The importance of a well stocked pantry: Chicken and Broccoli

I’ve been gone on vacation for the past two weeks, and when I returned home, my cupboards and fridge were practically empty. I had one onion, some broccoli and meat in my freezer. This is what I made.

 I have a confession or two to make with you. This photo is not a picture of my food. I have been focusing on writing and creating posts that photographing my food is taking a back burner. Pun :) Also, and one that is more relevant to cooking is that I don't really measure my spices. I've been doing this long enough that I just measure with my heart.

I take the approach that I can always add more, but it's hard to take away once you've over-seasoned something. Especially when it comes to salt.  Maybe one day I'll be more diligent with my measuring, but for now I am including my best approximations for the seasonings.

                                            Chicken and Broccoli

Ingredients

5 chicken thighs, skin on bone in thawed

1 package of broccoli , cut into individual, florets, stalsks, peeled and diced.

1onion, frenched

3 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced

White rice cooked according to package directions. I cooked enough to serve 4 people

2 cups Chicken broth

2 tsp Rice,flour

3 Tbs Soy sauce

1.5 tsp Onion powder

1.5 tsp Garlic powder.

1.5 tsp Turmeric

Salt and pepper to taste (wait to add salt to the sauce until after adding the soy sauce)

Directions

Rinse and dry with paper towels. Season the chicken liberally coat in spices on both sides. In a pan on medium low heat, put the chicken skin side down. I like to use a cast-iron skillet since I don't have a wok. Next, prepare the rice. 

I rinse the rice until the water runs clear, and then I prepare according to the package directions. I personally use the rice cooker. It was the best $10 that I’ve spent in the kitchen, and highly recommend. Check your chicken and flip over. Start cutting up the broccoli and the onion. Lastly, the garlic.

Flip the chicken over so that it is skin side down once more turn up the heat to about medium high and allow it to get some color on it . There is a fine line between burning and adding flavor. We want to do the latter. However, some darker color on the skin is going to give a depth of flavor to the final dish and my suggestion is to hold off on flipping the chicken, just 30 seconds more than what you would normally want to do. When I initially flip mine over, I was a little taken aback by how dark the top was, but you are going to remove the skin from the chicken for this dish, but the flavor that it adds is worth it. Next add the sliced onions over top of the chicken and adjust your thighs so that the onions are touching the pan. 

 Go ahead and lower the heat to medium so we don’t burn the onions. The onions are going to take a good 5 to 8 minutes to start to soften up and that’s fine. Just kind of let them do their thing make sure that they’re not burning if you feel like they’re cooking too quickly or starting to smell a little burnt before they actually start to get soft turn the heat down more. Once the onions have a good color and have started to soften add a cup of chicken stock (or until the chicken is about half submerged) and start scraping the bottom of the pan to release the fond. This is going to add a lot of flavor to the finished sauce. Bring the liquid up to a simmer and allow to cook for about 8 to 10 minutes. The liquid should reduce, but it shouldn’t be completely evaporated from the pan. Add more stock if needed. 

Remove the chicken from the pan and add in the broccoli and the garlic. Stir to coat the broccoli in the sauce. Next you are going to remove the skin from the chicken and cut the chicken off the bone. Now this would be a lot easier if they were boneless chicken thighs. By all means if you have those, use them, but I did not so this is a necessary step. 

Did I threw the bones away? No. Was my chicken all the way cooked at this point? No. I threw it back in the pan as quickly as possible so that it could continue cooking, and it ended up being done at the same time that the broccoli was done. Add in your soy sauce. Stir the mixture to ensure an even coating with sauce. Lastly, evenly sprinkle 2 teaspoons of rice flour in your sauce and stir to dissolve. You could use cornstarch if you want to use that instead. Just be sure to add the slurry ( mixture of cornstarch and water) off the heat. I didn’t have cornstarch so I added the rice flour. You can always add more thickener depending on how thick you like your sauce, but you can never add less so err on the side of less and then add more if necessary. 

You're nearly done. Taste your sauce and adjust your seasonings if necessary. If you wanna add a little bit of spice you can, but I kept mine pretty simple, and it hit the spot.

And that’s it. I was able to create a tasty easy meal just from one fresh vegetable, some pantry staples, and a well-stocked freezer. Creating these resources within your kitchen will allow you to create delicious meals even when it seems like there's barely anything to eat. It's a great way to stretch your dollar and avoid food waste. 

What's your go to meal when it seems like there is barely any food left in the kitchen?