With love, from my little kitchen to you...: and on the 7th day... She Cooked!

Today's menu: oven roasted chicken, meatballs and sauce. Three very simple things to make that I love to make on Sundays. Why Sunday? Well, because it's the one day of the week I like to relax, clean, do laundry, cook, and be lazy- especially in the fall and winter. Plus, it gives me food for the week (chicken) and I can freeze the meatballs and sauce so I can use them later.
So, let's get started.
First task- get the chicken in the oven.
Before I can do that though, I've got to give it a little pat-down, and a little flavor.
Patting it dry, I have found, helps it get a crispier skin. Plus, if you use butter or oil, they will "stick" to the skin better if it is dry.

Now, as far as flavor goes, it really depends on your taste. Pretty much anything goes when it comes to flavoring your bird. All I do is fill the cavity with herbs, veggies- whatever. Today I used garlic. Just garlic.
And a drizzle of olive oil on top (which I rubbed in)

Then, into the oven she goes. 350' for about 2 1/2 hours (this was an 8 lb bird).

Next up- tomato sauce.

I like to use some oven-roasted tomatoes, garlic and peppers in mine, so I loaded them onto the sheet pan, gave them a toss in olive oil, then popped them into the oven with the bird

Oh, and speaking of the bird, after about an hour, I like to cover the legs and wings with foil so they don't over-cook

Alright, so, while those are cooking, I got started on the sauce. First, chop up a large onion, and let it cook down in the stock pot. If you aren't a fan of onions, skip this step.

Next step- add tomatoes.
In addition to the fresh tomatoes I bought (and some that I picked from my garden), I also use canned tomatoes. Peeled and crushed. I mean, hey- for $1/can how could you Not use them!
I also threw in a bunch of basil from my garden too :)

Now, as far as the roasted tomatoes go, I like to roast them in the oven for about 45 minutes, intil the skins are practically falling off, and they juices have started caremelizingo n the pan. This gives a really rich flavor to the sauce. But, they are good even if you only roast them for a sort period of time, just to get them cooked. Maybe about 15 minutes.
Once they are cooked, I gave them a quick spin in my trusty 'ol food mill. God I love this thing! All the skins and seeds get left behind. Perfect!

Well, now that the sauce is all set, let's move on to the meatballs! Beef, eggs, bread crumbs, parsley... that's mostly it. Oh, and Love. You need to make these with love. Trust me.

Now, some people use stale bread that they soaked in a little milk Instead of using bread crumbs, and that is fine! I have done that before too, and I love it! I just didn't do it that way today.

You can also use turkey, chicken, pork, veal, or sausage.... or mix a couple of them together. It really doesn't matter. Anything goes here too!
Then... Mix. By hand. don't be lame and use a mixer or a spoon. Use your hands. get dirty. This is the best way to do it.

Once everything is well. mixed, it's time to start rolling!

I rolled a little more than half, then I added chopped spinach to the mix. I just used frozen spinach that I let defrost, and I rung out all the water using a cheesecloth (I like to so this so the meatballs won't have too much liquid in them.)

Once they are all rolled, pop them into the same 350' oven that the chicken was in. (don't worry- I didn't forget about the chicken... it's coming!). I cook them for about 15 minutes, then I take them out and pop them into the sauce. This step is totally optional, I just like to do it because the meatballs help flavor the sauce a little more.

Then (several hours later, which I did not photograph), I boiled a little spaghetti to have with the meatballs and sauce. And, what better way to top it off than with a dollop of ricotta cheese. Mmmmm....