November 23, 2014 by gn0mel0ver

Jamie Oliver’s Milk Chicken

I realize it is odd to write about roasting a chicken when everyone is talking about roasting turkeys. Well, I will not be doing a turkey post, because Ina Garten has the best roasted turkey recipe. I have used it every single year, varying the ingredients slightly or not at all, and it is always excellent. I do take additional herbed butter and massage it under the skin. Anyway, that is what I recommend, maybe I will do a post about it one day, probably around The Fourth of July, because that is how organized I am. But let’s talk about chickens for today…

Pinterest is killing me.

I want to make all of the goodies. I want my house magically cleaned. Organized. And I want to do it all whilst wearing a caftan and simultaneously beading an area rug. Has anyone ever beaded a rug? Could you walk on it? Would it roll? Is it slippery? These are all the questions that Pinterest brings to mind. What does this have to do with chicken? Nothing. Except, I found Jamie Oliver’s Milk Chicken Recipe on Pinterest and I was intrigued.

I did not do Pinterest proud here.

My pictures are bad.
This made my heart sad.
I am not a type A.
Is there a type Z?
It’s a good thing…
I am not Martha Stewart.
Amen.

I have made roasted chickens before, but I don’t like having to deal with the roasting pan. It cannot be put in the dishwasher. Everything I use must be able to be put in the dishwasher. I wanted something easy. Something perfect for my lazy heart.

This chicken is it.

I do need to say that this chicken is cooked in milk. The milk becomes curd in the pan. This does not bother me. It does bother some people. Some people being my husband. My husband hates cottage cheese. So looking into the pan and seeing that I pretty much made my own cottage cheese chicken for dinner was basically his worst nightmare. And my perfect tear-laughing moment. But he did like the chicken. He agreed it had great flavor. He just would not touch the marvelous sauce the chicken cooked in because of this.

His loss.

This recipe is relatively inexpensive, especially since I made enough to have leftovers. There are not a lot of leftovers. However I can stretch them enough for one more dish the next night. I turned the leftovers into chicken noodle soup, chicken spaghetti and even just throwing it into a store-bought curry sauce. You can usually find a whole chicken on sale for around $1 a pound. This recipe called for a three pound bird. Dude. If I am going to be roasting a whole chicken and using up ingredients, I am going to make a bigger bird than that. I have used anywhere from a 4 pound bird to a 6 pound bird. I increased the cooking time around ten minutes per additional pound for the recipe (a la Julia Child but factoring in a lower cooking temperature than she uses). When I made the four pound bird, I just followed Jamie Oliver’s cooking time exactly.

Because this is not my recipe, I usually would not the write ingredients and directions, but according to the comments on The Kitchn (where I also learned to cover the chicken resulting in a more braising than roasting technique), Jamie Oliver made this chicken differently on his show. I tried to piece together the best way people said to make this and combined the advice here:

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken (4-6 pounds)
2 lemons
1/2 stick cinnamon
2 1/3 cup whole milk
7-10 cloves of unpeeled garlic (the recipe calls for ten. I am cheap. I am not spending fifty cents for an additional head of garlic, so cut out as many cloves as you can from one head and use it. A great tutorial for removing the garlic cloves can be viewed here)
A handful of fresh sage
1 tsp salt + some sprinkled on chicken
1/4 tsp. ground pepper + some sprinkled on chicken
1/2 stick salted butter
3 Tbsp. Clarified butter (I buy mine in a jar at Trader Joe’s. Or you can use half butter and half olive oil)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

You can, if you are of the mind to, truss your chicken if you would like. I do not. Type Z, and all of that. But you can if you choose. Type Z doesn’t judge.

In a large pot (one that comes with a lid), heat clarified butter (or 1 1/2 Tbsp. Butter and 1 1/2 Tbsp. Olive oil) on medium high heat.

Remove giblets from the cavity of the chicken with tongs. Throw them away. Don’t gag.

Season one side of the chicken. Add seasoned side of chicken down into the pot and sear for three to five minutes until it has a nice golden color to it. Season other side and and very carefully rotate the chicken to the other side (I use two pairs of cooking tongs). Sear for three to five minutes. Remove chicken to a plate and carefully discard cooking oil.

Zest the lemons.

Place the chicken back into the pan. Cut the lemons in quarters and push them up into the chicken’s cavity. Place the garlic cloves around the pan. I really want to say, “riddle the garlic cloves around the pot,” but I feared it would not make sense. Plus every time I say the word, “riddle,” I think of Tom Riddle and then I get sidetracked daydreaming about Harry Potter.

Mix the milk and salt and pepper with a fork. ‘Cause you’re fancy. Pour in pan around chicken. Add cinnamon stick. Riddle the sage around the pan. Sprinkle the lemon zest over everything. Add 1/2 stick of butter into the pot.

Cover the pot and place into the oven for forty five minutes for a three-four pound bird. Increase cooking time ten minutes per pound for a larger bird.

After your cooking time has passed, remove lid. Cook an additional forty five minutes. And as Jamie Oliver says, “baste when you remember.”

Remove pot from oven. Check your chicken to make sure it is cooked thoroughly.

Remove chicken to a plate to rest for five minutes. Carve chicken. Serve. I serve a little bowl of the delicious sauce to dip it in. I serve my chicken with either baked potatoes, mashed potatoes or rice depending upon the laziness of the cook that day.

Pinterest, you win this round.

Because this chicken recipe was amazing. Of course, I made this in my pajamas, in a messy house, whilst browsing the Internet. But Pinterest doesn’t need to know that. Besides It’s too busy researching the next new thing… I’ve heard it’s beaded rugs. Be careful. I’ve also heard they’re slippery.

It’s Marvolo-us!

August 28, 2014 by gn0mel0ver

A Better Crockpot Salsa Chicken

Most of us have done it. Thrown chicken breasts into a crockpot and tossed in a jar of salsa with it. It is easy. It tastes good. And there are so many fantastic ways to use the chicken once it is cooked.

Chicken Tacos. Chicken enchiladas. Chicken salad. Chicken tostadas. Chicken quesadillas. Chicken empanadas. Chicken burritos. Chicken casseroles. Chicken and rice. Chicken…

“That-that’s about it.”

For the last few months, I have been adding a few items to my crockpot salsa chicken to give it a greater depth of flavor. It is still easy. It makes your mouth water. And the best part about it is, it just does not taste like crockpot chicken. And that is…

“All I have to say about that.”

Ingredients:

3-4 pounds of boneless skinless chicken breasts or tenders (Tip: do not ever crockpot chicken breasts with salt water added to them. Those are fine for grilling, but if you put them in a crockpot, the salt water will seep out and create a very salty, watery product)
1 1/2 cups of medium salsa (I used Pace)
1 four oz. can of diced green chiles
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. ground mexican oregano
1 tsp. garlic powder
3/4 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. Knorr’s chicken seasoning
1/8 tsp. ground black pepper

Directions:

Put chicken breasts in crockpot. Place all other ingredients on top of chicken. Cover and cook on high for four hours or low for six. I was preparing for company coming over that morning so I forgot to take a picture of the chicken in the crockpot. Trust me, it was there. Unlike my brain in my head that day.

Remove bay leaf and throw it away. Take chicken out of the crockpot.

Shred the chicken. Ladle some of the liquid from the crockpot over the shredded chicken until it is moist. This is usually three-four ladlefuls for me. Taste. Add salt as needed.

Serve however you would like.

I make such a big batch because for my family I can eke out three meals from this one batch. With this batch: The first day I always make chicken tacos (fry white corn tortillas in vegetable oil, allow to cool in layers on paper towels. Add shredded chicken, taco veggies, shredded monterey jack cheese, cilantro. Serve with sour cream and taco sauce on the side). The second day we had tacos again and the third day I made my chicken enchilada casserole (post to come next week).

This chicken is so good. It is great to feed a crowd. It goes with everything.

Or as Forrest Gump would say, “~~Me and Jenny~~ crockpots and chicken goes together like peas and carrots.”

January 21, 2014 by gn0mel0ver

Target In January

I recently went to Target. As I do. When I want to buy a mindless variety of ~~unnecessary~~ items.

The reason I had gone there was because in my ~~rummaging~~ cleaning, I found 4 gift cards totaling $100 to Target in my drawer. They were given to me over the last few months as my kids would get them as gifts and then order something off of Amazon and pay me with their Target gift cards. I didn’t mind. I knew I would use them. Or lose them. Whichever came first. I decided to get on using them before I forgot.

With the holidays just recently being over and it being the beginning of the year, a lot of us are not spending money. I wanted to show some inexpensive options Target is offering right now, in case you wanted something new, but did not want a high price tag to struggle with.

I didn’t mean to go to the clothing section. Cross my heart. But that is where I ended up. And I saw the best shirt. Seriously. Run. Don’t walk. And go get yourself this shirt. The only sizes left in black at our Target were XS and Large. I bought a Large for myself (fits perfectly) and an XS for my daughter (now you see why they don’t mind paying me with their gift cards).

The shirt is $16.99 and so similar to the more expensive shirts in my wishlist. See here. And here. Plus, you get 5% off if you use their Target Red Debit Card. It also came in the prettiest seafoam green color. But I needed a black shirt. The back has the pretty key-hole.

Does this remind you of anything? How about my Ruffled Hem Pullover? This was less than 1/4 of that price?! I do like my Anthropologie sweater better. The back is more detailed. But this Target sweater was a great price. At $20, this was a nobrainer and my daughter got one, too. I bought the medium in this although I think I could have even gotten a large. It matches my AG Stevies Cords perfectly.

And this awesome poncho pullover is so cool! At $20, it is simple to throw on. It is the easiest black and white stripes. Goes with so much. It covers the bum. Another steal. Another win for Target. By the way, I have no idea what is on my thigh. I had put those pants on for the very first time five minutes prior to this pic.

I did not buy either of these sweaters. Not at Anthropologie. Not at Target. I do not own a French Bulldog, so it wasn’t for me. There was a popback of this sweater at Anthropologie last week and I would have ended up paying the same amount as the Target price. But I didn’t need it. So I didn’t buy it.

I just have to say… Umm. I’m not sayin’ this is a blatant copy of Anthropologie’s sweater. What do you think? Wink. If you missed it at Anthropologie, Target’s copy is $20.

Gnomes!!! Look at these little darlings. I love ’em. I want to marry them. I want to rub their cold little hard bodies all over my cheeks. I want to… Okay. Let’s quit there. $4 a piece (just the 4 crackled versions in the pot). Adorable.

And a big one to greet folks at the door. I only wish they had two more of him.

And a sad, sad little fellow. He looked so forlorn, I had to take him home to cheer him up. He still isn’t happy. I have a feeling he never will be. But he is a pretty color. Blue. Just like his heart.

This awesome crockpot was marked down from $35 to $17.48. How cool is it? I cannot wait to use it!

Have you been to Target lately? Do you always walk away with more than you came for? The buyers there are doing it right!

* Some pictures shown here were taken from Target and Anthropologie’s websites.

December 23, 2013 by gn0mel0ver

Pajama Party

I love my friends (my sweet sister being one of them).

Every year, I invite them over for a pajama party to watch a Christmas movie. This year we watched, “Four Christmases.” They were all too polite to rat me out, because the fact is, we had all ready watched this movie two years before. There are just not a lot of Christmas movies to choose from. I started this tradition with my all time favorite Christmas movie many years ago (and to be honest, one of my favorite regular movies, too), “White Christmas.”

Most of the girls didn’t like it.

So, now that is what my family watches every December 23rd together. This was what we did as a child growing up. I hope at least one of my children carries on this tradition with their own family. You tell me which child it will be based on the following conversation:

My son: “Mom, you should make everyone watch ‘White Christmas’ at your party. It’s a really good movie.”

Me: “I showed that before, a lot of the girls didn’t like it.”

Shocked gasp from the backseat.

Me: “But, we’ll watch it together in a few days.”

My daughter: “Ugh. Why do you force me to watch that evvvvvery year?”

My oblivious husband: “We don’t force you.”

Mean Mommy to Nice Daddy: “Um, yea, honey, we do.”

Poor kid. I can think of worse things, though.

I wore my pink gnome flannel pajamas. I was a wrinkled mess. I briefly entertained the thought of ironing my pajamas, but, who are we kidding? I can’t even iron my regular clothes. There is no way I am ironing something I am going to sleep in. Cross that out. There is no way I am ironing something.

A girl’s gotta have standards.

I did not take any pictures of the gathering. Everyone was comfy and I wanted to respect their laid back coziness without posting it all over the internet. I did take photos of the food, though.

I made homemade salsa for the party. I also served some queso dip from a jar, because I got it free with a coupon. Everyone loved the queso, including me. So I will be buying some more when I host my family Christmas Eve.

I whipped up a batch of chocolate chip cookies.

And homemade chicken pot pies.

I tried a Rachael Ray roasted sugar snap pea recipe. I don’t think I prepared the peas right. I have never served them before. Looking at my picture, was there something I was supposed to cut off?

The biggest hit of the night was definitely, “it tastes like a cinnamon roll cake.” Yum!

I gave prizes throughout the movie with my spur of the moment ~~drunken~~ trivia questions.

Everyone went home with a loaf of cinnamon burst bread from the local bakery. A neighbor gave me this as a gift last year and I really liked the sweet simpleness of the gesture. So, I copied them.

My friend Bridgette looked at the piano and said, “Is that bread on your piano?” This had both of us in hysterics. Because, yes, where else would you put your bread?

Some of us girls stayed up until 1:00 in the morning talking. I wish we could have stayed up later, but I was stressed out because my husband had to get up at 4:30 in the morning to go to work. Next year, I will ask him if he could get himself a late shift or take the next day off. It put a (small) damper on the night.

But, regardless, I was so happy and thankful to wind down and laugh with women who make my heart sing (missed you Lizzie). Thank you girls!

And no gathering would be complete without Ollie. He made sure to repel everyone with his continuous dog farts. Do I throw a good party or what? It’s not a party unless everyone is gagging and retching.

At least at my house.

Who needs alcohol when you have a bulldog?

Have you been to any holiday parties recently? Hopefully yours did not involve a flatulent dog.

Gnome Lover

Stumbling through life while still having fun

pot

Jamie Oliver’s Milk Chicken

A Better Crockpot Salsa Chicken

Target In January

Pajama Party