grape roasted chicken

I'd been craving roasted chicken for days and finally bought a roaster along with some herbs to throw in the oven. I also picked up some delicious champagne grapes, and remembered having seen a roasted chicken and grapes recipe somewhere along the way. We made a couple of adjustments to the recipe I found and it turned out better than we thought possible. Goes especially well with purple mashed potatoes.

Ingredients:
1 pound assorted seedless grapes (tiny grapes especially good)
1 head of garlic, cloves peeled
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme plus 6 large sprigs
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 half lemon, quartered
1 4-to 4 1/2-pound chicken, excess fat removed from cavity

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400°F. Remove grapes from stems. Gently toss grapes, garlic cloves, chopped thyme, and 1 tablespoon olive oil in large bowl to coat. Rub chicken with remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil; sprinkle inside and out with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Place thyme sprigs, a handful or grapes and lemon quarters in cavity. Place chicken in large roasting pan; arrange grape mixture around chicken. Roast until instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of chicken thigh registers 165°F and grapes are shriveled, about 1 hour 10 minutes.

Transfer chicken to platter; let rest 10 minutes. Using slotted spoon, arrange grapes and garlic around chicken. Transfer pan juices to small pitcher; spoon fat from surface of juices and discard. Serve chicken with pan juices alongside.

Adapted from Epicurious.com

veal alicante

A creation based on two veal recipes from our favorite Portuguese restaurant.

Ingredients:

8 (2 ounce) pieces veal scallopini (the higher quality, the better - Provimi is best.)
A box/bag (or two) of baby spinach (5 oz (10 oz for two))
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup white wine
1 tablespoon potato starch
1 cup chicken broth
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon grey sea salt
1/4 teaspoon lemon pepper
1/2 teaspoon sage
1 cup half and half
1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese
4 tbsp Parmesan cheese
4-6 slices of soppresata (or prosciutto)
fresh basil
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Tenderize the veal well with a meat mallet.  Rinse then chop the stems off the spinach.

2. Cook the baby spinach in a small amount of olive oil until fully wilted (add garlic / garlic powder to taste).  Sprinkle some lemon juice over the spinach then set aside.  Lightly cook soppresata in the spinach pan.

3. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season the scallopini with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.  Add scallopini to the hot, oiled skillet, and cook until golden brown on both sides, and no longer pink on the inside, about 4 minutes per side. Remove to a paper towel lined plate, and keep warm.

4. Pour in lemon juice and white wine into the pan in which the veal was cooked (or a saucepan). Increase heat to high, and bring to a boil. Boil for 1 minute. Dissolve the potato starch in about 2 tablespoons of chicken broth, and set aside. Pour the remaining chicken broth into the skillet, season with sage, garlic, pepper, salt and lemon pepper, and bring to a boil. Once the sauce is boiling, stir in the dissolved potato starch, and cook until thickened and clear, about 1 minute. Remove the sauce from the heat, then whisk in half and half.

5. On each serving plate place two scallopini pieces.  On each piece layer a wad of cooked spinach, a piece of cooked soppressata, and both mozzarella and parmesan cheese.  Layer another scallopini on each stack of spinach, cheese, and meat to make sort of a small veal sandwich.  Pour the creamy lemon wine sauce over each veal sandwich and top off with fresh basil leaves and cracked pepper.

spaghetti squash spaghetti

2 spaghetti squash
2 cups of pasta sauce
1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese
4 tbsp Parmesan cheese
fresh basil
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Place squash on a rimmed baking sheet. Make 2-3 vents in the top of the squash by poking deep slits with a sharp knife. Bake in oven for 60-65 minutes at 350 degrees.

Remove from oven and let rest for 10-15 minutes. Cut squash in half, length wise, and scoop out seeds (use two spoons to remove seeds easily). With a fork, shred the inside of the squash.

Season squash with a little salt and pepper. Add in 1/2 cup of pasta sauce to each squash half. Mix well until all the squash "noodles" are covered. Top with 1/4 cup of shredded cheese. Sprinkle each half with 1 tbsp of Parmesan.

Place squash under the broiler for 5 minutes until bubbly and melted. Chop fresh basil and sprinkle on top.

Adapted from Family Fresh Meals

super simple squash soup

1 butternut squash
1 buttercup squash
2 32 oz cartons of chicken broth
1 cup half and half
sour cream
fresh basil
salt and pepper
finishing salt (Hawaiian Black Lava Salt)

Cut both squashes into inch sized chunks. Place chunks in stockpot and fill pot with chicken broth to cover squash. Add salt and pepper to taste. Boil until squash is very soft. Remove from heat. Add half and half. Use hand-blender to puree until completely smooth. Chiffonade basil. Ladle soup into bowls. Spoon sour cream into soup. Sprinkle with basil and finishing salt.