ROASTED GARLIC LEMON GREEK CHICKEN

Serves 4 - Oven at 350 degrees

1 broiler/fryer chicken (about 3 lbs)

3/4 tsp salt

pepper

14 cloves garlic, divided

water

1 1/2 tsp lemon juice

1 tbsp melted butter

4 tsp parsley, chopped

Rub chicken inside and out with salt and pepper.  Crush 2 cloves garlic and place in body cavity. Close neck and body cavities with skewers or toothpicks.  Tuck wings under back.  

Cut remaining 12 cloves of garlic into slivers and place in small roasting pan.  Add 1/2 water or to a 1/4" depth.  Place chicken on rack in roasting pan and sprinkle with lemon juice.  Brush chicken with melted butter.

Roast in preheated 350 degree oven for 30 minutes.  Tilt chicken so cavity juices run into pan juices. Roast for 15 minutes longer or until drumstick moves easily and juices run clear when thigh is pierced.  Let stand for 5 minutes.  Serve chicken halved or carved.  Spoon pan juices over chicken and sprinkle with parsley.

Review:  I ended up just cutting up the chicken into pieces and after roasting for approximately 20 minutes, placed under the broiler to crisp up the skin.  It was really delicious, but frankly, similar to how I normally make chicken, so am not sure why I would have thought to save this recipe.

ROAST PORK WITH GINGERSNAP GRAVY

Quoted below the title of this recipe was "This dish will knock your socks off", says Chef Prud'homme.  Sorry no pic ... didn't realize how poorly it came out.

Serves 6             325 degree oven

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

1/3 cup finely chopped green pepper (omitted because the husband hates peppers)

1/3 cup finely chopped celery

2 large cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp paprika

2 tsp thyme

1/2 tsp dry mustard

1/4 cup butter

l boneless pork loin roast (about 3 lbs)

Gingersnap Gravy (recipe follows)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Saute first nine items with butter over high heat for 4 minutes, or until vegetables soften.  Remove from heat.

Place roast in shallow roasting pan, fat side up.  Make several slits with a sharp knife in the top of the roast, cutting downward, but not through to the bottom.  Stuff the pockets with the vegetable mixture.

Roast in preheated oven for 2 hours or until meat thermometer registers 165-170 degrees.  Remove roast from pan and keep warm.  Reserve pan drippings.

To serve, slice pork and spoon gravy over the meat.

Gingersnap Gravy:  Saute 1/2 cup finely chopped onion, 1/4 cup finely chopped celery and 1/4 tsp minced garlic in 2 tbsp of butter for 5 minutes. Add pan drippings which have been deglazed with some water. Add 1/2 tsp ground ginger, 1/4 tsp thyme, 1/8 tsp sage and dash of cumin, and heat through.

Review:  I should have made the slits larger; using the veggie mixture to stuff a bit of each slice.  Instead, I made slits on alternating sides of the roast and just placed the leftover mixture on top of the roast.  And, although the recipe didn't specifically state this, I did salt and pepper the roast.  It was very good, but I'm not sure it knocked anybody's socks off.

ROAST LEG OF LAMB

** This recipe was next on my list to be made, but for months, I couldn't get myself to commit to a roast leg of lamb of all things.  With my husband's recovery from knee replacement surgery and all the bad weather on the east coast, I had no energy.  Instead, I used what my butcher calls, lamb grillers, large hunks of lamb, for which I adapted the recipe. The original recipe is below, and at the bottom of the post, will explain the changes.   Just wanted to move along in this blog process ...

Serves 6-8            325 degree oven

lamb leg

2 cloves garlic

1/2 tsp pepper

2 tsp salt

1 tsp rosemary or thyme

1/4 cup wine vinegar

2 tbsp oil

1 onion and carrot, sliced

1 1/2 cups beer or apple juice

Trim excess fat from leg and score top fat in diamond pattern as you would a ham.  

Crush garlic with seasonings, add vinegar and oil and rub over lamb.  

Place leg bone down i pan and roast for 1 hour at 325 degrees.  Pour off excess fat, add onion and carrot, pour beer or apple juice over.  Finish roasting to medium rare, about 25 minutes per pound, basting occasionally.  Serve sauce with meat.

Review:  Omitted the onion, carrot and beer/apple juice, and after roasting for about 30 minutes, placed the meat under the broiler just to crust it up.  The seasonings were really good; the wine vinegar adding a dimension to the overall flavor.

ROAST BEEF WITH GARLIC-BUTTER POTATOES

Serves 8 - 325 degree oven

4 medium potatoes; peeled if desired, sliced 1/4" thick

1/4  cup butter; melted

2-3 cloves garlic, crushed

1 beef bottom-round roast (3 lbs)

salt and pepper

Horseradish-Mustard Sauce (recipe below)

Spread potatoes in shallow lightly greased roasting pan; drizzle with mixture of butter and garlic. Rub beef with salt and pepper and place on potatoes.  Roast in preheated 325 degree oven for 1 1/4 to 2 hours or until meat thermometer registers 5-10 degrees lower than desired doneness.

Remove from oven and let stand about 10 minutes.  Serve half the meat hot, sliced thin, with the potatoes. Refrigerate the remaining meat and slice thin prior to serving cold with Horseradish-Mustard sauce.

Horseradish-Mustard Sauce:  Mix equal parts of prepared horseradish, prepared mustard and sour cream.  Will keep up to 1 week.

Review:  Not a huge fan of a bottom roast, but got one from my butcher (at what I thought, considerable cost --- $7.00/lb) and was happy with the outcome both hot, and cold with the sauce.  I probably wouldn't make it again, however. 

CHOCOLATE FILLED THUMBPRINT COOKIES

Makes 3 dozen

350 degree oven

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature

1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

2 t vanilla

3 cups flour

1/2 cup (scant) semisweet chocolate chips

5 t milk

1/2  t salt

1/2 cup powdered sugar

Chocolate Filling:

1 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 T solid vegetable shortening

1/4 cup light corn syrup

2 T water

1 t vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Blend butter, brown sugar and vanilla in a large bowl until creamy. Stir in flour, chocolate chips, milk and salt, and mix well.  Form dough into 1" balls.  Arrange on ungreased baking sheets.  

Indent center of each ball by pressing firmly with thumb.  Bake cookies until golden, about 12-15 minutes.  Immediately roll in powdered sugar, covering them completely (that was not easy). Arrange on rack and let cool 15 minutes.

Prepare filling:  Melt chocolate and shortening in top of double boiler over hot water,  Remove from heat.  Stir in remaining ingredients until smooth. Let cool 5 minutes.

Place generous 1/2 teaspoon of filling into each thumbprint.  Store in airtight container.

Review:  These were like a shortbread with chocolate filling.  Good, but more trouble to make than they were worth.

ROAST CHICKEN WITH GARDEN VEGETABLES

The vegetables in this recipe can change with the seasons.  Asparagus spears or sweet baby peas may be substituted for the zucchini (which I didn't even include).  I chose to split the chicken down the breastbone so that I could broil the skin more effectively.

6-8 servings - 400 degree oven

1 1/4 t salt

1/4 t Hungarian sweet paprika

freshly ground pepper

2  2 1/2-3 lb frying chickens; washed and patted dry

6 celery leaf sprigs

2 parsley sprigs

2 bay leaves
1 T oil

1/2 cup parsley

2 large cloves garlic

1 med onion, chopped

4 med carrots, cut into 2" pieces

3 large celery stalks, cut into 2" pieces

6 small red new potatoes

2 T oil

1/2 t dried thyme

1/2 t salt

freshly ground pepper

2 small zucchini

Preheat broiler.  Combine first three ingredients in small bowl. Rub chicken cavities with some of mixture.  Place 3 celery sprigs, parsley sprig and bay leaf in each cavity.  Rub outside of chickens with oil and sprinkle with remaining paprika mixture.  Fold wings up over neck and tuck legs closely into the body.  Arrange chickens in large roasting pan breast side up. Broil 5" from the heat source until brown; about 6 minutes.

Chop parsley, garlic and onions and place in large bowl.  Slice celery and carrots, and add whole small potatoes to bowl.  Add oil, thyme, salt and pepper and toss gently.  Arrange around chicken in roasting pan.

Position rack in center of oven.  Cover pan or tent with foil and roast for 50-55 minutes in 400 degree oven.

If using additional vegetables which cook quickly (zucchini, etc), place them over the cooked vegetables and cover and continue roasting for an additional 10 minutes.

Let the chickens rest before serving.

Review:  This was an easy tasty dish that I will make again.

SPIRITED FRUIT BREAD

From Bon Appetit, October 1983 ...

Makes 1 loaf - oven at 350 degrees

1 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter, melted and cooled
2 eggs
2 T apricot brandy (substituted brandy)
2 T almond liqueur (substituted Grand Marnier)
2 t vanilla
1 cup mashed ripe banana
2 t pumpkin pie spice
2 t cinnamon
1 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
2 cups flour
6 oz dried apricots, finely chopped
1 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and lightly flour 9" x 5" loaf pan.

Combine sugar, melted butter eggs, liquor and vanilla in large bowl and whisk well until well blended.  Stir in mashed banana.  Combine pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder and salt in small bowl and mix well.  Whisk into banana mixture; blending well.  Fold in flour using spatula (batter will be thick).  Stir in chopped apricots and walnuts. Spoon batter into prepared pan.

Bake until tester inserted in center comes out clean; about 50-55 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely on rack; about 2-3 hours.  Wrap tightly in aluminum foil and store at room temperature from at least 2 days before serving.

Review:  Not any better than my usual banana bread.  Thought the liquor would add to the taste, but it didn't.