Tag: thyme

Roasted Chicken

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done1Ah the roasted chicken.  One of life’s culinary treasures.  A perfectly roasted chicken is a gem in any cook’s repertoire.  This recipe is a simple lemon herb roasted chicken and lends itself to a delicious gravy with a roasting rack made up of onions, lemons, carrots, garlic and compound butter and a lovely white wine.

I am forever surprised at just how many people have never made a whole roasted chicken either because they think it is too much work or they are intimidated by the prospect of cleaning and dressing the chicken.  Well rest assured, this recipe includes no giblets, no twine and minimal cleaning.  In fact this recipe is one of the easiest roasted chicken recipes you’ll find, you don’t even need a special pan.

This week, I am starting with your run of them mill roasting chicken.

The first step is to find a pan that will adequately fit your chicken… This Pampered Chef Deep Dish Baker looks just about right.

I remove the inside and toss them… Many people use these contents in gravy or stuffing, not me.

I then start to build a rack in the bottom of my pan. I suppose I could use a pan with a rack, but this is a delicious solution to not having a rack!

Crush up some garlic.

Add the garlic in.

Add on olive oil and a sprinkle of kosher salt.

I know a lot of people say you don’t need to wash your chicken, but I always do, and then I dry it up. The next few steps require the skin to be dry.

Next we will work on stuffing the chicken. Now, you really shouldn’t use actual stuffing to stuff your chicken as it will take you double time to cook it and the outter limbs of the chicken will be over cooked while the breast stays raw…. My point is it leads to uneven cooking and the stuffing rarely will get cooked all the way through. But I do like to put some things in that have moister and flavor.

So I start with some onions. Just a couple.

Then some lemon slices.

Again, we don’t want to over stuff, but some liquid in the cavity will help to keep the chicken moist.

Then take some more of that crushed garlic and pop it in there.

Add those lemons to the bottom rack too.

I like to keep fresh herbs on my windowsill. I find this to be much more economical than buying them each time I need them. Not to mention they are pretty.

So we will need Rosemary and Tyme.

Don’t forget that everything you do to the bottom cavity needs to also be done in the neck cavity.

Next step is to prepare a compound butter.  Compound butters are a great way to impart flavor right in with the fat.

My thyme is young and so the stems are not woody and they can get chopped without de-stemming. But, the rosemary stem is pretty woody and so leaves should be removed before chopping.
Mince up the herbs.
Slice up 3/4 of a stick of unsalted butter.
Add the herbs in.
Then add in kosher salt. At this point you can add whatever flavor you like… pepper, corriander, ginger etc. For this basic recipe, I am keeping it simple.
With a fork, mashe the salt and herbs in with the butter.

I have a pretty large chicken and so I will use this entire amount. But if you want to prepare this ahead of time to use with your Thanksgiving turkey or just so you don’t have to repeat this stem… you can just roll it into a log, wrap in wax paper and freeze, then use what you like. Compound butter is great on steak, veggies, egg noodles, you name it!

I will start by putting some in each cavity.

Then the best way to really infuse the flavor into the meat of the chicken, your best bet is to go in under the skin. Gently lift the skin and you may need to gently separate the skin from the breast with your fingers. (be aware of rings you may have on)

And then take some butter and work it up under the skin.

Continue spreading the skin as you add it in... Then once it is in, it can be smooshed around from the outside of the skin.

Continue spreading the skin as you add it in… Then once it is in, it can be smooshed around from the outside of the skin.

Next, I fold in the winds.

You want to pin it down behind the bird.

You want to pin it down behind the bird.

This helps with even cooking. Some people like to also tie up the legs, I find that leads to longer cooking time.

This helps with even cooking. Some people like to also tie up the legs, I find that leads to longer cooking time.

Add in some of the compound butter to the rack.

Add in some of the compound butter to the rack.

Once you have butter under the skin, its time to slather it all over the outside. This is why it is really important to have dry chicken. Butter won’t stick to water.

Place your chicken on your rack and add in your last addition. There is a lot of moisture with the onions and lemon, but that isn't enough. The last addition is some dry white wine. Be sure the wine you use is a decent drinking wine. This will flavor your chicken as well as keeping it moist.

Place your chicken on your rack and add in your last addition. There is a lot of moisture with the onions and lemon, but that isn’t enough. The last addition is some dry white wine. Be sure the wine you use is a decent drinking wine. This will flavor your chicken as well as keeping it moist.

I like to cover with some foil… but in order to do that and not have it stick, I spray my foil with cooking spray.

I am covering lightly as you can see. I like the hot air circulating. Remove the foil for the last 30 minutes of cooking to brown skin.

Baste chicken throughout the cooking process. When the temperature in the deepest part of the breast comes to between 160°F – 165°F, you are ready to take the chicken out of the oven and cover immediately with foil for 15 minutes or so.

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Roasted Chicken

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

1 6-8lb. roasting chicken

2 carrots, largely chopped

2 onions, quartered

1 lemon, sliced

3/4 stick unsalted butter, sliced rm temp

4-5 cloves garlic, crushed

4 sprigs rosemary, stripped, divided

6 sprigs thyme, divided

kosher salt

olive oil

1/2 cup dry white wine

cooking spray

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 375°F.  Make compound butter: add chopped rosemary and thyme to softened butter with a tsp. kosher salt, mash together.  Remove giblets bag from cavity of chicken.  Wash and dry chicken and place on a washable mat.  Find a roasting pan large enough to accommodate chicken and vegetables.

Create rack for chicken:  in the bottom of your roasting pan add in chopped carrots, one onion diced into eighthed cubes, 2-3 cloves of garlic, 2-3 slices of lemon a sprinkle of salt (about 1 tsp) and a swig of olive oil (about 2 Tbs.) and 2-3 Tbs. of compound butter.  Add in 1/2 cup dry white wine.

In the cavities of the chicken add in a couple cubes of onion, a couple slices of lemon, 2 cloves of crushed garlic, 1 sprig of rosemary and 1 sprig of thyme.  Be careful not to over stuff the cavities of the chicken.  Add in 1 Tbs. compound butter to the cavities.

Then making sure the skin of the chicken is dry, place chicken on your vegetable rack in the roasting pan and slather with remaining compound butter.  Spray foil with cooking spray.  Cover loosely with foil.

Place in 375°F oven for 20 minutes, reduce heat to 350°F for 30 minutes and baste throughout cooking.  At this point check temp of chicken breast… overall cooking times will vary, but for planning, plan about 12-15 minutes per pound of chicken.  So for an 8lb. chicken you are looking at roughly 2 hours of roasting time.  When you are nearing the end of cooking, remove foil for the last 30 minutes or so.

*This is a gluten-free recipe.

 

Blackened Ahi Tuna

done1Blackened food is often thought to be something you can only get in a restaurant.  The mysterious nature of how it can be blackened yet not burned perplexes many.  I am here to take some of that mystery away.  It’s not all that hard if you follow a few very easy steps.

A traditional blackening mixture involves mayonnaise with spices slathered on and grilled. This is a Greek style Blackening mixture.  I have lightened things up a bit by switching out the mayonnaise for Greek yogurt which also adds a nice tang that when paired with the tuna and combined with a bit of lemon really makes this dish special.

Because of the switch from mayonnaise to yogurt, I find it best to use a stove top grill pan.  If you don’t have one of these handy dandy pans, just use a non-stick pan… the only difference will be that you won’t get those pretty grill marks… the flavor profile will remain, yum.

tuna steak

Start with a good quality, wild caught, Ahi Tuna steak. Season with kosher salt.

yogurt

Dish out about a cup of Greek yogurt.

Lemon

Zest a whole lemon.

Corriander1

These are coriander seeds. If you only have ground coriander, that’s o.k., just rub between your fingers as you add in to release some of the oils.

crushed corriander

Since I do have the whole seeds, I crush them up a bit with my mortar and pestle.

spices

Add in coriander, lemon zest and fresh cracked black pepper.

thyme

Chop up some fresh thyme and add to the mixture.

add thyme

Add in the thyme along with about a teaspoon of kosher salt.

cut lemons

Add in the juice of half a lemon.

slathered tuna2

Set aside about 1/4 cup of yogurt mixture, then slather about 2 Tbs. onto one side of the steak.  (If you wanted to marinade this for about an hour before cooking in the fridge, that would work nicely too… just be sure to remove from fridge about 20 minutes before cook time)

tuna grill

Heat up a grill pan (or a regular non-stick pan or cast iron skillet) with a couple tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and place the steak yogurt side down.

flip side

Before you flip the steak, season with kosher salt and slather with yogurt mixture.

grill2

This steak is cut to about an inch and a half to two inches thick. Allow steak to cook on each side around 5 mins for a well done steak. If you know and trust your fish monger and you know the fish is fresh, you could go more rare here and do 3-4 mins on each side. The more well done the fish gets, the more “fishy” it will taste.

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Top with reserved yogurt and serve. Enjoy! (shown here with brown rice and quinoa and Greek cucumber, tomato salad with feta)

Blackened Ahi Tuna Recipe:

(serves 2)

2 Ahi Tuna steaks

1 cup plain Greek yogurt

1 lemon, zested and juiced

1 tsp. thyme, chopped

1 tsp. coriander, crushed

1 tsp. black pepper

1 tsp. kosher salt, plus more to taste

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Directions:

Prepare tuna steak by lightly salting.  Then mix together yogurt, corriander, lemon zest, 1/2 lemon juice, salt, fresh cracked pepper and thyme.  Reserve about 1/4 c. mixture.  Slather 2-3 T. yogurt onto one side of fish. In a very hot grill pan with a few tablespoons of olive oil, place tuna steak, slather side down. Repeat process of salting and slathering.  Cook 5 mins. on each side for well done steak.  Allow to rest and top with some of the reserved yogurt sauce.

Enjoy!

Split Pea Soup

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I don’t know about you, but I always have a ton of left over ham after Easter or any holiday really.  But, I don’t mind because I love me some Spit Pea Soup and there is nothing like a homemade ham roast to make a great Split Pea Soup with! Spring is beautiful and it’s nice to see all the winter snow melting away, but there can still be some pretty brisk and chilly weather.  What better to combat that than a nice steaming bowl of soup? Yum!

For this recipe, I used my Pineapple Honey Glazed ham and turned it into this creamy deliciousness. If you didn’t make ham or don’t have any left overs, you can always make this recipe with some deli ham, just ask the deli to cut you some thick ham or you can grab a ham steak too. Here’s how I did it:

split peas

I start off with one bag of split peas, any brand is fine. Wash them and set them aside.

onions1

Dice some onions. I like a lot of onions, so I use two medium onions and give them a medium chop (maybe the size of a dime).

whole carrots

I trim my carrots next (sometimes I don’t peel them, but this time I did, so its up to you).

carrots

Then chop them to about the same dimensions you did your onions… so for me they are about the size of a dime.

onions and carrots

Now add the onions and carrots into a large pot and sautee with some olive oil on medium heat.

garlic

Take a couple of cloves of garlic and mince (or use a garlic press). Add to your onions and carrots after they are tender. You want to make sure your garlic doesn’t burn, so add it in toward the end of the sauteeing phase.

ham halk

Now it’s time to trim up the ham hock. Add this to your vegies.  Admittedly, this is not the pretties thing ever, but it is super tasty and adds a hearty dimension to your soup you can’t get with anything else… still if it freaks you out, or if you already threw out your hock, just leave it out.

chicken broth_edited-1

Add in chicken stock, here I have homemade stock that I made earlier in the week. (If you don’t have homemade stock, just add in an extra large can of low sodium stock.) Also, add in about the same amount of hot water. And one chicken bullion or one packet of bullion powder.

chopped ham

Dice up about a cup of ham… if you have more or less, then use more or less to your taste. I chop this about the size of a quarter, I like chunky ham, if you like more delicate, then give it a smaller chop.

 

Bay leaves

Add in one bay leaf. If you have fresh, that’s great… I only had dry on hand.

thyme

Chop up about a teaspoon of fresh thyme and add to the pot. (If you only have dry that’s o.k., just reduce by half and add it in when you are sauteeing your onions and carrots)

salt and pepper

Now add in a few cracks of black pepper and a good pinch of kosher salt. Also, add in a dash of white pepper if you have it on hand.

soup in progress

Add in your split peas now and stir. Bring the liquid to a boil on high and then reduce to a simmer and let cook for about 1 hour stiring periodically. When the soup starts to thicken and you can no longer see the shape of your split peas, then you know you are ready for the next and final step. (this could take up to one additonal hour… so keep your eye on it!

pasta

When your soup is just about done… You can remove the ham hock and add in about a cup of dilatini pasta (or whatever your favorite soup pasta is ie. elbows, stars, orzo etc)

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And you’re done! Enjoy!

Split Pea Soup

(serves 8- 10)

1 package split peas, washed

1 ham hock, trimmed

1 cup diced ham

2 medium onions, chopped

4 medium carrots, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 t. fresh thyme, chopped

1 bay leaf

14-16 cups of liquid, chicken stock and water

1 chicken bullion or bullion powder packet

kosher salt to taste

fresh cracked black pepper to taste

dash of white pepper

2-3 T. olive oil

Directions:

Pepare all ingredients. Sautee onions and carrots in olive oil until tender over medium heat in a large pot.  Add in garlic.  Add in ham hock and liquid.  Add in all other ingredients except the pasta.  Cook on high until boiling.  Turn down to a medium/low boil or simmer on medium/low heat for about an hour, stirring periodically.  Check for dissapearing of peas in soup and thickening of liquid.  This could take up to an additional hour.  When liquid is thickened, add in pasta, cook an additional 20 minutes or so until pasta is done.  Taste for seasonings.  Enjoy!

note: This can very easily be made gluten free by omitting the pasta or using gluten-free pasta.

Rockstar Potatoes

Rockstardone

Why Rockstar Potatoes you ask? Why, because you feel like a rock star when you serve them to your family and friends! If you are tired of humdrum mashed or baked potatoes, try these, they are sure to be a hit!

These potatoes will be a welcome side to any weeknight meal or any holiday table.  They are simple and delicious.  Once you get the method down, you can make this with regular white potatoes as seen here, red bliss would be yummy too or you can think way out of the box and chop up some sweet potatoes and have a tasty savory sweet potato side!

Let’s get started…

raw bacon

You will want to begin where many delicious creations start… with bacon. Here you see thick center cut bacon in a medium skillet. It’s nothing crazy, just out of your grocer’s cooler. Use any type of bacon you like or have on hand. This is what I had. Place 4 slices in a pan and fry them up crispy.

baconcooling1

Next, set bacon aside on some paper towels to drain. But, don’t get rid of that bacon grease that is in the pan… that will now become your cooking fat. (OH, and make sure if you have people with wandering hands roaming your kitchen, that you cover this up, otherwise you may end up with no bacon in your final product!)

rawingredientsinpan

Next, take about 5-6 potatoes and chop them up to the size of a half-dollar and place them in the pan with your bacon grease… then add your onions and thyme.

onions

Take one small onion and slice sort of thinly. (if you like more onions, use a bigger onion, I won’t tell)

thyme_edited-1

Now for the thyme… I really think fresh thyme is key in this recipe, it adds that little something special… but if you don’t have it, use dry (just reduce the amount because dry herbs can get over powering, so take it slow) For the fresh thyme, remove the leaves from the stems and discard stems.

garlic

After you have browned up the potatoes and onions a bit (say 10 mins or so) Add in one clove of chopped garlic. I add this later on because I don’t want the garlic to turn bitter from over cooking. Also at this stage add a pinch of salt and some fresh cracked black pepper. (Keep in mind the bacon is salty, don’t over salt)

chopped bacon

As you allow the garlic to make friends with the potatoes and the onions, chop up the bacon you have reserved, it’s going in next.

ingredients in pan2

OK… so here is everything together… as soon as you mix in the bacon, double check that you have added in all your ingredients and then pop it into your oven at 350 degrees F for about 15-20 mins. until tender. (note: Make sure your skillet is oven safe, if you aren’t sure… just place ingredients into a baking dish and continue)

PHplate22_edited-1

And Wala… You’re a Rock Star!

Rockstar Potatoes Recipe:

(serves 4)

5-6 medium white potatoes, cut into 1/2 dollar size

4 slices thick cut bacon

1 small onion, sliced

1 clove garlic, chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Pre-heat oven to 350°F.  Fry up bacon in a medium skillet, set aside on paper towels to drain.  Use reserved bacon grease to fry up potatoes with onions and thyme, 10 minutes, stir occasionally.  Add in garlic, cook about 2-3 minutes.  Chop reserved bacon and add in.  Place skillet in oven (be sure skillet is oven safe! – if not, transfer to a baking dish).  Check for tenderness 15-20 mins. Enjoy!

note: Gluten free. So long as your bacon is gluten-free (always check for packing ingredients) then this is a naturally gluten-free recipe.

*** note: For a slightly healthier version, toss out the bacon grease and replace with olive oil.  You won’t be a rock star, but you’ll still be a pop star!