Spring Carrots with Apricots and Pistachios from The Splendid Table: A perfect side dish to welcome the spring weather. It also packs a lot of flavor for such an inexpensive dish, as you can easily omit the pistachios.

Homemade gnocchi and marinara sauce: I’ll be posting a full account of this recipe later this week. Surprisingly easy.

Brown Sugar-Brined Chicken: I made a modified version of this Splendid Table recipe when I was unable to track down ancho chilis in my neighborhood. Instead of creating the chili paste, I just mixed a bit of chili powder and extra pepper with the orange zest, juice, garlic, and oil, and then rubbed it underneath the skin. You can tell from the photo a bit of the minced garlic ended up on top of the skin. Whoops.

The overnight brining resulted in a much better roast chicken and I may make it standard pre-roasting practice from now on. Some people complain of it making the meat too salty, but I found it to just make the chicken extra moist.