Baked Chicken with Onions, Garlic & Thyme

This month's Everyday Food is chock full of great recipes! This one seemed perfect for a Sunday dinner. So, we invited the in-laws over, and enjoyed a nice Sunday chicken dinner.

Ingredients:

• 1 whole chicken (cut into 8 pieces)- I used 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 pound new white potatoes, cut in quarters
• 1 large red onion, cut into eighths
• 1 head garlic cloves, separated and left unpeeled
• 6 sprigs thyme
• 1 lemon, quartered
• 1/4 c evoo
• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• coarse salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Arrange chicken, potatoes, onion, garlic, thyme and lemon in a 12x16 inch roasting pan. Whisk together oil and vinegar and drizzle over chicken and vegetables. Toss to combine and season with salt and pepper. Turn chicken skin side up. Roast until chicken is browned and cooked through, about 50 minutes.

*If you are going to use boneless, skinless chicken like me, I'd suggest doubling the vinegar and oil and start checking it at 40 minutes instead of 50.

I'm Martha's Cooler Younger Sister...

...Because I don't have all the time in the world to make everything from scratch. I'm far too busy doing other better, cooler, more fun things...like....um...grocery shopping after work? Well anyway, I didn't have time to meal plan this weekend, so I had to wing it while shopping. I remembered a dish I made often while Carl and I were dating, but again another meal we've haven't had since being married. Scalloped Potatoes & Ham, the quick way. There is a much more elaborate way of doing this, but this is my quick fix. It never fails to satisfy!

Ingredients:
1 Center Cut Ham Steak (You'll find this by the ham, sometimes by the deli meat)
1 Box of Scalloped Potatoes (Think Betty Crocker....remember- you are younger and cooler...it's ok to get it them of a box)- Including the ingredients it calls for

Yeah, that's it.

Directions:
Make the potatoes according to the box directions. Each brand is a little different, but basically the same. They usually need to bake between 25 and 35 minutes. While they are baking, trim and cut the ham into 1ish inch pieces. I'm not picky, whatever floats your boat. After the potatoes have been in about 10 minutes and have set up a bit, take them out of the oven and dump the ham in. Give it a quick stir to incorporate the ham. Put it back in the oven for the duration of the cooking time or until golden brown on the top. Eat!

Simple. Fast. Delicious. Take that Martha.

Classic Potato Salad

Oh potato salad, how you mock me with your unphotographic ways....

Flipping through the newest Food Network magazine I stumbled upon a classic potato salad recipe by Aaron McCargo. I needed a recipe for my Mother's Day menu, and this one looked fresh, and delicious. Oh and it was! I will definitely make this again- most likely the next time will be our Memorial Day party in just a few weeks.

Ingredients

* 3 large Yukon gold potatoes (about 1 1/4 pounds), peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes (I actually used regular potatoes)
* 3 large eggs
* 1/2 cup diced onion
* 1/2 cup diced celery (omitted)
* 2 tablespoons sweet relish
* 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
* 1 teaspoon hot sauce
* Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
* 1 cup mayonnaise
* 2 scallions, thinly sliced

Directions

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the potatoes and cook until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain the potatoes and spread out on a sheet pan to cool. Meanwhile, bring a separate pot of water to a boil. Carefully add the eggs; cook for 12 minutes, then remove to a bowl of ice water to cool completely. Peel the eggs under cold running water, then roughly chop.

In a large bowl, combine the onion, celery, relish, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, 1 teaspoon pepper and the mayonnaise. Fold in the potatoes, eggs and scallions. Adjust the seasoning to taste.

Gruyere Potato Soup

Yaaaaaaaay! The Gruyere is gone! Please understand, I really love Gruyere, but to avoid freezing it (because I am horrible at using frozen cheese) I just wanted to use the whole bar of cheese. So one last time, I searched for recipes using Gruyere and found a potato soup, but then I kept searching to find one that sounded the best and came across this one. I wanted to make it for our last Friday of Lent, so I skipped the bacon, but it was still really really good! It had a nice light flavor.

Since I left out the pig, I started with a little olive oil to cook the onion. The only other thing I would do different is add some fresh garlic with the onion to give a little more flavor.

I also cut it in half, and that was the perfect amount for the two of us to have it as our main meal. I served it with my Perfect Side Salad.

Ingredients:

* 4 slices bacon, chopped
* 3 medium onions, chopped fine
* 3 cups chicken broth
* 3 1/4 cups water
* 3 pounds boiling potatoes (preferably yellow-fleshed)
* 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
* 1/2 pound Gruyère cheese, grated (about 2 1/2 cups)
* 1 tablespoon Madeira or Sherry if desired
* 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
* 3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves

Preparation:

In a heavy kettle (at least 5 quarts) cook bacon over moderate heat, stirring, until crisp and spoon off all but 1 tablespoon fat. Add onions and sauté over moderately high heat, stirring, until pale golden. Add broth and 3 cups of water and bring to a boil.

Peel potatoes and cut into 3/4-inch cubes. Add potatoes to soup and simmer, covered, 10 minutes.

In a small bowl whisk together flour and remaining 1/4 cup water until smooth and add to simmering soup, whisking. Simmer soup, covered, 5 minutes.

In a blender purée Gruyère with 3 cups hot soup broth. Stir purée into soup with Madeira, Worcestershire sauce, and salt and pepper to taste and remove soup from heat. Soup may be prepared up to this point 3 days ahead (cool uncovered before chilling covered). Reheat over low heat but do not let boil.

Just before serving, stir in parsley.

Oven Roasted Potatoes

I bought a big bag of potatoes and wanted to use some up last night with our Laughing Cow Chicken. I just searched all recipes for roasted potatoes and found this. So easy, so tasty, it will probably take me awhile to ever try a different roasted potato recipe. These were really good.

Since I was making the LCC too, I only had the oven at 475 for the amount of time it took me to assemble the chicken (about 10 minutes). Then I kicked it down to 400 to accommodate the chicken. It actually worked out perfectly, because the potatoes took an extra 10 minutes at the lower temp, and everything was done at the same time. I also left the peels on- if you are offended by them, feel free to peel!

INGREDIENTS
* 1/8 cup olive oil
* 1 tablespoon minced garlic
* 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
* 1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
* 1/2 teaspoon dried dill weed
* 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
* 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
* 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
* 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 4 large potatoes, peeled and cubed

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 475 degrees F (245 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, combine oil, garlic, basil, marjoram, dill weed, thyme, oregano, parsley, red pepper flakes, and salt. Stir in potatoes until evenly coated. Place potatoes in a single layer on a roasting pan or baking sheet.
3. Roast for 20 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, turning occasionally to brown on all sides.

Potatoes Au Gratin

We had two of our favorite people over this weekend and decided to make a lovely dinner together. While the boys went to the driving range, the girls started dinner. These au gratin potatoes are a little different than what your mom used to make! YUM! (here is the recipe on all recipes)
Ingredients

* 1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened (we omitted)
* 1 1/2 pounds Idaho potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
* 1/2 cup grated Gruyere
* 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
* 1 cup heavy cream
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
* 1/8 teaspoon paprika

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Butter a 1 1/2 quart baking dish with about 1 tablespoon of the softened butter. (Didn't do this)

*We first boiled the potato slices for 10 minutes to shorten the baking time

Arrange a layer of potatoes in the baking dish, and sprinkle some of the cheeses over them. Continue layering potatoes and cheeses until you've used them all, ending with a layer of potatoes.

In a small bowl, whisk the cream with the salt and pepper; pour this over the potatoes. Dot the remaining butter over the top and sprinkle with the paprika. Bake for 1 to 1 1/4 hours, or until the potatoes are tender and golden brown on top. (*Ours only took about 35 minutes since we started with the boiled potatoes) Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Red Skin Potato Salad

I love potato salad, and so I bought some red skin potatoes after seeing Lindsay post this recipe. Apparently I didn't cook my potatoes long enough :/ but other wise it was very tasty! Oh and sorry for the super crappy picture. I was too hungry to work on a better one.

Ingredients

* 2 pounds clean, scrubbed new red potatoes
* 6 eggs
* 1 pound bacon
* 1 onion, finely chopped
* 1 stalk celery, finely chopped (omitted)
* 2 cups mayonnaise
* salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add potatoes and cook until tender but still firm, about 15 minutes. Drain and set in the refrigerator to cool.
2. Place eggs in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring water to a boil and immediately remove from heat. Cover and let eggs stand in hot water for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from hot water, cool, peel and chop.
3. Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble and set aside. (or just use crumbled bacon like I did!)
4. Chop the cooled potatoes, leaving skin on. Add to a large bowl, along with the eggs, bacon, onion and celery. Add mayonnaise, salt and pepper to taste. Chill for an hour before serving.

Mashed Red Skin Potatoes

Red skin potatoes were on sale, thank you St. Patrick's Day, so I bought a big bag. I have been wanting to try to make mashed red skins for quite some time, and it seemed like the perfect pair to my roasted chicken. I found this recipe which again, didn't make me go to the store, woo hoo.

I basically cut the recipe in half and it worked out so we could eat these for dinner and then have them again as leftovers. They were really really good! I will absolutely make them again....now just to decide when is too soon to make them again!

Ingredients

* 4 lbs small new red potatoes, quartered
* 2 teaspoons salt, plus
* 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
* 1 cup heavy cream (I used half and half)
* 1/2 cup unsalted butter
* 1/2 cup sour cream (I use reduced-fat)
* 3/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions

1.Place potatoes in 5-6 quart Dutch oven; add enough cold water to cover potatoes.
2.Add 2 tsp salt to water; bring to a boil.
3.Reduce heat to low; simmer for 15 minutes or until potatoes are tender when pierced with a small knife.
4.In small saucepan over low heat, heat together heavy cream and butter for 5 minutes or until butter is melted and mixture is heated through.
5.Drain potatoes; transfer to large bowl.
6.With potato masher, smash potatoes together with hot cream mixture until well blended.
7.To potatoes, add sour cream, remaining salt, and the pepper.
8. Blend in with the potato masher; continue to smash until desired consistency is achieved.

*I just used my hand mixer on low and left a few lumps...yummy!!!

Best Dinner Yet

Carl decided he wanted to have his parents over for dinner. I obliged and said we should make a rockin dinner. That we did. I don't think I've ever had a dinner with so much flavor. The IL's kept saying they felt like they were eating at a restaurant :) The menu consisted of Grilled Steak with Blue Cheese & Herb Butter, Mediterranean Orzo Salad and Roasted Potato Bites. First up...the beef.

Blue Cheese & Herb Butter
1/4 c butter, softened
2 tbsp crumbled blue cheese
2 tsp chopped green onion with top
1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp coarsely ground black pepper

Steaks
4 garlic cloves, pressed
4 beef ribeye steaks, cut 3/4 inch thick (about 8 ounces each)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper

For Blue Cheese and Herb Butter, place butter and blue cheese in a small bowl. Add green onion, lemon juice and black pepper and mix until well blended.

Prepare grill for cooking at medium temperature. For steaks, press garlic cloves and spread over both sides of the steaks. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Place steaks on grid of grill. Grill uncovered, 6-8 minutes for medium rare (145 degrees) to medium (160 degrees) doneness, turning occasionally. Top steaks with Blue Cheese & Herb Butter.

Notes: I was more in the mood for a filet...so we did that instead. Because of that, the cooking time was more like 12 minutes due to the thickness of the steaks. Other than that...we left it all the same. OMG- so good! (Lindsay, my fellow blue cheese lover,...if you are reading this- make it now!

Next up: Roasted Potato Bites
12 small red potatoes, unpeeled
1 tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, pressed
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
4 ounces chive and onion cream cheese spread
3 tbsp sour cream

Optional toppings such as grated cheddar cheese, bacon bits and snipped fresh chives.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Cut potatoes in half crosswise. Cut a thin slice off the bottom of each potato half. Carefully scoop out a small amount of pulp from each potato half. In medium mixing bowl combine oil, garlic, salt and black pepper. Add potato halves and toss to coat.

Place potato halves, hollowed side down, on a bar pan or cookie sheet. Bake 30-32 minutes or until deep golden brown and tender. Remove from oven, cool slightly.

In small mixing bowl, combine cream cheese spread and sour cream; whisk until smooth. Spoon a dab onto each potato and top with optional toppings.

Notes: I just used 8 potatoes because there were only 4 of us, but I still just made the normal amount of everything. That worked out well as the sour cream and cream cheese mixture was so good I wanted to use WAY more than it called for on each potato. These were seriously so good. I could have made a meal out of them alone.

And Last: Mediterranean Orzo Salad

(Monica...this one is for you :) )
1 pound asparagus spears, trimmed and in 1 inch pieces
1 large red bell pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 medium red onion, sliced into 1/2 inch wedges
1 tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, pressed
Salt and coarsely ground black pepper optional
3/4 c uncooked orzo pasta
1 can garbanzo beans
1 package (4 ounces) crumbled feta cheese
1/2 c pitted whole kalamata olives
1/2 c snipped fresh parsley
1/4 c prepared Greek vinaigrette dressing

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Combine asparagus, bell pepper, onion and oil in a medium mixing bowl. Press garlic into mixing bowl; toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper if desired.

Arrange vegetables on a bar pan (or cookie sheet). Bake 25-30 minutes or until vegetables are tender and deep golden brown. Remove from oven; cool completely.

Meanwhile, prepare orzo according to package directions, drain and rinse under cold running water. Place orzo in large mixing bowl, add vegetable mixture, beans, feta cheese, olives, parsley and salad dressing. Toss gently and refrigerate for 30 minutes or more.

My Notes: Soooo much flavor. And since I had to send Carl on a mad search for orzo, I did things a little out of order- but it worked fine. It made enough for about 12 people- this could be a great dish to take to a gathering. The salad definitely got better the longer it sat in the fridge and I'm pretty anxious to see how good it is after sitting overnight. Yum.

I was honestly pretty proud of this meal- it took a good hour and half or so, but it was worth the time and energy!! Oh and sorry...the pic isn't really the greatest. I was too excited to eat it!