Arroz con Pollo

This week we are becoming honorary Ticos, an honor I have bestowed upon us by eating Costa Rican food. I'm pretty sure that's how you become an honorary citizen of a country. I don't need a government to recognize me, all I have to do is eat the food. Lawyered.

By the way, I'm very well aware that's not how it works. Just in case you were wondering if I'm that dense, I'm not.

Costa Rica holds a special place in our cold, dark hearts because it's where we went for our honeymoon six years ago. Six years ago we spent ten wonderful, HOT days in Costa Rica while the rest of Austin froze in a dumb winter storm. Austin was literally frozen and we were sitting on a beach, drinking alcohol out of fruit. It was the best!

When I think back on that trip, this is what comes to mind.

This was taken in Montezuma, a small village known for its artistic community. We were at a restaurant on the beach, eating paella and befriending locals. I want to go to there.

From what I remember about Tico food, it wasn't overly complicated but still extremely flavorful. My two favorite things! I was running short on time yesterday so I chose the easiest recipe I could find, Arroz con Pollo, which is Chicken with Rice.

Ingredients

For the chicken

Whole chicken. So this was a pain. Up until last night, I had never chopped up an entire chicken. Last time I was back home, I watched as my aunt cut one up in like two minutes and was in awe at her skills. It did not take me two minutes. I also had to watch a video to learn. Save yourself the time and buy the flippin pieces separately or just use some breast meat.

 2 tbsps veggie oil

1 celery stalk

2 garlic cloves

Oregano, cumin, and S&P to taste

Heat up the oil and cut up the chicken. Place all the ingredients in a pot and fry until until the chicken is golden brown. You'll want to move the chicken around a few times. I ended up pouring in a cup of veggie broth so I could cover it and do other things. I fried it for maybe ten minutes and then boiled it for another twenty.

For the rice

The recipe called for 1 lb of white rice. I used a cup and a half.

2 tbsps veggie oil

2 carrots, thinly sliced

1 tsp annatto. I read online that annato isn't used so much for flavor as it is for color and it was suggested that paprika or tumeric would be a good substitute. I used paprika.

Salt to taste

1 15 oz of peas, drained.

Heat the oil and then fry the rice until almost brown. Add the carrots and salt. If using the pound of rice, add 1 1/4 quart water. If using 1 1/2 cups like me, add 3 cups water. Bring to a boil and then cover. Lower the heat and simmer until the rice is done. Do not mess the rice while it's cooking.  Just don't do it. Once it's done, turn off the heat and let it sit for ten minutes.

For the sauce

1/2 cup onion, finely chopped

1/2 red bell pepper, finely chopped

2 tbsps cilantro, finely chopped

1 tomato, diced

2 tsps Salsa Lizano. I didn't have this but I read that Worcestershire sauce is a good substitute so I used that.

1 15 oz can of tomato paste

Heat the oil and saute the onion, bell pepper, tomato, Lizano sauce, and salt. Add in the tomato paste and heat through.

Combine the chicken and sauce on low heat for two minutes. Stir in the rice and peas and cover for five minutes.

What this recipe failed to mention, but what pictures of Arroz con Pollo show, is that you're supposed to shred the meat. I didn't do that because I just learned that today.

D for presentation but A+ for taste! It was slightly reminiscent of the Arroz con Chancho from a couple of weeks back but not as rich. I was surprised by how juicy and tender the breast was because it takes a lot to get chicken breast to be juicy. The baby loved it but the three year old almost died when I gave her a spoonful of rice. She choose Goldfish crackers instead.

This is the second week I'm using an online recipe instead of a cookbook and I have to say, I prefer cookbooks. I feel like the online recipes are kinda rushed and I get it, you get tired of being so thorough when you've been typing for a while, but I wouldn't mind a bit more detail. It doesn't seem to be hurting my cooking so maybe that's just my Type A personality coming out.

Anyway, I'm excited about Costa Rica week. I need some alcohol in fruit!

Stir-Fried Water Spinach and Stir-Fried Kailan

There's this cartoon on Nikelodeon call Ni Hao, Kai-Lan. It's basically Dora the Explorer but with an Asian girl speaking Cantonese. If you don't know Dora the Explorer, well, I feel sorry for you! Not really, I envy you. But anyway, Kai-Lan. When I first read the recipe, I thought "I'm going to eat a little Asian girl."

But no, the kailan in this meal is actually Chinese broccoli. No cannibalism here! Broccoli and kailan belong to the same species but are in different groups. Kailan doesn't really look like broccoli except for its very small and few florets; it's more leafy than anything. Broccolini is actually a hybrid of broccoli and kailan. Science!

 Stir-Fried Water Spinach

1 tbsp oil

1 tsp shrimp paste. Measure this out. Like, be exact.

1 clove garlic, chopped

4 oz fresh prawns, heads removed. I used shrimp because all the prawns at the Asian supermarket had heads and I thought they'd give me funny looks if I asked them to remove them for me. The shrimp did not have heads.

2 whole bird's-eye chilies, bruised. These are also known as Thai chilies. I had some green chilies left over from Nepal week so I used those but I made sure to bruise them by spanking them with the side of my knife.

1 tsp cornflour, dissolved in 1 tbsp water

1/2 tsp salt

1 lbs water spinach. I could not find water spinach a-ny-where and I went to two different Asian markets. One was a SUPERmarket. I even showed a picture to an employee at one of the markets and he just laughed and said "No." I didn't get the joke. Anyway, I ended up using kailan for this recipe as well since I had so much of it.

Heat the oil in a woke, stir in shrimp paste. I actually have a wok! My mom gave it to me when I moved up to Austin almost 15 years ago because she said it was necessary to have the basics in the kitchen. Why my mother thought a wok was a necessity, no clue, but I appreciate it now. Add the garlic and stir-fry till fragrant. Stir in the prawns and continue to fry for 1 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and fry over high heat for 3-5 minutes.

 Stir-Fried Kailan

1/2 cup boneless chicken, cut into thin strips

1 tsp rice wine

5 cups kailan, but into bite size pieces

1 tbsp oil

3 cloves garlic

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp light soy sauce

1 tsp cornflour, dissolved in 1 tbsp water

Marinate the chicken in the rice wine for at least 10 minutes. Blanch the kailan in boiling water for a few seconds. Heat the oil in a wok and stir-fry the garlic and chicken for 3 minutes. Add the kailan and cover for 30 seconds. Add the salt, soy sauce, and cornflour paste and stir-fry to 2-3 minutes.

I also made some quick fried rice with soy sauce and ginger and garlic powders. So above the dish is what the meal was supposed to look like. Juuuust a little different; I think I made too much sauce.

I did not like this meal. The chicken was good, so that's nice, but the kailan was too bitter. The kailan with the shrimp was even worse because it was coated in shrimp paste, which is very fishy. And salty. I don't like fishy or salty. My husband suggested maybe this is 'umami' but I don't think so. Umami is supposed to be palatable, this was gross.

And of course neither girl ate it.

Not every meal can work for us and I'm slowly accepting it. I'll try this stir-fry with another green down the road, maybe bok-choy, but no more kailan.

Zai jian kailan.

Chicken with Bratwurst and Noodle Pudding

This was a spectacularly easy meal to make and spectacularly unhealthy. Spectacular!

But honestly, this was a heavy meal and I could see this being served at Wurstfest for a bunch of drunks.  No offense to drunks, they're my favorite people! They find me hilarious and think I'm a great dancer. And by "they" I mean myself. When I'm drunk I think I'm the next Amy Schumer and MJ, r.i.p.

 Chicken with Bratwurst

8 chicken breasts. I used four.

8 bratwurst, with the skin removed. I used four.

2 slightly beaten eggs

2 tbsps water

1 1/2 cups flour mixed with salt, pepper, and paprika

1/2 cup margarine. Margarine is gross, use butter. I don't care what this recipe says! Did you know that margarine is one molecule away from being plastic? And keep in mind, any site debunking this fact is backed by big margarine *adjusts tin foil hat*

1/2 cup dry sherry

Preheat oven to 350. Flatten the chicken breasts with a mallet. Place a sausage on each breast and roll tight. Tie with a string. I didn't do this, I just fried the seam first. Dip the breasts into the beaten egg with water, then dredge with seasoned flour. In a large skillet, brown the stuffed breasts in margarine (BUTTER). Place into a casserole dish, pour drippings from the skillet over the chicken breasts, and add sherry. Cover and bake for an hour.

Noodle Pudding

1 pound wide egg noodles, cooked according to package. I used one 16 oz package.

1/2 cup melted butter

5 eggs, well beaten. I used two because, really? FIVE EGGS?

2 cups sour cream

S&P to taste

1/2 cup grated Swiss cheese

1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese

Butter a casserole dish. In a bowl, toss the noodles with butter. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs with sour cream until very smooth. Fold in the cheese. Pour over the noodles, toss, and put into the casserole dish. Bake for 45-50 minutes until firm or golden brown.

If I had the Photoshop skills, I'd insert a Doge meme here. Just fyi

Wow. So much fry. 

No fooling, so.much.fry. I could feel the oil seeping into my pores when frying the chick-wurst (no one take that name, it's mine!). And all that meat! No one needs all that meat! The chick-wurst is such a great example of privilege. I don't mean to get all political here but seriously! When you are in a position to stuff one meat with another meat for a fun meal, you don't have real problems in life. Just sayin'...

The egg noodles, regardless of the fact that mine were 'yolk free' were super yum! And let's go back to that 'yolk free' mess. I didn't realize I bought basically non-egg noodles until I was making this meal, I just grabbed whatever bags I saw. Had I been paying attention, I never would have done that (story of my life). Yolk free egg noodles are like gluten free bread or tofurkey, it ain't right! I get why we have these alternatives but the fact that they exist makes me so sad. 

This meal was so filling, I drank some Oban Scotch with the hopes that it would burn the food out of me. It worked, a little. 

Thank goodness the next week is Myanmar. My body needs some roughage

Breast of Chicken Theresa, Sardine Fritters, and Cabbage Salad

First things first: if you're watching your fried food intake, step away from this meal. It's not for you.

Secondly, I don't get the name of the chicken dish. Like, is the chicken named Theresa? Or should it just be Chicken Theresa? No se. (that's Spanish for "I don't know")

This was my favorite meal by far! Everything was amazing and even though two of the dishes were fried, I didn't hate myself afterwards. There are some meals that do that! They're so good but you know they aren't good FOR you and you're left with conflicting feelings of joy and remorse but not this meal. It was, literally, all good.

Also, all these recipes came from the All Along the Danube cookbook.

Breast of Chicken Theresa 

6 chicken breasts

 

6 thin slices of ham, baked or boiled. I used sandwich meat

.

6 slices Swiss cheese. When making my grocery list, I forgot to add I needed slices so I ended up buying shredded cheese. It still worked out well.

1 beaten egg

1 cup flour

3 tbsps butter

1 chopped onion

1/2 lb small mushrooms. I sliced mine because I thought it would be easier for the girls to eat them 

sliced than whole.

1/2 cup dry wine

1 cup heavy cream

S&P to taste

Cut the breasts in half and pound them with a mallet so they're even sized. Cut the ham and cheese slices so they're the same size at the breasts. Place ham and cheese slices in between two filets and sprinkle with S&P. Moisten the edges of the filets with the egg to keep them together. Dredge the breasts in flour and shake off excess. Melt the butter in a pan and saute the filets for 10-12 minutes on one side, flip and saute the other side for 5. Remove to a platter and keep warm. Place the onion and mushrooms in the same pan and add the wine. Cook until liquid is reduced by half. Add the cream, stir, and coon until thickened. Pour over the chicken and serve.

Hot Sardine Fritters

3/4 cup seasoned breadcrumbs

1/3 cup water, more if needed

4 tins skinless sardines. I used two.

1 tbsp minced scallions

2 cloves garlic, mashed

1 tbsp minced parsley

1/4 tsp oregano

1/4 tsp thyme

1 cup yellow cornmeal

2 cups oil

3 sliced lemons

In a bowl, combine breadcrumbs and water so crumbs are barely moistened. Drain the sardines but reserve the oil. In another bowl, mash the sardines with a fork and then combine with the breadcrumbs. Add the Sardine oil, scallions, garlic, parsley, S&P, oregano, and thyme. Blend thoroughly, forming a smooth mixture. Shape into golf ball sized fritters and roll in the cornmeal. Heat about one inch of oil in a skillet and fry fritters until they are brown on all sides. Serve hot with lemon wedges.

Cabbage Salad

1 head cabbage, shredded

1 small onion, diced

3/4 cup sugar

2/3 cup oil

2/3 cup vinegar

1 tsp dry mustard

1 tsl celery seeds

2 tsp brown sugar

In a bowl, mix the cabbage, onion, and sugar and let stand for one hour. In a saucepan, combine the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Pour over the cabbage. Cool until lukewarm and refrigerate 2-3 hours.

Everything was so good! The chicken was crisp on the outside and gooey on the inside because of the cheese. I had expected the sauce to be very rich but it was perfection! I was a little worried about the sardine fritters because sardines are very fishy but the taste was very sublime. And the cabbage! The cabbage was sweet but not in a bad way. It was sort of like a cole slaw. And everything went together amazingly. It was a fast, easy, delicious meal. My favorite!

Spice Roasted Cornish Hen with Spiced Potato Momos and Veggie Patties

I want to start off by saying this meal was rough and eye opening. The day before I had to go to my hometown and without getting too into it, it was a horrible experience. So bad that I was still mentally and physically recovering from it the next day. Actually I'm still trying to get over it. Needless to say, I was not in a good mood but I wanted to continue with my little project so I forced myself into the kitchen.

I could not get into it and it wasn't until the end of the day that I realized just how therapeutic cooking is for me. Like I've said, I know my way around a kitchen. Even before this started, even before I became a Stay at Home Mom, I made dinner four to five days a week and I've always enjoyed it. Chopping up veggies is like meditation to me and in a weird way, it's how I relax. It's hard to do that when your mind is racing and it was not good.

The ingredients for Spice Roasted Cornish Hen

2 1 1/2-2 lb Cornish Hens

3 tbsps vegetable oil

1 1 inch stick cinnamon, halved

4 green cardamom pods, crushed. I just had cardamom seeds so I crushed them.

2 bay leave

6 whole cloves

2 large onions, finely chopped

2 medium tomatoes, chopped

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 tbsp minced fresh ginger

1 1/2 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1/2 tsp ground tumeric

1 tsp Garam Masala

Preheat the oven to 350. Remove the neck and giblets from the cavity (I bought hens with those items already removed) and rinse in cold water. Keep refrigerated while making the sauce.

Heat the oil and when hot but not smoking, add the cinnamon, cardamom pods, bay leaves, and cloves; fry until they become aromatic. Add the onions and cook until soft. Add the tomatoes, garlic, ginger, coriander, salt, cumin, cayenne pepper, black pepper, and tumeric; cook until the tomatoes are soft and juice evaporated. Stir in the garam masala and remove from heat.

Place the hens in a roasting pan, breast side up. Spoon the sauce into over and inside the hen. Roast uncovered, basting frequently, for 25-30 minutes. Well I guess my hens were still partially frozen because I had to roast those suckers for over an hour before they were done. First annoyance.

The Veggie Patties

1 1/2 lbs boiling potatoes

1 cup veggie oil

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 tbsp minced ginger

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 tbsp ginger, minced

5 cups finely chopped mixed veggies. I did a cup of yellow and green bell peppers, carrots, and peas.

2 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground tumeric

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1/8 tsp black pepper

4-5 green onions (white and pale green parts) finely chopped

1 cup finely chopped cilantro. Did not add this.

3-4 green chilies, chopped

2 tbsp lemon or lime juice

Combine the potatoes and water and boil until soft. I did this earlier in the day to save time. Heat two tablespoons of the oil and when hot, not smoking, add the cumin seeds and fry until fragrant. Add the onion, ginger, garlic, and fry until the onions are soft. Stir in the chopped veggies, coriander, cumin, salt, tumeric, cayenne pepper, and black pepper. Mix well, reduce head, and cook until veggies are soft. Add the potatoes, mix well, and cook until liquid evaporates. Remove from heat, add cilantro, green onions, green chilies, lemon juice, and mix well. Let it cool to room temperature before continuing.

Heat two tablespoons of oil over medium heat. Scoop about three tablespoons of the mixture into a ball and then flatten into a patty. Place four to five patties in the oil and fry until browned on both sides.

My patties did not want to be patties and I followed the instructions except for the cilantro. I can't imagine cilantro was that vital. I was about six out of a ten on annoyance at this point so I just turned it into a stir fry.

Momo Wrappers

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour, plus more for kneading

1/2 tsp salt (optional)

In a bowl, combine four and salt. Make a well in the center and add 3/4 to 1 cup of warm water, a little at a time, until mixture becomes a crumbly mess. Transfer to a floured surface and knead until it becomes smooth and elastic, about 5 to 6 minutes. If the dough is too stiff, add more water; if too wet, add more flour. Transfer to a bowl, cover with a damp towel, and let it rest for thirty minutes.

When ready, roll out the dough and cut into 3 inch circles. Stuff with whatever you want. I made a mixture of mashed potatoes, cumin, tumeric, cinnamon, and onions. Steam them for ten minutes.

My momos were crap, too. Sorry, I'm getting grumpy just remembering it. Basically I was in the kitchen for over two hours and my entire meal didn't turn out the way it was supposed to. With the exception of the frozen birds, I don't know what I did wrong, but it did not help my mood. I was very frustrated and angry and I probably even cried a bit. I think part of it was the kitchen failure and part of it was whatever was on my mind but overall, not a good experience.

This recipe will still make my life story, though, but just for the revelation that I cook as a release but not everything can be released. Sometimes things just need to sit and fester and figure themselves out. Festering thoughts are the best!

Also, the veggie stir fry was good but the rest of the food was blah. I'm pretty sure my bad juju seeped itself into my food.

Chicken Sekuwa and Black Eyed Pea Curry

Sorry for the lack of updates, the past week has been a little crazy. I don't know who I'm talking to, I literally have one follower (Hi Andrew!).

After Finnish week, I was really looking forward to Nepali week. I don't mean to offend any Finnish people that might be reading this and I sincerely apologize if I do, but I was a little underwhelmed with the food. Like I said in my last post, I know there are better meals out there (really want to try some Karelian Pastries) and I'm not entirely done with the Finnish cuisine, I definitely plan on revisiting it someday, but this experience didn't leave the greatest taste in my mouth. So yeah, was into trying Nepali food.

I bought The Taste of Nepal by Jyoti Pathak from Amazon. It got good reviews, it didn't cost a thousand dollars, and it claimed to be a good combination of traditional and homemade recipes.

The first meal I made was Chicken Sekuwa and Black Eyed Pea Curry. So, side note, shopping for groceries for the week was enlightening and very affordable; I spent a total of $70 on groceries for the four meals. Se-ven-ty do-llars. By comparison, Finnish week costs me roughly $140 and I didn't get a year's worth of beans with those $140 like I did with these groceries. Seriously, I bought like eight pounds of beans. I'm good for, like, forever.

The ingredients

2-3 lbs skinless, boneless, chicken breasts cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces. I used about a pound.

1 tbsp plus 2 1/2 tsps fresh lemon or lime juice

1 1/8 tsp salt

2 medium red onions. 1 chopped and 1 sliced into 1/8 inch thick rings (DO THIS!!! You won't regret it)

12 fresh mild green chilies. I didn't know how spicy these would be so I removed the membrane and de-seeded them. I'm Hispanic, I know what happens when you don't remove the membrane AND de-seed peppers. My eyeballs still haven't recovered from when I was eight and helping my grandma chop up jalapenos and I rubbed my eyes. I also only used four, who needs 12 chilies? Not this weenie. Seriously, I can't do spicy food.

1 tbsp peeled and roughly chopped fresh ginger. By the way, pay attention to the size of that piece of ginger for the rest of the week.

3 large garlic cloves, peeled. And not crushed???? Martha Stewart, forgive me.

1 cup plain yogurt. I used Greek yogurt and didn't bother looking into whether that would matter until after I started cooking. People have different opinions on it but it doesn't seem to matter. I mean, you don't want regular yogurt cause, you know, that's gross, but do what makes you happy. (Get the Greek, it's strained and doesn't turn to mush)

2 tbsps vegetable oil

1 tsp ground paprika

1 tsp Garam Masala. My grocer, Gandhi Bazar, makes their own Garam Masala. And yes, I have my own Indian grocer that I do shop at regularly. They are very friendly and make fantastic samosas.

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp ground tumeric

2 medium tomatoes, cut into 6 wedges

1 lemon or lime cut into wedges

2-3 sprigs of cilantro. This is just garnish so no need to muddle up this deliciousness with that mess

8-10 grilling skewers. Make sure to soak them for thirty minutes or they'll burn. I mean, I soaked mine and they still burned but it could have been worse.

Place the chicken in a bowl and mix with 1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice and 1 tsp salt. Set aside for ten minutes. Put the chopped onion, 2 of the green chilies, ginger, and garlic in a blender/food processor, and mince. Move the mixture to a bowl and add the yogurt, oil, paprika, garam masala, cumin, and tumeric. This is what that delighfulness looked like.

Add the chicken and make sure each piece is coated. Cover and marinate in the fridge for two hours. I marinated for one because I didn't have that much chicken. And I forgot I had to marinate it and I didn't plan my cooking time around that. This happens a lot.

Meanwhile, marinate the lemon rings in the remaining 1 tsp of lemon and 1/8 tsp of salt. Do this part, it's the best part. No it's not, it's the second best part, but do it anyway.

So the book says to pre-heat a charcoal or gas grill to medium high heat but I didn't want to do that so I used my broiler instead. Thread the chicken onto the skewers and place them in the oven, right below the flame, and turn until they are lightly browned. Takes about 20-25 minutes. Remove and let it cool. Serve with the marinated onions, lemon, and tomato wedges.

 Ingredients for the Black Eyed Pea Curry

1 1/2 cups dried black eyed peas. 1. Remember beans double in size when cooking so if you're feeding a couple of people, maybe use 1/2 to 1 cup. 2. Soak your beans. Always soak your beans. It helps with cooking time and digestion. Take care of your gut people!

2 tbsps vegetable oil

1 tsp fenugreek seeds. They are also known as Methi Seeds and they smell delish!

1 large onion finely chopped

1 1/2 tbsps minced fresh ginger

2-3 medium garlic cloves, minced

1/2 tsp ground tumeric

A large pinch of asafetida. Oh asafetida...so I worked in property management for about fifteen years and there was one scent that was always a pain to get rid of in an apartment. I couldn't ever place it and I'm very familiar with spices but I found it last week. Asafetida. If you want a full explanation, here it is but just know that one of its nicknames is "Devil's Dung." I haven't cooked with the stuff in almost a week and my house still smells like it. I mean, it smells good but man, I want my house to go back to smelling like dogs.

2 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes. I didn't peel mine cause I'm a rebel. And I'm lazy.

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

2 large tomatoes, chopped

3-4 green onions (white and pale green parts) finely chopped

2-3 mild green chillies, halved lengthwise. Or as we like to call in here in Texas, "hot dog" style

1/2 cup chopped cilantro. JUST GARNISH.

The book said to soak the beans for six hours and I did cause I follow directions (like 40% of the time). Drain the peas and place them in a saucepan with 5 1/2 cups of water. I don't think you need this much water if you properly soaked the beans, I think you'd be good with 3 to 3 1/2. Just my opinion. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and then reduce to medium-low, cover, and simmer until beans are tender, roughly 45 minutes. You want to evaporate as much liquid as possible so if at the 45 minutes mark you still have a lot of liquid, increase the flame.

Heat the oil in a saucepan and when hot, but not smoking, add the fenugreek seeds and fry until browned. Add the onion, ginger, garlic, tumeric, and asafetida, and cook until the onions soften. Mix in the peas, potatoes, cumin, coriander, salt, and cayenne pepper. Continue cooking and stirring for roughly five minutes. Stir in 1 1/2 cups of water and bring mixture to a boil. Cook uncovered for five minutes, then reduce the heat, and cook until the potatoes are tender, about ten minutes. Add the tomatoes, green onions, chilies, and cook for five more minutes; make sure to stir every once in a while.

 I also heated up some Naan cause, duh, it's great. Also, I got six piece for $1.49. I used my comal to heat them up because they're basically tortillas.

The finished meal. Oh-my-gawd was this good!

The meat was beyond tasty and tender. It was a tangy due to the onion and yogurt but oh so good. Those onions I kept going on and on about? UUUHH, my mouth is watering just thinking about it. I was worried because they were raw and raw onions mean my chest will be on fire but the lemons softened them to where they just melted in my mouth. And even though I knew what could possibly happen, I still ate like six of them. By the way, no heartburn. None. It was magic! The curry was spectacular! Who knew black eyed peas could be so fantastic? That asafetida ruined the scent of my house but turned those boring beans into one of my favorite dishes ever.

So yeah, this meal was aight.

Chicken with Lemons and Olives

When planning this week's menu, I got most excited about this meal because it involved cooking a whole chicken. There is just something really satisfying about cooking a big 'ol bird, which is probably why I get super excited about Thanksgiving!

This would be a good meal to make if you're having people over for dinner or for someone you've just started dating because for some reason, people get super impressed when you roast a bird. Also, this recipe is incredibly easy but it doesn't look like it because of the roasting a whole bird and because you're using ingredients people don't normally use. Unless you're Greek, then you probably use these ingredients fairly often. Don't make this for Greek people if you're trying to impress them. They'll probably be like "This was the first meal I made when I was eight" and womp womp.

The ingredients

3 - 3.5 lb chicken. I didn't include the chicken in the picture because of chicken juices and hello? Salmonella is a real thing, y'all, and I didn't want it poisoning my counter top. I named her Mary because I'm crazy.

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground tumeric

2 tbsp olive oil

1 large onion, thinly sliced

2 inch piece of root ginger, grated. As I was about to grate my ginger, I remembered I got rid of my grater last month because the handle broke so instead of grating the ginger, I minced the shit out of it. This is what ginger root looks like when you've minced the shit out of it.

2.5 cups of chicken stock. So remember how in the last post I said I like the Kitchen Basics brand a lot? Well I prefer Better Than Boullion. Yes it's full of MSG and it's not organic or GMO free or artisanal but it taste good and I like that it's not as diluted as other stocks. But Kitchen Basics is a good alternative, it really is!

2 preserved lemons or limes, or fresh lemons cut into wedges. A few months ago I was going to make some preserved lemons (basically lemons in salt water that are allowed to ferment) but I ended up using the jar to hold the lemons to make kombucha and I was too lazy to go out and buy another jar. I didn't end up making them and when I read this recipe, I regretted not going out and buying that stupid jar. My laziness does me in, again!

1/2 cup pitted brown olives. I used a combination of brown and black olives because, oddly, the three year old LOVES black olives and I wanted to increase the chances of her eating this.

1 tbsp honey

4 tbsp chopped fresh coriander. What is with the Greeks and coriander????

Salt and ground pepper to taste

Coriander sprigs to garnish (WWWWWWTTTTTTFFFFF?!)

Coriander is seriously the worst. I bet all the evil dictators of the world just love coriander.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Mix the cinnamon, tumeric, salt, and pepper in a bowl and rub it all over the chicken.

Heal the oil in a large frying pan and fry the chicken on all sides until golden; then transfer the chicken to an oven proof dish. I fried my chicken in my cast iron skillet. If you don't have a cast iron skillet, I can't even talk to you.

But really, if you're serious about cooking, you should own one. They're extremely versatile, good for pan frying or baking or defending your home in case you have an intruder, and they're relatively inexpensive. There are also health benefits as it leaches iron into your food. I'm borderline anemic so any time I make red meat on my skillet, I'm all "I AM THE STRONGEST PERSON ALIVE!" And then I try to lift the skillet over my head and I fail because I have zero upper body strength.

I used a Dutch oven to cook my chicken. Again, a very helpful and versatile kitchen tool. I've used it to make stews, roasts, I've even baked bread in it. Both my cast iron skillet and Dutch oven are by Lodge. You can find them on Amazon for under $100 and they last forever!

Add the sliced onion to the pan and fry for three minutes. Add the ginger and stock and bring to a boil. Pour over the chicken, cover with a lid, and bake in the oven for 30 minutes.

During this 30 minute break you can relax, start an episode of Making a Murderer, OR, you can do what I did and finish some laundry, work on a blog post, and hide from your kids. You do you!

Remove the chicken from the oven and add the lemons, olives, and honey. Bake, uncovered, for another 45 minutes.

You can continue to relax and finish your episode during this time OR, and I'm sure you'll choose my option, finish your blog post and try to out step your husband in your FitBit Workweek Warrior Challenge.

Also during this time I made a Simple Cooked Salad of a chopped green pepper, quartered tomatoes, half a seeded cucumber sliced, and chopped onion. I put all the veggies in my skillet and simmered in some water for a few minutes. When the veggies were done, I drained them and poured a dressing of olive oil, lemon juice, and minced garlic on top.

And then the chicken was done!

Y'all, Mary looks so good, right?! I let her rest for a few minutes because that's the polite thing to do to any roasted meat and she'd had a rough hour and a quarter being roasted.

Then I cut her and shredded all the meat. Sorry Mary. The meat and skin just fell off and I hear that's a good thing.

Mary was delicious! I don't even like chicken skin but I literally gobbled that thing up. Didn't even care how gross I looked. It was extremely savory but juuuuust a little sweet, I'm thinking that was the honey. Dur. The meat was really juicy, even the breast, and was even better when eaten with the olives.

The salad was gross, the end. Don't make that salad or maybe make it but don't boil the veggies.

The three year old did NOT like the olives but she did eat all the chicken. The one and half year old had none of it and instead ate some nut mix I bought at Costco. The husband loved it and there was nothing left for the dogs.

I will save this recipe for the future because it was super easy to make and "OMG" good! And also, I want to impress all my non-Greek friends.