Tag Archives: Roasting Method

New everything.

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HEY GUYS. (Pretend I’m saying this with attitude, perhaps with a snappy hand gesture or two.)

So I know it’s been 6 months and all since I last wrote. And I could be all apologetic and whiny, but honestly, I hate reading those posts. And I could tell you in detail what I HAVE been doing while I’ve NOT been blogging but it all boils down to: I moved from Colorado to Virginia. From an apartment to a house. From no backyard to a garden-friendly one. And I think I might have even convinced Brad to let us get a dog to go with our picket fence (which is not white, but whatever, that’s just details.)

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I still squee when I look at my new house. It’s so sweet it practically gives me diabetes.

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The kitchen. Looks a little white to start with, but I’m painting it a bright, bright green. ‘Cause that’s how I roll.

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The backyard, where Dad and my brother and I have already installed four raised garden beds. I’m getting topsoil and compost delivered later this week, even though I know I’ll only get to grow some quick-maturing leafy greens with what’s left of the season. Having never grown anything before (not a single potted plant, people) I am slightly terrified that I’m going to find out I have the brownest thumb ever. But, I figure I can probably grow zucchini and summer squash pretty easily. And if we end up with 4 raised beds’ worth of zucchini each summer and that’s it, well at least I will have a lot of zucchini bread, right?

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There’s been lots of cooking going on in the new house, although I’ve fallen back on some of the old favorites rather than trying many new ones. But after what seems like the LONGEST SUMMER EVER, what with the hot Colorado sun and then the stifling Virginia heat, I’m so desperate for fall I’m about to rent a snow machine and spray paint my trees yellow. I’m pushing the fall season like Wal-mart pushes Halloween candy in August, and making butternut squash lasagna and roasted potatoes instead of hanging onto the last few days of summer with marinated tomato salads and such.

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I found this recipe on that time-suck-to-which-no-other-compares, Pinterest. It was so pretty I just HAD to try it. I added a pinch of paprika for extra flavor, but next time (and there WILL be a next time) I’m thinking of infusing the butter with roasted garlic first. The shallot just wasn’t enough for me in this instance, although the texture of the dish was SPOT FREAKING ON. Extra crisp top and smooth creamy slices of potato that fall apart on the plate. A dish made perfect with those last potatoes of the summer, especially on the first cold night of fall. (Or so I would imagine, considering it’s still 75 degrees here at night.)

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Crispy Potato Roast

Adapted from Martha Stewart
Serves 6

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Martha says there’s only 25 minutes of prep time for this recipe. Martha is full of lies. (But it’s totally worth it.)

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Gather:
3 tablespoons butter, melted
3 tablespoons olive oil
4 pounds potatoes, peeled
4 shallots, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
a pinch paprika
a few springs of thyme, and

a mandoline or a sharp knife

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Prepare:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Slice the potatoes on thinnest setting of a mandoline or as thin as you can with a knife. (The thinner the potatoes, the crispier they will bake up.) You can prevent them from browning by putting them in a bowl of water as you slice.

Combine the butter and olive oil in a small bowl. Brush the olive oil mixture on the inside of a cast iron skillet or other heavy baking dish. Arrange the potato slices in the skillet as you like. Wedge slices of shallot between slices of potato. Sprinkle with salt, crushed red pepper, and a pinch of paprika. Bake for 75 minutes. Arrange a few sprigs of thyme on top of the potatoes and bake for another 35 minutes, or until the potatoes are crispy on top. Serve.

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Fitz & the Tantrums / Don’t Gotta Work It Out

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Drive-by Posting: Roasted Garlic

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I’ve only had time for a little bit of cooking this past week as work has been epic levels of fail lately. But this weekend I made roasted garlic as part of another recipe (to be posted later) and I wanted to share this shot with you. I thought it was rather pretty.

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Also, I just bought every single Best Coast EP available – I’m in love with that gritty sound. (I think it’s called lo-fi but I really have no idea what I’m talking about when it comes to music so whatever). Enjoy –

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Honey-Roasted Root Vegetables

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Honey-Roasted Root Vegetables

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This recipe has been a strong player in my family’s recipe repetoire (recitoire? hmmm) for a few years, and I can’t believe I didn’t think to blog about it earlier, to be honest. I remember I found this recipe in a Cooking Light magazine when I was in college, and I made it in my crappy college kitchen with my $10 set of knives from Wal-mart that could bend 90 degrees without breaking. Have you ever tried to cut sweet potatoes with a knife that bends? I’m surprised I still have all my limbs. Good times.

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Turnips

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So this year, I made these veggies as an easy side dish for the Christmas Day dinner. You see, my Christmas vacation back on the East Coast was somewhat rushed this year. I only had 5 days to travel halfway across the country and back, and I had no idea what I was going to make for Christmas dinner before I left Denver. So unfortunately there was no well-planned menu, no poring over blogs and magazines for weeks in advance; I basically went with some old stand-bys that I knew would work – including these veggies. After all – when faced with cooking or hanging out with my family, I pick my family every single time because we have such a good time doing the dumbest stuff. Like when my mom, dad, and I spent Wednesday night looking at Fail Blog, and all three of us laughed so hard we almost peed our pants. How does that compare with baking? No contest!

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Coating the Veggies

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Needless to say, the veggies were a HUGE hit at Christmas Dinner. My cousin Jordan practically had a coronary, proclaiming them delicious at multiple intervals during the meal, which was nothing short of hilarious to me, because these veggies are so simple to make. I would imagine that this would be a great way to get kids to eat their veggies (but I don’t have kids so what do I know?) because the sweetness of the honey isn’t overpowering, but instead a subtle background note. You still get the flavor of the vegetables, the bitterness of the turnips, but with just a hint of sweet. I love this with course salt, so that every once in a while you get a flake of salt to contrast with the honey and vegetables. Be sure to get small to medium-sized turnips and parsnips at the market – larger-sized versions tend to be more woody and bitter.

One of the best things about this recipe is that it uses vegetables that are in season here in Colorado. And then to make it even better, I used locally-produced honey that I picked up at the farmer’s market earlier this year. This isn’t a complicated recipe – you can use whatever portions you prefer, so feel free to switch out turnips for more carrots or another vegetable entirely. I don’t even bother measuring the honey or olive oil, and I add a little more if I feel like the veggies aren’t entirely coated. Feel free to experiment based on what you like.

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Honey-Roasted Root Vegetables

Adapted from Cooking Light

Printable recipe

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Ingredients:
1 large sweet potato, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 medium turnips, peeled and coarsely chopped
4 medium parsnips, peeled and coarsely chopped
3 medium carrots, peeled and coarsely chopped
3 shallots, peeled and halved
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon course salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper
Cooking spray
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Directions:
Preheat oven to 450F degrees. Combine honey, olive oil, salt and pepper in the bottom of a large bowl and mix to combine. Add vegetables to bowl and toss to coat. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray, and spread vegetables on baking sheet in a single layer. Cook vegetables at 450F for 35 minutes, stirring halfway through.

Serves 4-6 as a side.

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Now Playing in the Kitchenette: Murder by Death / Brother

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What did you have for Christmas dinner?

Ricotta-and-Herb-Stuffed Chicken

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Ricotta-and-Herb-Stuffed Chicken

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What to do if you have approximately 3 cups of delicious ricotta to use? Why, stuff it into something, of course… I chose chicken.

This is a great recipe for super-moist juicy chicken. (Note: I need a replacement word for moist. I hate that word. Shudder) I had the leftovers for lunch today, actually, and it was still tender and not at all dried-out. The ricotta definitely takes a back seat to the chicken in this recipe, which, if you ask me, is a good thing. I hate when one ingredient overwhelms the entire dish. Instead it just deepens the flavor of the dish without making the chicken feel heavy. It’s like chicken with the volume turned up… to a nice smooth beat, like the music I’ve posted below.

This recipe calls for removing the backbone of the chicken so that you can lay it flat. If you’ve never done this, this fella gives a great overview of how to remove the back bone, and then goes on to show you how to remove the keel bone as well (I didn’t remove the keel bone, because I didn’t know how – you learn something new everyday). If you don’t want to have to deal with the whole bird, I recommend just buying a selection of chicken breasts and thighs with the skin still attached – you can still stuff the meat under the skin that way. Or if you want to make this using regular chicken breasts (I always have some frozen in my freezer), you can just cut a slit in the middle of the breast piece and stuff the filling in there. Buying the whole bird is just cheaper, and let’s face it – a little more exciting!

This is the ultimate put it in the oven recipe – I literally didn’t touch the chicken until the hour was up. You may use that hour however you like. Browse the Internets. Play with your kids. Or watch a Chuck-Bass-filled episode of Gossip Girl (I think you know which one I chose).

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Ricotta and Herb-Stuffed Chicken

Based on this recipe from Gourmet, July 2007

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Ingredients:

  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 cups whole-milk ricotta (use homemade if you can)
  • 1 large eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
  • 1 tbsp dried oregano
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
  • 1 whole chicken (about 3 1/2 pounds)
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • salt and pepper

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Make filling:
Preheat oven to 400°F with racks in middle and lower third.

Stir together garlic, ricotta, eggs, parmesan, herbs, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.

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Ricotta-and-Herb-Stuffed Chicken - Making the Filling

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Stuff and roast chicken:
Cut out the backbone from chicken with kitchen shears (freeze bones for making stock if desired). Pat chicken dry, then spread flat, skin sides up, on a cutting board.

Sprinkle chicken with 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and spread chicken flat, skin sides up, in an oiled large (17- by 12-inch) shallow baking pan. Gently slide your finger between skin and flesh of breast and legs of chicken to loosen skin (be careful not to tear skin).

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Ricotta-and-Herb-Stuffed Chicken - Stretching the Skin

You really want to get under the skin. You’re pretty much violating the chicken in this step. But it’s to your benefit… your ricotta-and-herb-stuffed benefit.

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Using a small spoon (or your fingers, Paula-Deen-style), slide ricotta mixture under skin. It helps to get a good helping under the skin with one hand, and then use your other hand on the outside of the chicken skin to spread the filling around under the skin. Brush skin of chicken all over with oil and sprinkle with 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. (I totally forgot to oil the outside of the chicken, so the skin is looking a little dry – oh well, it was still really good.)

Bake chicken in at 400 degrees for 1 hour, or until the skin is crispy and golden. Let chicken stand 10 minutes, then cut each into quarters.

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Playing in the Kitchenette: Starfucker / Rawnald Gregory Erickson the Second – Nice relaxing music for making chicken!

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Balsamic Roasted Chicken

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Yesterday I got off of work a little early, so I went clubbing. You know, Sam’s Club-bing. The suburban version of clubbing.

I was making this balsamic chicken, which I tend to make in large quantities, because I will eat it on anything and everything. So I went out to Sam’s and bought 10 pounds of chicken. For $22 dollars. Who doesn’t love Sam’s Club? It’s like recession-proof grocery shopping.

Anyhoodle, this chicken is the best. Like I said, I will eat it on anything and everything. It freezes well, so I tend to have some on hand at all times. It’s just that good, so much so that I don’t seem to get tired of it.

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