Roast Chicken

Maybe everyone else is already producing roast chickens with ease, without a recipe, but it took a recipe published in my newspaper to prod me into trying it for the first time.  I tweaked the recipe a bit, using what I've learned about roasting a turkey.  This is more of a technique than a recipe, but I like having it all written down.  I made it for the second time last night, and it was a hit!  The kids eat the meat much better than typical chicken breasts, because it is so much moister.  And I thoroughly enjoy the crispy, garlick-y skin!

Roast Chicken

1 whole chicken, 4 to 5 lbs.	½ cup mayonnaise
2 gallons water	2 T fresh herbs
1 cup kosher salt	½ onion, peeled
1 cup sugar	Salt and pepper
5T butter, softened	2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
4-5 cloves garlic, divided

Brining the chicken (6 hours to overnight):  Put 2 gallons water, kosher salt and sugar in a large stockpot or brining bucket.  Swish to dissolve.  Remove giblets from chicken and submerge chicken in the brine.  (1 gallon water, ½ cup salt, ½ cup sugar seems to be enough for my stockpot, but it's easy to adjust).

Two and a quarter hours before dinner:  Remove chicken from the brine and rinse thoroughly.  Pat dry with paper towels.  Place chicken in roasting pan or dish.  Preheat oven to 350°.  Mix one pressed clove of garlic in with the softened butter.  (I freeze leftover garlic butter from when I make garlic bread-- this is a good way to use this-- just take the butter out of the freezer when you start brining the chicken.)  Chop fresh herbs and mix into the mayo.  Gently loosen the skin over the breast and rub the herbed mayonnaise over the meat underneath the skin.  To reach further back, place a large dollop of the mayonnaise under the skin, then, massage it back by pressing on the skin.  Then, rub the skin with the garlic butter and salt and pepper generously.  Place the half onion and the rest of the garlic cloves, peeled, in the cavity of the chicken.  Pour the chicken broth into the bottom of the pan.  Place roasting pan in oven and set timer for 1 hour and 10 minutes.  Then peel potatoes, etc. to get ready for the meal.  When the timer goes off, increase the heat to 400° and roast for another 20-25 minutes, until skin is crispy and a meat thermometer registers 165°.  Remove chicken from the oven and lift out chicken onto a cutting board.  Tent with foil and let rest for 15 minutes.  Meanwhile, strain pan juices through a sieve into a saucepan to make gravy.  Heat the juices, whisking in Wondra flour, until thickened.  Taste, then salt if needed.  Carve chicken and serve.

Pork Chops with Raspberry Sauce

And, tonight's supper!  For a side, I have some sweet potatoes cooking in the crockpot, a yummy-looking recipe from the new slow cooker recipe book from Cook's Illustrated.  I'm hoping that turns out good.  I've made these pork chops several times since I first saw the recipe in Family Circle magazine, they're super yummy and easy!

1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries	½ cup water
1/3 cup sugar	1 T butter
¼ cup raspberry vinegar	Pork chops, 1 1/2 to 2 inches thick
1/8 tsp. ground ginger	½ tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg	½ tsp. pepper
1/8 tsp. ground cloves	½ tsp. rubbed sage

In a medium saucepan, combine raspberries, sugar, vinegar, ginger, nutmeg and cloves.  Stir in ½ cup water and bring to a boil, crushing berries with a wooden spoon.  Simmer, uncovered, 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Take off heat, stir in butter.  Meanwhile, heat oven to 350°.  Heat grill pan over medium high heat.  Season the pork chops with the spices.  Lightly grease grill pan and grill chops 5 minutes per side.  Place chops in baking dish and bake for 10 minutes, or until internal temperature is 145°.  Allow to stand 5 minutes.  Serve with warm sauce on the side.

Fish Tacos

Here's what's for supper tonight, courtesy of Cook's Illustrated The Best Skillet Recipes.  Lots of yummy recipes in this book!  This recipe is one of my favorites, and once I learned the right order to prepare it all in, it's a pretty quick meal.  Eun Hui, the California girl, even pronounced it "authentic".  The recipe calls for cod, but I tend to buy cheaper fish, like tilapia or swai, which has the advantage of frying much faster, too.  The chipotle mayonnaise is excellent on sandwiches as well, so don't worry if you make too much!

Fish Tacos

Chipotle Mayonnaise

¾ cup mayonnaise	1 T lime juice
1-3 tsp. minced chipotle pepper	1 medium garlic clove, minced
1 T minced cilantro leaves	Salt and pepper

Mix all ingredients together and set aside

Cabbage

¼ head green cabbage (12 oz.), shredded (about 4 cups)	1 tsp. vegetable oil
3 T minced onion	½ tsp. salt
2 T cider vinegar

Mix all ingredients together and set aside

Fish

½ cup flour	1 tsp. salt & ½ tsp. pepper
1 T chili powder	1 ½ lbs. white fish, cut into strips

You will need oil for frying, and tortillas for serving.  The recipe suggests corn tortillas, but I usually have flour on hand, so I use those.

Whisk together the flour, chili powder, salt, and pepper in a shallow bowl.  Dredge fish gently, letting excess flour fall back in bowl.  (Can shake gently in a mesh strainer to remove excess).  Heat about ½ inch of oil in a skillet over medium high heat.  Oil is ready when a little piece of the chopped cabbage bubbles quickly when placed in the oil.  Add the fish and cook on one side, 1-2 minutes.  Carefully flip, and finish cooking (another minute or two), until fish flakes easily with a fork or paring knife.  Place fish on a paper towel-lined plate.  Heat tortillas, smear on chipotle mayo, place a few pieces of fish on top, and top with cabbage mixture.  Eat while the fish is hot!

Chicken Curry

This recipe sounds slightly exotic, but it's the height of comfort food, and my kids love it.  Bethaney just called to get the recipe, such as it is, for the second time, so I decided to type it out while I still had the card out.  This is a Rosemary recipe-- Rosemary often made it for us while she was at our house.  She got the recipe from a man in Bermuda.  There are few measurements here-- use what you have!  I would say it's around 1 1/2 pounds chicken, 1 small onion, 3-4 cloves of garlic, and maybe a half teaspoon of cornstarch if needed.  I like the taste of the green curry powder, but red curry is an option.  I have used curry paste, too, with fine results.

Chicken Curry

Chicken, cut into chunks	2 cubes chicken bouillon
1 T curry powder	1/3 cup hot water
1 tsp. chili powder	1 can coconut milk
Onion, minced	Cornstarch
Garlic, minced

Mix chicken with curry and chili powders.  Sauté onion and garlic in olive oil.  Add chicken and cook until brown.  Dissolve the bouillon cubes in the hot water and add to the cooking chicken.  Continue cooking until chicken is cooked through.  Add one can of coconut milk and let simmer for a minute.  If you want a thicker sauce, sprinkle some cornstarch in and mix in.  Serve with rice (Jasmine rice is best!).

Meatloaf! (I never said I was an epicurean)

Thursday was another Farmer's Market visit. I went crazy with lettuces, this time. I bought humongous heads of Romaine, green leaf, and iceberg lettuce. I didn't use any of them Thursday night, though.

Instead, we had corn on the cob! I love the random patterns Cheyenne makes on the cob.

We also had meatloaf, and Oven Crispy Cheese Fries.

Here's the potatoes, as I am cutting them into French fry shape. It's pretty easy-- slice the potato into 1/2" thick slices, then cut those slices into 1/2" sticks. Notice the bee-you-ti-ful tomatoes and lettuce in the background. Notice, too, that I'm not smart enough to take pictures of the finished fries. Or the meatloaf, which is the point of this post.

I have lots of meatloaf recipes. Meatloaf doesn't seem to have a very big fan base, but I like it, especially when using Full Circle Farm Grass-Fed Beef! Meatloaf is also a great meal to freeze for later-- I try to make two batches at once and freeze one and cook the other one for dinner. Not that that always happens, of course. Thursday afternoon all three kids fell asleep so I took a nap (cue ecstatic music). While wonderful, that meant I didn't have much time to throw supper together. I actually formed the meatloaf into 6 little loaves and microwaved them. I wouldn't say they were quite as good as when cooked in the oven, but they certainly were faster, and it freed up my oven for the oven fries.

I'm going to have a double oven someday. Someday.

This first recipe was given to me by my husband's cousin when we were married. It has very basic ingredients, but it is one of the yummiest meatloafs I've eaten!

Betty's Meatloaf

• 1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
• 1 cup dry bread crumbs
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. dried minced onions
• 1 can (15 oz.) tomato sauce, divided

Topping:

• reserved tomato sauce
• 2 T brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 T vinegar
• 2 tsp. prepared mustard

Mix together beef, bread crumbs, salt, pepper and eggs. (The best, while the messiest, way to do this is just to mix it with your hands). Add onions and one-half tomato sauce. Form into loaf in 9x3x5" pan (standard loaf pan). Bake at 350° for 50 minutes. In saucepan, combine topping ingredients; bring to a boil. Pour over meatloaf. Bake 10 more minutes.

Cheddary Meatloaf
This recipe was in the newspaper some years back. It was from a firehouse cook.

• 2 lbs. ground beef
• 1 large white onion, diced
• 2 eggs, slightly beaten
• 3/4 cup salsa
• 2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup prepared mustard
• 1/4 cup dill relish
• 1/2 cup dry Italian flavored bread crumbs
• 6 bacon strips

Mix all but bacon together. Form into loaf in 13x9 pan. Lay strips of bacon across loaf. Cover with tin foil. Bake at 375° for 45 minutes; uncover and bake additional 15 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes. To serve, lift loaf out of the grease that formed when it cooked-- the meatloaf itself is NOT greasy, but it does produce grease in the bottom of the pan.

I usually make mashed potatoes to go with meatloaf, but I was wanting some of these fries that night. This recipe is from Emeril-- I've never tried any of his other recipes, but this was in Family Circle magazine, and it's a really good recipe!

Oven Crispy Cheese Fries

• 2 tsp. vegetable oil
• 2 large baking potatoes (about 1 1/2 lbs.), scrubbed
• 1 large egg white
• 2 tsp. Baby Bam (recipe following)
• 8 oz. white cheddar cheese, grated
• 2 T thinly sliced scallions (optional)

Place oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 425°. Grease large baking sheet with the oil. Pat potatoes dry and slice lengthwise into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Turn each slice flat and slice lengthwise into even fries. In a medium bowl, whisk egg white until very light and foamy. Add the potatoes to the egg white and toss to coat. Remove potatoes with a slotted spoon. Spread fries on greased baking sheet, leaving room between fries. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven, sprinkle 1 tsp. Baby Bam. Flip fries, then sprinkle other teaspoon of Baby Bam. Bake 20 more minutes, until golden brown and crispy. Remove from oven and sprinkle with cheese. Bake 3 minutes, until cheese is melted. Sprinkle with scallions, if desired.

Baby Bam
This is Emeril's signature spice blend. I might halve the proportions, since I don't make a lot of Emeril's recipes. Maybe I should, though, this recipes sure is good!

• 3 T paprika
• 2 T salt
• 2 T dried parsley
• 2 T onion powder
• 2 T garlic powder
• 1 tsp. black pepper
• 1 tsp. oregano
• 1 tsp. basil
• 1 tsp. thyme
• 1/2 tsp. celery salt

Mix together. Can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 months.

And, if meatloaf is not your thing, here's a great sandwich that you can eat with the Cheese Fries. This was in the same issue of Family Circle magazine (many years ago now!) and I always serve them together. This is NOT an Emeril recipe, although it, too, is Cajun.

Cajun "Crab Cake" Sandwich

• 12 oz. surimi (imitation crabmeat)
• 1/2 small onion
• 1 rib celery
• 1 small pepper, cored and seeded
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup unseasoned breadcrumbs
• 2 large egg whites, slightly beaten
• 2 tsp. Cajun seasoning
• 1/2 tsp. hot-pepper sauce

Heat oven to 400°. Coat baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray. In food proccesor, pulse all ingredients until just chopped. (Or, if you're not a Cool Kid with a food processor, chop it all by hand.) Divide mixture into four portions; firmly press one portion into 3/4 cup dry measuring cup. Invert and tap on baking sheet to remove. With hands, slightly press and shape mixture into a 4-inch patty, about 1-inch thick. Repeat with remaining portions. Bake in 400° oven until browned, about 40 minutes. Serve on buns, with Oven Crispy Cheese Fries on the side!

That's all for tonight! Tomorrow I might post some recipes that actually use all the lovely green stuff I bought at the farmer's market.

Last Thursday's Supper

Last Thursday morning I went to the farmer's market in Syracuse. While I always love the farmer's market, it's usually a little overwhelming to consider going there. I discovered the secret-- don't go on Saturday! On Saturday it is crowded, and there are lots more vendors selling things other than fresh produce. This Thursday, I parked right next to the market, breezed through selecting yummy things, and was out again quickly! That's really key when there's three kids with you.

I have no idea what to do with eggplant at this point in my life, but I just loved the colors, so I had to snap a picture.

Cheyenne eating one of the little plums we bought.

It isn't ALL fresh vegetables-- there's some pretty yummy fresh-made doughnuts we had to sample!

Aren't these pretty little plums? They were destined for plum torte.

Fresh Plum Torte

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 stick butter, softened
• 1 cup flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 12 plums (small deep purple, prune or Italian), halved and pitted
• 1 T sugar
• 2 tsp. lemon juice
• 1/2 to 1 tsp. cinnamon
• Vanilla ice cream or whipped cream for serving

Preheat oven to 350° and spray 9- or 10-inch springform pan. (I used the 9-inch-- it was less dusty.) Cream together sugar and butter until light and creamy. In a small bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Add to butter mixture with eggs and vanilla and beat well. (I didn't sift together the dry ingredients first, just dumped them in at that step. It worked fine, but maybe you like to sift flour!) Spoon batter into the pan and place plum halves, skin side up, on top of batter. They will sink as it cools. Batter will barely cover the bottom of the pan, which is as it should be! Sprinkle lightly with sugar, lemon juice, and cinnamon. (The first time I made this recipe I forgot to do this, and I did it when it came out of the oven. I almost liked it better that way-- the lemon juice was fresher tasting!) Bake torte for one hour, depending on pan (a black pan takes less time.) Torte is done when tester inserted in the torte comes out clean. (Mine was done in a little over 40 minutes, since I have a black non-stick pan.) Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack for a few minutes. Remove from the pan, cool to lukewarm, and serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. (I didn't put anything on it, and it was pretty good plain. The ice cream may have helped the taste of the occasional overly tart plum, though.)

This was how it looked before it went in the oven. I think I used a few more than a dozen plums-- 14 or 15 maybe? Just cover the torte nicely.

Then, while the torte was baking, we got busy with the supper. Tori cut up the fresh green beans.

And I made Crispy Yogurt Chicken, from Pioneer Woman, slightly tweaked.

Crispy Yogurt Chicken

• Chicken pieces (I had tenders on hand)
• 2 cups plain, unflavored yogurt
• 2-3 cloves of garlic
• Herb of your choice (I was in the mood for Rosemary, snipped from my herb garden!)
• Juice of one lemon
• Salt
• Butter
• 2 cups Panko bread crumbs (these bread crumbs are awesome, but plain old bread crumbs will work if you're desperate)

Mince the garlic and herbs, and add them, along with the lemon juice, to the yogurt. In another bowl, mix the bread crumbs with a bit of salt, or seasonings. Shake salt onto the chicken pieces, dredge them through the yogurt and then through the bread crumbs. Place them on a cookie sheet or in a 13x9 pan. Put dabs of sliced butter on each piece. Now, Pioneer Woman says to cover with foil and bake for 1 to 1 and 1/4 hours at 350°. I'm forgetful and impatient, so I rarely bother with the tin foil, and the chicken will be cooked much sooner than an hour, especially if you cut your chicken into smaller pieces-- it just won't be as crispy. Depending on how rushed I am for supper, I have done this in as little as twenty minutes, or as long as 45 minutes. I also usually crank the heat up a tad-- 375° or 400°. If you do go with the foil, remove for the last 15 minutes of baking.

Here's the chicken, a-waiting to be baked.

What a yummy looking supper! That's jasmine rice we're having with the chicken. My in-laws often use this rice, and I'm a huge fan. With just a tad of butter and some salt, it's better than candy!

All year long, we eat frozen green beans quite happily. When these come along, though, we wonder how we were ever content with the frozen ones.

The finished plum torte.

It is quite moist, and SO GOOD! It's one Evan doesn't like, though. He's not a huge fan of plums. This is one of those dishes that does depend heavily on the quality of the plum. There were a few in this batch that were a bit tart, but the rest of the torte was excellent.

Okay, now I have to go to bed so I can get up in the morning and head off to the farmer's market again!

Differing Ideas on Sunday Night Supper

I eat one thing for breakfast-- raisin bran. Ever since I was about seven or eight, I have clung to my bowl of raisin bran to start the day off right. (There was a brief flirtation with both Frosted Mini Wheats and whole grain toast with banana and peanut butter, but raisin bran won my heart back.) The problem is, I really like lots of other breakfast foods-- pancakes, French toast, eggs, oatmeal. I just don't like to eat them in the morning. I love to cook them for supper, though!

Evan is a latecomer to the idea of breakfast. It is only since he started working construction that he even eats breakfast. And he's fairly lukewarm on eggs, oatmeal, and the rest. He likes suppers with MEAT in them!

The one time our differing ideas can coexist fairly comfortably is Sunday night. Evan would be perfectly happy eating a bowl of popcorn while vegging with his computer, but he will eat something if I make it. Since he doesn't have high expectations for Sunday's supper, breakfast foods are okay.

Until tonight, when I geared up to make pancakes, and Evan rebelled and said he wanted leftover spaghetti! Cheyenne, trying to be cool like Daddy, echoed him. So I heated up a leftover hamburger and Evan warmed up spaghetti. I'm still thinking of these pancakes, though. They're from an old Betty Crocker book Mom has. I have an older one from the sixties, but this one is from the forties or earlier. I love the illustrations in it, but it is inexorably falling apart. The index has been missing since I was a kid, so you have to guess where in the book a recipe might be. While Mom does the bulk of the cooking in our family, these pancakes are something Dad always cooked.

Betty Crocker's Buttermilk Pancakes

• 1 egg
  
• 2 cups buttermilk (the recipe actually says 1 1/4 cup, but I like them lighter).
• 1 1/4 cups flour
• 2 T shortening (I usually use butter)
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt

The recipe just says to mix them all together, but I find it's easiest to cut the butter into the flour with a pastry cutter or a fork, then dump the rest of the ingredients in and mix until just blended. It should be fairly lumpy still. Bake on a griddle or frying pan at medium high heat, flipping them over once the bubbles in the batter pop. Dollop butter on them, drench them in NY maple syrup, and enjoy with a side of bacon and a large glass of milk! This recipe makes 16-18 pancakes; if you want to halve the recipe, you can still use a whole egg, it works just fine.

Okay, in the interest of fairness, here is what Evan wanted tonight. It's what he ALWAYS wants to eat. Anytime I ask Evan for input on the menu, this is what Evan says: "Spaghetti."

This recipe is from the Rival Crock-Pot cookbook. It's tripled, since Evan ALWAYS wants spaghetti. It's an awesome freezer food-- it's handy having frozen containers of spaghetti sauce for a quick supper.

Evan's Spaghetti Sauce (Tripled)

• 1 lb. bulk sausage (such as Jimmy Dean's sage flavor)
• 2 lbs. ground beef
• 3 T butter
• 3 T olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
  
• 3 medium onions, finely chopped
• 3 (28 oz.) cans crushed tomatoes
• 2 T salt
• 1 1/2 tsp. sugar
• 1 T leaf basil
• 1 T leaf oregano
• 3 (6 oz.) cans tomato paste
• 3/4 tsp. crushed red pepper

Brown the sausage and ground beef. Drain the meat, then dump it in a big (6 qt., at least) Crock-Pot with all the other ingredients. Cook on Low for 8-10 hours, or on High 4-6 hours.


If you don't want to make enough sauce to feed the Russian Army, here is the original, un-tripled version. This will fit in a smaller Crock-Pot. Actually, both recipes would probably work on the stove-top, simmered on low heat and stirred occasionally.

Spaghetti Sauce (Original Proportions)

• 2 T butter or olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 can (28 oz.) Italian-style tomatoes, mashed
• 2 tsps. salt
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. leaf basil
• 1 tsp. leaf oregano
• 1 can (6 oz.) tomato paste
• 1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper
• 1 lb. ground beef, browned