Roasted Chicken with Apple Cider Pan Sauce

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Roasted Chicken & New Potatoes with Apple Cider Pan SauceRoast chicken with potatoes ranks pretty high on my list of things I like to cook, as I bet it does with most home cooks.  It’s simple, it’s easy, and yields heart-warmingly delicious results, every time.  Who wouldn’t love that?

This time around I took a very minimalist approach with the chicken, just rubbing the skin with salt and pepper and stuffing a few rosemary sprigs and sage leaves in the cavity.  I roasted it in my (beloved) cast-iron pan over new potatoes and wedges of onion and made a quick apple cider pan gravy to serve alongside.  The result?  Total comfort food bliss and a beautiful dinner that tasted like I went to a lot more trouble than I actually did.

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Salmon with Morel Mushroom & Brandy Cream + Chicken & Morel Mushroom Fricassée

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The past week has been very mushroomy in my world.  It started with creamy orecchiette pasta with shiitake mushrooms and peas (look for that a little later this week!) and ended with an absurd amount of morel mushrooms served with salmon one night and in a chicken fricassée the next.

I only say absurd because if one were to buy as many morels as I’ve eaten in the past few days, they’d probably have to take out a second mortgage or sell a vital organ.  I priced them at the grocery store and they were $15.99 for 4 shrively mushrooms.  Yikes.  Thankfully, I’m lucky enough to have (future) in-laws that live on several wooded acres that are ripe with morel mushrooms most springs and a fiancé that loves hunting ’em down.  This year, Matt wound up with enough for us to have 2 very mushroom heavy dinners plus a bag to share with my parents.  Here’ s a taste of what we came up with and, perhaps, a little cooking inspiration, should you also come into a heap of morels this spring.

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Baked Risotto with Chicken, Lemon & Scallions

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Baked Risotto with Chicken Thighs, Lemon & Scallions

When you spend your life working in a restaurant and blogging about what you cook at home, it’s easy to overcomplicate food.  Every dinner has to be the best.  30 minute meals?  Save ’em for Rachael Ray.  1 skillet suppers?  I’m not about to sacrifice flavor for a couple fewer dishes at the end of the night. Chicken and rice for dinner?  Sounds boring, like what I give my dog when he’s sick.

But easy can be delicious and simple flavors can be supremely satisfying.  And if both of those are true, washing just 1 pan after dinner is the icing on the cake.

Thankfully, that’s the case with this recipe.  It’s something I tried it on a whim.  I had a bit of a tummy ache and wanted something soothing.  Plus, I was feeling a tad lazy so I decided to just toss everything in my cast-iron skillet, throw it in the oven, and call it a day.  To my surprise, it was way good.  The rice turned into risotto, without me standing by its side, stirring.  The chicken was moist and tender, with crispy skin.  Score!  Lemons, scallions, and garlic livened things up and a dusting of Parmesan sealed the deal; this was good enough to make again a couple of days later to share with you.

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Lemon & Rosemary Roast Spatchcocked Chicken

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Lemon & Rosemary Roasted Spatchcock Chicken

It’s difficult to take a photograph that does something as delicious as roasted chicken justice.

It’s difficult mainly because when face to face with a fragrant lemon and rosemary roasted bird, I want to get myself to the dinner table as quickly as possible, not futz around with making a spatchcocked chicken look cute for a picture.  You understand, I’m sure.

Wait.  There it is again.  That word.  Spatchcock.  It was in the title, too.  What does it mean?

You probably already know, I mean you look at food blogs, after all.  But my boyfriend, who is reading this over my shoulder, is wondering what the heck he just ate for dinner.

Spatchcocking is just another word for butterflying.  Sorry to disappoint you with such a simple explanation, but since it’s my favorite way to roast a chicken, I deem it worth sharing.  The backbone is removed and the bird is pressed and flattened.  A spatchcocked chicken will cook faster, more evenly, and allow all of the skin to crisp.  You can roast a spatchcocked chicken in the oven, as I have here, or you can grill it for an even more life-changing experience.  Plus, it’s a funny word for a process that yields a kind of funny looking bird.

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Crispy Braised Chicken with Grapes & Pearl Onions

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Crispy Braised Chicken with Grapes & Pearl Onions

Sometimes I feel like such a cliché.

What am I talking about?  Well, I’m about to go off on a rant about the weather.  Typical Minnesotan.

I’m freezing.  The temperature has been below zero all week.  Below ZERO.  As in zero degrees would be an improvement.  It’s cold and I can’t do anything productive because the thought of getting up from under an afghan is too much to handle.  I want to sit around, drinking tea or red wine, and eat.  Eat warm, nourishing food.  Comforting food like braised chicken. Mashed potatoes?  Obviously.

Okay, I can get out from under the afghan as long as it’s for a good cause and it involves turning on the oven.  And I’d say this is a pretty good cause: chicken thighs with crispy skin, braised with pearl onions, rosemary, and red grapes.  For good measure, we’ll serve it up on a mound of garlic-y mashed potatoes with a smattering of roasted Brussels sprouts and plenty of pan juices.  I’m feeling warmer and more good-natured just thinking about it.

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