One Hour Whole Roasted Chicken

 

Ingredients:

•  3 ½ - 4 ½ pound whole chicken, neck removed
  1 lemon, cut in halved
  1 head of garlic, halved
  Few sprigs of thyme, rosemary, parsley, sage
• 5 tablespoons salted butter, melted
• 2 tsp EACH: salt & pepper

Directions: 

1.  Position a rack in the center of the oven & preheat the oven to 425ºF. Place the chicken on a cutting board and pat dry using paper towels. Season the inside of the cavity with ½ teaspoon of salt. Place the lemon halves, garlic head, and herbs inside the cavity. Place the chicken breast-side up in a large cast-iron skillet or an oven-safe frying pan. Sprinkle the chicken with the remaining 1 ½ teaspoon of salt all over.

2.  Melt the butter in the microwave and using a pastry brush, brush half the butter generously all over the chicken, save remaining butter do not discard. Sprinkle with pepper.

3.  Roast chicken for 20 minutes, remove from oven, brush on the remaining butter mixture. Place the chicken back into the oven and continue roasting for 25 minutes. Insert a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh and check to make sure it registers at 165 degrees F. Continue to roast for an additional 10-15 minutes for 4 to 4-1/2 lb chicken. Remove  from the oven and allow for it to rest for 15-30 minutes before carving.

No-Fail Roast Chicken with Lemon & Garlic

 

Ingredients:

3-1/2 to 4 lb chicken
1 lemon
1 head of garlic
1/2 stick of butter or 1/4 cup of olive oil
salt & ground pepper

1.  Arrange a rack in the center of your oven and preheat to 425 degrees.  Cut 1 lemon in half cross-wise and remove visible seeds. 

2.  Cut 1 head of garlic in half cross-wise. 

3.  Melt 1/2 stick of butter in microwave in a small bowl. 

4.  Place whole chicken on a cutting board and pat with paper towels to get as dry as possible. 

5. With chicken breast facing up and legs pointing toward you, use a sharp knife to slice through loose area of skin connecting the leg and breast, making about a 3"-long incision. Continue cutting downward until you hit the joint that connects the thigh to the body, then stop (once you get through the skin, there’s not much there; if you are cutting through flesh, you’re too close to the breast). This exposes the leg joint, making it easy to tell if chicken is cooked. Repeat on second side.

6.  Season surface of the chicken and inside the cavity with salt & pepper. 

7.  Transfer the chicken, breast-side up, into a skillet and arrange lemon and garlic, cut-side down around the chicken. 

8. Drizzle chicken with melted butter and transfer to oven.

9. Roast until chicken is nicely browned and cooked through, checking for doneness after 45 minutes. To check, carefully remove skillet from oven (the handle is hot!), poke a knife into leg joints, and pierce the meat. If juices run clear, the chicken is done. If you see a rosy pink color, it needs more time. Continue to roast, checking every 5 minutes, until juices run clear. 

10. Let chicken rest in skillet at least 15 minutes before carving—this will help the juices in the meat to settle.  Transfer chicken to a platter. Pour all of the buttery pan juices over top of the meat and serve with roasted lemon and garlic alongside. 

Glazy Barbecue Sauce

Use this homemade sauce on your favorite bone-in chicken parts, and on whatever else you plan to grill.  Left-over sauce will keep for 2 weeks in the fridge.

2 tablespoons olive oil
3 garlic cloves, crushed
6 tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
4 teaspoons Sriracha or favorite hot sauce

1.  Heat olive oil in a small saucepan over medium heat.  Cook garlic, turning occasionally, until golden brown - about 4 minutes.  Add tomato paste and cook, stirring constantly and scraping bottom of pan, until slightly darkened - about 3 minutes.  Add maple syrup, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, and Sriracha.  Bring to a boil.

2.  Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until flavors have come together - about 1 minute.

To use:  Prepare a grill for medium-high indirect heat; oil grate.  Season bone-in chicken cuts with salt.  Grill chicken over direct heat, turning every minute until browned on all sides - about 5 minutes.  Move chicken over indirect heat.  Cover, and continue to grill, turning every 5 minutes or so for 18-20 minutes. Baste chicken with barbecue sauce and grill, turning and basting occasionally, until an instant-read thermometer registers 160 for white meat and 165 degrees for dark meat, about 10 minutes longer.

Fresh Mint & Raspberry Ice Cream

 In addition to being delicious and fairly simple to make, the recipe is wonderfully adaptable - substitute your favorite herb/fruit combination.

For the Raspberry Sauce
2 cups fresh raspberries
1 cup sugar
1/2 lemon, juice & zest


Ice Cream Custard Base
1 cup whole milk
2 cups cream
3/4 cup sugar
5 egg yolks

1-2 cups fresh mint leaves, torn


To make the raspberry sauce, combine the raspberries, sugar, and lemon juice and zest in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the berries have burst. Remove from heat and let chill. Strain through a fine mesh sieve to remove the seeds.

To make the custard, warm the milk, sugar, and the cream in a medium saucepan over medium to low heat until brought to a simmer. Remove from heat and add in the mint leaves, then cover for 1 hour to steep the mint. Whisk the egg yolks in a bowl and set aside.

Strain out the mint, then re-heat the mixture to a simmer. Remove pan from heat and gradually whisk the mixture into the egg yolks.  Return the mixture to the pan and place over low heat, stirring constantly until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.  Remove from heat, strain into a bowl and place in an ice bath or in the fridge to chill. 

Once the custard is cool, churn it in a ice cream machine until a “soft-serve” texture is reached.  Transfer the ice cream to a chilled storage container, alternating between adding the ice cream and a swirl of raspberry sauce for a layering effect. 

Braised Chicken Thighs & Greens

A comforting one-pot, stove-top meal, chicken thighs are browned, then simmered with sturdy greens.  Serve with crusty bread to enjoy the brothy braise. 

Ingredients

1-1/2 lbs bone-in chicken thighs
kosher salt & black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup of onions, sliced
2 garlic cloves, sliced
pinch of red pepper flakes
1 to 2 bunches of greens, such as kale or swiss chard, roughly chopped 
1-1/2 cups chicken stock
1/3 cup of green olives, pitted, chopped
2 tablespoons raisins
2 tablespoons parsley, chopped



1. Season chicken thighs well with salt and pepper. In a large heavy-bottomed skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add the chicken thighs, skin-side down, and cook undisturbed until nicely browned, about 5 to 6 minutes. Flip and brown the other side, about 4 to 5 minutes more. Transfer to a plate and set aside.

2. Return the pan to medium-low heat. Add red onion, and cook until it begins to soften, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add garlic and red-pepper flakes and cook for 30 seconds more.

3. Add chopped greens to the pan and stir, tossing to coat. It may seem like a lot of greens, but they will cook down. Add the chicken thighs and any juices that have accumulated back to the pan and lay them on top of the greens. Pour in enough of the chicken stock to come up to the chicken about halfway. Bring the chicken to a gentle simmer. Partly cover and allow the chicken to finish cooking through, about 20 minutes more.

4. Stir in olives and raisins and cook uncovered until they are warmed through, and the raisins are nicely plumped, about 1 minute more. Garnish with parsley and serve.

Old-Fashioned Custard

Serves 4.

Ingredients

2 cups of whole milk
4 egg yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla
1-1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 cup sugar


1.  In a saucepan over medium heat, combine milk and vanilla,  Stir continuously for 5 minutes.  Remove from heat when mixture is hot but not boiling.

2.  Whisk together egg yolks, cornstarch and sugar until well-blended.  Pour egg mixture into hot milk and whisk constantly so eggs don't scramble. 

3.  Return custard mixture to stove over low heat.  Stir 8-10 minutes until custard has thickened.  Do not boil or custard will curdle.  Serve warm or refrigerate 20 minutes and serve cold.

Honey Cake

A wonderful cake for afternoon tea, or for a decadent breakfast slice.

1 cup sugar
1 cup honey
3/4 cup butter, melted 
3 organic eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
3 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tsp baking soda 
1/2 tsp salt
1-1/2 cups strong coffee or tea*


Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. 

In an electric mixer, mix sugar, honey, butter, eggs and vanilla on high speed until thick and smooth.  Mix the dry ingredients in a separate bowl until well combined. 

Fold dry ingredients into wet ingredients and then add hot coffee or tea, mixing very slowly, on lowest speed. 

Pour into two greased, round 9-inch pans, or one 13 x 9 inch pan, and bake for 40 -45 minutes.  Let stand for 10 minutes.  

*Substitute orange juice if you prefer a more citrus-flavored honey cake.