Recipes

I will stash all my recipes and links to the recipes on this page:

Spanish Chicken with Chorizo and Potatoes by Nigella Lawson

Serves 6

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil
12 chicken thighs (I use boneless and skinless and often use a mix of breasts and thighs)
750 grams chorizo, cut into 1 1/2 inch chunks
1 kilogram new potatoes, halved
2 red onions, peeled and roughly chopped
2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 orange

Method:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Put 1 teaspoon of the oil in the each bottom of 2 shallow roasting pans. Rub the chicken with the rest of the oil and divide the chicken pieces between the pans.

Divide the chorizo, potatoes, and onions between the two roasting pans. Grate the orange zest , using the whole orange, and set aside. Cut the orange in half and squeeze the juice from one side over each pan. Sprinkle with oregano and the orange zest.

Cook for 1 hour, swapping the top tray and bottom tray after 30 minutes and basting the contents with the pan juices.





Baked Ham with Brown Sugar Mustard Glaze
12 servings and then leftovers

Ingredients:

Whole cloves for studding the ham
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup prepared mustard
2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
1 12-lb smoked ham
1/2 tsp. ground cloves (this is a variation from the original recipe)3

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Glaze:
Add brown sugar, mustard, vinegar, and ground cloves together in a bowl (as shown in the picture).

Place ham in roasting pan. Score the ham into diamonds. Stud the ham with whole cloves (as shown in the picture).

Pour the glaze over the ham (as shown in the picture). The original recipe doesn't add the glaze until the very end but I add it from the beginning of the roasting time and continue to spoon the glaze over the ham as it cooks.

Bake ham for 1 1/2 hours but make sure to verify the cooking time depending upon the size of the ham. Test with a meat thermometer to ensure the internal cooking temperature is 140F.

Transfer to a serving platter and let the meat rest for 15 minutes before carving.

Perfect Roast Chicken

I've been making this roast chicken for so long that I can't recall where I got the original recipe from so my apologies for not giving where and if credit is due. And unfortunately, it's a recipe where I don't measure but I will try to give some measurements for those who want to try it at home.

Perfect Roast Chicken
Serves approximately 4.

Ingredients:

• Whole chicken
• Olive oil (approx. 2 Tablespoons)
• Whole lemon (you can also use an orange)
• Fresh thyme (4-5 stems)
• Fresh rosemary (2 long stalks)
• Salt (approximately 2 teaspoons but really to taste)
• Pepper (approximately 2 teaspoons but again to taste)
• Garlic - fresh chopped (5-6 cloves) (I cheat and use prepared chopped garlic and then I use 2 big Tablespoons)
• Water

Rinse your chicken and check the cavity for any giblets. Place it into the roasting pan. 

Rinse the lemon and pierce in several places with a knife. Spoon about a teaspoon of garlic into the cavity of the chicken and then place the lemon into the cavity.

Drizzle the olive oil over the chicken. If you have a flavoured olive oil -- definitely use that but you don't need to. It's a great place to experiment with flavours.

Spread the garlic over the outside of the chicken -- hands are best for this. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. 

Note about the fresh herbs - for both thyme and rosemary, take the stalks from the top and slide your hand down the stalk pulling the needles/leaves off as you go. I usually lightly chop both to help release their flavours. These herbs are quite sturdy and can be stored in a sealed bag in the vegetable drawer of the refrigerator. 

Sprinkle both the thyme and rosemary over the chicken.

You will want to add a tiny bit of water to the roasting pan. Be careful not to pour over your beautifully dressed chicken washing off all your work. Just enough water to barely cover the bottom of the pan.   

Cook for about an hour and 15 minutes at 350F. The internal temperature should be 165F on the meat thermometer for food safe. 

I start my chicken covered to increase its juiciness and then uncover about halfway through the cooking time to cook the skin.

And voila!