Roasted Vegetables!

Living in South Carolina all my life, I went through the eye wall of Hugo all those years ago, and I remember it all to well! The storm, the eerie calm and starry sky as the eye passed over, and the aftermath of the other side of the eye wall are still fresh in my mind with every passing storm. We are watching Irma and hoping for the best! I have a wedding Saturday to prepare for, and then we will decide what to do next. We are as prepared as we can be here in this ancient double wide mobile home. (that I hope does NOT become truly mobile!)

In the mean time, I'm cooking some foods that might perish if we are left without power for any significant time. Today I roasted some vegetables I had sitting around. Awesome flavors!

Potatoes, Carrots, Onions and Garlic Cloves

Cut into chunks, except the garlic. Leave it whole.

Tossed in oil and a little lemon.

Seasoned with basil, Kosher salt and pepper, to taste.

Roast on a baking sheet for about 30-45 minutes at 400 degrees.

My kitchen smells amazing!

Chicken and Pasta with Roasted Tomato, Onion and Garlic

I was looking for a casserole recipe using chicken and pasta. After looking through dozens of recipes and searching my freezer and pantry, this is what I came up with last week. It is very simple and the roasted vegetables add the perfect smokey flavor.

1/2 to 1 pound pasta, spaghetti or linguine
2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved lengthwise
4 cloves garlic, left whole
1 yellow onion, sliced thick
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
4 cups Colby Jack cheese, shredded
2 cups chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne*
Salt and black pepper, to taste
4 cups shredded cooked chicken


Lightly grease a casserole dish, and line a baking sheet with foil.

Cook the spaghetti in a large pot of salted water. Drain and transfer to casserole.

Place the tomatoes, skin side up on the baking sheet, along with the whole garlic cloves and onion. Broil, for about 10 to 15 minutes, until the tomatoes, garlic, and onion are softened and have begun to blacken. Remove from the oven, cool and, dice. Turn the oven to 350 degrees.

In a saucepan, melt the butter and whisk in the flour until well combined and slightly browned. Slowly pour in the milk and cook, stirring, until the sauce thickens just a bit. Once the sauce thickens, turn off the heat and slowly stir in 2 cups of cheese, a little at a time, until melted. Stir in the chicken broth until the sauce is the consistency of gravy. Stir in the diced vegetables, along with the cumin, and cayenne. Taste and adjust the seasonings to your liking. Add salt and black pepper to taste, and stir in the shredded cooked chicken. Pour the sauce into the cooked spaghetti. Cover with the remaining cheeses.

Bake, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Serve with Garlic Bread and a side salad for a nice complete meal.

*For an added kick add a couple of jalapeno peppers halved and added to the roasting vegetables.

Roasted Pickled Garlic Aioli

Some of you may remember my post on Pickled Garlic. If not you can click on the link and review it. Well, I wanted to do a garlic mayo, so I decided to use my pickled garlic. What could be better?

5-6 large cloves of pickled garlic
1 teaspoon olive oil

2 egg yolks**
Kosher salt and pepper, to taste
2 teaspoons lemon juice
½ cup light olive oil

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Place garlic cloves in an aluminum packet. Drizzle with oil. Place in the oven and roast for 25-35 minutes until the garlic is soft. 

They look like they are burnt,

but that is where the bruises were,

and they took on a burnt color.

Once cooked, pinch cooked garlic out of each clove.

Since mine was already peeled,

I ran it through my garlic press a few times.

That caught the tougher skin and ends.

In a food processor, place roasted garlic, egg yolks, and lemon juice. Process the mixture until smooth. Very slowly, drizzle oil into the processor with the motor running. To ensure proper emulsification, pour the oil in very, very slowly. Add salt and pepper to taste. 

The Aioli may be kept 5-7 days

in the refrigerator.

** If you are not sure of your eggs, or are cautions about using raw eggs. Coddle the eggs... Coddling Eggs

Chicken and Baby Red Potatoes with Roasted Garlic

So... I had finally gotten straight in my head what I wanted to say in the blog today, and the power goes out for 2 hours! Replaced in my head was: How am I going to get all this stuff done today, and I can't even take a shower? Well, the power came back on and I'm only short two hours. I did manage to check and answer my emails and putter around doing little things here and there. Unfortunately, the golden nuggets of wisdom that were supposed to pour out onto the page this morning are apparently gone forever. Alas all I have for you are a few tips and the recipe... Enjoy!

This recipe feeds a large family... or 5 hungry large men :-)

5 lb pkg Chicken leg quarters (10 pieces)

2 lbs (or 10) baby red potatoes, quartered
3 heads of garlic*, halved
1 pkg pearl onions, or a large onion rough chopped
1 stick butter
garlic powder
salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

I used a large buffet pan so I don't crowd the chicken; and it browns well. If you don't have one, just use two large casserole dishes. Loosen the skin on the leg quarters and insert a couple of pats of butter under the skin. This allows the skin to 'fry' in the butter and get very crispy and golden brown. Sprinkle with garlic powder, salt and pepper. Toss in the onion and potatoes, but try to place them to the sides of the chicken so the skin can brown. Bake for about an hour.

*Use whole garlic heads, not cloves. Halve them and throw them in the pan. The cloves will roast nicely and the skins will fall away. They are easy to discard. Toast some nice french bread and spread with the roasted garlic as a wonderful side to this hearty meal.

You can also add any vegetables you want... mushrooms, carrots, squash. What ever you have available. Also if the dish sounds a little fatty, add a few splashes of lemon juice to lighten and brighten the flavors. As always, these are more like suggestions than recipes... Go Wild!!!