roasted chicken with root veggies

Sometimes the perfect meal happens by accident. I've never found the "right" roasted chicken recipe for my taste - most are too fancy for what I think this dish should be. Roasting chickens were on sale, and I had carrots, onions and fingerling potatoes in the fridge - all I needed were some herbs and parsnips and I was ready to go. Now I just needed to figure out the time and temp for cooking.

1 4 pound whole chicken
3-4 carrots
1-2 parsnips
1 onion
1 pound fingerling potatoes
herbs: sprigs of rosemary, thyme and sage(?)
salt and pepper
evoo

Cut the carrots, parsnips and onions into equal sized strips. Wash and dry the chicken, and place in a roasting pan. Surround the chicken with just the onion strips. Rub the chicken skin with the extra virgin olive oil, and sprinkle the onions with oil. Salt and pepper the chicken and onions. Roast at 375 degrees for 20 minutes. Add the potatoes, parsnips and carrots to the pan with some additional olive oil and salt and pepper. Toss with the onions and try to coat all of the veggies with oil. Roast for an additional hour at 415 degrees, stirring veggies once. Remove from the oven and let rest for 10-15 minutes.

Enjoy the roasted goodness!


 

a tribute to parson's table blue hubbard squash soup

1 blue hubbard squash
32 oz package of chicken broth
half a container of heavy cream
nutmeg for garnish

Cut the squash into pieces and roast at 375 degrees for 90 minutes. Bring chicken broth to a near boil and add the roasted squash. Use a hand blender to blend the squash and broth in the pot. Once it's almost fully blended, add the heavy cream and blend until combined.

Sprinkle with nutmeg.

sangria, just in case...

I basically stopped drinking about a year ago now. It made me feel like crap more than it made me feel good, so I just stopped and am far healthier for it. But I do recall how much I enjoyed the Sangria at Dali back in the day, so I figured I should put this recipe in here just in case. Mostly because I know if I ever do go looking for it again, I'll never be able to find it if I don't drop it in here.

Dali's Sangria
1 gallon red wine
1/2 gallon orange juice
2 cups brandy
2 cups Triple Sec
1 cup sugar
ice and chopped fruit

Mix everything together. Drink.

Recipe courtesy of Tomato Nation

the mustard-iest sandwich in the world

This sandwich was inspired by a mustard gouda that wasn't quite as mustard-y as we would have liked, so we figured out a way to make it taste like we were expecting it to.

sandwich bread fried in bacon fat
corned beef
mustard gouda
horseradish mustard
sauerkraut
tomatoes (optional)

Be sure to melt the cheese on the warmed bread.

ricotta dessert-fest

We haven't tried any of these but we love all of the ingredients so we can't see how they won't be good. They're definitely on the list to be done soon, but since we were driving away from the grocery store when we came up with the recipes, we don't have all the ingredients at hand just yet.

Chocolate Pallina

ricotta
honey
banana (optional)
70% (Guanaja) Valrhona chocolate feves

In a bowl, mix the ricotta with honey and (optionally) mashed banana until thoroughly combined. Wet hands. Take a tablespoon of the mixture and roll it in your hands like a meatball. Freeze the ricotta balls at least an hour. Melt the chocolate slowly over low heat. Do not bring to a boil. Line a cookie sheet with wax paper. Using a spoon, quickly dip each ball into the chocolate and place on wax paper. (Alternately, spread a thin coating of chocolate on the wax paper, place all of the ricotta balls on the chocolate layer and then drizzle chocolate over the balls to coat.) Refrigerate or freeze until the chocolate hardens.


Bocca Sesso con Pesche

ricotta
honey
fresh peaches
butter
70% (Guanaja) Valrhona chocolate feves

Melt butter in a frying pan. Heat sliced peaches in the butter until slightly softened and warmed through. Melt the chocolate slowly over low heat. Do not bring to a boil. Divide peaches into dessert bowls. Add a scoop of ricotta. Drizzle with honey. Drizzle with melted chocolate. Serve. Die of the deliciousness.

spicy chicken wing sauces for saucy

Chicken wings can do no wrong - especially when they come from the Cherry Tree. We were inspired to make our own and came pretty durn close. Here's what we came up with:

Honey Hotness:

1 cup Frank's Red Hot
3/4 cup of wildflower honey

Cherry Tree:

3/4 cup Frank's Red Hot
3/4 cup wildflower honey
1 cup sour cream
3/4 cup mayo

For each, combine all ingredients. Cook wings. Coat wings. Eat.

this isn't your momma's home-cooking

Over the course of a week I had three amazing home-cooked meals, all with new ingredients or new cooking methods. I'm very lucky to have friends who love to cook and are really good at it. I just hope I can recreate these in the future.

Lamb Chorizo with Sweet Potato Gnocchi

Ingredients:
2 links of lamb chorizo
1 store-bought package of sweet potato gnocchi
1 sweet potato
2 roasted tomatoes
1 1/2 cups of frozen okra
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 cup chicken broth

To roast the tomatoes: turn oven to the lowest setting, cut smallish tomatoes in half, place in baking dish and sprinkle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Place in oven for at least 3 hours. The longer they roast the more intense the flavor will become.

Heat the sweet potato in the microwave to soften, about 5 minutes. Peel the sweet potato and cut into 1 inch pieces. Place these on a cookie sheet and broil first for 6 minutes, then flip over and broil for another 5 minutes.

Begin boiling water for gnocchi. When water boils, add gnocchi and cook for 5 minutes or until they float.

Brown the chorizo in a large frying pan. Add the garlic and fry for about a minute before adding the frozen okra, tomatoes and chicken broth. Bring to a boil. Add the  gnocchi and sweet potatoes. Simmer until the sauce thickens. Ladle into a bowl and top with parmesan cheese if desired.


White Fish with Red Chilis and Lime

Ingredients:
1/2 pound white fish
cornstarch to coat
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
2 limes
zest of 1 lime
2 red chilis
peanut oil


Pork with Roasted Vegetables and Balsamic Glaze

Ingredients:
2 pork chops
roasted vegetables: peppers, red onions, eggplant, portobellas
grape tomatoes
1/2 cup balsamic fig vinegar
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar (or 1 cup if you don't also have balsamic fig)
1/4 cup brown sugar
ricotta


Sweet Hot Apricot Chicken (SHAC)

Ingredients:
1 and 1/2 pounds of chicken thighs
1 10 oz bottle of apricot fruit spread
6 teaspoons of Frank's Red Hot
2 teaspoons wildflower honey
salt and pepper
1/2 tablespoon butter
2 teaspoons bacon fat

Heat bacon fat in frying pan. Salt and pepper both sides of chicken. Brown both sides of chicken in the bacon fat. Meanwhile, combine apricot fruit spread, Frank's Red Hot and honey. When chicken is brown, pour apricot sauce over chicken in pan and simmer until chicken is cooked through and slightly orange outside. Raise heat on stovetop and continue boiling sauce until it reduces. After 10 minutes of reducing add butter and stir in. Cook for another 3 minutes. Pour sauce over chicken and devour.

pizza - roasted eggplant style

After trying it out on a vacation in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, we just had to try to create our own version of roasted eggplant pizza. This simple dish turns out perfectly, especially if you use high quality ingredients.

2 small eggplants, peeled
1 cup of basil - chiffonade
1/2 cup of mozzarella, shredded
1 cup of sun-dried tomato basil pasta sauce

Slice the eggplants in rounds about a quarter inch thick. Lay all the slices on a greased pan and sprinkle with olive oil. Broil for 6 minutes, flip the slices over, sprinkle with a bit more olive oil and broil for another 5 minutes until slightly golden brown on both sides. Remove from broiler, coat the top of each slice with tomato sauce, sprinkle with shredded mozzarella and then cook in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes. Broil for 3 minutes or until golden brown. (Use this last ten minutes to cook a steak!) Remove pan from the oven and sprinkle with basil chiffonade.

Enjoy!!