Garlic and Thyme Roasted Chicken with Crispy Dripping Croutons

3 days ago, one of my colleagues came to work raving about the chicken she made for dinner the night before. And she's continued to mention the chicken at least 2 or 3 times a day since. It sounded so wonderful, and I've heard so much about it, that I finally asked for the recipe. She told me that she got the recipe from the New York Times , and when I found the recipe and connected article, I was even more convinced that this was the roast chicken for me.

I've never successfully made a roast chicken. Last year on Valentines Day, I tried to make one for a special dinner. I made a delicious compound butter with garlic and herbs that I rubbed under the skin. I stuffed it with lemons, garlic and herbs. And I roasted it for almost 2 hours. It was still very under cooked. Another hour, and it was STILL under cooked. Finally we gave up on a raw roast chicken dinner and got takeout.

This one sounds perfect: no basting, no changing oven temperature during cooking, very easy prep. Plus, it cooks on bread, which absorbs all the drippings and juices and will end up like one giant, stuffing flavored crouton.

The Ingredients:

Sturdy bread (preferably stale) sliced ½ inch thick (I used multi grain bread)
1 tbsp olive oil, more as needed
2 tsp kosher slat, more as needed
½ tsp freshly ground pepper, more as needed
1 4-5 lb chicken, patted dry
1 garlic head, sliced in half horizontally, through the cloves
1 bay leaf
½ bunch thyme sprigs
½ lemon

The Directions:

-Preheat oven to 425°F. Lay bread slices in a metal roasting pan, in one layer. (I don't have a metal roasting pan, so I used my big Pyrex pan.) Drizzle liberally with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
-Rub 1 tsp salt and ¼ tsp pepper inside cavity of chicken. Stuff cavity with garlic, lemon, bay and thyme. Rub outside of chicken with 1 tbsp olive oil and sprinkle all over with remaining salt and pepper. Place breast side up on bread.
-Roast chicken until deeply browned and juices run clear, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Let rest 10 minutes before carving. Serve with bread from pan.

This was truly amazing. It was so easy, and came out perfectly! The skin was crispy and flavorful, the meat was juicy and lightly flavored by the thyme, lemon, and garlic. And the bread was amazing! Crispy, but moist, full of the flavors of chicken, olive oil, lemon, garlic and thyme. I served the chicken with glazed carrots and creamed spinach for dinner. And the next day, I made a salad with veggies, pieces of chicken pulled off the bones, and croutons of the yummy crisp bread. I think this is going to become a new household favorite - the hands on time of making this is so quick, maybe 10 minutes of prep, and it can be incorporated into many meals and leftovers!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Today is Boyfriend's birthday, so I'm making his favorite treat: chocolate chip cookies! I've played around with whole wheat flour in this recipe, and have found that we really like the texture of the cookies when I replaced just under half of the AP flour with whole wheat. And I feel like it's a bit more healthy that way.






The Ingredients:

2 sticks unsalted butter, room temp
¾ cup light brown sugar
¾ cup granulated sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 ¼ cup unbleached all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp kosher salt
1 bag chocolate chips
splash of milk

The Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375° F. Cream butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar.
2. While butter and sugars are creaming, combine whole wheat flour, AP flour, baking soda and salt.
3. Add vanilla and eggs to butter and mix to combine.
4. Add dry ingredients to butter mixture in thirds. Mix just until combined. Add a splash of milk to make the dough a bit more moist. Stir in bag of chocolate chips.
5. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Drop cookie dough by heaping teaspoon-full onto lined cookie sheets. Bake 12-14 minutes. Let cool on a baking rack.

This will make just over 3 dozen cookies. Which will last about a week in our house, if I'm lucky. Not only are they a great treat, but they make the house smell fantastic!

Pasta Carbonara

I know this isn't a true carbonara recipe, but it's my version, based on what I keep on hand. I think it's super tasty, and more importantly, super easy. So on nights that I just don't feel like cooking, this is quick and requires little effort. I serve it with a simple salad, or roasted veggies.




The Ingredients:
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4-5 slices turkey bacon, medium diced
1 shallot, medium dice (or an onion, or some garlic - whatever you have on hand)
1 pinch red pepper flakes
1/4 - 1/3 cup white wine, if you have it (I didn't tonight, but use it in this recipe when I have it)
1 1/2 cups stock (vegetable stock, chicken stock - whatever you have)
2 egg yolks
1/4 cup grated parmigiano-reggiano
salt and pepper to taste
enough pasta to feed everyone you're cooking for (any shape will do, and the sauce really will stretch so this can serve anywhere from 2-8 people!)

The Directions:

1. Boil water for pasta. Cook pasta according to package directions, until al dente.
2. While water is boiling, heat saute pan with olive oil over medium heat. Add bacon to pan, and saute until it starts to crisp. Reduce heat to low, add shallots and red pepper flakes, and sweat shallots until soft. Deglaze pan with wine if you have it, and reduce. Add stock to pan, bring to boil, and let reduce, stirring occasionally.
3. In small bowl, combine egg yolks and parmigiano-reggiano. (I whisk the mixture.) When pasta is almost done, temper yolk mixture by stirring in a bit of the pasta water.
4. Drain pasta, and add to saute pan. (At this point, the stock should have reduced to a thicker glaze that just coats the pasta.) Reduce heat to very low, add egg mixture, and toss pasta over low heat for a minute or two until sauce thickens and pasta is well coated with sauce. Season with salt and pepper if needed (remember the cheese and bacon will be salty, so use salt sparingly) If you have some fresh herbs, like parsley or chives, you can garnish with that.

We have this every few weeks in our house. Not the healthiest meal, but quick, cheap, filling, and easy to make with pantry ingredients. And VERY yummy!

What's in your pantry and fridge?

I'm fascinated by what people keep on hand so they can cook without having to run to the grocery store before making dinner. I live in a one bedroom apartment in New York City, so space is seriously limited. While our kitchen is pretty large by NYC standards, it's still tiny, so I try not to keep stuff on hand that I won't use.

Here's what I try to keep in my kitchen. I'm sure I've forgotten a few staples.

Spice Rack:
Kosher salt
coarse black peppercorns to grind
chili powder
ground cumin
grill seasoning
Hungarian sweet paprika
smoked sweet paprika
whole nutmeg
curry paste and/or powder
ground coriander
turmeric
garlic powder
dried minced onion
bay leaves
red pepper flakes
ground cinnamon
ground cloves
a couple of salt-free seasoning blends (I love a number of the Penzey’s blends)

Fridge/Freezer:
milk
unsalted butter
eggs
Parmigiano-Reggiano
Turkey bacon
Sharp cheddar cheese
Dijon mustard
flat-leaf parsley
fresh thyme
celery
carrots
frozen peas
frozen corn
frozen veggie medley
frozen artichoke hearts
turkey or chicken sausages (I try to buy organic, and I get a variety of flavors)
ginger, peeled, cut into 1-2” pieces, and frozen
plain bread crumbs (I buy a bag from my local bakery, but you could make your own from stale bread. Either way, I keep the bread crumbs in my freezer and they last for months.)
Spanish or yellow onions
shallots
garlic

Pantry:
Low sodium, organic vegetable stock (if I haven’t made veg. stock from scratch)
canned diced fire-roasted tomatoes
carton of crushed tomatoes
tomato paste (I prefer tomato paste in a tube, and keep it in the fridge once opened)
black beans
cannellini beans
variety of long- and short-cut pastas, plain, flavored, and whole wheat
whole wheat couscous
quick cooking brown rice
quinoa
all-purpose flour
whole wheat flour
granulated sugar
brown sugar
baking powder
baking soda
pure vanilla extract
neutral vegetable oil, such as canola oil
extra virgin olive oil
sesame oil
soy sauce
hoisin sauce
chili garlic sauce
balsamic vinegar
red wine vinegar
honey
Calvados
Marsala
A white wine that I would drink as well as cook with

Also, lots of pots and pans, a food processor, a stand mixer, and a few other kitchen gadgets and toys...

Is there anything you can't live without that I don't have on the list? I worry that there are things I am missing out on because I haven't tried or thought to keep around.

Chicken Meatball Noodle Soup

Boyfriend has a bad cold. He's been sick for a few days now, with a very sore throat, and a bad cough. He hasn't felt like eating much, so I thought chicken soup would be just the ticket to a speedy recovery. Yesterday, all he ate was canned chicken noodle soup, so today I tried to make something slightly different. This is a great comfort soup, and is a great way to use up stuff you have around the house.



The Ingredients:
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 carrots, large dice
1 medium bulb fennel, medium dice
1 medium onion, medium dice
2 stalks celery, medium dice
2 sprigs thyme
1 bay leaf
1 quart chicken stock (I had some homemade stock frozen, but a low sodium store bought stock would be fine, too)
1 package noodles (I found some spinach chive linguini at Trader Joes that I though might be tasty in the soup. But egg noodles, pastini, rotini, or whatever pasta you like would be fine. This would also be a great way to use up ends of boxes of pasta, if you're like me and have multiple boxes of pasta with one serving or less remaining.)
dark leafy greens, if you have them (I had some kale in the fridge, so threw it in)

Meatballs:
1 lb ground chicken
½ cup breadcrumbs
¼ cup grated parmigiano reggiano
1 egg
1 sprig thyme, minced
1 pinch dried minced onion
1 pinch garlic powder
1 pinch red pepper flakes
1 tsp grill seasoning
1 shallot, grated

The Directions:
1. Heat dutch oven or soup pot over medium heat. Add olive oil and heat through. Add carrots, fennel, onion, and celery, and sauté 5 minutes, until they start to become tender. Add 2 sprigs thyme, bay leaf, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Sauté 1 or 2 minutes more. Add stock, and bring to boil.
2. While stock is coming to boil, make meatballs. Combine all meatball ingredients and combine well with hands. Do not over mix. Form golf ball sized meatballs, and drop into soup. (I ended up using about 2/3 of the meatball mix before deciding that was enough for 2 of us. So I'm saving the rest and will bake off meatballs tomorrow for lunch. 350° for about 15 minutes, until the meatballs are cooked through) Reduce to simmer, cover, and cook 45 minutes or so. The longer it cooks, the more the flavors will combine.
3. Before serving, bring back to boil and add noodles to soup. Cook until noodles are al dente. If you like, add a few handfuls of dark, leafy greens, chopped to bite sized pieces when you add the noodles.

This was SO good. It had tons of flavor, and the whole apartment smelled yummy. I loved having meatballs, rather than shredded chicken, since I think it gave an additional depth of flavor. The kale was a great twist, too. I wanted to boost the healthy factor, so Boyfriend will feel better as soon as possible, and thought that the vitamins in the kale would be a good way to start. And it's such a hearty green, that it doesn't get too soggy or soft. We have enough left over for a couple of lunches, and I think we'll both be sad when it's gone. I may have to make another pot!

Slow Cooker Chicken "Lo Mein"

I haven't cooked for a couple of weekends, so I decided this weekend will be full of home cooking. I didn't start thinking about dinner until pretty late, so I needed something that didn't take all day, but I am still obsessed with my new slow cooker. I went through my cookbooks looking for a quick cooking slow cooker recipe, and found a Cashew Chicken Lo Mein recipe in Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Recipes for Two cookbook. I didn't think the cashews would go over well with Boyfriend, and I also wanted to try to use stuff I had around the house instead of buying a bunch of new ingredients. So I modified the recipe quite a bit.

The Ingredients:
-1 – 1 ½ boneless, skinless chicken breast halves per person (I bought a package with 3 chicken breast halves, and used them all)
-1 tbsp canola oil
-½ medium onion, thinly sliced
-1 inch peeled ginger, grated*
-1 garlic clove, grated
-zest of ½ lime
-1 tbsp hoisin sauce
-3 tbsp soy sauce
-2 tsp chili garlic sauce
-1 splash of sesame oil
-2 cups frozen stir-fry vegetable blend, thawed (I found one with broccoli, carrots, and water chestnuts)
-6-8 ounces ramen noodles (or udon noodles, or whole wheat spaghetti)
-juice of 1 lime
-2 tbsp sliced green onions


*I buy a big piece of fresh ginger, peel the whole thing, and cut it into 1-2 inch pieces. I then freeze it, and grate it with a microplane when a recipe calls for ginger. The ginger lasts for months, and is much easier to grate when frozen. Here's a photo of my ginger all peeled and cut up, before I froze it.




The Directions:
1. Heat 1 tbsp canola oil (or other light colored oil) in sauté pan. Cut chicken breasts into bite sized pieces. Sauté over medium heat until browned. They do not need to be cooked through.
2. Put chicken in bottom of 2 or 3 quart slow cooker. Cover with sliced onions, grated garlic, grated ginger, lime zest.
3. Combine hoisin, soy sauce, chili garlic sauce, and sesame oil. Add to slow cooker, stir to coat chicken. Cook on LOW for 2 hours, or until chicken is cooked through.
4. When chicken is cooked through, add veggies to slow cooker, stir to combine, and cook on HIGH for 30 minutes.
5. Once veggies are added to slow cooker, prepare noodles according to package directions.
6. When veggies are cooked, add noodles and lime juice to slow cooker, and stir gently to combine. Garnish with green onions and serve.

This was really tasty! I thought it was a bit too spicy, that maybe I should have used a bit less ginger and a bit less chili garlic sauce. But it wasn't overwhelmingly too spicy. Boyfriend really liked it, and didn't think it was to spicy at all. So maybe next time I'll find a way to tone it down, but just a little. It was really easy, and the chicken was nice and tender, since they were slow cooked. When I told my mom what I was making, she asked why I didn't cook the same thing on the stovetop - it would probably only take 30 minutes or so. She's right that the stovetop would take way less time, but I like to think that using the slow cooker lets the flavors combine more and makes the chicken more tender.

Slow Cooker Chili Casserole

So I'm still breaking in the slow cooker, and thought I'd try a traditional slow cooker meal: chili. I decided to put a twist on it by topping it with cornbread and cheese, because what could be better than chili with cornbread and cheese?! This is another super easy one, and perfect with a green salad or other simple vegetable.


The Ingredients:



-1 ½ lbs ground beef
-1 large (2-3 small) onion, small dice (I could only find tiny onions at the store, so I used 3)
-2 garlic cloves, minced
-1 red bell pepper, medium dice (any color would be fine)
-1 tbsp chili powder
-1 tsp ground cumin
-1 chipotle in adobo (depends on how spicy you like this. Next time, I might add 2)
-½ cup low sodium vegetable stock (chicken or beef stock would be fine, too. This is what I had on hand.)
-1 can black beans, strained (I had black beans in my pantry, but kidney beans would great here, too.)
-1 can fire-roasted tomatoes
-1 box cornbread mix
-1 egg (or whatever the package directions are for the cornbread)
-1/3 cup canola oil (or whatever the package directions are for the cornbread)
-1 ¼ cup milk (or whatever the package directions are for the cornbread)
-1 cup grated cheddar cheese
-1-2 tbsp minced cilantro

The Directions:

1. Brown beef over medium heat. Drain fat from beef and return to heat.
2. Add onion, garlic, pepper, chili powder, cumin, and chipotle, and sauté until onion is tender, about 5 minutes.
3. Add stock and bring to boil, about 2 minutes.
4. Put meat mixture in 4 quart slow cooker. Top with can of black beans and can of tomatoes. Cook over low heat, 3-4 hours.
5. Prepare cornbread batter according to package directions. Stir ¾ cup of grated cheddar into batter. Spoon batter over chili, cover and cook on high another hour. (I think this had too much cornbread for the amount of chili. Next time, I'll use half the batter on the casserole, and bake off the other half in muffins.)
6. Top bread with remaining ¼ cup of cheese, cover, and cook until cheese melts, about 5-10 minutes. Top with cilantro and serve.



This was great! I was worried that Boyfriend wouldn't like it, but he really loved it and had seconds. He usually complains that chili isn't a particularly satisfying meal, but the addition of the cornbread made it heartier, and he thought it was perfect. I liked it too, although thought there was too much cornbread. And next time, I'll add more chipotles and chili powder - it could use a bit more kick. I think this would also be great with ground turkey, rather than ground beef.