Chocolate Satin Frosting

(Adapted from The Joy of Cooking by Jennifer Steinhauer of the New York Times)

1 cup heavy cream
6 oz. unsweetened chocolate, cut into chunks
3 cups confectioners’ sugar
6 Tbsp unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 tsp vanilla

Bring the cream to a boil. Remove from heat and add chocolate. Cover and set aside for 10 minutes. Scrape into a food processor and add the confectioners’ sugar, butter and vanilla. Process until smooth, then 1 minute more. Set aside at room temperature until thickened into a spreadable consistency.

R☆ came over last night for chicken and Doctor Who. Last time I made a chicken for him, it turned out blackened and undercooked. It’s nice to know that some things never change. I tried a new recipe for roasting a whole bird out of Anthony Bourdain’s Les Halles Cookbook. I should not attempt to roast whole birds. It’s never as good as pan-roasting.

I hope you’re not sick, R☆. I’m sorry.

Poo, it’s no longer my birthday.

I made the cake last night, but I haven’t made the frosting yet. I’ll be doing that after work. Also, I got a huge zit on my chin. What the hell, I’m 26, I should damn well be past that. Annoyance!

Happy second birthday, blog!

Posts: 534 (225 since March 22, 2005)
Recipes: 135 (50 since March 22, 2005, I’ve slowed down quite a bit)

I’m going to bake you a cake… tomorrow. I have D&D tonight, and that takes precedence.

Last night I had dinner over at J and Barbara May’s place. Got a little more face time with Kiddo. I told him about my day at work, and he started crying. Can’t blame the guy, it was intensely boring. If I couldn’t speak, I probably would have started crying to shut me up. Eddie was over as well, and he and J made a really tasty jambalaya. It was pretty easy, too. I think I will have to make it at some point.

I had all the ingredients for this recipe. I had a chunk of feta in my freezer that had been there since July 2004. I finished off a bulb of lemon juice (gasp, I don’t always use fresh lemons, I’m an evil harlot who shouldn’t be allowed within 50 feet of a kitchen). This was a good “getting rid of things” recipe for me. And it wasn’t half bad! The chicken was nice and moist. I burnt the top a little bit under the broiler, but it still tasted fine. One thing I’d suggest is to make sure you eat this hot, because feta hardens up strangely.

The original recipe called for a quarter teaspoon of table salt and an eighth teaspoon of pepper, but I just sprinkled both liberally. If you’re not keen on eyeing things, use those measurements.

Chicken with Lemon, Oregano, and Feta Cheese

(Quick from Scratch Chicken)

1 chicken (3 to 3 1/2 pounds), quartered
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 Tbsp lemon juice
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 Tbsp butter, cut into 4 pieces
1 1/2 oz. feta cheese, crumbled (about 1/3 cup)

Heat the oven to 375. Coat the chicken with the oil; arrange the pieces, skin-side up, in a large roasting pan. Sprinkle the chicken with the oregano, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Top each piece of chicken with a piece of the butter.

Cook the chicken until the breasts are just done, about 30 minutes. Remove the breasts and continue to cook the legs until done, about 5 minutes longer. Remove the roasting pan from the oven; return the breasts to the pan. Top the chicken pieces with the feta cheese. Press any cheese that rolls off into the pan back onto the chicken. Baste the chicken with the pan juices.

Heat the broiler. Broil the chicken until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Serve with the pan juices.

I’m better now. I got to visit the family. It was awesome.

I have lots of food in my freezer. I poached some perch last week. Perch that I had bought in 2004. Thankfully, it still tasted like fish, and not like freezer burn. The poaching wasn’t all that interesting- I used some chicken stock, wine, and the leftover steaming liquid from the last time I made mussels (sometime last year). I took the poaching liquid after the fish was done and reduced it. I’m saving it for who knows what. I took the leftover fish and shredded it, then made it into salad for sandwiches (openfaced on TJ’s Garlic Naan- not as good as Deep or Pillsbury). It’s pretty good. A little fishier aftertaste than canned tuna.

I need to do something involving chicken. I have three in my freezer. When I finish with those, I can make tons and tons of stock. Which will then clutter up my freezer. It’s neverending. (Nanana, nanana, nanana.)

D&D tonight.