Herb Roasted Whole Chicken

Herb Roasted Whole Chicken

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken (approx 3 1/2 pounds)

3 Tbsp butter, softened

1 Tbsp olive oil

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 lemon, zested and the cut in half

2 Tbsp freshly chopped rosemary

2 Tbsp freshly chopped basil

2 Tbsp freshly chopped oregano

Salt and pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Combine herbs, garlic, lemon zest, olive oil, salt and pepper in a small bowl.

Carefully lifting the skin of the chicken, rub herb mixture underneath.  Rub the remaining mixture all around on the outside of the bird.  Place lemon halves in the cavity.

Roast until thermometer reads 160 degrees, approximately 1 hour.  Let stand 5-10 minutes and slice.

Zucchini Ribbon Salad

Zucchini Ribbon Salad

Adapted from twopeasintheirpod.com

Makes 4-6 servings

INGREDIENTS

2 Tbs olive oil

2 Tbs freshly squeezed lime juice

½ tsp lime zest

Salt and pepper, to taste

2 medium zucchini

2 medium yellow squash

2 ears cooked sweet corn

¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro

¼ red onion, sliced 
(optional)

2 medium ripe avocados, peeled, pitted, and sliced

½ cup feta cheese, crumbled

Sea salt, to taste

Freshly ground black pepper

 

PROCEDURE

1. In a large bowl, whisk the olive oil, lime juice and lime zest together. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
2. Trim the ends of the zucchini and yellow squash. With a vegetable peeler, shave lengthwise into long, wide strips about 1/16 inch thick. When you get to the center of the zucchini, turn the squash over and slice from the other side until you get to the center again.
3. Boil shucked ears of corn for 3 minutes. Cut the sweet corn kernels off of the cob, cutting close to the cob. Add sweet corn, cilantro, red onion, and avocado slices to the squash ribbons. Pour olive oil and lime dressing over salad and toss until coated.
4. Serve topped with feta.

 

Peach Pie

Peach Pie

From smittenkitchen.com

INGREDIENTS

Crust
2 1/2 cups (315 grams) all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting surfaces
1 tablespoons (15 grams) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon table salt
2 sticks (225 grams, 8 ounces, or 1 cup) unsalted butter, very cold
1/2 cup water, very cold

Filling
About 3 1/2 pounds peaches (approximately 6 large, 7 medium or 8 small)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, from about half a regular lemon
1/4 cup granulated sugar (see note up top; use 1/3 cup for a sweeter pie)
1/4 cup light brown sugar (ditto)
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Few gratings of fresh nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon table salt
2 tablespoons minute tapioca, ground to a powder (see note up top), or 3 tablespoons cornstarch or potato starch

To finish
1 tablespoon milk, cream or water
1 tablespoon coarse or granulated sugar

DIRECTIONS:

Make your pie dough: Whisk together flour, sugar and salt in the bottom of a large, wide-ish bowl. Using a pastry blender, two forks or your fingertips, work the butter into the flour until the biggest pieces of butter are the size of small peas. (You’ll want to chop your butter into small bits first, unless you’re using a very strong pastry blender in which case you can throw the sticks in whole, as I do.) Gently stir in the ice water with a rubber spatula, mixing it until a craggy mass forms. Get your hands in the bowl and knead it just two or three times to form a ball. Divide dough in half. Wrap each half in plastic wrap and flatten a bit, like a disc. Chill in fridge for at least an hour or up to two days. Slip plastic-wrapped dough into a freezer bag and freeze for up to 1 to 2 months (longer if you trust your freezer more than I do). To defrost, leave in fridge for 1 day.

Meanwhile, prepare your filling: Bring a large saucepan of water to boil. Prepare an ice bath. Make a small x at the bottom of each peach. Once water is boiling, lower peaches, as many as you can fit at once, into saucepan and poach for two minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to ice bath for one minute to cool. Transfer peaches to cutting board and peel the skins. In most cases, the boiling-then-cold water will loosen the skins and they’ll slip right off. In the case of some stubborn peaches, they will stay intact and you can peel them with a paring knife or vegetable peeler and curse the person who made you waste your time with poaching fruit.

Halve and pit the peaches, then into about 1/3-inch thick slices. You’ll want 6 cups; it’s okay if you go a little over. Add to a large bowl and toss with lemon juice. In a small dish, stir together sugars, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and cornstarch until evenly mixed. Add to peaches and toss to evenly coat.

Preheat: Oven to 425 degrees.

Assemble your pie: Flour the heck out of your counter, unwrap your first dough (if the two pieces look uneven, go for the smaller one) and put it in the middle and flour that too. Be generous, you’ll thank me later. Start rolling your dough by pressing down lightly with the pin and moving it from the center out. You’re not going to get it all flat in one roll or even twenty; be patient and it will crack less. Roll it a few times in one direction, lift it up and rotate it a quarter-turn. And that’s what you’re going to continue to do, roll a couple times, lift the dough and rotate it. Re-flour the counter and the top of the dough as needed–don’t skimp! You should be leaving no bits of dough on the counter and none should be stuck to your pin. If at any point, the dough starts to get sticky or soft, it’s warming up and will only become more difficult to work with. Transfer it back to the fridge for a few minutes (or even the freezer, but for just a minute) to let it cool, then resume your rolling process.

Once your dough is a 12- to 13-inch circle, transfer pie dough to a standard pie dish by folding it gently into quarters (making no creases), arranging the folded corner into one quadrant of the bottom of your tin and gently unfolding it to fit over the base. Trim the overhang to one inch.

Scoop filling into bottom pie dough, including any accumulated juices (they contain the thickener too, also: tastiness). Roll out your top pie dough using the same procedure, until it is 12 to 13 inches in diameter. If you’d like to make a regular lidded pie, use it as is, cutting some decorative vents in the pie lid before baking. To make a lattice-top pie, cut the pie dough into strips anywhere from 1/2 to 1-inch wide with a pastry wheel, pizza wheel or knife. Arrange every other strip across your pie filling in one direction, spacing the strips evenly. Fold back every other strip gently on itself and add the longest remaining strip in the other direction. Fold the strips back down, repeat with the other strips until a full lattice-top is formed. Trim the lattice’s overhang to the diameter of the pie dish’s rim (i.e. no overhang; only the bottom crust will have that). Gently fold the rim of the bottom crust over the lattice strips and crimp decoratively.

To finish:Brush pie with milk, cream or water and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake pie: For about 20 minutes in the preheated oven, until the crust is set and beginning to brown. Reduce oven temperature to 375 and bake pie for another 30 to 40 minutes, until filling is bubbling all over and the crust is a nice golden brown. If the pie lid browns too quickly at any point in the baking process, you can cover it with foil for the remaining baking time to prevent further browning.

Cool pie: For three hours at room temperature before serving. I know you won’t listen to me — there’s hot delicious pie to be eaten, after all — but if you’re concerned about the runniness of the pie filling, keep in mind that the pie filling does not fully thicken until it is fully cool. Pie can be stored at room temperature or in the fridge; from the fridge, it will be even thicker.

Lebanese Style Stuffed Eggplant

Lebanese Style Stuffed Eggplant
Adapted from Smittenkitchen.com

This is the best thing I have made in a long time…. it was delicious!!!!!

This recipe calls for baby bell eggplants, which I could not find.  Instead I used 1 large eggplant, which wasn’t enough for all the stuffing, so I would recommend using 2 large eggplants.

Ingredients:

6 (5- to 6-inch long) bambino (also called Baby Bell) eggplants (about 6 ounces each)
1/2 cup long-grain or jasmine rice
1/4 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons pine nuts
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 cups chicken stock or reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 (14 1/2-oz) can diced tomatoes in juice
3/4 lb ground lamb or beef chuck (not lean)
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 lemon
3 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley

2 ounces feta cheese, crumbled

Hollow out each eggplant with a melon-ball cutter, working from bottom end and leaving about 1/3 inch eggplant flesh along interior walls. Rinse rice in a sieve under cold water until water runs clear. Drain well.

Heat oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Fry pine nuts, stirring frequently, until golden, about 3 minutes, then transfer with a slotted spoon to a bowl. Sauté onion and garlic, stirring occasionally, until golden, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer 1/2 cup onion mixture to bowl with pine nuts. Add stock, tomatoes, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper to skillet and simmer, uncovered, while stuffing eggplant.

Add rice, meat, allspice, feta, one teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper to bowl with onion mixture and mix well with your hands.

Stuff eggplant with meat mixture, being careful not to pack tightly (rice will expand during cooking). Transfer stuffed eggplants to skillet with tomato sauce and simmer, covered, carefully turning once, until rice is cooked through, 50 minutes to one hour (cut one in half to test).

If sauce is watery, transfer eggplant to a plate and boil sauce, stirring occasionally, until thickened slightly, 3 to 5 minutes, then adjust seasoning if necessary. Return stuffed eggplant to sauce. Squeeze lemon over dish and sprinkle with parsley before serving.

Orange and Avocado Salad with Black Olive Vinaigrette

Orange and Avocado Salad with Black Olive Vinaigrette

Adapted from eatingwell.com

8 servings, 1 3/4 cups each | Active Time: 30 minutes | Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

Black olive vinaigrette

• 1 tablespoon red-wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/8 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• Freshly ground pepper, to taste
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup Kalamata olives, pitted and coarsely chopped
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

Salad

• 3 medium navel or Valencia oranges
• 10 cups mixed lettuces, (3 small heads), such as chicory, radicchio and leaf lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces
• 1/2 avocado, diced
• 1/2 cup kalamata olives
• 2 hard boiled eggs, sliced

Preparation

1. To prepare vinaigrette: Whisk vinegar, lemon juice, mustard, garlic, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Slowly whisk in oil. Stir in olives and parsley.
2. To prepare salad: Using a sharp knife, remove peel and white pith from oranges. Quarter the oranges; slice pieces crosswise.
3. Just before serving, combine lettuces, olives, egg, oranges and avocado.  Drizzle the vinaigrette over the salad and toss to coat well.

Nutrition

Per serving : 167 Calories; 10 g Fat; 1 g Sat; 7 g Mono; 0 mg Cholesterol; 19 g Carbohydrates; 4 g Protein; 9 g Fiber; 274 mg Sodium; 958 mg Potassium

Tips & Notes

• Make Ahead Tip: Cover and refrigerate the vinaigrette (Step 1) for up to 2 days. Washed, dried lettuce will keep in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for up to 8 hours.

Margherita Pizza

Margherita Pizza

Pizza dough

4-6 servings (1 pound pizza dough) | Active Time: 20 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons lukewarm water, (105-115°F)
• 1 package active dry yeast, (2 1/4 teaspoons)
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup whole-wheat flour
• 1 cup bread flour, or all-purpose flour, plus additional for dusting
• 2 tablespoons yellow cornmeal

Preparation

1. Stir water, yeast, sugar and salt in a large bowl; let stand until the yeast has dissolved, about 5 minutes. Stir in whole-wheat flour, bread flour (or all-purpose flour) and cornmeal until the dough begins to come together.
2. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. (Alternatively, mix the dough in a food processor. Process until it forms a ball, then process for 1 minute to knead.)
3. Place the dough in an oiled bowl and turn to coat. (To make individual pizzas, see Variation.) Cover with a clean kitchen towel and set aside in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Nutrition

Per pound : 970 Calories; 5 g Fat; 1 g Sat; 1 g Mono; 0 mg Cholesterol; 200 g Carbohydrates; 36 g Protein; 22 g Fiber; 1152 mg Sodium; 782 mg Potassium

Tips & Notes

• Make Ahead Tip: Prepare through Step 3, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 1 day. Or tightly wrap the unrisen dough in oiled plastic wrap and freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost the dough in the refrigerator overnight. Let refrigerated (or previously frozen) dough stand at room temperature for 1 hour before using.

To make pizza:

Ingredients:

• 1 pound pizza dough
• 5 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced
• 1/2 cup pizza sauce
• Handful of fresh basil, cut into chiffonade

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 500 degrees F.
2. Oil a baking sheet.  Roll out dough and place on baking sheet.
3. Top with sauce and cheese.  Bake for 15 minutes.
4. Remove from oven and top with fresh basil.  Let cool for 5 minutes. Slice and serve.

Top dough with sauce, fresh mozzerella cheese and fresh basil

French Cauliflower Soup

French Cauliflower Soup

Adapted from Savour-fare.com

We had a gloomy day here in Portland a few days ago and all I wanted was soup.  I got all the ingredients to make this soup and things got busy and I didn’t get around to making it. The next few days were beautiful and soup was just not in the cards.  Saturday night, I was determined to finally make this but was invited to meet my dear friend and her family for drinks right at dinner time.  After one drink, I was inspired to invited everyone over and throw a little impromptu dinner party.  Luckily I had visited the farmer’s market that morning and had a ton of fresh veggies in the kitchen, plus my garden had a few things ready for harvesting.  So I whipped this up, made a delicious farmer’s market salad with lemon tahini dressing, homemade croutons and fresh herb compound butter.  Good friends, family, and food.

French Cauliflower Soup 

1 T olive oil
1 T butter
2 large yellow onions
2 garlic cloves
3 stalks celery
1 tsp fresh thyme, chopped
12 oz. cauliflower florets
6 c. chicken broth
Salt and Pepper

Finely chop the onions, garlic, celery and thyme.

In a 4 qt. pot or dutch oven, melt the butter and the olive oil together. Add the chopped onions, garlic, celery and thyme, a pinch of salt and a grind of pepper. Stir together to coat the vegetables in the butter, then cover and cook, stirring frequently, over low heat for 20 minutes.

Add the cauliflower and broth to the pot. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat. Simmer for 20 minutes, or until the cauliflower is soft.

Using a blender or immersion blender, puree the soup until smooth. Serve over garnish, with additional pepper.

Makes 6-8 servings

Garnish with homemade croutons, creme fraiche or yogurt and fresh chives.

Herb-Crusted Ling Cod

Herb-Crusted Ling Cod

Finally my garden is flourishing! I picked up some fresh fish from the farmer’s market and flavored it up with an assortment of fresh herbs from my garden.

Adapted from epicurious.com

1 cod filet, or other white fish, cut into +/- 6oz portions 1 c. slivered almonds, finely chopped 1 tsp chopped fresh chives 1 tsp chopped fresh parsley 1 tsp chopped fresh basil 1 tsp fennel fronds (optional) 1/2 tsp each salt and pepper 1 T olive oil Preheat oven to 400. In a shallow pan mix the herbs, salt, pepper and almonds. Rub each piece of fish with olive oil, then pat the herb mixture onto the fish. Once all the fish is coated, lightly sprinkle with a pinch more salt and pepper. Heat a nonstick skillet to medium-high. Add a little butter and a little olive oil to the pan, then add the fish. Cook on one side for 2-3 minutes, until coating is deep golden brown. Turn fish and immediately tranfer pan into the oven. Cook fish for 5 minutes, or until the fish feels slightly resistant to your touch. Remove from oven and serve.

Homemade Granola

Homemade Granola

Total time: 45 minutes

Yields: 6 cups; Serving size: ½ cup

Ingredients:

• 2 cups rolled oats
• ½ cup sliced almonds
• 1 cup unsweetened coconut
• 1 tsp salt
• ¼ cup canola oil
• ½ cup maple syrup
• ¼ cup honey
• ½ cup dried, unsweetened fruit (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F.
2. Spread the oats, almonds and coconut on a baking sheet with sides.  Sprinkle with salt and bake for 12-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the ingredients are lightly toasted but not yet golden.  Transfer the ingredients to a large bowl.

        3.   Increase the oven temperature to 350 degrees F.  Lightly grease the baking sheet with oil.

        4.   Stir the maple syrup, oil and honey together in a small bowl, pour over the oats and coconut and toss evenly to coat.  Spread the granola onto the baking  sheet and bake for 25-30 minutes, until the granola is just crispy and golden brown, stirring several times while baking.  Let the granola cool completely on the baking sheet, breaking up any large clumps while it’s still warm

      5.   When the granola has cooled completely, add the dried fruit (if using) and toss to mix.  In an airtight container, this will keep at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.

Black Eyed Peas with Kale

Ingredients

• 1 pound dried black-eyed peas
• 1 head kale, chopped
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 red onions, peeled and sliced
• 4 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano or Italian seasoning
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 teaspoon coarse sea salt or kosher salt
• 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 2 teaspoons Tabasco or other hot sauce

Procedures

1. The day before you plan to serve this dish, put the peas in a bowl, cover with water by at least 2 inches, and refrigerate. The next day, drain well before using.

2. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 275ºF.

3. Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven  Add the onions, garlic, oregano (or Italian seasoning), and black pepper and cook, stirring, for 8 minutes.  Add the kale and saute until softened, about 5 minutes.  Add the drained peas, bay leaves, salt, and 6 cups water. Bring to a simmer, cover, and transfer to the oven.

   

4. Braise until the peas are tender, at least 1 hour 15 minutes. Stir in the  apple cider vinegar and Tabasco.
   
   Serves: 6
   Adapted from seriouseats.com