Roast Chicken

Roast Chicken is becoming one of my favorite recipes. Which in turn means my husband is getting tired of it. But I'm cooking so I'm making roast chicken! I like it because you can make it a variety of ways - "garlic and onion" or "citrus" or "parsley and lemon" or tonight's "rosemary and sage." It's the same basic recipe: Butter, salt and pepper, whatever flavoring you decided on, and then stick all the leftovers inside the cavity. Bake at 350 for 20 mins per pound. I usually just get a 4 lb. chicken so it's just an hour.



I am trying to time this right. I just got back from the park around 4:30 and "rested" for about an hour. (Rest means Internet surfing while I nurse Gabi.) Shane said he'd be home at 6:30 so now that it's almost 5:30 I am feeling hurried. Normally it wouldn't matter but we are going to try to go to Lowes after dinner so I don't want to have to wait around.



I should have at least 10 minutes while the oven is preheating, so I figure I should have the chicken prepped by then. I start chopping the rosemary. Or rather, attempting to chop it. I have very dull knives. Just as I'm cursing my knife, I remember Shane bought me an electric knife sharpener for Christmas! Isn't he sweet? He told me, "I was tired of hearing you complain about your dull knives every night!" Ah, le amore.



So, I get the item out of the box and plug it in, but I don't see any instructions. I wonder, "Is it so easy it doesn't need instructions?" I look at the item. There are four slots. There is a picture on the back of the box that says "Two-stage sharpening system" and shows the knife going through two slots. Since there are four slots, I assume that is for sharpening two knives. I guide my knife through the first slot, then the second. It sounds like a chainsaw. I hope I don't wake up Gabi. I go back to my rosemary, and it does seem to chop a lot easier. Hooray!



I push the chopped rosemary to a corner of the (plastic) cutting board and get out my chicken. I forget I need to rinse it so I put the package on the cutting board. Olivia comes into the kitchen.

"Can I have some apple juish?" she asks, as she opens the fridge.

I tell her she needs to pronounce it "juice" or else she can't have any. After struggling to cut the plastic off the chicken, liquid goes everywhere. Luckily, the rosemary is still in tact. I swing the chicken to the sink to rinse it off, leaving a trail of liquid across the kitchen.

"What is that? That looks yuck!" Olivia says as she's watching me.

"It's chicken," I respond.

She tells me she doesn't like chicken and runs away. I rinse the chicken, put it in the roasting pan and clean up.

I'm finally ready to start prepping the chicken as the oven dings, telling me it's preheated. I grab a glob of softened butter with one hand, simultaneously drying the chicken with a paper towel with the other hand. (I have learned that buttering a wet chicken does not work.) I smother the chicken with butter and then with the rosemary. I want to add salt, pepper, and dry sage but I need clean hands to touch the containers. I go the sink to wash but the water is cold and instead of rinsing off the butter, I am coating my hands with butter and herbs. I wonder if this is moisturizing or wrinkle reducing. I'll have to look later. I am able to pump some soap before it slips away from me and now I have soapy buttery hands. This is getting annoying. Hot water works to wash or melt off the butter. Success! I happily apply the rest of the ingredients and stick it in the oven.

While it cooks I make some mashed potatoes and microwave some broccoli and cheese. As I get out the pot for the potatoes, I find the instructions to the electric sharpener. (No idea how it got in there, but whatever.) It turns out, stage one uses the first two slots and stage two uses the last two slots. Not bad, I just missed the "fine-honing." Then I read, "Before using knife to slice food, always wipe with a damp cloth to remove any metal filings that may remain from the sharpening process." Oops. I have a vision of my family choking on metal shards, but in reality it should be okay.

Shane gets home right at 6:30 but another thirty minutes is needed to finish roasting. He's too tired to go to Lowes now anyway. The chicken turned out great (according to me) and there were no trips the hospital for metal poisoning. Olivia did not eat any chicken. Oh well, I'm sure we'll have it again next week, so she can try it then.

Christmas Eve

I am still trying to find a great Christmas Eve tradition for our girls. When I was growing up, after the stores would close and just before dark, we'd get dressed in our best outfits, (my Christmas dress was always picked out well in advance) then we'd visit our family. Luckily, all of my family lived in the same city.

We'd first visit with my mom's side of the family and we'd munch on a cheese ball, and sausage or ham and crackers. I'd play Santa's Elf and hand out the gifts and boss everyone around and feel like the star of a show. We'd take turns opening each present one by one and laughing and making comments on each other's gifts. Christmas Eve was also my grandmother's birthday, so we'd have birthday cake too.

Then, close to 10 pm, we'd head over to my dad's side of the family. My dad has 10 brothers and sisters. Most all of them make it Christmas Eve. And they all have kids. It's quite a fiesta. My dad's side of the family is Mexican and my grandmother makes the best tamales I've ever had. She makes them every Christmas. We'd say the rosary, and eat and visit and sing a song to welcome Jesus. At the stroke of midnight, we'd give kisses and hugs and wish each other Merry Christmas and open our gifts. (My aunt plays Santa's Elf.) It was so crazy and so fun. Then we'd all play with our new toys until about 2 am.

Actually, that was my Christmas tradition all the way up until we moved away. Even the first year we were married, we kept the same routine. We visited with Shane's family Christmas Day. Then he joined the Air Force and we moved to Mississippi. There we had our first little girl and although her first Christmas was in TX continuing my tradition, we wanted our children to have their own traditions. We wanted them to wake up in their own beds, not in a hotel room, with Santa having visited their home.

However, besides going to church Christmas Eve, we haven't quite set any traditions. This year, I was going to do a make-ahead dinner and we were going to go to mass and come home and eat. I was going to attempt "Veal Loin stuffed with Goat Cheese and Roasted Peppers" from Paula Deen. I thought the red and white would look festive. I told Shane it was "Veal Stuffed with Cheese and Peppers" because I don't think he would be thrilled to try goat cheese. I've had it on a steak before and really enjoyed it so I think he would too. But I've come to learn if I want him to try new things, it's best not to tell him what it is.

Christmas Eve day was spent shopping - for ourselves - using any Christmas money we'd received. The girls were good sports but were getting tired and cranky so I didn't have time to go to the store for the ingredients. We definitely needed a break if we wanted good girls at church that night. So, while they napped, I made enchiladas from a box. (That really made me miss my grandmother's tamales. But it felt nice eating Mexican food.) We woke the girls up for dinner and Olivia would have nothing to do with it, but Juliana scarfed it down. Gabriella is still on baby food. I made Olivia a cheese sandwich, and then made another for Juli so they wouldn't fight over it. For the most part, the girls were angels throughout the service. Juliana finished her nap on Daddy and Olivia did eat half of her cheese sandwich. She mutilated the other half with water and her fingers until it was soggy mush that I had to wrap in a paper towel. Gabi is content as long as she held, so she is held all of the time.

We got home and bathed the children and put them to bed. We told them they better stay in their room if they wanted Santa to come, so for once, they didn't come out. Shane and I wrapped their presents, which we kept saying we were going to do every night that week. He had beer, I had wine, and it was a Silent Night - the best kind of night around here.

I don't know if this will be our Christmas Eve tradition every year, but I realized it's not important. It doesn't matter what we do, or who we do it with. For now, the best part of Christmas is being together as a family.

Ghosts of Dinners Past

Tonight we are going to "Nights of Wonder" at Saluda Shoals, which has Christmas lights and crafts and hayrides, so we'll be eating out for dinner along the way. So today, I thought I'd share some past blunders in the kitchen so you can learn from my mistakes.

1) Make sure you keep foil stocked in your kitchen.

Cover your lasagna/enchiladas/other cheese-topped dishes with foil. One time, when making lasagna, I ran out of foil. I thought, "oh well, it's probably not that important," and of course ended up with a dry, burned topping. Turns out, it is that important.



2) It's okay to make chocolate chip cookies with white sugar.

Once when making chocolate chip cookies, I ran out of brown sugar. I had only a portion of what the recipe called for so I substituted with more white sugar. Turns out, they tasted great! They looked white, like sugar cookies with chocolate chips. And they tasted, well, like sugar cookies with chocolate chips. Although next time I made them correctly with brown sugar.



3) Don't try out a new recipe on Christmas Day.

Last year, I had such a great feast planned. I was going to make some sort of beef roast, stuffing, and homemade rosemary bread - for the first time. I had never made bread or seen anyone make bread or anything close to it. I had all my ingredients (for once) and I got up early to start the bread-making.

The first step is to activate the yeast. For only a dollar, I got 3 packets of yeast. (Luckily!) The package says you have to pour warm water to activate yeast. I believe it was like 110-120 degrees. It says if you have it too hot, you will kill the yeast cultures. I definately didn't want to do that. So I microwave some water and it feels warm but not too hot. I pour into yeast powder and...nothing. Try heating up a few more seconds and...nothing. Now I'm worried I overheated it so I get a new packet. Repeat same process and still nothing. I'm on my last packet. This time I grab my children's thermometer, which really shouldn't reach 110-120 degrees (that would be real trouble!). I had only been microwaving my water for about 15 seconds but turns out it took about a minute for the water to pass 110 degrees. So I was way off. Luckily, the third packet bubbled like it was supposed to and I could get on with my bread.



I start kneading and adding flour, and my husband comes in with the girls saying "Merry Christmas" ready to open presents?

I say, "No, I'm kneading. I have to knead for 8 minutes."

He says "But you've had an hour!"

I say, "Well, I couldn't get the yeast to work and now I have to knead for 8 minutes."

He says, "What is more important, Christmas or bread?"

I say, "I ONLY NEED EIGHT MINUTES!" and burst into tears.

My husband takes the girls back into the bedroom to wait for me.



I continue kneading and crying and now it's not looking at all like dough. It's way too sticky. I re-read the recipe and it had said something like "add 1/4 cup flour at a time" and I had missed the "at a time" part so I had nowhere near the flour I was supposed to be using. So I add lots more flour and finally it started to look like dough. About half an hour after I booted my family out of our kitchen, I put the dough in a bowl and covered it to let it rise. I went back to our bedroom and said "Okay, it's time for Christmas!" Take Two.



We had a lovely morning and the bread turned out great and the rest of the day went smoothly and whole meal was enjoyable. MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Smoked Gouda Macaroni and Cheese: Attempt #2

I am just realizing this is my second mac and cheese of the day. Oh well. This is grown up. I've made this once before and it did not come out right. I thought I'd try again because it's one of my husband's favorites when we go out to eat and he's had a rough day. I'll post the recipe first then walk you through what I did....

Recipe Summary:
Smoked Gouda Cheese Macaroni
Recipe from Everyday Is A Party Cookbook, by Emeril Lagasse, with Marcelle Bienvenu and Felicia Willett, published by William Morrow, 1999
Ingredients
6 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 pound ditalini or small elbow macaroni
2 tablespoons plus 1/2 teaspoon unsalted butter
2 tablespoons bleached all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups milk
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
1/4 pound smoked Gouda cheese, grated
Parsley
Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Put the water, 1/2 teaspoon of the salt, and the oil in a large, heavy saucepan over high heat and bring to a boil. Add the macaroni and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 8 minutes. In a small, heavy saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter over medium heat. Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Slowly add the milk, whisking constantly. Add the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and the white pepper and continue whisking until the sauce is smooth and thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon, about 8 minutes. Remove the white sauce from the heat and stir in the cheese. Continue stirring until the cheese melts. Lightly grease a 6 1/2 by 10-inch casserole dish with the remaining 1/2 teaspoon butter. Combine the cheese sauce and macaroni in a large mixing bowl and mix well. Pour into the prepared casserole and bake until lightly golden on top, about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve hot. Garnish with parsley.

The restaurant we get this from uses penne so I am using penne. I am also using only 1/2 pound because last time I felt it wasn't cheesy enough, and it's easier (and cheaper) for me to use less pasta then to add more cheese sauce. It's only 5pm and I have a few hours but Gabi is sleeping now, so I'm cooking now. I shoo everyone else out the kitchen and luckily TV occupies them.

So, I get out my ingredients. I had cooked a pound of penne a few days ago and kept in my fridge so I don't have to cook pasta. Yay! I start grating the cheese and just when my arms start hurting, I'm done. The restaurant also has what I think is pancetta in their mac and cheese but I have not found that any where so I'm using bacon. I didn't add it last time and missed it. I've actually never cooked bacon before, so I stick it on a hot pan and start making the sauce. Here's where I messed up last time. I melt the butter and add flour like they say in the recipe, and I add the milk slowly but I cannot get the sauce to thicken. It's thicker than milk, but not at all like sauce. I am having deja vu. The bacon keeps spitting at my face while I hover over my saucepan. Last time, I thought, "maybe it's supposed to be this way" and added the cheese but this time I am going to get the white sauce (a.k.a. bechamel sauce) right! I get another small pot going with another tbs each of butter and flour, repeating the process and I just add some of the milky sauce I have to the smaller pot and when that is thick I add it back to the original saucepan. Now it looks like sauce! So I remove from heat and add cheese. I add my cooked pasta and chopped up bacon and think it looks cheesier than last time. I add bread crumbs for some extra dazzle. After 20 mins, it's not golden brown. After 25 mins, it's not golden brown but I'm afraid I'll burn it. It cools and I try it. Disappointment! Still not cheesy enough. I now think I just have to add more cheese. (Makes sense, yes?) It's good enough for tonight, but I will have to try again to master this recipe! Feel free to post any tips!

Chef Olivia

This afternoon for lunch, I let Olivia (3.5) and Juliana (almost 2) help me make mac & cheese. As I started boiling the water, they dragged the barstools over so they could reach the counter. Olivia poured the milk into the cheese powder and they took turns stirring until the pasta was ready. Then I added the pasta and butter and some peas and carrots (so I could fool myself into thinking I was serving them something healthy).

So, Olivia must have really enjoyed that because while I'm on the phone trying to track down a missing Christmas package, I notice her busy with her toy pots and pans. While on hold, I hear her explaining her steps to Gabriella (7.5 months), "now we stir..." and she's running back and forth from the kitchen. I ask how she's doing and she says "I'm Chef Olivia, and this is Chef Gabi!"

After my phone call, I notice she's now using my 10" skillet and inside are grape tomatoes, water and sliced cheese. And she's stirring with my whisk. I fuss at her for wasting actual food and tell her to use pretend food only. She replies, "But I'm making my delicious blueberry pie!" So, of course, I have no other choice but to laugh and let her play.

Needless to say, there is now a 10" skillet in my fridge "to cook" filled with water, sliced cheese and tomatoes which we will call delicious blueberry pie. But I'm not trying it!! = )

Pot Roast

Last night for dinner, I made Pot Roast. Well, technically, yesterday at noon. It's a crock-pot meal. This is truly the easiest recipe on earth and I got it from my lovely mother-in-law. (She is great.) While I can't tell you what cut of meat makes the best roast, I can tell you the word "roast" is in the title. Sirloin, Bottom, Round, Top, who knows, I just buy what's on sale. Then buy a jar or two of brown gravy, depending on how big your roast is. I usually get the smallest I can find since I'm just making it for 2 adults and only need one jar of gravy. Then buy potatoes and veggies - I like carrots and green beans, some also like onions. Frozen bag of mixed veggies works too. At home, season the meat with salt and pepper. If you have time and energy, sear the meat in a pan on med-hi until brown on all sides to "lock-in flavor" (Food Network Tip). Yesterday I had neither time nor energy and the thought of getting another pan dirty was not worth it. There is not a huge difference in taste. So then, I take out the potatoes. At the store, I knew I had just bought a 5-lb bag of potatoes last week so I didn't get any. You may know where this is going. The potatoes were sprouting! Well, I cannot run to the store (when you have three little ones, there's no such thing as "running to the store" - it's a major trip not matter what) and I cannot make anything else for dinner because if I didn't make the roast last night, it would go bad. So I cut off the sprouts and peeled the skins and cut off any brownish bits. They smelled okay, so I tossed them in the pot and covered everything with the gravy. I set the crock pot on low and 5 hours later I added the frozen mixed veggies and a couple of hours later we ate! (7pm) The meat was tougher than I wanted, but it was edible and that's my main goal. The girls ate leftover fettucine alfredo. Usually I will serve them the potatoes and veggies but last night I figured I'd give them a break.

Recipe Summary:
1 Beef Roast (small)
1 Jar of Brown Gravy
6 Medium Potatoes (any kind)
1 bag frozen mixed veggies

Season beef with salt and pepper. Sear on all sides. Put in crock pot. Cut potatoes into cubes, add to crock pot. Cover with gravy. Set on low, about 5-6hrs for small roast. A hour before eating, add frozen veggies. (If using raw veggies, add with potatoes.)

Lessons Learned:
1. Before going to the store, check the ingredients you have on hand so you don't buy what you already have and you buy fresh ingredients if what you have is bad.
2. If you have to use sprouted potatoes, cut off the bad bits and they might be ok. (but if you get sick, don't blame me!)

I Created a Blog

I started this blog after reading several good cooking blogs by people that had experience or family recipes or great ideas. I have none of those things, but I am trying to learn. I am sure I am not the only one who had never heard the word "roux" when trying to make beef stew or ran out of ingredients and thought, "well, I'm sure it's not that important" or planned my evening around the allotted "30-minutes to prep" when takes over an hour in real life, including interruptions and the inability to chop as quickly as they do on TV.

Dinner can be messy. Dinner can be comical. Dinner can be a work in progress. It's Okay!

My family is forced to eat whatever I serve, for better or for worse. = )