Roast Lemon Chicken

I had thought the weekend would be chilly, so I planned to roast a chicken. The weekend turned out beautiful, but I'm a planner, and I stuck with my plans. I made Cook's Lemon Chicken, also known as the Chicken That Made Megan Cry. It's not really difficult, but it involves a number of steps and would be much easier in a full-size kitchen with a good venting system. Because it was so warm out, I decided to try pretending the grill was an oven and just throwing the roasting pan in there. Halfway through the roasting, the pan was black black black and it was getting chilly enough that I didn't think I could keep the heat high enough, so I moved it into a different roasting pan and finished it in Hollie. The oven thermometer, essential because Hollie puts out BTU's with complete disregard for the setting on the dial, chose that moment to quit working altogether, so I guessed the temperature based on how much heat blasted my face when I opened the door to check on things. I roasted oregano-lemon potatoes along with the chicken, and braised pak choi in some chicken broth and garlic.
It all came out really well, and I did not cry. That chicken is soooo good, it's almost worth the trouble and tear potential. And it sort of makes me wonder what I could do with a real kitchen, or at least a working oven thermometer.

Veggie Burgers and Moroccan Chicken

After eating so well all weekend, even I wasn't up for a fancy meal on Wednesday night. We had Amy's California Burgers with aged cheddar, and roasted brussels sprouts and carrots. The blob on the left is actually sauteed crimini mushrooms for the burgers. I cooked them until they lost most of their water, then deglazed with red wine, and they were delicious.

Craig's first Friday night for cooking in a while, but I guess he didn't forget how. He made an old favorite, Rachel Ray's Morccan chicken over couscous. He uses chicken thighs and it comes out really tasty, especially alongside Maine broccoli--we won't be able to get that for too much longer!

What Mom Ate

Mom visited last weekend, and not only did we have fun, but we ate very well!  On Friday night we went to a market on Federal Hill, Venda Ravioli, and brought home a dinner of lobster ravioli with puttanesca sauce, artichoke hearts stuffed with Ritz crackers and crabmeat, green beans with almonds, and rabe with sooo much garlic.  On Saturday we went to Scales and Shells in Newport, which I really enjoy because it's good food in a casual atmosphere and the menu is pretty simple.  I had linguine with white clam sauce, and Mom and Ellie and Craig all enjoyed various scallop preparations.

Sunday was cold, and we have all these root vegetables from the CSA, so we picked up a bottom round roast and made beef stew.  I cooked the beef in broth and a lot of red wine, and added carrots, onions, celeriac, sweet potatoes, and yellow potatoes.  We enjoyed a wine from Dave, Torbreck Barossa Valley 2006 Woodcutter's Shiraz.

On Monday we recreated Craig's wonderful salmon, since we could still get Coho at WF.  Mom really liked it with the tarragon butter.  I used more leek than Craig had, and I think it was better with more lentils than leeks, but it was still really tasty.  To drink we had Alix Chateau Plaisance Bordeau Blanc Sec 2004, a very nice full white wine.

Steamed Fluke on Greens

The NY Times had an interesting looking recipe for Asian steamed flounder, so I decided to use our last frozen fluke fillet last night. The recipe calls for sauteeing ginger, garlic, and mustard greens, then steaming the fish on top of the greens. I added daikon, because we're getting a lot of that from the CSA right now. Craig liked it, but I thought it needed more flavor, especially in the fish. Definitely healthy and easy though.

Mustard Crusted Tofu with Kale and Sweet Potatoes

I made this once last winter, and while Craig didn't love it the way I did, he agreed he could tolerate the tofu once in a while, so I made it for Date Night last week. This time I should have cooked the tofu longer over higher heat, because that crispy side is so delicious, but this is a good, quick, healthy fall meal. It's an Epicurious recipe and really comes together quickly.

On a non-tofu related note, Craig and I returned yesterday from an anniversary trip to Martha's Vineyard. The whole trip was good, not excepting the eats. I would say the most memorable thing I ate was duck leg confit with lentils du puy and figs, with a little bacon, enjoyed at Detente Wine Bar in Edgartown. The most memorable not at a fancy restaurant thing I ate was the duck and leek pizza at the Offshore Ale Company, accompanied by the amazing Wash-A-Shore ale. I guess Dad would probably characterize my weekend as "just ducky!"

Grilled Pizza!

On Sunday Craig and I finally had the pleasure of showing Ben what a great wedding present he gave us. I used the crust recipe in the Bread Baker's Apprentice, making it the day before and refrigerating it overnight. Ellie and Dave were visiting as well, and Dave helped me out with some key dough and wine advice. I made walnut basil pesto for the sauce, and topped the pizzas with parmigiano-reggiano, Danish fontina or Narragansett Creamery Atwells Gold (a mild cheddar-like cheese), and blue cheese or herbed ricotta. Above is a ricotta version on the grill--look at that pizza stone go!
This is a blue cheese iteration before it hit the heat. I had a roma tomato from the CSA that was just begging to be used. Check out the video below of the ricotta pizza sizzling away!

I almost posted pictures of last night's dinner, but they came out about as well as my passport photo (assuming I don't actually develop a dread skin disease, it's unlikely that will ever convince a border agent of my identity). Suffice it to say it was good and quick. I'm still trying to use up leftover ricotta from those pork chops, so I made a sauce with that, bacon, leeks, tomatoes, and herbs (deglazed the pan with vermouth) for whole wheat shells. Craig and I agreed it needed something, maybe roasted red peppers, maybe sausage crumbled small enough to fit into the shells. We had steamed Maine broccoli, and I took a page from Craig's book and made a tarragon mustard butter to top it. I drank a Dogfish Head Punkin Ale, my first ever, but definitely not my last. That stuff is soooo good!