Potato Ode

I have been thinking about my oldest friend a lot recently. She is living in Ireland and I miss her terribly. With her on my mind I thought a potato entry would be a good way to honor her. She says the potatoes run wild on the Emerald Isle. Plus she adores this recipe! I did add a little twist to liven it up just a bit! This one is for you Molly!

Kelsey Potato salad with a Lauren twist

red potatoes

fresh parsley

asparagus

green onions

Dressing

This is a basic vinaigrette that we use all the time on salads

red wine vinegar

Dijon mustard

pepper

Olive oil

mix all ingredients then whisk in oil to emulsify

1. cut potatoes and asparagus into bite sized pieces

2. Boil potatoes until tender

3. Boil asparagus for a few minutes and immediately put in cold water ( you want it to stay crunchy and bright green)

4. Drain potatoes and let cool to room temperature

5. Chop some fresh parsley and green onions and mix in a bowl with potatoes and asparagus

6. Toss with dressing and serve at room temp! Yum....

Great minds... and taste buds!

I know it has been a while and I apologize. Life has been busy and the kitchen has been neglected. My oven was calling to me today so I decided to make one of my favorite dishes growing up. Roasted lemon chicken. There really is nothing to it, but I hold the trick to crispy skin....mmmm. We used to fight over the skin in our house. I even converted Chris to be a skin lover and he used to never touch the stuff.

After I popped the bird in the oven I called Mom and asked her what they were cooking.... Roasted lemon chicken! I figured it was a sign that I need to get back to the blog! This meal is pretty cheap but tastes like something decadent! But only if you follow our cooking instructions, not the temps the packaging suggests, unless you like dried out meat. I have also included the gravy I make with the drippings, which tastes good on mashed potatoes or rice too!

Roasted Lemon Chicken

Whole chicken

Lemon

Pepper

olive oil

chicken stock

**** Preheat oven to 450******

1. Clean out the guts and rinse your bird and pat dry

2. Thinly slice the lemon and put some pepper on your slices(or two if you are lemon lover like me)

3. Carefully separate the skin and the breast and thighs of the bird being careful not to tear the skin. Then slide lemon slices between the skin and the meat to cover as much of the meat as you can.

4. Fill the cavity with some lemon wedges and throw some pepper in there too

5. Put the olive oil on the outside of the bird and pepper ( I often squeeze a little lemon juice on there first)

5. You want to cook your ckicken in a roasting pan with a rack.

6. In the pan add a cup or two chicken stock and of course lemon lovers can add a few more squeezes of juice! YOU might need to add a little more as the chicken cooks.

7. Put the bird in the oven and cook at 450 for 10 minutes (this will crisp up the skin)

8. After 10 minutes turn the oven down to 350 (do not open) and cook your chicken for 20 minutes per pound.

Gravy

After you remove the chicken from the pan whisk the drippings with some wondra or flour. You may need to add a bit of stock to regain the liquid that cooked off. I usually just put the pan over the stove on a burner and whisk until I get the consistency I like.

Enjoy!!!