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!


 

st. patty's day corned beef and cabbage - crockpot style

I've been looking for crockpot recipes ever since I got one in November. I haven't made too many things as of yet owing to the fact that I can only eat so much of one thing before I get sick of it. Also, most of the recipes were some combo of beef and wine and after a couple of times that gets old pretty fast. Then St. Patrick's Day showed up with no warning. I walked into the local grocery store and found piles of potatoes, cabbage and carrots and realized it was time for corned beef and cabbage! I've been making corned beef and cabbage the exact same way for over tens years now. Throw all the ingredients in a pot and boil for three or four hours. It turns out just like you think boiled corned beef and cabbage would and should. But I remembered that I'd seen a corned beef recipe for the crockpot. I have no idea if the one I used is the original one I'd found, but this was seriously the best corned beef and cabbage I've ever had.

If there's no beer, replace the first 4 ingredients with this:
4 cups water
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
1⁄2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

Crockpot Corned Beef and Cabbage

Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 10 hours

Ingredients:
• 12 oz. can beer (non alcoholic is fine)
• 2 Tbsp. dijon horseradish mustard (or your favorite)
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup water
• 4 carrots, cut into chunks
• 3 parsnips, cut into chunks
• 1 onions, chopped
• 2-3 lb. corned beef brisket with seasoning packet
• 8 wedges cabbage (half a head)
• 4 red potatoes, cut into chunks

Preparation:
In 4-6 quart crockpot, combine carrots, parsnips, potatoes, and onions. Dump contents of corned beef package (including accumulated juices) into the crockpot. Sprinkle the meat with contents of seasoning mix. Pour beer over brisket and spread mustard on brisket. In small bowl mix brown sugar with water and pour over brisket. Cover crockpot and cook on low for 8 1/2 hours.

Add cabbage wedges to crockpot. Cover crockpot and cook on high for additional 90 minutes or until cabbage is crisp tender.

To serve, cut corned beef across grain into thin slices. Remove vegetables from slow cooker with slotted spoon and serve with corned beef. Serve cooking juices over the food, if desired. Offer additional mustard on the side. 8 servings

Adapted from the original on Busy Cooks: About.com

One warning, it's certainly greasier than the boiled version, but don't let that scare you away.

Try not to eat all of it by yourself!