Storecupboard Spiced Chicken

If you’ve read my blog post on Nobu’s Teriyaki Chicken, you know full well where I stand on chicken for supper.  Chicken is the easiest option, but it’s also the most brain-wracking option because you’ve got to figure out how you’re going to cook it (poach, bake, grill, roast, fry), and what flavour elements you’re going to add to it.  Last night was no different, as I faced two large, lonely, boneless, skinless chicken breasts.  As the clock chimed 6 times, I was in a hurry to figure out what I was going to do if I wanted to eat by 7 pm.  Having just woken from a direly needed nap, my brain was foggy, and less receptive to being creative on a dime.  What could I do?  Reading recipe books seemed too complicated, so I instead resorted to whipping up something on a whim, tasting as I went along.
 

 
So, I opened the fridge door and grabbed some ketchup, mustard, hot sauce and maple syrup.  I then went to the cupboard and grabbed some garlic powder, dehydrated onion flakes and soy sauce.  Finally, I opened my spice drawer (I have a huge double sized cutlery drawer that I’ve converted into a spice cabinet, so I can see all of my spices at once, and I love it).  I grabbed the ground coriander and allspice.  I learned to re-purpose these two commonly-used-for-baking spices to season my chicken suppers from one of my new favourite cookbook authors, Amy Thielen, in her glorious ode to midwestern cooking, titled The New Midwestern Table.  (You have to get this book…Amy’s writing drew me in immediately, and to cook, then taste, is to be convinced. I’ve cooked from this book many, many times, and have loved every single dish).
 

 
I made a marinade with these pantry basics, and let the chicken soak in them while I turned on the oven to preheat, and started on my potatoes.  I wanted to have my side cooking along with my chicken, so small new potatoes sliced into bite size chunks would be perfect, and would continue to fuel my still ongoing craving for starchy carbs this week.  I placed some cut baby potatoes in a dish, doused them with some olive oil, and sprinkled them with some homemade Creole seasoning.  They got a 15 minute head start in the oven, and were done by the time the chicken was done.  
 
By the way, did you check Twitter or Instagram to see what I had for a late night snack on Monday night?  Baked potatoes (two of them, photo below), loaded with butter, sour cream, green onions, shredded Mexican blend cheese and salt and pepper.  OMG, they were good, and they’ve kept me in that potato craving and carbo-loading zone all week.  I mean, for real.  Eating potatoes at midnight on a week night.  For a snack.  Seriously, it doesn’t get more carb loaded than this this, I tell you.
 

 
I sliced my chicken breasts into strips so that they would cook quickly, and I’m glad I did, because once this started baking in the oven, the smell was totally intoxicating, and hard to wait for…luckily, a glass of pinot grigio and some really good cheddar kept the hunger at bay for the half hour this needed in the oven.  To say this was a winner would be selling it short.  This was easy, fast, and tasted so good.  Like indoor barbecue, without the grilling.  Which is a good thing these days, because in my neck of the woods, old man winter is still rearing his ugly head all over my back yard (and everywhere else for that matter), and making it near impossible to get to the barbecue these days.
 

 
If you haven’t given coriander and allspice a go at your savoury dishes, I urge you to reconsider.  This makes all the difference in your sauce, and gives it a barbecue like flavour without all of the fuss.  Plus, it’s a great way to use up these spices (unless you’re baking with them all the time).  A win win in my books.