Family dinner adventures

Last Tuesday was a very productive evening--cooking-wise.  The parents had a "date night" at home, with cheese fondue and homemade bread.  Dad and sis worked on that and the final result was a wonderful loaf of bread: Crackly crust and airy interior.  Mom made spiced nuts for a snack.  Quite tasty--they had sugar, salt, a bunch of spices, and some dried fruit.  It was more of a savory snack, and not as sweet as it might sound.  A slight kick of spice, too.

The addictive nuts on the left and the beautiful loaf of bread on the right.

Since the parents were having their own meal, I made dinner separately for the sibs and I.  It was a simple pasta dish with spinach, roasted red peppers, canned artichokes, and parmesan.  I sauteed 2 cloves of garlic in a little olive oil then added the spinach.  After that cooked down I added the thinly sliced pepprs and diced artichokes to the mix.  I added a little chicken broth, let that and the veggie juices cook down, then seasoned to taste.  In the meantime, I got a pot of water boiling and cooked approximately 8 ounces of pasta.  I drained that and added it to the veggie mix.  Dinner time! 

It was fairly easy, but I still need to work on my proportions.  I forget that I have a lot of pasta and that there really aren't as many veggies as it seems!  Still, it was tasty and there weren't any leftovers.  :)

Grilled Chicken Tacos Alambres

The weather was rather warm Saturday, so I spent the afternoon with a friend eating a picnic lunch, going out for coffee, and browsing through Fresh Market.  More on the latter part, but basically we decided to photograph certain ingredients we hadn't eaten/cooked before, and I would research the ingredient and find a recipe.  But like I said, more on that to come.

After the day's excursion I made dinner.  I hadn't planned on cooking but I'd started the prep work and somehow ended up actually cooking dinner (Mom was quite okay with that! haha). 

Anyway, I made Grilled Chicken Tacos Alambres from the Fine Cooking Magazine (surprise, surprise!) issue 64 page 69. 

A few modifications:  First, I didn't use a whole cup of vegetable oil for the marinade.  Instead, I only mixed a couple of tablespoons of olive oil.  I also didn't use the guacamole, pico de gallo, or tomatillo salsa they called for, so to keep things simple.  The recipe called for oazaca cheese, but we didn't have any, so a little cheddar sprinkled on top tasted just as good.  :)  

The beautiful cilantro!





End result

And finally, everyone agreed the dish could have used a little less lime juice but more chile powder.  Overall, a big hit.  :)

Friday = Pizza and movie night

For the past month or so, we've had a weekly pizza and movie night.  As my mom jokingly puts it, we "eat the movie and watch the pizza."  Some of my favorite recent movies include "The Bachelor and the Bobbysoxer" and "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House," both starring Cary Grant.  I also enjoyed the original version of "The Shaggy Dog" and the classic "Lawrence of Arabia." 

Anyways, we rarely order pizza out, preferring to make it ourselves.  Mom and/or Dad make the crust, I make the pizza sauce, and my sibs help with grating cheese or slicing toppings.  It can be quite a production sometimes!  ;)

For the pizza sauce, one 28-oz. can of diced or crushed tomatoes is more than enough for 2 large pizzas.  Here's how I generally make the sauce:

Heat a pot on medium-high on the stove.  When it's hot, add about 2 tablespoons of olive oil and sautee either 2 cloves of garlic or 1 small, finely chopped shallot.  Then add about 2 teaspoons of basil, oregano, and/or thyme, and one pinch of red pepper flakes.  Add one can of diced/crushed tomatoes and bring to simmer.  Cover partially and cook for about 10 minutes.  Taste and season with salt, pepper, and sugar as needed.  Remove from heat and let cool.  Voila!

Very simple recipe.  I like it because it's fairly quick and there are boundless variations.  Plus, if there's any leftover sauce, we freeze it.  Awesome for those nights we don't feel like making sauce. 

(bad picture, I know, but the lighting was poor and this was best pic of the bunch)

Dinner

This Sunday I made dinner for the sibs.  A pretty basic menu--roasted chicken, spinach, and rice.  Oh and my famous molasses cookies (recipe to follow). 

For the chicken breasts, I seasoned both sides with salt and pepper and browned them in a cast iron skillet at medium high with a little olive oil for approximately 4 minutes per side.  Then I put the entire skillet in a 350 degree oven for about 40 minutes.  Maybe a little long, yes, but I'm not about to eat undercooked chicken.  I topped it with a simple compound butter composed of butter (real surprise, right?), lemon zest, olive oil, salt, garlic, and rosemary. Voila.  Pretty simple and very flavorful.  I smeared some of the butter on the chicken about 10 minutes before it finished cooking, and then added more right before serving. 

World-Famous Roast Chicken

Okay, so maybe it isn't "world famous," but everyone I know loves it. 

Ingredients:

*One 3-4 lbs. whole chicken, rinsed, patted dry and innards removed

*about 1/4 cup of kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

*about 1/4 cup of olive oil

*chicken broth or water

*a couple tablespoons of butter

What to do: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Put the chicken in a large roasting pan (using a rack is optional; I usually use it though). Brush olive oil all over the outside and inside of the chicken. Then smear the salt and pepper mixture all over. Annnd into the oven for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours (until the juice runs clear)!

About halfway through cooking, watch for chicken bits smoking in the bottom of the pan. Add some water or chicken broth (~1/2 a cup).

During the last 20 minutes of cooking, melt the butter and brush it onto the upper half of the chicken and baste a couple of times. This will give it a yummy, crispy skin.

 

My dad taught me how to roast a chicken all by myself when I was 12, and this recipe hasn't changed much.  I like it because the prep work is fairly quick, and I can just throw it in the oven and forget about it until the last half hour of cooking.  Some variations include stuffing the bird with garlic and fresh herbs.