Chicken Scarpariello with a side of Stuffed Mushrooms

Tonight was a double special meal since I was hosting my friend Gal.  He's been looking a little skinny and I told him he needed a good home cooked meal.  So being the sensible person I am, I figured he'd enjoy some Pan fried Organic Grenadian Chicken (Pollo Scarpariello), Italian style (also ala Salvatore) and some of Poppa P's Stuffed Mushrooms which go down like hot cakes!

Since this is a double recipe we will go one step at a time.  I first prepared the chicken.  In the future I will post a video on how to quarter a chicken but for now just trust me or get it from your butcher already cut up.  From the quarter I made it into eights in order to get nice bite sized pieces

Once the Chicken is in pieces, now its time to season!  I used some Worcestershire Sauce for the tenderizing and some lemon pepper with of course some Olive Oil and Salt and Pepper.  Then my favorite part which is cover her up (or put them all in a bag) and SHAKE IT A BABY!!!

Here are the Chicken Feet with the Giblets!  Im saving the giblets for another special night for a great Italian pasta with the unique parts of the Chicken.

I was really excited to see Shallots at the supermarket so I thought I'd share one of my favorite culinary treats.  The Shallot is almost a mix of an Onion and the sweet taste of garlic and has a beautiful purple/pink hue

"Paulie" would be happy, I didn't chop it with a razor but almost as good!

 Then I put in enough oil to cover the bottom slightly and made sure the pot was hot!.  I threw in the garlic and shallots then shortly placed in the Chicken.  Here is the important part, make sure you place the chicken down carefully because you don't want to move/disturb it too much.  You want to make sure it gets a good sear on it and almost a burnt crisp on its edges.  This dish is all about extracting the flavor from the pan and caramelizing the sweet parts.  So once you place the chicken down WALK AWAY and start prepping the Mushrooms.

The credit for this recipe goes to my dad, Poppa P.  He would often make this as a quick snack after school or just for fun since it has tremendous flavor and is relatively quick to make.  First you get the holy Quadrivium of stuffing for Italians which is Garlic, Parsley, and Cheese, and the breadcrumbs of course!  I used about a half a cup of breadcrumbs, a handful of cheese, three tablespoons of parsley and 3 cloves.  I chopped them all up and then put them in the frying pan with some Olive Oil.  This is trick for depth of flavor.  You saute the mixture for 5 minutes to get a pre-cooked taste to something that seems baked.  This added dimension is what Poppa P would call the game changer!

Next I cleaned the two packaged of mushrooms and de-stemmed them.  Now if you truly read this blog and want to know how to really make them, this is the real secret.  You actually chop up the mushroom stems and add it to that mixture in the pan.  The little pieces will then be re-stuffed into the mushroom since Italians don't like to waste anything!  That's the secret, and if you have any Mozzarella shred some up and put it in the mixture as well (that was Auntie Anna's secret).

I added the cheese after since I didn't want it to get stringy in the pan.  That's the job for the oven! I then used a spoon to fill those bad boys up.  The real trick with this now is to fill the pan with a little bit of water (and in my case I had extra breadcrumbs, so I sprinkled that on the bottom too!)  If you ask any Italian how to eat stuff mushrooms, he'd tell you that, "you need to get the juice and pour it over the top."  And that's what I planned to do!

Now back to the Chicken.  Here we see its nice and crisp.  We will flip it after about 8-10 minutes or until its sufficiently charred on one side.  Now flip it and do the same making sure not to mess around too much with its placement once its in the pan.  Make sure to adjust for any heat density/hot spots that may need more attention.  Its good to know your equipment and how its tendency lie.

After a little more time, you will end up with this! And boy is it tasty!  You can ask Gal next time you see him how good it tasted to get a first hand testimonial.  

 Now what to do about the pan.  There are all those little bits of flavor still stuck there.  You didn't think I'd let them go to waste did you?  This is where I de-glaze and fortunately I was able to record a video of the de-glazing process down below.

 I poured the juice all over it and voila! There it is.

 In about 10-15 Minutes on 375-400 F these bad boys were ready to go.  Notice the juice on the bottom that was not left to waste.  I hoped you enjoyed this meal, I know Gal and I did!