You know, in retrospect, it's kinda funny. I'm the one who doesn't know how to cook, but every year, I'm the one who always volunteers to take on the task of making the Thanksgiving turkey. I've been doing this since Hubby and I first got married and we hosted Turkey Day for nine people in our little apartment. But, I've been blessed with never once having a bad turkey. It's always good when you slather it with butter and use a flavor injector!
That being said, this recipe called for me to do a first: roast a chicken. Why was I so intimidated by a four pound bird when each year I bust out with a seventeen-pounder?! Who knows...but I sucked it up and gave it a shot. Let me first say that when Mark says a recipe is easy, he's not kidding. This recipe couldn't get any easier...and I LOVE THAT. I followed his directions for roasting a herb chicken, which basically meant to heat a skillet in the oven, pour in some olive oil, and slap that baby in. So, I did. I only took one deep breath this time when he gave me a list of herbs I could use to spice up the chicken and I played it safe with basic basil. I combined that with olive oil and when the timer rang, I covered that bird up. I sprinkled on some dried parsley for good measure and let it sit in the oven some more. It was so weird that I didn't have to baste the bird or even open the oven for that matter!! While that was roasting, I prepared the red potatoes with onions from a previous post and boiled up some fresh corn on the cob (I LOVE corn season in Florida!!). It all finished right at the same time (score one for my planning!!!) and I even moved the chicken from skillet to serving platter with not a spill at all!!! I carved and served at the table, finally getting proper use of our Cutco carver, and drizzled the chicken with drippings and herbs. You know a meal is good when one bite in, everyone is already commenting on how good it is. Our older son said it was the best meal I ever made and hubby said it was perfect. He even cut off more chicken and made a sandwich for lunch the next day. So, I made it to leftovers!! Wahoo!! I was even encouraged to make it again very soon...which I'll probably try in June. Tonight though, it's time to give these quesadillas another shot :)
Ok...I'll admit. It's 11:30 on a Sunday night, I'm running on four hours sleep, and we just finished watching a hard-to-follow, "What the hell is going on??" movie, so my ADD is in FULL gear. Please pardon if I don't flow today, haha!!
Yes, it's been a while. Yes, I've cooked since my last post, but I didn't attempt a new recipe until tonight. I did go back and give another attempt at the Gorgonzola past, but I paired it with steak (my first attempt...not bad, but not wonderful since I had to use our George Foreman grill because of the weather...). Very yummy with steak, although my choice would be grilled chicken...but that's too close to chicken Alfredo. Anyway, it turned out great and our older son inhales the leftovers...something that makes Momma happy :)
Today was our monthly grocery shopping day, which meant that yesterday was my grocery list/explore the recipe book day. We've had the idea for a calzone since last month, but Life Got in the Way and it didn't get made. Since today is Sunday, we had plenty of time to let the dough rise.
The meal was a fun one to prepare. I always enjoy making dough, but this time I had to mix it by hand since I had a mishap with the food processor...trying to push meatball meat down and I snagged my spoon on the blade and shattered the bowl. Yes, **smack my head**. Thankfully it was a Black Friday steal from a 4:00Am shopping trip to Target.
Anyway, back to the recipe. The recipe called for just sausage, which I'm not totally fond of as the main meat, so I added pepperoni, which was great. The only problem, which is a rather large one, is that the dough tasted just like it was supposed to...like pizza crust. The recipe calls for the use of the pizza dough recipe and it came out just as such...actually, it almost tasted biscuit-like. So, that's got to change. I'm thinking next time I'll add in some garlic, make the dough thinner, cook it less, and brush on some oil and pepper, garlic, or something to the outer crust in an attempt to make it like our beloved Mt. Dora Pizza's specialty dish. The stuffings were yummy, except the sausage was rather strong. I believe it was Italian sausage, but I'm not sure...that was a purchase from last month. Next time we'll try just mild sausage and if that doesn't work, I may go with breakfast sausage. I think ham would be great in there too. It's definitely a dish that allows me some flexibility, which I LOVE!! We used my hubby's wonderful from-scratch spaghetti sauce to dip in...yum.
Good thing about this month is that I have about eight meals planned to try this month. We've got a crazy busy month ahead with three soccer teams and my hand bell Spring Ring concert, so we'll just see how many I can pull off. I'm even getting the urge to go buy some fabric and a piece together my own apron. I think this cooking stuff is beginning to stick!
