Perfect Roast Chicken

I have made this recipe a handful of times, and love it every time. It's great for making when you have guests, because it's seems impressive, but it's actually pretty easy. It's also great for this time of year. At first, it was very intimidating to roast a whole chicken, but I eventually got used to man-handling the raw chicken. I actually don't mind raw meat too much. Some people can't stand touching it.

Perfect Roast Chicken
Recipe from Barefoot Contessa

Ingredients
1 (5 to 6 pound) roasting chicken
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 large bunch fresh thyme, plus 20 sprigs
1 lemon, halved
1 head garlic, cut in half crosswise (I use 4-6 tsp already minced garlic)
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter, melted
1 large yellow onion, thickly sliced
4 carrots cut into 2-inch chunks (can use more if you love carrots)
1 bulb of fennel (of decent size), tops removed, and cut into wedges
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

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There's also a video of her making it on YouTube:

Veggie Tostadas

I have always had a love for Mexico, ever since my parents told me stories of both living there, then I studied Spanish in high school and college, then I studied abroad in Cuernavaca my sophomore year of college.

My mom loved TJ Maxx, and in case you didn't know, you can find awesome cookbooks there. I have found Martha Stewart cooking books that are originally $40 for only $9.99. My mom used to go and just browse, and she found 2 really good Mexican cookbooks there. One is a Williams & Sonoma Mexican cookbook, a little fancy, but beautiful. Another one (this one), is my favorite. It has beautiful pictures, and a really long introduction with pictures of Mexico, street vendors, fruits, veggies, describing regional cuisines, cooking techniques, eating customs, street food descriptions, definitions and pictures of certain ingredients like all the different peppers and spices, special utensils used, and holiday foods. If you ever come over, you'll have to look at it. I love it. This recipe is from that book.

Vegetable Tostadas

(from "The Mexican Cookbook," Marlena Spieler editor)

(Serves 4)

Ingredients:

(Tostadas:)

4-8 soft corn tortillas

4 tbsp olive oil or vegetable oil

*or you can just buy already made tostadas...some grocery stores carry them, others don't

2 potatoes, diced

1-2 carrots, diced

3 garlic cloves, very finely chopped (I have a jar of already minced garlic, and it's just 1 tsp=1 clove minced...it's so much easier and your hands won't smell of garlic for hours!)

1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced

1 tsp mild chili powder

1 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp ground cumin

3-4 ripe tomatoes, diced (I have also used 1 can of diced tomatoes and it was fine...around here, it's been all about saving time since we are both in school and don't have much of it!)

4-8 oz green beans, blanched and cut into bite size lengths (I have used about 1 cup of frozen cut green beans and it was fine)

several large pinches of dried oregano

2 1/3 c. cooked black beans, drained (I usually use 1 can of black beans, drained)

8 oz. feta cheese, crumbled

3-4 romaine lettuce leaves, shredded/chopped

3-4 scallions, thinly sliced (optional)

To make the tostadas, heat the oil in a pan/pot and pan fry the tortillas until crisp. Keep watch over them, as it is easy to burn them. You will need to flip them a couple times in the oil to get it evenly fried. I usually fry them in a small pot (to avoid a mess of oil on the stove top) with about 1 1/2 inches of oil in the pot.

Be watchful of them, because if you aren't, this could happen:

Heat the remaining oil in the skillet (about 1-2 tbsp). Add the potatoes and carrot and cook for 10 minutes, or until softened. Add the garlic, red bell pepper, chili powder, paprika, and cumin. Cook for 2-3 minutes, or until the bell peppers have softened.

Add the tomatoes, green beans, and oregano. Cook for 8-10 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender and form a saucelike mixture. The mixture should not be too dry; add a little water if necessary.

Preheat the broiler to medium. Heat the black beans in a pan with a tiny amount of water and keep warm. Reheat the tostadas under the hot broiler. Spread the beans over the hot tostadas, then sprinkle with the cheese, and top with a few spoonfuls of the hot vegetables in sauce. Sprinkle each tostada with lettuce and scallions and serve immediately.

A slightly quicker version: Add the black beans into the vegetable mixture, heat through, then just top the vegetable mixture on the warm tostadas, top with cheese, lettuce, scallions, EAT and enjoy. :)

Sweet Potato Souffle

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It's that time of year! All the traditional Thanksgiving dishes. We've already celebrated Thanksgiving a couple weekends ago when my family came to visit. I was surprised we were able to cook everything in our kitchen with 1 little oven.

I have an incredible cook for a mother-in-law. She could probably open her own restaurant with all of her awesome recipes. Her berry pies are particularly popular, especially with her 4 boys (and me). I got this recipe from her, and she got it from her friend, Genevia Debord. Almost everyone grew up with this recipe, and there are slight variations of it. I personally prefer the crunchy, sugar, pecan topping as compared to the marshmellow.

Sweet Potato Souffle

Ingredients:

1 40 oz can sweet potatoes, drained and mashed 1 c. sugar

1/2 stick of margarine/butter (I almost always use salted butter for everything)

1/2 c. milk

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

Combine and mix with hand mixer. Put into casserole dish. Add topping. Bake for 30-40 minutes at 350 degrees. (I have left it in a little longer before, just because it didn't look quite done, but you can see for yourself)

Note: I have used a 40 oz cans, and also 2 29 oz cans and it has turned out fine.

Topping:

1/2 stick margarine, soft (Again, I always use salted butter, and I just melted it)

1 c. brown sugar

1/3 c. flour

1 c. pecans, roughly chopped

Mix all ingredients until crumbly. Sprinkle on top of casserole.

Potato Bundles

These are SO good. You have to try them! Full of flavor, tender chunks of baked potato with a creamy sauce. I find myself with staples in my kitchen such as potatoes. On any given weeknight, I find myself trying to piece together a meal and get it ready before I leave for class at 4 or 5pm, so Bryce and cook it when he gets home. I'll find a couple frozen chicken breasts, or hamburger meat to thaw, and then I see a bag of potatoes. Of course, you could do a baked potato, or mashed, but this is such a delicious twist on your regular potato. Plus, it doesn't have any irregular ingredients (that you wouldn't normally have sitting around) other than maybe the heavy cream.



I found this recipe on one of my fave food blogs, Pioneer Woman. You can find the recipe here.

Or here:

Potato Bundles
from Pioneer Woman)

Ingredients
6 whole Russet Potatoes
1/2 onion, diced
1 stick butter
1/2 cups heavy cream
Kosher salt and ground pepper to taste
Paprika to taste
2 tbsp minced (or dried) parsley

Pile potatoes and onions on a square of foil. Add 2 tbsp of butter. Splash on cream. Then sprinkle on salt, paprika, and black pepper. Sprinkle parsley on top. Wrap bundles tightly and bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes, or until very tender.

Serve bundles right on the plate. Serves 8.

Dad's Pico de Gallo

In Mexican cuisine, Pico de gallo (Spanish for "rooster's beak") is a fresh uncooked condiment made from chopped tomato, onion, and sometimes chilis (typically jalapeños or serranos). Other ingredients may also be added, such as lemon or lime juice, fresh cilantro (coriander leaf), cucumber, radish or other fresh firm pulpy fruit such as mango. (Wikipedia, where else?)

It's a very simple recipe, and pretty much all recipes for it are very similar. At most Adams family get togethers, Dad makes a big bowl of salsa that we snack on all week/weekend. Bryce and Tim could probably finish the whole bowl in a couple hours if they were given enough chips. I love it because it's all fresh ingredients, and you can control how much of each ingredient you prefer.

When I studied abroad in Mexico, I remember at a lot of restaurants and meals, it would just be like any other condiment expected, sitting in a little bowl at the table.

When Dad makes it, and the few times that I have made it, we don't usually make exact measurements in the recipe.

Pico de Gallo
(approximated)
Makes a medium size bowl. Can refrigerate for a few days.

Ingredients
1 onion, diced (depending on how much you like onions)
1-2 jalapeno pepper, diced (remove seeds if you don't want it too spicy!)
Juice of 1 lime (I love the lime, so I like about 2 limes juiced)
5-8 tomatoes, diced (we usually use Roma tomatoes)
Salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 bunch of cilantro, chopped
Dash of cumin

*Can also add 1 mango, diced or chopped up pineapple chunks

One of my weaknesses

I have to really think about the decision to buy these when I am at Target, because I know that I can and probably will eat the entire bag within 1-2 days.

Blueberry Crumb Cake

My mouth is watering just thinking about this cake. Maybe it's just because I love baked goods in the breakfast category...coffee cakes, tea cakes, crumb cakes, croissants, breads, pastries, scones, muffins. Does it get much better than that?

I randomly found this recipe when I had about 1 cup of fresh blueberries that were on the verge of getting too ripe. There's not much I can say other than you need to try this recipe.

Blueberry Crumb Cake
Recipe from Barefoot Contessa
Ingredients

For the streusel:
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

For the cake:
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature (3/4 stick)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
2/3 cup sour cream
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup fresh blueberries
Confectioners' sugar for sprinkling

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 9-inch round baking pan.

For the streusel:
Combine the granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a bowl. Stir in the melted butter and then the flour. I use a fork. Mix well and set aside.

For the cake:
Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on high speed for 4 to 5 minutes, until light. Reduce the speed to low and add the eggs 1 at a time, then add the vanilla, lemon zest, and sour cream. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the batter until just combined. Fold in the blueberries and stir with a spatula to be sure the batter is completely mixed. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and spread it out with a knife. With your fingers, crumble the topping evenly over the batter. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool completely and serve sprinkled with confectioners' sugar.





I actually found a video of Barefoot Contessa (Ina Garten) making this. Without cable, and missing the Food Network channel, I liked watching it on youtube.