Corny corn casserole

Corn is an iffy vegetable for me. I don't like eating it on the cob because it gets stuck in my teeth, and the canned/frozen stuff isn't that tasty. I bookmarked several recipes from the latest issue of Cooking Light and am slowly knocking them off my "to try" list. This recipe was first published in the magazine in June of 1996 and was submitted by a reader from Kansas, who knows, it could be someone just down the road :) I baked it in my Pampered Chef deep dish pie plate, which I think I'd only used once before. It looked so pretty in that pie plate :) I'm all about pretty serving dishes, they are one of my many downfalls. I have far too many pretty serving dishes for my small kitchen. This casserole was much better than plain corn muffins or corn bread, very sweet in taste, but pretty healthy as far as casseroles go.



Easy Corn Casserole (from Cooking Light)

Ingredients:
1/4 cup egg substitute (or 1 large egg)
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 (8 3/4 oz) can no-salt added whole-kernal corn, drained
1 (8 3/4 oz) can no-salt added cream-style corn
1 (8 1/2 oz) package corn muffin mix
1 (8-oz) carton plain fat free yogurt

Directions:
Preheat over to 350 degrees
Combine ingredients in a medium bowl; stir well. Pour into an 8-inch square baking dish coated with cooking spray (or a deep dish pie plate or other medium sized casserole dish). Bake for 45 minutes or until set. Yields 8 servings.

Another popular recipe

I know everyone and their mom has made this orzo recipe by now (at least in my small food blogging circle) but I always come in late in the game :) Tyler offered to make dinner tonight but we ended up cooking together so we could eat sooner. We make a pretty good team most of the time! He prepared the chicken (parmesan dijon chicken, one of our faves) and I whipped up the orzo and the green beans. Both of which I oversalted, whoops. Still yummy though, just needed a big glass of water to wash it down!



Orzo with Parmesan and Basil (original recipe from allrecipes.com)

INGREDIENTS

• 2 tablespoons butter\
• 1 cup uncooked orzo pasta
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can chicken broth
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

DIRECTIONS

1. Melt butter in heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in orzo and saute until lightly browned.
2. Stir in chicken stock and bring to boil. Cover. Reduce heat and simmer until orzo is tender and liquid is absorbed, about 15 - 20 minutes.
3. Mix in Parmesan cheese and basil. Season with salt (go easy, especially if you didn't use low sodium chicken broth) and pepper. Transfer to shallow bowl. Garnish with basil sprigs.

Indoor grilling

I have to be careful not to go overboard on new kitchen tools and gadgets since our kitchen has such limited space. We were disappointed when we moved into our new apartment earlier this summer and discovered that grills are not allowed. Our George Foreman grill is limited in its abilities, plus it's a pain to clean, so we decided a couple of weeks ago to get a good ol fashioned grill pan and use that on the stovetop. I got some steaks on sale last week and Tyler cooked them up tonight while I whipped up some green beans and mashed potatoes. Very delicious meal!



Steak marinade (from allrecipes.com)

INGREDIENTS

• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup sliced green onions
• 2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
• 1 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 1-1/4 pounds beef rib eye steaks

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large resealable plastic bag, combine the soy sauce, onions, brown sugar, garlic, ginger and pepper. Add the steaks. Seal bag and turn to coat; refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.
2. Drain and discard marinade. Grill steaks, uncovered, over medium-hot heat for 8-10 minutes or until the meat reaches desired doneness (for medium-rare, a meat thermometer should read 145 degrees F; medium, 160 degrees F; well-done, 170 degrees F).

Loaded mashed potatoes (by Julia)

4 large russet potatoes, washed, peeled, cut up, boiled, then drained.
2 T butter
1/3 cup warm milk
1/3 cup sour cream
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/3 cup diced green onions
salt and pepper to taste

Combine cooked potatoes with other ingredients in mixer, mix to desired consistency.

A lazy day?

So I attempted to make this several weeks ago only to discover one of my ingredients had gone bad (now I make sure to check all my dairy products before I purchase them, the expiration date is not always a good indicator, check cheese for green stuff!) I was able to successfully pull this recipe off the other night with some non-moldy ricotta. I really liked it, but Tyler was kind of ambivalent. Maybe he doesn't like ricotta? I think he was not impressed with the semi-homemadeness of this meal. I'm not really up for making ravioli and tortellini from scratch just yet. I foresee a week of him cooking every night in the very near future, then we'll talk about taking shortcuts when cooking! ;)



Tortellini with Creamy Tomato Sauce (original recipe from Giada's Family Dinners)

Ingredients:
1/4 cup plus 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 pounds tortellini or ravioli
3 cups marinara sauce (I used one jar of Classico spicy tomato sauce)
1.5 cups ricotta cheese (I used part skim, and next time I will use less ricotta, I tripled the original recipe but it was too cheesy for Tyler)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan
2 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh basil leaves

Directions:
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add about 1/4 cup olive oil to the water to help prevent pasta from sticking. Add the tortellini and cook until al dente, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Drain the tortellini, reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking water. Toss the tortellini with the remaining oil to coat.

Meanwhile, bring the marinara sauce to a simmer in a medium saucepan over medium heat, whisking often. Whisk in the ricotta and enough reserved cooking water to thin the sauce to desired consistency. For a thicker sauce, use less pasta water; for a thinner sauce, add more water. Return the sauce to a simmer. Season the sauce to taste with salt and pepper.

Spoon 1/2 cup sauce on plate. Arrange the tortellini over the sauce. Drizzle another 1/2 cup sauce over the tortellini. Sprinkle with the Parmesan and the basil, and serve.

Garlicky Green Beans (experiment by Julia, and a tasty one at that!)



Ingredients:
2-3 cups fresh green beans, ends trimmed, washed thoroughly.
2 gloves minced garlic (I'm lazy so I put them through my garlic press instead of chopping them with a knife myself)
1-2 tablespoons butter.
Dash of salt and pepper

Directions:
Saute green beans with butter and garlic in a large skillet until tender crisp. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, serve hot.

Olive Oil Dipping Sauce (another Julia experiment)



On a small plate mix together some salt, pepper, basil, oregano, Parmesan cheese, and thyme. Add extra-virgin olive oil and serve with your favorite bread!

Can't help it I'm addicted to orzo

Love that stuff! It's pasta shaped like rice...so cute and so versatile! I decided to liven up our oh so gourmet dinner of hot dogs and baked beans with an orzo salad. This recipe of Joelen's was my inspiration and I got my recipe for the dressing from allrecipes.com. Very tasty result! We will probably take the leftovers with us on a picnic this weekend when we go to watch an outdoor performance of Footloose. I can't wait. Tune in tomorrow to see the dessert I'm whipping up for this picnic. I'll leave you in suspense til then ;)



Orzo Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette.

Salad:

1 1/2 cups orzo cooked (that's 1 1/2 cups before cooking)
chopped black olives (as much or as little as you like)
chopped celery (as much or as little as you like)
1 yellow pepper, chopped
1/2 bag of baby spinach
feta cheese (I used the tomato and basil kind)

You could also add tomato if you like them, I do not. Poor Tyler.

Cook orzo according to directions on the box. Let cool, then toss with black olives, celery, pepper, spinach, feta, and balsamic vinaigrette (recipe follows)

Balsamic Vinaigrette

• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 clove garlic, crushed or to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1-1/4 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 pinch freshly ground black pepper

1. Combine the olive oil, vinegar, garlic, oregano, mustard, salt and pepper in a jar with a tight fitting lid. Shake well before serving. Store in the refrigerator.

A little bit of Giada

I decided to try a couple of recipes out of one of my new cookbooks, Giada's Family Dinners
They did not disappoint! In fact it's one of the better meals we've had in a long time, then again I have been living on frozen pizza for what feels like weeks now, so I'm starved for real food :)



Parmesan-Crusted Pork Chops
2 large eggs
1 cup dried Italian-style bread crumbs
3/4 cups freshly grated Parmesan
4 (1/2 to 3/4-inch thick) center-cut pork loin chops (each about 10 to 12 ounces) (I actually used 5 pork chops and didn't increase anything else, there was plenty of coating for them all)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 tablespoons olive oil
Lemon wedges, for serving
Whisk the eggs in a pie plate to blend. Place the bread crumbs in another pie plate. Place the cheese in a third pie plate. Sprinkle the pork chops generously with salt and pepper. Coat the chops completely with the cheese, patting to adhere. Dip the chops into the eggs, then coat completely with the bread crumbs, patting to adhere.

Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a very large skillet (or 2 medium/large skillets) over medium heat. Add pork chops, in batches if necessary, and cook until golden brown and the center reaches 150 degrees, about 6 minutes per side. (After 5 minutes on each side the pork chops were getting browned on the outside but still pink in the middle, so I transferred them to a baking sheet and stuck them in the oven for 10-12 minutes, they still came out juicy, flavorful, and actually cooked all the way though!) Transfer the chops to plates and serve with lemon wedges.

Baked Mashed Potatoes with Parmesan Cheese and Bread Crumbs
1 tablespoon butter (I used cooking spray instead)
4 pounds russet potatoes, peeled, cut into 1-inch pieces (I used 5 big potatoes, not sure how many lbs it was)
1 cup whole milk (I subbed with skim milk!)
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted (I think I only used half a stick, figure it won't kill us as soon)
1 1/2 cups grated mozzarella (used one of those bags of Kraft Italian cheese blend)
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan (see above, Italian cheese blend again)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons plain dry bread crumbs (used Progresso Italian bread crumbs)
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Coat a 13 by 9 by 2-inch baking dish with 1 tablespoon of butter (or cooking spray!) and set aside.

Cook the potatoes in a large pot of boiling salted water until they are very tender, about 15 minutes. Drain; return the potatoes to the same pot and mash well. (Note, I transferred it all to my Kitchenaid Mixer instead of doing it by hand) Mix in the milk and melted butter. Mix in the mozzarella and 3/4 cup of the Parmesan. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Transfer the potatoes to the prepared baking dish. Stir the bread crumbs and remaining 1/4 cup of Parmesan in a small bowl to blend. Sprinkle the bread crumb mixture over the mashed potatoes. Recipe can be prepared up to this point 6 hours ahead of time; cover and chill.

Bake, uncovered, until the topping is golden brown, about 20 minutes.

Two new recipes

I'm really pushing myself to try new recipes. Not necessarily "out there" recipes of things I never thought I'd try, but some new stuff. Tonight I made orzo for the first time and I broiled something for the first time. Also made my own dressing for the first time...I think. I don't remember ever making salad dressing before so I'm pretty sure this was a first. It got the blender dirty, I hate cleaning that thing, good thing Tyler has to do the dishes tonight ;)



Teriyaki Chicken Thighs (adapted from Healthy Appetite with Ellie Krieger)

1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons dry sherry (did not have, so left out)
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 garlic cloves, crushed with a garlic press or minced
1 teaspoon finely grated fresh ginger
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 pounds skinless chicken thighs (I used boneless, skinless thighs)
2 teaspoons sesame seeds
Combine the soy sauce, sugar, sherry, vinegar, garlic, ginger and red pepper flakes and stir until the sugar dissolves. Transfer to a resealable plastic bag and add the chicken. Seal the bag and marinate the chicken in the refrigerator, turning once, for 1 hour. The chicken can be marinated for up to 4 hours. I only marinated for an hour, wish I had done it for longer though.

Heat the broiler to high. Arrange the chicken on a broiler pan skin side down and broil until brown and crispy, 8 to 10 minutes. Flip the chicken and broil until almost cooked through, about 8 minutes longer. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and cook until the seeds turn golden brown and the chicken is done, 1 to 2 minutes longer.

Orzo Salad (adapted from Everyday Italian with Giada de Laurentis)

4 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 cups orzo
1 (15-ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 1/2 cups red and yellow teardrop tomatoes or grape tomatoes, halved (I used grape tomatoes)
3/4 cup finely chopped red onion
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint leaves (did not have so I omitted this ingredient)
About 3/4 cup Red Wine Vinaigrette, recipe follows
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Pour the broth into a heavy large saucepan. Cover the pan and bring the broth to a boil over high heat. Stir in the orzo. Cover partially and cook until the orzo is tender but still firm to the bite, stirring frequently, about 7 minutes. Drain the orzo through a strainer. Transfer the orzo to a large wide bowl and toss until the orzo cools slightly. Set aside to cool completely.


Red Wine Vinaigrette
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons honey
2 teaspoons salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Mix the vinegar, lemon juice, honey, salt, and pepper in a blender. With the machine running, gradually blend in the oil. Season the vinaigrette, to taste, with more salt and pepper, if desired.

Toss the orzo with the beans, tomatoes, onion, basil, mint, and enough vinaigrette to coat, be careful not to use too much like I did (I dumped it all in instead of measuring out 3/4 of a cup)! I found that the recipe made more dressing than needed. Season the salad, to taste, with salt and pepper, and serve at room temperature.



I'll definitely make both of these recipes again, I'll just make sure to marinate the chicken for a few hours and go easy on the dressing for the orzo salad! Overall trying new recipes and new cooking techniques paid off!

The Great American Meal

Mmm fried chicken. Can't say I've had the real thing within the last year, but the oven fried stuff is very tasty, so tasty I *almost* don't miss the real thing :) This is not the healthiest recipe, I think next time I want ranch flavored chicken I can make a "light" version, but this was a great splurge. I served it with mashed potatoes, a dish that I am constantly playing around with (should have made a veggie too but I was in a hurry and Tyler wasn't around to remind me to eat my veggies). There are so many great versions of mashed potatoes, it's hard to make the same kind twice. Experimenting is just so much fun :) I got the chicken recipe from the lovely Joelyn and reduced it from her party-size portion, check out her blog if you haven't already, she makes some great stuff!

Oven Fried Chicken

marinade:
6 pieces of chicken - thighs & drumsticks (I used boneless skinless chicken breasts since we are trying to eat through our freezer)
1/2 bottle of prepared ranch salad dressing
1/4 small jar mayonnaise
1/4 can evaporated milk

coating:
1/4 box of wheat or corn flakes, crushed
1 cup tempura flour (didn't have so I omitted this)
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 dry packet ranch dressing

Place chicken in a large container to marinate.
In a separate bowl, combine the ranch dressing, mayo and milk.
Pour marinade over chicken to coat.
Marinate overnight.

Preheat oven to 350.
Combine coating ingredients in a shallow pan.
Dredge marinated chicken in coating mixture.
Place on lightly greased baking sheet.
Spray tops of chicken with cooking spray to add color.
Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or when done.
Allow chicken to sit for a few minutes before serving.
Good warm or cold and can be reheated well.

Mashed Red Potatoes (recipe adapted from allrecipes.com)

INGREDIENTS

2 pounds small red potatoes, quartered

1/3 cup butter

1/3 cup milk

1/4 cup sour cream

salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add potatoes, and cook until tender but still firm, about 10 minutes. Drain, and place in a large bowl.

Combine potatoes with butter, milk, sour cream, salt, and pepper. Mash together until smooth and creamy.

The green stuff

We definitely love Mexican food around here and probably have it at least once a week. I've been working on perfecting my guacamole recently, but I still like to cut corners a bit and use a package of Produce Partners Great Guacamole seasoning. Lawry's also makes a good guacamole seasoning (the McCormick stuff in the orange package is nasty though). Eventually I may move to a completely from scratch guac with peppers and other spices, but for now I like my easy semi-homemade guac :)



Easy Mild Guacamole
4 ripe avacados (skin will be dark and the avacado will yield to slight pressure)
3 small roma tomatoes, seeds removed
1/4 of a white onion
1 packet of guacamole seasoning
juice of half a lime
dash of salt

Remove peel and mash up avacados in a large bowl. Chop up tomatoes and onion, add to the avacado mixture. Mix in packet of guacamole seasoning, lime juice, and salt. Chill for 30 minutes before serving.

A favorite standby

This is one of my favorite meals to make because everything mixes up quickly and you can bake them all at the same time. So outside of baking the potatoes the meal takes less than 45 minutes start to finish (with a little help from Tyler trimming the fat off the chicken!) The first two recipes are taken from the Betty Crocker Cooking Basics cookbook which I totally love. This is one of the first meals I learned how to make. I highly recommend that cookbook if you are just starting out. There are tons of helpful tips and a picture for every recipe. Plus it's Betty Crocker, you can't go wrong with Ol Betty.



Parmesan Dijon Chicken

Ingredients:
2 large chicken breasts, cut in half.
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
3 T melted butter
2 T dijon mustard

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Mix melted butter and dijon mustard in a large bowl or flat dish. Mix bread crumbs and parmesan cheese in a large ziploc bag.
3. Dip the chicken into the butter/mustard mix making sure to thorougly coat it. Then toss into the bag and coat with crumb mixture. Place chicken in single layer in an ungreased rectangular pan.
4. Bake uncovered 30 minutes, making sure to flip the chicken over halfway through baking. Chicken is done when juice is no longer pink when you cut into the center of the thickest piece.


Twice Baked Potatoes

Ingredients:
4 large baking potatoes, scrubbed clean.
2 large spoonfuls sour cream
2 T butter
dash salt and pepper
2 T milk
1 cup colby jack or mexican blend shredded cheese.

Directions:
Poke holes in potatoes and bake in a 375 degree oven for 1 hour.
Let potatoes cool, then cut in half and scoop out the potato, place skins on baking sheet to be refilled.
Mix potato, sour cream, butter, salt and pepper on medium speed. Add in milk until the mixture becomes smooth.
Spoon potato mixture into skins, top with cheese. Bake for 20 minutes in a 375 degree oven.

Broccoli Casserole

Ingredients:
10 oz frozen chopped broccoli, thawed and squeezed dried
1 cup stuffing mix
3 T melted butter
6 oz can creamed corn
dash of salt and pepper
1 egg

Directions:
Mix butter and stuffing mix together until moistened. In a separate bowl mix egg, creamed corn, broccoli, and salt and pepper. Add in stuffing mix and then pour it all into an 8x8 greased pan, bake for 35 minutes in a 375 degree oven.

20 minute meal

So depending on how long it takes you to to chop and saute the veggies this meal could easily take less than 20 minutes to make, and who doesn't love a super fast meal? I had a bunch of tomatoes and decided to make fresh salsa for the first time. We decided to whip up some quesadillas and call it a meal. We had leftover quesadilla filling so we had them two nights in a row, yum.



Quesadillas (made by Tyler)

Ingredients:
1 red pepper
1 red onion
1 green pepper
Shredded 4 cheese Mexican cheese
Flour tortillas

Chop up onion and peppers into small pieces, saute with a little oil over medium heat until tender. Place tortilla in pan and put cheese and onion/pepper mix on top, fold over and cook, flip to cook other side until cheese is melted and outside is slightly brown. Serve with fresh salsa.

Fresh salsa (made by Julia)
2 tomatoes, seeds removed
1/2 white onion
2 jalepenos, seeds removed (be careful not to touch the inside/seeds or else your skin will burn for hours!)
1/2 cup cilantro or however much you prefer
juice of one lime
dash of salt
1-2 cloves garlic chopped

Chop up tomatos, onion, peppers, put in food processor and add cilantro, lime juice, salt, and garlic cloves. Pulse/chop in food processor until finely chopped. Serve with quesadillas and chips.

Easy black beans (made by Julia)
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 t cumin

Simmer over medium heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve with your favorite Mexican dishes.

Potstickers aka the tastiest thing I have eaten in months

Tyler and I love our sister-in-law Xue's potstickers. Since we only see her once a year that's about as often as we have them. We got a craving and decided we were up for the challenge. I had to drive all over town to find the potsticker wrappers (Giant and Safeway do not carry them, but Wegman's does) and it was so worth it!

Pork potstickers (made by Tyler)

Recipe is a cross between Xue's and one I got from one of my favorite food bloggers.


1/2 lb ground pork
1 Tbsp sesame oil
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2/3 cup green onions
1/4 head Napa cabbage, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
Potsticker wrappers (they are small and round, you need about 30-40)
1 Tbsp vegetable oil

Mix raw pork, sesame oil, soy sauce, green onions, cabbage, and garlic in a bowl. We did not find in neccessary to run it through a food processor, we just mixed it by hand.

Lay a potsticker wrapper on a flat, dry surface and put a Tbsp of mixture in the middle. Using your fingers, dampen the wrapper surrounding the filling and fold the dumpling, pressing the seams together.

Add oil to a skillet over medium heat and add dumplings (we cooked about 12 at a time in our large skillet) Add 1/2 cup water to the pan and cover tightly until all the liquid cooks off. Flip when the dumplings are golden brown on one side. They will be done with they are slightly browned on both sides and a potsticker cut in half reveals no pink.

Serve with your favorite dipping sauce.

Tyler's dipping sauce: a mixture of soy sauce, sesame seed oil, and green onions.

Tyler hard at work, I just took the pictures!

Easter Sunday, new beginnings

I love reading food blogs and despite my husband's teasing have decided to create one of my own, modest as it may be. It will be fun to chronicle our cooking (mis)adventures and look back on them later.

Easter Sunday we stayed busy in the kitchen. Well Tyler did most of the work and I cheered him on and took photos.




Garlic-Rosemary Roast Chicken with Potatoes (made by Tyler)

Recipe from a nestie whose name I cannot recall, when I googled this recipe it came up on the Viva Paper Towels website, which explains the constant recommendation to use paper towels in the directions!

In this variation, the jus is omitted and the potatoes roast in the flavorful drippings. The roasted garlic cloves can be spread on bread and eaten alongside the chicken.

Serves 3 to 4
Chicken and Brine

1/2 cup table salt
10 cloves garlic , unpeeled
3 sprigs fresh rosemary
1 whole chicken (about 4 pounds), giblets discarded

Garlic-Rosemary Paste

2 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary
2 medium cloves garlic , minced or press through garlic press (2 teaspoons)
1/8 teaspoon table salt
ground black pepper
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil plus extra for brushing chicken

1 1/2 pounds small red potatoes or Yukon Gold potatoes (2-inch), quartered
10 cloves medium-large garlic , unpeeled
1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper


1. FOR THE CHICKEN AND BRINE: Combine salt, garlic, and rosemary in zipper-lock bag; seal, pressing out air. Pound with meat pounder or rolling pin until garlic cloves are crushed. Transfer mixture to large container or stockpot and stir in 2 cups hot tap water; let stand 10 minutes to release flavors. Add 1 1/2 quarts cold tap water and stir until salt is dissolved. Submerge chicken in brine and refrigerate 1 hour.

2. Remove chicken from brine and pat dry with paper towels. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 450 degrees. Set V-rack in small roasting pan and lightly spray rack with nonstick cooking spray.

3. FOR THE PASTE: Stir together rosemary, garlic, salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and 1 tablespoon oil in small bowl. Rub about 1 1/2 teaspoons of paste in cavity of chicken. Carefully loosen skin over breast and thigh on each side; slip half of remaining paste under skin on each side of breast, then, using fingers, distribute paste over breast and thigh by rubbing surface of skin (see illustrations 1 through 3, below). Tie ends of drumsticks together with kitchen twine and tuck wings behind back. Rub all sides of chicken with 2 teaspoons oil and season with pepper. Set chicken breast-side down on prepared V-rack and roast 15 minutes.

4. During first 15 minutes of roasting, toss potatoes, unpeeled garlic cloves, olive oil, and salt and pepper in medium bowl. After chicken has roasted 15 minutes, scatter potatoes and garlic in single layer in roasting pan; roast for another 15 minutes.

5. Remove roasting pan from oven; decrease oven temperature to 375 degrees. Using tongs or wads of paper towels, rotate chicken breast-side up; brush breast with 1 teaspoon oil and stir potatoes. Continue to roast until chicken is medium golden brown and instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of breast and thigh registers about 160 and 175 degrees, respectively. Transfer chicken to large plate.

6. While chicken rests, transfer potatoes and garlic to large paper towel-lined plate and pat with additional paper towels. Carve chicken and serve with potatoes and garlic.


Asparagus sauted over medium heat in olive oil, sprinkled with salt and pepper. (made by Julia)
























Strawberry-banana trifle. (made by Julia)
I suppose you would call this a "semi-homemade" dessert. I layered store bought angel food cake with vanilla instant pudding, cool whip, strawberries, and bananas. It gets soggy after sitting in the fridge overnight so it's best to make it and eat it promptly.