EL Pollo Loco Chicken

El Pollo Loco Chicken

1 cup White wine vinegar
1 cup Olive oil
1/2 cup White wine
1 tbls. Oregano
1 teas. Thyme
3 tbls. Salt
10 Garlic cloves; minced
1 1/2 teas. Tabasco sauce

Mix all ingredients and marinate two whole chicken which have been cut in
half. Marinate several hours in refrigerator. Grill chickens slowly until
done.


My comments:

To make this taste like real El Pollo Loco chicken I have to doctor the recipe slightly. This recipe is a GREAT jumping off point. It works great as is. Again, I have served this at many functions with people begging for the recipe. It also helps that Jason is great on the grill. Don't over cook these.

I usually add citrus to the recipe because I think that is what I like best about El Pollo Loco's chicken. I will add the juice of a lemon, lime, and a clementine(you can use an orange, just have these a lot cause kids love them). Along with most of the rind grated fine. I use my microplane and attack the skin(avoid the bitter white pulp), then slice and juice the fruit. I just use what ever citrus I have on hand and it works.

Usually don't have white wine around and will either leave it out of replace with chicken broth or white grape juice, if I have it.

Dried herbs work great.

I use boneless skinless chicken breasts. I am really particular about the type I use. I search for natural meat that has not been injected with the 10-15% of water and salt that many stores carry. I think it does not allow the chicken to absorb marinades well and I also think when they process the chicken so much it makes it really rubbery. I know it is much harder to find minimally processed chicken, but it makes a HUGE difference to me. Ok, I'll let it go.

Cider Roasted Pork Loin

I am menu planning for house guest that I am expecting on Monday. I thought I'd put my recipes up that I know are great and add the photos as I prepare them. This is my all time favorite recipe. I have served it at my gourmet cooking club to rave reviews, at many family gatherings, dinner parties, and I have multiplied the recipe and used it to serve to the whole Relief Society. I also use the brine recipe, multiplied, for my turkey at Thanksgiving. It is a fabulous recipe and very nice because most of the prep work needs to be done the day before. Here are a couple of my suggestions: buy the coriander seeds where you find the spices in bags, usually near the Mexican food in my grocery store. If you buy it in the bottles where the regular spices are you will spend much more. Stick with the kosher salt, it does make a difference. And brine overnight, you roast will be so tender. I usually serve this with rosemary red potatoes, I like to tie in the spices and either green beans or a green salad. Enjoy!




Cider-Roasted Pork Loin

From Cooking Light

Fresh herbs and sweet cider syrup combine in this savory main dish. Overnight brining tenderizes the roast. If the cider reduction becomes too thick to brush on the pork, warm it in a saucepan over low heat.


3 cups water
3 cups apple cider
1/4 cup kosher salt
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
1 bay leaf
1 (2-pound) boneless pork loin, trimmed
2 cups apple cider
Cooking spray
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Combine the first 6 ingredients in a saucepan; bring to a boil, stirring until salt dissolves. Remove from heat; cool. Pour brine into a 2-gallon zip-top plastic bag. Add pork; seal. Refrigerate 8 hours or overnight, turning bag occasionally.

Preheat oven to 350°.

Bring 2 cups cider to a boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook until cider has thickened and reduced to 1/4 cup (about 15 minutes). Set aside.

Remove pork from bag; discard brine. Place pork on rack of a broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Lightly coat pork with cooking spray. Combine rosemary, sage, and black pepper; sprinkle evenly over pork. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until thermometer registers 155°, basting twice with cider reduction during final 20 minutes of cooking. Remove from oven; baste with remaining cider reduction. Let stand 10 minutes before slicing. Yield: 8 servings (serving size: about 3 ounces pork)

NUTRITION PER SERVING CALORIES 200(30% from fat); FAT 6.6g(sat 2.2g,mono 3g,poly 0.7g); PROTEIN 24.4g; CHOLESTEROL 67mg; CALCIUM 25mg; SODIUM 419mg; FIBER 0.3g; IRON 1.1mg; CARBOHYDRATE 9.2g Kathryn Conrad Cooking Light, OCTOBER 2004