A Great State of a Fair

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Smells Like Roast Chicken

Sage-Garlic Roast Chicken

It's Monday. If you had forgotten, perhaps a jammed copy machine, busy morning traffic, or mistakenly drinking cold coffee reminded you (yes, I have done this on multiple occasions and I do not think there is a worse way to awaken in the morning). The aroma of sage, garlic, and butter just may be enough to make you forget about Monday's hustle and bustle all over again.

Monday's bento was predictable and quick. Store-bought curried chicken salad, toasted pecan crackers, chipotle hummus, purple radishes, grape tomatoes, baby carrots, sugar snap peas, green grapes, and two peanut butter crunches (not pictured).

My office hours today were fairly vacant and so I was able to finish up grading and start on writing an exam question.

I must admit, for those with more rigid work hours, this is more of a weekend dish. But oh did it smell delicious roasting away. There is something so homey, simple, and satisfying about a roast chicken.


Sage and Garlic Roast chicken with carrots and pearl onions

Ingredients:

5lb. fryer chicken

salt and fresh cracked pepper

1 Tablespoon chopped fresh sage leaves

6 garlic cloves, minced

4 Tablespoons butter, softened

1 Tablespoon olive oil

12 oz. baby carrots

8 oz. frozen pearl onions

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 450o. Rinse and pat chicken dry. Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper.

Combine softened butter, sage, garlic, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper.

Loosen skin from the breast and spread half of butter underneath the skin, and remaining butter over the rest of the chicken skin.

Toss pearl onions, baby carrots, salt and pepper to taste.

Place chicken in a roasting pan. Pour vegetables around the side of the pan. Put chicken in oven at 450o for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes reduce heat to 375o and bake chicken for 20 minutes per pound, until meat thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the thigh registers 180 degrees F. If the chicken browns too quickly (and it will), tent with foil to keep from over-browning. After removing chicken from oven, tent with foil and allow to sit for 10 minutes before carving. I served with cauliflower gratin (a nice bechamel with gruyere), and a green salad with apple-pecan vinaigrette.

Sunday Settling In

Sunday is for Simple yet refined

I have been experiencing an overwhelming craving for a Croque Monsieur recently. I realized that I must trace it back to my recent viewing of the movie It's Complicated in which Meryl Streep portrays a food store owner. She serves a croque monsieur to a very appreciative Steve Martin. It's a fun movie I recommend if you haven't seen it (of course, what could be wrong about a movie with Meryl Streep AND food?!)--and either way get yourself a croque monsieur immediately!

Today has been a lazy Sunday afternoon, as all Sundays should be. So instead of gussying up and dragging myself to the French bistro, my sister and I decided to tackle the favorite French grilled cheese on our own. We rate it a success. The idea is fairly straightforward: sturdy bread lathered in dijon mustard, topped with ham (we opted for turkey as it's what we had on hand), sprinkled with cheese, and then smothered with bechamel white sauce.

Croque Monsieur

Ingredients:

4 1" thick slices sturdy Italian or French loaf bread

4 teaspoons dijon mustard

6 ounces gruyere cheese, grated (about 3/4 cup)

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

1 cup milk

1 Tablespoon butter

1 1/2 tablespoons flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

dash ground nutmeg

8 ounces shaved turkey or ham

Instructions:

Slice bread. Arrange bread slices on a cookie sheet and broil bread on each side until toast is lightly browned. Spread 1 teaspoon mustard on each slice of bread. Layer roughly 1/4 of the turkey on each slice of bread. Top turkey with 2 Tablespoons of grated gruyere, each.

In a small saucepan melt butter. Whisk in flour. Stirring continuously, whisk in milk and salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Whisk over medium heat until mixture comes to a boil. Still stirring, reduce heat and simmer for a minute or until mixture has thickened. Add parmesan cheese and 1/4 cup grated gruyere. Whisk until cheese melts.

Pour mixture down over each open-faced sandwich. Return sandwiches to broiler and broil until bubbly and brown, about 3 minutes. Keep a very close eye on these. Remove from oven and enjoy with a lovely salad with dijon vinaigrette.

Long week...delightful lunches

Whatcha BENupTO?

Teehee I get such a bang out of spins on words. Have you seen the various bastardizations of pho? Phoever, Phobulous...I had a pho lunch today. I guess you could say I'm a phonatic. Sorry, couldn't resist :) It's been a looong week already and it's only Wednesday. Is it Wednesday? I've lost track. That brings us to our topic.

The new semester is upon us and you're looking at a Ph.D. student and graduate teaching assistant. Our induction into this elite class has included two weeks of rigorous "math camp" in the evenings. On Monday and Tuesday math camp was preceded by a full day teaching orientation. So one day...at math camp...yeah okay as my band friend illustrated: band camp is here in nerdiness (raising her hand), and math camp is like here (lowering her hand).

The worst part about these long days is the tendency to eat poorly. On the rigorous days I need my sustenance more than ever. And if my packed lunch can brighten my day, all the better. Bento to the rescue.

Bento #1 is slightly less creative. It's comprised of ham cubes, deli-purchased lentil salad, roasted garlic hummus, sugar snap peas, carrots, and cherries.

Bento #2 is slightly less appealing to the eye, but deeeelicious nonetheless. I made Moroccan meatballs using this recipe, only halving it and using ground beef instead of lamb. They were easy, quite flavorful, and I think they will freeze nicely. Keeping with a somewhat Mediterranean theme, I packed deli-purchased lentil salad, roasted garlic hummus, sugar snap peas, carrots, and grape tomatoes. Definitely a winning combo.

Bento #3 was a leftovers lunch. I have previously professed my love of leftovers. Sunday dinner leftovers are all the better. Here I packed leftover hamloaf, scalloped potatoes, sugar snap peas, deli-purchased white bean, balsamic, and tomato salad, and a half piece of pineapple upside down cake. I was the envy of math camp :)

A Patriotic Fourth

We all know it's practically a sacrilege to not serve up a red, white, or blue dessert on the Fourth, and preferably a combination of the three to truly show our patriotic colors. If you are bored with the typical "flag cake" then I have some ideas for you.

I have blogged before about my red, white, and blueberry trifle. It is so easy, feeds a large crowd, and fits the patriotic bill.

http://bonnieappetite.blogspot.com/2010/07/red-white-and-blueberry-trifle.html

A couple years back I had an idea: a patriotic sundae! I played around with the idea of blueberry, strawberry, and marshmallow toppings before finally deciding on 3 different kinds of ice cream. To be fair, it's really more of a lavender, hot pink, and white sundae! It was quite the undertaking, but made in advance. I made each ice cream, then scooped out portions ahead of time and froze them in little plastic cups. The patriotic sundaes were a refreshing change of pace.

The sundaes consisted of:

Blueberry cheesecake ice cream (my favorite!)

Lemon-buttermilk ice cream (my sister's favorite)

Strawberry ice cream

With the leftover odds n' ends I made an ice cream bombe the next day. I can't seem to find my picture of this, but here is an idea from Ina Garten.

I wish you a happy, healthy, patriotic fourth!

A Silver Anniversary

The 25th wedding anniversary is known as the "silver" anniversary. Does that mean that the 26th could be the "tarnished silver" anniversary? Well, those were the thoughts that went through my head as I was printing invitations for my parents' celebration. You will be happy to note that I showed some self-restraint, and called it simply a "belated" 25th, or "25+1." I figure if anyone has ever told you that "marriage is not a sprint, it's a marathon"...well, then my parents are nearly there!

Okay, enough of my wisdom on marriage *cough, cough*. Onto the food :)

The party was an inside-outside dinner for 22. I wanted to keep it somewhat simple, so I was happy to take some help from the grocery store.

When guests arrived, they were greeted with appetizer "stations." My intent was to avoid a bottleneck, over-crowded situation. Despite my best intentions, the relish tray near the alcohol was shown more favoritism. Who would've thought! I set out a red and white wine, some pre-poured, and a basic relish tray. The tray consisted of green and black olives (yuck!!), cherry peppers, hot pickled okra, sweet and dill pickles, and cheese cubes in the center. I had two of these relish trays, bowls of nuts, along with hummus and pita chips on the coffee table.

For the main event I served grilled teriyaki chicken with mango relish as optional side. The chicken breasts were marinated in K.C. Masterpiece Honey Teriyaki marinade for about 5 hours, then salted and peppered and grilled the day in advance of the party. I then reheated the chicken at a low heat (275 Fahrenheit) for about an hour, or until heated through.

I went through the same procedure for my vegetables: Marinated a mixture of sliced red, yellow, and orange bell peppers, yellow squash cut lengthwise, zucchini squash coins, sliced red onion, mushrooms, and asparagus, then grilled them. The next day I heated them in a moderate oven for approximately 30 minutes before transferring them, on their platter, to the warming drawer. These were a big hit, and quite appealing to the eye.

As I've previously said, I don't have a problem taking shortcuts so long as the food is good, appropriate, and pleasing to the eye. The pasta salad was a ---gasp--- box mix! "Suddenly Pasta Salad" original variety.

And a green salad tossed with Homemade Gourmet's apple-pecan vinaigrette. I enthusiastically recommend this dressing mix, though I think it is only sold with their fall lineup of products. Of course fall is really just around the corner...

Store-bought dinner rolls rounded out the spread.

What party could be complete without cake and punch? I opted for a simpler, less cloyingly sweet, punch of a bottle of champagne, a liter of gingerale, and a package of frozen strawberries.

Besides, party cake with BLUE icing is sweet enough!

So CONGRATS mom and dad! Here's to another beautiful 26 years together!

And a photo/all-around credit goes to my younger sister for helping me put together and FINISH all these messes I get myself into! It's such a joy to cook with her and her photography is far superior to mine. Thanks, sis!

Braised Short Ribs: The no-oven challenge

Braised Short Ribs

Yesterday, after a week of fairly warm temperatures, the weather suddenly turned chilly, overcast, and drizzly. You may recall that a kitchen remodel is underway, and it is now at the stage that I have no oven. I had planned on grilling steaks for company, but this cool, cloudy weather made me think otherwise. I needed a meal that would warm my guests, without me warming a (nonexistent) oven. I have long since wanted to try my hand at short ribs. They seem to be the gourmet comfort food. I combined several recipes and was very pleased with the outcome. The one thing I would change is to make the day before so that I can remove the fat from the top.

Braised Short Ribs:

Ingredients:

6 pounds beef short ribs, cut into individual ribs

2 Tablespoons vegetable oil

1 teaspoon salt, divided

1/2 teaspoon pepper, divided

1/2 cup flour

4 slices bacon, diced

3 small onions, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 cups red wine (I used red zinfandel)

2 cups beef broth

15 oz. can stewed tomatoes

8 oz. can tomato sauce

1 teaspoon dried rosemary

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1 1/2 lbs. baby carrots

16 oz. bag frozen pearl onions

Instructions:

Lightly season ribs.

In a pie plate combine flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Dredge ribs lightly in the flour mixture.

In a large dutch oven heat vegetable oil. Brown each side of the ribs in batches, making sure to not overcrowd pan. As each batch finishes, remove to side and continue in the same manner with the next batch until all ribs have been seared.

Next, add bacon to pan and brown.

Add chopped onions to bacon and cook over medium heat until transluscent. Add garlic during the last minute of cooking, being careful not to burn the garlic.

Add the wine, beef broth, tomatoes, tomato sauce, rosemary, thyme, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper to the hot pan to deglaze. Stir together and bring to a boil.

Nestle short ribs back into the sauce. Top with carrots and pearl onions. Secure with lid and simmer over low heat for 3 hours.

Note: I recommend allowing to cool, then refrigerating overnight. Collect fat from the top and simply reheat over the stove. I served this with mashed potatoes, salad, and rolls, but quite honestly all it needed was the rolls.