Ok so here’s the deal with this one: you can cook a whole chicken, incredibly juicy & tender, in 45 minutes. Whole chicken. On a weeknight. Yep! You’ll even have time for seconds.
Time: 1 hour
Ingredients:
1 whole chicken, about 6lbs
2 tablespoons softened (not melted!) butter
1-2 teaspoons salt
herbs of your choice, I used sage, thyme & rosemary
lemon slices (about 6)
veggies for roasting (optional)
Recipe:
Wash the whole chicken, remove the gibblets & pat dry with a paper towel.
Lay the chicken out on a cutting board so that the backbone is facing up.
Starting at the tailbone, use kitchen sheers to cut along one side of the backbone first, all the way to the top of the neck. Repeat on the other side.
Pull out the back bone, you can make an extremely flavorful stock with this! Or just discard.
Turn the chicken over so the belly side is up.
Press your palms on the chest of the chicken & press down hard. The chicken should flatten slightly.
Use the kitchen sheers to cut off the tips of the wings. The wing tips cook faster & will burn if you leave them on.
Mix the butter with the herbs & salt.
Lift up the skin and slide your hand in there to make room for the lemon slices. Then, slide in a lemon slice with a little of the seasoned butter under the skin for the breasts and thighs. Rub any leftover lemon around the skin on the outside of the chicken. Same with any extra butter.
Use a large cast iron pan (or roasting pan if you don’t have a cast iron). Lay your chicken in the pan with the belly side up. Sprinkle with sea salt.
Place the chicken in a preheated oven at 450 for 30-40 minutes. Make sure the internal temp of the chicken is at 165 degrees before you eat it!
If you’re adding in vegetables, keep an eye on the timing. Add them when the chicken has already cooked for 15-20 minutes, depending on what veggies you’re using/how long they take to roast.
One of my favorite movies ever!! Ratatouille is incredibly beautiful, healthy, & delicious! Contrary to how it looks, it's actually not difficult to make! Just takes a little patience, and a mandolin slicer. Here's my take on it.
Time: 1 hour, 15 mins
Ingredients:
1 zucchini
1 yellow summer squash
1 Italian eggplant
3 almost ripe Roma tomatoes
1 cup tomato sauce
5 basil leaves (fresh)
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
salt & pepper to taste
Recipe:
In an oven safe pan, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil & the diced onions for about 30 seconds-1 minute. Use medium-low heat so it doesnt burn. Then, add the garlic.
Wait 30 seconds before pouring in the tomato sauce. Cook for another 2 minutes then tear up the basil leaves & drop them in.
Use a mandolin to slice the zucchini, squash, eggplant & tomatoes very thin.
Arrange them around the pan that the sauce is in, so that the slices alternate between each vegetable. Continue all the way around the pan, until you run out of slices.
Drizzle the last tablespoon of olive oil over the top. Sprinkle the oregano, thyme, salt & black pepper on top.
Cover with parchment paper & bake on 375 for 45 minutes.
Remove the parchment & bake for another 10 minutes. Enjoy!
A gorgeous Spanish dish! Paella seems so intimidating. I tried making it for the first time yesterday and I have to say... it's really not that hard! If you have good quality ingredients & a good paella pan, you're golden. my take on it is a little spicy & packed with incredible flavor.
Time: 45 mins, serves 2
Ingredients:
2-3 cups jumbo shrimp, peeled & deviened, tail on
2-3 cups cooked mussels (can use uncooked but it's a pain to wash & takes longer to cook)
1 cup paella rice (can substitute any short grain rice)
1/2 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 can Rotel diced tomatoes & green chilies (this is where the spice comes in, if you don't want it spicy you can use plain canned diced tomatoes)
1 cup fresh parsley
1 teaspoon saffron threads
1/2 cup sweet green peas
3 cups chicken stock (can use 1 chicken boullion cube with 3 cups of water)
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
salt & pepper to taste
1.5 tablespoons safflower oil (or any high-heat oil)
1/2 lemon
Recipe:
Tip: The best way to do this is to get a Paella pan. To serve 2 people, I bought a 13.5 inch paella pan from Amazon. Worked wonders!
Heat the oil & onion in the paella pan on medium heat. After 30 seconds, add the garlic, then give it another 30 seconds before adding the tomatoes.
Pour in the paella rice & toss to combine.
Sprinkle on the smoked paprika & the saffron, then add the chicken stock. Bring the mixture to a boil, then cover. I used my pizza stone to cover the paella pan because I don't have a large enough pan cover. Reduce the heat to let the mixture simmer while it's covered.
After about 20 minutes, uncover the pan & use a spatula to stir. You may notice some rice sticking to the bottom of the pan, that's okay. Paella should have a nice crust at the bottom. Not a thick crust, but a nice crunchy layer.
Add in the seafood and green peas then cover to allow it to cook for 5 more minutes. Keep the heat on medium.
Once the seafood is cooked, add in the parsley & lemon wedges & serve! Squeezing the lemon juice over the paella before eating it gives it a wonderful fresh taste!
A classy, sophisticated side dish that is so easy to make! Here's my take on it.
Time: 1 hour
Ingredients:
4 rustic potatoes
5 tablespoons butter, melted
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
salt & pepper to taste
Cooking oil spray for the pan
Recipe :
Preheat oven to 425. Cover a glass Pyrex dish with foil & spray to coat with cooking oil.
Put the garlic cloves inside the butter so they begin to infuse.
Wash & dry potatoes, then take them one by one to cut on a cutting board. You're going to want to lay 2 chopsticks on either side of the potato to avoid cutting straight through the bottom (so the potatoes fan out like the picture above).
Cut about 1/4 inch thick slices through the entire potato (until your knife hits the chopsticks). Do the same for all 4 potatoes.
Place the potatoes into a bowl of cold water as they are finished being cut. This will wash out some of the starch from inside the potato before you bake it. Make sure they are dry before baking, though.
Arrange the potatoes in the Pyrex dish & fan them out slightly with your hands. Sprinkle salt & black pepper as desired.
Brush the garlic butter mixture on top of each potato. Cover with aluminum foil & bake for 35 mins.
Take the potatoes out of the oven, uncover them, then brush more of the butter mixture on them.
Sprinkle the breadcrumb mixture on top of each potato, trying to get some inside the little slits.
Brush with more butter & bake again UNCOVERED for another 10-15 minutes or until the potatoes are golden, cooked through.
