Chicken: 150 Great Recipes for All Seasons at Chef2Chef

Delving into poultry's past, the timeline traversing the book's endpapers traces chicken from its origins in Southeast Asia more than 5,000 years ago to its arrival in Europe around A.D. 800, the New World during the 1500s, and the opening of the first Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise in 1956. Inside, Corn points out that chicken was a luxury until the early 20th century, when agribusiness came along. Now, we all eat more of it, with Americans consuming the most--nearly 100 pounds a year per person.

A writer who specializes in demystifying techniques and reassuring the hesitant, Corn explains carefully how to cut up a whole bird, using the French slice and the Chinese hack. Yet she considers the reasonable price of precut parts "the best argument I can make for never having to cut up a chicken at home."

Corn wittily calls chicken "the basic black dress of cuisine." Her recipes pair it with fresh produce, chosen to provide the best flavor in each season. The "Spring" and "Summer" chapters offer lemon-brightened, sautéed Chicken Piccata and kabobs flavored with Cola-Cardamom marinade. (Corn finds the soda a good tenderizer.) "Fall" includes Chicken Pot Roast with Apple and Potatoes, a perfect example of Corn's easy-to-take creativity. In "Winter," buttery crusted Chicken Pot Pie is crammed with corn, other vegetables, and a rich, creamy sauce while Texas-style, no-beans Chicken Chili is sensibly tailored to today's health concerns. Wok-smoked chicken and other dishes reveal Corn's feel for Asian cooking, which is enhanced by techniques learned from her Chinese husband. --Dana Jacobi

From Publishers Weekly
Corn, whose Now You're Cooking made the kitchen not only welcoming but fun for beginners, brings her appealing, humorous and unintimidating style to the henhouse. There are plenty of books about chicken on the market, but Corn's stands out. First of all, the recipes are arranged by seasonAGrilled Chicken with Mopped-On Rhubarb-Butter Sauce for spring; Chicken Roasted with Beets and Orange Sections for winterAto encourage the use of fresh produce. Corn also goes far beyond the typical breast-and-thigh strategy, as evidenced in her Chicken Souffl? with Spinach and Emmentaler, Brie Mousse with Chicken and Herbs and Cold Cucumber Soup with New Walnuts (made with a chicken stock base). She makes the whole undertaking fun with text boxes titled "Chicken Nuggets," which answer questions such as, "Why Is a Rooster Called a Cock?" The introductory section is thorough, and the author occasionally supplies recipes for appropriate side dishes: she suggests serving Flavorful Basmati Rice with Grilled India Spice Thighs. Corn gets a little wacky with such recipes as Chicken Kebabs in Cola-Cardamom Marinade, and Gerald's Quick Summer Chicken with Odd Packaged Things (maple syrup and ketchup). The flip side of the weird recipes are gems such as Grilled Chicken Marinated in Rose Petals and Brandy and Chicken with Walnuts and Fig Sauce.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Reader Reviews
The arrangement of "Chicken" into a season-oriented structure is one of the best things about this cookbook, as it provides ideas and general meal plans for year-round eating. It also provides good, solid information about buying, cooking and serving your bird. The recipes are above and beyond your average broiled chicken breasts or basic fried chicken--not that there's anything wrong with either of those dishes!--but they're not so freakishly exotic that the everyday cook is going to throw up her or his hands in frustration over confusing instructions or weird ingredients (except maybe the one with the rose petals and mint jelly which is, in fact, very worth the effort of carefully rinsing each petal by hand). I very rarely eat red meat or pork and recently developed an allergy to seafood, so chicken is pretty much my main source of protein anymore. This book has been very useful for interesting recipes that keep my diet from falling into a rut, and the little tidbits of chicken lore are entertaining. Comment | Permalink | (Report this)