ROAST CHICKEN - AGAIN BUT DIFFERENT

It was a rainy late September day, and Alan requested roast chicken for dinner - shocker! I grabbed a few Gourmets and Bon Appetits when I took Joseph to his riding lesson, hoping to find something vaguely along the lines of roast chicken but that I would be excited to cook. The first issue I flicked through was Bon Appetit from Feb 2009 and it had SPECIAL SUNDAY ROAST CHICKEN. Not that different from my old standby, but different enough. I changed a few things, of course:

Added stuffing, with sage, which the recipe used anyway.

Made a giblet stock which I used for the gravy instead of white wine.

Market did not have mustard greens so used Arugula.

Did not like the idea of putting chicken fat on the Arugula so used my gravy instead.

It was pretty good, not sure I will switch this for the old standby but I love the idea of serving on a bed of arugula, will definitely do this again!

CATCHING UP......

TURTLE BROWNIES

Had a wonderful Labour Day dinner with the Tavernas, her parents were visiting which always makes for a fun & interesting evening. Julia joined the party too. I was given the dessert course, did the NO BAKE BERRY PIE as I know that John really likes it but added Turtle Brownies to make the kids happy, and they were! Actually, the grown ups could not resist them either. Happened by accident really, was looking through my Cooks Illustrated collection for the best Brownie recipe and come across this one while I was looking. It was quite a bit more effort, I have to admit, but worth it I would say, and it seems the recipients would too! (sorry pic is a little soft - can I blame the camera??!!) Recipe to follow soon.....

Back to the 2 of us

Quiet Saturday night and a fridge full of bits and pieces to use up. Combine that with Dave mentioning Spanish fish stew last Wednesday resulted in this fish soup/stew. Looked for a recipe on Epicurious and came up with this: Seafood 'Cataplana' with Saffron, Vermouth and Sorrel. Used it as inspiration really, added a portobello as it was in the fridge, a jalapeno, because I was in the mood for something a little spicy, and a big cheat, had chicken stock in the fridge so used that instead of fish stock. Also had some cilantro so did not bother to buy sorrel. Well, it was delicious, probably could never repeat it!

PARTY WEEKEND DESSERTS

Chelsey, Dave & Harlan are visiting so lots going on, and it's all fun! Had the family over for a BBQ, did a sausage fest which was pretty popular, fun and easy. I enjoyed doing the desserts:

CAPPUCINO CHEESECAKE, a Nigella Lawson recipe which is a bit of a staple of mine, good friends Val & Angela are big fans of this. I have included link to Nigella's London Cheesecake, of which his is a variation, nearest I can find for now, sorry!

Next is the NO BAKE BERRY PIE. This is a crumb crust with a berry puree, topped with fresh berries. Pretty easy, looks stunning and tastes mighty fine. One shortcut I take is not to sieve the cooked berries. I do not know anyone who is offended by those berry pips and blueberry skins. I also think it looks better with the 'marbled' effect you get. Enjoy, berry season pretty much over. Thanks again to Cooks Illustrated, please make your recipes more accessible!

CHELSEY'S FAVOURITE DISH

MUSTARD CHICKEN ORZO CASSEROLE WITH DILL & CAPERS

Have done this a few times and still like it! Crowd pleaser, thought mainly for girls but the boys go for it too. This time realised too late I did not have enough orzo and so substituted mini penne and actually really liked it - gave a bit more texture and also looked pretty good, I thought. Click on recipe title for recipe.

RASPBERRY BARS AT THE BEACH

RASPBERRY STREUSEL BARS

I have made these so often and still love them and have requests for them! Pretty easy and quick. I do the streusel part back in the food processor but add the oats and nuts right at the end and give one quick blitz to they don't get pulverized!
(Click on title above for link to recipe, thanks again to Cooks Illustrated for this one)

BY POPULAR DEMAND

TOMATO & MOZZARELLA TART

As heading suggests this is an old favourite, and it seems I have a couple of followers as I have had a few requests for this recipe. It is so easy and always impresses, depending on your crowd you can cut into small or larger squares.

Thanks to Cooks Illustrated for the recipe. Please let me know if the link works and you can read it! When you first get to it the image looks small but you can click on it to enlarge.

This time I made it with all red tomatoes but it looks great if you use a mixture of red and yellow and alternate the colours in rows.

In case it is not obvious, you can click on title for link!