Whole Roast Chicken with Garlic and Butter

We made a whole roast chicken for the fist time yesterday. It turned out quite yummy!

Our oven has a "roast" setting and we used that at 400 F. It turned out quite amazing. 

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken

1 head of garlic peeled and chopped

1/4 cup melted butter

1/4 cup butter pieces

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup white wine

salt and pepper

1 lemon, halved

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400F on Roast

2. Spray roasting pan or line with foil. 

3. Wash chicken and pat dry. Make sure to remove everything from cavities. 

4. Combine melted butter, olive oil, juice of half lemon, and white wine. Mix and pour on chicken, making sure to get inside the cavity and under skin. 

5. Place garlic and butter pieces under chicken skin and in cavity. 

6. Place chicken in pan breast side up. Place remaining half lemon into the cavity. 

7. Bake for about 1:10 minutes until juices from thigh run clear when speared. 

8. When cooked, let rest for 10 minutes out of the oven. 

We served with mashed potatoes, but it could be good with anything!

What we liked:

It was fun to make something new. The skin turned out great too!

What we didn't like:

Nothing, it was great. 

What Kaspian, Astrid and Orion thought about it:

They loved it. Astrid and Orion especially liked eating the chicken legs like barbarians :) 

Next time:

No changes needed. 

Indian Garlic Naan

We tried a garlic naan recipe and it also exceeded our expectations. We tried both baking and frying it and baking definitely worked out much better.

Here's the original recipe: http://www.chefdehome.com/Recipes/560/homemade-restaurant-style-indian-garlic-naan

Naan!!!

Ingredients:

2 tsp Active Dry Yeast
3 1/3 Cups  Flour
2.5 tbsp Canola Oil
1 Cup Water
1/2 Cup Milk
1/2 tbsp Sugar
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Garlic (paste - garlic cloves grated)

Toppings
minced garlic
Butter ­ Salted (melted, for brushing naan)

Directions:

1. Lukewarm 1 cup water, add sugar and yeast into the bowl of a stand mixer. Let it sit until foamy. (about 10 minutes.)
2. Add milk, 3 cups flour, garlic paste, oil, salt over bloomed yeast.
3. Mix all ingredients with a dough hook until thoroughly mixed. Add 1 tbsp remaining flour at a time until dough comes together.  Dough should not be very dry.
4. Cover with plastic wrap and then with clean kitchen towel. Leave to rise at warm place until double in size. (1­ to 2 hrs)
5. Preheat oven at 500 degrees Fahrenheit.
6. Microwave and melt the butter in a microwave safe bowl for 15 secs, add chopped garlic and set
aside. Divide dough into 10 equal parts.
7. Roll each dough to a (about 6" wide ­ 10" long) oval shape (or round if you prefer).
8.  Place rolled naan on hot sheet tray, two or three, depending on size of sheet tray.
Bake for 4 minutes, remove, bush butter, put back in oven with broiler until brown - about 2 mins

What we liked:

It was really good!

What we didn't like:

It was a little bit of a hassle, but well worth it

What Kaspian thought about it:

He loved the bread

Next time:

no change

Pecan Crusted Tilapia with Garlic Whipped Potatoes and Asparagus

We've never made pecan crusted tilapia before, but none of the recipes we saw were exactly what we wanted. So, we made up our own way to make it. It turned out really good, but it really needs this Golden Rum Butter Sauce (http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/golden-rum-butter-sauce) to complete it. Without the sauce, the fish turns out a little dry.
We also made two different types of asparagus to see which one is better. We made Asparagus with garlic and balsamic reduction (not so good). This turned out kinda blah. Here is the recipe: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/asparagus-garlic-balsamic-reduction. We will not repeat it below as it did not turn out very good.
The other asparagus we made was Asparagus with bacon and shallots. This turned out really excellent and is probably the best way to eat asparagus. Here is the original recipe: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/asparagus-bacon-shallots. The mustard and maple syrup went surprisingly well with the asparagus.

Served, with the bacon asparagus

With the Balsamic/Garlic Asparagus

Asparagus with Bacon and Shallots

Asparagus with garlic and balsamic reduction

Golden Rum Butter Sauce

"Pecan-ed" tilapia

Asparagus with the butter and shallot sauce

Asparagus Sauce

Ingredients:

Pecan Crusted Tilapia:

2 Tilapia fillets, thawed
1/4 cup of pecans chopped in a Magic Bullet (or similar)
1 egg, whisked
1/4 cup of corn starch
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons olive oil

Garlic Whipped Mashed Potatoes: 

6 golden yukon yellow potatoes
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon garlic powder to taste
1 teaspoon salt to taste

Asparagus: 

1 pound asparagus spears, trimmed
Cooking spray
2 center-cut bacon slices
2 tablespoons thinly sliced shallots
3 tablespoons unsalted chicken stock
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon whole-grain mustard
1 teaspoon maple syrup
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

Golden Rum Butter Sauce: 

3 tablespoons butter
1 shallot, minced
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons rum
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
1 teaspoon honey
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Tilapia: 
1. Dredge each piece of fish in cornstarch, then egg, then the pecans.
2. Heat up a pan with oil and butter
3. Cook fish until done about 6 to 7 minutes per side, depending on the cut of fish. The pecans seem to make an insulating layer, so more heat is required than non-pecan-coated pan fried fish.

Mashed Potatoes: 
1. Steam the potatoes for 30 minutes
2. In a stand mixer, whip together all ingredients

Asparagus: 
1. Steam Asparagus for 8 minutes
2. Cook bacon in a skillet over medium heat. Remove from pan; crumble. Add shallots; cook 30 seconds. Add chicken stock, vinegar, mustard, and maple syrup; cook 1 minute. Drizzle over asparagus. Sprinkle with salt and crumbled bacon.

Golden Rum Butter Sauce: 
1. Melt 1 Tbsp. butter in a small skillet over medium-high heat; add shallot and garlic, and cook, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes or until shallot is tender. Reduce heat to low, and slowly whisk in rum, next 4 ingredients, and remaining 2 Tbsp. butter. Cook, stirring occasionally, 1 minute; serve warm.

What we liked:

The fish turned out really good and the sauce was perfect with it. It would not have been the same without the fish. Tonight's dinner required a lot of coordination and both of us cooking at the same time. We steamed the asparagus first, then the potatoes. While Nick was making the fish, Alona made the sauces for the asparagus dishes, the mashed potatoes and the golden rum butter sauce. It was fun cooking together and making up the fish recipe. 

What we didn't like:

The balsamic asparagus was not very good, especially in comparison with the bacon shallot one. 

What Kaspian thought about it:

He wanted bacon and mashed potatoes only. No suspicious fish or asparagus for him. 

Next time:

No modifications that we can think of at this time.