Archive for January 24th, 2010

Is this turning into a habit? or a tradition?

They had the cutest fingerling potatoes at Whole Foods. So, I put them into a sauté pan with salted water for about 10 minutes.

Then, after being covered, I dump the water, and add some butter. More salt, pepper, and then after 5 minutes in the butter, I add 5 cloves of roughly-chopped garlic. To finish, I squeeze on a little lemon and herbs. Herbs tonight were dried thyme and fresh lemon thyme.

The chicken this time got a little massage in EVOO, then salted and peppered. I continued my tradition of 1 half lemon in the cavity, quartered. Tied up, I cooked it for the first 20 minutes at 450 degrees upside down. Then, I flipped it and cooked it for 30 minutes more right-side up. Checked for temperature, it was “just” under in in the thigh area (by 4 degrees) and a little over in another… time to let it come out and rest.

Perfect doneness… it was still moist and cooked through.

The sauce gets started with melted butter.

Then add Dijon mustard, salt, pepper, and a little lemon juice, and finally, your favorite herbs.

So, the sauce then goes over the carved pieces.

And for fans of the vegetable shot: Ina Garten’s brussels sprouts recipe with golden raisins. Simple, but genius.

They got cooked in a little bacon fat before being cooked-off for 15 minutes, covered, in the oven.

To finalize this grand meal, I whipped up a little bread pudding using left-over Panettone from the holidays, with a healthy dose of vanilla to the eggy/cream custard mixture. To guild the lilly, so to speak, I added some dark and white chocolate to the pudding. Outstanding comfort food.