Roast Chicken

"Tastes like Fall" my hubby said. I had just said that it tasted like "solid chicken soup." I meant it in a good way. I don't think it actually IS fall here, and I doubt we even get fall in San Antonio. I haven't lived here long enough to know. But, since we are at about the same latitude as Orlando, I'm guessing we have two seasons. Summer and Not Summer. We're almost to Not Summer now... we had a week of chilly nights... but we're warming up again. After all, it is San Antonio. Christmas just won't be Christmas without steaks on the grill and cocktails on the patio.

But, I digress. Roast chicken is what I'm supposed to be talking about. I get a newsletter from the French Food section of About.com. There was a featured recipe for Roasted Lemon Rosemary Chicken. Yumm-o, thought I. I was planning a roasted chicken tonight, anyway. How serendipitous. As usual, I didn't follow the recipe 100%. A recipe is more a set of guidelines, anyway (say I in me best imitation of Captain Barbosa.) I used fewer veggies (just feeding two adults), didn't bother salting and peppering during the browning, and didn't really get the chicken all that brown. Oh, and I used vermouth instead of Chardonnay. Because Julia Child told me it's ok. (Chardonnay never lasts 'round here... someone just keeps drinking it...)

I also didn't use fresh herbs... which I'm sure Julia would not ok, but I haven't started growing any and they're too darn expensive. So there.

It still smelled divine while it was cooking, and tasted even better. I tore up some red leaf lettuce and topped it with lemon-garlic vinaigrette... perfect meal. Well, almost. Next time I will make these adjustments: quartered baby potatoes, lots more garlic (the whole cloves, steeped in chicken broth and vermouth, were ambrosia), and I'll just skip the silly browning of the chicken. Instead I'll remove the cover with about 20 minutes left.

Guacamole of the Gods

Sooo... I fried up some bacon earlier... in my stainless-steel pan, for a change. And I was left with stuck-on bacony goodness. What to do? My planned lunch didn't need any bacon (odd, I know.) A beautiful idea began to form... boozey, bacony guacamole. I could deglaze the pan with tequila... and add that to the guacamole... and be in heaven.

So, I did it. And I am.

Here's the sort-of recipe:

An avocado, quite ripe and smooshed up in a bowl
Juice from 1/2 a lime, squeezed over smooshed avocado
2 heaping spoonfuls of salsa verde (don't use regular salsa, the resulting guac looks like vomit)
several shakes of green Tabasco
stuck-on bacony goodness (not in a non-stick pan)
1 shot tequila
Grey salt, to taste

While the pan is still hot, or after you've gotten it hot again (about medium heat, don't want to catch anything on fire), toss in the shot of tequila. Whisk FAST to loosen the bits of bacony goodness. Pour the bacony booze (already reduced to about half) into the bowl with the avocado. Stir everything together, sample, and tweak seasonings.

Next time I think I'll include crumbled bacon. The bacon flavor is kind of lost, although I think the tequila adds divinity.

Sunday Coupon Rant, part 2

This morning's paper yielded only one batch of coupons, so there's much less to rant about. However, to ensure that my loyal readers aren't shorted, I will also include a CVS ad WTF Were They Thinking rant.

So ranty. And on only one cup of insipid coffee.

I'll start small. The coupon for Arm & Hammer liquid detergent, now "2x Concentrated." "Half the size, same number of loads," they actually include a visual aid showing the sizes, in case you don't understand. Not unusual... coupons ads are stupid. What makes it worth my rant? The actual coupon. Save $1 on 2. IF IT'S TWICE AS CONCENTRATED, WHY DO I NEED TWO?!?!?
Keep one for myself and give the other as a gift??

On to one of my favorite new stupid items... the Air Wick FreshSweep. It's a broom, same as always, but with Stick Ups inside. So when you sweep you release air freshener. So your house "smells fresh and clean." This is just so stupid. First of all, artificial fragrances just suck. Secondly, if you want your house to smell fresh and clean... clean it. How about actually making something BE what you want it to be, instead of covering up the problem? Wouldn't that be a novel concept in our society?
Grrrrrr....

And, finally (for the coupons)- they hand-fed me a rant. I just couldn't NOT rant about this. Those who know me well will understand. Beech Nut baby food... their newest gimmick is specially-labelled "Good Morning/Good Evening" jars. Because moms are, after all, too dumb to figure out how to feed their kids. But, that's the whole premise behind the blockbuster baby-feeding industry and a whole 'nother rant. And I'll admit, some moms ARE too dumb. So, anyhow... on the page they've got a section for each, and the Good Morning section says (I kid you not) "Fiber to Keep Babies Satisfied."
My jaw dropped.
Where else have we all heard about fiber? To what segment of the population is it heavily marketed? People on diets, right? Are the babies of America on a diet?! Fiber to keep them satisfied??? Well, of course we don't want the whiny brats asking for more food before lunchtime. Make 'em think they're full! Make 'em think they're getting what they need. They AREN'T, but as long as they're quiet, who cares?
Double grrrrrrr...

On to CVS-

Are these items related?: Page 4 of the ad has a grouping of ridiculous items. The Grill Master and I came to our own conclusions as to how they relate to each other. They are: gumball machine, handheld massagers, binoculars, wet/dry shaver, hot chocolate pot, and a mug warmer. Let me know how you think they go together!

I think they've finally run out of ideas: Page 9 shows a collection of bath and body products that share the same, weird scent- whipped cream on a walnut. When I told the Grill Master he had to shake his head and have me say it again. Then he had to get up and come see it for himself. We agree that they must have finally run out of weird combinations for "new" smells. Lavender-Mint, Vanilla-Rose, Cinnamon Bun are too old-school. I sometimes wonder if they have a database of smell words that they randomly combine.

These things DO go together: On page 19 there are items near each other that do, unfortunately, go together. I wish I had time to provide links, to show you why, but I need breakfast. The items are- an insulin pen, Boost (sugar-laden, dead milk-based, plastic-protein-enhanced "nutritional beverage,") and Triscuits (extruded glutenous, simple-carb "healthy" snack.)
Yes, these items are related... buy the food, get the chance to use the insulin free!

Gone Cajun Again

Or, perhaps Creole. I don't know. The fact that I was inspired by an Emeril recipe implies it's probably more Creole. I am not one to pick nits. I just want it to taste good.

Tonight's dinner was brought to us by unthawed stew beef. I must keep the fridge too cold.... So, no beef stew. It really wasn't beef stew weather, anyway. Thanks to my efforts to warm the house the morning, and the sun's efforts to remind us that we live in San Antonio, the house was plenty warm, thank you. I wanted the cooking to take place outside. The only meat in the fridge that wasn't frozen or promised to another meal was some boudin sausage. It was an impulse purchase at the commissary, mainly because they actually had it and I was surprised. There were a few questionable, vague ingredients that might cause me allergy problems, but I chose to ignore them. We'll see if that turns out to be a wise decision!

So... boudin (which I've never had before and am not real sure how to cook), plus my desire to not heat up the kitchen, plus my requirement of working with ingredients already on hand... I googled a recipe. I came across this snooty-sounding one. Sounded like my best shot, but I had a few adjustments to make. I've mentioned Sidedish here before... basically potatoes, onions, and garlic in a foil pack with some sort of fat, grilled until charry. Lacking the futziness necessary to do individual parchment packets, I decided to do dinner as a Sidedish Supreme. As usual, I have no idea what to call this.

Cajun Sausage Grill Packets ??

Start with one big ol' piece of heavy duty foil. Bigger than you think you'll need.

To one side of it add:

1-2 onions, in 1/4-inch slices

3-4 garlic cloves, smashed, chunked, depends on size

However many little red potatoes you need, cut in fourths

1-2 T olive oil, drizzled over all

1/2 tsp thyme

1/2 tsp rosemary

1 tsp parsley

1 tsp Emeril's Essence (make your own, he gives the recipe)

about a pound of boudin sausage, cut into 3-inch (or so) sections

Seal the foil up really well, grill 15 minutes on one side (start with onion side down, sausage side up), flip and grill 10 more minutes. The Grill Master says to use "high" on a gas grill, and to put it on as soon as you light the charcoal, if using that... 20 min first side, 12 the other.

Dinner is served. We had salad, too. With an awesome lemon-garlic vinaigrette. Gotta have some veggies!

Baking Day

It has been chilly here, finally, but warm enough in the afternoons that I can't justify turning the heater on. We wake up to a co-o-o-old house. I figured the best way to warm things up would be to bake. Yeah, that was my only motivation.

First, I made gluten-free, casein-free (GFCF) pumpkin pie. Well, I suppose "pie" should be in quotes, because it had no crust. Perhaps it was a pumpkin custard? It's really yummy, anyway, and if I make it for a special occasion, I'll probably work out some sort of crust. I don't miss crust all that much, though.

This is the recipe that I used:

GFCF Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients:

1 can pumpkin

3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp. ground ginger

1/4 tsp. ground cloves (didn't bother hunting around for this, I know I have some, though)

1/2 tsp. sea salt

1 cup coconut milk

1/2 cup maple syrup

3 eggs

Mix the pumpkin and spices together. Add the remaining ingredients and stir slowly until just mixed. Pour the mixture into the pie pan. Bake at 425 for 15 min, then reduce to 350 and bake for another 30-40 min. Allow pie to cool before serving.

Then I made the muffins in the photo.

GFCF Carrot Muffins

Ingredients:

1/2 cup pecans or walnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped
2 cups grated raw carrot (about 2-3 peeled carrots)
1 large apple, peeled and grated (I used 1/2 cup applesauce)
2 cups GFCF flour (mine was a Bob's Red Mill bean-based one... need to use it up)
1/2 cup Rapadura, ground fine if it's pretty clumpy
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 cup shredded coconut
4 large eggs
3/4 cup coconut oil, melted

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and place rack in center of oven. Place fluted paper liners in 18 muffin cups.
Toast the pecans or walnuts for about 8 minutes or until lightly browned and fragrant. Let cool and then chop coarsely.
Peel and finely grate the carrots and apple. Set aside.
In a large bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and ground cinnamon. Stir in the nuts and coconut. Set aside.
In a separate bowl whisk together the eggs, oil, and vanilla. Fold the wet ingredients, along with the grated carrot and apple, into the flour mixture, stirring just until moistened. Evenly divide the batter between the prepared muffin cups and bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack. After about 10 minutes remove the muffins from the pans and cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.

Makes 18 standard-sized muffins.

Salmon

I made up another recipe. I think it's vaguely French. I like to imagine that Julia Child whispers in my ear. Maybe I should take something for that? Nah...

Anyway, I decided it was French because it had mayonnaise and vermouth. It was definitely delicious. Rather hard to go wrong with wild Alaskan salmon.

So... you slice an onion thin, chop a couple of large cloves of garlic, and sauté in bacon fat (of course!) until pretty darn soft. Just don't burn the garlic.

Plop your salmon fillets in a pan, skin down. Pour a bit of vermouth around them. 1/4 cup, or so. In a small bowl, stir up two heaping spoonfuls of mayonnaise, a squirt of fresh lemon juice, grated rind from half a lemon, salt, and white pepper. Spread that on top of the salmon, then top with sautéed onions and garlic. Bake, covered, at 375 for 15-20 minutes, removing cover for the last 5. If I had a decent broiler, I'd broil for a minute or two, to brown up the onions.

Use Your Noodle Tuna Skillet

Today's lunch was named by my daughter. She asked what I was eating (she had plain noodles with olive oil and Parmesan) and I said I didn't know. I made up the recipe, so I wasn't sure what to call it. She asked if it had fish in it. "Yeah, it has tuna." She declared it was Use Your Noodle Tuna Casserole. Well... it's not a casserole, it's all done in a skillet, so...

I did use my noodle on this one. I looked up recipes, didn't have all the ingredients for any of them, but got some ideas. I absolutely devoured it, as did the hubby, so it seems to have worked out

First off, start a big pot of salted water boiling, for the spaghetti (or the spaghetti-style rice pasta.) Then you can get busy with the rest. The "rest" doesn't take very long, so don't bother getting started on it until the pasta is in the water. Unless, of course, you're using that delightful spaghetti rigati from Barilla. That only needs 5 minutes, which isn't enough.

So, here's the rest:

1-2 T extra-virgin olive oil

1 tsp bacon fat (I'd normally use more, but I'm running low)

1 tsp minced garlic (or more... once again, I'm running low)

about 1/2 cup? frozen pearl onions- I counted and I had 18 of them. I didn't measure.

1 T anchovy paste (or a couple anchovies, I didn't want to open a can)

2 shakes red pepper flakes

1/8 cup (or so) dry vermouth

1/4 cup (or so) chicken stock

salt and pepper

1/2 tsp dried basil

6 oz can of tuna

Sauté the onions and garlic over medium heat. After a couple of minutes, add the anchovy paste and stir it around until it starts to dissolve a bit. Add the red pepper flakes. When the garlic looks done (and definitely before it burns), add the vermouth. Let that reduce down a bit, then add the chicken stock, salt, and freshly-ground white pepper. Simmer away over medium-low heat. When the pasta has just a couple of minutes left, add the basil and tuna, making sure to break up any really big pieces of tuna. When the pasta is done and drained, and it to the skillet and stir around, so that all the noodles can suck up the sauce. Heat for a minute or two, then serve.

When I was gobbling mine down, I had two thoughts beyond "yummmmmm."

1) "This really needs some cream." *sniffle*

2) "Another way to do this would be to use green onions instead of pearl, add a bit of almond butter (or peanut, if you like it and it likes you), and some sesame oil at the end." That would taste Asian-ish.

Definitely very yummy.

Before I go... last night's dinner. It was supposed to be Nachos Grande or something like that,

using leftover chili. I didn't get to the store for avocados, and without cheese or beans, my nachos weren't going to be very "grande." So, instead I did a chili salad. Seriously. Like taco salad, but... um... wetter.

I think my daughter would have named this Monster Salad, because it looks like it has a face.