Best Chicken And Seafood Trio In A Basket Recipes

CREAMED CHICKEN IN A BASKET

Steps:

• Place the chicken, onion, celery, water, 1 teaspoon salt and peppercorns in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil; skim foam. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 35-40 minutes or until a thermometer reaches 170°. Remove chicken with a slotted spoon; set aside until cool enough to handle. Bake pastry shells according to package directions., Remove chicken from bones; cut into cubes and set aside. Discard skin and bones. Strain broth, discarding vegetables and peppercorns. Set aside 2 cups broth (save remaining broth for another use)., In a large saucepan, melt butter. Stir in flour until smooth. Gradually add reserved broth, nutmeg, pepper and remaining salt. Bring to a boil; cook and stir 2 minutes. Remove from the heat; stir in the mushrooms, water chestnuts, pimientos, lemon juice and chicken. Return to the heat. Gradually stir in cream and heat through (do not boil). Spoon into pastry shells.

HUMMUS TRIO

Steps:

• Drain the chickpeas, reserving the liquid. Rinse the chickpeas and drain again. Set a few chickpeas aside for garnish.
• In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade attachment, combine the tahini, lemon juice, garlic and 1 tablespoon salt. Process until smooth and very creamy, about 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula and process for another 60 seconds; the mixture should be light in color and thick. Add the chickpeas in 3 additions, processing until smooth after each addition. With the food processor running, slowly pour the oil into the feed tube in a steady stream and process until the mixture is creamy. If too thick, add up to 3/4 cup of the reserved chickpea liquid a few tablespoons at a time until hummus is smooth and has a sheen. Season with more salt if desired. Divide the hummus into 3 bowls. Top 1 bowl of hummus with the reserved whole chickpeas and a drizzle of olive oil and set aside.
• To make the spinach and artichoke hummus: Bring 1 1/2 cups water to a simmer in a small skillet. Add the spinach and cook until wilted, about 30 seconds. Cool and squeeze dry. Finely chop the spinach and mix it together with the artichoke hearts. Reserve about 1 tablespoon of the mixture for garnish and stir the remainder into 1 bowl of hummus; garnish with the reserved mixture and a drizzle of olive oil.
• To make the sweet-and-spicy hummus: Place the pine nuts in a small skillet over medium-low heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly golden and fragrant, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a plate. Stir black pepper to taste into the last bowl of hummus and make an indentation in the top of the hummus. Fill the indentation with chopped peppadews, pine nuts, more black pepper and a drizzle of olive oil.
• Serve all 3 hummus bowls with pita chips for dipping.

FRIED CHICKEN IN A BASKET

Steps:

• Make the marinade by combining the buttermilk, sour cream, Dijon mustard, salt and freshly ground black pepper in a large bowl. Mix well with a whisk. Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper and place in the marinade. Stir everything together so the chicken is coated evenly, cover, and set aside in the fridge to marinate for 12 hours.
• Fill a heavy-based pot (such a deep cast iron skillet) with canola oil and set over medium-high heat. Using a thermometer, heat the oil until 375 degrees F. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Prepare the coating by adding the all-purpose flour, salt, paprika, mustard powder, and garlic powder together in a large bowl. Mix with a whisk. Take the chicken pieces out of the marinade and dredge lightly in the seasoned flour, 1 at a time. Set the coated pieces on a wire rack over a tray as you work.
• Add the chicken, 3 to 4 pieces at a time, to the hot oil, skin-side down. Cook until golden brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Increase the heat on the oil if you need to as the chicken will bring the temperature of the oil down. Remove the chicken from the pot with a wire strainer and set over a clean rack over a tray. Season with salt while still hot. Continue to cook in batches, allowing the oil to heat up again before adding the chicken to the pot each time.
• Place the chicken into the oven and cook for another 8 to 10 minutes until cooked through. Allow the chicken to rest for 5 minutes before serving. Pile high in a basket for a fun presentation.

DOUGH BASKET

Steps:

• To make the dough: Place all of the ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle. Mix until well combined. The dough will be sticky but you will be able to form it into a ball. Use additional flour for your hands and work surface to keep the dough from sticking.
• To prepare the basket weaving structure: This recipe will make enough dough to yield a basket that is about 10 inches in diameter. Use a piece styrofoam as a base. I used an 11 by 14-inch rectangular piece, which was about 2 inches thick. Using a pen, draw a 9-inch diameter circle in the center of the rectangular styrofoam. Insert 21 wooden skewers in a circle following the pen line of the 9-inch diameter circle. Space the skewers somewhat evenly apart. When inserting the skewers, tilt them slightly outward. This will be the outside shape of the basket.
• To make the basket: Roll a piece of dough into a long rope that is at least 20 inches long and about 1/2-inch in diameter. Place the end of this rope inside the basket leaving a 1 1/2-inch long tail resting in what will be the interior of the basket. Weave the rest of the dough in and out of the skewers. This should make one complete layer and may give you enough to continue into the second row. When you are coming to the end of your rope (no pun intended) and you need to stop, make sure you leave a tail inside the basket. This will help the dough stay in place and avoid any unraveling later on. Roll out another dough rope and start the second layer in a different spot than the first one so the starts and ends are staggered throughout the basket. This will help develop a stable structure to the basket. When you have completed 4 full rows, put it in the oven at 200 degrees F (if the oven temperature is higher, the Styrofoam will melt) for about 30 minutes. This is just long enough for the dough to dry slightly and will provide a strong base for the weight of additional layers. Remove from the oven and let cool. Repeat the same process adding another 4 layers to the basket. Put it back in the oven for another 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool.
• To make the decorative braids for the top rim of the basket: Using 3 ropes of raw dough approximately 28 inches long, weave the dough ropes into a long braid. Place the braid on the top rim of the basket, gently pressing it down to make it secure. This is now the final row on the basket.
• To make the bottom of the basket: Make a long rope of dough approximately 1/2-inch in diameter. Tightly coil it starting at the center of the inside of the basket. This will be the bottom of the basket. If the rope you made is not long enough, you can roll out another rope and connect the 2 ropes by squeezing it securely to the end of the already coiled rope. Make the coil disk slightly bigger than the base and push the coil into place so it fits snugly.
• To make the handles for the basket: I used a 1/4-inch thick wooden dowel as a base and wrapped a long rope of raw dough, by spiraling around the dowel from top to bottom. I used 3 pieces of dowel to give my basket handle an artistic shape. The length of the dowels depends on 2 things. How tall the side of your basket is and what you want the handles to look like. Cut dowels to desired size. Lay the raw dough wrapped dowels on the baking sheet and bake along with the rest of the basket. The handles will be attached after all the parts have been baked.
• Place the entire basket and the handles in the oven for the final time. I put mine in the oven for about 1 hour, then turned off the heat and left it in the oven overnight. Remove the basket from the oven (it should be cool or room temperature for final assembly).
• To assemble and finish the basket:
• Make the caramel for painting the basket: Place the sugar and water in a saucepan and place over medium-high heat. Stir only until it is combined. Let the caramel cook until it burns. You will see white smoke and the caramel will be very dark. Remove from the heat. Add a little water and stir. You will need to keep adding small amounts of water until the caramel is a consistency liquid enough to use as paint. Use a pastry brush to apply the caramel to the basket and the handle. Allow it to dry completely before filling the basket with your pastries.