Had the day off today and spent it doing a few errands and organizing my office. Taming the paper monster is seriously a full-time job in and of itself, but I made some good progress today. I even managed to get some of my recipe clippings filed, which helped in deciding what to make for dinner tonight.
For the main course tonight, I made a new recipe from Bobby Flay for Honey-Mustard Chicken. This recipe was featured in a recent Food and Wine magazine article on Bobby’s visit to Savannah that I reported on for Paper Palate. Definitely a winner of a recipe, it was very simple to make and the honey sauce is incredible!
For a side dish, I took advantage of my Rediscovering My Library segment tonight, I closed my eyes and pulled a cookbook off one of my shelves. A very scientific approach, I know. I ended up with Time Life’s Fast, Fresh and Delicious
While making dinner, I spied some overly ripe bananas, so I made a new banana bread recipe, going with In Your Face Banana Bread, a recipe I found online a few weeks ago. The only changes I made to the recipe were to add a bit of banana extract, and I sprinkled a bit of brown sugar over the top before baking. The recipe is very good, but I still think Nigella Lawson’s version is the one to beat. It’s hard to top bourbon-soaked raisins.
For tonights’ New (to Me) Blogger on the Block, I think you’ll like this slightly different one. Insight from the Inside is a blog written by the students at the Culinary Institute of America. It’s a pretty new site, but tons of interesting topics and information can be gleaned from there, including the great grill debate, their visit to the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen and more.
Alright folks, that’s a wrap for tonight. Tune in tomorrow to see what we’re dishing up for the weekend … and it will include a celebrity chef meeting!
P.S. Hungry for more? I have some recent articles up on other food-related sites that you might be interested in checking out. Read up on a new trend popping up all around the country, but not yet here! Want to go cookbook shopping? Check out this article for cookbook suggestions. And lastly, for those of you joining in my ARF/5-A-Day event, you might want to check out this piece I did on getting ARFs on the go.
A year ago today … Soup’s on!
Honey Mustard Chicken
Courtesy of Bobby Flay
ACTIVE TIME: 20 MIN
TOTAL TIME: 1 HR
SERVES: 6
You haven’t really had an authentic Southern restaurant experience until you’ve had meat-and-three: a choice of meat plus three vegetable side dishes. Here, Flay bakes chicken—the centerpiece of many a meat-and-three—with a sticky sweet-and-spicy honey glaze inspired by the Savannah Bee Company’s tupelo honey.
Two 4-pound chickens, each cut into 8 pieces
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
1 cup honey
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper
Preheat the oven to 400°. On 2 large rimmed baking sheets, toss the chicken and olive oil; season with salt. Roast until nearly cooked through, about 20 minutes for the breasts and 25 minutes for the legs, thighs and wings. Pour off the fat on the baking sheets. Preheat the broiler and position a rack in the top slot. In a saucepan, bring the honey, mustard, pepper and a pinch of salt to a boil. On 1 of the baking sheets, toss all of chicken with the honey mixture. Turn the chicken skin side down and broil for about 5 minutes, basting with the honey and shifting the baking sheet, as necessary, until the pieces are browned. Turn the chicken skin side up and broil for 5 minutes longer, basting occasionally. The chicken is done when it’s cooked through and the skin is deeply glazed but not blackened. Transfer the chicken to a platter. Pour the juices from the baking sheet into a heatproof bowl and skim off the fat. Serve the chicken, passing the juices on the side.
In Your Face Banana Bread
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs — beaten
2 1/3 cups mashed overripe bananas — 5 bananas!
Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly grease 9 x 5 loaf pan. In large bowl, combine flour, soda and salt. In separate bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just to moisten. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan. Bake in preheated oven for 60-65 minutes until a toothpick inserted into center of loaf comes out clean. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.
Oven-Fries Italiano
4 servings
4 large all-purpose potatoes, unpeeled
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 teaspoon basil
3/4 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Preheat oven to 425. Line a baking sheet with foil and lightly grease the foil. Cut the potatoes lengthwise into 1/2-inch-thick wedges. Melt the butter on the stovetop or microwave. In a large bowl, combine the melted butter, oil, garlic, basil, oregano, salt and pepper. Add the potatoes and toss to coat well with the herbed butter. Arrange the potatoes on the baking sheet. Sprinkle evenly with the Parmesan. Bake the potatoes for about 30 minutes, or until they are tender and golden. Twice during the cooking time, use a spatula to move the potatoes around to ensure even cooking.
The chicken recipe looks great — had a question ….. where do you put the rack when broiling.
It says …..position a rack just below center? The middle of the overn? Can that be since the broiler is on top.
Yum — love your blog!
Oh man, the chicken was SO good! You’re right about the broiling directions – that is a bit confusing. I put the rack in the first position from the top, where you would normally broil something. I’ll go edit the directions so it’s a little more clear. Hope you try it!