Poached Chicken Calabaza:
What's Coookin'

Aired on Superstation WGN
Saturday, August 27 and December 3, 2005
Show 223

A celebrity in food circles, Chef Michelle Bernstein has been featured in the New York Times and Bon Appetite. Alex rejoins Michelle at the AAA, 5-Diamond Azul Restaurant at the Mandarin Oriental in Miami, Florida, where rising star Michelle poaches a free range chicken to serve on a bed of sweet calabaza.

Chicken breast has half the fat of a T-bone steak. A four-ounce chicken provides 67 percent of the daily value for protein. Calabaza is a pumpkin-like squash. Michelle suggests that it is possible to substitute other sorts of squash, pumpkin or sweet potato. Squash is rich in beta carotene which helps prevent heart disease.

Michele cubes the calabaza and bakes it with brown sugar, cinnamon and vanilla. She poaches the chicken in a tasty broth with an array of spices – ginger, garlic, lemon grass, and fresh basil. After the poached chicken is nestled on the bed of calabaza, Michelle drizzles a sizzling green oil sauce of sesame oil, scallions, soy and cherry vinegar to complete this scrumptious and healthy dish.

Poached free-range chicken with calabaza squash
(Serves 2)

Ingredients:

One-half chicken per person, cleaned, separated into breast (wing boned and frenched) and leg bone (frenched)
2 quarts chicken stock, defatted
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
1 Tablespoon ginger, peeled and chopped
1 Tablespoon garlic, chopped
1 Tablespoon lemongrass, chopped
1 bunch basil
Calabaza squash, cut in 1-inch cubes to total 1 cup (can also substitute with pumpkin or other sweet squash)
1 Tablespoon grapeseed oil
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
Pinch cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 Tablespoon peanut oil
1 Tablespoon scallions, sliced thin
1 teaspoon ginger, cleaned and julienned
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon sherry vinegar

Preparation:

Heat chicken stock, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, lemongrass and basil together until boiling. Lower flame to a simmer and add the chicken. Simmer 20 to 30 minutes, or until fully cooked.

Mix the oil, brown sugar, cinnamon and vanilla together with a whisk. Coat the calabaza with the mixture. Place the calabaza on a sheet pan, cover with foil and place in a 350-degree oven for 30 to 45 minutes. Remove foil for the last 10 minutes. When the calabaza is tender and golden, remove from the oven.

Season with coarse salt and black pepper. Heat peanut oil in a sauté pan until smoking. Quickly remove from the heat and add the scallions, ginger, soy sauce and sherry vinegar, shaking the pan so nothing burns. Quickly pour over the chicken and place the chicken over the calabaza.