August 1st, 2010 by brady
It was cold. I had guilt about wanting to turn on the heat in July. I wanted leftovers.
The Good Life Market a block away on Cortland has had big roasting chickens lately, so I got this one.
Seven and a half pounds! Yay! I went outside to the garden and picked a fistful of all the herbs we have. (Rosemary, sage, thyme, oregano, Italian parsley and mint– I was verrrry sparing with the mint.) I chopped all those up and mixed with olive oil, some ground medium-heat New Mexico chilis and ground mild mustard powder. Oh, and black pepper. Rubbed it all over the chicken, inside and out. Into the chickenhole went a quartered lemon and some onion hunks. I roasted it at 400, breast down for an hour and fifteen minutes, and then breast up (having flipped the bird) for about 45.
Meanwhile, I roasted purple potatoes with butter and rosemary and black pepper in foil. (For the last half hour of chicken roasting time, which gave them about 45 minutes to cook once I took the chicken out to rest.)
To finish off our hearty wint… errrr, light summer meal, I quartered a bunch of big brussels sprouts and coarsely chopped a red onion, tossed with olive oil and roasted them in a baking pan covered in foil. (For about the same time as the potatoes. They got super creamy, nutty and sweet, and the onions just caramelized.)
I always eat some dark meat parts while the skin is still crispy, and then use the breast meat for salads, sandwiches, general snacking.
Tags: chicken, dinner, leftovers, potatoes, purple, Recipes, summer, winter
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February 11th, 2010 by brady
Lamb Shanks, Creamy Polenta and Braisedish Chard
I impulse bought some lamb shanks (not anywhere exotic– Safeway) and I got four, because having the oven on for as long as I liked to braise seemed like a waste.
Anyway, they are pretty easy. In a dutch-ovenesque pot, I browned the shanks on all sides after rubbing them in a mix of kind of random spices from the spice cabinet: marjoram, thyme, black pepper, ground chili, crushed bay and tiny bits each of orange rind, cinnamon and allspice.
Then I added an onion to the mix, and then poured in about a cup of red wine (I like the highly drinkable screwcap Perrin Cotes du Rhone they sell at TJ if I don’t have some leftover wine sitting around) an onion, some garlic, and a can of chopped tomatoes. I added water to almost cover the shanks, and a few sprigs of fresh rosemary.
I put the cover on the pot and ignored it for about 3 1/2 hours somewhere between 275-300 degrees.
There was some whole thing after I read Heat about nine hour polenta, but this time I just added 1 c polenta to 6 c water, and cooked that until it thickened, added a cup of milk and some salt and cooked it a little longer til it seemed very creamy. This took about 90 minutes.
Turned that off and sauteed/braised the chard for about 10 minutes, finishing it with a little balsamic.
Heaped it all into the bowl above and had a nice fall-aparty lamb shanky dinner, with the rest of the tasty screwcap wine.
Despite all the long cooking times, the shanks were super-easy and you could do a much quicker polenta or a root vegetable mash if you don’t feel like stirring for so long. Braise, my friends, braise!
Tags: cooking, dinner, lamb shanks, meat, polenta, Recipes, winter chow
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February 3rd, 2010 by brady
David is in Las Vegas. I am home feasting on things he doesn’t love. Of course, just getting by on the things he’s not as fond of felt awfully healthy. (Yams, quinoa pilaf, winter squash, garbanzos, cauliflower.) What to do? Kayo said I should make an aviation, and since I a.) had all the ingredients and b.) know I should listen to a fellow slatherer (except for during some unfortunate Shoes ‘n’ Booze incidents) I made one.
About 2 oz gin
and 1/2 oz Creme De Violette
and a little less than that of Maraschino liqueuer
juice of half a lemon (as long as it’s a juicy one.)
Shake shake shake shake shake over ice.
Strain into martini (or similar) glass.
I started out making Sensations, which I learned of as a variation of this drink at the Orbit Room here in SF. They had muddled mint and no creme de violette, but were delicious. More summery than this older-school (old-schooler?) cocktail, which does come out a kind of funny grey color with the creme de violette.
This makes up for the gross chore I made up for myself to do today (while procrastinating something non-gross, of course) and it is my understanding that the lemon juice will prevent scurvy.
Tags: aviation, cocktail, gin
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