An Entire Roasted Chicken!

Tonight from my new, and so far still awesome, cookbook:
Garlic and Rosemary Roasted Chicken and Cranberry and Apple filled Acorn Squash!!
Yes I roasted an entire chicken. It was rather large, and cooked forever, but it was kinda cool. And I said I would cook all the way through the cookbook, which includes whole roasted chickens.

Here is me sticking my fingers in the chicken (to put rosemary and crushed garlic between the chicken and skin). No funny business!

It came out beautiful! I can't believe it came out looking edible, let alone good.For the side dishes... Roasted Acorn Squash. Green apple and cranberry sauce sauteed in a pan, then scooped into the squash (emptied of seeds and weird stringy stuff). Also, garlic, which was roasted with the chicken in its head, mashed into a paste and put on some toasted french bread. And the onion chunks roasted with the chicken as another side. And some wine :-)

Here's the whole spread:
My new cookbook is definitely not letting me down. :-)

Stuffed chicken and cookies

The Cooking Light project continues. So far I have been extremely happy with all the recipes. On Tuesday we made...

Brie and Caramelized Onion Stuffed Chicken:
The oniony goop kinda spilled out of the chicken and into the sauce but it was super delicious. I forgot to take a picture of it all plated and pretty so these were the lunch leftover breasts before I packed them up. We ate them with some green beans sauteed in spicy peanut sauce (bought in a bottle from the grocery, nothing too fancy). Yum!

Then we also made chocolate mint cookies. The dough is easy to make, then you form it into a log, wrap in wax paper, and stick in the freezer. When its time to make it, you unwrap the frozen dough and roll it in raw sugar. Then slice it- the frozen dough is the perfect consistency for slicing- not too sticky or too hard. I want to make a few more batches to keep in the freezer. I brought them to console and they were a big hit. They are basic sugar cookies with 4 variations- plain, chocolate, peanut butter, and mint. You can also roll two (or more?!) kinds of doughs together to create a pinwheel shape.

And finally, here is an action shot of my lovely boyfriend helping me cook (P.S. isn't my kitchen pretty?! I love it!)

The Cooking Light project

So... as I discussed a while back, I want to start a cooking project kinda like Julie and Julia.
So a couple weeks ago I went to Half Price Books (this might be a Texas only thing... they buy back used books to sell for cheap, only they're a huge chain so they have an awesome selection unlike most used book stores) and found a cookbook. This one:
It meets all the previous specifications: Not overly complicated (also has cool little side boxes where it explains a little about the science behind the recipe, some ingredient... so I can cook AND learn!). Healthy. Serving sizes range from 2 to 8, depending on the recipe. And so far, its been pretty boy friendly.

So whats the project? I'm going to cook my way through the book. By Jan 1, 2012 I want to be done with the entire book. Except... there's a section on bread machine breads. I don't have a bread machine, I don't WANT a bread machine, I cant afford a bread machine. So I will not be cooking those recipes.
Tuesday I made Mediterranean Veggie wraps (didn't take any pics though, oops!). It was good, and made a great lunch the next day too.

Tonight, my lovely dining partner (aka, my boyfriend) and I made 2 awesome dishes:
At the top of the plate is Polenta with Wild Mushroom Sauce. At the bottom are Veal Birds with Artichoke Sauce (but I used beef instead of Veal because Kroger is certainly no Publix).

The polenta was chilled, broiled, and covered with a shitake mushroom and tomato sauce. The beef was sliced thin, covered in flour, browned, and topped with an artichoke and mushroom sauce. Add a spinach salad and glass of red Zinfandel to make a delicious dinner... with plenty of leftovers for lunch on Monday!


Oh and in other exciting news.... I bought and (with the help of my visiting Mom and Dad this week) assembled my beautiful new dining room furniture. This was the first meal to be eaten on me new table. Here's a picture of the spread:

Stay tuned for more adventures in Cooking Light!