a picture is worth a thousand words, period.

which would really have saved me the trouble of inventing
yet another clever little story to go along with this week's
recipes.

unfortunately, i forgot to take a picture of dinner last night
and even if i had, i haven't a clue how to get it to
magically appear here.

so i guess you will have to use your imagination.
if you need visuals, go to foodporndaily.com
it is, truly.


A Roast Chicken in Every Oven
Feeds a family of 5, with the understanding that the kids will eat the drumsticks, the wings and share the white meat with mom; dad gets the thighs because that's what he gets, period.

1 nice sized bird (3 - 4 lbs)
1 large spanish onion, sliced
a few or more cloves of garlic, slivered
1/2 lb chorizo, chopped
zest and juice of 1 lemon (save the squeezed lemons to stuff into bird cavity)
a few sprigs of fresh thyme
1/4 cup e.v.o.o.
splash chicken stock, white wine, H2O
S.P.

To prep the bird: Preheat the oven to 450. Clean the bird by removing giblets, extra fat, other undesirables. Give it a quick bath. Pat dry.

For the mirepoix nest: Lay sliced onions, slivered garlic and chopped chorizo in bottom of roasting pan. Place bird onto mirepoix nest.

For the marinade: Mix zest and juice, thyme, e.v.o.o., S.P. and rub over entire bird.
Don't forget to stuff the squeezed lemon carcasses into the bird.

Pop the bird into the oven and let sear for about 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350 and continue to roast the bird for about an hour or so.
Note: After the bird has been roasting a bit, you may want to deglaze the roasting pan mirepoix nest with a little of the stock, wine, H2O found in the recipe. This prevents the nest from charring and helps bolster the sauce.

You will know when the bird is done when the read on a meat thermometer, plunged into the meatiest part of the thigh, is 165 degrees. Also, the juices streaming from a gently poked, properly cooked bird should run clear.

Serve the bird with the roasted nest. I didn't do anything with the pan juices. We went with them as is, au naturel.

Seriously, a roasted chicken is one of the best things anyone can ever imagine. It smells soooo good while it's cooking, and tastes so damned good while you're eating it.

And, once again, the variations are endless. You can chili rub, curry rub, jerk rub. You can use oranges, limes, apple cider, WINE. How about mustard, herbs, soy? AND, you can stuff stuff under the skin, too, like pesto, olive tapenade, roasted garlic, sage leaves, prosciutto. Oh, won't someone stop me, please.

Now, while a roast chicken is the epitome of culinary perfection...you musn't eat it alone. It likes company. Last night, it was joined by sweet potato gnocchi with blue cheese cream and simply sauteed broccoli rabe with red pepper chili flakes and garlic.
Yikes, was that good. Strangely, I forgot the bread warming in the oven, but that didn't stop everyone from somehow sopping up every last bit of the pleasantly mingled sauces on our plates. There was even some stealthy plate licking going on.

Always a good sign.

Note 2: On the off chance that there is chicken left, you must make soup, period.

Side Story: My friend Terese Fiore claims that her family of like a million, or 9 or something, used to eat 1 roast chicken for three meals, at least. Her mother, a magician, would carve the bird night one, make soup for night two, and i can't imagine what else she could possibly have sucked out of that thing but Trace swears there was a third meal in that poor bird, and I, by golly, I want to believe her.

Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Blue Cheese Cream
Makes a whole lot.

3 cups mashed sweet potatoes, about 2 lbs or so
1 1/2 cups whole milk ricotta, drained
1 cup grated parmesan
a palmful of brown sugar
S.P.
2+ cups flour

I am starting with a couple of notes:
One. This is an uncharacteristically labor intensive recipe for me. You won't find many of these in my repertoire, period.

Two. Recently, I discovered that sweet potatoes cook in
only 5 minutes in a microwave. That discovery was completely
liberating. I did find, though, that the more potatoes you try to nuke
at once, the longer it takes, but minimally so. Still, a great thing.

Three. I eat sweet potatoes regularly now.

To make the gnocchi dough: Cook the sweet potatoes in the nuke until soft, about 5 minutes or so. Scoop the pulp into a bowl and mash it with a fork until relatively smooth and lump free. Add the ricotta. Blend completely. Add the parmesan and the brown sugar. Season with S.P. Now, begin to add the flour, a cup at a time, until a soft dough forms. You want to try not to overmix the dough. Turn dough onto a floured board. Cut into 6 pieces. Working with one at a time, roll into ropes about 20 inches long and 1 inch in diameter. Cut into 1 inch pieces and roll across the tines of a fork to mark them. Place on lightly floured baking sheet, untouching, until ready to cook.

Blue Cheese Sauce
Makes 3 cups or so.

1/4 large spanish onion, small diced (shallots would work here as well)
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 stick butter
1 cup white wine
2 cups heavy cream
2 cups grated gorgonzola
S.P.

To make the sauce: Saute the onion and garlic in butter until soft. Add wine and reduce to 1/4 cup. Add the heavy cream. Bring to a boil. Whisk in the gorg until smooth. Season with S.P. to taste.

To cook the gnocchi: Bring salted water to a boil in a large pot. Working in small batches, boil the gnocchi for between 3 and 4 minutes. You can do this ahead and reheat later, or you can cook them to order. If using right away, transfer the gnocchi to a serving bowl and drizzle hot sauce over them. If reheating, allow to cool on a baking sheet and reheat either in boiling water or sauce.


Sauteed Broccoli Rabe
1 bunch feeds 4 nicely.

1 bunch broccoli rabe, bottoms trimmed
a splash of olive oil
a couple of cloves of garlic, chopped
a pinch of red pepper flakes
S.P.

Starting with another note: I never really liked broccoli rabe. It was always too bitter. That is, until I discovered the secret: a simple blanching. That's all it takes to completely remove the bitterness. Yay.

To make the broccoli rabe: Blanch the broccoli rabe in a large pot of boiling salted water for no more than 3 minutes. Cool under cold running water or in an ice bath.
Drain completely.

To cook the broccoli rabe: Heat olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add garlic and pepper flakes. Saute for a minute or until garlic begins to sizzle. Add broccoli rabe and heat through completely. Season to taste.


Aside: My friend Sarah celebrated her birthday on Wednesday and no birthday is complete without 5 bottles of cava and a cake, deliriously enjoyed by 5 women at 5 in the afternoon. The cake, inspired by a recipe I saw in this month's Bon Appetit, was really yummy.

Buttermilk Spice Cake with Mango Something and Shlag
Makes one 8 inch.
Served many slivers. We're all dieting.

Note: I didn't have any buttermilk, so I substituted sour cream.
AND, I DO NOT LIKE nutmeg, ever, nor allspice and the like so...
changed up the spices. Mmm. Mmm. Mmm.

1 stick butter
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup buttermilk/sour cream
1 vanilla bean, scraped
zest of 1/2 a lime
1 cup + 1 T flour
1/4 cup corn starch
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp each cinnamon, ground ginger, 5 spice powder,
black pepper, fennel seed


To make the batter: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8 inch cake pan and lay a parchment circle in bottom. Cream the butter and the sugar, scraping the sides periodically, until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, until well blended. Add sour cream, vanilla bean seeds and lime zest. Beat until smooth. Add all of the dry ingredients, pulsing your mixer on and off to prevent spice cloud. Transfer to prepped pan and bake, until golden, about 30 minutes or so or until skewer comes out clean. Let cool.

Mango Something
Makes 2 cups

Note: I am calling it mango stuff because I don't know what else to call it. It resembles a salsa but has no onion or cilantro. It isn't a compote or a chutney, which are cooked.
It's not really a coulis, because it's not pureed. Does anyone know what IT IS?


2 ripe mangos, brunoise
zest and juice of 1/2 a lime
1 vanilla bean, scraped
Sea salt
Cracked Pepper

To make the mango stuff: Warning: another slightly fussy recipe in that brunoise, the smallest of the dice cuts, at about 1/8", cubed, is fussy. Not for the arthritic or homicidal.
At any rate, toss all of the ingredients in a bowl and let marinate for an hour or so.

Shlag
Yield: Depends

Heavy Cream
10x sugar

Okay. Shlag is just really softly whipped cream. C'est tout.

To serve: Dust the cooled cake with powdered sugar. Cut into slivers (that way, you can have seconds). Drape a dollop of shlag on the cake along with a healthy spoonful of the mango something.


Eat.

(Who's making those yummy sounds?)