Roasted Chicken with Rosemary

This chicken looks fancy and people will think you took all day to make it. But that is not so. It's really easy. Roasting whole chicken is my new favorite thing. You could also try different flavors in the cavity. Another favorite is a lemon that is quartered, a few sprigs of fresh rosemary, and a clove of garlic inside the chicken. Another reason why this is so easy is because you add the potatoes and carrots and roast it at the same time. That's a full meal in one pan! I don't have a roasting pan and a rack, but I did this whole one in a 9x13 baking dish and it worked just fine. Without further ado:

standing

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter, cubed
• 4 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary or 2 tablespoons dried rosemary, crushed
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 whole roasting chicken (5 to 6 pounds)
• 6 small red potatoes, halved
• 6 medium carrots, halved lengthwise and cut into 2-inch pieces
• 2 medium onions, quartered

Directions:

In a small saucepan, melt butter; stir in the seasonings. Place chicken breast side up on a rack in a roasting pan; tie drumsticks together with kitchen string. Spoon half of the butter mixture over chicken. Place the potatoes, carrots and onions around chicken. Drizzle remaining butter mixture over vegetables.
Cover and bake at 350° for 1-1/2 hours, basting every 30 minutes. Uncover; bake 30-60 minutes longer or a meat thermometer reaches 180° and vegetables are tender, basting occasionally.
Cover with foil and let stand for 10-15 minutes before carving. Serve with vegetables. Yield: 9 servings.


Enjoy!

Barbecue Quesadillas

4 flour tortillas
1 c. shredded cheese
4 oz. can green chilies
18 oz. tub refrigerated bbq chicken*
1 c. bottled salsa
1/4 c. sour cream (optional)
1/4 c. sliced green onion (2, optional)

Coat one side of each tortilla with cooking spray (I'm a slacker and used butter). Place, coated side down, on cutting board or waxed paper. Sprinkle 1/4 c. cheese over half of each tortilla. Top with green chilies and chicken. Fold tortillas in half, pressing gently. In a hot 10-in skillet cook quesadillas two at a time over med. heat for 6-8 minutes or until golden brown, turning once. Cut each into 3 pieces. Serve with salsa, sour cream, and green onion.
*I would recommend seriously cutting back on the amount of meat. Like maybe half.)

So, I always plan on posting recipes on the blog, but then I always forget. I'll try harder.

New Recipes

Sorry, its been awhile since we've posted new recipes. But we just put some up, and more are coming soon. Does anybody else have any good ones out there? We'd love to try them.

African Chicken with Peanut Sauce

Spice Rub:
3/4 teaspoon(s) salt
3/4 teaspoon(s) ground black pepper
1 1/2 teaspoon(s) chopped garlic
1 1/2 teaspoon(s) onion powder
3/4 teaspoon(s) ground cayenne pepper
Chicken:
4 pound(s) bone-in chicken pieces, skin removed
3 tablespoon(s) vegetable oil
Peanut Sauce:
1 small onion, finely diced
1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and finely diced
1 medium carrot, finely diced
1 clove(s) garlic, minced
1 teaspoon(s) finely diced and seeded jalapeño chili
4 cup(s) chicken broth
1/2 cup(s) smooth peanut butter
1 tablespoon(s) tomato paste
1/2 tomato, seeded and diced
1 teaspoon(s) chopped fresh thyme leaves (or 1/2 tsp. dried)
1/2 teaspoon(s) peeled, grated fresh ginger ( I use dried ginger cause that's what i have)
1/2 cup(s) well-mixed coconut milk
1/2 teaspoon(s) salt
1/4 teaspoon(s) finely ground black pepper
1/4 cup(s) chopped parsley, for garnish

Directions:
1. Stir together the spice rub ingredients and rub onto chicken pieces.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Working in batches, add half the chicken and brown on all sides, taking care not to burn the spices. Transfer browned pieces to a platter and set aside. Brown remaining chicken and transfer to platter.
3. With a paper towel, wipe skillet dry; then add remaining 2 tablespoons oil. Add onion, red and green bell peppers, carrot, garlic, and jalapeño chili. Cook until vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes. Add chicken broth and simmer until reduced by half, about 20 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low, stir in remaining sauce ingredients, and simmer 2 minutes. Return browned chicken to skillet. Cook 25 to 30 minutes, or until chicken is tender and cooked through, stirring frequently to prevent sauce from sticking. Turn chicken pieces over midway through cooking time. Garnish with parsley.

This recipe sounds kind of complicated, and there are a lot of ingredients, but it is really really good. The recipe makes a ton of sauce, which I like to keep in a leftover container and eat over noodles for lunch. It's the best. Also, I don't use the jalapeño chili because I don't like things too spicey. Even without it, this recipe is pretty spicey. Love it!

Indian Spiced Chicken Pitas

Ingredients:

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed
1 1/2 teaspoon garam masala divided
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
1 cup thinly sliced seeded cucumber
3/4 cup nonfat plain yogurt
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro or mint
2 teaspoon lemon juice
Freshly ground pepper to taste
4 (6-inch) whole-wheat pitas, warmed
1 cup shredded romaine lettuce
2 small tomatoes, sliced
1/4 cupthinly sliced red onion

1. Preheat grill to medium-high or position rack in upper third of oven and preheat broiler. If grilling, oil the grill rack (see Tips & Techniques). If broiling, coat a broiler pan with cooking spray.

2. Sprinkle chicken with 1 teaspoon garam masala and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Place the chicken on the grill rack or prepared pan and cook until no longer pink in the center and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part registers 165°F, 4 to 8 minutes per side, depending on the size of the breast. Transfer the chicken to a clean cutting board and let rest for 5 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, combine cucumber, yogurt, cilantro (or mint), lemon juice, the remaining 1/2 teaspoon garam masala, and 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper in a small bowl. Thinly slice the chicken. Split open the warm pitas and fill with the chicken, yogurt sauce, lettuce, tomato, and onion.

These were really good. My brother said that the sauce tasted like sprite (we used mint leaves instead of cilantro.) Also, I didn't feel like buying the Garam Masala spice because it was an expensive spice, and I didn't know if we'd even like it. So, we made our own out of 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon cumin, and 1/2 teaspoon corriander. They do sell Garam Masala at Macey's though.

Peking Chicken Wraps

Ingredients:  

• 1/2 cup uncooked brown rice
  
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
  
• 4 green onions, sliced
  
• 1/4 snow peas, trimmed
  
• 1 cup finely shredded cabbage
  
• 2 cup shredded carrot
  
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
  
• 1 teaspoon ginger
  
• 6 whole wheat tortillas (10 to 12 inches diameter)
  
• 6 tablespoons asian sauce (teriyaki, hosisin, general tsao, orange, whatever you want)
  
• 2 cups cooked chicken breast-shredded or cubed or diced
  

Directions:  

1.  Cook rice according to package directions, set aside.

2.  Meanwhile, in a medium nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat.  Add green onions, cook and stir 1 minute or until wilted.  Stir green onions into cooked rice. 

3.  fill 2 quart saucepan half full of water; heat to boiling.  Add snow peas and cook 30 seconds.  Drain and rinse with cold water until cool.  Pat dry and cut lengthwise into thin strips.  In medium bowl, stir together snow peas, cabbage, carrot, rice vinegar and ginger.

4.  To assemble wraps, lay tortillas on work surface. Spread each with 1 tablespoon sauce of your choice.  Place some of the chicken, rice and veggie mixture in the tortilla and wrap it up, burrito style.  

Kyle and I really liked these.  We used General Tsao sauce to flavor the wraps.  I also sautéed the chicken in some of the sauce because I thought it added more flavor.  

Thai Chicken with Basil

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 lbs chicken
  
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
  
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  
• 2 red or green jalapeno chiles, seeded, finely chopped
  
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  
• 1 teaspoon sugar
  
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
  
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint leaves
  
• 1 tablespoon chopped unsalted peanuts, if desired

Directions:

1.  Cut chicken into bite sizes

2.  Spray a large skillet with cooking spray.  Add oil, heat over medium-high heat.  Cook chicken, garlic and chilies in oil 8 to 10 mins, stirring occasionally, until chicken is no longer pink in center.  Stir in soy sauce and sugar.  Sprinkle with basil, mint and peanuts.  

This was a really easy meal.  I didn't have fresh mint leaves, but just used dried.  I also didn't add the jalepenos because I'm a chicken.  Instead of tasting Thai, it tasted very much like Greek Souvlaki chicken.  I didn't like the peanuts in it, but Kyle did.