This is one of my favorite recipes. The chicken is so flavorful and tender, and so easy to prepare, that this single recipe is reason enough to buy a box of oven bags.
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You can remove the skin from the chicken before serving it or let your guests take it off themselves. If you’re really in a hurry you can omit the marination step. Just rub the seasonings on the chicken, inside and out, fill the cavity with the green onions and put it in the oven. This way you can have it ready to eat in a little over an hour.
It takes so little time to assemble this recipe that I often prepare two chickens just to have leftovers. Remove the skin and bones from the leftover chicken and cut it into bite-size pieces. Store it in a tightly covered container or a zipper-type storage bag in the refrigerator.
Save any leftover cooking liquid after skimming the fat from it. You can use the chicken the next day in salad or soup. You also can mix the chicken with the liquid and serve it over pasta, rice or a baked potato. The defatted cooking liquid can be mixed with a little rice vinegar for a delicious salad dressing.
CHINESE CHICKEN IN A BAG
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour
Chilling time: 4 hours
Yield: 4 servings
1 tablespoon flour
1 frying chicken, 3 to 4 pounds
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder
3 green onions, cut into 3-inch pieces
3 tablespoons each: hoisin sauce, honey
2 tablespoons dry sherry
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1. Put flour in large (14- by 20-inch) oven bag and shake well. Leave flour in bag to protect against bursting and set aside. Wash chicken and pat dry. Combine 1/2 teaspoon of the salt, ginger and five-spice powder; mix well. Rub mixture into cavity of chicken and place green onions inside cavity.
2. Combine hoisin sauce, honey, sherry, remaining salt and pepper; rub all over outside of chicken. Place chicken in bag, pour in any remaining sauce. Place bag in baking dish at least 2 inches deep. Close bag with nylon tie packed in carton of bags; cut six 1/2-inch slits in top of bag. If possible, refrigerate at least 4 hours before baking to allow chicken to marinate.
3. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Bake chicken until legs can be easily pulled away from sides, about 1 hour.
4. Remove chicken from oven and allow to stand 10 minutes. Carefully cut bag open using scissors. Remove chicken from bag, and pour cooking liquid into medium bowl. Place bowl in freezer until fat congeals on top and remove. When chicken is cool enough to handle safely, cut off wings and legs. Cut down center of chicken lengthwise and cut each half, crosswise, right through bone, into many pieces.
5. To serve, place all chicken pieces on serving platter. Pour defatted liquid over top.
Nutrition information per serving:
Calories …… 290 Fat …………. 8 g Cholesterol .. 100 mg
Sodium ….. 945 mg Carbohydrates .. 16 g Protein …….. 34 g
Q. This recipe is one of my family’s favorite dishes. I would like to find a way to shrink the fat content without losing any of the flavor. Is there a way to revise this recipe?
Paula Petrilla, Lake Elsinore, Calif.
HAMBURGER OVER NOODLES
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
3 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 medium onion, minced
1 pound ground beef
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons flour
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1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon each: pepper, paprika
1 can (10 3/4 ounces) condensed cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup milk
Chopped parsley, chives or fresh dill, for sprinkling
8 ounces wide noodles, cooked according to package directions
1. Melt butter or margarine in medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook until lightly browned, about 5 to 6 minutes. Stir in beef; cook until no longer pink, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain. Stir in garlic, flour, salt, pepper and paprika; cook 5 minutes.
2. Stir in soup and milk. Simmer, uncovered, 10 minutes. Sprinkle with chopped parsley, chives or dill, as desired. Serve over hot noodles.
Nutrition information per serving:
Calories …… 661 Fat ………… 34 g Cholesterol .. 168 mg
Sodium … 1,405 mg Carbohydrates .. 52 g Protein …….. 34 g
A. A few adjustments made this tasty dish from a acceptable from a nutritional standpoint. A teaspoon of margarine in which to saute the onion was all the added fat I needed. Using extra-lean ground beef, low-fat soup and non-fat milk shrunk the calories and fat even further. I specified noodles made without egg yolks, but 4 cups of cooked rice would also be good with the meat sauce.
`SHRUNK’ HAMBURGER OVER NOODLES
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
1 teaspoon corn-oil margarine
1 medium onion, minced
1 pound extra-lean ground beef
2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon each: freshly ground black pepper, paprika
1 can (10 3/4 ounces) condensed low-fat cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup non-fat milk
8 ounces no-yolk wide noodles, cooked according to package directions
Fresh parsley, chives or dill, chopped, for sprinkling
1. Melt margarine in large non-stick skillet over low heat. Add onions and cook, stirring, until soft, about 5 minutes. Add ground beef; cook, stirring continuously, until meat is no longer pink. Drain off grease.
2. Stir in flour, garlic, salt, pepper and paprika; cook 5 minutes. Stir in soup and milk. Simmer, uncovered, 10 minutes. Serve over hot noodles with parsley, chives or dill sprinkled on top.
Nutrition information per serving:
Calories …… 451 Fat …………. 9 g Cholesterol .. 70 mg
Sodium ….. 714 mg Carbohydrates .. 56 g Protein ……. 35 g
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Send your recipe for revision to: Cook it light, baiduhai, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, Ill. 60611-4041.