Did I mention it was designed by Mario Batali? Double swoon. I have wanted one of these so badly, but they're expensive. So thank you Crate & Barrel gift card senders! You've made me one happy little wife. And I'm sure you can guess that J is even happier than I am that there's food waiting when he gets home. You know, I bet I'd be a good little housewife, but that's just not my style.
The day continued doing one of my favorite activities: reading. And drinking Mint-Chocolate Bailey's. More on that later. I've decided to see what the rest of the world is raving about. I did it. I broke down and bought the first two Harry Potter books. The first book came out when I was 11, meaning I was the perfect age for the stories of Harry Potter. But I remember just need being able to get into it. Fast forward to 25-year old Rachel and holy man, I pretty much read the first book in one sitting. (Note to self: Get more Mint-Chocolate Bailey's.)
I have exactly 4 more days until my new job (my "big girl job" as my mother calls it) starts and am doing my best to enjoy every minute until then. That's probably the biggest reason for the onslaught of blog updates this week. Like I mentioned in an earlier post, I hope this blog continues but I predict one post a week. It's tough to set aside a couple of hours for cooking after working all day. But, alas, we will have the weekends!
Before I jump into today's recipes, I wanted to make a note to readers! If you have a recipe that you love or want me to try, feel free to leave it as a write-up or link in the comments section. Also, to anyone wondering what to get me for my upcoming birthday (Mom, Dad, I'm looking in your direction) cookbooks are where it's at. Please get ones with lots of pictures. I'm kicking myself because I was in a store the other day and they had these adorable book ends made from a fork, knife, and spoon. And I thought: Wow, Rachel. Those would be perfect to display all of your cookbooks on the shelves in the kitchen! But I didn't get them. Darn it! Well, maybe I'll run over to that store tomorrow and see if they still have some. I digress. Let's do some cooking!
THE MISSION: It saddens me that I can't provide an image for today's mission. One is from the side of a jar and one is from a cookbook that provides no picture. For sad. You'll just have to take me at my word that it all panned out. Get it? Panned? It all panned out? Pan as in cooking?!
THE INGREDIENTS: For the chicken - One jar of Crate & Barrel's "Roasted Garlic & Lemon Chicken Starter," 3 pounds of bone-in chicken pieces, 2 tablespoons olive oil.
For the potatoes - 2 tablespoons butter, 1 large sweet onion - like Vidalia - thinly sliced, S&P, 1/2 teaspoon of dried thyme, 1 bay leaf (fresh or dried), 2 pounds baby Yukon Gold potatoes, 1/2 to 2/3 cup cream, 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, 1/2 pound grated Gruyere or other Swiss cheese.
A note about Gruyere cheese: it's delicious but, boy, is it expensive. I got exactly 1/2 a pound and it was about $9. I looked all over the store trying to find some a little bit cheaper, but no luck. It's interesting. For me, normal Swiss cheese is too strong but I do like Gruyere. If you're a Swiss cheese kinda' person, use that and save yourself $6.
Also, though I didn't know this until after I had grated 1/2 cup of the Parmigiano-Reggiano and 1/2 pound of the Gruyere by hand (and my arm was about to fall off), I learned a trick to save you some energy. Cut the cheese up into cubes, throw it in a mini food processor, and process a couple of pulses with a steel blade. Done. Easy. Lesson learned. Let's start with the chicken.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Heat a large dutch oven and the olive oil over medium-high heat. Once hot, brown the chicken pieces on all sides.
Tongs have become my new best friend. They work for everything: flipping chicken and meat, mixing and serving pasta, grilling vegetables, etc. I probably use them more when I'm cooking then any other tool.
Once the chicken has been browned, add the entire jar of flavoring and mix well. Cover and place the pot in the oven for an hour.
That's the wonder of a dutch oven. You can use it on the cooktop and then throw it right in the oven. No kidding, that thing is a monster. My back, shoulders, and arms are still sore this morning from lugging that thing around and taking it in and out of the oven to baste the chicken every 15 minutes. If there's ever an intruder, I'm going straight for that pot and throwing it with all my might.
Also, I know using a jar of pre-made flavoring is a cheat. I looked at the ingredient list, though, and it would be simple to make it from scratch next time: white wine, lemon, garlic, thyme, chicken stock. Easy-peasy-lemon-squeezey.
Once the chicken was in the oven, I got to work on the potatoes.
Heat a skillet with the butter over medium heat. Add the onions, season with S&P, thyme, the bay leaf, and cook until very soft and sweet and lightly caramelized, about 20 minutes. Remove the bay leaf.
While the onions cook, place the potatoes in a pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil, salt the water, and cook until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain and return to the hot pot. Mash the potatoes with the cream, season with S&P, and mash in the Parm cheese.
Preheat the broiler. Arrange the mashed potatoes in a shallow casserole dish. Top the potatoes with the onions and Gruyere cheese.
Brown the gratin under the hot broiler until bubbly, about 2 minutes.
MISSION COMPLETE:
DEBRIEFING: I'm still working on my timing. I'm a big pre-prepper, so things usually take less time than I plan. The potatoes were ready to go in the oven with 15 minutes left on the chicken. I know from making chicken parmesan that in a 350-degree oven, it takes about 15 minutes for the mozzarella cheese to melt and get bubbly, so instead of the broiler-only method outlined in the recipe, I just shifted the dutch oven over a little bit and put the potatoes in. When the chicken was done, I took that pot out of the oven, kicked on the broiler, and let the potatoes finish browning for a minute or two. Everything was delicious.
The au gratin potato recipe would work well if you've got left over mashed potatoes. I'd just heat the leftover potatoes in the microwave, mix in the Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and then just follow the rest of the steps in the recipe. Easy second day meal.
Speaking of second day meals, we have enough left overs for me to eat potatoes from here until Kingdom Come. I'll probably halve the recipe next time.
Lastly, let's discuss the amazingly delicious, wonderfully fantastic, splendidly superb beverage that is Mint-Chocolate Bailey's.
Do you like Andes chocolate? Do you like mint chocolate chip ice cream? Do you like peppermint mochas? Do you like alcohol? If you answered yes to one or more of those questions, this is the drink for you. It really is like having a spiked mint chocolate chip ice cream milk shake. I know I said I wouldn't push products on here, but it's just awesome. A treat for your mouth.
Off to read the second Harry Potter book.
Cheers to good eating!
Rachel
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