Ahhh, there's just nothing quite like sleeping in your own bed, is there? We are home again after a wonderful trip to New York City (quite possibly my favorite city in the world to visit) and feeling so grateful to have beaten the snowstorm out. No doubt it helped that our pilot was from Atlanta and his wife was on our flight, so there was some extra incentive to get us out, even if we did have to wait 5 hours for our plane to be de-iced.
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Food lesson learned in New York: if you don't know what it is, don't order it without asking. Especially if it's sushi. And especially if there's any chance what you thought would be sashimi tuna might arrive in the form of eel. Ugh. (Yes, I did eat it, but regretted it).
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As much as I've loved my travels of the past month, I'm happy to be back home for a while and back in the normal routine and rhythm of life. Including regular cooking and meal planning...
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Food lesson learned in New York: if you don't know what it is, don't order it without asking. Especially if it's sushi. And especially if there's any chance what you thought would be sashimi tuna might arrive in the form of eel. Ugh. (Yes, I did eat it, but regretted it).
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As much as I've loved my travels of the past month, I'm happy to be back home for a while and back in the normal routine and rhythm of life. Including regular cooking and meal planning...
Which leads me to a question: what is your most versatile recipe? Mine, without a doubt, is roasted chicken. I know I've blogged it before, but it's such a workhorse in my food rotation that I thought I'd offer it again as the solution to one of your crazy nights this week. It's one of the few recipes that I've really memorized, and I vary it based on what I have around the house, which makes it incredibly easy. I also have no qualms about getting the chicken prepped and then putting it in the oven for up to 45 minutes ahead of time, setting the "delay start" on my oven so that it can cook while I'm at soccer practice/swim lesson/choir/whatever, and be ready for us when we walk through the door.
Roasted Chicken (the loosey-goosey version)
Rinse 4 to 5 pound whole chicken inside and out, pat dry. Sprinkle inside of chicken liberally with salt and pepper. Stuff chicken with any combination of lemon, garlic, and onion, depending on what you have around (I've even popped a couple shallots in there when I didn't have an onion). If you have fresh herbs like sage, thyme, or rosemary, throw those in as well (but in the winter, when I don't have any backyard herbs, I certainly don't buy the crazy expensive ones just for this). Place the chicken on rack in your roasting pan and tuck his little wings behind him, so he looks like he's taking a nap. Secure the legs together tightly with kitchen twine. Brush chicken with either 2 tablespoons melted butter or 2 tablespoons olive oil (butter would be my first choice). Sprinkle well with salt and pepper. Optional: add cut up winter vegetables to the roasting pan, like sweet potatoes, butternut squash, carrots, onions, yukon gold pototoes, etc. (whatever you have on hand is fine). Roast at 425 for 1 hour and 30 minutes. Remove from oven, cover loosely with tin foil and let it sit for about 10 minutes before carving. If you're really organized, do 2 at once so you'll have delicious leftover roasted chicken to use later in the week.
Enjoy!
