Roasted Whole Chicken

Roasted Whole Chicken

It is Sunday and all I can think of are the myriad of family meals taken over the years with family gathered. Most of my life was had dining on spaghetti during the mid-afternoon after church and the rest over big roasts, baked hams and stews; all the kind of meals that fed a large group easily.

My girls are sitting on a beach in Greece now and we are doing house chores in Pennsylvania  (at least it is bright and sunny for the weeding!) and I thought to make a warm and comfort seeking meal that will bring thoughts of a full table of family and friends and evoke good memories.

1 six- seven pound chicken

1 fennel bulb

1 medium onion

4 stalks of celery

2 large garlic cloves

1 bay leaf

1 lemon sliced in eights

1 lemon juiced

1 teaspoon oregano

2 tablespoons olive oil

Salt and pepper

Rinse well the chicken and make sure to remove any packaged “inners” (neck, liver gizzard) that may be in the cavity.

Cut the vegetables in chunks.  In a large roasting pan place all vegetables and quartered garlic cloves and bay leaf at the bottom and half of the sliced lemons. 

Place fore fingers between the breast of the chicken and the skin and release skin making a pocket to place the ½ of the lemon slices.  Sprinkle salt in the cavity.

Place the chicken on top of the vegetables, tucking wings under bird.  (Squeeze the juice of one lemon all over and rub with 2 tablespoon of olive oil all over chicken. Sprinkle with the oregano and generously salt and pepper.

Tent with foil and bake at 425 degrees for 1 3/4-- 2  hours.  (check by piercing a knife between the joint in the leg and make sure juices run clean with no blood color)  Remove foil and place back in the oven and turn the heat up to 500 degrees and bake for 15-20  minutes more until browned and the  skin a bit crispy. Don’t dry out the chicken!

Let rest 15 minutes for juices to settle inside and then carve.

Final roasted chiken with Lemon peeping through the skin.

 TIPS:

·        I am out of FRESH rosemary (My garden has not produced herbs yet) but instead of the bay leaf I would have used rosemary for sure!

·        I love oregano on chicken but Thyme is also very popular.

·        I ran out of carrots and would have placed some under the bird as well.

·        You can stuff the cavity with the vegetables instead of placing them on the bottom of the chicken.

·        Sometimes I place ¼ cup of salt in 2 quarts of water, submerge the bird and place in the refrigerator overnight to “brine” the bird. But really who has the time?

·         Server\ the vegetable at the bottom of the pan. They are sweet and juicey.

Corned Beef Salad

CORNED BEEF SALAD

I just love corned beef made as a  boiled dinner and sandwiches of all kinds.  So of course when Saint Patrick’s Day came around last month I bought three corned beef briskets on sale and froze two of them.

On the weekend I made the traditional corned beef, cabbage, potato and carrot boiled dinner (takes some time to cook, but simple to make- a Dump Cook's dream)  and I enjoy it very much.  Then there were the leftovers:
SANDWICHES OF COURSE. .......BUT: I have come to realize I really do not like “my” leftover corned beef sandwiches.   No matter how I dress up the slced meat with coleslaw, dressing and cheese, it just seems they are fatty (even thou I trim it well and slice it across the grain)  and not as tender as one finds in a good Deli. I think it has to do with how the meat it brinned and then sliced.  They slice it so very paper thin  (only achieved by a machine slicer) and pile it a mile high and use  glorious fresh Rye bread.  Firstly, I dont take the time to brine the meat overnight nor do I have a professional slicer.

So I did not want to waste any of the good meat in a not-so-good sandwich but I really wanted to use the meat.  I remembered back to a ham salad sandwich my sister once made for me and thought why not try this with corned beef?

Out came the blender, a jar of pickles , a crusty baguette of bread and some mayonnaise.  Nothing could be easier.  All things were in my pantry and I was ready to go.  The meat was very flavorful by having cooked in all its pickling spices and the juices of the vegetables the night before., so I thought this was gonna be so easy.

Simply process until a smooth spread

I began mixing it and I tasted the mix, I then decided a squeeze of lemon and some mustard would spice it up, so I added them at the last moment. Yup, it was easy and pretty tasty for a quick fix!

Ingredients:

A good pound of cooked Corned beef sliced (from leftovers of your boiled dinner, dont use deli sliced meat as you can go straight to making a good deli sandwich being it has been brined and sliced thinly))

3 spears dill pickles

¼ cup mayonnaise

½ teaspoon Dijon mustard

Squeezed juice of  a ½  lemon

Half of a baguette of bread sliced in half (open face style) toasted

Mix all but bread in food processor until blended to a creamy texture with slight lumps.  

Spread on toasted bread and serve open face style.

It is not all that pretty and looks a bit sickly by color, but it is just yummy!  After tasting the sandwich I then thought of numerous other ways to add some changes.

TIPS:

Variations :

add chopped ½ onion

add 1 hard boiled egg chopped

Add a splash of hot sauce.

Thousand island or Russian dressing instead of Mayonnaise

Wrap in lettuce leaf instead of on toasted bread

Add Boiled potatoes sliced and plate on lettuce

Capers would be a nice décor added

As always be your own Creative Dump Cook and change this recipe to what YOU have on hand!

MOUSSAKA

Moussaka

Moussaka

Moussaka originates from the Middle East and Eastern Mediterranean but the most famous version is the Greek version.  Recipes differ from country to country but all are based on eggplant, meat and potatoes.

The Greek version uses sauteed eggplants, tomatoes, ground meat and has layers of potatoes and is topped with a rich béchamel sauce and then it is baked. It is perhaps the most widely recognized of all Greek dishes and was made famous by the legendary Greek chef, Nicholas Tselementes.

I use a bit of all the different country’s styles in my version which incorporates  eggplants, onions, tomatoes, potatoes, zucchini, ground beef and is topped by a cheesy Béchamel sauce. You can place any kind of vegetable inside such as mushrooms to change the recipe to what you like and have at hand.

I ran out of Eggplant while filling the vegetable layer abut a year ago and found some lovely zucchini, so they got roasted and "dumped" in to fill the layer.  I have made it this way ever since that experiment!

Make sure meat sauce is thick and dry.

Meat Sauce

1 ½ pounds ground meat

1 small onion minced

4 cloves of garlic minced

1 can small can chopped tomatoes (If fresh in season then use about 2 cups chopped)

1 teaspoon salt

1 bay leaf

1 teaspoon oregano

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon allspice

2 tablespoons olive oil

Pepper ground to taste

Sauté meat, onion and garlic in the olive oil.   Stir on low for 5 minutes.  Add tomatoes and all spices and simmer for 25 minutes, stiring every five minutes.

Vegetable Layer

3 large potatoes

2-large zucchini

1 medium eggplant

While the sauce is simmering let us prepare the vegetables. 

Slice all about the same thickness (between 1/8 and ¼ inches thick) and lay on a baking sheet that has been sprayed with a nonstick spray.  Broil for 3-4 minutes, take out, turn over and return for another 3- 4 minutes.  Vegetables should be lightly browned.  As we are not frying them, they will not be greasy but will get a slight crunch on the outside (especially the potatoes).

Make thick like oatmeal

•Béchamel Sauce:

3 tablespoons butter

4 tablespoons flour

3 cups milk, warmed

2 eggs beaten

Pinch of ground nutmeg (please use fresh grated)

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter and keep on low heat. Add the flour and whisk well.  Heat for a few minutes until the sauce turn light off tan (NOT BROWNED) color and flour is cooked. . Mix in warmed milk.. Whisk well.  Simmer to thicken for about 4 minutes (whisking always) .  Remove from heat and cool slightly  (so eggs don't scrambled) and then add the eggs, nutmeg and pinch of salt/pepper.  Rewarm until the sauce thickens.  Whisk again.

Topping

½ cup bread crumbs

½ cup of Parmesan cheese.

Sprinkle of nutmeg

ASSEMBLE:

Spray the bottom of a large baking pan/casserole with non-stick spray.  Layer potatoes first to cover the entire bottom. Then layer the zucchini.  Top with layer of meat sauce. Smooth sauce all across the top.  Add a layer of eggplant.

Top with the Béchamel Sauce and sprinkle with bread crumbs and a hand full of Parmesan cheese and a light dusting of nutmeg.

Bake at 350 for 40 minutes.

Serve with just a salad

TIPS:

Please always use fresh nutmeg (once you do you will never purchase pre-grated.

Traditionally: all vegetables are fried (I prefer baked as much healthier!

Let stand a few minutes after baking so it sets before cutting.

Serve warm or at room temperature and great the next day!

As always be your own Creative Dump Cook and change this recipe to what YOU have on hand!

SHRIMP IN BLUE CHEESE SAUCE OVER RICE

SHRIMP IN BLUE CHEESE SAUCE OVER RICE

I have been a bit lazy in the kitchen recently and decided I wanted a full bodied meal, bursting with flavor.  What to make?  With not much time and a day before food shopping day, I knew it might not be that great or exciting.  Off to the freezer and there were numerous bags of shrimp (bought for only $4.99 a pound at the Asian market on sale).

I found a huge piece of blue cheese, some light cream and I came up wih this recipe.  It is very rich and a little goes a long way. 

To be honest, I would make half of the sauce as I had allot leftover as I dished it  with lots of shrimp and little sauce.  So I wasted some sauce for sure!

4 cups water

12 large shrimp in shells

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup long-grain white rice

2 tablespoon butter

2 tablespoon flour

½ cup light cream

¾ cup milk

5 ounces blue cheese

Good squirt of Hot Sauce of your liking

4 sprigs Italian flat-leaf parsley chopped

Bring water to a boil. Stir in raw shrimp in shells and boil just under a minute. Drain shrimp RESERVING water. Peel shrimp and reserve.  Place all shells back the water and boil on medium heat for 4 minutes.  Drain and keep 2 cups of liquid.

Boil 2 cups of reserved liquid and put ¾ cup rice in and stir.  Reduce heat to low and simmer 20 minutes until rice is cooked. Fluff the rice and season with salt.

Melt butter and stir in flour and cook 1 minute.  Place in milk and cream and stir until creamy.

Add cheese (all but a small amount to top the plates)  in a pan  and cook on low heat until melted.Squirt hot sauce in sauce and mix.   When rice is cooked and sauce finished add the shrimp to the sauce and stir until heated through.

Serve sauce a top the rice and sprinkle with parsley and bits of blue cheese.  Serves three/ four.

TIPS:

·        Shrimp will cook more in the sauce. Therefore, under-cook in the water (just enough to make peeling easy)

·        Sauce is good on spaghetti or polenta

GRILLED LAMB CHOPS

GRILLED LAMB CHOPS FOR GREEK EASTER

As many holidays are defined by the food served, we can also define the Greek Easter as one huge long Big Fat Greek Feast!

The first meal of the Easter celebration is taken after midnight church service of the Resurrection which breaks the 40 day fasting of leading up to the Easter Festivities. The following day is full of cooking, eating, laughing and friends and family joining together.

Picture this: A whole lamb  roasting over hot coals with garlic permeating the air, big bowls of Greek salads, dish after dish of fresh spring vegetables roasted, fried eggplant and zucchini sprinkled with Parmesan cheese; soft sweet Easter bread baking in the oven, family arriving with platters of spinach and cheese pies, children running and playing under the bright spring Grecian sun; everyone taking turns preparing and contributing to the communal meal ..THE EASTER FEAST on the holiest of all the Greek holidays.

Easter….what a wonderful time for family and friends to gather and celebrate the end of lent with a traditional lamb meal.

I have only my husband and myself to cook for this year, so a big whole lamb is not even a thought. But I will make tender grilled lamb chops which have been marinated in olive oil, lemon, rosemary, garlic and oregano. A few of the traditional side dishes will make it to our table, which of course includes a Greek salad topped with delicious feta cheese, spinach pie, roasted potatoes the red dyed eggs to crack offering the person whose egg does not crack, Good luck for the year!

4-6 loin Lamb chops  (T-bone in them) about ¾ ths of an inch thick
2 tablespoon of olive oil
Juice of one lemon
2 garlic cloves minced
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1 sprig rosemary (needles only)
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine oil and spices in a blender.  Blend until smooth. Wipe and pat dry the chops.he run on both sides of the chops. Refrigerate at least 2 hours.

Marinated in a plastic bag in the refrigerator

Remove from refrigerator and let sit ½ hour to come to room temperature.

Heat grill pan or grill till just about smoking hot.  Grill first side three minutes and second 2 ½ minutes for medium rare.

Serve with a lemon slice


                                                                           KALO PASAK TO ALL!

As always be your own Creative Dump Cook and change this recipe to what YOU have on hand!

STUFFED SQUID Kalamaria Yemista

STUFFED SQUID  Kalamaria Yemista

I was coming back from our new home and found a remarkable Korean International Market (Assi International) on the way and decided to go in and see what they had to offer.  It is amazing!.  I consider myself a “foodie” but so much of what they had were items I had never seen before accept in cook books and on cooking shows and some items I never heard of or saw before. Their fresh vegetables and fruit section in particular were most outstanding.

Their fish department was  marvelous  with many varieties of  fresh fish.  I came upon large squid and I could not pass up purchasing them.  I love squid in all sizes; small fried calamari and  squid salad and stuffed squid using the larger version.

The stuffing, made of rice, raisins, pine nuts, onions and herbs) is a commonly used one in Greece for grape leaves (Dolmades), mussels, tomatoes and peppers.

Squid have gained in notoriety in the USA, as many restaurants now serve fried Calamari.  This dish is made with the larger sized Calamari.

This sounds more difficult than it is and surely makes for a lovely elegant and different meal.

Preparation of the squid is the first thing to master.  Rinse well.  Squeeze out the eye balls and socket (yes sounds horrible, but it is easy). Be very careful the squid ink does not splatter you!  Pull off the head and tentacles.

Notice the cartilage at the lower right

Reach inside the body of the squid and pull out the thin long cartilage. Rinse all again.

Chop the tentacles and the onion.

1 1/2 pounds large squid

1/2 cup of olive oil

1 small onion chopped

1 head of garlic minced

1/2 cup of dry white wine

1/4 cup of rice

¼ cup raisins

¼ cup pine nuts

1/4 bunch of fresh parsley, chopped

¼ cup mint chopped

¼ cup dill chopped

1 teaspoon of salt

1/2 teaspoon of pepper

1 cup chopped tomatoes

Water to cover squid

Heat the olive oil and add the onions and garlic and sauté until translucent. Add the chopped tentacles, rice, and wine.  Simmer a few minutes.  Remove from heat. Add 1/2 of the pine nuts, raisins  and  herbs, salt and pepper.

Stuff the squid ( 3/4 ths full as the rice will expand) and place in a large pot where they can fit tightly.  Place the remaining herbs, pine nuts, raisins and tomatoes in a bowl and then pour on the squid. 

Cover with water  so the lcooking liquid comes about ½ way up  the squid. Cover and simmer for about 45 minutes until the squid is tender.

TIPS

• I had some shrimp and added to the sauce 10 minutes before serving.
• The stuffing is prefect for Tomatoes (use the inside of the tomato instead of the tops of the squid)

As always be your own Creative Dump Cook and change this recipe to what YOU have on hand!