Welcome Spring: Sunny Day Chicken Curry

Curious George asked for a yellow daffodil for his room, and he inspired me to make a bouquet of flowers from our yard. Daffodils, forsythia, tulips, and hyacinth are blooming, and the warm sunshine is calling us outside. I'm realizing how much yard work needs to get done, and I'd rather be working outside than in the kitchen today. I'm grateful for left-over chicken curry in the freezer. I moved it into the refrigerator to defrost this morning, and it will be an easy dinner tonight. I did some batch cooking in February, and now it will pay off. All I have to do is heat up the curry and toast some coconut to sprinkle on top. The chicken curry is a delicious way to use my roast chicken and chicken broth. 

The Chicken Roast-off

My mom is an amazing cook, and she's always willing to try a new recipe. When I was growing up, my parents begged me to learn how to cook with my mom. Unfortunately, I was always too busy and uninterested. When I was in college, I got my first apartment with my friends, and I needed to do some basic cooking. I emptied a bag of rice into a cute jar, and then I threw the bag away. When I needed to cook rice with a meal, I sheepishly called my mom and asked, "How do you cook rice?" (Obviously, those were pre-Google days.) My cooking skills grew with practice, but I was still intimidated by large cuts of meat. I didn't know any recipes for them, and I wasn't sure what to do with the extra meat after the meal.
In 2008, I read an article in Guideposts Magazine about a young woman who used her grandmother's recipe to roast a whole chicken. I was very impressed, and I thought the recipe didn't look too hard. I acquired my first whole chicken, and I set about washing the bird and trying to get out the innards. My only problem was that I only noticed an opening on one end of the bird. The opening was so small that I could only get one finger in. How was I supposed to get the innards out? I tried as hard as I could, but I kept thinking, "There must be a better way to do this." How I laughed at myself when I realized a flap of skin was covering the larger opening! Chicken lesson #1: There are two openings in a chicken, and only one is big enough for the giblets. To my shame, I still didn't now what to do with the giblets, so I just threw them away.
I was watching Oprah one afternoon, and a chef named Cristina Ferrare was talking about roasted chicken. She suggested roasting two at once, and then you can dice up the chicken to use in other recipes. I started storing and freezing two cup portions of roasted chicken, and I tried them in several of her recipes. I haven't adapted the recipes for traditional cooking yet, but her pesto chicken recipe is one of my favorite ways to use homemade pesto.
When I entered Nourishing Traditions land, I realized that how the chicken is raised is important, and you can make wonderful, healthy chicken stock from the innards and bones. (I'll do a future post on making stock). I started buying pastured chickens from www.yourfamilycow.com, and then I roasted two birds at once, saved the extra meat for other meals, and then made broth with the bones. Unfortunately, my regular chicken supplier has run out for this season, and I'm looking for other sources of organic chickens. Out of convenience, I bought two "organic, free-range" chickens from Trader Joe's, and I was really disappointed when I read the fine print at home. The chickens are fed corn and soy, so I'll keep looking for another chicken supplier.
This week I found the Nourishing Traditions recipe for Roast Chicken. I decided to try it with one chicken, and then compare it to a chicken with my usual recipe called "Mo's Sunday Roast Chicken." I had some left-over gravy in the freezer, so I didn't try the gravy portion of the recipe.  Here are the results of my chicken roast-off.

Nourishing Traditions' Roast Chicken 

The Nourishing Tradition's chicken was moist with great crunchy skin. I've never turned a chicken over half-way through cooking, and it really did make a difference. The caramelized onions on the bottom of the pan were amazing and flavorful. My family does not prefer large amounts of garlic, so I only added one head of garlic instead of two. I didn't peel the garlic, and I wish I had. The peels were slimy, and it wasn't always easy to pop out the cloves. If I make this recipe again, I'll probably just add a few peeled or chopped cloves. The meat was tender, but I didn't think it had much flavor. 

Mo's Sunday Roast Chicken

The chicken with my regular recipe is moist and the skin has delicious flavors from lemon and Herbes de Provence. The skin on the top is crunchy, but the skin on the bottom of the bird is wet and limp. I think I'll try turning over the bird the next time.  I love the roasted sweetness and zesty flavors in the potatoes, celery, onions, and carrots. 

Bottom Line: Even though the Nourishing Tradition's chicken was crispy and the onions were incredible, I'm planning on sticking with my regular recipe in the future. I love the Herbes de Provence and lemon flavors in the skin and vegetables. 

Mo's Sunday Roast Chicken

Ingredients: 

• 1 large fryer chicken, 4-5 lbs. 
• 1 Tblsp. Herbes de Provence
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 lemon
• 1/2 c. olive oil (I used grass-fed butter)
• 1 teaspoon salt (I used 3/4 tsp. sea salt)
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 5 carrots, cut in half
• 6-8 red potatoes
• 1 onion, cut in eighths
• 5 stalks celery, cut in half 

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Wash chicken; remove innards. Pat dry inside and out. Mix herbs, garlic, juice of 1/2 lemon, oil, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Rub chicken inside with remaining half of lemon and sprinkling of salt and pepper. Rub chicken outside with some of the herb-lemon-oil mixture. Place chicken in a large roasting pan. Truss the bird, or just tie the legs with kitchen twine. Toss vegetables in remaining herb-lemon-oil mixture. Set aside to marinate. Roast chicken for 20 minutes. Remove vegetables from marinade and add to roasting pan. Continue to roast chicken with vegetables for about one hour, or until done. Baste with pan juices every 20 minutes. 

From Guideposts Magazine, October 2008, page 22. 

Slow Food at its Most Awesome Yumminess

Blood Orange Beef Stew with Butternut Squash

For someone new to traditional foods, I faced a bit of a sticker shock when I started buying organic vegetables and grass-fed meats. Of course they are healthier, but wow, how they've changed our monthly food budget. One of my strategies for stretching our dollars is buying the least expensive cuts of meat. I've been roasting whole chickens and trying to find good ways to prepare stew meat and chuck roasts. 

I've made beef stew two other times this winter, and I was disappointed both times.  I attempted the Nourishing Traditions recipe for All-day Beef Stew, but I had to make so many changes that I didn't give it a fair try. Instead of marinating the meat overnight, I only had time to marinate it in red wine for a couple of hours. I still need to get a cast iron dutch oven, and I tried to use my crock pot instead. I didn't have time to get the food in the crock-pot until lunch time, so I had to cook it on high. The recipe says to add the vegetables for the last hour. This is not true for a crock pot! The vegetables were still hard after 2 hours. Dinner ended up delayed...again. The stew had good flavor, but the meat was not very tender. 

Since stew meat is affordable, I was determined to find a recipe that worked. I was going to try the All-day stew recipe again, and I even remembered to put the meat in the fridge to thaw a few days ago. Yesterday I was on Pinterest, and I noticed a recipe for blood orange beef stew with butternut squash. Pinterest did not steer me wrong! I've never had blood oranges before, and I'm in love with the color. The juice is a beautiful dark magenta. I used two ceramic casserole dishes with lids, and it worked perfectly. The meat is fall apart tender, and the vegetables were very soft. I loved expanding beyond the traditional winter vegetables of potatoes, carrots, and celery. Curious George said it was, "spicy," and I loved the balanced combinations of flavors--not too sweet, citrusy, or spicy. My littlest one summed it up by saying, "Nummy!" 

The only downside of this recipe is that it is SLOW food. I started around two in the afternoon, and we didn't sit down to eat until 8pm. (I did feed the little ones a big snack at 5 to prevent a mutiny.) My goal was to get the stew in the oven by 3:30pm, and it took me another hour and a half. It was a gorgeous spring day, and we didn't get outside to play until dusk. I did cook three pounds of meat, and the recipe only calls for two, so that took longer to prepare. Still, grating orange peels, juicing oranges, and searing the meat takes a long time. I'm so glad the amazing flavor made it worth it. I'm also excited to have enough left-over to freeze for another meal. 

 

Recipe from ciaoflorentina.com

Blood Orange Beef Stew with Butternut Squash Recipe
( serves 4 )

• 1/4 c olive oil
• 1 small onion -diced
• 5 large garlic cloves -whole
• 2 lb organic Chuck Roast -cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes
• 2 lb organic Butternut Squash cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes
• 4 blood oranges
• 1 large carrot or 2 smaller ones -sliced into 1/2 inch rounds
• 6 thyme sprigs
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes + more to taste
• 3 whole cloves
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper -freshly grated
• 1 1/2 tbs balsamic vinegar
• 2 bay leaves
• nut meg -freshly grated
• 1/4 c Italian parsley -chopped
• 3 tbs all purpose flour
• 3/4 tsp sweet paprika
• 3 cups water -filtered

1. Mix the flour and paprika together in a plastic bag. Season the beef with the sea salt and black pepper and transfer them to the plastic bag. Toss everything together to coat.

2. Heat up 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a cast iron dutch oven over medium flame. Add the garlic cloves and sear until golden on both sides. Transfer to a bowl. Shake any excess flour from the beef and sear each cube for a couple of minutes until golden brown at the edges. Work in batches so you don’t overcrowd the pot and add 1 tablespoon of olive oil in between batches if necessary. Transfer them all to the bowl with the garlic and cover with plastic wrap to keep warm.

3. Add one more tablespoon of olive oil to the pot and saute the onion with a pinch of sea salt until translucent. Add the red pepper flakes and cook one more minute.

4. Meanwhile save two strips of orange peel from the blood oranges and zest the rest and reserve. Squeeze 1 cup of juice from the oranges and add it to the pot together with the balsamic vinegar. Using a silicone spatula make sure to scrape all the brown bits from the bottom. Add the bay leaf, cloves, thyme sprigs and orange peels and allow to simmer for 3 minutes.

5. Add the beef cubes with all the juices and the garlic back to the pot and stir to combine. Add the water and bring to a simmer. Cover with a tight lid and transfer to a 350 F degrees oven. Let it cook for 2 hours.

6. Add the butternut squash and carrots to the pot, give it a good stir, cover tightly with the lid and let cook in the oven for an additional 45 minutes or until the meat and vegetables are tender.
Discard the bay leaf and thyme sprigs and gently stir in 1/2 teaspoon of the reserved orange zest. Serve hot sprinkled with the parsley and a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg and bruschetta.

Tip: Use chuck roast whenever making beef stew, it is one of the most flavorful cuts and the best for cooking slowly in some liquid.

This post is linked back to Sunday School at Butter Believer. 

Why raw milk?

Graphic from http://www.naturalnews.com/035130_raw_milk_infographic_pasteurized.html

What is a healthy diet?

I just found a great article on a website called The Nourishing Cook. She has a summary of the Weston A. Price Foundation's recommendations for a healthy diet. I learned a lot reading through the list, and I was surprised by the last item about not using a microwave. News to me. I've still got a long way to go before our diet lines up with all these guidelines. There is also a great discussion that helps to clear up confusion about healthy fats. This article is an informative introduction to traditional cooking.

Third Time's a Charm

What could be easier than a basic pot roast, right? Unfortunately, I've had some disappointing pot roast meals, but I think I've found a winning recipe now. The first time I tried cooking a pot roast, I was looking for a recipe I could use that day. I didn't have time to marinate the meat for days, so I settled on a recipe for grass-fed beef that cooked a 3-5 pound roast for a 2.5 hours in a cast iron dutch oven. Only problems were that my roast was only 2 pounds and I didn't have a cast iron dutch oven. I decided to use my largest pot and put aluminum foil over it. After cooking the roast, I was going to use the liquid in the pan to make yorkshire pudding and gravy. Epic fail. I checked the meat after 2 hours, and the meat was dried out and the liquid was gone. There went my plans for the rest of the meal.
The second time I tried a pot roast, I decided to use my crock pot. I found a recipe for regular beef in one of my crock pot recipe books. At least this meal was edible, but the beef was tough and didn't have much flavor.
For my third attempt, I gave myself plenty of time, and I found the Nourishing Traditions recipe for Pot Roast on www.food.com. Miracle of all miracles, I remembered to pull the meat out in time to thaw and then marinate for 2 days. I think I'll try 3 days in the buttermilk next time and see if that makes it even more tender. I watched a YouTube video on searing meat, and I used my large pot to sear the meat and heat the cooking liquid. Then I transferred the meat and liquid to my ceramic dutch oven with a lid. The meat was still a little tough, but it had good flavor, the vegetables were tender, and there was plenty of liquid in the pot to make the yorkshire pudding and gravy. Success!

Sally Fallon's Pot Roast - serves 6-8
Ingredients
3 lbs rump roast (chuck roast or other cut suitable for pot roast is okay)
1 qt. buttermilk
2 Tblsp. butter
2 Tblsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 cup red wine
2 cups beef stock
3 springs French tarragon, tied together (subbed for fresh thyme)
1/2 tsp. green peppercorns, crushed or 1/2 tsp. black peppercorns, crushed, placed in tea infuser
1 dozen small red potatoes, unpeeled, left whole
1 lb. carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
2 Tblsp. arrowroot
2 Tblsp. filtered water
salt, to taste
black pepper, to taste

Directions:
1. Pot roast: Use a metal skewer to poke the meat all over.
2. Place the meat in a bowl or glass loaf pan that is just large enough to fit it. Pour the buttermilk over the meat.
3. Allow to marinate in the refrigerator, for 2-3 days, stirring occasionally.
4. Remove the meat from the buttermilk (discard buttermilk) and dry off with clean lint-free towel.
5. On med. heat, sear the meat on all sides in a Dutch oven in the butter and olive oil.
6. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
7. Remove meat to platter; pour out the browning fat and discard.
8. Next, add the red wine, stock, French tarragon and peppercorns to the pot. Bring to boil and skim off the top.
9. Return the meat to the pot and bake, covered, for 3 hours or until tender. One hour before serving, add the potatoes and carrots.
10. Gravy: Transfer the meat and vegetables to a platter and bring the sauce to a boil on the stove top.
11. Spoonful by spoonful, add the arrowroot and water and whisk in the pot to make a gravy of desired thickness. Season with salt and pepper and serve with the pot roast.

Pot roast, carrots, potatoes, and yorkshire pudding with gravy

Yorkshire Pudding 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place muffin pan into oven and heat until drippings are boiling. Meanwhile, place in medium mixing bowl:

1 1/2 C. flour (I used 1/2 cup whole wheat and 1 cup sprouted whole wheat)
1 1/2 tsp sea salt
1 cup milk
4 large eggs
1 cup water

Beat well. Remove muffin tin from oven. While still hot, fill cups with batter and quickly return to oven. Bake for 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 and bake 10 minutes longer until puffy and golden brown. Serve immediately. 


After the meal I saved the marrow and the bone for my next beef stock. I've read somewhere that people eat marrow on toast. That sounds a little gross and strange to me, but I'll keep reading and keep you posted when I figure out what to do with marrow. 

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