Dinner Parties and Roasted Chicken

Last night, four of my Charlotte buds, Brett, Joe, Ricky, and Lindsay, came over for dinner and I wanted to make something delicious but easy. I raced from work to get my CSA and stop by the Teeter to pick up the chicken and other necessary ingredients.

Now on to the good stuff. My mom used to make "Chicken in a Pot," which is basically a roaster in a Le Creuset with some veggies. The chicken is so moist and lets off so much juice that it basically becomes a soup. I revamped her recipe, and I think it turned out great.

I got a 4.75 pound chicken (free range, organic, duh), rinsed and dried. I stuffed the chicken with a peeled and quartered lemon, onion, and rosemary (fresh from my CSA). Then, I put a mixture of melted butter, rosemary, chopped lemon peel, and garlic underneath the chicken skin. I coated the entire chicken in garlic olive oil, salt, and pepper, and placed it on top of chopped carrots, onions, and baby bellas in my very own Le Creuset (a Hanukkah present from a few years ago). I put the bird in the oven at 475 for 20 minutes, uncovered, then lowered the temperature to 400 for about an hour. Easy. The meat was cooked perfectly and no one got sick from it, so I'll count this culinary adventure as a success. The chicken skin was crispy, and no, cooking it uncovered did not sacrifice the moistness of the meat. Pure deliciousness. Who would guess I was a vegetarian for two years until June?

I didn't cook potatoes in with the chicken (which is a good option) because I wanted something with a different texture than the carrots. I boiled 10 red bliss potatoes in water with salt and pepper. When they were done enough that a knife slid easily into the flesh, I put them on dish towels to cool slighty. Then, I mashed them down so they looked flat. I put a dab of butter on each potato with salt and pepper, then stuck them in the oven with the chicken until they got crispy. Seriously, SO delicious. I only have a before picture, but they were amazing and you should go home and make them tonight. Bonus points: healthier than mashed potatoes (no cream, less butter) but you still get a very creamy texture from the boil + roast technique.

Lindsay brought a super yummy salad with lettuce, chickpeas, tomatoes, feta (I think?), avocado, and croutons. The dressing was phenomenal...I think it had some sesame oil in it? Whatever it was, it was perfect. We also had some french baguette topped with a goat cheese / basil / lemon mixture. Holy yum that was good. Brett brought wine which obviously made the food taste even better. For dessert, I wanted to use up some of the apples from my CSA, so I made this super easy crisp. Just cut up apples and mix them with lemon juice and vanilla.

The crumble on top is just brown sugar, oats, cinnamon, and apple sauce. Easy peasy and not too sinful.

I loved having people over for dinner, especially since the apartment has been so lonely this week. The best part of the night might have been when Brett asked if a maid had been to my apartment earlier in the day -- I guess I am neater when the guys aren't around! I'm so glad it's Thursday because tomorrow I get to FINALLY see Tuck and Rob. I hate these two week spans and am glad this one is almost over. We are definitely lucky enough that our long-distance is only 90 minutes, but it is definitely not ideal. See you soon, Robble Gobble!

Revenge

I'm all about using ingredients on hand to make something weird and wonderful. On Monday night, I paired the leftover pasta sauce full of veggies (tossed the noodles - they were kinda bland) with pesto chicken sausage from TJs. The sausage comes in packs of 4, and while they're only 170 calories each, I can't stomach more than one at once. Maybe the salt content? Anyway, that left me with leftovers. I put some in a salad for lunch yesterday, but wanted something different last night.

I popped a Flatout flatbread in the toaster, then topped it with farm-fresh butternut squash and tomatoes I had just roasted, goat gouda, spinach, and some more sausage (needless to say, I still have enough sausage for about two more meals...yikes) then popped it back in the toaster until it got all melty. I poured myself a glass of wine, doused this flatbread in fresh basil and Texas Pete, and dug in. It was delicious. The flatbread got crispy on the outside and the squash was sweet and amazing.

The flatbread held up very well under the weight of all those goodies, despite being pretty thin. I like these a lot more than wraps - they're kind of a mix between pitas and tortillas, but also very healthy. Thanks, Meg, for the recommendation!

While nomming on dinner, I watched another couple episodes of Revenge. I am hooked. Emily and some girls at work watched last season but I never got into it...until now. I'm embarrassed to admit how many episodes I've seen in the last two days, but am totally excited that I'll be all caught up on Sunday for the Season 2 premiere.

Toggy Tuesday

Although I'm sure posting pictures of my dinners every day is thrilling for some of you, I'm going to spice this blog up a little bit with Toggy Tuesdays wherein I'll post my current obsessions.

1) Uber Lara Bars: These crunchy, textured Larabars are really, really good. At around 200 calories, they make a substantial morning or afternoon snack. Like traditional Larabars, these treats boast natural and wholesome ingredients. My favorite flavor, Cherry Cobbler, just has almonds, dried cherries, brown rice syrup, pecans, cashews, raisins, dates, honey, and salt.

2) Monogram necklaces: I've had my eye on these for a while and am officially obsessed. I like gold ones the best, but there are some fun colored ones that could be very cute for the fall. I've seen them on their own and paired with statement necklaces and love both styles. This will definitely be at the top of my Hanukkah wishlist!

3) This Bob Dylan cover by Miley Cyrus: I used to think Miley's most valuable contribution to society was "Party in the USA," but then I saw her singing a duet with Dolly Parton and realized that her raspy voice can do some good stuff without the dreaded audio tune. 

4) J.K. Rowling's new book: As someone who devoured the Harry Potter series, I am beyond excited for The Casual Vacancy, Rowling's first attempt at a novel intended for adult audiences. 

5) Homeland: New season starts Sunday! This show is incredible, just swept the Emmys, and is filmed in Charlotte. Need more reasons to watch? Claire Danes is a total babe and used "holla" in her acceptance speech. 

Home Alone

So now that Richard has moved out and is safely in Wisconsin, I have the apartment to myself. I miss him already, but on the bright side, I can make coffee and smoothies and eggs in the morning and not worry about waking him up. Tuck is on pup-cation this week in Winston-Salem, too, so it does feel a little lonely in my apartment...but I'm also really looking forward to a few days of no responsibility. I can't wait to go for a few long runs without having to worry about Tucker all alone in the apartment.

Last night for dinner, I desperately needed veggies. My weekend of debauchery didn't exactly include the healthiest food choices (enter late night falafel and nachos). I was craving comfort food and was so tempted to just order Thai Taste, but my credit card bill took a hit this weekend so I resisted with great difficulty. Instead, I pumped up a frozen TJ's meal (Rigatoni Alla Siciliana -- basically, just penne and eggplant with nothing chemical/sketchy on the ingredient list) with kale, onions, spinach, and tomatoes. This hit the spot.

I have about 2/3 of the meal leftover which I'm planning on re-purposing tonight with some ground turkey that is defrosting in my fridge.

Later this week, I'm cooking a big ol' dinner for Brett and Joe which means meat has to be the centerpiece. Joe is notorious for ordering steak whenever we go out, regardless of the meal, so I can't disappoint him. Time to start brainstorming ideas!

48 hours

FRIDAY Fly into Reagan. Drive to Sara's. Pick up (extremely spicy) Asian takeout from a little place near her apartment. Eat and drink with her, Alex, and Courtney. Head to Ryan's. Play with Maryland friends. Skip over to Local 16. Watch Sara flirt with a bartender. Cab to Amsterdam Falafel. Grub. Sleep.

SATURDAY Wake up. Tylenol. Run through Rock Creek Park. Sweat it out. Go to Town Hall for "brunch." Get attacked by stink bugs. Eat amazing steak. See three random people from Davidson. Leave five hours (= 2 Bloody Marys and 8 Miller Lites) later. Nap. Beautify. Sushi. House party. Police? Town Hall again. Nachos. Sleep.

SUNDAY Coffee date in the garden. Founding Farmers. Feel full. Walk down the mall. Sit in the sun. Hugs at Metro Center. Cry on the metro. Fly home.

48 hours is way too short to spend with your best friends in an amazing city. 

Weekend getaway

Many fun things to share today!

First of all, my wonderful roommate Richard found out last night that he'll be heading to Wisconsin to work on the Obama campaign! I am thrilled for him but sad for me -- he has to leave Saturday morning, which means that last night was our final evening as roomies. We couldn't even spend our final hours together watching bad reality TV and playing on our iPads because he went to the Panthers game. Sadness. I definitely teared up a little when he said farewell to Tuck Tuck. We won't get to bond tonight, because I'm off to DC for the weekend which certainly makes the sting of Richard's pending absence a little less painful.

I'm flying up to Reagan tonight for a weekend full of debauchery. My two best best friends live in DC (the city is calling to me to move there) and I'm so excited to see them. I haven't seen Alex since early June and that was just for a few hours, so this weekend will definitely be one for the books. I am blessed with amazing friends and it is the worst to live so far apart. Maybe that will change soon...who knows. We have big plans for the weekend that include lots of food and lots of booze (sorry, Mom). There will probably 1 or 5 dance parties and maybe even some late night empanadas. Eeeeeee so excited!

DC, March 2012

At Ze Mighty Pint!

Such a fun night

Taste of DC, 2011

As an added bonus, my dear friend Nick will be in DC, too. I'm counting down the minutes until I can be in these arms again:

Since I'm going out of town, Rob and his roommates are taking Tucker for the week! I'll definitely miss the little guy, but I know he's in good hands. 

Can you Curry?

After work on Wednesday, I picked up my CSA share -- lemongrass, garlic, apples, butternut squash, red kale -- and headed to the Teeter for a few more things. I needed to get some kind of protein for dinner and wanted to make a big enough meal that it could be used for lunch today and tomorrow. With my CSA share and some wilting veggies at home in mind, I decided to venture into the realm of the unknown: Asian cooking.

I grabbed some organic chicken tenderloins, a can of coconut milk, and fish sauce (which is made from anchovies - whaaaat?) for a more Thai-inspired dish. After a quick sweat sesh, I headed downstairs with iPad and random recipe in hand.

I sauteed onions, mushrooms, kale, broccoli, and sweet potatoes in coconut oil with some random spices. At this point, I knew I was making curry but couldn't find my curry powder anywhere, so I threw in ginger and other "asian" spices with crossed fingers and prayers to the Thai gods. The rest was easy: wash and cube the chicken, then sautee with the veggies until cooked. Add a can of coconut milk and some fish sauce. At this point, I found the curry powder tucked away and added a generous amount. I let everything simmer together for about 15 minutes while I cooked rice noodles that Hilary gave me. Everything was smelling pretty good, but I was suspicious: I've never used coconut milk before, and to be honest, it looked pretty nasty coming out of the can. Luckily, it tasted pretty good, but I'm the first to admit that (yet again) my dinner was ugly. Topped off with a little unsweetened coconut:

I had to add a couple squirts of Sriracha, but I was surprised with how everything blended together. I'll definitely make curry again in the future, but I want to experiment with curry paste instead of powder.

And yes, there's Sriracha and Texas Pete in the picture above. And Mom, that box in the upper-left corner is now empty! Thanks for the ten-pounds of shortbread that went straight to my tushy.

I spent the rest of the night alongside Richard, my soon-to-be-ex-roommate (so sad), watching the X-Factor and educating him on all things pop culture. Speaking of which...the three movies I can't wait to see this fall:

1) Pitch Perfect, featuring the fabulous Rebel Wilson as "Fat Amy":

2) Silver Linings Playbook:

3) And Trouble with the Curve:

Rob, I hope you've been saving your pennies because I have lots of movie dates planned in the next few weeks!

Mishmash Meal

Fall is definitely in the air! The weather has gotten a little chillier, which means my power bill will be a little cheaper this month - hooray. Unfortunately, with my favorite season comes some serious rainfall. I had to cut my run short yesterday afternoon, but it was still long enough to leave Tucker huffing and puffing on the hardwoods when we got back.

My friend Meg came over for dinner last night. We've been cooking together about once a week trying to use up random veggies on their last legs or experimenting with a Pinterest find. Last night was a little of both. We cooked up some Near East Rosemary and Olive Oil quinoa (tasty, but high in sodium due to the pre-mixed spice packet) and added farm corn and sauteed mushrooms and onions. We also roasted broccoli with balsamic and garlic olive oil...but the highlight of the evening was definitely Meg's balsamic sweet potato recipe adapted from here. Might have to make these for Thanksgiving! Maybe not the prettiest meal, but it was nutritious and protein packed with that quinoa. It also got the Richard stamp of approval (although, that might not mean much coming from a guy who has been living off of Cup of Noodle for the last two weeks).

Side note: I also made baba ghanouj for the first time last night! The oven was hot and I had a couple baby eggplants to use, so I roasted them with garlic olive oil (GOO), pulled out the insides once they were all mushy, and mixed them up with plain greek yogurt, salt, pepper, and paprika. I think a little lemon juice would go a long way here, but I didn't have any on hand. I haven't tried the final product yet, but I brought it to work for lunch today with a whole wheat pita and the last heirloom tomato. Easy and (hopefully) yummy.

After dinner, we watched The Voice (I can't help it, but I am really starting to love watching this and The X Factor!) and made Banana Ice Cream topped with walnuts, dark chocolate chips, and coconut. The food processor nearly exploded at first, but hey, we survived. It was so relaxing to spend time with Meg, who always has good gossip and even better advice. She's absolutely adorable and I'm so lucky to have a friend like her in Charlotte.

Mondays

Last night was rainy and dreary, so instead of going to Pure Barre, I took a nap. Oops. Dinner was just a mishmash of CSA vegetables: roasted eggplant and broccoli, heirloom tomato, and a sweet potato. Let me say this -- microwaving potatoes is the way to go. Auntie B will probably strangle me if she reads this, but it's true. Just poke some holes and nuke your tuber until soft, then toss it in the oven with your other veggies so the outside gets crisp. I'm too impatient to bake a potato until it's mushy and delish (ask Rob if you don't believe me; he's had more than his fair share of underdone taters), and the microwave works miracles, trust me (Emily, I'm talking to you). The last slice of Saturday's pizza somehow made it's way onto my plate...as did Sriracha, which accompanies pretty much every dinner at my apartment.

After feasting, I talked on the phone with my parents for a good hour. I can't wait until the day that we can talk for an hour over dinner! Hopefully, my family will one day live close enough to each other that shared meals are a weekly occurrence. Getting to see these pretty ladies every day would be pretty much the best thing ever. Girl can dream, right?

Celebrations

Sunday morning, we woke up and went to church. Most of the time, I'll enjoy a morning workout while Rob goes to church, but since we had plans to go to Rosh Hashanah services at night, I decided to join him for a full day of religious celebrations.

After a really nice service (in which the priest gave a shout out to the Jewish New Year, which I obviously loved), we headed up to Davidson for a very special birthday celebration! My absolutely wonderful little sister turned 21 yesterday and we brunched it up at North Harbor Club with her roommates and boyfriend, Collin. My dad sent the table a round of mimosas which certainly made the occasion more festive! I baked Hil some gluten-free cupcakes (thanks, Betty Crocker) and we feasted until we couldn't manage to stuff any more food into our happy bellies.

I'm so lucky to have such a sassy little sis! She makes my world go round.

First Taste of Fall

What a lovely weekend. After a stressful couple of days, I was really looking forward to spending a few days with friends and, of course, eating some delicious food. Rob, Tucker, and I walked to the Farmer's Market on Saturday morning to pick up a final summer heirloom tomatoes and some of the season's first Honeycrisp apples. Then we headed to Owen's for a couple of fresh bagels and made breakfast back at my apartment (I had half my bagel with tomato and avocado, and the other half with almond butter and banana). Tuck was pooped when we got back...

We spent the afternoon wandering through the Greek Festival, watching some football at East Blvd. Bar and Grill, and rearranging my apartment furniture - fun, right? I was too full from breakfast to get anything at East, but Rob had solid-4 stars turkey sandwich (but we all know the chicken cheesesteak is the way to go).

Once dinner time rolled around, I was dead set on using up some of my CSA food from last week. I had/have a ton of eggplant and sweet potatoes, but Rob was really craving pizza and let's be serious: I can never say no to pizza. We picked up some whole wheat dough, proscuitto, and fresh mozz from Harris Teeter (along with a 6-pack of Shock Top Pumpkin Wheat, which sadly wasn't thaaaat tasty) and made one of the most delicious pizzas I've ever had. We're trying to make the "perfect pizza" and I think we came pretty close this time.

Ingredients:
Whole wheat dough
Garlic olive oil (or crushed garlic and EVOO)
Eggplant
Onions
Mushrooms
S+P
Basil
Arugula
Proscuitto
Fresh mozzarella

Slice the eggplant and salt it, allowing it to release extra water. Let sit for 30 minutes in a colander, then rinse and pat dry. Make sure you rinse the salt off well! Preheat the oven to broil. Cube the eggplant and toss lightly in olive oil and pepper. Cook for 3 minutes. Add chopped onions and mushrooms to the pan and cook for another few minutes. Remove from the oven and lower the temperature to 400. Meanwhile, roll out the pizza dough and place on a floured pizza stone or baking sheet. Drizzle on the garlic olive oil and let the crust bake for about 8-10 minutes (this prevents the crust from getting soggy when you add the toppings). Layer the cheese, veggies, and proscuitto onto the crust, letting the proscuitto sit on the top so it get's nice and crispy. Cook until the cheese melts, and then broil for a minute or two -- keep a close eye so it doesn't burn. Pull the pie out of the oven and let it cool a bit before topping with spicy arugula and fresh basil. Enjoy!

#1

I love food, plain and simple. Cooking, eating, reading restaurant reviews and labels, exploring farmer's markets and gourmet grocers - I love it all. I plan vacations and getaways based on the culinary offerings of the destination. Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives is a Top 5 favorite show. 

The world is my plate, and this blog will follow my favorite eats, foodie adventures, and kitchen failures. 

Not only do I love eating, but I love sharing food. If we ever enjoy a meal together, you better believe I'll ask for a bite of whatever you order - I just have to taste it all. Some people think that's rude, but luckily I have some pretty amazing friends who understand my need to feed.

Me, Alex, Julie, and Sara in DC (Fall 2011)

And I admit, this guy also snags bites of some of my meals.

Tucker!

So welcome. I leave you with this picture I took on my parent's deck in Montecito, enjoying a chilled glass of wine and local food, surrounded by people I love, in a place that I call home.

Pretty sure it doesn't get any better than this.

Montecito, 5.27.12