Why is it that we work all the time, to make money that it never seems like we actually have, to spend it on doing things we never actually get to do? How's that for ironic?
Anyway, I'm currently searching for long lost pictures of the fruitcake I made for Christmas. It was beautiful, and delicious so I'm hoping to post it in time for you to go out and make your own (it needs to be made months ahead of time).
A few weeks ago (1? 2? who knows) I was feeling like I wanted roast chicken for dinner. The night before the S.O.'s parents came down to rescue us from a dead car, and they brought a whole bag of delicious veggies with them. So I hit the grocery store to buy a chicken. Turned out the grocery store was out of chicken. ***(see footnote) So I ended up buying chicken legs and thighs instead. Here's how I made that all work:
Ingredients
3 large carrots
5 medium potatoes
3 small onions
2 cloves elephant garlic (like regular garlic but milder and ENORMOUS)
butter
4 chicken leg-thigh pieces
Here's a pic of the ingredients to give you a sense of scale. The garlic is almost as big as the onion.
Directions
1. Chop all veggies into relatively same size chunks...except garlic, chop that tiny.
2. Put everything in a large oven-safe pot. Add 2 cups water.
3. Butter up those thighs. That's right.
4. Place the chicken thighs as shown. Cover the whole deal with foil.
5. Place the whole thing into the oven at 400. Cook until chicken juice runs clear, chicken isn't pink in the middle, or oven thermometer tells you it's ok to take out.
6. If you like gravy, refer to this post where I tell you all about how to make gravy. Just remember to use Bisto for poultry instead of Bisto beef flavoured. You could also use cornstarch, just doesn't taste as yummy.
I didn't get any "after" pictures that turned out well, so you'll have to use your imagination...or make it yourself.
We also got a bunch of beets that day, now I don't like beets all that much. I had a beet appetizer once that had roasted beets and goat cheese, it was delicious. That's about the only time I've liked beets. I wanted to use the beets though and beets are very sweet when cooked so I made Beet Muffins. (Also no pictures, but I did get this lovely blurry picture of one of the beets).
Beet Muffins are pretty easy to make, just make a standard oatmeal, or carrot muffin (omit the carrots) and add a cup or two of shredded cooked beets. I used a packaged oatmeal mix, and add a little extra brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. They really did turn out delicious, and as an added "bonus", they're pink. I'll make them again, from scratch, and post the results.
Stay tuned for "Cautionary Tales of Rural Ontario" and "Funny Title With a Play on Words Involving Tuna Cassarole".
