Category: minutiae

This past weekend was quite fun and full. However, I didn’t cook a single thing. Unless you count toasting a bagel.

After work on Friday, I went up to San Francisco to meet with some Television Without Pity people. (Stop freaking out, Mom, they were quite normal.) We went to the Pig and Whistle, a quite excellent little English pub. We sort of watched Bush and Kerry posture about, but the sound wasn’t loud enough for us to hear. Mainly we talked about… well, television. And also that a majority of us worked in biotech- in fact, two of the people there worked at the same company, just on different floors. Small world and whatnot. Andyway, if I lived in the city, I think I’d want to frequent that bar. Pool table, dart board, fairly cheap beer, an excellent selection on tap, and some very excellent looking bangers and mash. Keckler was not on hand, sadly, but the five of us had a grand old time. I think. I hope. Well, I did, at any rate.

Also this weekend was a trek to the parents’ house for closet-cleaning. Woo! That was… tiring. I had a LOT of old prom dresses. And a lot of random papers that I don’t know why I was keeping. We made piles in the garage of stuff to throw out and stuff to give away. We probably could have gotten a decent yard sale together with some of that stuff, but it was just too much hassle.

I defrosted a chicken. I’ll do something with that tonight. And Jon, if you didn’t cook yours last night, you should cook it tonight. (We had a mixup where two chickens were defrosted- it was totally my fault.)

Roast Chicken with Potatoes

1 4-lb. chicken, neck and innards removed

1 1/2-lb. small red or Yukon Gold potatoes

4 Tbsp butter, softened

1 Tbsp fresh sage, chopped

1 Tbsp fresh thyme, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

10 cloves garlic, unpeeled

Vegetable oil

Salt and pepper

In a large container or pot, combine 1 1/2 quarts or cold tap water and 1/2 cup kosher salt (1/4 cup table salt). Stir to dissolve. Submerge chicken in brine and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Remove chicken from brine and dry well with paper towels. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 450. Prepare the roasting rack by spraying it with nonstick cooking spray.

In a food processor, combine butter, herbs, and minced garlic, and pulse to combine into a paste. Loosen the skin over the breast and thigh on each side of the chicken. Spread three-quarters of the paste under the skin. Tie the drumsticks together with kitchen twine and tuck wings behind back. Oil the skin lightly and season with pepper. Set chicken breast-side down on prepared rack in roasting pan and roast for 15 minutes.

Quarter the potatoes and place in a bowl with the unpeeled garlic cloves. Toss with salt and pepper (to taste) along with the remaining tablespoon of paste. After the first fifteen minutes, scatter the potatoes and garlic cloves in the bottom of the roasting pan. Continue roasting for another 15 minutes.

Remove roasting pan from oven and decrease temperature to 375. Rotate chicken breast-side up on the rack, stir the potatoes and garlic, and return to the oven for approimately another 30 mintues, or until the breast meat is 160 and the thigh meat is 175 on an instant-read thermometer.

Let chicken rest for about ten minutes before carving. Transfer the potatoes and garlic to a serving bowl. Serve with bread, upon which the roasted garlic cloves can be spread.

I realize that I am not a good blogger. I have not been posting as regularly as I should. I am sorry. The problem with a new job is that you want to impress people, and you can’t do that by goofing off at work. And I’m really quite tired. I haven’t made anything since the weekend. I’ve got about a third of that post written. I’ll finish it. Probably.

Okay, I’m over my annoyance.

Last night was Ryan’s birthday party. Jon and I made lots of food. Jon made guacamole, crepes, ham and cheese sandwiches, and pesto. I made blackberry-rosemary syrup, basil-lime syrup, onion dip, salsa, chicken liver pate, mini twice-baked potatoes, and goat cheese stuffed basil leaves. Ryan, even though she was the birthday girl, made mojitos and raspberry coulis.

Yes, all right, the onion dip was a package of soup mix and sour cream. I’m evil! The potatoes were a variation on the original recipe, using pesto and monterey jack cheese instead of cheddar and green onions. Jon thought the pesto ones were better. I’m not convinced yet, although I do agree that the pesto was magnificent. I would link to his recipe, if only I could remember where his neglected blog lives.

We had a recently-pregnant lass at the party, which is why I made the syrups, so she could have fun drinks in a non-alcoholic way. The new one, the blackberry-rosemary syrup, I think needs more sugar. It was very… subtle. The rosemary was much stronger in flavor than the blackberry, which was kind of an afterthought. I might try it with raspberry next time. Wow, was it a pretty color, though. Veryvery pretty.

We did kind of run out of food, although we made a TON. And I was exhausted. Seriously, I fell asleep on the couch as people were heading home. I had to stay over at Jon and Ryan’s that night because I wasn’t sure whether I could make the ten minute drive to my house. It was kind of nonstop cooking from after work Friday until the party Saturday night.

And then, on Sunday, I made stock and cookies. Why not? I’d like to try making fish stock next. Or beef stock.

Blackberry-Rosemary Syrup

2 cups blackberries (fresh or frozen)

1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp sugar (3/8 cup)

2/3 cup water

1 1/2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh rosemary

To serve: club soda or sparkling white wine

Combine blackberries, sugar, water, and rosemary in a small, heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil and then turn heat down. Simmer uncovered for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until mixture has thickened and reduced by about half.

Pour into a fine sieve set over a bowl or whatever container of holding you’re using. Let stand about five mintues- do not press on solids. Cover and store for up to a week.

To serve: Pour 1-2 Tbsp into the bottom of a glass, add ice, and fill with club soda. Or omit the ice, and fill with sparkling white wine. Stir and enjoy.

Rob’s character, Cooper, died tonight, felled by some big greatclubs. If I had rolled better on initiative, or had engaged my rage, I… would probably also be dead. Not raging kept my armor class high, and I was able to deflect most of the blows.

I need to wear a badge to D&D that says “Hi! My name is 20% MISSED CHANCE and DAMAGE -1.” Because, seriously? I keep forgetting about them. And that’s a bad thing to forget about.

Okay, I have to say, I don’t get the big love for Buffalo Bill’s Pumpkin Ale. It doesn’t taste like pumpkin. It tastes like beer overpowered by cloves, allspice, and nutmeg. I didn’t really like it. Rob and Jer didn’t seem to take to it, either. (I couldn’t directly link to Cynthia’s post about it- scroll down, it’s from September 21st.)

I do get the big love for Bruce Campbell. Ryan ditched us, but Rob, Jer, and I went to see Evil Dead II over the weekend. He’s so cute, with his dark eyes and chin of strength. Even with the blood on his forehead that gives him a quasi-unibrow. He still rocks it.

I’ve had a yen for trashy cheese these last few days. Not, like, American processed cheese food, but worse. I really wanted some of those cracker sandwiches with the not-cheese in the middle. Or Handi-Snaks. I ended up with Combos. And then I felt ill. You shouldn’t eat a lot of gross fake cheese.

On Saturday night, Jon and I pan-roasted a chicken. Well, Jon pan-roasted and I supervised. He wanted to learn how to properly take apart and cook quickly a chicken. And we did. I made green beans, and he made potato dauphinois to go along with it.

I brought my leftover chicken from last week to work today. This was the chicken I roasted with bacon under the skin. It wasn’t bad when we first made it (although butter is a better fat for under the skin), but the leftovers were kind of meh. I ended up dousing the whole thing in lots of mustard.

I haven’t watched last week’s Semi-Homemade yet. I’m thinking about giving up the Sandra Lee snark. It just isn’t as fun anymore. I dislike her, and I’m going to continue loathing her cooking and her show and the Vaseline-smeared lens and her freaky Cardassian neck, but I don’t know if I can remain as invested in her downfall. I mean, I’m going to continue making my own stock in defiance, but I don’t know if I’m going to take the time to watch and be aghast at her program anymore.

Sarah’s Green Beans



10-16 oz. haricot verde (I buy a package at Trader Joe’s- they’re so good)

8 oz. crimini mushrooms, sliced

1/4 cup sliced almonds

2 Tbsp butter, divided

2 Tbsp shallot, chopped

1 clove of garlic, chopped

1/2 cup water

Salt, to taste

Toast the almonds in a heavy skillet over low to medium heat. Remove from skillet when golden and set aside.

In the skillet, heat a tablespoon of butter over medium heat. When the foaming, subsides, add the mushrooms and brown. When they’re about halfway done, add the shallot, garlic, and some salt and continue to cook. When the mushrooms are done, remove everything from the pan and set aside with the almonds.

Add the beans and water to the pan. Keep the heat at medium and cover the skillet. Stir occasionally and let cook/steam for 10-15 minutes, or until the beans are almost cooked. Remove the lid, turn the heat up to high, and boil the water away. Take the skillet off the heat and stir in the other tablespoon of butter. Return the almonds, mushrooms, shallots, and garlic to the skillet and stir to combine. Yum.