Roast Chicken with Herb Butter and Veggies

A while ago, I randomly bought a whole chicken because it was dirt cheap at the Teeter.  I put it in the freezer, where it stayed until a few weeks ago when I decided I wanted to roast it.  I haven't posted about it yet because I've had so much other stuff to post about, but I figured I needed to go ahead and write about it now since its kind of a winter-y recipe and spring is all of a sudden upon us. 

I looked at a whole bunch of recipes and techniques for roasting chickens, and decided to kind of blend a bunch of techniques.  To start with, I made a butter with lemon zest, garlic, and rosemary, and spread it under the skin.  I stuffed the cavity with half an onion, half a lemon, and some rosemary sprigs.  I decided to truss it because so many people said it helps the chicken cook more evenly.

Interestingly enough, I also found out that some people swear by preheating the roasting pan with the oven.  This helps the thighs get a head start, which keeps them from being underdone when the breast is ready to come out.  So, I decided to give it a try, and preheated the pan in a  425 degree oven.  When it was ready, in went the chicken.

The skin was kind of torn, so that pin is kind of holding it in place. My mom taught me this trick.

In the meantime, I got the veggies ready by cutting them all down to about the same size. I decided to go with fennel, carrots, pearl onions, potatoes, and whole garlic cloves.  I lightly tossed them in some EVO, salt, and pepper.

 

After about 20 minutes at 425, I took the chicken out, laid the veggies down (yes, I used a rack), and replaced the chicken. Turned the temperature down to about 375, and added some more butter on top.

I roasted the chicken about another hour ( I can't remember exactly how much time it took).  Don't forget to baste periodically.  I also turned the pan around halfway through the cooking time to make sure it cooked evenly.  When a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh registers 165 degrees, or when the juices run out clear instead of cloudy, the chicken is done. 

Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and let it rest 10 -15 minutes before carving. 

Although the veggies were done, I thought they needed to brown a bit more, so I put them in a Pyrex dish and put them under the broiler for a minute or two.

I made a quick, easy gravy with the pan juices, and sauteed some blanched broccoli rabe with some garlic and lemon juice, and that's it!

 

Culinary School Update: Vegetables, Jelly Rolls, and Potatoes

Okay kids, its that time again. I've been trying to do longer culinary school updates, spaced farther apart so as not to bore you to death.  Do you readers out there think its better that way?  I know you're out there! Based on the comments I've been getting however, I'm beginning to believe that only my mom and my sister read this blog ;)

~

Soooo, onwards.  We're still kinda hooked on veggies in Food Production class.  Two weeks ago, we made a pan-fried eggplant Parmesan.  We used the tomato sauce that we made and immediately froze few weeks ago, which we thawed out and spruced up a bit with some fresh herbs.  This dish was an exercise in the standard breading procedure (flour, eggwash, breadcrumbs).

We also made a vegetable strudel: puff pastry layered with mushroom duxelles, blanched asparagus, toasted pine nuts, and Parmesan cheese.  For the sauce, we made a simple red pepper coulis.

 

The duxelles were really rich so I didn't really want more than a couple bites.  Plus, I like mushrooms, but I don't absolutely love them.  Regardless, I thought the flavor was right on.  This was very filling for a vegetarian dish.

~

Two weeks ago in Bakeshop Production, we made jelly rolls. Although these tasted great, they seemed like such a strange, rather outdated desert to me.  To make them, we baked spongecakes in a sheet pan.  Then, we spread whipped cream on the cake, and lined the whipped cream with cherries, blueberries, and mandarin oranges. The cakes were carefully rolled up, then decorated with buttercream frosting or chocolate ganache. 

chocolate buttercream on the left, chocolate ganache on the right

My ganache covered jelly roll looked kind of like doo-doo because I didnt heat the ganache enough and it got kind of separated.  So don't look at it any more because its ugly :(

Here's a picture of my friend Allie's ganache jelly roll instead:

Allie's ganache turned out smooth and pretty, like it was supposed to.

Here's a cross-section of my buttercream jelly roll:

  See all the fruit? I ate so much whipped cream and frosting during this class. Ech.

That's about it for jelly rolls.

~

This week in Food Production, it was potato day. First, we made Potatoes Duchesse, which is kind of like mashed potatoes that are piped into little mounds and baked.  Again, this seemed like kind of a weird recipe, but they tasted delicious.

 My partner, Mo, and I added some chopped parsley and cream in ours for a little extra flavor.

We also made Rosemary Roasted new potatoes:

I pretty much nibbled on these the whole class.

We made candied sweet potatoes that were roasted and basted with a syrup made from brown sugar and a hint of vanilla.

 

We also made scalloped potatoes, which were delicous, but I kind of forgot to take a picture of them.

~

In baking class this week, we each made a chiffon sponge cake and a walnut genoise cake.  I didn't take pictures, because next class we're going to frost them, so I thought I'd save it for next time.

Crock Pot Pot Roast

 

Comfort-tastic

Right now, everyone seems to be getting snow but us poor Charleston kids.  I've been waiting for a good comfort food type-day to post this recipe, and I think the time has finally come. Plus, my sister is whining for me to post again.  Which I understand, because I get sad when my favorite bloggers (see left sidebar) wait more than a few days between posts.

So, pot roast it is.  This is a great, easy, ridiculously cheap recipe that takes very little effort.  One of my mother's.  To make this, I woke up before working a morning shift, seared the beef, threw it in the crockpot.  9 hours later, voila!

I used a 3-ish pound bottom round roast, but really, you could use any cheap, large, tough cut of beef.  I tend to buy different cuts when they are on sale at the grocery store and freeze them for later.  This roast was like $6 or $7, a serious bargain.  Obviously, you can adjust the recipe to make it the kitchen sink type- that's definitely what I did. So, here is what I ended up using:

Crock Pot Pot Roast

3 to 4 pound cut of beef, such as bottom round roast or chuck roast

flour, for dredging

2 tablespoons canola oil

1 28 oz can diced tomatoes

1 medium onion, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

2 ribs celery, chopped

1/2 cup red wine

2 tablespoons tomato paste
several cloves chopped garlic
3 bay leaves

herbs to taste (I used a good amount of crushed red pepper, dried oregano, and a few sprigs fresh rosemary)

Dredge pot roast with flour and sear in hot oil in heavy frying pan.

Place in crock pot with remaining ingredients. 

Yes, there is actually beef under there!

Cook on low at least 8 hours.  I cooked mine 9, but I don't think it would have hurt to have left it on a couple more hours.  

smells so good!

In the last 15 minutes, remove meat.  Mix 1/2 cup of pot juices with 2 tablespoons cornstarch.  Add to pot.  Cook on high, and stir until thickened.

 

I served this with some delicious rosemary mashed potatoes and some green beans sauteed with bacon.  Don't think I've mentioned this yet, but rosemary is my favorite herb for wintertime.  

~

This made SO many servings! I ate this for like 3 days straight.  Even after all the meat was gone, there was still a ton of hearty, meaty tomato gravy.  So, I decided to serve it on top of some pasta.  Finish with a fresh grating of Parmesan cheese, and you have another meal! 

Leftovers.

Cheap, cheap, cheap. College kids, I'm talking to you! Impress your friends and cook dinner one night.  Everyone will go home happy and stuffed.

Ya'll say hi to the snow for me.

Culinary School Update: Knife Skills & a Delicious Breakfast

Today we went over basic knife skills in Food Production class.  Aren't you proud of me for bringing my camera, charged and ready to go?  The top row is potatoes; from left to right are Brunoise, Julienne, and Batonette (french fry cut).  Bottom row I have carrots, both Brunoise and Julienne, and fine minced garlic.  

I've been trying to work on my knife skills at home for a while now.  I've been small dicing everything I can get away with.  Overall, a pretty easy, fun day at school.

~

Yesterday, I made a rather indulgent breakfast for Brandon and myself: steak and eggs!  I had one lonely New York strip tucked away in the freezer, left over from some steak night dinner, which I tried to Pittsburgh because its Brandon's favorite way to eat steak.  I think I'm slowly mastering the art of Pittsburgh-ing steak, if I may say so myself :)

I made a cheesy potato hash with the Simply Potato pre-shredded stuff (hey, it was a workday people) and some frozen peas (getting down to the nitty-gritty, grocery-wise).  I would have felt guilty if I hadn't incorporated some sort of veggie!  An over-easy egg finishes if off!

A Rare Sunday Morning

The pampered and the pauper

Rare because I usually have to work the dreaded brunch shift.  Indeed, I was scheduled to work a double (as usual), cocktailing tonight.  When I came in though, we had too many servers on and I was asked if I wanted the morning off. Which, of course, I did.

So, what to do?

I visited my favorite coffee shop right down the road, Alchemy Coffee. Got their signature coffee, The Alchemist, which is a mocha sprinkled with a bit of cayenne pepper.  The cayenne adds a nice spicy complexity to the cocoa/coffee flavor.

Picked up a Sunday paper (which I never do) and read the entire thing, front to back. 

Spied on Bam Bam spying on the black kitty outside.

And.. made a big batch of breakfast hash.  I had a leftover baked potato from lunch the other day ( I always bake one extra with this very breakfast in mind) (Mom gets props for teaching me to do this) that I chopped up.  To start, I sauteed the onions and garlic until they softened.  In the meantime, I cooked a couple boneless chicken breasts (one for the hash, and one to have in the fridge for the next random meal) (are you seeing the trend?) and steamed a bunch of broccoli florets.  Add the potatoes to the onions, brown, and add the chicken.  In goes the broccoli, some frozen corn, salt, pepper, chili powder, dried thyme, and it looks like this:

This is one of my dad's favorite breakfasts

Then, cook an egg.

Still trying to perfect this art

 You know what to do next.

Breakfast!

Now that I'm fat and happy, I have to go back in for the night shift. Boo. At least I had a nice morning :)