Cheddar Chive Irish Soda Bread with Sourdough Discard

1/2 cup sourdough discard 

1 1/3 cup plus 1 T buttermilk (or milk with 1 T of vinegar will work if you’re not a buttermilk person) 

1 egg 

3 1/2 cups flour 

1/8 cup sugar 

1 1/2 tsp salt 

1 tsp baking powder 

1 tsp baking soda 

1/2 cup cheddar cheese 

1 T chives 

5 T unsalted butter (easiest if you chill and just grate it over the bowl or you can cut into small pieces) 

Preheat your oven to 400ºF. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 

In a liquid measuring cup (or small bowl) whisk together the sourdough discard, buttermilk and egg. 

Mix the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and baking soda together in a bowl. Add the cheese and chives to the dry mixture. Grate the cold butter into the mixture and mix it with your hands until the butter is finely incorporated. By the end you should have small pea-sized pieces. Pour the buttermilk mixture on top of the flour mixture and stir to lightly incorporate. If the dough is a little sticky, add 1-2 tablespoons of flour. 

Turn the dough out onto the counter and knead once or twice (don’t over-knead it). Shape into a round loaf. Score a large X on the top and then bake for 45-50 minutes. After 25 minutes, if the top is browning too quickly, cover the top with a sheet of foil to prevent burning.

Quick flatbread

Ingredients

3/4 cups flour

4 T yogurt (may need to add an additional tablespoon of yogurt if it's too dry to form a dough)

1 T olive oil

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/8 tsp baking powder

Directions

Heat a griddle or large non-stick frying pan on medium-high heat and let it heat up while you make the flatbreads.

In a bowl, mix the flour with the baking powder, salt, yogurt and olive oil until it comes together and forms a dough. If it's too dry, add another tablespoon of yogurt. Cut it in half and roll out each piece on a flour-dusted surface until just under ½cm thick.

Cook for 3-4 minutes, or until golden, flipping it halfway.

Sourdough Pancakes

Ingredients

1 cup sourdough starter (room temperature)

1 T granulated sugar

1 egg

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon warm water

Directions

In a large bowl, add sourdough starter, sugar, egg, olive oil, and salt; mix well; set aside. 

In a small bowl, dilute 1 teaspoon baking soda in 1 tablespoon of warm water; set aside until ready to bake your pancakes. Note: don't add the baking soda/water mixture to the pancake batter until right before you are ready to cook them. Once your pan or griddle is hot, you can mix it in quickly just before you cook them.

When ready to cook your sourdough pancakes, fold the baking soda/water mixture gently into the prepared pancake batter. Let the mixture bubble and foam a minute or two before using.

Heat up a lightly-greased griddle until medium/hot and pour the sourdough pancake batter onto the griddle.  For each pancake, pour about 1/4 cup sourdough pancake batter onto hot griddle. 

Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes

What more could you ask for in a pancake than peanut butter, banana, and chocolate chips? I'm pretty anti-banana but they are delicious in here.

Ingredients

1 very ripe banana

1 tsp baking powder

1 egg 

1 pinch salt

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1T peanut, almond, sunflower butter

1T olive oil (or vegetable oil or melted coconut oil, whatever you have)

1/2 cup milk (or more depending on how thin you like your pancakes)

3/4 cup flour (I like to do any combo of white/wheat/almond flour here)

3 T chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat a skillet or griddle to medium heat. Mash your banana with baking powder. Add egg, oil, salt, vanilla, almond butter, and milk and stir. Stir in flour until just combined (don't over-mix). Add chocolate chips and fold in gently. 

Scoop 1/4 cup measurements onto griddle (may need cooking spray or butter depending on what kind of pan you're using). Cook for 2-4 minutes on each side - until golden brown. Make sure the pan/griddle isn't too hot because they're pretty hearty pancakes and it takes awhile for the middle to cook through.

Dutch Baby

Ingredients

½ cup milk

2 eggs

½ cup all-purpose flour

Pinch of salt

1 tablespoon butter

Toppings: fruit, powdered sugar, syrup, anything you like (it's not sweet so you can also do something savory on top)

Directions

Place a cast iron skillet in the oven and preheat to 450 (this works best for 9 inch skillet but you can make more or less for another size). Heat the milk in the microwave for 20 seconds. In a medium bowl beat the eggs, then stir in the warm milk. Slowly whisk in the flour and salt until smooth.

Carefully remove the hot skillet and add the butter to coat the bottom/inside. Add the batter to the skillet and place it back in the oven. Bake 12-14 minutes, or until browned and puffy.

Soft Dinner Rolls

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon dry active yeast
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon butter

Directions

Place the yeast and warm water in the bowl of a stand mixer (or a large bowl, if mixing by hand), stir to combine, and let it sit until dissolved. Place the milk, egg, oil, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl and whisk to combine. Add this to the yeast mixture and stir until combined. Add all the flour and stir until it forms a shaggy dough. Knead on low speed or by hand against the counter until smooth but slightly tacky (it should spring back when poked), 8 to 10 minutes. Cover the bowl and let it rise in a warm spot until doubled in size (should take about 1 hour).

Divide the dough into 12 pieces. To shape into rolls, tuck the edges underneath like you're making a little pouch and then roll the dough/pouch between your palms or against the counter (if the dough is sticking, you can put some flour down on the counter) until round.

Line a 9x13-inch baking dish with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray. Arrange the rolls inside the baking dish so that they are spaced a little apart. Let the rolls rise until they look fluffy and fill the pan, 30 to 40 minutes. At the end of the rising time, heat the oven to 375°F.

Brush the rolls with butter. Melt the butter and brush it over the risen dinner rolls. This helps the tops brown and keeps the crust soft. Bake the rolls on a middle rack until golden-brown, 15 to 18 minutes. 

Creamy Broccoli Soup

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium onion (roughly diced but you’ll be blending it so doesn’t really matter how you cut it)

4 cups vegetable or chicken broth (or Better than Bouillon)

1/3 cup rolled oats

1 ½ pounds broccoli (don’t be a hero – just buy some frozen broccoli and it’s already cut up for you plus so cheap)

Directions

In a large saucepan, heat olive oil over medium-low heat. Add onion, and cook until softened (about 5 minutes). Stir in broth, 1 cup water, oats, and broccoli. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Simmer until broccoli is tender (around 10 minutes). Either blend the soup in a blender or use an immersion blender and blend it right there in the pot until it’s creamy. Add some shredded cheddar if you want more of a broccoli cheddar situation but it’s delicious on its own too even if it’s another secretly vegan soup.

Instant Pot White Chicken Chili

Ingredients

1 ½ to 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs (or breasts)

1 large yellow onion, diced 

2 4-ounce cans diced green chili peppers (you can usually only find these in mild so don’t worry about them making it spicy)

3 cloves garlic, minced 

2 teaspoons cumin 

2 teaspoons salt 

½ teaspoon coriander 

½ teaspoon dried oregano 

4 cups chicken stock (or I prefer Better than Bouillon - it's delicious and I don't have to cart gallons of stock up 3 flights of stairs every week)

1 13.5-ounce can cannellini or navy beans (drained and rinsed)

1 cup frozen corn 

Adding any of this as you serve it will be delicious: shredded monterey jack cheese, lime juice, sour cream, hot sauce, avocado

Directions

Combine the chicken, onions, green chili peppers, garlic, cumin, 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt, coriander, oregano in Instant Pot or slow cooker. Stir to make sure the spices coat everything and pour the chicken stock over top (should cover the chicken and vegetables by an inch or so). 

Instant pot: Include the corn and beans in with the chicken and everything else and cook it all together on the meat/chili setting on high pressure for 20 minutes. It will warm up, cook 20 minutes and once it finishes, let it naturally depressurize 10 minutes afterwards before releasing the pressure.

Slow cooker: If you’re using the slow cooker, cook for 4 hours on high or 6-8 hours on low. (It's fine to cook for 8 hours on low, if you’re going to be gone all day - chicken just gets more and more tender and starts to fall apart but you're going to shred it anyway). About 30 minutes before the end of cooking, remove the lid of the slow cooker and add the beans and corn, and then cook for the remaining time. 

Once it’s done, take the chicken out and shred it into large, bite-sized pieces with two forks. Eat it as it is or add any of the delicious things I included above to make it even tastier.

Creamy Curry Cauliflower Soup

Ingredients

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more to serve

2 medium white onions, thinly sliced

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to season

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 large head of cauliflower (about 2 pounds), trimmed and cut into florets

4 1/2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth (or I like better than bouillon...well, better) 

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

1 1/4 teaspoons ground cumin

1 cup coconut milk

Directions

Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Cook the onions with ¼ teaspoon salt until they’re soft and translucent (8-9 minutes). Reduce heat to low, add garlic, and cook for 2 more minutes. Add cauliflower, broth, coriander, turmeric, cumin, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce the heat to low. Simmer until cauliflower is soft (maybe 15 minutes or so). Purée the soup in a blender or with an immersion blender right in the pot until it’s smooth. Stir in the coconut milk. This secretly vegan soup is light, so easy to make, and delicious! It tastes almost like a potato curry soup so you'd barely know you were eating such a healthy veggie soup.

Harissa Chicken Bowl

I thought it was about time we revived the old blog again! I made some delicious chicken last night so had to share.  It was basically a shredded chicken bowl and you can throw in any toppings you want in there – chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, avocados, and I’ve also added tzatziki sauce, any other yogurt sauce, and hummus at various times depending on what I have.

Harissa sauce -- you can find this in a jar at the grocery store or make your own.

Ingredients to make it on your own:

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 large cloves garlic, peeled

12 ounce jar roasted peppers in water, drained

½ teaspoon cumin

½ teaspoon coriander

½ teaspoon sweet paprika

1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (more or less depending on how spicy you like it). This sauce without the red pepper flakes is not spicy in the slightest (I promise!) so I often make it without the red pepper flakes and just have people add hot sauce at the end.

I just sauteed the garlic in oil (didn't even chop or mince it since it's being blended anyway) until it was golden and fragrant then threw it (garlic and the oil it was cooking in) into the blender with the rest of the ingredients and blended everything until it was smooth. I often make a double batch of the sauce and then freeze half of it so I can use it another time. 

Chicken:

1 – 1 ½ pounds chicken (thighs or breast)

½ teaspoon cumin

½ teaspoon garlic powder

For the chicken, I seasoned some chicken thighs with the cumin and garlic powder and then put them into the pressure cooker and covered them in the harissa sauce. I cooked them in the instant pot on high pressure for 20 minutes or you can cook on high in the slow cooker for 4 hours (or low for more like 6-8 hours). Either way, when it’s finished, just shred the chicken and it's done.

I serve it over rice or quinoa with chopped cucumbers, tomatoes, and some sort of tzatziki sauce or even just Greek yogurt with a little lemon juice, dill, salt and pepper. 

Stir fried mushrooms and tofu

Apparently I had been afraid to post tofu recipes on here due to the fact that some of us out there think tofu is strange or gross. I have now gotten over this hurdle because let's face it, I do cook tofu and in reality this blog is just my personal online recipe collector. So there you have it - it's settled. I can cook and blog about tofu whenever I want. I was trying to avoid it thinking no one would notice that I've secretly converted this into a vegetarian blog when Kurt wasn't looking.

Ingredients

1 teaspoon cornstarch

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 teaspoons fresh ginger, minced

2 teaspoons Thai chili sauce (I actually used some of Kurt’s secret hot sauce but more like ½ teaspoon)

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon sesame oil

3 tablespoons canola oil

1 (14 ounce) package extra firm tofu, drained and cut into cubes (I wrap it in a towel and put a bowl or something heavy-ish on the top to squeeze the liquid out)

2 cups sliced shitake mushrooms (or any other kind would work too)

1 cup any other good stir fry veggies - bok choy, broccoli, sugar snap peas, red/green peppers (I didn't have any others at the time so had to stick with tofu and mushrooms)

Directions

Whisk together cornstarch and 1 tsp water in bowl. Whisk in soy sauce, ginger, chili sauce, garlic and sesame oil.

Heat 1 T canola oil in large skillet over medium high heat. Stir-fry tofu for 10-12 minutes, or until golden brown on both sides. Transfer to plate.

Add 1 T canola oil to pan and stir-fry mushrooms 2 minutes or until tender. Return tofu to pan and stir in soy sauce mixture. Stir-fry 1 minute until hot.

Brussels sprouts & pecans

I just whipped up some kind of amazing brussels sprouts while talking to Kurt about turning this blog into a real website where we could do cool things, which he has PROMISED he's going to do so I'm challenging him to do it before April 1. Go!

Ingredients
1 T oil--I used sesame oil because I just really wanted the flavor of it and figured it wouldn't really matter because I wasn't frying them or anything, but you could use vegetable, olive or any oil really
1 cup chopped brussels sprouts (I'll admit sometimes when I'm lazy I buy a bag of them already chopped from Trader Joe's - embarrassing, I know, especially while being on the phone with Kurt who's talking about how he needs to take the final step from buying canned tomatoes to canning his own, but it makes them so easy and quick to make)
handful of chopped pecans

Directions
Heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium heat. Add the pecans and cook, stirring frequently, until lightly toasted, 2 to 4 minutes. Add the brussels sprouts, ¼ - ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Cook, tossing occasionally, until just tender, 3 to 4 minutes.

Weird that the ingredients and my rambling explanations are longer than the directions for this recipe. 

Baked Sweet Potato Fries

Ingredients
1 large sweet potato
2 teaspoons corn starch
1 tablespoons grapeseed, peanut, or canola oil
non-stick cooking spray
salt

Directions
Peel the sweet potato and cut it into ¼-inch by ¼-inch matchsticks. Put them in a bowl and cover with cold, fresh water. Let them soak for 1 hour or up to overnight. Pour the water and sweet potato matchsticks into a colander, rinse with fresh water, then pat dry with paper towels.

Preheat oven to 425°F. Line two baking sheets with foil and spray with non-stick cooking spray.

Add the sweet potato to a large plastic bag. Sprinkle 2 teaspoons of the corn starch over the potatoes, close the bag and shake vigorously to coat the fries. Empty the bag into a mixing bowl and use your hands to toss with 1 tablespoon of the oil. Arrange the fries on the prepared pan in a single layer, not touching. Don’t crowd the pans or they will get soggy!

Bake fries for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, flip the fries over. Return the pans to the oven, rotating the pans from top to bottom and front to back. Bake for another 10-15 minutes, or until they have browned and are cooked clean though. Shut the oven off, prop the door open halfway, and let cool and crisp up further for 10 minutes before serving. Toss with salt after they’re finished baking.

I got this recipe from someone who takes their sweet potato fries VERY SERIOUSLY – check out her blog post if you want an intense level of directions and tips - but I have to say, she clearly has thought this through and her strange tips totally worked.

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Bites

These little balls are like healthy no bake cookies - so efficient and yet so delicious.  You can make all sorts of different versions of them - I've tried cocoa powder to make them more chocolatey, dried fruit instead of chocolate chips one day I was feeling particularly healthy, and peanut butter chips - all pretty tasty.

Ingredients:
1 cup (dry) old-fashioned oats
2/3 cup toasted coconut flakes
1/2 cup almond or peanut butter
1/2 cup ground flax seed
1/2 cup chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, or dried fruit
1/3 cup honey or agave nectar
1 tablespoon chia seeds (if you feel like it)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
Stir all ingredients together in a medium bowl until thoroughly mixed. Cover and let chill in the refrigerator for half an hour so that the dough gets a little more solid. Once chilled, roll into balls. (Mine were about 1" in diameter.) Store in an airtight container and keep refrigerated.

No Knead Sourdough Bread

Ingredients:
3 ½ cups flour
¼ cup fed and bubbly sourdough starter
1 ½ cups room temperature water
2 teaspoons salt
olive oil, for oiling the bowl

Directions:
Dump the flour, sourdough starter, water and salt into a bowl and use a standmixer with a dough hook to mix the ingredients together on medium-low speed until they form a uniform ball of dough that cleans the sides of the mixing bowl, about three minutes.

Oil a 4-quart glass mixing bowl with a lid, and dump the ball of dough into the mixing bowl. Cover tightly, and let it rise in a warm spot for at least six to eight hours (I just leave overnight for up to 10-12 hours in the winter but probably less when it’s warmer out), or until doubled in bulk.

Place a 6-quart cast iron or Dutch oven in a cold oven, and then heat the oven to 450 F.

Flour your working surface, and dump the dough onto the floured surface, gently forming it into a boule. Cover it with the empty glass mixing bowl, and allow it to rise for 30 more minutes.

If the dough has spread, reform it.  Open the oven and remove the lid from the preheated Dutch oven. Dump the dough into the Dutch oven and cut a slit in the top of the loaf to let the steam escape. Cover and bake for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, remove the lid to the Dutch oven, and continue baking another 15 minutes until the bread is light brown.  Remove the bread from the oven and allow it to cool on a wire rack before slicing and serving.

Sourdough Directions - How to Feed Your "Pet Flour"

As some of you know, I have been obsessively distributing sourdough starter after our homemade family Christmas presents this year and the birth of my newfound sourdough obsession.  I brought some starter out to Portland in an attempt to lure Kurt and Hannah into getting back into sourdough since apparently they were sourdough people years ago.  So I go about explaining the idea of keeping your sourdough alive to Hannah. Hannah, who has been known to mistakenly use air quotes much like Joey on Friends, was getting the hang of this concept of strangely feeding this flour to keep it alive, and started calling it our "pet flour" because we were constantly worrying about getting our sourdough fed and ready in time for our next round of pita, pizza, bread, pancakes, you name it, and thus the term "pet flour" was born thanks to Hannah and her successful use of air quotes in the best and most perfect way possible.

Anyway so here are the directions for trying to keep your "pet flour" alive:

1. For those of you who have gotten sourdough starter from someone (ie me), the first step is to mix in 1/2 cup lukewarm water (preferably filtered or chlorine free) and 1 cup flour.  The starter will be fairly thick, like pancake batter.
2. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature (for up to 12 hours max), until it gets more liquidy and bubbly.  If it doesn’t get bubbly before 12 hours, stir the starter again, and divide it in half; discard half, and feed the remaining half with 1/2 cup lukewarm water and 1 cup flour.
3. Stir the starter down. Place it in a stoneware or glass container, loosely covered with a lid, or a screw-on top, not fully screwed on. Refrigerate it until you're ready to use it in a recipe.
4. Most sourdough recipes will call for 1 cup or so of "fed" sourdough starter. Here's how to turn your refrigerated starter into "fed" starter.
5. Up to 12 hours before beginning a recipe, stir the starter and discard 1 cup. You can give this 1 cup to a friend, or use 1 cup to make pancakes, waffles, whatever. Whatever you do with it, just get rid of 1 cup (or about half of the bowl) of starter.
6. Feed the remaining starter with 1/2 cup lukewarm water and 1 cup flour.
7. Let it sit at room temperature, covered, for 4 to 12 hours, till bubbly. It's now "fed" and ready to use in a recipe.  In the summer, it will get bubbly quickly and in the winter it may take up to 12 hours.  If it ever reaches 12 hours and it’s still not bubbly, discard 1 cup (or half of it) and feed it ½ cup lukewarm water and 1 cup flour again.
8. Once you've removed however much starter your recipe calls for (usually 1 cup), feed the remainder with 1/2 cup lukewarm water and 1 cup flour. Let this remaining starter sit, covered, at room temperature for 2 to 4 hours, until bubbly. 
9. Stir down, return to its container, and refrigerate again until the next time you want to use it.

To keep sourdough in the refrigerator:

1. If you're not planning on using your sourdough starter every day, take it out and feed it once every few weeks.  Starter that hasn't been fed for a month or more will still probably be just fine.
2. If you leave it for 3-4 plus weeks, your sourdough may have a substantial layer of green/gray/brown liquid on top. That's OK; it's simply alcohol from the fermenting yeast. However, if the liquid on top is pinkish; or if the sourdough smells "off" or bad (not simply tangy, or like alcohol), then your starter has attracted the wrong bacteria, and should be discarded.
3. Otherwise, stir the liquid on top into the starter below.
4. Keep stirring till it's smooth, then discard 1 cup (or about half of it).
5. Add 1/2 cup lukewarm water and 1 cup flour.
6. If you’re not planning to use it and just want to feed it and put it back in the refrigerator, stir till smooth, then cover and refrigerate it; no need to wait for it to become bubbly.

Chicken Enchilada Casserole (aka a Gringo/Mexican lasagna)

This recipe came to us from Kelli and became one of the most highly sought after dishes in the Twin Cities – people who barely knew her but had tried it at someone’s house somewhere would request that she bring it with her to potlucks or at the very least give them the recipe so that they could make it themselves.  Eventually we all had to learn to make it ourselves because it is just that delicious that you can't live without it once you no longer have Kelli down the street to call and bring some over.  It may not be pretty but it is pretty darn good.

Ingredients:
3 chicken breasts (bite size pieces)
1 onion (chopped)
1 pepper, any other veggies you want to throw in there (chopped)
1 cup rice (cook rice first separately)
1 can of black/red beans
1 container goat cheese (could maybe do cream cheese if you are a person who hates goat cheese)
3-4 cups shredded cheese (mozzarrella, pepper jack, cheddar, whatever)
2 cans enchilada sauce (Kelli and I swear by green but some people think it’s hideous looking and prefer red)
tortillas (can use corn or flour)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.  Saute chicken & veggies first.  Mix cooked chicken & veggies in bowl with beans, rice, & goat cheese.  Spray shallow casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray.  Layer tortillas first, then spread chicken/veggie/beans & rice mixture on top of tortillas, pour enchilada sauce on top, and then sprinkle a layer of cheese.  Use 1 can of enchilada sauce in layers and then keep 2nd can to pour over top at the end.  Same for next layer--create as many layers as fit in the casserole dish lasagna style.  Top layer should be tortillas, then 2nd can of sauce, and then a bunch of cheese covering the entire top of dish.  Bake approximately 30 minutes until cheese starts to brown and sauce is bubbling.

I like to put some combination of avocado, salsa, guacamole, and sour cream on top.

Cranberry Curry

Okay so this is one of those recipes that sounds very weird but is actually delicious, and yes I know that's probably the opening line of most of my posts, but I'm serious--try it or request it some night that I'm cooking.

Ingredients:
1 tsp butter
2 tbsp minced onions or shallots
1 tbsp balsamic or raspberry vinegar
4 chicken breasts - chopped into bite sized pieces
1 cup whole-berry cranberry sauce
1 cup green apple chopped
3/4 to 1 tsp curry powder

Optional (depending on how you feel about things like nuts and raisins being in your dinner):
1/4 cup golden raisins
2 tbsp chopped walnuts

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 10-inch shallow casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray.  Add butter & shallots/onions.  Bake uncovered for 5 minutes.  Add vinegar to dish & stir.  Add chicken, basting tops with vinegar/onion mixture.  Bake uncovered for 10 minutes.  Mix together cranberry sauce, apple, raisins, walnuts and curry.  Cover chicken with sauce and bake additional 15-20 minutes or until chicken is cooked and sauce bubbles.  Serve over rice, couscous, quinoa, or whatever floats your boat.

Roasting a chicken

When Kurt is finished with his rant about what kind of cook I could possibly be if I don't know what a mirepaux is and that no one who is not a fan of cooked carrots or celery is any friend of his, he is going to tell us how to roast a full chicken and I'm going to live blog the process...

Step 1.  Fail miserably at making your own mozzarella cheese.  Step 2.  Pour out the curdled but not cheesed milk you just spent 45 minutes stirring.

Some of you may be asking yourselves why on earth you would roast a chicken.  A roasted chicken is the single most delicious food item that you can serve the people you love (besides vinegar.) It turns out it's the easiest thing in the world to make so as long as you have enough time to roast it, which let's face it, you probably do, then it's basically buying a chicken and throwing it in the oven. Anyway here it is...

Step 3. Clean out the chicken carcass - pull out the giblets and save them for the gravy.  Anyone who throws out the giblets should be imprisoned or at least sent to bed without supper according to Kurt.  Rinse off the chicken both outside and in and be sure to pat it dry because if you leave it wet, it'll get soggy and the chicken skin won't crisp up the way you want it to.

Preheat the oven to 425.  Make a bed of roughly chopped carrots, celery, and onions (if you remembered to get onions from the grocery store, which I did not because he didn't think to mention it because he just assumed that I would assume that when he said vegetables, I would get celery, onions, and carrots).

Shove some lemon and rosemary up the chicken's butt.  Stop laughing, I'm being serious--cut the ends off of the lemon and get it inside there.  Rub some olive oil on the skin of the chicken, and add some salt, pepper, and paprika if you're into that sort of thing.  If you're Johanna, buy proper Hungarian paprika and keep it in the fridge for no longer than 6 months.  If you're Kurt, buy proper Hungarian paprika but leave it in the fridge for as long as you like.  If you're a regular person, not only is proper Hungarian paprika not a thing, but it's questionable whether you really need it on the bird with the salt and pepper so do it if you have it and don't if you don't keep that on hand.

Put the bird in the oven and roast it for 1 1/2 hours.  Take the chicken out of the oven and tent some foil over the top and let it sit.

If you feel like making a gravy to go alongside your roasted chicken, here is Hannah's recipe. Remove the chicken from the roasting pan and place onto a serving platter. Put the pan right on the stovetop. Mine covers both a front and back burner so the whole thing heats fairly evenly.

Turn the burners on to medium heat. Toss in the giblets, the wings of the chicken (just rip them off with your hands and in they go), a tomato cut into quarters (I usually cheat and use a bit of tomato paste), the lemon from inside the chicken, and a sprig of fresh rosemary. Fry them up for a minute or two.

Now there are two ways to do this: thick or thin. If you like a thinner gravy, skip this next step. When you have the pan drippings boiling, add 4 tablespoons of flour and stir it in. It will coat the vegetables that are still in there, but don't worry. Keep stirring and cook it until the flour turns tan in color. If it gets too dry and looks like it's going to burn, add a bit of olive oil to the pan.

Now add 1 cup of wine. If you added flour in your last step, add the wine slowly and whisk the entire time. Let this boil until it reduces by half, about 10 minutes. Now add the juices that have collected on your serving platter and 3 cups of chicken stock. Let the gravy reduce until it is as thick as you want it. It may take awhile, but it's worth it. When it has reduced, add some salt and pepper. Keep tasting the gravy as you cook and add salt slowly! When it is done, strain the gravy through a strainer, pushing down on the giblets/vegetables to squeeze out all the flavor.

Cherry Pie

Ingredients

Crust
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon fine sea or table salt
2 sticks cold unsalted butter, cut into chunks
1/2 cup very cold water, plus an additional tablespoon if needed

Filling
4 cups fresh or frozen tart cherries
1 to 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar (I used 1 cup and it seemed fine but not overly sweet)
4 tablespoons cornstarch
1/8 tablespoon almond extract (optional)
1 1/2 tablespoons butter, to dot
1 tablespoon granulated sugar, to sprinkle

Directions

Crust
In the bottom of a large bowl, combine the flour, salt and sugar. Work the butter into the flour with your fingertips or a pastry blender until mixture resembles a coarse meal and the largest bits of butter are the size of tiny peas. Add 1/2 cup cold water and stir until large clumps form. Use your hands to knead the dough together, right in the bottom of the bowl. If necessary to bring the dough together, you can add the last tablespoon of water.

Wrap dough in a sheet of plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour, or up to 48 hours, or you can quick-firm this in the freezer for 15 minutes. Longer than 2 days, it’s best to freeze it until needed.

Divide the dough in half.  On a floured counter, roll each piece of dough out into a 12 to 13-inch circle (or anything close). Fold dough gently in quarters without creasing and transfer to a 9-inch standard (not deep-dish) pie plate. Unfold dough and trim overhang to about 1/2-inch. Fold overhang under edge of pie crust. Return to fridge until ready to fill.

Filling
Place cherries in medium saucepan and place over heat. Cover. After the cherries lose considerable juice, which may take a few minutes, remove from heat. In a small bowl, mix the sugar and cornstarch together. Pour this mixture into the hot cherries and mix well. Add the almond extract, if desired, and mix. Return the mixture to the stove and cook over low heat until thickened, stirring frequently. Remove from the heat and let cool. If the filling is too thick, add a little water, too thin, add a little more cornstarch.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Pour cooled cherry mixture into the crust. Dot with butter.  I had to google what it means to dot with butter because I didn’t understand if I was painting the crust with butter or what was happening with this so-called dotting.  Apparently it just means to put little pieces of butter on top of your filling before you add the top crust.  Weird.  Moisten edge of bottom crust. Place top crust on and flute the edge of the pie. Make a slit in the middle of the crust for steam to escape. Sprinkle with sugar.

Bake for 50 minutes. Remove from the oven and place on a rack to cool.