Roasting
I am utterly amazed by the ease and deliciousness of a simple whole chicken. This bird cost me about $2.50 and only about an hour to make. It doesn’t get better than that! Oh, and Chloe ate a good amount of this chicken without complaint…she even devoured a leg!
Ingredients:
1 Whole Chicken
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1 Tablespoon Salt
1/2 Tablespoon Black Pepper
Pan sauce:
1 Shallot, minced
2 garlic cloves, finely grated
2 teaspoons fresh thyme, minced
2 teaspoons Dijon Mustard
1 cup Low Sodium Chicken Broth
2 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter
2 teaspoons Sherry Vinegar
Preheat oven and an oven-safe skillet to 450°F. Just put the skillet in the oven when you turn it on and it will be nice and hot when you are ready for it.
Pat the chicken fry with a paper towel. Rub the bird down with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. With the chicken breast side up, tie up the legs (as shown in the picture).
Carefully remove the hot skillet from the oven and place the chicken, breast side up in the skillet (it will sizzle quite a bit). Place back in oven and roast for about 30 minutes, or until the breast reaches 120°F.
Turn the oven off and leave the chicken in the oven for another 30 minutes, or until the breast reaches about 165°F.
Remove from oven and let rest for 20 minutes before carving.
To make the pan sauce:
Pour off all but about 1 Tablespoon of fat from the skillet. Add the shallot, garlic and thyme. Sauté over medium high heat until softened.
Add the Dijon mustard and chicken broth. Bring to a bubble and let it reduce to about 3/4 cup.
Turn off the heat and melt in the butter. Stir in the vinegar.
*Note: I didn’t use the mustard and I substituted Rice Wine Vinegar for the Sherry Vinegar
Carve the bird and serve with the sauce.
Yield: 1 Whole Chicken
-Recipe by America’s Test Kitchen-
Here is a good way to use up some leftover pumpkin puree. Oh, and don’t sprinkle roasted pumpkin seeds on top like I did because they instantly turned really chewy and hard to eat. They do look pretty though!
Ingredients:
2 ½-3lbs Tomatoes, cut into large chunks
6 Cloves Garlic, finely grated
1 Onion, Sliced
Extra Virgin Olive Oil, to drizzle
Salt & Pepper
3 Cups Chicken Stock
2 Bay Leaves
2 Tablespoons Dried Basil
2 Cups Pumpkin Puree
Preheat oven to 450°F and cover a baking sheet with foil for easy clean up.
Place the tomato chunks, garlic and onion on the prepared baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast for 45 minutes.
Transfer the roasted tomatoes, garlic and onions to a large soup pot. Add the chicken stock, bay leaves, basil and pumpkin puree. Bring to a bubble, reduce heat and simmer for about 15 minutes.
Remove the bay leaves. Puree until smooth with an immersion blender. Adjust seasonings with salt & pepper if needed.
Serves: 4
Tags: Dairy Free, Dinner, Gluten Free, Pumpkin, Roasting, Soup, Tomato, Tomatoes
Don’t even think for a second about using canned pumpkin puree for your pumpkin pies this Thanksgiving! Here is a super easy way to have fresh pumpkin puree.
Ingredients:
1 Pie Pumpkin
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Cut the very top of the pumpkin off to remove the stem. Cut the pumpkin in half and scoop out the seeds. I like to use a grapefruit spoon for seed removal. Don’t throw out 
the seeds! Keep them for roasting!
Cut the pumpkin halves into smaller wedges and place on a baking sheet.
Roast for 45 minutes, or until the pumpkin in tender.
Once they are done roasting, let cool until you can handle them. Peel off the skin and puree in a food processor until smooth. You might need to add a couple Tablespoons of water.
Roasted vegetables is probably the easiest side dish you can make.
Ingredients:
Green Beans, washed and trimmed of stems
Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper
Grated Garlic (optional)
Preheat oven to 400°F.
Toss the green beans in olive oil and season with salt, pepper and garlic. Roast on a baking sheet until browned, about 25 minutes.
Tags: Gluten Free, Green Beans, Roasting, Side Dish
Thanks Alton Brown for making Thanksgiving awesome! In Alton’s recipe, he brined the turkey, but I didn’t brine mine.
Ingredients:
1 turkey, any size (thawed)
1 red or green apple, sliced
1/2 onion, sliced
1 cinnamon stick
1 cup water
1 teaspoon dried sage
Canola oil
Preheat oven to 500°F. Move the oven rack to the lowest position.
Combine the apple, onion, cinnamon stick and water in a bowl. Microwave for 5 minutes.
Place the apple, onion, cinnamon stick, and dried sage inside the turkey. Put the turkey on a roasting pan breast side up. Tuck the turkey wings under the body and rub canola oil on the bird.
Roast for 30 minutes. Turn the oven temperature down to 350°F and insert a probe thermometer into the breast. Set the thermometer to 161°F. A 14-16 lb turkey will take about 2-2½ hours. My 20lb turkey took just over 3 hours.
After roasting, cover with a foil tent for 15 minutes before carving.
Tags: Gluten Free, Roasting, Thanksgiving, Turkey
Seriously the best way to eat broccoli!
Ingredients:
1 head broccoli, cut into florets
2 cloves garlic, grated
salt & pepper
Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
Preheat oven to400°F.
On a baking sheet, toss the broccoli florets with the garlic, salt and pepper and enough olive oil to coat.
Roast in oven until browned, about 20-30 minutes.
Tags: Broccoli, Gluten Free, Roasting, Side Dish
Pork loin was on sale this week for a pretty good price, so I bought a package that came with 2. The other one I stuck in the freezer. Don’t be intimidated by the big hunk of meat that it is. It’s actually really easy to work with. This turned out really great! Chloe even ate a bunch of it. Hope you enjoy it too.
Ingredients:
1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
8oz fresh mushrooms, sliced
2 cloves garlic, grated
salt & pepper
2-3 lb pork loin, fat and silverskin removed
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp flour
1 cup milk
Preheat oven to 375°F.
In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add bell pepper and onion and cook until they begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Add mushrooms and garlic. Cook until tender and season with salt and pepper.
Butterfly the pork loin by cutting it open like a book. (See Apple Stuffed Pork Roast post for detailed pictures). Place half of the mushroom mixture in the center of the pork loin and roll up. Tie with kitchen twine and place on a roasting pan.
Roast until the pork reaches an internal temperature of 145°F, about 1 hour. Let rest at least 5 minutes before slicing into 8 slices.
Before the roast is finished, make the sauce. In the skillet with the other half of the mushroom mixture, heat to medium-high heat. Move the veggies to the side of the skillet and melt the butter. Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute. Whisk in milk, bring to a bubble and reduce heat to medium. Simmer until thickened, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and lots of black pepper.
To serve, place some of the sauce on a plate and top with 2 slices of the stuffed roast.
Serves 4
Tags: Bell Pepper, Dinner, Mushrooms, Pork, Roasting
This was seriously so good! Probably the most moist pork I’ve ever had. It’s adapted from a Paula Deen recipe.
Ingredients:
2 Tbsp Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 apples, peeled, cored and chopped
1 tsp dried sage
1 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 egg
2 Tbsp butter
salt & pepper
3 lb pork loin roast, fat and silverskin removed
Preheat oven to 375°F.
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Saute the onion, apples and sage until softened, about 10 minutes.
In a large bowl, combine the bread crumbs, chicken broth, egg and butter. Stir in the cooked apples and onions and season with salt and pepper.
The pork roast will look like this:
You will need to butterfly it, which is basically cutting it open like a book. Like this:
Put some of the stuffing inside the pork roast. Don’t try to stuff it all in if it won’t fit.
Roll it up starting with the end closest to you and tie with kitchen twine. Place in a roasting pan (a baking sheet with a cooling rack works well too).
Roast in the oven until an instant-read thermometer reads 145°F, about 1 hour and 10 minutes depending on size.
I served this with a baked potato and asparagus.
Ingredients:
Tags: Gluten Free, Roasting, Side Dish
