Garlic Butter Roast Chicken November 22, 2009

Beautiful, isn’t it? My very first roasted chicken. While working at the Chopping Block, I’d seen them stuff gobs of butter under the skin of chicken before roasting it and having it come out with crispy skin and juicy meat. I’ve wanted to try it and finally got to Whole Foods to buy a free-range, organic chicken. I’ve read too much to purchase or eat a regular grocery store chicken! Anyway, we had friends over to enjoy this with us and I’m pleased to say we all really enjoyed it.

• 1 free range, organic roasting chicken
• 4 cloves garlic – minced or pressed
• 1/2 stick (yikes!) butter
• Olive oil
• Salt & Pepper
• 1 lemon
• 1/2 onion

Start by mixing the garlic with the butter, mash it up with a fork if you need to. Rinse the chicken under cold water and pat try. Gently peel back the skin of the chicken with your fingers (wash your hands first!). Take pieced of garlic butter and spread around under the skin, even for the drumsticks. Once it’s evenly spread around, lightly spray with oil on the outside. Salt and pepper well. Stuff the inside of the chicken with a cut lemon and onion.

Roast in the oven at 450 degrees for 30-40 minutes, or until the temperature of the thigh meat reaches 155 degrees. Let sit for 10 minutes before carving. Enjoy!

Servings: 4 entree servings

Roasted, Stuffed and Baked Poblano Peppers November 14, 2009

I made these roasted, stuff poblanos several weeks ago. I *thought* I saved a link to the base recipe I used as a starter, but I failed! I can tell you what I remember though and post some links of some similar recipes to go from.

Start by roasting 5-6 poblano peppers. I do this on the gas burners, roasting each until the skin is black. Then toss them all in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap to basically steam the skins off. Gently peel the charred skin off and cut out the center and seeds. Set these aside. Then make the stuffing. I know sauted a can of black beans, onions, garlic, some leftover shredded chicken and spices (cayenne and cumin for sure). Stuff each pepper with the sauted mixture and cover with some shredded cheese. Bake for 20 minutes or so in a dish. I served mine on a bed of spinach topped with fresh salsa, cilantro and tomatoes. This recipe looks pretty good too!

Ginger and Green Soup October 21, 2009

Fall soup time! Fall soup time! I got some mustard greens in my produce box just in time for this soup from 101cookbooks. I switched some things up as I didn’t have any actual ginger on hand (oops) and I used the heartier mustard green instead of spinach, but I think I got the idea. This is a nice brothy soup too.

• 1 large yellow onion – diced
• 2 T olive oil
• 1 1/2 t. sea salt, plus more to taste
• 1 large sweet potato – diced
• 1 large leek, white and light green parts
• 1 bunch spinach or mustard greens
• 3 T chopped fresh ginger, plus more to taste (or, when you find out you don’t have ginger, used dried ginger!)
• 2 C good-tasting vegetable broth
• 2-4 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• freshly ground black pepper

Chop the onion and cook it slowly in the olive oil with a sprinkle of salt, stirring now and then, over low heat until it is soft and golden, about half an hour.

Meanwhile, peel and dice the sweet potato and put it in a large soup pot with 2 cups water and a teaspoon of sea salt. Thoroughly wash the leek, spinach, or mustard greens, chop them coarsely, and add them to the pot, along with the chopped ginger.

Bring the water to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer the soup, covered, for 30 minutes, or until the vegetables are completely tender. Add the caramelized onions when they are ready. When the vegetables are soft, add the vegetable broth (you can add less if you like a thicker soup) and decide whether you want your soup chunky, like this, or smooth. If the latter, puree the soup in a blender, in batches, or with an immersion blender until it is smooth.

Stir in 2 teaspoons of the lemon juice and a few grinds of black pepper. Taste, and correct the seasoning with additional salt or lemon juice.

Salmon Curry October 19, 2009

There were many good things about this meal. The grilled salmon, the curry sauce filled with healthy greens and vegetables, the quinoa that soaked up the sauce. The way my blood sugar sailed through this meal with peak of, oh, 140, landing nicely back around 80. I love when eating healthy matches so nicely with eating delicious foods!

• 2 salmon steaks (I had frozen Trader Joe’s salmon)
• 1 onion – sliced
• 1 red pepper – sliced
• 3 cloves garlic – diced
• 1 bunch mustard greens, cleaned and cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1-3 T. curry paste
• 1/2 can baby corn
• 1 cup quinoa – cook as directed

Start out by sauteing the onions and red peppers in a bit of oil. I cooked mine a bit, starting to let the onion carmelize as well. Toss in the garlic, let cook for a minute or two and then pour in the coconut milk. Mix in as much curry paste as you want at this point. I used about 2 tablespoons and it wasn’t too hot for us. Mix in the corn and cleaned greens at this time. Season with salt and pepper. Heat and simmer.

While cooking the curried vegetables, grill two salmon steaks on a grill pan with a little salt/pepper/olive oil seasoning on each side. I left one salmon steak whole and broke the other one up into pieces and tossed it right into the curry. Serve the salmon curry over the quinoa and enjoy.

Servings: 2

Baked Eggs with Tomatoes, Onion, Garlic and Herbs October 15, 2009

While the top picture doesn’t really show it, this was a beautiful dish. Beautiful tomatoes and eggs baked and topped with melted Parmesan cheese. It felt like such an extraordinary breakfast! It was actually quite simple. Nice basic flavors, warm and perfect for the fall. Thank you to Kalyn’s Kitchen for the recipe.

• 1 T extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup chopped red onion
• 1 tsp. finely minced garlic
• 1 can diced tomatoes (or 2 or 3 ripe tomatoes)
• 1 T dried basil
• 2 T freshly grated parmesan cheese (or more)

Heat olive oil in saute pan over medium heat, then add red onion and saute 2-3 minutes, until the onion is starting to get soft but not browned.

Add minced garlic, cook about 1 minute, then add tomatoes and basil. Simmer the tomato mixture until it thickens slightly, stirring a few times. This will take about 6-8 minutes.

While tomatoes cook, preheat oven to 400F.

When tomatoes are slightly thickened, remove about 1/3-1/2 of the tomatoes to a bowl. Spread the rest of tomatoes around the bottom of the casserole dish. Carefully break four eggs into the casserole dish. Spoon the rest of the tomato mixture carefully over and around the white part of the eggs, leaving the yolks showing. (It will not completely cover the whites.)

Put casserole into oven for about 5-7 minutes. (The egg white should be turning opaque but the yolk should still be runny when you add the parmesan cheese and broil.) When eggs are partly done, sprinkle on parmesan cheese and put dishes under the broiler for 1-2 minutes, until cheese melts and the top of eggs look like they’re barely starting to cook.

Serve hot, preferably with toast for dipping into egg.

Soba Noodles with Kale, Peppers and Peanuts September 27, 2009

I have tried several different peanut sauces with soba noodles in the past and they have all been terrible. Too much peanut butter, too heavy, yuck. I found this wonderful recipe and was so excited it didn’t have peanut butter involved! I mixed up the sauce, diced and prepared everything, tasted the sauce and… added a little bit of peanut butter. It just needed something, and one tablespoon of peanut butter did the trick. This is the best noodle dish I’ve made!

For the sauce (quantities approximate):

• 2 T reduced-sodium soy sauce
• 1-1/2 T hoisin sauce
• 1 t. sriracha or other hot chili sauce (more or less, to taste)
• 1 t. agave nectar (or honey)
• 1 t. fresh lime juice
• 1 T. peanut butter

2 bundles (approximately 6 ounces) soba noodles, prepared according to package directions, rinsed under cold water and drained

1 bunch kale – cleaned and torn into 1-inch pieces
1 small orange bell pepper, cut into 1-inch lengths
1/2 cup peanuts, dry-roasted and unsalted, roughly chopped

In a small bowl, combine sauce ingredients; adjust to taste with more agave or lime, and set aside (can be made days ahead of time, and stored in the refrigerator in a glass jar with a tight-fitting lid).

Place the soba in a mixing bowl.

In a pot, steam the kale first. This should take just a few minutes. In a saute pan, heat some oil and toss in the sliced peppers, saute for a few minutes then add in the steamed kale. Add the vegetables to the soba. Pour in the sauce, and stir well to combine. Transfer to individual serving bowls, and top with chopped peanuts and cilantro if you have it on hand. Serve at room temperature or cold.

Cheese Souffle September 26, 2009

We got a souffle dish and I have been so excited to make a souffle! I’ve heard stories of falling souffles and how difficult they are, but I followed Alton Brown’s recipe exactly and it turned out perfectly! Fluffy cheese-y, egg-y goodness! We had Jarrod and Marti over to dinner to share this with us and we ate this dish clean. Perfect! Looking forward to trying it with spinach or different kinds of cheese.

• Butter, room temperature, for greasing the souffle
• 2 T. grated Parmesan
• 1 1/2 ounces (3 T.) butter
• 3 T. flour
• 1 t. dry mustard
• 1/2 t. garlic powder
• 1/8 t. kosher salt
• 1 1/3 cups milk, hot
• 4 large egg yolks (2 1/2 ounces by weight)
• 6 ounces sharp Cheddar
• 5 egg whites plus 1 tablespoon water (5 1/2 ounces by weight plus 1/2 ounce water)
• 1/2 t. cream of tartar

Use room temperature butter to grease an 8-inch souffle mold. Add the grated Parmesan and roll around the mold to cover the sides. Cover with plastic wrap and place into the freezer for 5 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In a small saucepan, heat the butter. Allow all of the water to cook out.

In a separate bowl combine the flour, dry mustard, garlic powder, and kosher salt. Whisk this mixture into the melted butter. Cook for 2 minutes.

Whisk in the hot milk and turn the heat to high. Once the mixture reaches a boil, remove from the heat.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg yolks to a creamy consistency. Temper the yolks into the milk mixture, constantly whisking. Remove from the heat and add the cheese. Whisk until incorporated.

In a separate bowl, using a hand mixer, whip the egg whites and cream of tartar until glossy and firm. Add 1/4 of the mixture to the base. Continue to add the whites by thirds, folding very gently.

Pour the mixture into the souffle. Fill the souffle to 1/2-inch from the top. Place on an aluminum pie pan. Bake in the oven for 35 minutes.

Servings: 4 servings