While, I don’t have photographs of both recipes, I wanted to share with you our favourite ways to prepare a chicken.

Roast Chicken: Two Ways

Split, Broiled Chicken
Adapted from Joy of Cooking

A quick way to a juicy, flavorful chicken is by cutting the bird in half, removing the backbone and broiling the bird.

Ingredients

1 3-1/2 pound chicken
2 tablespoons melted butter
2 — 4 (we like a lot) garlic cloves, minced
2 — 3 teaspoons rosemary, crumbled
juice from 1 lemon
salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Directions

Preheat the broiler. Move the rack to the center of the oven, at least so the top of the chicken will be 8 inches beneath the broiler. Prepare a broiling sheet with some heavy duty aluminum foil (to make clean up a bit easier for yourself).

Brush (or get messy and use your hands) the butter over the bird. Also, rub in the garlic and rosemary. Sprinkle with the lemon juice. Finish with salt and pepper. Place the bird skin side down on your prepared pan.

Transfer the pan to the oven and cook for ~15 minutes. Very, very carefully, flip the bird over so it is skin side up. Cook until the thigh registers 170ºF. If the bird begins to burn, you can tent it with foil until it is finished cooking. Remove from the oven and allow to rest under tented foil for 10 — 15 minutes.

The Perfect Roasted Chicken

When we have an extra hour, we like to roast the chicken whole, kind of like our turkey recipe.

Ingredients

1 roasting chicken (4-6 lbs), giblets removed, rinse and pat dry
2 tablespoons softened butter
salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 small yellow onion
1 small lemon
1 small carrot, cut into 2” pieces
1 small rib celery, cut into 2” pieces
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary or thyme (you can substitute 2 tsp dried)

Method

Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Rub the outside of the chicken with the butter and season the inside and out with salt, pepper and juice of the lemon. Tuck the vegetables and lemon inside the cavity. Tie up the legs to prevent the stuffings from coming out.

Transfer the chicken to a baking dish and rest on its side. Roast for 25-30 minutes. Turn the bird onto its other side and roast for an additional 25-30 minutes. Finally, flip the bird onto its back and roast for a remaining 35-45 minutes or until the the thigh registers 170ºF. The total cooking time will be between 1-1/2 to 1-3/4 hours.

Let the bird rest, covering with aluminum, for 10-15 minutes before carving.

Easy as cake chicken stock

What I love about this method is that you can prepare your stock while you are sleeping. Well, almost. It’s wonderful because it uses the crockpot. I discovered this after Thanksgiving last year and I haven’t looked back since.

Ingredients

1 small to medium carcass of a chicken (typically from a 4 lb bird) — either fresh or frozen (I sometimes freeze 1 or 2 if I don’t have time to prepare the stock)
2–3 small carrots, trimmed, washed and cut into 2” pieces
2-3 small ribs celery, trimmed, washed and cut into 2” pieces
1 medium onion, skin removed and cut into fourths
Water, just boiled on the kettle

Makes 5-6 cups

Method

Plug in your slow cooker and place all ingredients into the bowl (excluding the water).

Pour hot water over the bones and mirepoix (carrots, celery and onion). I use boiled water because it requires a shorter amount of time to heat up in the slow cooker.

Turn the slow cooker on “High” until your water begins to boil again. (If you are using frozen carcasses, it will take a bit longer to heat). Turn the slow cooker to “Low” and let cook either overnight or while you are at work (about 8 — 9 hours).

When you wake up or return from work turn off the slow cooker and remove the lid to let the excess steam escape while you putter around making dinner or breakfast. When the slow cooker is cool enough to handle (30 minutes or so; but I have heat resistant hands) place a sieve over a large bowl or pot (preferably not plastic) and drain stock into the bowl. Toss the mirepoix and chicken bones in the garbage. Allow the hot stock to cool on the counter top before covering and transferring to the fridge.

Let the stock cool in the fridge either overnight or while you are at work (about 8 hours) to let the fat solidify. (It doesn’t actually require 8 hours, but it fits my schedule better). Using a fine mesh sieve transfer the stock into quart sized freezer bags. (The sieve should prevent the solidified fat from entering the bag. If this doesn’t work for you, you might try using a coffee filter apparatus.) Label your bags and lay them in the freezer. When they have frozen you can stack them vertically.

And store:

Anyway. It has been several years since my love affair with bread and Amélie began. I am now moving onto trying some new techniques. Well, new for me. Sourdough bread baking (or at least using a natural starter) has been around since the Egyptian times in 1500 BC. Using a starter of naturally occurring bacteria gives breads regional distinction. [Of course we all know about the famous San Francisco sourdough breads (yum!)] After several failed attempts when we first moved to Madison (the bread just never rose) I put the project on hiatus. Thankfully, Clotilde*, of Chocolate and Zucchini, has been writing several posts about sourdough bread products and her little starter named Philémon. Her triumphs in the kitchen inspired me to resume our little fermentation project. Afterall, we should be good at this since Robb has been brewing beer with Eric, of late… and I am getting my Masters in Cheese. One of the easiest and sure-fire ways to have a happy, healthy stater is to procre some from a friend or a bakery. Since the Madison Sourdough Company seems to have their starter on lockdown [aside: they have the most amazing croissants!], I looked elsewhere. After some perusing on the internets, I discovered a nonprofit organization whose entire business is giving away a starter that has a very long history.

For the price of a stamp, Carl Griffith’s Oregon Trail will mail you a 150+-year-old sourdough starter culture that was brought west by a pioneer ancestor:

All I know is that it started west in 1847 from Missouri. I would guess with the family of Dr. John Savage as one of his daughters (my great grandmother) was the cook. It came on west and settled near Salem Or. Doc. Savage’s daughter met and married my great grand father on the trail and they had 10 children. It was passed on to me though my parents when they passed away. I am 76 years old so that was some time ago. I first learned to use the starter in a basque sheep camp when I was 10 years old as we were setting up a homestead on the Steens Mountains in southeastern Oregon. A campfire has no oven, so the bread was baked in a Dutch Oven in a hole in the ground in which we had built a fire, placed the oven, scraped in the coals from around the rim, and covered with dirt for several hours. I used it later making bread in a chuck wagon on several cattle drives - again in southeastern Oregon.

(via BoingBoing)

I sent away for my starter several weeks ago and it arrived just before my birthday (what a great little gift!) Following the set of instructions, I revived my little zombies (see Alton Brown) and now they are happily procreating in my fridge in a little applesauce jar. Here is a photo-log of their revival.

Meet Nino, the starter:

Nino, the starter, in its hibernating (aka-dried) state and its awaiting bowl.

Dissolving Nino, the starter, in 3/4 cup 90ºF water. (This took a bit of time…)

Preparing the ingredients for Nino’s first feeding: 3/4 cup bread flour and 1 tsp. sugar.

Mixing…

Ah, finished mixing. (It’s OK if there are a few lumps.)

An oven with the pilot light on is supposed to be a good incubating space, but my oven doesn’t have that luxury. Instead, our spare room and a desk lamp proved a suitable spot for it. I let Nino ferment for ~48 hours. The room smelled delightful!

Post-fermentation. Look at all that alcohol on the surface. Stir it back in a feed Nino again.

Getting Nino ready for its transition into the fridge.

It now lives in my fridge and I’ve made one loaf using the directions for the Alaskan sourdough bread which can be found here. But, as tasty as it was, it was not sour enough for Robb or myself. This weekend, I am planning to start another batch but this time using the recipe from the King Arthur Flour Blog for Extra-Tangy Sourdough Bread. I love that the basis for the lack-of-sourness goes back to simple microbiology:

What makes the sour in sourdough bread? It’s a combination of lactic and acetic acids, created as the dough rises and ferments. Refrigerating the dough encourages the production of more acetic than lactic acid; and acetic acid is much the tangier of the two. Thus, sourdough that’s refrigerated before baking will have a more assertive sour flavor.

(Via King Arthur Flour)

It looks like our dough will be spending more time in the fridge than on the counter. Hopefully this loaf is more to our tasetbuds’ liking. Otherwise, our freezer won’t be able to hold much more bread!! (Or we will be having a French toast party pretty soon…)

Ah, and if you are in the market for your own, already thriving starter… let me know! If you live in the Madison-area I would be more than happy to give you some of Nino’s offspring.

I suppose while the yeast is doing its work, I will go skip stones like Amélie…

* Did I tell you that I once saw her at a book signing in Seattle? That is me in the maroon shirt… har har.

We decided to compare the price we spend in the store on little bottles (usually 1.3 oz) of crushed red pepper and the price of our “penny pinching” method.

Store bought crushed red pepper:
$1.99 — 3.00 / 1.3 oz bottle = $1.5 — 2.3/oz

Homemade crushed red pepper:
$1.49 / 2 oz bag = $0.75 / oz

We go through several bottles a year so it looks like we will be using our “penny pinching” method from here on out.

I used this pattern. [I updated the original which was formatted in a manner that made it difficult to read].

It was my first time knitting with more than one color using the “stranding” technique (aka, knitting with two hands). Oh boy! How fun. You can see a difference between my first (on the right) and second (on the right) stockings. I have a tendency to knit tightly and discovered that this produces a very puckered looking stocking. The second is much looser. The same number of stitches was used in both stockings but the second is almost an inch wider! Robb is thrilled with his because his can hold more presents! Unfortunately, since I finished the second at 12:15 am on Christmas morning (!!) Santa didn’t fill either of our stockings this year. But maybe next year…

[The nifty stocking holders we picked up at St. Vinnny’s for $1 each!]

As a wedding gift, my grandma gave me a treasured hand-me-down: a practically new Cuisinart food processor with a pasta making attachment. I think she used it once or twice since my grandpa gave it to her as a wedding gift 30 years ago. I admit, the pasta maker sat in our apartment for almost two years now, unused and taking up space. Lately everyone has been making their own pasta, so Robb and I felt the need to jump on the bandwagon. Thankfully it didn’t require spending any money.

Ruthie gave me her recipe for their egg-pasta and tips on how to check for the perfect consistency. The last time I made pasta, we had to use our hands… this time … the Cuisinart did all the work. I now know why Mario Batali always insists on making pasta on his show — it’s just that easy!

Ruthie’s Basic Egg Noodle Pasta
Makes: 1.25 lbs

Ingredients:
4 large eggs
17.5 oz (3.5 cups) sifted bread flour
1 tablespoon water - add to eggs
1 teaspoon salt

Method:
Break eggs and make sure they measure to 7/8 cup and add 1 teaspoon of water at a time. Mix together well.

Sift flour and salt together and put into the food processor. Turn on and while the processor is running, gradually pour in egg mixture. The dough will begin to turn into particles which will “creep” up the sides of the bowl. When the dough begins to “fall” or collapse back into itself, the dough will be ready.

*This is where my recipe deviates from Ruthie’s*

With the food processor attachment (from 1982) (opposed to the Kitchen Aid attachment) you simply transfer the dough into the hopper where you will feed it into the extruder. (I will post photos of my awesome, vintage pasta maker at a later date.)

Once you have your pasta in the desired shape and consistency, lay it on a clean towel and dust it with semolina flour to prevent it from sticking together.

Fresh pasta only takes a few minutes to cook. But, to ensure they do not stick together and cook evenly, only add a handful at a time to the boiling water. Wait until the water has return to a boil before adding more.

My friend Luz gave me the recipe for her prize winning pasta (often referd to as her “husband-finding sauce” from her time she spent at L’Abri. I hope she wont mind me sharing it here, I have had so many people ask me for the recipe. It’s seriously amazing. And if you happen to be looking for a husband, maybe this will help lure in “the one.”

Luz’s Arrabbiata Sauce
Makes: 6 servings

Ingredients and Method:
Heat on medium-high 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large, deep skillet. Add 1 cup medium onion, diced and allow to soften (5 minutes) and then add 4 (or more) cloves garlic, minced. Cook until fragrant (about 30 seconds).

To the onion mixture, add in these more or less at the same time:

3 ounces red wine (Merlot is best)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil (or 1 teaspoon dry)
1 tablespoon crushed red pepper (or less if you can’t do spicy)
2 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 tablespoon Itaian seasoning
1/4 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
2 (14 oz cans) peeled, diced tomatoes (if you use whole canned tomatoes, smash them with a potato masher)

Bring the sauce to a simmer until it reaches the desired consistency (I usually simmer for 15 minutes or so). Finish it off with as much chopped fresh parsley.

You can serve this over vegetables (like yellow squash and zucchini) and/or yummy pasta. Oh and it’s amazing with some crusty bread.

Robb and I were curious about the cost of fresh pasta vs the dried pasta we buy at the store:

1¢ …1 teaspoon salt
40¢… 4 large eggs
99¢… 17.5 oz bread flour
$1.40 / 1.25 pounds fresh pasta

Homemade Fresh Pasta = 23¢ / serving
A serving size of fresh pasta is 3 oz (about 6 servings from a recipe).

Store-bought Dried Pasta = 15¢ / serving
A serving size of dried pasta is 2 oz (about 8 servings from a box).

I don’t have these numbers yet:
Store-bought Fresh Pasta = ?¢ / serving
A serving size of fresh pasta is 3 oz (about ? servings from a box).

Now, I am a faithful follower of Molly Wizenberg (author of the blog Orangette and the book, A Homemade Life) and I recalled a photograph of pickling carrots from her wedding preparations. Cathy gave me a signed copy of Molly’s book for my birthday, which just so happened to have the recipe for the hot (spice-wise) pickled carrots. Now of course, I had to try out the recipe which I had to double so I could use three pounds of my carrots.

The chapter on pickling foods made me grin. As Molly described her husband, he began to remind me of Robb. They share an uncanny taste for vinegar. And, like Molly, I don’t think I appreciated vinegar as much as I do now after being married to Robb. (Not to mention, Molly’s husband also has a mop of curls.)

While Robb was still in Seattle, I decided to break in our new kitchen by trying something I had never done before: pickling. The recipe is quite simple (I’m sorry, but I won’t share it here because it is not mine to share) and includes some wonderful ingredients bound to excite the taste buds and enhance the carrots. My favourite ingredient, besides the rainbow of carrots, was the garlic. I am always so thrilled to be able to use one of our many heads of garlic. Never have I seen such beautiful garlic. I’m just sayin’…

Now that they are bathing in their tasty brine, we must wait. I’ll let you know how they taste. I’ll even give you a jar if you stop by. But knowing our habit of eating pickles, they wont last long!

Little did I know what was waiting for me at home. Apparently our friend Aaron informed Robb that Sufjan Stevens was coming to Madison (I was oblivious to this upcoming concert). Now, if you don’t already know, Sufjan is probably one of our favourite musicians. After Ruthie and Eric dropped me off at our new apartment, I noticed a letter on the table that Robb had left for me. Reading it I discovered that Robb had already planned to surprise me just as I hoped he would. (I love that we think alike). Anyway, we are going to see Sufjan Stevens at the Majestic on 28 September. Hooray!

In case you are wondering, Robb made those tickets (I thought that those were the actual ones being distributed for the concert). Are they beautiful or what?

Christmas is over, but we still have a box of homemade marshmallows waiting to be consumed in our kitchen. Feeling a touch adventerous, I decided to make Robb and myself some mochas using our little Moka espresso maker and my favourite hot cocoa recipe. I suppose I have made this combination before, but I tweeked it a bit… I heated the milk up in the microwave and added ground cinnamon to the cocoa-sugar-water mixture instead of using a stick of cinnamon.

I urge you to try out this little combination. It goes very well with a cold, snowy day.