Basic Roast Chicken with bonus recipe!

Autumn is juuuuuust around the corner, and despite it still being plenty warm here in the upper Midwest, I’m craving oven-baked meals and soups. The other day I remembered that I had a 5lb whole chicken from a friend in the freezer, so I thought it was time to roast it. There are myriad recipes out there for roasting a whole chicken, and I love the fancy ones, like Samin Nosrat’s Buttermilk-Brined Chicken, which I’ll probably make sometime soon. But, I wanted simple for a weeknight. So I went for Jacques Pepin’s Basic Roast Chicken that I found on New York Times Cooking (subscription required, but totally worth it). This was probably the best roast chicken I’ve ever made. Hence, I’m sharing it with you. Now, the bird I had was 5 pounds. Most from the store will be smaller. The instructions I give will be for a 3 1/2 pound bird, so I actually baked mine twice as long as what will be written here. This guide from The Spruce Eats will help you too!

And, below the chicken recipe, there’s a bonus recipe for a quick chicken stock using the carcass!

Basic Roast Chicken a la Jacques Pepin

Ingredients:

1 3 1/2 pound whole chicken
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Season the bird with salt and pepper, both in the cavity and on the skin. Stand the chicken on its side in an oven-safe dish; a cast iron skillet is ideal for this.
Put pan in the oven for 20 minutes, then take out and flip the bird onto the other side. Roast for another 20 minutes. After those 40 minutes, place the bird on its back, baste with the cooking juices, and roast for another 10 minutes.
Use a thermometer to check that the meat has reached 165 degrees, and if so, cut and serve!

(Note from the original recipe: by cooking the chicken on its sides, the juices stay in the breast and, since only the back is exposed, the chicken does not need constant basting.)

**********************************************

I served this with sauteed veggies and a glass of Claret. It felt very upscale and classy for a weeknight!

*******************************************************************

Bonus Quick Chicken Stock!

Ingredients:

1-2 chicken carcasses
1 onion, quartered
2 celery ribs, chopped
1 large carrot, chopped
1 head of garlic, halved crosswise
1/4 tsp black peppercorns
2 thyme sprigs
8 parsley sprigs including long stems
4 quarts filtered water

Over high heat, bring all ingredients to a boil in a large stockpot. Once boiling, reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for 2-3 hours.
Strain stock through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl. If you want to, skim off the excess fat (I don’t typically). Otherwise, pour into jars and chill. This will keep in the fridge for a few days, but if you don’t plan to use it within that time, it can be frozen for a few months!

********************************************

So, I hadn’t intended to make stock last night, but I’m really glad I did. As you can see in the picture, I got 3 quarts plus a mug for me to sip on before bed. It.was.awesome.

I’m really excited to use this stock. It tasted better than any I’ve made in the past. Might have had something to do with the ridiculously simple chicken recipe I used. Who knows. But, I know it was worth it. I’ll be doing this at least once a month over the winter!

Happy cooking!!

Salmon Cakes!

Happy Wednesday everyone! Sorry I’m getting this week’s post to you a little late, but it’s been sort of a crazy week already. I’ve worked extra at my regular job, and I have been working a novel that is consuming my thoughts. Pretty sure I’ve never wanted to tell a story so badly. So, you might randomly hear about my other writing sometimes, especially when November rolls around and NaNoWriMo begins.

Anyway. Something I’m really excited about in the food entertainment world this week is that Alton Brown is back with more GOOD EATS! I watched the first two episodes of Good Eats: The Return on Sunday night and they were everything I could have asked for. Also, he’s just gotten more handsome as the years pass, so there’s that, haha. But seriously, I love the whole food science thing, and it’s so cool when chefs cook yummy food AND can tell us why something cooks the way it does.

So that’s the cool stuff this week. How’s everyone else? Oh yeah, I promised you a recipe. Right. Always gotta have one of those unless I specify this isn’t a recipe post. Well, tonight I’m sharing with you a recipe for fish cakes. Salmon cakes, to be exact. I’ve made fish cakes multiple times over the years, utilizing different canned salmon and tuna, but they always felt a little…not perfect. I didn’t know why, until I came across this recipe from Natasha’s Kitchen, another cooking blog with waaaaay more cred than me. <—-That’s supposed to be funny, you can laugh. She’s been around for awhile. It’s all good.

The secret? To use freshly baked fish! I do not know why this never occurred to me, but I did it the other night when I wanted salmon but just thought regular ol’ baked and served over veggies was gonna be too boring for a Monday night. I adapted the recipe I found and served these with a spinach soup, which was also awesome and I will likely share in a future post.

**************************************************************

Fish Cakes using freshly baked salmon

Ingredients:

1 lb fresh salmon filet
Garlic powder
pink salt
black pepper
Olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
1/2 red bell pepper, finely diced
3 tbsp butter, divided
1 cup almond flour or coconut flour or a mix of the two*
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
3 tbsp mayo
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup fresh parsley, minced

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place salmon skin-side down. Brush with olive oil and season with garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Bake uncovered for 10-15 minutes. Take out, cover with aluminum foil, and let rest for 10 minutes. (In this time, if you have not already, prepare the onion and pepper.) Once filet has rested for 10 minutes, flake with forks, make sure there aren’t any bones, and let cool to room temperature.

In a medium skillet over medium heat, add 1 tbsp olive oil and 1 tbsp butter. Melt together, then add onion and bell pepper. Saute until onion is golden, which is about 7-9 minutes, then take from heat.

Using a large mixing bowl, combine salmon, sauteed veggies, 1 cup almond or coconut flour, eggs, mayo, Worchestershire sauce, and parsley. Add a few dashes of garlic powder, salt, and pepper, if you want. Mix up till fairly homogeneous. Once mixed well, form into patties. I got about 14 patties, 1 1/2 inch wide and 1/2 inch thick. (Think smallish cookies, I guess? I’m bad at this sizing thing.)

Heat 1 tbsp oil and 1 tbsp butter in skillet over medium heat. Once butter finishes sizzling, add salmon cakes and saute. (Depending on the size of your skillet, you might get them all in one pan, you might need to do half. I did all of them in my large cast iron skillet at once. If you only do half the cakes at a time, you’ll need to add more oil and butter for the second batch.) Saute 3 1/2-4 minutes per side, or until golden brown. Place fried cakes on a paper towel lined plate.

**********************************************************************

These really were amazing. I’m surprised it only took one try to get them super delicious, because more often than not, when I work with flaked fish, I have problems. But I bet the difference here really was the freshly cooked salmon. This recipe could be made with canned salmon or leftover baked salmon, but I’m not sure if I want to ruin the magic I made here, haha.

*The original recipe calls for panko breadcrumbs, which I did not have on hand at the time. And because I know almond and coconut flour are both keto-friendly, that is what I chose.

Happy cooking!!

Spinach & Onions, my favorite side

Happy Wednesday! How’s everyone’s August going? Feels like summer is disappearing fast. I am itching a little for autumn, because it’s the beginning of my favorite quarter of the year. But I’m also savoring what we have left of summer.

Today I don’t have a main dish for you, although this side dish of spinach and onions could easily be turned into one with the addition of a protein. Last night I served it with shredded chicken breast, which made a good complete meal.

Anyone who knows me knows that two of my favorite foods are spinach and onions. It’s rare that I go a day without eating one or both in a meal! They’re so good for you, as well, the spinach more than the onions hahaha. I’m very happy that this is an acceptable dish for a low carb way of eating, because I would be very very sad otherwise.

It’s super simple and works for any meal of the day. Yes, even breakfast. It’s amazing with some fried or scrambled eggs!

********************************************************

Spinach & Onions

Ingredients:

4 cups spinach
1-2 medium yellow onions, sliced in rings
3 tbsp butter
2 tsp minced garlic
pinch red pepper flakes (optional)
pinch pink salt (optional)

Melt butter in high sided skillet over medium-high heat. Adjust heat as needed, just make sure it doesn’t begin to burn. Once mostly melted, toss in garlic and and red pepper flakes if using; stir to coat in butter. Add sliced onions, stir to coat in butter as well. Let onions cook till translucent, allowing them to get some sear/browning on them. Once that’s done, add the spinach. This may have to be done in batches. Add a handful, mix to coat, etc. Cook for another couple of minutes, stirring as needed. At this point, add the pink salt if using. When spinach is wilted but still a brighter green, the dish is done! Serve with whatever protein you want. Some grated or shredded parmesan cheese is awesome on top of this too. This can be made vegan by substituting olive or coconut oil, but I have found that the butter definitely cooks better and doesn’t splash as much.

It’s simple, but so delicious, and easily adaptable. I probably would have shared this sooner except that I change it up a lot! So I made sure to make it the same way for a few weeks in order to have a good recipe to share. Hope you enjoy it, and please do share how you jazz it up if you do!

Happy cooking!!

Taco Stuffed Peppers

Who loves tacos? Who loves stuffed peppers? Did you ever think to combine the two into a super easy and delicious meal? Somehow, this did not occur to me until recently. But I finally did it, because the green peppers and the aloha peppers at Meijer were just too perfect to chop up.

*********************************************

Ingredients:

4-6 green peppers or other variety
1 pound ground beef
1/2 onion, diced
1-2 jalapenos, chopped
2-3 tablespoons taco seasoning
Splash of water (or heavy cream, see note in recipe)
1 cup cheddar, shredded
slices of pepperjack for topping

Brown the ground beef in a large saucepan, adding onions and jalapenos when almost cooked through. While meat is cooking, slice open the peppers, deseed if necessary, and get them into an oven safe pan. Once meat is cooked through, drain any excess fat. Stir in taco seasoning, adjusting for your taste. Add a splash of water and mix well, bringing to a simmer. (Also, for those doing keto and needing a bit more for your fat macros, I did not use water, I stirred in a splash of heavy cream instead.)

One the meat mixture is mixed well, add about half the shredded cheddar and let melt. This might get a little sticky but it’s key!! The cheese is always important!! After the cheddar is incorporated, spoon the mixture into the peppers. Top with the rest of the cheddar and a slice each of pepperjack.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, then broil for 2 minutes to get a good crust on that cheese.

One more note: I used 6 peppers and probably only needed 4, hence the number in the ingredients list. The peppers didn’t end up being fully stuffed, but there was still enough in each! If you do want 6 peppers fully stuffed, I would do another 1/2 pound of ground beef.

These peppers made me SO happy. We often go out for “Taco Tuesday” but because of the whole keto thing, I figured it was best to shake it up and stay in. Plus I had FILLED the fridge with good foods over the weekend, and these peppers were just too perfect. I served them with a cucumber and watermelon salad that was tossed with ground chipotle and pink salt. Also I had sauteed some mushrooms but ate them all before the peppers were done baking because I was too hungry!

The craziest thing is that I didn’t even miss the taco shells. The peppers retained a good crunch!

Happy cooking!