Wicked Good Roast Chicken with Fennel, Beets and Lemon

Wicked Good!  And simple to prepare.  Cooks in about 1 1/2 hours.

Recipe for four:

1 whole chicken, cut into four pieces
4 small beets, peeled and quartered
2 lemons, quartered
1 large fennel bulb, trimmed and sliced thick
1 whole head of garlic, seperated, leave skins on
2 handfulls cherry tomatoes, whole
2 cups white wine
1/3 cup white vermouth
1 cups chicken stock
olive oil
3 T butter
6 sprigs fresh thyme
salt and pepper

Set the oven to 325* - Coat the chicken with olive oil and season with a good amount of salt and pepper.  Arrange the chicken along with all the ingredients (except the tomatoes) in a large roasting pan, and cover with foil.

Place in the middle of the oven for 45 minutes.  Then remove the foil, add the tomatoes and increase the heat to 425* - Cook for another 45 minutes uncovered.   What you're trying to do here is brown the chicken and reduce the liquid to about a 1/2 a cup, just enough to sauce the meal.

Serve onto warm plates with jasmine rice.

Bon Appetit!  Chef Hobbes

Killer, Killer Roasted Root Vegetables...

This Dish is Killer!  And It's Easy!


Tonight I roasted beets, turnips, apples and garlic.
Recipe for four:

6 red, gold or chioggia beets peeled and cut into wedges
6 turnips peeled and cut into wedges
1 large red onion quartered
1 medium size apple cubed
1 whole head of garlic separated and root end trimmed but leave skin on
1 sprig rosemary
3 sprigs lemon thyme
1 stick of butter
1 cup Madeira wine
1 cup chicken or vegetable stock
1 teaspoon each or salt and pepper
1 pinch chili flakes

Turn your oven on to 375*

This dish is flexible you can add carrots, parsnips or whatever else you want to cook.

.

First peel the beets and turnips, and cut into wedges and then cut apples in to cubes.   In a roasting pan, place beets, turnips, apples and garlic, and a good drizzle of olive oil and mix with your hands.  Then add all of the ingredients and cover with foil, and place in the oven for 45 minutes to an hour.  This dish is fantastic, you can serve it with meat, fish, rice or quinoa...

Bon Appetit!

Beet, Stilton and Walnut Salad with Apple...

This salad is The Best Salad Ever!  And an old-time favorite that Chef Jacquelyn Buchanan N.E. made as one of her signature dishes, back at the St. Andrews Hotel on Post Street in San Francisco.

The only place I've been able to find Stilton cheese (from Stilton, England) in the Islands is at Rose's Bakery & Cafe on Orcas.  The stuff we get here is stilton blue -- it's not the real stuff!

It's Fall!  Which means it's beet, apple and pear season, so here we go.

Recipe feeds 2:
Two handfuls of fresh, organic, salad mix
2 small gold and red cooked beets
1/2 thinly sliced apple
1/4 cup toasted walnuts (which you can spice up a bit if you like)
2 tablespoons hazelnut oil
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
A good pinch each of salt and pepper
1/2 cup large crumbled Stilton

Add all the ingredients (except the salad greens and the cheese) to a large stainless steel or wooden bowl and mix with your hands, then add salad mix and gently mix again with your hands.  Plate and add crumbled cheese, then drizzle with balsamic reduction drizzle.

Bon Appetit!