Mary's Chicken

Friday night came around this week and I was so ready to do absolutely nothing. However, my mother asked me to make Shabbat dinner and a few minutes later Daniel wanted to come over so I had to scratch my plans of lethargy and whip up some gourmet meal. Well, a few weeks ago, my mom called me and told me a 15 minute story about this "Mary's Chicken" her boss had made for dinner the night before. About 3 minutes into the story of the preparation I started drooling. It's smothered in fresh herbs and butter and garlic, roasted in a cast-iron skillet, and has the crunchiest skin I've ever had. PLEASE PAY ATTENTION TO THE INSTRUCTIONS BELOW WHILE COOKING! You MUST use a cast-iron skillet. If you don't have one, go to the hardware store and buy one because this truly is the BEST roasted chicken you will ever have. Nowhere did I say that it is on the healthy side, but it is totally on the delicious side. It's super simple to make and if you're looking to cook a meal for the first time for someone or even for a party go with this. You must buy a GOOD QUALITY full chicken. Whole Foods has the exact one, Mary's Free Range Air Chilled Chicken. It's never frozen and all of the nasty insides are removed for you and placed nicely into a bag (Eliot made a delicious gravy with it). I served these along with roasted potatoes and green beans and it was a perfect Friday night dinner. 

What you'll need:

1 whole chicken

1 stick salted butter, at room temperature

2 tbs. fresh rosemary

1 tsp. fresh thyme

6 cloves of garlic

1 cast-iron skillet

1. Preheat the oven WITH THE SKILLET IN IT to 425. Let the skillet heat for 30 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, in a food processor, blend together the butter, rosemary, garlic, and thyme. Process until it is a smooth paste-like consistency. 

3. Rinse and throughly dry your chicken. Smother completely with the butter ALL OVER! Leave no inch untouched!

4. Place the chicken DIRECTLY into the skillet (USE GLOVES!!! IT'LL BE HOT HOT HOT!).

5. Cook for anywhere from 40-60 minutes (depending on your specific oven). Every 10 minutes, baste the chicken. 

6. Once it's golden and crunchy all over, remove from the oven and let it rest (keeping it in the hot skillet will let it keep cooking from the bottom so it won't burn and the juices will stay inside the chicken).

7. Carve and serve!

enjoy :)

Chicken and Broccoli Alfredo

I have to say that one of the most comforting meals in the whole wide world is alfredo. What's not comforting, however, is how your pants will fit after eating alfredo. I've tried making various "healthy" versions, but they've all ended up very runny and not too tasty. So when I found this recipe on, what else, Pinterest, I was pretty nervous and almost immediately assumed it'd be really gross, especially because it's vegan (ok, when I say vegan, I pretty much mean non-dairy. Don't tell your husband, boyfriend, or kids, they won't know the difference!). MAN OH MAN WAS I WRONG!!! It was INCREDIBLE!!! I added chicken and roasted tomatoes to give it some extra flavor and protein, and it was absolutely perfect. It was super simple and honestly took about 30 minutes from start to finish, and was a very easy clean-up. This will go down in history as the BEST alfredo sauce I've ever made and probably one of the best YOU'LL ever have!

What you'll need:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 cups broccoli

1 box fusili (or any other pasta with ridges to hold on to the sauce)

4 tbs. minced garlic

4 tbs. grape seed oil

2 tbs. flour

1 cup veggie broth

1/4 cup non-dairy creamer

1/2 cup garlic aioli (or non-fat Greek Yogurt)

Kosher salt & pepper

3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

1 cup cherry tomatoes

1. Season chicken with salt and pepper on both sides. Heat 2 tbs. of the oil over medium heat and 

brown the chicken. Set aside. After about 10 minutes, cut into bite-size pieces.

2. Boil a pot of water and cook your pasta. In the mean time, toss the tomatoes with some olive oil, kosher salt, and pepper. Broil for about 5 minutes and set aside.

3. While the pasta is cooking, in a separate pan, heat the remaining oil over medium heat and sauté the garlic until is brown (about 2 minutes). Add the flour and whisk for about 2 minutes. 

 

4. Whisk in the creamer, broth, and aioli (if you're going to use parmesan, now is the time to add it). 5. Once the sauce thickens, after about 5 minutes, add the cooked pasta using a slotted spoon (DON'T DISCARD THE WATER YET!!!). 

 

6. To the pasta water, cook your broccoli. It will go FAST, about 5 minutes MAX!!!. Remove with a slotted spoon and toss with the pasta.

7. Add the chicken and tomatoes, top with a little more parmesan and voila!

enjoy :)

Balsamic Cream Chicken

I know this is going to seem totally silly, but sometimes I get a little intimidated by chicken. Unlike red meat, you CAN undercook chicken and get sick from eating it that way. You all know I love my steaks rare, but you dare not eat a rare piece of chicken. With that said, I get quite nervous that I'll under or overcook it whenever I make it. It's never really happened, but it's still a silly fear. Anyways, I found this amazing chicken on Peace Love and Low Carb but adapted it so that it's even healthier and vegan!!! No, I'm not crossing over to the dark side of veganism (did you NOT read two sentences earlier when I went on a rant about meat?!), but many of the sauces I make are quite healthy and just so happen to be low carb. This is a very elegant meal, totally inexpensive, and absolutely DELICIOUS!!!

What you'll need:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

3 tbs. margarine

1 yellow onion, thinly sliced

1 tbs. grape seed oil

1 lb. sliced baby bella mushrooms

1/2 cup veggie broth

1 cup non-dairy creamer

2 tbs. balsamic vinegar

3 tbs. garlic aioli (you can leave this out or substitute with non-fat Greek Yogurt)

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

1 tsp. Kosher salt & pepper

1. Heat a large pan over LOW heat and caramelize your onions (this will take a while, please be patient and do it correctly!!! Which means slowly over low heat).

2. In a separate pan, heat the margarine over medium heat. Season chicken with salt and pepper on both sides. Once the margarine is bubbling, brown chicken on both sides then set aside (do NOT cook it all the way through, just BROWN IT! It will cook later in the sauce).

 

3. In the same pan, deglaze with the veggie broth (this will get all of the good bits of flavor off of the bottom of the pan) and use a wooden spoon to scrape up the bottom bits off of the pan.

4. Add the mushrooms, creamer, aioli, and balsamic vinegar to the pan. Whisk everything together, then let simmer and thicken for about 10 minutes (if it does not look like it's thickening, do NOT freak out!!! It WILL thicken when you add the chicken).

5. Add the chicken back to the pan, along with the caramelized onions, salt, and pepper. Let simmer for 15 minutes (this is when it WILL thicken). Right before serving, sprinkle in the parmesan cheese and it will REALLY thicken up!

6. Keep the balsamic theme going with some green beans and serve immediately! 

enjoy :)