Lemon & Garlic Whole Roasted Chickens

I like chicken. Chicken is ok. Me, and chicken, are good. Am I head over heels for chicken? not really. In fact, whenever I am pregnant, I have an aversion to it and cannot eat it. But I make it all the time because it’s a good source of protein, and my husband and kids enjoy it. This roasted chicken recipe took my taste for chicken to a whole ‘nother level. Roasting the chicken whole, stuffed with lemons, garlic and thyme, gives the chicken an incredible flavor that is not too overpowering, it’s just right. The chicken comes out so incredibly moist, you will want to eat the whole thing in one sitting!

The recipe calls for 1 5-6 lb. bird, but since my butcher only had 3-3.5 pounders, I made 2, and filled each with half a lemon and half a head of garlic. If you can get a 6 lb. chicken, go ahead and fill each cavity with a whole head of garlic (cut in half), and one whole lemon (cut in half) and of course, a bunch of thyme.

This chicken is beautiful served at the Friday night meal, with some rice and veggies on the side.

Lemon & Garlic Roasted Whole Chickens
adapted from Barefoot Contessa

2 3-3.5 lb. roasting chickens
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 large bunch fresh thyme
1 lemon, cut in half
1 head garlic, cut in half
2 tablespoon olive oil

Method:

Preheat oven to 425. Remove excess fat and feathers from the chickens. Clean well, rinsing inside and out. Pat dry. Season the cavity of the chicken with salt and pepper and stuff it with the thyme (you can reserve a little for garnish), lemon and garlic. Brush the outside of the chicken with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Tie the legs together with kitchen string. Roast for 1 hour.

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Mocha Bundt Cake


In my last post, I revealed that I recently turned the big three-o. It should come as no surprise then, that back in 2008, I celebrated my 10 year high school reunion. Together with my friend Dina (our self-appointed class president :)) and Raizy, we organized the reunion for several months, collecting recipes from our classmates and printing a professional cookbook from Morris Press Cookbooks. The reunion was a huge success, with most our class in attendance. We had the evening catered, but for the dessert table, we had several girls chip in and make some things. One of the most talked about cakes of the evening was this Mocha Bundt Cake. Since it was not included in the class recipe book, we emailed it to everyone the following day. The cake has lots of coffee, so I would recommend going with decaf. It’s moist and delicious, great for a party, or for Shabbos morning with a steaming cup of, you guessed it…coffee :)

Mocha Bundt Cake

4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1/4 cup of coffee diluted in 3/4 cup of hot water
1 cup oil
2 scoops vanilla sugar
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 cup cocoa

Method:
Beat the eggs and sugar until fluffy.  Add the coffee and oil. In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients. Add to the wet ingredients. Pour into a greased and floured bundt pan and Bake at 350 for (approximately) 45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Glaze:
3 teaspoons coffee dissolved in 2 tablespoons boiling water
2 tablespoons oil
1 1/2 – 2 cups of confectioners sugar

Mix coffee, oil and 1 1/2 cups of confectioners sugar. Add more slowly, if desired, until you reach desired consistency.

Drizzle the Glaze over cooled cake.

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some pics of our 10 year high school reunion.

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Asian Chicken Salad

I love coming up with ways to repurpose my leftovers. Lets face it. Life is busy, and putting a fresh and healthy dinner on the table isn’t always possible. I’m sure you’ve had to resort to fish sticks and french fries every now and then, just as I have. Sometimes, it helps to make a double portion of chicken or pasta so you can use the leftovers the next day in a different way. When I made this dinner, my daughter came home from school with a fever, and I had to run to the doctor at the last minute. I didn’t have time to prepare dinner earlier in the day, so I was glad to have lots of leftovers from the previous night when I made teriyaki vegetable linginui with marinated chicken breast. I decided to throw together an Asian-style salad to serve alongside some of the leftover pasta. I hadn’t started with the salad yet when my husband came home saying, “I’m not in the mood for salad.” I told him to at least give it a try because he would definitely get in the mood when he tasted it! Sure enough, he loved it, and had two bowlfulls! This salad is so light and fresh-tasting. You can go ahead and add in other veggies if you’d like. I think some white cabbage or bok choy would be a great addition, I just didn’t have any.

Asian Chicken Salad

1-2 heads rommaine lettuce
2 jars mandarin oranges (reserve 1/4 cup of the juice)
1 avocado, cubed
3 scallions, sliced
1/4 c craisins
1/3 c raw cashews
Grilled or pan-fried chicken, sliced

Dressing:

1/3 c oil
1/4 c vinegar
1/4 c mandarin juice
1/4 c sugar
1 tsp salt
1 heaping tbsp black sesame seeds

Method:

Strain mandarin oranges, reserving 1/4 cup of the juice. Slice romainne lettuce. Top with oranges, avocado, chicken, scallions, craisins and cashews. Mix dressing and pour over salad before serving. (I use about 3/4 of the dressing, you don’t need to use all of it).

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Purim Busy Bees


I like to look out for good deals on costumes during the post-Halloween season. I found these adorable bee costumes for my girls on Carters.com, and I just had to buy them.

After having a baby recently, I realized I would need a matching bee costume for him too. But instead of spending the money on a bunting outfit that would probably be hot and uncomfortable, I decided to crochet a bee hat, and just dress him in all black. With Purim soon approaching, I ordered black and yellow yarn, and crocheted the hat a few days ago. I love how it turned out!

How To:

size f hook
Tahki Cotton Classic Yarn Black (3002) and Bright Yellow (3533)

Abbreviations:
ch – chain
hdc – half double crochet
st – stitch
sts – stitches
mc – main color: black
cc – contrast color: yellow
fphdc – front post half double crochet
sc – single crochet

Rnd 1: with cc, Ch 5, join to make round
Rnd 2: 8 hdc in round
Rnd 3: [Hdc inc in next st] around. (16 hdc)
Rnd 4: [Hdc in next st, hdc inc in next st] around. (24 hdc)
Rnd 5: [Hdc in next 2 sts, hdc inc in next st] around. (32 hdc)
Rnd 6: [Hdc in next 3 sts, hdc inc in next st] around. (40 hdc)

Fitting Note: at this point, the circumference of your hat will be approximately 14″ (fits my 3 month old perfectly). If you want to make the cap larger, add another round of HDC here, increasing every 5 sts. You should have a total of 48 hdc.

Rnd 7,8,9: change to mc, hdc around
Rnd 10, 11, 12: change to cc, hdc around
Rnd 13, 14, 15: change to mc, hdc around
Rnd 16, 17, 18: change to cc, hdc around
Rnd 19, 20, 21: change to mc, hdc around
Rnd 22, 23, 24: fphdc around (this will create a rolled edge)
fasten off and sew in ends.

For the antennas:

ch 2. 4 sc into first ch. sc around for 6 rows. Pull on tail to stretch and form a cord.
repeat for the second antenna.
Create two small pom-poms and attach to antennas.
sew the antennas to the top sides of the hat.

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Oven Baked Organic Sweet Potatoes

Last year, we spent Purim in Asheville, North Carolina, by a friend of my husband. We drove about 12 hours to get there, the longest drive we have ever taken by car. It was actually not as bad as I thought it would be, but by the time we got there, I was definitely happy to be able to stretch and sleep! Lucky for us, our friends, the Rabbi and Rebbetzin of Asheville, had set up warm and comfortable accomodations. Purim in Asheville was a lot of fun. My kids enjoyed the Purim party, a magic show, and an adorable play put on by the Hebrew school kids. Even better was the delicious food that the Rebbetzin, Chana, prepared during our stay. One evening, she prepared oven baked organic sweet potatoes as a side dish. This was not new to me, as my mother always made them growing up. However, the organic part definitely was. I was never into the whole organic trend. It’s expensive, hard to find in my neighborhood, and since I turned out fine until now, I figured I’d take my chances. But Chana had recently given birth to twins, and she wanted to eat clean and healthy during her pregnancy, so she adopted a diet rich in organic fruits and vegetables. Being as I grew up eating oven baked sweet potatoes, I knew how they were supposed to taste. So when I put a spoonful of the organic stuff in my mouth, I immediately tasted the difference. It was so fresh tasting, full-bodied, and over-the-top sweet! It felt like eating a decadent dessert! Ever since then, whenever I plan on making oven baked sweet potatoes, I make it a point to buy organic ones. I really taste the difference!

I wouldn’t exactly call this a “recipe” because there is honestly nothing to it. I just find that sometimes we get so hung up on finding “recipes” for things that the star ingredient ends up getting lost. We’re busy taking delicious, wholesome, healthy sweet potatoes, adding butter, brown sugar, eggs and cream (amongst other things) to make sweet potato pie. What happened to baking a sweet potato just as it is? It is so sweet and delicious, it literally needs nothing! Don’t get me wrong, just a few days ago I took perfectly delicious baked salmon and mashed it up into salmon patties. I do it too. But I’m just saying, we definitely live in a “kugel” society and it’s nice to eat a vegetable purely for what it is every once in a while!

Oven Baked Organic Sweet Potatoes

Remove the stickers from the sweet potatoes, wash well (so you can eat the fiber-rich skin later) and dry. Put in a 9×13 pan. Place in a 400 degree oven. (I used to individually wrap the sweet potatoes in foil but I find that they come out a bit more watery that way). I can’t tell you exactly how long to bake them, since it depends on the size of your sweet potatoes. I go by the smell test. When the smell of sweet potatoes starts wafting through the house, I know they are almost ready. It should take about 1 1/2-2 hours to bake. Just give them the squeeze test with your hand, and when they are very soft, and you can see the delicious syrup has started dripping out of it, they are ready!

Since we weren’t home to give out shalach manos last year, I made Purim cards and sent them to family and friends, letting them know that we gave a donation in their honor in lieu of shalach manos.

Here is the card we sent out:


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