Instant classics: bread, chicken, and granola

There's nothing quite like following up a "look how much I've lost!" blog post with a "look how much awesome food I made and devoured!" blog post, but I suppose there's a first time for everything.

First, though, I'd like to thank you if you're reading this blog, even if it's your first time.  Writing without a deadline and pressure of academic scrutiny is refreshing and feels really good.  Although I'm somewhat terrified of what I might say - since I'm generally pretty candid on here - the saving grace that is "Backspace" and the hope that you read this with the best of intentions keeps my writing sincere and open.  I've been going through a pretty rough patch lately and have noticed myself reverting to some nasty old habits, but I'm trying hard to remember the lessons I've learned from my countless friends - most of whom are too far away to see every day and too busy during finals season to read this, wonderful professors, accepting family, and a particularly wonderful counselor.  Life, they say, throws curve balls.  Well, I feel more like the pitching machine just isn't working at the moment and I've been at bat for a long while.  I'm sick of hearing people talk about "the economy" and "the recession."  I understand why it's difficult to find work; my intelligence is not the issue here!

I'm very thankful for the time I've been given these last few months, though, and the freedom afforded me by certain members of my inner circle.  Being near family again is fantastic.  Being close to my boyfriend for the first time in two years without a mental countdown to when I have to leave is incredible!  The people I'm with nowadays give me everything and love me when I'm frustrated by a long online job application or ecstatic about the yogurt I made.  I'm really so blessed!

Nail techniques I've tried out:  Top was my first attempt at
water marbling, the bottom is the dot manicure I am currently
rocking.  New favorite colors are from Wet N' Wild Meg Last:
"2% Milk" and "I Need a Refresh-Mint."

They even put up with my complaints.

Anyway, this past week has brought a lot of new food experiences into my life - and I've started doing my nails, which is a weird little passion the twelve-year-old version of myself would have probably been the most proud of, had she been afforded a glimpse of herself at twenty-four.

Back to the food-ure (in a very Doc and Marty-esque way)!

The week's lineup included Rosemary Olive Oil Bread, Roasted Herb Chicken, and something I've been begged to try for quite a while now - Homemade Granola.

The bread was impromptu and should be emblematic for all you Pinterest-ers out there who see part of a recipe, read the words "slow-cooker" and "bread" in the same description, skim the recipe, and say, "I am so making that right now!"  As delicious as it was - only a half of a piece was left for the next day - it is most certainly not a slow-cooker bread, though I "hear-tell" those exist and see one in my future.  The chicken was born out of my frustration with grocery ads.  How is it that certain things go on sale every other week?  Couldn't the big companies just settle a price for something like boneless skinless chicken breast?  If it's on sale for $1.99/lb every other week, but is "normally" somewhere between $2.99/lb and $3.99/lb, it seems like just letting it even out around $2.50/lb (or, more likely - $2.49/lb) would be better.  But I guess that's just me.  I shop the sales.  Anywho, whole chickens were on sale for cheap, so I decided to try my whole-bird-making-virgin-hands at it.  It turned out so much better than I dared to hope for!  The granola, as I mentioned, was made upon the somewhat insistent request of that man who helps me cook and who knows how to make me like breakfast food.

Rosemary Olive Oil Bread
As I mentioned earlier, this bread was made on a whim, without good planning, and with some replacement ingredients.  Here is the original recipe I adapted.  I'm sure that one is fantastic, but to be perfectly honest, the different flours threw me.  I have all-purpose and I don't really see the point in buying two new flours to make a loaf of bread.  Then again, I'm sure whole wheat lour would be a good investment and much better for me.  Oftentimes, though, I don't see the point in going out on a limb for something I've never tried.  Buying something I might never have used again is not okay at this point.  I also couldn't help trying to use a little garlic in my bread, but I resisted the urge to saturate it!  Also, fancy schmancy directions just don't always appeal to me, especially when they're not within my power to pull off.

1 cup warm water (I just used warm tap water)
1 Tbsp. white sugar
2 tsp. active dry yeast (I used 1 packet)
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. dried rosemary (I bet fresh would be even yummier!)
1/4 tsp. Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 cups all-purpose flour + extra for kneading1 egg, whisked + 1 Tbsp. water, for egg wash
dried rosemary, for sprinkling

a little minced garlic

1.  Foamy yeast mixture
2.  Dough put into the greased
bowl
3.  Dough after first rising
4.  Dough in pan while waiting
to put it in the oven

1)  Mix the water, sugar, and yeast.  Let it sit 10 minutes to get all foamy.

2)  Mix together the salt, rosemary, seasonings, olive oil, and slowly add in the 2 cups of flour.  Knead on a floured surface for about 5 minutes.  Add more flour if you need to; I did!

3)  When it's smooth, put the dough into a lightly greased bowl (I used olive oil to grease mine!).  Cover with plastic wrap or a lid and let it rise for about an hour until it's doubled in size.

4)  Punch and knead the dough for a while.  I want to say I did mine for about ten minutes, though the directions from A Hint of Honey don't say how long to do it.  When I was doing this, I oiled the counter and my hands, just like when I made simit back in February!

The garlic I added on top turned out
so burned.  If you want to try it, I
suggest putting it on near the end
of the baking time.  That's what I'll
be trying next time I make it!

5)  Form the dough into a round loaf and put it onto a very lightly greased pan, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise until doubled in size, approximately 45 minutes.  While waiting, preheat your oven and cast iron pan (the directions actually call for a pizza stone) to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.  Also, whisk the egg together with the water and get your dried rosemary out again - assuming you put it away to begin with!

First slice!

6)  Put the egg wash onto the dough.  A lot of it will slide off, but you just need enough for a nice crust to make the rosemary stick.  Sprinkle on the rosemary.

7)  Place the dough on the preheated pan.  If some of your rosemary has fallen off, sprinkle more!  Bake it for 20-25 minutes or until it's nice and golden on the top!

The helper insisted on having an egg and cheese sandwich

Warning:  Your entire house/apartment/living space will most likely smell fantastic.  Also, your tummy will probably be full of bread within hours of completion.  Consider this fair warning!


Lemon-Herb Roast Chicken
Although under the title "Herb Roasted Chicken and Vegetables" in the BC cookbook, I modified some things.  I didn't make it with veggies and I think the most incredible thing about this chicken was the lemon, which isn't even mentioned in the title of their recipe!  I also had a bigger bird than the recipe called for, weighing in at 5.88 lbs.

1/4 Cup olive (or any veggie) oil

1 tsp. dried thyme leaves (or 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh)

1 tsp. dried marjoram leaves (or 2 Tbs. chopped fresh)

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. ground black pepper

1 lemon

1 whole chicken

Bird Pre-Cooking Tips
If you've never cooked  a bird before,
here are some starter steps that aren't
part of the recipe.  Stick your hand
inside and get everything out of it -
giblets and neck.  Then rinse it off,
inside and out.  Dry it as best as you
can using paper towels.  If you're
like me, a helper is good for this.  My
chicken seemed to flop around a lot,
so I definitely couldn't have made it
through this part alone!

1)  Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

2)  Mix oil, thyme, marjoram, salt, and pepper in a small bowl.  Grate at least 1 tsp. lemon peel and stir the zest into the oil and spice mixture.  I just minced mine as finely as I could and it worked very well!  Cut lemon into quarters and stuff it inside the chicken!

All dressed up with nowhere to go
but Club Oven!

3)  As you can see from the picture to the left, my chicken had some serious issues with it's wings.  Though the recipe just stated that tying the legs together was necessary, we decided that tying the legs and the wings together would be the best idea.  Now, I couldn't find string, but I have scraps from a button-down shirt I made into a skirt a few weeks ago, so this chicken ended up being what I like to believe was the most fashionable chicken ever made!

Halfway there!

4)  Put your chicken on a rack in a pan, breast side up.  I used a

broiling pan.  And boy, afterwards, I sure was glad!  Because I don't have a brush, I just used my hands to put some of the oil mixture all over my chicken.  I used as much as I could get to sort of stick and covered everything!  Insert ovenproof meat thermometer so tip is in "the thickest part of thigh but does not touch bone."  I tried to get it in the right place, but it might have been touching bone.  I don't really know if it was, but it seemed to be in meat...

5)  Roast uncovered 45 minutes.  Then take it out and "brush" (in my case, spoon and pour) the remaining oil mixture on chicken.  Roast uncovered 30-45 minutes longer or until thermometer reads at least 165 degrees Fahrenheit and the legs move easily when lifted.

Now that it's out, Cover loosely with foil and let it sit for 15-20 minutes so that it's easier to cut it.  Remove lemon from chicken.  Carve at will.

The temperature is much higher than 165 degrees
after the second thirty minutes so I assumed it was
done even if the thermometer was in the wrong
place.  Browned so well!

Warning:  This is the most moist and flavorful chicken I've ever made and one of the most delicious I've ever eaten.  I'm working on the leftovers still and can't figure out who made it.  I totally don't believe 'twas me!  Also, those drippings make some fantastic gravy, though the gravy I make is always ridiculously lumpy.

Homemade Granola

I will be adjusting how I make this the next time.  I won't use oil next time, except to lightly coat the baking pan.  It seemed odd from the get-go, but the various recipes I found online all called for it, so I followed it blindly.  Of course, after I made it, I looked in the Red BC cookbook and found one that doesn't call for oil!  Why I never thought to look there is beyond me!  Anyway, I basically combined Alton Brown's "Granola" recipe and the key recipe from A Beautiful Mess "Homemade Granola:  3 Ways."  I opted for honey, almonds, and raisins for some really basic and delicious granola.

Like an edible trophy!

3 Cups rolled oats (not instant oatmeal, but the "old-fashioned" kind)

3 Tbsp. packed light brown sugar

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

a little salt

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/3 Cup honey

1/4 Cup vegetable oil

1 cup sliced almonds (or as many as make it look delicious to you!)

3/4 Cup raisins (or as many as you want!)

Step 1

1)  Preheat the oven to about 300 degrees Fahrenheit.

2)  Mix the oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt together.   I just used my hands to break everything up in an attempt to evenly distribute everything.

3)  Stir together the honey, oil, and vanilla.

Step 2

Step 3

4)  Mix the wet with the dry to make a nice, sticky, goopy, fragrant thing that will soon be baked into granola!  It's a really strange looking thing and probably the number one reason I'll be skipping oil next time!

5)  Put all the mixture onto a very lightly greased (or lined with parchment paper!) rimmed cookie sheet.  Put it in the oven for about 15 minutes.

It'll be in the Oven for about an hour total, but checking and stirring every 15 minutes seems to be a good rule of thumb.

6)  After 30 minutes (on your second check), stir in the almonds or whatever nuts you're using.  About 20 minutes later, stir in the raisins.  If the raisins are in the oven more than 10 minutes or so, they'll get really sticky or maybe even explode, which sounds like an unpleasant cleaning job in the making.

7)  After an hour or so, whenever it's nice and golden brown, take it out and let it cool.  Then put it in an airtight container - if you read my blogs, you know how I love jars, but I'm sure plastic containers, or even a Ziploc would work just as well... but it wouldn't look as good!

Homemade granola with homemade yogurt

Warning:  It's fantastic, snackable, and versatile.  It's not as clumpy as I'd have liked it to be, but I'm ashamed of how much I ate the other day when I was alone.  It's filling, somewhat good for you in moderation, and so delicious!  The reason I'll be modifying next time is just to cut down on the fat content (which comes entirely from the veggie oil) and to try to make the clumps better.  I'll probably add some more salt and cinnamon next time, too!  This also will make your house smell incredible!

Side note:  Cheese grits along with a broccoli/onion/feta
scramble is super duper delicious!

Reflection  Looking back on all this food, someone kept looking over my shoulder and smacking his lips, saying, "mmm," "yum," and "That was so good!"  Cooking is getting to be a really cathartic activity for me.  These three recipes were all exciting for me, given that each was a personal first!  I experimented with each one, even with the chicken, for which I carefully followed all the directions.  It's amazing what happens when you take a leap of faith, whether in food or in life.

This weekend, I get to cat sit for one of my best friends.  I'm excited about getting to cuddle a kitty in peace, without judgement, allergies, and with cable and fun!  Next week, I get to visit some super awesome people.  I'll be making a drive I've always dreaded, but this time, I'm not heading south to leave for a long series of school work, but for a short burst of friends and good times.  Maybe I'll take some food down to my friends, but we'll see!

For now, I'm really thankful for the people who are willing to help me with all of the insanity currently going on in my life.  It's so nice to have someone around to comfort me!  It's also awesome to be able to travel 360 miles in virtually any direction and be near someone who loves me.  It's tough to be far from so many friends, but I'm blessed to have each and every one.

If you're one of them, please know that I treasure you.  Also, make yourself some yummy food and think of me!