Easy, yummy BBQ Chicken

If you know me, you know that I do a lot of cooking. I don't really have much choice. Feeding the monkeys is a full time job in and of itself, especially monkey #1, who, if there isn't a homemade meal readily available, will alternate between the fridge and pantry, and proclaim,

There's no FOOD around here!

Even though there is food; it's just not prepared. God forbid they feed themselves. Just kidding - they're getting better - it's all a learning process, right? When I was 19, all I knew how to cook was Macaroni 'n' Cheese and cold cereal.  Besides I'm happy that they'd rather have my cooking.So why don't I do more cooking posts? Good question. Mostly the reason is, when I'm cooking, I'm rocking & rolling, and don't think to take pictures until after everything is finished. Plus, I don't have a very photogenic kitchen and a super-duper camera like some people. I use my iPhone in my grungy old kitchen with the fluorescent lights from hell. (You know, one bulb is always flickering, and they do that weird humming noise until you bang on the ceiling?)So, if you, my viewing public, don't mind some yellow-ish photos, I will be happy to share more recipes. My cooking style is mostly homemade, using as few packaged products as possible. Usually I have a long version, and a shortcut version of what I'm making, depending on how much time I have, what I have on hand, and the status of the growling coming from the Monkeys. I use sugar, I use butter, I use gluten (whatever the FUCK that is anyway), I use meat, so if you are looking for some specialty diet, this ain't  the place for you. BUT I do try to make everything as fresh and (relatively) healthy as possible; i.e., while I do use butter, I use olive oil more.If you like it, great if not, too bad. Around here,

You get what you get, and you don't throw a fit.

BBQ Chicken:

Heat oven to 350°

• 1 ½ - 2  Roasting chickens, cut into pieces or halves
• Kosher salt
• ½ Onion, sliced lengthwise
• 1-2 whole cloves garlic, no need to peel
• olive oil
• squeeze of lemon
• water

(optional side dishes - baked sweet potato, and sautéed broccoli rabe; see below)

Sprinkle salt on chicken, and place on a rack in a baking pan (I used a cooling rack on a cookie sheet - see picture). Spread pieces of onion and cloves of garlic all around the pieces of chicken. No need for perfection - you just want to get some flavor in there. Then drizzle olive oil over the top, and squeeze a wedge or two of lemon over everything. You can just leave the lemon wedges in the pan, as the flavor and aroma will mix in while everything is cooking. If you want to, and you have it available, you can add fresh herbs like rosemary or thyme too, but I didn't do that this time. This was just a quick n' dirty throw-it-in-the-oven type of dinner.When your chicken is seasoned, add about ¾ cup of water to the pan, cover the whole thing tightly with foil, and stick in the oven. Leave it for about an hour and a half, more or less. (The longer it cooks, the more tender your chicken will be, but too long and it will fall apart. Really too long and it will turn to charcoal and your house will burn down. So think about and hour - hour and a half.)(Super secret tip! This is also how I make melt-in-your-mouth BBQ ribs! Only you cook those for about 3 hours.)After I got the chicken in the oven, I scrubbed & dried some sweet potatoes, schmeared them with olive oil & sprinkled with Kosher salt. I placed these on a piece of foil (because they drip when cooking) right on the bottom rack of the oven.Do some laundry, sweep the front patio or go on Pinterest for awhile.Wash & trim your broccoli rabe. I didn't take this picture, but it looks like this (click for source):Now you might be saying to yourself, "Ew, it's all green, and leafy; I'm not going to eat that!"Oh yes, you will eat it, mister, and you will like it!This stuff is loaded with vitamins, and even though it looks gross to you non-veggie eaters out there, it is really quite delicious, especially when prepared right. AND it's the perfect compliment to your BBQ so quit yer bitchin and make it already! It cooks pretty fast, and it tastes best when eaten right away, so you can wait until your chicken is almost done to start it.

Sautéed Broccoli Rabe

Put a large pot of water on to boil. When boiling, add a generous amount of salt (a handful). Throw in the broccoli rabe and let cook for about 4-5 minutes, or until the stalks are just tender enough when pierced with a fork or knife.While the broccoli rabe is cooking, chop 2 cloves of garlic.Drain broccoli rabe in colander and dump out the water. Put the pot back on the stove and heat up 2 Tbsp olive oil. Sautée the garlic just until translucent (about a minute or two on medium-high heat. Not too long or too hot, or it will burn. Hint: if you do burn garlic, toss it and start over. It won't taste good). Then add the broccoli rabe back to the pan, and heat through. It will only take a couple of minutes. Squeeze lemon over the top, and you're done! Super easy & good for you!Now, back to your chicken.Before removing the chicken from the oven, go outside and heat up your grill to about 400°. (If you don't have one, I'm sure a grill pan or an indoor grill will work.) Make sure to spray the grill with non-stick spray or oil the grill racks with olive oil.Remove the chicken from the oven and carefully drain the water from the pan. Get some BBQ sauce and a cold beer and take everything out to the grill.Throw your chicken on the grill, then close the grill. Flip the chicken over back and forth, every 3-4 minutes or so. Spread the BBQ sauce on with a basting brush every time you move the chicken. Do this a few times, just until you have gotten a nice glaze of sauce and some nice crispy grill marks, to your taste. I like mine just a teeny bit burnt around the edges. But I'm weird. At any rate, you should only have the chicken on the grill for about 15 minutes (give or take) altogether. Otherwise it will get dried out.Be sure to sip the cold beer while you are grilling. Don't ask why. Just do it.Then when you get the pan in the house, you want to test a chicken wing, just to check and see how it came out. And before you knew it you ate two chicken wings and forgot to take a picture.

Then you say to yourself:holy shit that was the best BBQ chicken everand decide to post it on instagram. (Making sure to #tweet it as well.) Then you decide you'd better take a pretty picture of it before you maul the rest of it.Now go eat.xo heidi

Spaghetti-Ah Sauce-Ah

This weekend, I am running away. My wonderful husband gave me an awesome Christmas gift this year - I'm going to Vegas to see CHER!! And no boys allowed, either! Just me and my amazing friend Jeanette. We always have a good time together, and we're both ready for a little reprieve. No laundry, no cooking, no cleaning, no running to Wal-Mart. So while we are rocking out to "Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves," you can make something yummy for your tummy. 

The name for this recipe comes from the way my great-grandmother, Nonna Ida (ee-dah), pronounced things - Spaghetti-ah Sauce-ah. She was the quintessential Italian grandmother. Made everything from scratch, gave the most bosom-squishy hugs, loved all of us, and didn't take any crap from anyone. She even did that thing where they throw their slipper at you because they can't get to you fast enough to give you a smack. (She never did that to me, I was of course a little angel who never did anything wrong. Or maybe I was just the right amount of scared of her. I think it was one of my cousins or uncles who got the shoe. If I had to guess, my cousin Michael or Uncle Marc.)

This may not seem like a quick recipe, but it has saved me more time over and over again. And by now, it’s easy for me to make since I’ve done it so often. Once you get everything in the pot, all you have to do is boil some pasta, and that’s it. And I make enough to have leftovers the next day - cook once, eat twice! It’s my family’s favorite.

This recipe has been handed down in my family for generations. We all put our own spin on it, and here's how I make mine:

(I have to apologize in advance for my food photography. Haven't quite figured that one out yet. Besides, I have yucky fluorescent lighting in my kitchen. If you have any photo tips, I'd love to hear them.)

Ingredients:

Olive Oil - Extra virgin, baby.

1 large onion, chopped

3-5 cloves of garlic, peeled, smashed, and chopped

1 carrot, shredded

1 stalk of celery, chopped fine

2 lbs. lean ground beef (you can do half beef and half sausage for richer flavor, or ground turkey or chicken to keep it on the light side. It’s all good.)

1+ Tbsp Italian seasoning

about 1-2 tsp kosher salt (start with 1, then add to taste after all ingredients are together)

fresh ground black pepper

a small dash of cinnamon

1 can tomato paste (I use Contadina or Progresso)

¼ - ½ Cup of red wine

Fresh Basil leaves, if you have them (julienne and throw on top before serving)

2 large cans whole peeled tomatoes, in juice.  This is the secret!  You have to use the whole peeled tomatoes - before adding them to the sauce, chop them (not too chunky, not too thin) in the blender, food processor, or right in the can if you have a stick blender. If using a blender or processor, drain the tomatoes first, but save the juice.  The whole tomatoes make the sauce taste FRESH.  Make sure the canned tomatoes are packed in juice, not in tomato puree; puree will make it thicker, but the taste is not as fresh.  

So, get a good, heavy pot and heat it over med-high heat, just a couple of minutes.  Add Olive oil.  (If it smokes, the pan is too hot and you will burn the garlic.  We do not want to burn the garlic!  Take the pan off the heat so it will cool)  Throw in your onion, carrot, and celery, and saute for a few minutes, then add the garlic.  You can add a pinch of the salt here to loosen up the veggies.  When they are translucent, add the meat, and let it brown.  When the meat is almost done, add the spices.  Rub the dry Italian seasoning together in your palms as you add it; this will bring out the aroma.  The cinnamon should just be a tiny shake. Half a pinch, at most.  It flavors the meat, but you don't want it to taste like cinnamon, got it?  Okay, when the meat is brown, turn down the heat just a notch, and add the tomato paste.  

Stir it into the meat, and mix it all up.  After a couple of minutes, it will go from a reddish color to a brownish color.  This is when you add the wine.  Ahhhh! It smells so good!  Stir it up (little darling), and scrape the bottom of the pan.  It will deglaze the pan, and cut the acid of the tomatoes.  Then add the tomatoes with their juices.  Let it simmer about 20-30 minutes.  You can leave it on low while dinner is being served, in case anyone wants seconds.  Make sure you pour a glass of wine for yourself, to taste while the sauce is simmering.  This is very important. ;)

If you have a rind of Parmeggiano-Reggiano in the fridge that's all used up, you can throw that in the pot while it's simmering.  Also, at the very end, if you have any fresh basil, tear that up and throw that in, too, if you like it, or, simply, on each serving.  If you like mushrooms, save a bit of the onion, and saute the mushrooms with the onion in a separate pan, and add to the sauce with the tomatoes.  Otherwise they will get all broken up when you are stirring the meat. 

This is my basic sauce for everything from spaghetti to lasagne.  I always use Barilla pasta.  Cheap stuff gets too starchy and gummy.  Make sure you put plenty of salt in the pasta water, otherwise the pasta is too bland.  Stir the pasta right after you put in in the water, so it won't stick together when cooking.

We always put butter on the hot pasta after it's done. 

This, like I said, is a family recipe, but it's taken me 19 years to perfect it.  I'm sure it will get changed many many times more on its journey, and I hope the hungry souls trying it out along the way will rub their bellies in warm satisfaction.  Let me know how your family likes it!

Mangia!

(Eat-Ah!)

PS For a yummy garlic bread, get a fresh crusty loaf, and cut it in half lengthwise.  Take half a stick of soft butter, and mix in some fresh garlic, smashed as much as you can, and chopped.  (smashing it releases the juices)  Spread this on the open faces of the cut loaf, sprinkle with a bit of parmesan cheese & chopped parsley.  Put in 400〫oven about 10-15 min til it starts to brown around the edges.  Yum! 

Cher loves Spaghetti.

I was born in the wagon of a travelin' show

My mama used to danceCOOK SPAGHETTI for the money they'd throw

Papa would do whatever he could

Preach a little gospel

Sell a couple bottles of Doctor GoodSPAGHETTI SAUCE

Gypsies, tramps and thieves

We'd hear it from the people of the town

They'd call us gypsies, tramps and thieves

But every night all the men would come around

And lay their money downEAT OUR SPAGHETTI

Picked up a boy just south of Mobile

Gave him a ride, filled him with a hot meal OF SPAGHETTI

I was sixteen, he was twenty-one

Rode with us to Memphis

And papa woulda shot him if he knew what he'd done (HE ATE ALL THE SPAGHETTI!!)

Have a good weekend!

With love,

Heidi

P.S. for Cher fans: check out my movie review of Burlesque.