Another Chicken Dinner

Note: I don't know what is going on with some of the fonts and font sizes in this post - I can't fix them!

A lovely dinner for 4 or fewer: Lemon Chicken with Croutons, Spinach in Puff Pastry, and Plum Cake Tatin. All three recipes are from Ina Garten's book Barefoot in Paris. I can pick up any of her books and make a million combinations for an awesome meal.

This is a very complete meal, with the bread in the chicken dish and the vegetable as either the first course or the side dish. You can add any extra vegetables or potatoes in with the chicken to roast; I added quartered button mushrooms. If I'd had carrots I definitely would have tossed them in too.
Next time I make this - and I most definitely will - I'll not put all the croutons on the platter under the chicken with all the juices like the recipe instructs. I'll put some around the chicken, whole or cut into pieces, on the platter, and try not to let them get completely soaked because they end up very quickly (big surprise:) just soggy. The best part of having croutons is the crunch! I might make a gravy out of the juices too, or reduce it a little, or add a squeeze of fresh lemon to the juices right before pouring them over the chicken next time. But without taking those extra steps it was still really great! Lemon zest over top on the plate was a perfect final touch for me because I love lots of lemon flavor with chicken.
A perfect bite! Chicken, mushroom, caramelized onion, crouton, with pepper and lemon zest:
Lemon Chicken with Croutons
Ina Garten, Barefoot in Paris

• 1 (4 to 5-pound) roasting chicken
• 1 large yellow onion, sliced
• Good olive oil
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 2 lemons, quartered
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 6 cups (3/4-inch) bread cubes (1 baguette or round boule)
• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Take the giblets out of the chicken and wash it inside and out. Remove any excess fat and leftover pinfeathers. Toss the onion with a little olive oil in a small roasting pan. Place the chicken on top and sprinkle the inside of the cavity with salt and pepper. Place the lemons inside the chicken. Pat the outside of the chicken dry with paper towels, brush it with the melted butter, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Tie the legs together with kitchen string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the chicken.

Roast for 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours, or until the juices run clear when you cut between the leg and the thigh. Cover with foil and allow to sit at room temperature for 15 minutes. (The onions may burn, but the flavor is good.)

Meanwhile, heat a large saute pan with 2 tablespoons of olive oil until very hot. Lower the heat to medium-low and saute the bread cubes, tossing frequently, until nicely browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Add more olive oil, as needed, and sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Place the croutons on a serving platter. Slice the chicken and place it, plus all the pan juices, over the croutons. Sprinkle with salt and serve warm.

I made a lot of tiny changes to this spinach in puff pastry recipe, so I'll note them within the recipe below.

Spinach in Puff Pastry
Ina Garten, Barefoot in Paris

• 4 T. (half a stick) unsalted butter
  
• 2 cups chopped onions (about 2 onions)
• 1 T. chopped garlic (3 cloves)
• 2 - 10 ounce - boxes frozen chopped spinach, defrosted
  
• 1/3 cup chopped scallions (2 scallions)
• 1 cup grated Gruyere cheese (I used small cubes of Swiss - flavor is perfect and it's cheaper!)
• 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese
• 4 extra-large eggs, beaten (I only had 2 large eggs to use, and it turned out just fine. More eggs would have made the filling firmer, but I didn't mind because I was serving this on a plate with a fork anyway.)
  
• 1 T. dry bread crumbs, plain or seasoned
• 2 t. kosher salt (do use this full amount - it seemed like a lot to me so I didn't, but then it needed to be salted later)
  
• 3/4 t. pepper
• 1/2 t. ground nutmeg (I left this out)
  
• 1/4 cup toasted pignoli (pine) nuts (Left these out too)
• 2 sheets (one box) frozen puff pastry, defrosted overnight in the refrigerator (Without fail I forget to do this or don't plan ahead. Leave the frozen puff pastry on the counter near a hot stove for a little while and it will be fine. Just make sure it doesn't get too warm or it will get sticky.)
  
• 1 extra-large egg beaten with 1 T. water, for egg wash (so I ran out of eggs, right? So I used melted butter in place of egg wash, no problemo.)
  

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Heat the butter in a saute pan and cook the onions over med-low heat for 5 to 7 minutes, until tender. Add garlic and cook for one more minute. Meanwhile, squeeze most of the water out of the spinach and place it in a bowl. Add the onions and garlic, scallions, both cheeses, eggs, bread crumbs, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and pignolis. Mix well.

Unfold one sheet of puff pastry and place it on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Spread the spinach mixture in the middle of the pastry, leaving a one inch border. Brush the border with egg wash. Roll out the second piece of puff pastry on a floured board until it's an inch larger in each direction. Place the second sheet of pastry over the spinach and seal the edges, crimping them with a fork. Brush the top with egg wash but don't let it drip down the sides or the pastry won't rise. (At this point I used a sharp knife and trimmed all four sides.) Make three small slits in the pastry top, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and bake for 30-40 minutes, until the pastry is lightly browned. Transfer to a cutting board and serve hot.

And, dessert! Hot, sweet, fruity, cakey, delicious! There are some interesting steps to this dish, but it's fun to make and can be made mostly ahead of time and then baked while you're eating dinner. I thought it looked so cool too, like an upside down cake. The red color is from the plums alone, darkened from the caramel. Andrew, my 2 year old, called it "jelly cake" because it did look like red jelly.

The intimidating part of this recipe is the sugar syrup. You have to cook water and sugar in a saucepan over high heat until it turns "a warm amber color, about 360 degrees." I think that a digital thermometer is an ESSENTIAL piece of kitchen equipment, but if you don't have one, still do make this recipe!! Cook the syrup until it turns brown - take it a little farther than you're probably comfortable with, but keep a close eye on it the entire time it's on the heat because it will burn fast once it's beyond it's perfect stage. However the syrup looks, because you will be skeptical, just continue with the recipe and it will turn out just fine.

Plum Cake Tatin
Ina Garten, Barefoot in Paris

nocoupons

• 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus extra for greasing the dish
• 10 to 12 purple "prune" plums, cut in half and pitted (I just chose the purple ones over the orange/purple ones; they weren't labeled "prune." It took 5 and a half of them.)
  
• 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar, divided
• 2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature (I used large because that's what I had.)
  
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• Confectioners' sugar (optional - I think unnecessary)
  

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Generously butter a 9-inch glass pie dish and arrange the plums in the dish, cut side down.

Combine 1 cup of the granulated sugar and 1/3 cup water in a small saucepan and cook over high heat until it turns a warm amber color, about 360 degrees F on a candy thermometer. Swirl the pan but don't stir. Pour evenly over the plums.

Meanwhile, cream the 6 tablespoons of butter and the remaining 3/4 cup of granulated sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, until light and fluffy. Lower the speed and beat in the eggs one at a time. Add the sour cream, zest, and vanilla and mix until combined. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt and, with the mixer on low speed, add it to the butter mixture. Mix only until combined.

Pour the cake batter evenly over the plums and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes, then invert the cake onto a flat plate. If a plum sticks, ease it out and replace it in the design on top of the cake. Serve warm or at room temperature, dusted with confectioners' sugar.

Mediterranean Pasta in Minutes

Over the holidays, I took a semi-cookcation and didn't do much cooking at all. I had made so many cookies, as you know... so I was ready for the break and more than willing to let my momma feed me! OOhhh baby you should have been there for her shrimp and grits too man, WOW.

But back at home I've been messing up my kitchen every day as usual. I became a huge fan of kalamata olives recently, and wanted to use them in a recipe, so I started searching and found the perfect one. This dish has many of my very favorite things: pasta, feta, artichokes, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, cream, chicken, and oregano! All these things would make my "top 25 favorite foods" list for sure (hey maybe I should write that list...). Plus I'm likely to have most of these things already at home, which is always nice.

I found this recipe on foodtv.com, and it's been up for a few years and has hundreds of reviews and 5 stars. Also a good sign. I rely the reviews for tips, such as to reduce the amount of pasta and/or up the cream to make a nice sauce. I did both and found it to be necessary, as there is no sauce in your bowl because it's all soaked up by the pasta and chicken. These are strong flavors, so if I made this for company I'd probably leave out the chicken and serve it as a warm pasta side dish.

I didn't use the basil, which is yet another very strong flavor, but I think it would be good if you have it on hand. Rather than wasting the olive oil that the sun-dried tomatoes are packed it, I put some of it in at the end and it really made it good. Oh, and the jar of sun-dried tomatoes we got was 7oz, rather than 8 1/2, which of course is just fine (esp because they're not cheap). I also modified the recipe to use a block of feta and chop it into large chunks instead of pre-crumbled feta. I love getting a nice bite of it, but not having a little in every bite, sort of like it's cool to have the whole olives.
Mediterranean Pasta in Minutes
adapted from Tyler Florence's recipe

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 pound skinless boneless chicken breasts, sliced diagonally (omit to use as a side dish)
  
• 1 (8 1/2-ounce) jar sun-dried tomatoes, julienned (reserve oil)
• 2 tablespoons (at least!) garlic, minced
  
• 3/4 to 1 pound fresh angel hair pasta
• 1/4 cup fresh basil (optional)
  
• 1 (8 1/2-ounce) can artichoke hearts in water, quartered and drained (1 cup)
• 1/2 cup kalamata olives, pitted (1/4 pound)
• 6 ounce block feta cheese, diced
  
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Boil water for pasta in a pasta pot, fitted with a strainer. Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Brown chicken strips until no longer pink -- about 3 minutes each side. Add sun-dried tomatoes and garlic to skillet. Saute for 2 minutes. In the meantime, add the fresh pasta to boiling water, cook until al dente, about 5 minutes.

Now add the basil, artichoke hearts, olives and feta cheese to the skillet. Saute 1 minute then stir in the cream. Strain the pasta and transfer to a large pasta bowl; add the chicken saute to the pasta and toss (or add the pasta to the skillet to combine). Season with oregano, salt, pepper, and a drizzle of the sun-dried tomato oil before serving.

This is just before adding the cream.

Roasted Chicken and Roasted Garlic

Winner winner chicken dinner!!!!!!!! This was dinner the day I made the Challah. (I know that this was a long time ago, but I'm trying to catch up on my posting here...)
Roasted chicken with gravy, roasted garlic, and broccoli (yes, roasted). Me like roasting.

This was the wine of choice for this dinner, and I'm mentioning it because it was absolutely splendid! I pair food and wine so generally (meat = red wine, chicken = white), but a lot of the time I just go for any wine I'm in the mood for, regardless of the food. On this occasion the pairing was spot on and all flavors were enhanced to the point where it was really noticeable. In the future I plan on paying more attention to the food-wine pairing because I see what a difference it makes, even to unrefined palates such as ours.
Hahn Piesporter Michelsberg Riesling, $10 at The Wine Shop in Leesburg.Perfect Roast Chicken
recipe from the Barefoot Contessa Cookbook by Ina Garten

1 (5 to 6 pound) roasting chicken
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 large bunch fresh thyme, plus 20 sprigs (I used rosemary instead this time)
1 lemon, halved
1 head garlic, cut in half crosswise
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter, melted
1 large yellow onion, thickly sliced
4 carrots cut into 2-inch chunks
1 bulb of fennel, tops removed, and cut into wedges (I didn't use fennel...)
Olive oil

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Remove the chicken giblets. Rinse the chicken inside and out. Remove any excess fat and leftover pin feathers and pat the outside dry. Liberally salt and pepper the inside of the chicken. Stuff the cavity with the bunch of thyme, both halves of lemon, and all the garlic. Brush the outside of the chicken with the butter and sprinkle again with salt and pepper. Tie the legs together with kitchen string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the chicken. Place the onions, carrots, and fennel in a roasting pan. Toss with salt, pepper, 20 sprigs of thyme, and olive oil. Spread around the bottom of the roasting pan and place the chicken on top. Roast the chicken for 1 1/2 hours, or until the juices run clear when you cut between a leg and thigh. Remove the chicken and vegetables to a platter and cover with aluminum foil for about 20 minutes. Slice the chicken onto a platter and serve it with the vegetables.

Brine!
I brined my chicken, which I HIGHLY recommend. It makes the inside of the chicken meat taste very flavorful, which is especially important if, like me, you don't eat much of the skin. Wash your chicken completely inside and out with cold running water, removing and discarding the junk from the cavity. Place the chicken in a bucket or other large container that will fit the chicken and will fit in your fridge; I use the lid of my cake tupperware. Fill it with water and a cup of sugar and a cup of salt. You may also add lemons, peppercorns, herbs, all sorts of stuff, but the sugar and salt is the base and that's all I use on a normal day.

Brine the chicken overnight. When you're ready to roast, get organized because this can be a very messy process. Read the recipe again and lay out all your ingredients so that you won't have to wash your hands a million times before you get the bird in the oven. Don't for get to set aside your salt and pepper too! Dry the chicken very well with paper towels, place it in the roasting pan, then go ahead with the recipe. When you brush on the butter, it may look kinda weird and the first time I did this I was like "eww what is happening?!" As the melted butter is smeared on the cold chicken, it solidifies a bit making it look and feel funny. I may be the only one who's noticed this, I don't know, but I wanted to mention it :o)

Roasted Garlic
OK now, if you have your oven on such a high temperature for that long of a time, you simply MUST roast some garlic for that meal or for the next day. All you have to do is cut the top 1/4 of a head of garlic off, place it on a piece of foil, spash on some olive oil, salt and pepper. Bunch up the foil into a tight bundle and throw it in the oven.
Cooking time or temp isn't very important; with the roasted chicken at 425 for 1.5 hours it comes out perfectly, so you can adjust from there according to whatever else you are cooking.

You get this rich garlic smear for your chicken, bread, broccoli - everything on your plate no matter what it is pretty much. Count on one head of garlic for every 2-3 people (or if you're Erol, one per person). The flavor isn't pungent at all like raw garlic, it's roasty and toasty and mellow and delish.
Unwrap the top of the foil package, and squeeze from the bottom up and scrape the soft cloves of garlic that squirt out into a little dish. Or, unwrap the top, and then place it in the dish and let people squirt out what they want at the table.

Cream Cheese & Scallion Stuffed Chicken, and Beige Food

I'll start with my discussion on beige food. It's usually delicious, and not necessarily unhealthy. The end.
I love cooking chicken. Lots of foodies think boneless and skinless chicken breasts are worthless pieces of poultry, but I beg to differ! You can do anything with chicken; the sky's the limit when it comes to seasoning and flavor, type of cuisine, kind of dish, and method of cooking.

Every time I make chicken it's always Erol's "FAVORITE!!" This time he said he takes back all the other times he's ever said that because this is truly number one. I think he really believes it each time he says that, but I know he'll say it next time too.

Doesn't the name of this recipe just make your mouth water! I insist you make this if you like cream cheese, and of course you do because everyone does! Make it for guests and they will be so impressed simply because it's rolled and seems kinda fancy. Let them think you slaved over it, but it is so easy and most importantly when you have company: it can be completely assembled ahead of time and clean up is as easy as tossing a piece of foil in the trash!

The prep, however, will turn your kitchen into a very messy one, but no one has to see that.

I get lots of compliments when I make chicken, and besides the fact that I've had a lot of practice at knowing when it's done, I don't mess around and almost always use a digital cooking thermometer. It is easy to overcook chicken, and I still do sometimes, and no recipe can help that by providing a cooking time because the size and shape of each piece is unique. A digital thermometer is a must and there's no way around it. I have mine set to beep at 165 degrees, the lowest acceptable internal temperature for cooked poultry. I let it get to 168 degrees most of the time before removing the pan from the oven or the stovetop. The very very very worst way to check a piece of meat to see if it's done is to cut into it. If you are on a desert island cooking chicken without a digital thermometer and you absolutely must cut into it, do it only to the piece you will eat yourself and don't let on that it's dry, which is what will happen. (Sorry for getting a little fired up there, I've got the presidential debates on and I guess I'm feeling the tension!)

So back to this recipe - one day last week my shopping list included 1 lb of chicken for another recipe, and my frugal husband scored a 4 lb pack for only $3 more than the cost for only 1 lb. Yesterday I had three huge chicken breasts and not much else by way of other ingredients to make a recipe, so being unable to get to the store, I perused my fridge and found four scallions and a package of cream cheese. It made me think of the flavor of a dip or something, I can't remember exactly how I've had chicken and cream cheese together, but it just seemed like it would work.

I rolled and breaded this like chicken Kiev, but this is easier because Kiev is filled with butter and the chicken must be sealed tight or it will all leak out before it hits the plate. As you can see in my pictures, the cream cheese can leak out and puff up and it's still perfect and actually made it more appealing to me since it gave a little preview of what's waiting inside!

It took a lot of hand washing, but I took pictures of each step of assembling this recipe to make it more helpful because I really want everyone to try this! I will write the recipe for 3 large chicken breasts because that's what I had to use, but you can follow the same technique for any number of them. If your chicken breasts are this large, one will feed two people (or if you're Erol, one and a half will feed you. Just kidding, honey!) To make ahead of time, completely assemble them and place on the oiled baking sheet and refrigerate. They can go straight from the fridge to the preheated oven, just drizzle the olive oil on the top before placing in the oven.

Cream Cheese & Scallion Stuffed Chicken
Chicken and filling:
3 large boneless and skinless chicken breasts
8oz cream cheese
4 scallions, chopped
olive oil
9 toothpicks

Breading:
1 cup flour
2 eggs beaten with a splash of water
1 cup panko bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Prep breading ingredients in three separate bowls and season each bowl with salt and pepper. Line a baking sheet with foil and lightly oil it.

Mix together the cream cheese and chopped scallions. Inside the bowl make a little mound for each chicken breast so it's easy to pick up with your hands.

Using a sharp knife, cut each chicken breast in half and spread open to create a larger, flatter piece. One at a time, place the pieces in a large freezer Zip Lock bag and pound out to make it even larger and flatter.

Lay out the pieces one at a time, cut side up and tapered end closest to you. Pick up a mound of the cream cheese and spread it on the lower 3/4 of the chicken.

Roll up the piece of chicken from the tapered end up, tucking in the edges as best you can. It's perfectly fine if there are some holes! Secure shut each piece with three toothpicks.

Once all the pieces are rolled up, bread them by dipping into the flour bowl, then egg bowl, then roll in the panko breadcrumbs. Place them on the oiled baking sheet, and drizzle olive oil on the top.

Bake for about 30 minutes and then insert a digital cooking thermometer into the center of the largest piece. It's done when it reaches 165 to 170 degrees, which may take up to an hour.

Don't forget to remove the toothpicks before serving.