Bake another 25 to 30 minutes or until cooked through, removing cover last

Instructions

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   HONEY-MUSTARD BAKED BREAST Serves 4 Have you ever been concerned about whether the honey you have in your cupboard is fresh or whether it should be thrown out? Not to worry! Honey is itself a natural preservative and samples of honey have been found in the tombs of Ancient Egypt that were still edible. If it's crystallized, it may look bad, but it's still a wholesome food. Just heat it gently until it reliquifies. 1 whole boneless roaster breast salt and ground pepper to taste 4 tablespoons melted butter or margarine 1/2 cup honey 1/4 cup Dijon mustard 1/4 teaspoon curry powder Preheat oven to 350F. Season breast with salt and pepper. Combine butter, honey, mustard and curry powder. Spoon half of sauce into a shallow baking dish. Add breast and turn to coat well. Bake, uncovered, for about 1 hour or until cooked through. Turn and baste with remaining sauce once during cooking time. IT'S A DILLY CHICKEN When I read this recipe in the files, I noticed several hand-scrawled notes saying that it was really good, and someone described it as "a dilly of a recipe." Yet from reading the recipe, it didn't sound as special as the notes indicated, especially since the ingredients include canned mushrooms rather than fresh. I was curious enough that I went to the kitchen and made the recipe, expecting that this would be one of the recipes that I wouldn't include in this book. But to my surprise, I discovered that yes, dill seed and canned mushrooms, along with the juice from the mushrooms, really do something terrific for chicken. It's not rich or creamy, but there's an attractive, aromatic flavor that permeates the chicken. 1 chicken, cut in serving pieces 1 teaspoon salt or to taste 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper 1 can (4-ounces) whole small mushrooms (with liquid) Get any book for free on: www.Abika.com

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   1/2 teaspoon dill seed Preheat oven to 350F. In a shallow baking pan arrange chicken, skin side up, in a single layer. Add salt, pepper, mushrooms (with liquid from can) and dill. Cover with foil. Bake at for 1 hour or until cooked through. KIWI GLAZED CORNISH HENS Serves 2 Kiwifruit is only sweet and mild when it's fully ripe. A kiwifruit grower told me that kiwifruits are ripe when they're "soft as a baby's bottom." When they're underripe, they taste like something between a lemon and a crabapple. If your kiwifruit is hard when you bring it home, give it a couple of days to ripen on your kitchen counter. 2 fresh Cornish game hens salt and ground pepper to taste 3 tablespoons butter or margarine 1 tablespoon sugar 1 ripe kiwifruit, peeled and mashed Preheat oven to 350F. Remove giblets. Season hens inside and out with salt and pepper. Tie legs together, fold wings back and arrange in baking pan. In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, melt butter. Brush hens with 2 tablespoons butter, reserving remainder. Put hens in oven, and while they are cooking, prepare kiwi glaze. Add sugar to remaining butter in pan and heat over medium-low until sugar dissolves. Add mashed kiwi and cook one minute. Remove from heat. After 45 minutes of cooking time, brush hens generously with kiwi glaze. Continue baking for 15 to 20 minutes or until juices run clear with no hint of pink when thigh is pierced. FAMILY FAVORITES In contrast to the preceding recipes, these recipes have more ingredients and require more preparation time, but if you've got the time, they're worth it. If you want to minimize time in the kitchen using these recipes, here are some suggestions. Tips for Saving Time in the Kitchen To halve baking time, select boneless chicken breasts. Cooking time is only 15-20 minutes at 350F. A bone-in breast takes 35-45 minutes. Stir fry chicken can be done in as little as 4 minutes. Cook double batches and freeze the extras in serving size packages. On days when time is short, pop a package into the microwave for "fast food." Take advantage of your supermarket's time-saving convenience items. If you're in a hurry, don't bother to slice and chop your fresh ingredients. The salad bar has probably done it for you. You can also find time savers such as shredded cheese and frozen chopped onion. (The supermarket industry has watched restaurants and fast food stores take more and more of your food Get any book for free on: www.Abika.com

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   dollars away each year. They're now doing everything they can think of to reverse this trend and make supermarket shopping so attractive, quick, convenient and economical that you'll want to cook at home.) Learn to cook chicken in the microwave. A pound of broiler parts that would take 40 minutes in a 350 degree oven takes only 6-10 minutes in the microwave. See Chapter Four, Chicken in the Microwave. SOUPS PHOTO: Pot of soup with fresh vegetables surrounding outside - 2 Wherever there are people and chickens, there are chicken soups. Virtually every immigrant group arriving in America brought along favorite chicken soup recipes and often the treasured family soup pot, too. If you grew up on canned, frozen, and dried soups, you may not realize how easy it is to make truly wonderful soups at home. If so, try it for yourself, perhaps with these American classics. All the soups are based on a key ingredient: rich, homemade chicken stock, made from either whole birds or from parts, in about three hours. Stock takes little tending, just slow easy cooking to bring out all the flavor and wholesome goodness. Why not try making one of these soups now? And then, with the help of your freezer, enjoy the results many times in the coming months. Basic Guide to Chicken Soup Older, larger birds, such as the 5-7 pound roasters, make the best soups. An older bird will have developed more of the rich, intense chickeny flavor than the younger, milder-flavored broilers or Cornish hens. I've made soup from broilers and while it wasn't bad, it wasn't as good as it could be. Use roaster parts if you want to save time. They cook faster and are excellent when you need only a small amount of broth. The richest flavor, by the way, comes from the muscles that are exercised most, which happen to be the dark meat muscles. All parts will make satisfactory soup, but the legs, thighs and necks provide the fullest flavor. For clear, golden broth, do not add liver. It turns stock cloudy. And avoid a greenish cast by using only parsley stems and the white parts of leeks or scallions. As the stock cooks down, foam will float to the top. Skim it off, or strain it out through double cheesecloth when the stock is complete. Tie herbs and greens in cheesecloth as a "bouquet garni," so you won't inadvertently remove them during the skimming. Always simmer stock over low to medium heat. It's not a good idea to boil the stock for the same reason it's not a good idea to boil coffee; too much of the flavor would boil away into the air. oLeftover vegetables and those Get any book for free on: www.Abika.com

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   past their prime are good pureed in cream soups. When thickening such recipes with egg, prevent curdling by stirring a cup of hot soup first into egg, then back into soup. Also, be careful to keep the soup from boiling once you've added the egg. Most soups develop better flavor if you'll store them, covered, in the refrigerator for a day or two. To seal in the flavor while you're storing the soup, don't remove the fat that's on top. When you're ready to serve the soup you can lift the congealed fat off as a sheet. To remove the last particles of fat, place unscented paper towel on the surface. Draw towel to one side and remove.