Jamie Oliver's Couscous Stuffed Roasted Chicken

Yes I know, another chicken recipe! I have been trying to get creative with chicken because as you may know, my husband is watching what he eats and all he wants every night is chicken. He could just have baked chicken breast EVERY single night and be perfectly ok with it. I, on the other hand, could not! I need variety and am constantly looking for ideas. And then I remembered this whole roasted chicken recipe from Jamie Oliver that I made a few years back, stuffed with couscous. It was delicious!

And whats even better, I got a few meals out it. Caesar salad with chicken, the next night. Lunches for us, the rest of the week. And then I made a beautiful, rich broth with the bones that I'm planning on making a soup with, the end of the week.

The couscous stuffing is so fragrant and delicious in this, that I'm thinking next year for Thanksgiving, I might switch up my usual bread stuffing. It also felt "lighter".

I used a big bird for this, almost 4 pounds, so it look almost 2 hours to cook. Adjust your cooking time to the size of your chicken. And use a thermometer to make sure it is done. The internal temp should be 160F.

Couscous Stuffed Roasted Chicken
Adapted from Jamie Oliver's cookbook, Jamie's Kitchen


1 whole chicken
1 cup couscous, I used whole wheat
Zest and juice of an orange
Zest and juice of a lemon, reserving the lemon halves
2 handfuls of pistachios, or any nut,  roughly chopped
2 handfuls of dried blueberries, or any dried fruit
1 large handful of fresh mint and parsley, plus a little extra to throw on top, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more to coat chicken
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 cardamon seeds
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
1 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven 375F.
Put your couscous, orange and lemon zest and juice, dried fruit, nuts and fresh herbs in a bowl. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil and half a cup of warm water and mix everything together.
With a mortar and pestle or spice blender, pound all the spices with the salt until you have a powder.
Stuff the bird with the couscous mixture. Block the cavity with lemon halves that you have squeezed the juice from. This will keep the couscous from falling out of the chicken.
Rub the chicken with a little olive oil and all of the spice mixture. Throw on the rest of the fresh herb mixture.
Roast the chicken until a thermometer reads 160F. Let it rest for 10-15 minutes before carving.

m xo

Farmers Market Bucatini

The month of August is the best time of year to prepare meals because Mother Nature has done all the work for us. I totally get inspired by what is at the market, especially the farmers market.

We recently went to the Hamptons for a few days and as we were leaving East Hampton to go back to the city, the street was lined with farmers markets and I stopped to pick up a few things.

What's nice thing about this quick sauce is that the time that it takes to boil the water and cook the pasta, it's ready!

Farmers Market Bucatini

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 red onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cob of corn, kernels removed
1 small zucchini, chopped
1 quart cherry tomatoes
A big handful basil
1 small hot pepper, optional
Salt and pepper, to taste
1/2lb. bucatini pasta
Grated pecorino
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 eggs, optional

Fill a large pot of water and bring to a boil. Salt the water and cook the bucatini pasta as directed on package or until al dente (which most of the time is less time than directed).
In the meantime, in a large skillet, heat the olive oil and sauté the onion and garlic until soft. Add the corn kernels, zucchini, tomatoes and hot pepper, if using. Salt and pepper the vegetables. Cook over medium/high heat for about 10 minutes or until the bucatini is cooked. Tear the basil and throw in the vegetables. Drain the pasta and mix with the corn mixture. At this point if you are serving the pasta with an egg, heat olive oil in a non stick pan until hot. Break the eggs, one at a time until the edges are crispy but the yolk is still a little runny. Serve on top of the pasta. Sprinkle with the pecorino. Yummy!

Panzanella

It's summer time!!!! Woo too!!! Can you tell this is my favourite time of year? Hence my lack of postings. Sorry. I'm out and about. Lots to see! Lots to do! And lots to eat! Everything just tastes so much better, don't you think? I'm still cooking and baking but I just haven't had a chance to sit down and write. I'm still trying to balance this all out. I'm trying not to be so hard on myself for not keeping up with things. I guess I have to cut myself some slack. But I had to share this great summertime salad!

If things do get a little hectic and you want to throw something together quickly, I urge you to make this! Panzanella! Because you let the tomatoes sit in the vinaigrette for a few minutes, the ingredients just come together to make a flavourful tasting salad. You basically throw in your tomatoes, cucumbers and a simple vinaigrette of red wine vinegar and olive oil. Add some day old, crusty bread that you have hanging around and serve. The lack of dairy makes it a great dish to bring to a picnic.

Panzanella

2 pounds of tomatoes, cut into wedges
1 English cucumbers, cut up
1 cup of artichokes (in water or oil), halved or quartered
1 red onion, sliced
1/2 cup kalamata olives
1 cup basil leaves
Bread, baguette or ciabatta

For vinaigrette:
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 teaspoon dried oregano

Preheat to 400F. Place bread on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Cool, tear into pieces if bread is in bigger pieces and set aside.
In a large bowl, combine tomatoes, cucumbers, artichokes, red onions, kalamata olives and torn up basil.
To make the vinaigrette, in a mason jar, combine olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper and dried oregano. Shake and pour over salad. Let mixture sit for at least 10 minutes. The longer it sits, the juicier the tomatoes will be. Add the bread and serve.

m xo

Not Your Traditional Salsa Verde

I say this not your traditional Italian salsa verde because I didn't use a bit of parsley. Why you ask? Because I didn't have any. But I did have cilantro, mint and a bit of dill. So why not make salsa verde? But if you wanted to make a more traditional version, just use all parsley.

One of my pet peeves is having to buy fresh herbs in the winter time when I need them for a specific recipe. It's not even so much the cost (although, that does piss me off a bit) as it is that I always end up throwing away a lot of it because it doesn't always end up being used. How many recipes can I make with dill in a week? Or basil? Or cilantro? You get the picture.

I have to say this week, it all worked out and I didn't waste anything because I decided to make this salsa verde for the roasted chicken that we had for lunch on Sunday.

Salsa verde is essentially a green sauce that uses parsley as the main ingredient along with capers, garlic, anchovies and mustard. It is traditionally served with bollito mist. (boiled meat). You can use it for steamed or boiled vegetables, potatoes, roasted or grilled meats or boiled eggs. You can even marinate with it. Anything, really.

I used a mortar and pestle to mash the garlic, anchovies and capers and then added the herbs that I chopped by hand. But you can definitely blend everything in a food processor and then stir in the herbs, mustard and olive oil.

Salsa Verde

1-2 cloves of garlic
2 anchiove filets
1 tablespoon capers
1 cup (packed) combination of fresh herbs, i.e., cilantro, mint, dill, parsley
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/3 cup olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste

Finely chop the herbs. Using a mortar and pestle or a food processor, mash or blend the garlic, anchovies and capers. Stir in the herbs, mustard, vinegar and olive oil until blended. Season with salt and pepper. Can be made ahead of time. If longer than a could of hours, chill and bring to room temperature before serving.

m xo

Roasted Cauliflower and Zucchini

Tonight was one of those nights where we really didn't want a big meal for dinner so I decided to make it a "veggie only" meal.

I simply roasted cauliflower and zucchini(separately) and made a couple of sauces for them based on what I had in the refrigerator. Dill and mint.

These would make wonderful side dishes to serve with anything really.

Roasted Cauliflower with Yogurt Dill Sauce

1 head of cauliflower, cut into florets
Olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 450F. Place cauliflower on a roasting pan, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook 30-35 minutes or until lightly browned.
In the meantime make the yogurt sauce.

Yogurt Dill Sauce

1/2 cup greek yogurt
2 tablespoons chopped dill
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon honey
1/2 teaspoon salt

Stir all the ingredients until combined. Serve with the roasted cauliflower.

Roasted Zucchini with Mint Pesto

4-5 medium zucchini, cut lengthwise
olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 450F. Place zucchini on a roasting pan, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook for 25 minutes or until lightly browned.
In the meantime make the mint pesto.

Mint Pesto

1 cup mint leaves
1/4 cup marcona almonds, (you can sub regular almonds)
1 clove garlic
1/4 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon salt

Place all the ingredients in a food processor and pulse until combined. Drizzle over the roasted zucchini.

  

m xo

Paella

Isn't paella amazing?! You have everything in one dish. A little sausage, some poultry, a bit of seafood and of course rice. What more can you ask for? I love it!

There are many recipes for this Spanish national dish depending on the region and the cook. This recipe is very loosely based on The Dean and DeLuca cookbook by David Rosengarten that I have had many years. It's my go-to paella recipe. It's a pretty simple and forgiving recipe. Please don't be intimidated by it.

I like taking out my paella pan that a friend gave me many years ago from Spain but you can use a wide, oven proof skillet.

Paella

olive oil
6 oz chorizo, sliced
2 chicken thighs, skinless with bone in
2 chicken legs, skinless with bone in
1 1/2 cups arborio rice
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 fennel bulb, chopped
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
saffron threads
5-6 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup white wine
1 tablespoon sambuca
1 lb. raw shrimp, shelled
parsley
lemon wedges

Preheat oven to 350F.

Heat 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil in pan over high heat. Cook the chorizo slices until brown.
Remove and set aside. Salt and pepper the chicken and add to skillet. Sear on both sides. Remove and set aside.
Lower heat to medium and put the rice in the same pan and stir around for a few minutes. Add the onion, garlic, fennel and pepper flakes and cook for another 5 minutes or so. Add the wine, saffron threads and 5 cups of chicken stock. Season with salt if you have to (depending on your chicken stock). Bring to a boil and nestle the chorizo and the chicken in the rice and add the sambuca. Place the pan in the oven for 30 minutes. Bury the shrimp in the rice 20 minutes into the cooking time. You might have to add more stock if the rice had soaked it all up. It is ready when the rice is tender. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with chopped parsley and a squeeze of lemon.

Buen apetito!

m xo

Zucchini Butter

When I see recipes that have less than 5 ingredients, I'm intrigued! I don't why. Maybe I'm lazy, hahaha! No seriously, I figure it has to be really good because there aren't a lot of ingredients to mask the taste.
This comes from food52, a site that has some amazing recipes that people share and contribute to. It's a wonderful site that I would definitely recommend.
It suggested to make this in the summer, when there is an abundance of zucchini, but I couldn't resist. I used baby zucchini. I feel they have more flavour when not in season. I also added ground coriander seed to brighten it up a bit.
Really nice on crunchy, toasted bread. It makes a nice appetizer or snack.

Jennie Cook's Zucchini Butter
(adapted from food52.com)

2 lbs zucchini, about 5-6 baby zucchini
1/4 olive oil or butter, I used a combination of both
2 shallots, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ground coriander seed
salt and pepper

Grate the zucchini and place in a colander for a few minutes. Saute the shallots and garlic in the oil/butter until soft. Wring out as much liquid as you can from the zucchini and add to the pan. Continue cooking over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. You want to caramelize the zucchini until soft. The original recipe says 15 minutes but I cooked it for 30 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.
Serve on toast.

m xo