French Roast Chicken Menu

Foodies love David Lebovitz. I think we are all living vicariously though him. An American expat living in Paris. Cooking in Paris. Perusing the markets in Paris. Eating French bread and and cheese and butter (I've touched on my love of French butter before)... swoon. I read his blog, I follow his Pinterest boards, I get excited when he has a guest post on The Kitchn. He has a new book out. My Paris Kitchen. I think I need to own this book, considering I have now make three recipes from before even touching it. God how I love the Internet.

Eat Your Books has a round-up of recipes from My Paris Kitchen from around the web. I took one look at the list, bookmarked a few recipes, and then realized they would be perfect for dinner Saturday night with my BFF, her boyfriend, and his daughter. Greg and I had been planning to go for a run in preparation for a race we are have entered next weekend. The plan was to run the route. Cold rain and wind derailed that plan. It was pouring when we set out for our run, it was still pouring when we returned a wet 7.25km later. And wouldn't you know it, the sun was breaking through the clouds ten minutes after we got back. Son of a...

Regardless, we still had a good run. I feel much more prepared and less intimidated by the thought of next weekend's 7-mile race. I usually run by myself and I realized yesterday that it makes it seem much easier when running with someone else. I haven't decided yet whether that is because of the company and conversation, or if having a partner sharing in the torture makes it more tolerable- I do love running, but there's always a moment on every run when I think "what the Hell am I doing?".

The rest of the evening was a blast as well. The kids played together great despite their age difference (Parker being almost 4 and Greg's daughter being 9) while we made dinner and then they helped me do the dishes (without even being asked!). While men retired to the couch and talked football Erin, the kids, and I had a dance party in the kitchen to YouTube videos- the kids being hopped up on sugar and chocolate, Erin and I being hopped up on wine. Fun times had by all. Is it weird that I get a strange satisfaction from being told by a 9-year old girl that I'm fun and she wants to come back and visit?

Here's our menu. I will make each of these dishes over and over again. They are also effortlessly gluten and dairy free (except for the goat cheese in the lentil salad of course). I don't know much about wine and food pairing aside from I like wine and I like food... but a French Sauvignon Blanc seemed to go well with this meal.

Chicken Lady Chicken 
I used quarter chicken legs rather than a whole chicken as the chickens at the grocery store were really small. The legs worked perfectly. It did take two pans to make the all the chicken, and through this I learned that a well-seasoned cast iron skillet works best. The skin stuck to the other pan, but fared great in the cast iron. The chicken was delicious- juicy, and made it's own delicious pan sauce.

Leeks with Mustard-Bacon Vinaigrette
Fantastic. The kids didn't love these, but the adults did. I didn't steam the leeks. I cut them in half, placed them in single layer in a glass dish, drizzled with olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper. Covered tightly with foil they went in the oven with the chicken. Once the chicken was done I removed the foil and left them in the oven to brown while the chicken rested. Next time I would increase the heat to 425 or even 450 for the final browning.

French Lentil Salad with Goat Cheese and Walnuts
I forgot to buy walnuts as called for in the recipe. It was still great without, but I will remember to include walnuts next time. I used the same dressing for this salad as called for in the leek recipe above rather than making two vinaigrette. I also added some thinly sliced radishes at the end for some fresh crunch as the other vegetables in the salad are cooked along with the lentils.

Super Simple Scrumptious Supper

This is, hands down, once of the simplest and most delicious meals I have ever made. They always say that keeping food simple is best, and this is a fantastic example of that. The pork is 3 ingredients plus good old salt and pepper. The roasted vegetable side is thrown in the oven with the pork at the back end of the cooking time. Easy peasy.

My family was all abuzz about pork this weekend. Yesterday my step mom called asking if we wanted some pork from Costco. She had already bought a couple of pork loins and was going back for more. Because they were $11 bucks for just over 7 pounds!!! What!?! Of course I wanted some. So my step mom called my brother, my brother called me, and a few hours later I had 15 pounds of pork. Oh yeah.

Obviously a pork roast was in order for dinner tonight. A quick Google search turned up this recipe for Pork Loin Roast with Garlic and Rosemary. This one's a keeper folks. The pork came out perfectly cooked, perfectly seasoned, and incredibly juicy. I'm sure this is a testament to both the recipe and the meat itself (Costco's meat is so good, right?).

Okay, pork is in the oven. What will we eat with it? I had a few vegetable contenders- sweet potatoes, parsnips, or carrots. I went to my new go-to vegetable book Ripe by Cheryl Sternman Rule. This book is my new favourite. Beautiful photography, simple recipes, and witty commentary. I also love the fact that the author has organized the recipes by colour i.e. Yellow- there is a page for corn, one for pineapple, one for yellow onions. Each fruit or veg has a funny overview on the vegetable, a few suggestions on how to use it (not recipes but simple uses like Nectarines: Relish = diced nectarines + cherries + red onion + ginger), and then a recipe highlighting the produce.

The parsnip recipe won me over. The recipe in the book is for Roasted Parsnips with Pears and Thyme. I didn't have any pears, but apples with pork are classic, so I swapped apples for the pears. Now, I actually am just warming up to the sweet with savory deal. I have never had a pork chop with applesauce. It just weirded me out. BUT the apples were the best part of this meal and went perfectly with the pork, other vegetables, and thyme. I will make this again and again.

By the way, how do you like the alliteration in my post title? I enjoy it myself.

One Year Ago: Sriracha Devilled Eggs, Tomato Soup Cake

Two Years Ago: Creamy Mushroom Fettucine with Spinach

Three Years Ago: Ricotta Gnocchi

ROAST PORK LOIN WITH THYME PARSNIPS, CARROTS, AND APPLES

Vegetable recipe adapted from Ripe by Cheryl Sternman Rule

Serves 4

I used dried rosemary on the pork and it was great, but I bet it would be even better with fresh rosemary. Ditto for the thyme with the vegetables.

• Roast Pork Loin with Garlic and Rosemary via Epicurious
• 4 parsnips, peeled
• 2 apples
• 2 cups baby carrots
• 1 tsp dried thyme, or 2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
• olive oil
• salt and pepper

Get the pork loin in the oven following the recipe linked above. Keep in mind that you will putting another pan in the oven beside the pork or on the rack underneath, so plan accordingly.

Cut parsnips in half across the width. Cut the thinner ends in half again lengthwise. Cut the wider ends into quarters lengthwise. Cut the apples into wedges, discarding the core.

Place apples, parsnips, and carrots on a baking tray lined with foil. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with thyme, salt, and pepper. Toss and arrange everything in a single layer, ensuring the apples are not sitting with the skin side down (you want the flesh to touch the tray so that it gets caramelized for optimal deliciousness).

After turning the pork halfway through cooking, put the tray of vegetables in the oven with the pork, either side by side on the middle rack if you can, or on the rack below. Roast for 15 minutes then flip the apples and veg with a spatula. When the pork is done let it rest as per the recipe, keep the apples and veg in the oven cooking until the pork has finished it's rest. Serve with ketchup if you are 2 years old, otherwise nothing else is needed.

Parker's Birthday Cake

I promised I'd let you know how Parker's dairy-free birthday cake turned out. It was amazing! One of the best chocolate cakes I've had. I was a little worried to be honest. Don't cook something you've never made before for guests is practically the first rule of entertaining. Plus this cake is really different- there's whole wheat flour, prunes, and soy milk in it. My worries eased when I tasted the icing (also made with soy milk!). The icing is just about the perfect, creamy, chocolaty icing you could ever want. This will now be my go to icing.

Rather than piping "Happy Birthday Parker" on the cake and having it look amateur, I did "worms and dirt"instead- you know like that dessert you had when you were a kid with the pudding and cookie crumbs. Plus, everybody knows who the cake is for without a name on it, right?

Here's the catch- I'm not giving you the recipe. Ha! I want you to buy the book because I love it, and I don't want to infringe on copyright. The cake is from Healthy Starts Here by Mairlyn Smith. It's great because the book is organized into chapters according to the healthy ingredients in them i.e. Berries, Beans, Greens, etc. There is a lot of great information about why these things are so good for you and why the recipe calls for a tablespoon of cinnamon, for example (cinnamon slows your body's sugar absorption).

I am, however, going to share with you another recipe from the book as it is already published online. These Double Chocolate Muffins are high in fibre and made with pumpkin (which you'd never know), but most importantly are delicious. I have one for dessert or for a snack with a cup of tea during the day and feel healthier and virtuous. And my digestive system thanks me in turn the next day. Just saying.

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE MUFFINS 

via mairlynsmith.com

Here's the menu for the rest of the food at the party, in case you're wondering.

Antijitos

Chips

Veggies and Dip

Aloha Pork Kebabs

Thai Chicken Kebabs (will post recipe soon)

Caeser Salad

Potato Salad

Fresh Bread

My Father's Daughter

I can't believe it's taken me this long to write about Gwyneth Paltrow's cookbook, My Father's Daughter. I received it for my birthday - in July - and I have made probably a quarter of the recipes in it. They are all so easy but showstopping delicious, and healthy to boot.

I didn't want to like it, to be honest. There was a lot of hype when it came out, and I always thought she was a raw-food-macrobiotic-health nut. And she was. She addresses this phase and finding balance in eating in the book, and in that is one of my favorite lines; "Could I use some butter and cheese and eggs in my cooking without going down some kind of hippie shame spiral? Yes." Gwyneth Paltrow is like that girl in high school that you hated because she pretty and good at everything but you secretly wanted to be her friend. She can act, sing, cook, write. She's probably good at sports too. Ugh. However, I am now a Paltrow convert. I even loved Country Strong (I totally called the ending).

Photo from GOOP

There are so many recipes I wanted to try in this book that I developed a new system. Now when I get a new cookbook I write a list of the recipes that sound good as I read through it. Then I don't have to flip through the book all over again when it's time to decide what to cook- it's all on the list kept in the front cover. As you can see, there are a lot of recipes I need to try from My Father's Daughter, plus more on the back of that paper too. I also write on the front page of my cookbooks the recipes that are really good that I would make again with the page number. Again, saves flipping through the book- or multiple books- down the road.

 Rather than reproducing a recipe here for you, since Paltrow has been featured in a few magazines and countless other publications and websites have reviewed the book, here's a roundup of her recipes around the "Inter-web" instead. Then you should buy the book to get all the other amazing recipes that haven't been published online. I'm kind of shocked at the number of recipes that I found online... hopefully when I write my cookbook people will have to buy the book to get the recipes (LOL).

Duck Ragu
Slow Roasted Tomatoes - which she uses to make soup in the book. Yum
Spaghetti Limone Parmeggiano  I made this one and it's the best lemon pasta I've had 
Peanut Butter Cookies
Blue Cheese Dressing
Grilled Tuna Rolls
Bruce's Dip
Blueberry Pavlova
Bruce Paltrow's World Famous Pancakes These are delicious. The batter is made the night before so it gets a bit of a sourdough thing going on
Roast Chicken, Rotisserie-Style
Blythe's Blueberry Muffins
Healthier Version of Blythe's Muffins
No-Fry Fries
Classic French Fries
Fudgy Chocolate Brownies
Tuna and Ginger Burgers
Ivy Chopped Salad
Seasonal Crumble
Fried Zucchini Spaghetti Tried. Loved.
Cold Pea and Basil Soup
Fish Tacos
Playwright's Melt
Crispy Potato and Garlic Cake
Best Stir Fried Chicken It is really good
Fried Rice with Scallions Also yummy and healthy
Basic Tomato Sauce, Vinegarette, and Asian Portobello Burgers


Bon Appetit had a few recipes from Paltrow that are not in her book that look good:
Grilled Chicken with Peach BBQ Sauce
Corn Vichyssoise
Strawberry Shortcake Sliders
Peach Cooler
Grilled Halibut with Mango-Avocado Salsa
Roasted Tomato and Anchovy Oreganata Pasta