Ahhh ohhh, I taunt in your general direction!

As many of you know I enjoy food, wine and beer occasionally, paired well with some good conversation and laughs. When you have children, getting the opportunity to enjoy these things does not come as easy. Some may argue with me, but for my husband and I, we decided going to restaurants can wait until our son is older (so we do one of two things, order take out from a restaurant or find a sitter).  Like I said, some of you may argue with me, but we find we can still enjoy the food, and actually have a conversation if we choose either of these options.  And personally I recall before I had children how annoying it could be while out celebrating an anniversary, birthday, or promotion at a fine dining restaurant and have a screaming child(ren) distracting from our dinner. With that said, I think there are plenty of restaurants that you can take children that have a louder atmosphere, but I just found it easier to start allowing my cooking inspirations to flow and start creating delicious food and dinner at home.

I could say this was all accidental or random coincidence, but it is not, I enjoy trying and experimenting with new recipes (well new to me anyway).  There is a great joy that comes from making a delicious meal, that not only you enjoy, but you watch others devour. Some of these recipes are what I would call your basic recipes, such as, macaroni and cheese, roasted chicken, spaghetti with Arrabiata sauce, or a happy waitress (a decadent grilled cheese with a slice of fresh garden tomato).  However, some of these recipes are a little more challenging (and with following a primal diet the challenge can be finding ways to make an old favorite "clean").  For instance, this past weekend I finally took on Julia Child's Boeuf Bourguignon recipe, one that I have been wanting to make ever since I watched the Nigella-esque sexy photography footage of Amy Adams creating it in the film, Julie and Julia.  The only thing that had really been keeping me from making it was that I did not own a dutch oven.  Thanks to my wonderful husband, I finally got one (Mother's Day), and what an amazing piece of cookware!!!  I did make two adjustments to the recipe, one I did not use any onions as the recipe calls for, instead I increased the amount of garlic.  And the second adjustment to make it "clean" for primal consumption was subbing out regular all purpose flour for almond flour.  The outcome well worth the wait of a dutch oven and three years after watching the film.

Boeuf Bourguignon- Julia Child

Now I will admit, with the joy of cooking, there are also times where you feel defeated.  I like to blame the author of the recipe in those cases, sometimes you wonder if they just created a recipe without actually trying it.  And I will also admit, when I have food flops, it does dampen my cooking spirits and I often go back to just the basic meals, burgers or salads.  Eventually, slowly, but surely I work my way back to feeling creative and cooking up savory meals again.

So I urge you, if you feel taunted by my foodporn photography, then feel inspired to get creative in your own kitchen. Remember the foods you loved as a child, lately I have been making "ants on a log" as a snack and breakfast side, you sometimes forget why you enjoyed them so much.  (This is another reason I like having meals at home, instead of a in a restaurant, I want my son, to remember the first time he orders a meal and eats in a restaurant...I think it is a pretty magical experience. But how can you enjoy the food in a restaurant if you do not understand what went into creating it...the thought of farm to table is something I want him to get. I also don't want him thinking chicken looks like a chicken nugget...thank you, Jamie Oliver for showing me how disconnected so many young American children are about food in Food Revolution.)  My son, Finn was very curious in what I was creating this weekend not only with Julia Child's recipe, but also when I decided to take a short rib recipe I had previously made in the slow cooker and tried it in the dutch oven.  When I was braising the short ribs, he begged for me to pick him up so he could see, and his face lit up with a smile.  He loves the roasted chicken we make as a weekly staple. He definitely knows chickens have bones, because that is what he asks for when we eat it (drumstick). 

So please don't feel taunted by my food pictures, feel inspired, even if you are just making a little crudité. (A little fancy French term for a veggie plate...perfect for summer harvested vegetables).  And in the wise words of Julia Child, "Bon Appetit!" (Good appetite and enjoy your food!)

Roasted Chicken with Lemon, Thyme and Rosemary

Roasted Chicken always seemed like an easy recipe, however, it took me a little while to perfect it.  This recipe is inspired by two leading ladies of the food world, the legendary Julia Child (who will always be someone who I look to and admire when cooking, she is not always given the credit she deserves...just study her perfectionist ways with mayonnaise) and the very sassy and savory Nigella Lawson (who shared in one of her cookbooks that this was a family staple in her home growing up, something I have also taken to heart).  I have taken to making this at least once a week in our home, it is a great meal to do ahead and eat cold, on sandwiches, or just for nibbles.  My husband asked me to make it for him to take for a work dinner (with eating paleo, picnics and work dinners/luncheons can be problematic and tricky, we must always plan ahead).  Well, needless to say it was a huge success and a recipe I had been planning on sharing with all of you anyway!  What amazes is me, is how little people cook anymore and how so often they grab the roaster chickens at the supermarket which are full of who knows what (and don't misunderstand, I understand sometimes in a pinch when you need a quick dinner that is an easy go to, I just worry that we rely on it too heavily).  I don't want to see any more generations losing the joy of cooking because of food industrialization, it can be a our friend, but also our enemy, we must be careful to balance both. *(One of the mistakes I think people often make with cooking a roaster chicken is cooking one that is too big, go for a 3.5-5lbs, no more!)

 

Ingredients:

1-Roaster Chicken (3.5-5 lbs) *I prefer Gerber's Amish Chicken-no antibiotcs, etc.

1-Lemon

1-Stick of Butter *grassfed butter like Kerrysgold

2 Tbsp. Olive Oil for drizzling

6-8 sprigs of fresh thyme

2-3 sprigs of fresh rosemary

5-6 gloves of garlic *Optional

1 celery stick cut into 3-4 sticks *Optional

 

The Rub Ingredients:

1 tsp. sea salt

1 tsp. paprika

1 tsp. course black pepper

1 tsp. parsley flakes

1 tsp. garlic powder

(*optional add any other seasonings to the rub you like)

 

Directions:

Heat oven to 400

Line a roaster/rack pan with aluminum foil, place rack on top

Place whole roaster chicken on top of rack

Pierce lemon all over with a knife, insert into the cavity of chicken

Insert thyme, rosemary and garlic cloves/celery sticks in cavity around lemon

Cut the stick of butter (you can choose to use less butter) into two, and insert each half up and under top of skin of chicken

Drizzle olive oil all over chicken, then rub the oil to cover the chicken

Now rub, "the rub" all over the chicken

Now place chicken in oven @400 for 30 minutes, uncovered

Then set the oven back to 350, pull the chicken out, cover with aluminum foil

finish baking the chicken for 2 hours

(if it is a 5 pounder, you may need to bake it longer)

Enjoy!