One of my favorite recipes is a sort of Mediterranean chicken. Chicken
thighs are seasoned and browned and then cooked for an hour or so with
(among other things) sliced bell peppers and quartered roma tomatos. This
produces a lot of juice from the veggies. The whole concoction is very good
on pasta or rice. It has struck me that it might be improved if the juice
were thicker. Any ideas as to what I could add to the pot to thicken the
juices while they are cooking?

Bubba wrote:
> One of my favorite recipes is a sort of Mediterranean chicken. Chicken
> thighs are seasoned and browned and then cooked for an hour or so with
> (among other things) sliced bell peppers and quartered roma tomatos. This
> produces a lot of juice from the veggies. The whole concoction is very good
> on pasta or rice. It has struck me that it might be improved if the juice
> were thicker. Any ideas as to what I could add to the pot to thicken the
> juices while they are cooking?

Blend a couple tablespoons juice with a couple tablespoons flour to
make a thin paste, then slowly drizzle back in to pot a little at a
time while stirring... stop when thickened to your liking.

Bubba wrote:
> One of my favorite recipes is a sort of Mediterranean chicken. Chicken
> thighs are seasoned and browned and then cooked for an hour or so with
> (among other things) sliced bell peppers and quartered roma tomatos. This
> produces a lot of juice from the veggies. The whole concoction is very good
> on pasta or rice. It has struck me that it might be improved if the juice
> were thicker. Any ideas as to what I could add to the pot to thicken the
> juices while they are cooking?

Two things come to mind. You don't say whether you cook it covered or
not. If covered, then you could just remove the lid for the last 20
minutes or so of cooking and let evaporation do its thing.

Another possibility is to make an actual sauce. Remove the chicken and
veggies when done. Add some liquid to the pan and scrape up all the
browned bits and pieces from the bottom (deglaze). Don't use a
non-stick pan for this. The liquid can be chicken broth, or wine (red
or white or dry sherry, your taste), or something else. Boil this for
a bit, adding back any liquid from the dish you put the chicken and
veggies in. If you want it thicker, add a cornstarch slurry, or bits
of butter mixed with flour. (You can also try flour shaken vigorously
in a jar with cold water, but that sometimes clumps into inedible bits
rather than thickening the liquid.) Then add the chicken/veggies back,
mix well and serve. If you try this, a bit of cold butter stirred in
at the end can't hurt. -aem

"Bubba" > wrote in message
...
> One of my favorite recipes is a sort of Mediterranean chicken. Chicken
> thighs are seasoned and browned and then cooked for an hour or so with
> (among other things) sliced bell peppers and quartered roma tomatos. This
> produces a lot of juice from the veggies. The whole concoction is very
good
> on pasta or rice. It has struck me that it might be improved if the juice
> were thicker. Any ideas as to what I could add to the pot to thicken the
> juices while they are cooking?


1. I saved this, it sounds delicious. Do you use thighs on the bone?
2. I would get everything out of the pan with a slotted spoon and
get it bubbling, and sprinkle in flour very slowly, cooking it so and
stirring so it doesn't get lumpy, roux style. You could use corn starch
but I have never liked the flavor or consistency of such shiny sauces
except in Chinese.

In article >,
"Bubba" > wrote:

> One of my favorite recipes is a sort of Mediterranean chicken. Chicken
> thighs are seasoned and browned and then cooked for an hour or so with
> (among other things) sliced bell peppers and quartered roma tomatos. This
> produces a lot of juice from the veggies. The whole concoction is very good
> on pasta or rice. It has struck me that it might be improved if the juice
> were thicker. Any ideas as to what I could add to the pot to thicken the
> juices while they are cooking?

Corn starch mixed in a slurry of cold water then stirred into the
simmering juice works well, but I generally use Arrowroot. Just a
personal preference.

Arrowroot stays thick even after freezing leftovers and has a glossier
finish. Use it the same way as corn starch but increase the amount by
about 50%. I use about 2 heaping tbs. per quart of liquid.
--
Peace!
Om

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch"
-- Jack Nicholson

Bubba wrote:
>
> One of my favorite recipes is a sort of Mediterranean chicken. Chicken
> thighs are seasoned and browned and then cooked for an hour or so with
> (among other things) sliced bell peppers and quartered roma tomatos.
> This produces a lot of juice from the veggies. The whole concoction is
> very good on pasta or rice. It has struck me that it might be improved
> if the juice were thicker. Any ideas as to what I could add
> to the pot to thicken the juices while they are cooking?

The cleanest way to do this (without any other
changes in texture or flavor) is with a vegetable
gum. For example, agar, algin, carragenan, gum arabic,
xanthan gum, etc. Oriental food stores sell agar
(used to make a jello-like dessert). Beer-making
supply stores sell carragenan. Some health food
stores sell xanthan gum. All or most of these gums
are available on the net at reasonable prices in
reasonable quantities if you do a Google search.

If you've ever had a milkshake from a fast food
place that stayed thick after it was brought up
to room temperature, this is how it was done.

OmManiPadmeOmelet wrote:
> In article >,
> "Bubba" > wrote:
>
>> One of my favorite recipes is a sort of Mediterranean chicken.
>> Chicken thighs are seasoned and browned and then cooked for an hour
>> or so with (among other things) sliced bell peppers and quartered
>> roma tomatos. This produces a lot of juice from the veggies. The
>> whole concoction is very good on pasta or rice. It has struck me
>> that it might be improved if the juice were thicker. Any ideas as
>> to what I could add to the pot to thicken the juices while they are
>> cooking?
>
> Corn starch mixed in a slurry of cold water then stirred into the
> simmering juice works well, but I generally use Arrowroot. Just a
> personal preference.
>
> Arrowroot stays thick even after freezing leftovers and has a glossier
> finish. Use it the same way as corn starch but increase the amount by
> about 50%. I use about 2 heaping tbs. per quart of liquid.

I concur! But arrowroot is much more expensive than a box of cornstarch

Jill

On Tue, 15 Aug 2006 00:40:42 GMT, "Bubba"
> wrote:

>One of my favorite recipes is a sort of Mediterranean chicken. Chicken
>thighs are seasoned and browned and then cooked for an hour or so with
>(among other things) sliced bell peppers and quartered roma tomatos. This
>produces a lot of juice from the veggies. The whole concoction is very good
>on pasta or rice. It has struck me that it might be improved if the juice
>were thicker. Any ideas as to what I could add to the pot to thicken the
>juices while they are cooking?
>
>

I would cook rice in the pan to absorb the excess liquid rather than
adding a thickener.

Sue(tm)
Lead me not into temptation... I can find it myself!

In article >,
"jmcquown" > wrote:

> OmManiPadmeOmelet wrote:
> > In article >,
> > "Bubba" > wrote:
> >
> >> One of my favorite recipes is a sort of Mediterranean chicken.
> >> Chicken thighs are seasoned and browned and then cooked for an hour
> >> or so with (among other things) sliced bell peppers and quartered
> >> roma tomatos. This produces a lot of juice from the veggies. The
> >> whole concoction is very good on pasta or rice. It has struck me
> >> that it might be improved if the juice were thicker. Any ideas as
> >> to what I could add to the pot to thicken the juices while they are
> >> cooking?
> >
> > Corn starch mixed in a slurry of cold water then stirred into the
> > simmering juice works well, but I generally use Arrowroot. Just a
> > personal preference.
> >
> > Arrowroot stays thick even after freezing leftovers and has a glossier
> > finish. Use it the same way as corn starch but increase the amount by
> > about 50%. I use about 2 heaping tbs. per quart of liquid.
>
> I concur! But arrowroot is much more expensive than a box of cornstarch
>
> Jill

Yeah it is... It's about 3x the price around here. <G>

But imho it's worth it.

I don't use a lot of thickeners so go thru maybe 2 lbs. of Arrowroot per
year. iirc, it runs about $3.00 per lb.

Corn starch is ok if you are just making enough for one meal. I find it
tends to "break" if even refrigerated.
--
Peace!
Om

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch"
-- Jack Nicholson