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....

Now- the bird!!! (I told you I didn't forget it). Here she is, in all her golden, juicy goodness!!!

I can not wait to carve this thing.... maybe I will blog about what I do with it? We shall see...

Until then, enjoy.

And thanks if you are still reading. I really appreciate it. Seriously.

See you soon <3









unplanned deliciousness!

All I wanted to do tonight was come home, deal with all this laundry and ironing, and start reorganizing my closets- a task I have been putting off for months.
Instead, I stopped by my parents to say hello, visited with Mrs. Ghetti across the street because my mom was over there (she's 95 and recovering from a fall. I found her lying in her driveway crying for help about 2 months ago, and she recently came home. Oh, and by the way- her grandson may just be the next Mr. Carrie Murphy...) Then we left Mrs. Ghetti's, went back to my parents house, hung out there for a few (so I could give them their anniversary gift- 37 years tomorrow!!), then headed home to clean. It was about 6:30 at this point, so I still had plenty of cleaning time ahead of me.
Well, then I decided to stop at the grocery store to grab something for dinner, since I had nothing at home, and now- at 9:00p.m.- I am blogging about what I cooked. So much for laundry and closets...

I was in the mood for fish and veggies, so I grabbed a couple nice pieces of Haddock, some tomatoes, and a couple squash. Then, I thought a little risotto might be good with these ingredients, so I grabbed some rice. Then I came home and got to it. I wasn't quite sure what "it" was at this point, but I knew it would be good.

First step- start the risotto, because it takes the longest to cook.

Ingredients: 1 cup Arborio rice, 3 cups chicken broth (which I had none of so I used water), chopped onions and garlic, butter and oil.

Simmer the onions and garlic in a little oil and butter until cooked, but Not browned. Then add the rice. After a couple minutes add one cup of liquid. Stir until all the liquid is absorbed. Then add the 2nd cup of liquid and cook until that is absorbed, then do the same with the 3rd cup. This entire process took about 20 minutes.

Now, while that was cooking, I got started on the veggies. Zucchini, summer squash and tomatoes. Chopped and cooked over a little oil and butter. Squash first, tomato second.

After the veggies were cooked up nice, I added the fish, and let it cook in all the yummy veggie juice.

Now, not a lot of people like fish and tomato (including, I believe, everyone in my family), but I love it and highly recommend it. Any seafood, any tomato-based sauce. Soooo gooood....

While the fish was cooking, I checked on the risotto, and it was sure looking good! Then I thought to myself, how can I make this even better. And of course there's only one answer to that question: cheese! (because as we all know, cheese makes Everything better!). So I grated in a little Parmesan.

Once the cheese was melted, and the fish was cooked, it was time to eat! A little squeeze of fresh lemon on everything, and Dinner Was Served... not too bad considering it was never part of my plan...

Blog in Progress...

I have said it before, and I will say it again- I am no gourmet. Heck, I am not even as good as some of you! But I love to cook, and I love to share, so that is why I am here. And if you are here too, I want you to know I truly appreciate it, I do.
I have been asked by several people why I am doing this, and most of the time my answer is simply "I don't know- I just wanted to", which is the truth. I love blogs. They fascinate me. So I decided to start my own. And like I said in my first post, I love to cook, so I thought that would be a fun thing to blog about. And, while my blog may not be all that fascinating, I hope that it is good enough to gain a few followers.
And if you are following, and you want to make some suggestions, Please Do! Whether its for a recipe, or hints on how to make this blog better, send them along! Like today- I got a great recipe for a scallop dish, so that will be coming soon (thanks Christina!).
Well, thanks (again) for stopping by to my little Work in Progress... be back soon!
:)

a muffin-breakfast mess!

Every now and then my cousin Bridget (who's currently 11 1/2) stays with me on the weekends. When she does, we usually make breakfast (mostly we just make a mess though!).

This weekend she wanted to make muffins and scrambled eggs. With a side of home fried potatoes.

And so we began...

Banana Muffins.

Corn muffins

*special thanks to Betty Crocker and her wonderful cookbook for the 2 muffin recipes*

If you do not own a Betty Crocker cookbook, you need to go get one!

Home fried potatoes with peppers and onions

and scrambled eggs :)

What a delicious mess!!!!