Seriously simple, seriously delicious.

One of my Christmas presents this year was a free range chicken(thanks dad!). I want to thank my friend Jules for giving me the recipe for the perfect roasted chicken. It turned out juicy on the inside and crisp on the outside. I think this picture makes it look like some predator ready to jump out of the pan and eat me. Which just makes the meal all the more awesome.
Want to know how I did it?

Roasted Chicken:
- massage the clean chicken with paprika, salt, and olive oil
- stuff something fragrant into the cavity...organic lemon or orange or an onion or shallots or garlic, you get the picture
-cook breast down, in a preheated 400 degree oven 15 min/pound
-the chicken is done when a meat thermometer says so
Seriously simple, seriously delicious.


I made these cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning. I got the recipe here. Be careful, it makes a huge batch of addictive fattening deliciousness. I didn't have maple extract so I topped mine with a cream cheese icing.

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

I love Cajun food. My favorite being boudin, which is ground up pork liver, heart and sometimes head meat plus seasoned rice stuffed into a casing. Oh sausage and your intestinal casing, how I do love you. My grandparents brought it back a couple of times when I was younger. I haven't had it since then but I do keep very found memories of this exotic tasty treat.
While I'm not to excited to work with ground organ meat and intestinal casings, no matter how delicious the results might be, I have been working on perfecting my gumbo. It's a simple and tasty meal that's easy to make and freeze, plus it serves up well at parties.
Making the roux is the hardest part but it's really not as scary as people seem to make it.

Here is my (loose as always) recipe, adapted from this recipe.
A note about okra - sometimes I use it, sometimes I don't. I think it's an authentic addition that helps thicken the gumbo and add nutrients. If you want to use it chop it up and throw in at the end with the thighs and vegetables or sauted with the veges. 3 or 4 large okras will work.

1lb chicken thighs, skin on bone in adds good flavor.... just pick the offensive parts out later :)
1 package andouille sausage cut in pieces ( I use Amy's chicken andouille)
4 cups chicken stock or water
4Tbs butter
4Tbs flour
1 onion chopped
3 or 4 carrots diced
2 or 3 stalks of celery diced
a couple cloves of garlic minced
1 tbl cooking oil
cajun seasoning.... I make my own but you can buy it at Penzey's or the grocery store.
salt

I suggest using a large heavy bottom pan. You can usually make everything in the same pot. Have everything chopped and ready to make before you start. Plus have an extra bowl ready to transfer stuff as you go.

• Heat oil over medium heat and add the chicken thighs, cook till done.
• add the sausage in the last few minutes to warm up.
• Remove and set aside
• Add the onions,garlic,celery,and carrots. saute for about 10 mins.
• Remove and set aside with the thigh/sausages.

• Now you make the roux. I like mine dark so that's how I'll tell you to make it, but do what you will.
• Melt the butter stirring constantly.
• Slowly stir in the flour to the butter. Keep stirring it will be paste like.
• Stir this until the mixture becomes dark, it will look almost burnt. This could take 20 mins or an hour. I've heard it either way. Mine usually takes closer to 20.
• Take off heat and add the broth , continue to stir, yes this is a lot of stirring. It's a work out.
  
• Put back on the heat, add all the ingredients, including about 1-2 tablespoons of cajun spices and some salt. Simmer for as long as you want...20mins to an hour or more. Serve in a bowl with rice.

Good Morning Muffins

Dates, hemp seeds, carrots, lemon zest, oatmeal, oh my!
I threw these together this morning with the help of my assistant.

They turned out so moist and flavorful that I'm going to record the recipe to make again. At least as well as I can remember it. :)

Dry ingredients:
1/2 cup oat
1 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
a lot of cinnamon
salt

Wet:
1 egg
1/2 cup yogurt(blueberry was good)
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tbl maple syrup
1/4 cup hemp seeds
1/4 chopped dates
1/4 raisins
1 banana ripe and mashed
1/4 grated carrot
lemon zest
vanilla

combine....combine.....then combine :) being careful not to over mix dry and wet ingredients
bake for 25 mins in 350 degree preheated oven.

Apple Bread Pudding

I like food porn. I admit it. I love pictures of food, recipes for comfort food and exotic recipes that I'll never make but can imagine eating. I seek out peoples experience eating all sorts of meals and hope to come across some new ingredient.
The other night Joe was out and Sylvia was spending the night at a friends, so it was just Jasper and I. He fell asleep early and I found myself spending the next 3 hours surfing the internet for food blogs. Upon reflection, it was pretty sad, I could have been watching Cartoon Network or finishing my socks.
While I was cruising sites I came across a lot of posts dedicated to bread puddings, which I love. It's custard and bread, two of the best things in the world, all in one place. Of course I bookmarked my favorites so I could make them. Or at least I thought I did.
Who needs a recipe anyway? You do? Okay here is what I did for this delicious Apple Bread Pudding with Caramel Sauce.....a total conglomeration of what I can remember reading on how to make it. Be warned.....this recipe is unnecessarily fattening, but totally worth it.

4 apples peeled and diced
4 cups ciabatta bread cubed
1 1/2 pint heavy whipping cream
1 cup or so milk
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
4 eggs beaten
added with no particular measuring involved(use common sense):
cinnamon
almond extract( a tasty but non necessary addition)
vanilla extract
ginger powder
salt
chopped pecans
molasses
1/4 cup currants soaked in whiskey then drained....the soaking part is probably optional but it then it won't taste like whiskey!


To start, the bread was combined with the pecans,currants and apples in a greased 9x11 or so pan. Then I beat the eggs , sugars, spices and extracts together in a bowl.
I melted the butter over medium low heat in a saucepan than added the cream,milk and molasses while stirring constantly until the molasses melted. I then removed the pan from the heat and slowly added the egg mixture, again making sure to still stir constantly.
The egg mixture was poured over the bread and baked in a preheated oven at 350 for about 45 minutes.

I used this caramel sauce recipe except I substituted brown sugar for white. It all was very rich and delicious!

Zucchini Zucchini Everywhere!!

What to do with all that extra zucchini? Here are two recipes that might make a dent.




Blueberry Zucchini Bread

This first one I made yesterday with help from this recipe. I replaced the last two optional ingredients and added a generous cup of fresh blueberries instead. I poured some into a bread pan and into mini muffin tins. I had Jasper add chocolate chips to the top of the muffins. I added a 1/2 cup of coconut flakes to the rest of the dough and made that into another loaf.





Zucchini Cakes With Basil Garlic Aoili

This is one of my favorite summer time eats. I was introduced to this at a restaurant I worked at. It is simple and delicious. Note: I wing this recipe so what you see below is an approximation.



For the Cakes:

Grate 3 cups of zucchini.... lightly salt, cover with paper towels and set aside in a colander to drain off moisture for an hour or two.

When zucchini is dry combine with :

• 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
• 1 clove of garlic,minced
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup flour, all-purpose
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• salt ( if you didn't use salt early to help zucchini dry)
• pepper, black

Cook these like you would a pancake.....heat a pat or two of butter in a skillet and place 1/4 cup of batter in the pan. Brown and flip. Serve with aioli.

Garlic Basil Aoili

Again, winging it!

Place in a food processor:

• 4-6 fresh basil leaves
• 2 tsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
• salt/pepper
• clove of garlic
• 1 cup mayonnaise

Blend well. Use leftovers on such things as sandwiches and fried potatoes.

Spanakopita

I know I haven't posted in awhile. It's not like I haven't been doing anything! On the contrary I've been way busy. Which is good, but it hasn't translated to anything fun for you to read.
I figured I need to update though, so here is a post on the spanakopita I made tonight. Even though the phyllo dough was hard to work with, it turned out that a little Bob Marley and a lot of 'who gives a shit' and anything is wonderful. :)

Deep Dish Challenge

With the warmer weather and the end of football season comes a disconnecting of cable in our house. I love this time of minimal t.v. I have to admit we are all going to miss the food network channel. Even Jasper.

The other night was a Deep Dish Pizza Throw Down with Bobby Flay. Apparently Joe loves this style of pizza, while I prefer a thin crispy crust with minimal toppings and lots of sauce. By the end of the show though, I was intrigued enough to give it a shot.
It was pretty fun to make. The crust has a much higher fat content than regular pizza, making it more flaky and rich. I put half of the dough into a spring form cake pan and one into my cast iron skillet (thanks to Brandy for helping me bring my skillet back to life). On Joe's I put a layer of mozzarella, a layer of browned graziano's sausage, mushrooms,garlic,onions, then another layer of cheese and finally I put the sauce on. On mine I put mushrooms, raw garlic, a little cheese and a lot of sauce.
After they baked I topped them both with Parmesan cheese as is supposedly the traditional way of serving a deep dish pizza. The end result was an awesome pizza that Joe said was better than any other deep dish he'd had including his favorite at Felix and Oscar's. And that is the reason I cook.

This post is for Leah.

Everyone needs a good dessert recipe for when your short on time and cash. These delicious and simple cookies are my answer to this dilemma. It's a recipe from my youth. And yes it hasn't escaped my notice that they look like something you might find in the backyard or in a diaper. These aren't pretty, but they are pretty tasty.

No Bake Cookies
2 cups of sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
pinch of salt

in a large saucepan bring to boil over med heat stirring frequently
remove from heat stir in

1 tsp vanilla
3 tbls peanut butter
3 cups oatmeal Note: works best with quick cook oats!

drop by the spoonfull onto wax paper and let sit until cool and hard.