let’s take a little peak of my weekend of overindulging, shall we?
it started off with Dynamo Donuts in SF….
Jamie Oliver’s Chicken in Milk
There’s been a bunch of buzz on this recipe lately, and I wanted to get in on the action! On a whim, I decided to pick up a whole chicken on our afternoon walk. I’m so glad I did.
This recipe was super easy. The prep is a snap! If I can do it with a teething baby in the background, then anyone can.
The results are fantastic. It will be in your rotation in no time. It’s officially on mine!
The sauce is SOOO good. And the best part is that there is A LOT OF IT. We actually brought the pot up to the table and dipped our pieces right in (gross I know, but come on!). If you make this, you will know exactly why.
The major herbal/flavor ingredients- Garlic, Lemon & Sage (cinnamon not pictured)
After browning, I put it in the oven with the lid on for the first 30 minutes.
Then I took it off for the rest of the time.
Chicken in Milk
(recipe from Jamie Oliver)
-1- 3 lb. organic chicken
-salt and freshly ground black pepper
-1 stick butter
-1/2 cinnamon stick
-1 good handful fresh sage, leaves picked
-2 lemons, zested
-6 garlic cloves, skin left on
-1 pint milk
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F, and find a snug-fitting pot for the chicken. Season it generously all over with salt and pepper, and fry it in the butter, turning the chicken to get an even color all over, until golden. Remove from the heat, put the chicken on a plate, and throw away the butter left in the pot. This will leave you with tasty sticky goodness at the bottom of the pan, which will give you a lovely caramel flavor later on.
Put your chicken back in the pot with the rest of the ingredients, and cook in the preheated oven for 1 1/2 hours with the lid on. Baste with the cooking juice when you remember. The lemon zest will sort of split the milk, making a sauce, which is absolutely fantastic.
To serve, pull the meat off the bones and divide it on to your plates. Spoon over plenty of juice and the little curds. Serve with wilted spinach or greens and some mashed potato.
I served it with some smashed potatoes & a salad with a lemon-poppy seed vinaigrette. I took some of the garlic from the pot of chicken, squeezed it out of the skins and mixed it with the smashed potatoes. Scrumptious! This is how Friday night dinners are supposed to. A good way to start the weekend, don’t you think?
Lemon Layer Cake
All week I was thinking about how I was going to make my brother, Ryan a lemon cake for his birthday. I also wanted to make it extra special and have his face on it. I found a recipe in the Magnolia Bakery Cookbook for the cake…and decided on skipping the lemon curd and used lemon pudding instead.
Casey totally hooked me up and helped me with the face part. Look at the stencil!
It seriously makes me laugh every time I look at it…the stencil is sitting in our kitchen still and I feel like I would be so sad if I threw it out. The image was adapted from a photograph, and it’s likeness is spot on!
It started off with a lemon cake…all frosted and nice. Then a photo…some Photoshopping…and some slick Exacto skills from my husband. First there was some preliminary testing…which caused us to add skewers on all side of the stencils for support. Dusted the top with cocoa powder after covering the cake in Saran Wrap.
Filled in the parts that were left on to connect the stencil together…and tada! A few hours well spent, I’d say.
Let’s take a peak at the filling…
I added some strawberries on the sides
We were filled with sooo much excitement driving this cake to my parent’s house. When you have something this funny, it’s really hard to contain the joy. It was a hit! My brother loved it and so did my parents.
After we dug into it, Casey commented “Ryan is half the man he used to be.” We got a good chuckle off that.
As for the cake…it was very tasty! The cake part wasn’t as moist as I hoped, but I think it was due to my leaving it in the oven too long. The pudding inside turned out wonderful. I was nervous about taking a gamble, but it all worked out! The frosting was soooo good too. Another cake down! Hmmm what cake to bake next?
Lemon Layer Cake
serves 10
(adapted from Magolia Bakery Cookbook)
For the Cake:
– 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
– 2 cups sugar
– 4 large eggs, at room temperature
– 1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
-1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
-3/4 cup milk
-1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
-2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Grease and lightly flour three 9-by-2-inch round cake pans, then line the bottom with waxed paper.
To make the cake: In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream butter until smooth. Add sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time. Combine the flours and add in four parts, alternating with milk and lemon juice and zest, beating well after each addition. Divide batter among cake pans. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into center of cake comes out clean. Let cakes cool in pans for 10 minutes. Remove from pans and cool completely on wire rack.
For the Filling
-1 package JELL-O Instant pudding (the smallest box)
-1 3/4 cup milk (or whatever it calls for to make the Pie filling recipe)
Follow the direction on the box for Pie filling. Make sure you do this well in advance. Make sure you put an even amount of frosting on each layer. I kinda skimped on the first layer and was annoyed by it!
For the Lemon Buttercream Frosting:
-2 sticks unsalted butter (room temp)
-8 cups of powdered sugar
-1 teaspoon lemon zest
-1/2 cup lemon juice
Place the butter in a large mixing bowl. Add 4 cups of sugar and juice, then the zest. Beat until smooth and creamy. Gradually add the remaining sugar, one cup at a time until the icing is thick enough to be of good spreading consistency. (It took me less that 5 cups to get to this point). Use and store at room temperature.
When cake has cooled, spread the pudding evenly between layers and frost the outside of the cake with the buttercream frosting.
Makes 1 three-layer 9-inch cake.
shabu shabu
It’s hard to get out these days now that there’s a baby to consider. Last night I hosted Shabu Shabu night. We had our usual group of friends join, and they brought the food to us! Cooper went to bed before anyone arrived. How awesome is that?
Here’s a peak into the evening.
I’m really glad I covered our dining room table with paper. Such a snap to clean up!
here’s a peak at my bowl… I couldn’t get enough mushrooms & bok choy! YUM
Good Food + Good Company= Great Times.
Irish Soda Bread
The internet has been chalk full of provocative pictures of Irish Soda bread lately…and boy have I been seduced. Is this the only time of year people make it? I saw Martha make some on her show last week and decided that I would put that recipe in my food queue. You should see how much head space is taken up in my noggin for food…it’s ridiculous.
I found a recipe in Martha’s Baking book and decided on a whim last night to make some. After Cooper when down for the night, I was hit by the most wonderful smell in my kitchen. What a glorious thing…to have fresh baked bread on your counter. That scent is intoxicating.
I’ve never really tasted traditional Irish soda bread, so I am not sure how this one fairs in comparison. The raisins were juicy and extremely plump & moist. We smothered a piece in butter and topped it with honey the second it came out of the oven. It tasted like a crispy scone.
Such good crunch…the next day I didn’t even have to reheat it because it was still soft on the inside and crispy on the outside. Casey said he normally doesn’t like Irish Soda bread, but I think the addition of sugar in the dough probably convinced him otherwise.
I decided against using caraway seeds in this loaf as it called for them in the recipe. I couldn’t find any at the store 🙁 But maybe next time I’ll try to make it with them.
Irish Soda Bread
(recipe Martha Stewart Baking Book)
-4 cups all-purpose flour
-1/4 cup sugar
-1 teaspoon salt
-2 teaspoons baking powder
-2 tablespoons caraway seeds
-4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold
-2 cups golden or dark raisins
-1 1/2 scant cups buttermilk
-1 large egg
-1 teaspoon baking soda
-1 large egg yolk
-1 tablespoon heavy cream
1. Heat oven to 350°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and caraway seeds until well combined.
2. Using a pastry cutter or two knives in scissor fashion, cut in butter until the mixture feels like coarse meal. Stir in raisins until evenly distributed.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together buttermilk, egg, and baking soda until well combined. Pour buttermilk mixture into the flour-and-butter mixture all at once, and stir with a fork until all the liquid is absorbed and the mixture begins to hold together. It should resemble a rough biscuit dough. Using your hands, press the dough into a round, dome-shaped loaf about 8 inches in diameter. Lift the loaf from the bowl, and transfer it to the prepared baking sheet.
4. In a small bowl, mix the egg yolk and cream together. With a pastry brush, brush the egg wash over the loaf. With a sharp knife or razor, incise a cross, about 1/2 inch deep, into the top of the loaf. Transfer to the oven. Bake, rotating halfway through, until it is deep golden brown and a wooden skewer comes out clean when inserted into the center, about 70 minutes. Remove from oven, and transfer bread from the baking sheet to a wire rack to cool.
with a bread like this…it’s a shame people only make it on St. Patrick’s Day.
happy anniversary!
This week Casey & I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary and our 10 year anniversary of being together.
My parents celebrated their 40th anniversary! So we’ll be celebrating at a big party tomorrow night!
Love is in the air!
Happy first day of spring!
another weekend has past
I have a lot to show for this weekend (besides being wiped out & tired)
Saturday I went into work and then had a great lunch with a wonderful friend
(we splurged on a cheeseburger, fries & an apple crisp for dessert)
On Sunday, we went to a birthday party for our friend’s daughter who turned 1.
Cute cupcakes huh? So clever and very delicious! They were made by my friend’s mom.
I had my family over for dinner on Sunday. I made a comforting dinner of turkey meatloaf, roasted fingerling potatoes & creamed spinach.
-we watched old 8mm home movies with my parents & brother
-i made the grossest waffles from Trader Joes Multigrain Mix (seriously nasty) WHY?!!!
-i made chocolate pudding for dessert on Sunday that didn’t set properly.
-cleaned house
-watched a few episodes of How I Met Your Mother
-daydreamed about being on a sandy beach…away from it all.
It was a busy busy weekend…time to gear up for this busy busy week.
