Winner! Winner! Chicken Dinner by Stacie Billis

Winner! Winner! Chicken Dinner

by Stacie Billis

With this cookbook on your kitchen counter, you’ll prepare delicious chicken suppers with confidence and ease. Author Stacie Billis’ light, funny, and instructional tone takes the intimidation factor out of working with chicken, whether you’re breaking down a bird or roasting it whole. Each chapter is chock-full of tips and tricks that use a wide range of techniques, from braising and roasting to grilling, slow cooking, and sheet-pan cooking, and all fifty recipes focus on tender meat infused with flavor. Keep roasted chicken classic, or give it pizzazz with the addition of a savory compound butter. Get perfectly crispy tenders without frying or give fajitas with lime crema the sheetpan treatment for easy prep (and cleanup). Other favorite recipes include Chicken Thighs with Maple–Cider Vinegar Glaze and Fennel-Apple Slaw, Sheet Pan Shawarma, Chicken Parmesan Meatballs, Green and White Chicken Chili, Peachy Sriracha Sticky Wings, and Pineapple Chicken Salad with Green Beans and Toasted Coconut. With colorful photographs of every recipe providing ample inspiration, Winner! Winner Chicken Dinner will help you master the classics and discover new favorites for every occasion, from a casual dinner party to a backyard cookout.

Reviewed by annieb123 on

5 of 5 stars

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Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Winner, Winner! Chicken Dinner is a well curated recipe collection for chicken in a variety of creative and delicious ways. Released 28th April 2020 by Storey, it's 160 pages and available in paperback and ebook formats.

This is a beautifully presented book, well written and photographed. The recipes are appetizing and made with easily sourced ingredients. It also includes one of the best and most accessible (and least intimidating) tutorials for cutting up a whole chicken at home. The pictures are *clear* and *large* and understandable. Buying whole chickens is much much less expensive than buying already cut up chicken and will give you different cuts of meat for different dishes. It's also quite possible to source farm raised birds locally increasing the quality and freshness of the meat. The book doesn't include any instruction for butchering live birds. There are other cutting and prep tutorials included such as butterflying chicken breasts, filleting, and carving. The equipment chapter also gives a good overview on equipment and supplies which will make life a lot easier.

The recipes are arranged by cooking type: oven, pan, pot, grill. There are numerous recipes in each category. The recipes have their ingredients listed bullet style in a sidebar. The headers include a description and introduction. Measurements are given in US standard only (there is a metric conversion chart at the end of the book). Special tools and ingredients are also listed, along with yields and cooking directions. Most of the ingredients are easily sourced at any moderately well stocked grocery store (some items will need a specialist co-op or world-food/specialist grocery). Nutritional information is not included. Cook's notes and variations for each recipe are also included in a footer at the end.The recipes all fit on a single page (which is super convenient for reading from a tablet when your hands are full of flour). The book also includes a recipe list and index. The chapter on using leftovers is full of good tips on reducing waste.

Well written, very well presented, full of tasty family-friendly recipes.

Five stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 29 April, 2020: Finished reading
  • 29 April, 2020: Reviewed