Mama Erin's World Famous Roasted Chicken

The buttery goodness:


After the roasting:



I love roasted chicken!!! It is a comfort food that is super easy to make and really delicious! Every time I make it for guests they swoon and want to know my secrets. There are two key things to making a really juicy roasted chicken: a HOT oven & butter! Here's how I whip up this tasty dish:

Roasted Chicken

1 5-6 lb. chicken
1 lemon, cut into wedges
1/2 onion, cut into wedges
a handful of flat leaf parsley
Salt & pepper
Old Bay seasoning
4-8 tbsp. butter

Heat oven to 425F. Prepare a roasting pan by lining it with aluminum foil (this just makes clean-up easier!) Rinse off your chicken, remove giblets & neck and then pat dry with paper towels. Salt & pepper in cavity and then stuff it with lemons, onion and parsley. Salt & pepper outside of bird & sprinkle with Old Bay, making sure to season the bottom of the bird as well. Place chicken in the roasting pan with breast side up. Put pats of butter in random spots all over the bird. Slide her into the oven!

Baste the bird with the melted butter every 20 minutes or so and roast until the bird is fully cooked 60-75 minutes. The skin should be a dark caramel color and juices from the leg joint should run clear.

Let rest for 5 minutes and then carve and devour!

Say it with me now...Chowder!!!

The other day I nearly fainted at the beautiful salmon that they had at Safeway! I typically don't get excited about the fish at Safeway but it was GORGEOUS! I got two lovely "filets" and was happily on my way. I realized that I had too much fish for just me unless I was creative and made something that reheated well (I can't handle reheated fish...it grosses me out.) What I came up with was Salmon Chowder!!!! It was easy and ever so delicious! So delicious that it didn't matter that it was 90F outside! I also made some drop biscuits to go along with it but you can whip up the Baking Powder Biscuits that I posted a while back.

Salmon Chowder

1/2 lb. red potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1/2 lb. thick sliced bacon, cut crosswise into 1/4 inch-wide strips
2 c. chopped scallions (2 bunches)
1 c. fresh or frozen corn
1 tbsp. finely chopped garlic (3 cloves)
1 tsp. finely chopped fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
1/8 tsp. red-pepper flakes
3 c. whole milk
2/3 heavy whipping cream
2 lb. of salmon filets, bones, skinned and cut into one inch cubes
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper

Cook potatoes in a 1- to 1 1/2- quart heavy saucepan of boiling salted water until just tender, about 8-10 min. Drain and set aside.

Cook bacon in a 5-quart heavy pot over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until crisp, about 8 minutes. Add scallions, corn, garlic, thyme, bay leaf, and red-pepper flakes and cook over a moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until scallions are tender, about 5 minutes. Add milk and cream and bring just to a boil. Reduce heat to moderately low, then add potatoes, salmon, salt and pepper and cook, gently stirring occasionally, until salmon is just cooked through and begins to break up as you stir, 5-8 minutes. Discard bay leaf before serving.

*Note: If there is an excess of bacon fat feel free to drain some of it off but it is needed for flavor so don't do away with it completely! You can also add a squirt of lemon juice if you like.

Grilled Swordfish with Pesto & Rice

I have this friend named Hannah. She is energetic, funny, wicked smart, and totally stylish. She's also 12 and she thinks I am pretty darn cool. It makes me feel awesome to be loved by this sweet girl and one of the things that she loves best in the world, other than me, is fish...believe it or not! She wants to try every new kind of seafood that she can find and she's always up for a food adventure. One day, while shopping at Trader Joe's, Hannah "talked me into" buying swordfish so that I could cook for her and feed her. I had NO IDEA how to cook swordfish but I'm always up for a cooking adventure (especially when it means an extra happy kiddo), so off I went to the land of fish recipes to figure out what to do with it. The answer was...grill it! This afternoon we whipped up a tasty lunch. Here's what we ate:

Grilled Swordfish with Pesto & Rice

For the rice:
Just make some rice...nothing fancy :)

For the pesto:
1 box of basil from TJ's
1/4 c. grated parmesan cheese
1/4 pine nuts (I also like walnuts so you can substitute!)
4 cloves fresh garlic, peeled and smashed
~1/2 c. olive oil
salt & pepper to taste

Put basil, cheese, nuts and garlic into a food processor. With processor running, drizzle in olive oil until the sauce has a good texture, less for a thicker sauce...more for a thinner sauce. Taste your pesto. Add salt & pepper or more cheese or more garlic...whatever you like!

For the fish:
2-4 one inch thick swordfish steaks (they come in two packs in the freezer section at TJ's)
olive oil
salt & pepper

Heat the grill. Rub the fish with oil & season with salt and pepper. Once the grill is hot, throw the fish on there. Let it cook 5 minutes on each side. Bring it inside and eat!

I plated this trio as follows: rice on the plate, fish on top of rice, spoonfuls of pesto running over rice & fish.


The fish was delicious and I am totally converted to swordfish! Even the crispy skin was good!!! And...Miss Hannah loved it! I got the full mouth nod with a goofy smile!!! Oh how I love happy kids!!!

As Requested....Stuffed Zucchini

So I have a fabulous garden this year! I have already written a couple of posts about it, so you all know what I'm talking about! Between my landlady and myself we check on the garden every other day to pick what is ripe and make sure that we don't end up with the world's largest squash. Well...somehow we missed a zucchini...for a long time and ended up with a 16 inch long boat! What does one do with a 16 in long zucchini? Stuff it! I used an online recipe for rice stuffing and added some of my own flavors to it...so feel free to be creative! I was thinking of adding some chevre to it next time! Here's how I made some tasty stuffed squash!

Stuffed Zucchini

1- 16 inch long zucchini (or you could do several regular size zucchini), cut in half with seeds removed

Filling:
4 c. cooked brown rice
4 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 medium onion, diced
1/2 c. sun-dried tomatoes, dry packed, julienne style
1- 15oz. can mushrooms with juice (do not drain!)
2 tsp. chopped fresh thyme
2 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
1 bay leaf
salt & pepper to taste

Cook your bacon. Remove the bacon to drain and cook onions in the bacon fat until translucent. Add the fresh herbs and bay leaf and stir for 1 minute. Turn off the heat. Add the entire can of mushrooms (I used the sliced ones), sun-dried tomatoes and crumbled bacon. Stir.
In a large bowl, combine the rice and bacon mixture. Salt and pepper to taste. Make sure the rice is moist! Add water or chicken broth if it's too dry.
Heat the oven to 350 or 375 depending on the size of your squash. Place the zucchini on a foil covered baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt & pepper and a little bit of olive oil. Spoon the stuffing into the hollow of the squash until a nice mound forms. Cover with foil and bake for 20min. Remove foil and continue baking until squash is soft, 20-30min more.

Serves 6-8

If you are in need of zucchini and live in the Bay Area...give me a call!!!!

Quinoa Salad with Chicken and Mixed Greens

I recently completed a cleanse. The program that I did had these amazing recipes in the back of the book and today I am sharing my FAVORITE with you!!!! I like it best with the Organic Red Quinoa from Trader Joe's but regular quinoa works as well. This salad is fresh and light but surprisingly filling and satisfying! Enjoy!!!

Quinoa Salad with Chicken and Mixed Greens
Serves 2

2 cups cooked quinoa
2- 4 oz. chicken breasts, roasted & sliced
1/4 c. currants
1/4 c. chopped almonds
1/2 c. diced carrots
1/4 c. chopped mint
1/4 c. scallions, cut thinly
1/4 c. chopped parsley
1/4 c. fresh lime juice
1 tsp. agave syrup
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp. sea salt
1/2 c. olive oil
4 cups salad greens

1. Put all ingredients except chicken and salad greens in a bowl, and toss together with quinoa, adjust seasoning to taste.
2. Make a bed with half of the greens on a plate, mound half of the quinoa mix on top and then top with half of the chicken.
3. Eat!!!!

Want to know what in the heck quinoa is? Here you go: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinoa

Olive Oil Bread

On Sunday night I "needed" hamburger buns for the turkey burgers I was making. I had nothing in the house that resembled bread so I broke out my Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook and cracked open the yeast bread section. Eureka! The recipe for the Olive Oil Bread sounded perfect and fairly simple as far as yeast breads go. The results were these unbelievably dreamy rolls...spongy and perfectly yeasty with a slightly crusty crunch on the outside. I made four rolls but they were HUGE! I'd recommend making eight to have the perfect sized bun for your burgers!

Olive Oil Bread or Burger Buns

4 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
2 pkg. dry yeast
2 c. water, warm but not hot
3/4 c. good quality olive oil
1 tbsp. coarse salt
Cornmeal for dusting baking sheet

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the flour, yeast, water and olive oil; stir with a wooden spoon until all ingredients are incorporated. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until double in bulk, 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes.

Attach the bowl to the mixer fitted with the bread hook. Add the salt,and mix to combine on a low speed. Raise the speed to medium and beat until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl but is still sticky, about 3 minutes.

Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Knead it for 1 minute, then transfer to a large, lightly oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap. Lt rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 450F. Return the dough to a lightly floured work surface. Fold in the dough by folding the bottom third up, the top third down, the right and left sides into the middle. If making rolls, divide into 8 equal pieces. Shape into rounds. Place on a greased & cornmealed baking sheet. Allow to rest until it is slightly puffed, about 30 minutes.

With a sharp knife or razor, make four slashes on the top of each roll/loaf to form a square. Bake until the crust is golden brown, about 35 minutes for 1 loaf or about 25 minutes for rolls.

Banana-Nut Bread

Last night I baked the best banana bread I have ever made! Luckily, I was able to control myself and eat only one muffin, but it was definitely a struggle! Go get some bananas because you are gonna want to whip this up!

Banana-Nut Bread

3 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
3 large eggs
2 c. sugar
1 1/3 c. vegetable oil
2 tbsp. vanilla extract (YES! Tablespoons!)
1 1/2 c. mashed, ripe bananas (about 3 medium)
1 c. shredded coconut
1 c. chopped hazelnuts (you could use pecans or walnuts)
1/2 c. buttermilk (I used whole milk and 1 tsp. cider vinegar)

Preheat the oven to 350F. Coat two 9-by-5-inch loaf pans with butter or cooking spray; set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the eggs, sugar, and vegetable oil on medium-low speed until combined. Beat in the flour mixture. Add the vanilla, banana, coconut, nuts and buttermilk, and beat just to combine.

Divide batter evenly between prepared pans. Bake until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 60-65 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes. Remove loaves from pans and let cool completely...if you can wait that long!

Next Martha recipe...Fennel and Golden-Raisin Scones! YUM!