Fall Cooking: Roasted Chicken

Now that summer is officially over, we have many new things to look forward to: cooler weather, the changing of leaves, football (lots, and lots, of football), a whole new line of clothes,  campfires on crisp evenings, and so much more. Even the air smells different. Everything around us is changing - including our cooking. Fall demands both rich and spicy flavors, food that warms you from the inside out and brings back childhood memories. As the air turns colder, we have a whole new selection of  food to pick from: squash, apples, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, mushrooms, and pears are all in season. Even our techniques change, as we move away from outdoor grilling and lighter dishes, and back inside with crock pots and slow roasting. Rather than salads and barbecue we can look forward to homemade soups and stews. Fall is, quite simply, a great time to get your cook on in the kitchen.

One of the first dishes I wanted to make to celebrate this change of season was a whole roasted chicken. Its easy, affordable and one bite takes me back to days long ago. Back to when the start of a new school year and "Five Star" notebooks sent me into a tizzy of excitement, to a time when raking leaves was an adventure and not a chore, when having cold hands was a result of hard play and therefore hardly noticed, to a time when I lived in my light blue soccer uniform and Umbros were definitely the "in" thing, and when bed time was determined by the setting of the sun. Back then, my siblings and I would pour into the kitchen tired, dirty and all talking at once, and be met by the aroma of a beautiful roast chicken. Those were goods days, some of the best. This recipe helps take me back there.

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken

1 lemon

1 large onion

3-4 chopped carrots

2-3 stalks of celery

Chicken Broth

Paprika

Rosemary Leaves

Fennel Seeds

Cayenne Pepper

Sea Salt

Freshly cracked ground Pepper

Butter

Your first step is to prepare and clean the chicken. This can be an intimidating task for any first timer, but it is not as difficult as it may seems. If you have a frozen chicken you will want to completely thaw it before beginning. Start by removing the neck, giblets and kidneys from the cavity of the chicken. Next, rinse the chicken under cold tap water. Be sure to rinse inside the cavity as well. Once clean, pat down with paper towels until dry. 

Slice the onion into rings and place at the bottom of your roasting pan. On top, add the chopped carrots and celery. These vegetables will be the surface on which the chicken will sit. 

After the chicken is cleaned, rub a little bit of butter of the skin. Next, prepare the rub. To do so add the juice of 1/2 a lemon, paprika, rosemary leaves, fennel seeds, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper to taste. If you prefer a spicier flavor add more paprika or cayenne. Once complete, rub the mixture all of the chicken and inside the cavity. 

Once the chicken is smothered in the rub, place the other 1/2 of the lemon in the cavity. This will help add an extra boost of flavor.

Finally, place the prepared chicken on top of the chopped vegetables in the roasting pan. Pour about a cup of chicken broth into the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle a little bit of salt and pepper over the entire pan. 

Cook at 425 degree for an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes or until the meat thermometer registers at 170 degrees. While the chicken is cooking, baste it a few times with the broth from the bottom of the pan to add both a bit more flavor and moisture.

Once the chicken is done, remove from oven and allow to sit for 5-10 minutes before slicing. Serve with sweet potatoes, spinach and the vegetables from the pan. 

Enjoy this fall dish and after the feast if there are leftovers (we had tons!), use the bounty to make another fall supper such as chicken soup or Chicken Tetrazzini. What are your favorite dishes to make from leftover chicken? Feel free to share in the comments! 

Guilty Pleasures

I have a problem with guilt. I am always feeling guilty about something. I feel guilty when I can't figure out a way to see all my friends and extended family who come in town for football weekends. I feel guilty when I have to tell my husband that I cannot go to dinner and a movie with him Friday night because I know that I will have to work late. I feel guilty when I leave my parents house, especially when I know I won't be back for a few months. I feel guilty when one of my students wants to switch their hours, but it doesn't work with the schedule. I feel guilty when my little sister asks if there are any available parking spots left for the tailgate and the answer is no or when a friend wants to crash at our place for the weekend, but all the beds are full. I feel guilty when I see someone pushing through their early morning run after I pushed the snooze button 3 times. I feel guilty when I have to RSVP "no" to an event. I feel guilty when my husband wants to go to Pittsburgh for a long weekend, but I cannot afford to take anymore time off from work. I feel guilty when I spend too much money at J. Crew or any other store for that matter. I feel guilty when I warm up leftovers for dinner instead of cooking a real meal. I feel guilty when I have to tell an interviewee that they did not get the job. I feel guilty when my adorable little niece asks me in her I am the cutest kid in the world, you cannot say no to me voice "Aunt Laura, when are you and Uncle Adam going to live closer to my house?"

See, I have a serious problem with guilt.


The list goes on and on and my husband constantly tells me that I have to just stop allowing myself to feel guilty (as if it's that simple) because I cannot control all these things. Even as I type this I can hear him saying "you cannot always make everyone happy" or "there will be other birthday parties" which usually makes me say something like "but Jack and Sophia will only turn 1 once!" 

I don't know if I will really ever be able to conquer all my guilty feelings although I do think I have improved as of recently, but I do know that there is one thing I will never feel guilty about: homemade double chocolate chip cookies. Life's way too short not to enjoy these guilty little pleasures and they can be a great comfort when that ugly, pain in the side friend "guilt" stops by for yet another visit.

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies (adapted from Williams-Sonoma) 

Start by getting all of your ingredients together. You will need unsweetened chocolate, flour, brown sugar, white sugar, salt, baking powder, butter, shortening, one egg, vanilla, and chocolate chips. You will also need at least two mixing bowls and cookie sheets, a cutting board, a sharp knife, mixing utensils (wooden spoon and rubber spatula), a double boiler if you have one, otherwise a simple bowl will work.  

1. Chop 1 ounce of unsweetened chocolate. 

2. Melt chocolate and set aside.

3. Mix together a total of 8 tablespoons of fat from the butter and shortening. Depending on your preferences, you can do a ration of 7:1, 6.5:1.5, 6:2 or any other combination. I personally would not use more shortening than butter, but this is an opportunity to try different combinations to discover which way you most prefer the texture of your cookies (don't be afraid to experiment!). Also add in 2/3 cup of brown sugar and 1/4 cup of granulated sugar. Mix all together.

4. Add in the 1 ounce on melted chocolate.

5. Mix in one egg at room temperature and 1 1/4 teaspoons of vanilla. 

6. Slowly, add in a cup of flour, a quarter teaspoon of salt, and 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder. Mix only until combined.

7. Finally, add in at least one cup of chocolate chips. You can add more if desired or you can add in a mixture of semi-sweet and dark chocolate chips. 

8. Scoop 12 spoonful of dough onto the cookie sheets. Bake at 350 degree for 15 minutes. Do not over cook. Since these are chocolate cookies, it will be a bit more difficult to tell if they are browning. They should not require more than 15 minutes.

 9. Once cooked, remove from cookie sheet with a metal spatula and allow to cool.

There are plenty of things in life that we will all inevitably feel guilty about whether or not we actually should feel guilty. Don't feel guilty when you have one of these. Just enjoy! Life's just too short not to. And if nothing else, you can bring them to the next birthday party!

Sunday Gravy

After a fun-filled weekend of family, friends and Notre Dame football, Sunday night somehow creeped up on me. Before I knew it, the family and friends were gone, and exhaustion and laundry were all that was left. With just a few free hours remaining before my dreaded alarm clock would sound, and a long week of work would force me back into reality, I decided a flavorful, hearty Sunday dinner with the husband was more than necessary.

I pillaged through the cabinets only to discover the remains of our Friday night cookout and stale tailgate food. I knew those items would not result in the end of the weekend dinner I was hoping for. Instead of scraping together a random spread of leftover brats, dips and an assortment of cheeses, I grabbed my keys and headed to the store in search of quality ingredients and inspiration. 

Within 30 minutes I was chopping and humming away as the husband watched his 5th football game of the weekend.  An hour later the meal was ready and the husband well-fed; proclaiming my creation “amazing” and rating it #1 across-the-board in his three, very nuanced, very refined categories. Beefy. Cheesy. Saucy. 

Pasta with Sunday Gravy:

What you need:

1 onion

1 large carrot

2 stalks of celery

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 red pepper

1 1/3 pound of ground meat (I used a mixture of beef and pork)

I can of diced tomatoes

1 can of tomato sauce

1/2 cup of heavy cream

1 cup of Zinfandel

1 bay leaf

Sea Salt

Freshly Ground Pepper

Fresh Basil

Freshly grated Parmesan Cheese

Pasta of your choice

First, chop the onion, celery, carrot and red pepper. Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the first 3 ingredients and allow to sweat until soft. 

Add in the red pepper and bay leaf. Allow to cook for a few more minutes. 

Add in the ground meat. I used a mixture of ground beef and ground pork although you could use ground turkey and/or ground veal. Any combination would work. On this occasion, I used a bit more beef than pork.

Allow the meat to cook all the way through. Once browned, add in the red wine and bring to a boil. 

Allow the wine to reduce before adding in the diced tomatoes and tomato sauce. Stir together before adding in the cream. Add sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.

Once all of the ingredients are combined, bring the sauce to a simmer and allow to cook for up to 2 hours. If you are in a hurry and do not have 2 hours to spare, let the sauce meld for about 20 minutes before serving. However, the longer the ingredients have to fuse together, the greater the results. 

After the sauce has been simmering for an extended period of time, bring a pot of water to a boil and cook your pasta. You are going to want to select a pasta that can hold up to the weight and texture of this sauce (for example, pappardelle would work well). On this particular Sunday evening, I decided to use lasagna. Once it was cooked, I cut the lasagna into strips. 

Drain the pasta and set aside. Select a large serving bowl and spread roughly a cup of the sauce on the bottom. Add the pasta followed by the remainder of the sauce. 

Toss, and top with freshly chopped basil and grated parmesan. An easy trick for chopping basil is to to layer about 5 or 6 leaves on top of each other. Roll the basil tightly from side to side and then coarsely chop from top to bottom. This makes perfect basil slices! Once you have topped your pasta with the fresh herbs and cheese, serve immediately. 

Finally, as our friend Alex likes to say “Enjoy your Sunday Gravy!"

Mangia!