VIDEO: ROAST CHICKEN

 Fool-proof recipe for perfectly moist, crispy skin, roasted chicken every time! Fabulous idea for dinner parties or a casual night at home, one chicken is enough for 4 people. Enjoy the video antics and the chicken :)

Hello Again Old Friend

Hello again old friend. It's been a terribly long time since we have interacted, 2.25 years to be exact. My husband has been telling me for quite some time that I needed to keep this blog going, but a recent binge watching of Sex & City rekindled my interest. As I watched Carrie write her columns and filter through thoughts in her mind, I remembered how much I liked bringing this blog to my patients and friends on a weekly or sometimes even daily basis.  I can't interact with the audience of my books like I can with people here and for that I am very excited.

You might notice that the interface looks a little different. I just hope that you all will still have access to the vast library of recipes we built up together. To get things started again I thought I would once again share one of the recipes my friends ask for most frequently, that of the roast chicken. Roast chicken is a dinner staple that so many people love, yet are scared to cook. They fear the chicken being underdone, raw and riddled with salmonella, so they overcook it and dry it out. The key to a perfect chicken comes from three things:

1. Size - 3.5-4# bird
2. Heat - 450 degrees
3. Cooking time - 55 minutes

You have to trust that this equation will yield perfect results every time. A 3.5-4# chicken is actually on the smaller side and you will most likely find it with an 'all natural' tag on it. One chicken will be enough for 3-4 people, if you have a larger group for dinner I would cook 2. It is a wonderful item to impress guests of a dinner party with, and since you have almost an hour of cooking time without needing to pay attention to the bird you can go back to hanging out with your guests. 

Preparation:

1. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.
2. Set up a roasting pan or Pyrex dish with a roasting rack inside it.
3. Rinse the chicken, inside and out (make sure to remove the bag of organs if it had one), and using paper towels dry off the bird inside and out as well. Place in pan on roasting rack.
4. Now we need to liberally salt and pepper the bird. And I do mean LIBERALLY - don't be shy here (notice in the picture that you can still see the salt and pepper after the bird is done cooking). You are going to give a good coating of salt and pepper all over the outside of the bird, top and bottom, and throw some into the cavity. You should be able to see the salt and pepper on the skin but its not going to be encrusted if that makes sense. 
5. The final step is to cross the chicken's legs and secure them. It doesn't matter which direction you cross them but for the ease of writing I will do it this way. Take a paring knife and cut a slit through the flap of skin next to the left drumstick. Holding the tip of the left drumstick in the center of the bird, pull the right drumstick over the top of the left and stick the end of it through the hole you made on the left side. All done! Legs are crossed!
6. Place chicken in oven. Set timer for 55 minutes and leave it. Do not open the door to check on it. When the timer goes off, removed chicken from oven and let rest for 5 minutes before carving. 

The great Thomas Keller of The French Laundry in Napa, California, suggests serving roast chicken with lemon wedges and stone ground mustard. These are delightful additions to your meal.

ENJOY!!

Pesto-Pork (or chicken) Pinwheels with Grilled Peaches

It's peach season people!! Time to find some fun things to do with your peaches. Give this recipe (adapted from one in Eating Well Magazine) a try out on your BB-Q!!

3/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
1/2 cup prepared pesto (see Big Ter's Famous Pesto recipe under 'sauces' or purchase at store)
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper
1 pound pork tenderloin (or chicken breasts), trimmed
2 large peaches, quartered

1. Preheat grill to medium.
2. Combine breadcrumbs and pesto in a small bowl and set aside. In another small bowl, combine oil, vinegar, salt and pepper.
3. Lay pork on a cutting board. CAREFULLY, slice pork (or chicken) the short way by holding your knife blade parallel to the cutting board and cutting 3/4 of the way across (place your free hand on top of the meat to hold it steady). DO NOT cut through the far end (leave about a thumb nail's worth of meat connected). Open the pork slice up so that you have a piece of meat that is now twice as wide but half as thin. Spread a thin layer of pesto mixture on the meat, leave 1" of meat along the far edge without pesto on it (you are going to roll the meat up the long way not the direction you cut it).
4. Starting with the side closest to you, roll the meat tightly lengthwise. Brush with olive oil mixture.
5. Slice roll crosswise (if using pork you will get 6-8 equal slices, if using chicken you will get 2-4 slices). Insert a skewer through 2-3 pinwheels to help hold the meat in its rolled up shape while cooking. (NOTE: if using wooden/bamboo skewers you need to SOAK them in water at least 30  minutes prior to use so they don't catch fire. If you using metal skewers you can lightly oil them prior to skewering the meat or spray with cooking spray so it is easy to remove meat once cooked). Toss peaches in oil mix and skewer as well.
6. Oil the grill rack. Place meat and peach skewers on grill. Grill, flipping all skewers once. Peaches should be soft (will take about 5 minutes) and meat should read 145 degrees if pork (take about 8-10 minutes) or 165 if chicken (takes about 10-12 minutes).
7. Remove from grill (metal skewers will be hot!! use tongs or pot holders).

ENJOY!!!

Pork Tenderloin with Fresh Plum Sauce

Original Recipe: Eating Well After Weight Loss Surgery, edited by the fab 

intern Lumi Bota to follow our program guidelines

When we were trying to come up with an Asian-style pork recipe, almost every one we researched contained hoisin sauce (very heavy on sugar). So we 

concocted this plum sauce, which not only tastes incredible, but is

incredibly versatile as well.

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon paprika

1 packet artificial sweetener (Splenda or Sweet ‘N Low)

½ teaspoon allspice

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

½ teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon ground ginger

½ teaspoon ground thyme

1 pound lean pork tenderloin 

Fresh plum sauce (makes approximately 1 cup):

Cooking spray

½ cup onion, chopped

3 large red or purple plums, peeled, seeded and chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tablespoon tomato paste

½ small jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon light soy sauce

Brown-sugar artificial sweetener (1 teaspoon equivalent)

Method of preparation:

1.      To make the plum sauce: coat a nonstick saucepan with cooking spray. Heat and sauté onion until just translucent. Add all other ingredients and cook over low flame for 10 minutes until thick. Let cool slightly, pour into food processor, and blend until smooth.

2.      Preheat the oven to 375° F.

3.      In a small bowl, mix all spices and sweetener together to form a dry rub.

4.      Rub spice mixture all over tenderloin and bake, uncovered, for 15 minutes.

5.      Spoon ¼ cup of the plum sauce onto tenderloin and bake for another 10 minutes.

6.      ENJOY!!!

Shish Kebabs

Getting back to my Middle East roots with this one! "Shish kebab" literally means "skewered meat". This recipe makes quite a bit, so this recipe would be great for a small dinner party (say 6-9 adults) or cut it in half for a more manageable amount of food. Armenians use a lot of lamb, but if you prefer beef that would work in this recipe just as well, as would skinless chicken thighs. The kebabs are best grilled, and we use an old fashioned Webber Charcoal grill with real charcoal (not briquettes) but whatever kind of grill you have is fine or you could cook them in the oven (I would do it at 400 degrees in the oven).

5 pound lamb roast, fat and silver skin removed, cubed into approx 2" chunks
1 can tomato paste (not the 4oz can the next size up)
1 large white onion sliced
1 head of garlic, skins removed, cloves sliced
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon cumin
black pepper (about 1/2 tablespoon)

1. In a large roasting pan mix the tomato paste with the lemon juice and vinegar to loosen up the tomato paste. Then add onions, garlic, and seasoning - mix again. Add meat and stir it around until it is completely covered in the marinate. Cover and let sit in ice box for at least 3 hours and up to 12 hours.
2. Before grilling, bring meat out of ice box and let come to room temp on the counter (about 20 minutes). While the meat is warming up, work on skewering it on metal skewers (this way they won't burn on the grill). Collect up all the onions and put them in a little homemade tinfoil pan/pouch that can also go on the grill.
3. Cook to desired doneness on grill - medium rare is perfect to me but some prefer it to be more towards medium (well done is sacrilege and should never occur). The fire should be a medium-high heat, and remember to turn the skewers every 5 minutes approx so that you get some charring on each side - USE TONGS the skewers are going to be hot!! :) Leave onions in their makeshift pan on the grill for the whole time the meat is cooking. They will be good and hot and have plenty of flavor from the marinate!

Enjoy!

This is how I Steak & Cheese...

The steak and cheese sandwich is one that is pretty popular with meat eaters and it can be a drag if your MD tells you to cut back on your fat intake. I was rummaging through the grocery store the other day and came up with this idea for a steak and cheese - sauteed mushrooms and onions atop a goat cheese-stuffed bison burger. My photos don't really do it justice, b/c photography isn't my specialty! But bison is much lower in fat then beef and has a slightly different taste to it as well so it can be a welcome addition to a bored palette.

Ingredients:
*12-16oz ground bison (depends on the brand your store sells)
*2oz fresh goat cheese (I used Vermont Creamery to keep it localish)
*1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary (ground up)
*1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
*1/2 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
*fresh cracked black pepper
*2 tablespoons olive oil
*sea salt
*1 pint mushroom blend or crimini ('baby bellas'), washed and sliced
*1 large white onion, sliced
*1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
*'sandwich vehicle' of your choice: lavash, pita pocket, flax roll

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line the lower level of a meatloaf pan (this looks like a bread loaf pan but it has an insert with holes in it to allow fat to drip through) with tin foil and then replace the insert.
2. Put bison in a bowl, add herbs and some fresh ground black pepper.
3. Make two 1oz each balls of goat cheese. Divide the meat in half and place one goat cheese ball on either half. Form the meat around the cheese, trying not to press to hard - you want the burgers to resemble balls instead of patties. Try to make sure there are no seems in the ball.
4. Put the burgers on the top part of the lined pan and cook in oven for 45 minutes (I like mine rare to med-rare if you want them more done cook 55 minutes tops - but be careful b/c bison's fat content is so low you can dry them out easily).
5. Meanwhile, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onions, and season with salt and pepper. Turn heat down when you start to hear sizzling to low-medium - remember to stir. Let onions sweat for about 10 minutes, then add mushrooms. Let cook about 5 minutes more. Add balsamic. Turn heat up to medium to let it boil off. When mushrooms are soft, turn heat off and wait for burgers to finish.
6. Heat/toast bun.
7. Make sandwich (put the 2nd helping in a container and reheat within 4 days) and enjoy! (One sandwich is a lot of food, so you might want to split one with someone and have a side salad)

Lamb Stew

Brrrrrr it's cold outside! This lamb stew turned out great last night and it warmed me right up, not to mention got the house smelling tremendous! Be careful it is VERY filling and it made quite a bit so I have plenty in the freezer for another frigid day : )

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup leftover lamb roast, cut into 1" cubes
1 cup thin sliced white onions
5 large cloves garlic sliced
3 parsnips, halved lengthwise, then sliced
1 medium yam, peeled, halved lengthwise, sliced
1 medium eggplant, stem removed, cut into 1" dice
1/4 cup pearled barley (not quick cook)
1/4 cup Israeli couscous
1/2 cup brown lentils
1 tablespoon Herbs de Provence
1/8 teaspoon tumeric
1/8 teaspoon curry powder
1/8 teaspoon Saigon cinnamon (has a hint of cayenne pepper)
1/2 tablespoon dried mint
1/2 tablespoon West Indian Blend Spice mix (see recipe below)
salt and pepper
1 quart vegetable stock (I use Pacific Organic because it doesn't have added sugar or oil)
12 oz pale ale beer (I used Sierra Nevada Pale Ale), cold
2 ripe tomatoes, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary

West Indian Spice Blend

3 tablespoons Curry powder
2 tablespoons Ground cumin
2 tablespoons Ground allspice
3 tablespoons Paprika
2 tablespoons Ground ginger
1 tablespoon Cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons Salt
2 tablespoons Ground black pepper
Makes 1 cup

1. Heat oil in a 2-3 gallon stock pot over medium heat. Cook garlic and onions until soft. Add lamb and let brown slightly about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Add parsnips, eggplant, yam - let cook 3 minutes.
3. Add cold beer - stir around scraping the bottom of the pan. The alcohol will start to boil off. Let cook about 1 minute, then add all the broth, barley, couscous, lentils and all the seasoning. Stir well to combine.
4. It will take a few minutes to get the ingredients up to temperature since the beer was cold. When it starts to simmer, turn down to low heat, cover (leave a crack) and let simmer about 3 hours, stirring about every 30 minutes so that it doesn't stick to the bottom. When it is ready, you will notice that the starch from the couscous and barley and the breakdown of the yam and lentils has started to thicken the stew.
5. To serve, spoon into bowl and top with some of the fresh rosemary and tomato.

ENJOY!

Grandma's Pot Roast

Grandma's pot roast was a Sunday dinner staple when I was growing up. We would venture the 75 miles from our home to hers every Sunday during the summer to spend the day playing cards, throwing poker chips, and building sand castles. Sunday dinner did not vary much, it was either roast chicken with pilaf, some kind of Armenian specialty, or pot roast. I remember loving the roast chicken, but I remember LOVING the pot roast. She always cooked hers with carrots, potatoes and onions. My brother would eat only the potatoes, my grandmother would always say, "I just LOVEEE cooked carrots, I don't know why - Gregory - why won't you try a carrot?", and the roasted onions were always my favorite. I would eat two or three whole roasted onions at the age of 7, what 7 year old does that!!

Last week, I ventured down to the Cape to visit grandma, and while it wasn't Sunday (Friday actually), she made a pot roast, and there it was laid out just like I remember. We sat down and started serving ourselves, she pierces a carrot with her fork, takes a bit and mutters the exact same phrase I would hear once a month, "I just LOVEEE cooked carrots, I don't know why!" Whoa nelle, deja vu! I promptly grabbed two roasted onions and tasted them before anything else. Heaven, just like I remember - and childhood memories that I had not thought about in years came flooding back, just from one bit of a roasted onion. I remembered the Cape cottage house with its lack of heat or AC, the cheap wood paneling, poop brown colored carpet, and leather furniture that squeaked so loud when you sat in it you could wake up someone in the bedrooms above. But alas, those were the days (and I have just successfully made myself sound 92 years old).

Grandma Sally cooks hers at 250 degrees for 4 hours. You could use other vegetables like turnips, sweet potatoes, parsnips, butternut squash or even some dried beans or lentils. She puts some stock in the bottom of the pot so that there is some liquid to keep things moist and she always covers the entire thing tightly. Then put it in the oven and forget about it. 1.5 hours in, you will start to smell it throughout the whole house and this begins the torture of waiting for that fork tender (yes, don't even bother putting knives on the table) meat with roasted vegetables. That is the extent of the 'recipe' I could get from her.

What's the deal with dogs anyway...

It's summer - most people like a dog on the grill (no, not Lassie-dog, she's to busy saving dumb kids that jump down wells), and everyone has their favorite: Ball Park Franks, Oscar Meyer Wieners, Nathan's, Hebrew National, etc. (You can actually go to Rateitall and check out which brand consumers think makes the best one.)

As far as I'm concerned though, this is one food item that the Jewish people got right (gelfite fish is the one they got wrong! but that's a topic for another day). The Jewish people don't mess around when it come to their dogs - mostly because they have strict slaughter rules and they don't eat pork, but hey, if it makes the dog better, I am all for rules! They make it with 100% beef, that was slaughtered in Kosher dietary law requirements; they add quality seasonings and that is it! (Read: no miscellaneous items from off the factory floor as fillers or ground up pork hooves or bones). Kosher dogs, made by a Jewish company, tend to be the most flavorful dogs and cook up the best with the fewest health side effects (sans much of the salt, fat, preservatives, other additives etc that many of the major non-Jewish brands have). I feel as though I can vouch for hot dogs as being an 'ok' food since working at Jewish hospital I have realized the dogs are for sure the highest quality item we have! I know funny, right!

But in all seriousness, you want to be sure you read the ingredients on the package. Some brands are full of nitrates which can cause terrible headaches, especially in children who eat hot dogs all the time. A high quality hot dog is an acceptable part of summer time, but just as with anything you don't want to eat one more then 1-2x/week. Top them with things like tomato slices, pickles, mustard, fresh chopped onions etc, and the dog can be a whole meal! Watch out for toppings like bottled relish and ketchup which contain lots of high fructose corn syrup, and shoot for fresher toppings like the ones listed above and shown in the picture. (The dog in the photo has tomato slices, pickle spear and a mild-hot pepper - aka 'Chicago Style' dog). Some fresh corn on the cob will definitely round out the grilling adventure!!

ENJOY!