sweet & savory roasted chicken

“food must not only be good to eat, but also good to think”--Claude Levi-Strauss

Some like to fix sweet potatoes sweetly, others prefer savory; this recipe is the best of both worlds. Everything used to make this meal came from local farms save the oil, salt, and pepper.

This is the first time I’ve ordered chicken from my CSA, and I couldn’t have been more pleased with the moistness and flavor. This meal makes the most of everything that’s in season right now, making it very cost-effective.

adapted from Real Simple’s recipe

serves 4
4 chicken thighs
4 chicken legs
3 tbps olive oil
2 ½ tsp kosher salt
¾ tsp fresh ground black pepper
1 ½ lbs sweet potatoes
1 medium onion
2 tbps honey

to make your chicken:
*preheat oven to 400
*pat the chicken dry with paper towels and place in the dutch oven (or roasting pan)
*drizzle with 1 tbsp oil, 1 ½ tsp salt, and ½ tsp pepper, rub to coat
*roast chicken for 25 minutes
*meanwhile, chop sweet potatoes and onions into 1” pieces and combine in a large bowl with honey and remaining spices
*after chicken has roasted for 25 minutes, add sweet potato mixture on top of chicken and cook another 25-30 minutes until potatoes are tender.

turkey piccata

"One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well."
—Virginia Woolf

I love schnitzel, piccata, and scaloppine. Veal piccata (which is the origin of this dish in Italy) is the superior piccata from a taste perspective. But, if you are budget conscious or morally opposed to veal, the poultry options are a good bet. And, if you're Vegan/Vegetarian you can make this dish with seitan. When I saw the Turkey version in Alton Brown’s Good Eats 2, I couldn’t wait to try it.

Traditional Piccata is sauteed, butterflied meat in a lemony reduction. It is typically served over a bed of pasta in America, or after the pasta course in Italy. I am accustomed to a piccata dish containing capers, but this recipe omits them (and I missed them, though this was probably just nostalgia). This simple dish is easy to assemble and very quick cooking.

The turkey breast I bought from Whole Foods was already so thinly sliced that I didn’t take the time to flatten the turkey cutlets further. Next time, I will make more of the lemon/wine reduction as it accompanied the fettuccine pasta quite well. The turkey was delicious and I’m looking forward to the leftovers!

adapted from Alton Brown’s Good Eats 2

serves 4-6
1 pound of turkey cutlets
Kosher salt
Fresh ground pepper
½ cup all-purpose flour
2 tbsp. olive oil
6 tbsp. unsalted butter, divided
2 tbsp. shallots, finely chopped
½ cup white wine
1/3 cup lemon juice (which was more than 1 lemon for me)
2 tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped (for garnish)

to make your Piccata:
*preheat oven to 200
*slice your turkey breast into ½” pieces and pound turkey cutlets to no less than 1/8” thick
*season both sides of the meat with salt and pepper and dredge through flour, shaking off excess, set aside
*heat oil and 4 tbsp. butter over medium high
*when hot, but not yet smoking, brown the turkey, about 1 minute on each side, then remove to an oven-proof platter and place in oven to keep warm
*reduce heat to low and add shallots, sautéing for 1-2 minutes, until they begin to turn translucent
*add the wine and lemon juice and simmer until slightly reduced, about 2 minutes
*add the remaining butter and whisk to combine
*season with salt and pepper to taste, if necessary
*pour the sauce over the turkey, sprinkle with parsley, and serve immediately

serving suggestion:
over a bed of pasta or mashed potatoes with a crisp salad

p.s. the photo used is from wikipedia's chicken piccata article. my turkey was camera-shy and really, they look quite similar.

(twice) baked beans

We’ve had such mild weather lately that we’ve been able to grill out in the middle of February! I love baked beans, and this recipe doesn’t disappoint. We had these beans as a side to really delicious burgers on the grill. And while a dutch oven is not necessary, as with all things, it only makes it better!

My boyfriend thought it was comical that one of the ingredients in this recipe was in fact canned baked beans. Come to find out Whit himself passed off canned baked beans in a Crockpot as a homemade side dish for a holiday party years ago. If he had just had this easy recipe, he could have truthfully claimed this fabulous side dish as his own.

If chili sauce is unknown to you, you are in good company. I had no idea what it was before I made these beans. I found it between the cocktail sauce and ketchup in the condiment aisle at my Kroger. It's not hot (spicy), but more of a sweet ketchup. This sauce is tasty and will be a condiment staple in my fridge from now on.

This recipe is adapted from ‘Life After Ramen’ by Ann Thatcher and Randy MacDonald, who are Knoxville natives! I've truly enjoyed their cookbook in the years since I received it as a gift. The recipes have short ingredients lists and do not require a lot of skill or equipment to pull off.

In the future, I'll try to make baked beans from scratch. But in the meantime, I'm happy to have this time saving and absolutely delicious recipe for a summer favorite on hand.

serves 4-6
28 oz. canned original style baked beans
¼ cup diced onion
¼ cup diced green pepper
6 oz. chili sauce
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 strip bacon

to make your beans:
*preheat oven to 350
*mix all ingredients and add to the dutch oven
*top with bacon strip
*cover and cook for 15 minutes
*uncover and cook for another 15 minutes

serving suggestion:
this side dish is delish hot or cold!

brownie eureka

last week we made brownies in the dutch oven. they were the most delicious, moistest brownies i have ever made, despite having come from a BOX. let me explain; after years of trying to bake cakes, brownies, cookies etc. in my shoddy oven with lackluster results, i had all but given up.

for some reason the temperature never stays consistent and i wound up with desserts that looked as though i baked them in a microwave. i can’t tell you how humiliating it is to make a cake (from a box) and it doesn’t turn out. short of purchasing a new oven, i had a hunch that the dutch oven could turn all this around for me. and it did.

we used the Ducan Hines Decadent Double Fudge Brownie mix. the brownies were beautifully consistent, and delicious. thank you, Duncan Hines. thank you, Le Creuset.

chicken and white wine stew

you may never have thought to put chicken in a stew before, neither had i. but, true to form, the combination of chicken and white wine does not disappoint. this stew ended up being one of my favorite Jamie Oliver recipes to date, albeit one that i tweaked considerably.

a note from the meat department: the butcher at my neighborhood Kroger would not skin and dice my chicken thighs as the original recipe calls for. so, being short on time and weary of raw poultry i decided to cook the chicken first and sort out all the messy details later.

my stew was probably more delicious for having left the skin on; though this probably decreased the healthfulness quotient slightly. the original recipe calls for adding raw, skinless, diced poultry to the cooking veggies. also, there is no bacon in the original recipe; another boon to flavor (and hindrance to health, perhaps).

this is a simple recipe from the ingredients standpoint, as most everything i already had in the pantry/fridge. this was my first time cooking with chicken thighs and wow, the dark meat is tasty! i was also pleasantly surprised to find that chicken thighs are relatively inexpensive compared to other meats and other chicken parts.

however, this is not a ‘quick and easy’ recipe. it always takes some time to chop veggies, but the additional step of removing chicken bones at the end was a pain. although probably less painful than removing them on the front end. all in all, this was an excellent dish to enjoy on a snowy wintry night!

adapted from Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution

serves 4-6
2 stalks celery
2 medium onion
2 carrots
olive oil
1 heaped teaspoon all-purpose flour
1 x 14 oz. can diced tomatoes
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
½ teaspoon dried thyme
½ handful fresh parsley
1 pound chicken thighs
2 cups white wine
1 slice bacon
pad of butter

to make your stew:
*preheat oven to 350
*with dutch oven over medium heat, fry one slice bacon in butter for a few minutes
*place chicken thighs, skin down in the bacon/butter and season with salt and pepper
*brown the chicken on both sides and remove chicken and bacon to a plate
*trim off ends of celery and roughly chop
*peel and roughly chop onions
*peel carrots, slice lengthwise, and roughly chop
*finely chop parsley
*add the veggies, herbs, and 1 lug of oil to the dutch oven fry for 10 minutes
*add the flour, booze, and canned tomatoes
*stir and season with salt and pepper
*add the chicken and bacon
*bring to boil, put the lid on and stick it in the oven for 1 ½ hours
*with 30 minutes of cooking time remaining, take the chicken out, remove all bones, and shred the meat
*add water if the stew looks dry
*return shredded chicken to the dutch oven and continue cooking the last 30 minutes uncovered
*add more salt/pepper if needed before serving

serving suggestion:
serve with Hawaiian rolls

chili con pavo

the original recipe is a chili con carne (made with ground beef); however, i planned to make this recipe the last time we were expecting snow and by the time i got to the grocery, ground turkey was the only option. i've enjoyed turkey chili before, so i knew this substitution would be sufficient.

chili is one of my favorite things to cook, but this was my first time using cinnamon. while cooking, the scent of cinnamon was very strong. i was skeptical the chili would be too sweet tasting but the vinegar adds a nice balance. this chili had a wonderful, distinctive flavor and was probably lighter with the turkey substitution.

another favorite of mine is chili over pasta. on the second day, i added 16 ounces of canned tomato sauce and italian herbs to the leftover chili which yielded more of a pasta sauce consistency. i served that over rotini pasta topped with cheese and it was fabulous as well!

adapted from Jamie Oliver's 'Food Revolution'

serves 6
2 medium onions
2 cloves garlic
2 medium carrots
2 celery stalks
2 red bell peppers
olive oil
1 heaped teaspoon chili powder
1 heaped teaspoon ground cumin
1 heaped teaspoon ground cinnamon
sea salt and fresh ground pepper
1 x 15oz. can garbanzo beans
1 x 15oz. can red kidney beans
2 x 14oz. cans diced tomatoes
1 pound ground turkey
1 small bunch of fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

to make your chili:
*peel and finely chop the onions, garlic, carrots, and celery
*halve the peppers, remove stalks and seeds and roughly chop
*place dutch oven over medium high heat with 2 lugs olive oil
*add all your chopped veggies
*add chili powder, cumin, and cinnamon with a good pinch of salt and pepper
*stir every 30 seconds for 7 minutes until softened
*add the drained garbanzo beans, drained kidney beans, and the canned tomatoes
*add the ground turkey, breaking larger chunks up with a wooden spoon
*fill one of the tomato cans with water and add to the pot
*pick the cilantro leaves and place them in the fridge
*finely chop the stalks and place them in the pot
*add the vinegar and season with a pinch of salt and pepper
*bring to a boil and turn the heat down to a simmer with the lid slightly askew for one hour, stirring occasionally

to serve your chili:
Jamie Oliver recommends serving his chili con carne over rice with guacamole. we enjoyed the turkey chili with cornbread, oyster crackers, shredded cheese, sour cream, cilantro, and jalapenos.

to make the cornbread:
use a package of jiffy cornbread and make according to package. mix into the batter a handful of shredded cheese, 1/2 cup of cream corn, and diced jalapenos; bake as directed.

Chicken Parmesan

this is a really simple and fast chicken Parmesan recipe. it will serve approximately 4 people. we have started buying the thinly sliced chicken breasts, which cook even faster. also, i usually want to add more spaghetti sauce than recommended.

one advantage of using the dutch oven is that you can saute and bake the chicken in the same dish. the last time i made this, i fried pieces of bacon in a little olive oil before adding the chicken and it was quite tasty.

ingredients:
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
1 cup Italian bread crumbs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 package mozzarella cheese slices
1 jar spaghetti sauce
desired noodles (i prefer angel hair)
olive oil
salt & pepper

directions:
*preheat oven to 350 degrees
*mix breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, and red pepper together
*dredge chicken through milk, then eggs, than breadcrumb mixture
*lightly brown chicken in skillet with olive oil (about 3-4 minutes each side) and lightly salt and pepper
*pour 1/2 sauce over the chicken breasts
*add a slice of mozzarella on top of each breast
*bake, covered, for 25-30 minutes
*prepare noodles
*serve chicken on top of a bed of noodles and cover with remaining sauce

serving suggestion:
i like to eat this meal with a crisp salad and garlic bread.