Beer-Can Chicken

I originally heard about this recipe for the grill, but since it's snowy and freezing here, we decided to try it out in the oven. If I had had some aluminum foil, I probably would have used it to make a tent. We added some potatoes to the baking dish, and these would have been better were there something trapping the moisture in the pan. All in all, the most moist chicken I've ever had.

Easy
Prep: 15 min; Cook: 2 hours

If starting with frozen chicken, defrost for 3 days in refrigerator.

• 3 - 4 pound whole chicken
• any spices you want - I used s/p, paprika and garlic cloves
  
• 1 12-14 oz can beer

PREHEAT oven to 400 degrees F. - rack on bottom.

REMOVE any innards or other items from inside of the chicken.

RINSE the chicken inside and out in cold, running water.

OPTIONAL: seal neck of chicken with skewer (shown) for gravy, seal neck, for moister chicken, leave open.

RUB the chicken, inside and out with your choice of spices.

OPEN a standard can of cheap beer (i used PBR), punch a few extra holes, and quaff off about 1/4 of the beer.

ADD 2 TBSP rub or spice to beer can.

PLACE beer can on ovenproof pan or dish (this allows the chicken to cook indirectly and catches the juices if you want to make gravy.

ARRANGE chicken on beer can, allow the two legs to form two sides of tripod so chicken is stable (picture).

WHEN oven is ready (400 degrees), place chicken on pan or plate on bottom rack. Some cooks 'tent' the bird with foil for the first hour or so to prevent over-browning.

REDUCE oven to 350 degrees after 1/2 hour. BEST when chicken cooks 1 1/2 - 2 hours - check visually after about 1/2 hour and rotate the chicken in a half circle to cook evenly, should brown slowly and evenly.

WHEN chicken is ready, using tongs and oven glove if necessary to separate chicken and beer can, carefully remove to separate platter. Allow to stand for 10 minutes.

REMOVE ovenproof pan or dish, and pour in any remaining beer, stirring, if make a sauce.

Sugar Crinkles

These cookies come from a cookbook that my Mom has. It is a cookbook of recipes from bed and breakfasts throughout the country, and it's organized by state. This sugar cookie recipe is from Alaska. I made them twice this past weekend, and they came out really well.

Sugar Crinkles

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 cup shortening (I use unsalted butter)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 egg

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

Extra Sugar for rolling and sprinkling

Cream together the sugar, brown sugar, shortening, vanilla, and egg. Add the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt. Mix well. Roll into 1 inch balls and roll in sugar. Place the balls about 2 inches apart on an un-greased baking sheet. Bake in a 350˚ oven for 10 minutes or until lightly browned. When the cookies come out of the oven, they will still be very soft on the top. Sprinkle a bit more sugar on them right away, so it sticks to the cookies as they cool. The cookies are best once they are cooled. Don't overcook, or the cookies will be too crunchy when they are cold.

The secret ingredient in this recipe is the cream of tartar. Definitely necessary. Also, this recipe supposedly makes 4 dozen cookies, but I don't see how that's possible. For me, it makes only 25 cookies or so. It can be good to double the recipe. It can also be good to add a chocolate chip or drizzle of chocolate at the top of each cookie as decoration when they are done. But they are also good plain.

Broccoli Crunch - from 101 Cookbooks

from 101 Cookbooks

(channy note: I used peanut butter instead of almond butter, and i candied some walnuts and pecans with balsamic, brown sugar, garlic powder, and cayenne)

The success of this salad hinges on the broccoli. Buy good-quality bright green broccoli with tight florets. Now that you have good broccoli, do your best not to overcook it - you don't want it turning to mush.

4 -5 cups tiny broccoli florets (and chopped stalks if you like)

1 garlic clove, smashed and chopped
scant 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1/4 cup almond butter
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon honey
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons hot water

2 small crisp apples, cut into bit-sized pieces (if you aren't going to use the apples immediately, let them sit in a bowl of water with the juice of 1/2 a lemon)

1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup toasted or candied walnuts or almonds
1/3 cup pan-fried crunchy shallots*
chives (optional)

Bring a medium pot of water to a boil and salt as you would pasta water. Boil the broccoli just long enough to take the raw edge of - 10 or 15 seconds. Drain and immerse it in cold water (or let cold water run over it). At this point, I like to spin the broccoli in a salad spinner to get the water off, but a few good knocks against the sink in a strainer can do the trick pretty well. Set aside.

Make the dressing by sprinkling the salt over the clove of garlic. Smash the clove and chop, smash and chop - turning it into a paste. In a small bowl whisk the salty garlic paste with the almond butter, lemon juice, honey and olive oil. Add the hot water and whisk until light and creamy. Taste, make any adjustments and set aside.

In a large bowl gently toss the broccoli, apples, red onion, most of the shallots and nuts with a generous drizzle of the almond dressing. Turn out onto a platter and finish with the rest of the shallots and chives if you like. Serve family style.

Serves 4.

*Stir together the shallots, a splash of clarified butter (or olive oil) and big pinch of salt In a large skillet over medium heat. Stir every few minutes, you want the shallots to slowly brown over about fifteen minutes. Let them get dark, dark brown (but not burn), and if needed turn down the heat. Remove from skillet and onto a paper towel to cool in a single layer where they will crisp up a bit.

Potatoes Braised in Butter and Sake

this recipe was recommended by my sister, and is from "Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant." It's super simple, and really really tasty.

• 4 medium potatoes (starchy ones, like russet)
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1/2 cup sake (filtered)
• 2 tbsp tamari or other soy sauce

1. Peel and chop potatoes into large chunks. Cover with water and boil until ender (about 10 min.) Drain.

2. Melt the butter in a heavy skillet. Add the potatoes and gently toss until each piece is coated with butter. Add the sake and cook on high heat, uncovered, stirring regularly, until the sake has almost evaporated. Add the tamari sauce. Lower the heat and continue to cook about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are covered with a thick, brown sauce.
Serve hot.

White Bean Soup

I made this soup the other night and it came out very nicely. I made it up as I went along, but based it on a leek and potato soup recipe....only I used beans instead of potatoes.

Ingredients:

3 cans of white beans (obviously using dried would work too, but that requires more planning)
3 large leeks, white and light green parts only
3 T butter
1/8 cup white wine
1 small white onion, chopped
8 cloves garlic
2 tomatoes, chopped
3 carrots, chopped small
1-2 bay leaves
dash thyme
dash white pepper
salt to taste
black pepper to taste
4 cups vegetable broth
1 cup milk
paprika to garnish

Directions:
Cut leeks and garlic into small pieces and put in large pot with the butter. Cook until the leeks are tender - it will smell really good. Add onion, tomato, carrot, wine, bay leaf. Cook for a few minutes, then add vegetable broth. Heat until simmering, then add beans, thyme, white pepper, black pepper and salt. Let simmer until carrots are tender. Pour soup into a blender, and blend until smooth. Return to pot and add milk. Heat again, then serve. Garnish with Hungarian paprika - the soup is a nice orange/pink color when it's all done.

Kyle liked this soup enough to have two helpings! So it must be good.

Poblano Eggplant Tart with Corn and Three Cheeses

I bought some beautiful poblanos and eggplants yesterday, and thought they'd make a delicious tart. In my fridge, I had chevre, a bit of ricotta, and some parmesan. I used frozen corn for some nice sweetness, and the yellow heirloom on my counter just begged to be in the mix. Voila!

Yeasted Tart Dough (recipe in previous entry)

3 Japanese eggplants
3 poblano peppers
3/4 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels
1 medium heirloon tomato

3 tablespoons chevre
2-3 tablespoons ricotta
1 big handful of grated parmesan

Prepare the tart dough.

Roast the eggplants and peppers (whole) until soft. Put in a bowl covered with plastic wrap to steam them out of their skins. When cool enough to handle, peel skins and discard. Discard pepper seeds (don't run the peppers under water to rinse, they will lose a lot of flavor). Chop eggplant and peppers into small pieces.

Lay the dough into a 9-inch tart pan with removable bottom. Spread the ricotta in a thin layer on the dough. Add peppers, eggplant, and corn.

Spoon on the chevre in small dollops. Cover with the parmesan. Thinly slice the tomato and lay the slices on top of the tart.

Bake at 375 for 35 minutes or so.

Yeasted tart Dough

This comes from the Greens Restaurant cookbook.

makes 1 9-inch tart

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
• 1 pinch sugar
• 1/4 cup warm water
• 1 large egg, room temp
• 1 1/4 cups unbleached white flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons creme fraiche or unsalted butter, softened

Directions

1. In a bowl dissolve yeast and sugar in the water then move it to a warm place while you gather the other ingredients.
2. If the egg is cold warm it in a bowl of hot water.
3. Combine the 1 cup of the flour, salt, and lemon zest in a bowl and make a well in the middle.
4. Break the egg into the middle of the well; add the softened butter; and pour in the yeast mixture which should be foamy with bubbles.
5. Mix with a wooden spoon to form a soft smooth dough. Dust it with flour and gather into a ball. Set it in a clean bowl and cover with cling film or a kitchen cloth.
6. Let the dough rise in a warm place until it has doubled in bulk (about 45 minutes to an hour).
7. Flatten the dough place it in the centre of a 10 inch tart ring and using either your knuckles or the heel of your hand press it out to the edge of the ring. Add only enough flour to keep it from sticking. If the dough shrinks back while you are shaping it cover it with a towel and leave it to relax for 20 minutes before you finish pressing it out.
8. It should be thin on the bottom and thicker at the sides, about 1/4 inch above the rim of the pan.
9. It can be filled immediately or refrigerated until needed. Once the tart is filled, bake in the middle of a 375 degree oven.