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At Untamed Sandwiches in midtown Manhattan, one of the most popular items is General Zapata. “It’s a play on General Tso’s Chicken,” says Richard King, cofounder, owner and chef at the eatery. The General Zapata sandwich features Chicken Tinga, a classic Mexican dish that includes a smoky tomato sauce.
King seasons a bone-in chicken leg and thigh with chili spice, salt and pepper. He sears the chicken, and then braises it in a chipotle tomato sauce. He uses a controlled vapor technology oven (C-VAP) to braise the chicken slowly and maintain the moisture. Then he removes the meat from the bone, adds it back into the chipotle braising liquid and holds the meat on the sandwich line. The sandwich maker toasts the ciabatta bread with queso fresco in an air impingement oven, and then arranges the chicken on one side of the bread, while the other side gets pickled jalapeños, cilantro and red onion.
Brian Millman, executive chef at Atwood Restaurant in Chicago, came up with the idea for Duck Fat Fried Chicken when he was traveling in Bali and ate at a restaurant called the Dirty Duck. “I wanted to make something that was more approachable for people,” he says. “Fried chicken came to mind.”
For the Atwood version, Millman slow poaches chicken thighs in duck fat at 170 degrees Fahrenheit. Then he marinates them overnight in a combination of buttermilk, hot sauce, cumin, paprika, chili and other spices. Following that, he dips the thighs in flour that also includes these and other spices, and fries them in duck fat heated to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. When the chicken thighs are done he removes them from the oil, seasons them with salt and drizzles a sriracha, honey and salt mixture over the top.
Anthony Russo, founder, chief executive and head chef of Houston-based Russo’s New York Pizzeria and Russo’s Coal-Fired Italian Kitchen, prepares a trendy Chicken and Kale Pesto Pasta Salad with grilled chicken and fresh kale tossed with pesto sauce, cucumbers, Roma tomatoes and penne pasta. The key, Russo says, is how he grills the chicken. “I brush it with olive oil, salt and pepper, and then grill it on both sides,” he says.
Also, Russo chops the kale. “Kale is bitter when you eat it raw, but when you chop it fine like parsley it’s not bitter,” he says. He also makes a Chicken and Kale specialty pizza, which features grilled chicken, kale, garlic sauce, red roasted peppers, feta cheese and mozzarella cheese.
While many chefs are busy devising new twists for chicken, Russo says traditional Italian chicken dishes also remain popular with consumers. For example, he prepares chicken piccata with grilled breast meat flavored with olive oil, garlic, capers, sun-dried tomatoes, white wine, parsley and lemon juice. Chicken marsala is also a big seller, with fresh portabella mushrooms sautéed in olive oil, and with dry marsala wine. “The marsala is expensive but it’s worth it,” he says.
For any chicken dish, however, it is important to start with high quality chicken. PERDUE® HARESTLAND® offers flavorful, all-vegetarian-fed chicken that has no artificial ingredients and absolutely no antibiotics ever. The line now also includes free-range PERDUE® HARESTLAND® Organic chicken.
Peruvian food is very hot now, and one favorite dish is Pollo a la Brasa. Dustin Koerner, executive chef at Andina Restaurant in Portland, Ore., says the Andina version calls for the chicken to marinated for 24 hours in a traditional Peruvian sauce made with Ají Panca (dry red pepper), Cerveza Negra (dark beer), garlic, cumin, oregano, soy sauce and white vinegar. Next the chicken is split in half and cooked using a sous vide process for 45 minutes at 170 degrees Fahrenheit. The chicken is then placed in a blast chiller to halt the cooking process. When an order comes in, it is broiled in a salamander for six to eight minutes or until the skin has browned, and then cooked fully in a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for six minutes.
The entrée includes Potato Trio of Camote (sweet potato), Papa Morada (purple potato), and Papa Amarilla (Yukon gold potato), and a salad of butter lettuce, onion rings, tomato slices and cucumber slices, dressed with lime juice and olive oil. The dish also includes three mayonnaise-based dipping sauces: Salsa de Rocoto (Peruvian hot pepper sauce), Salsa de Huacatay (black mint sauce) and Salsa Verde (jalapeño mint sauce).
