If I didn’t live on the 4th floor, I would have done the chicken on the grill.  It was still pretty darn good in the oven.

Jerk marinade / sauce:

• 1 habanero, Scotch bonnet or jalapeno pepper (remove seeds & ribs if using habanero or Scotch bonnet)
• 2 scallions
• 3 cloves garlic
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 tbsp allspice, freshly ground if possible
• juice of 2 limes
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1/2 cup pineapple juice (or 1/2 cup pineapple - it’s all going in the blender anyway)

Combine everything in a food processor, puree until smooth.  Reserve 1/2 a cup for dipping.

Combine the rest with 1 whole chicken (cut up) and marinade overnight.

Preheat the oven to 400F.  Cook chicken for about an hour.

Serve w/ beans and rice (those recipes have already appeared in this blog).  Make sure you have extra limes for squeezing on top.

Dylan Report: He loved the beans but wasn’t interested in the chicken.  He generally doesn’t like rice, so we haven’t tried this version on him yet.  (Maybe I’ll make a rice cake and tell him it’s a spinach pancake…)

This was an almost oppresively healthy meal, but the potatoes in the griddlecakes made it filling, and the rosemary, spinach and feta made it tasty.  The lima beans were also amazingly good - dry cooking them makes them fluffy without becoming grainy, and there is almost no vegetable that the addition of Italian herbs and chopped green olives can’t improve. Continue reading →

The baked beans are not quite done yet, but I do not think I like this recipe.   For one, it’s got four different sweeteners in it (maple syrup, molasses, honey, and sugar), and I like my savory foods *savory*.  For another, I think I may have burned it.  We’ll see.

[Post-tasting notes: the beans were atrocious.  I have thrown them out.  What a waste of bacon!  For excellent baked beans, try Alton Brown's Once And Future Beans.]

The Roasted Broccoli Medley is misnamed (broccoli medley implies several varieties of broccoli - this is a vegetable medley containing broccoli) but simple and good.

• 1 head broccoli cut into florets
• 1 large red onion, thinly sliced
• 1 each large red and green bell peppers, sliced
• 4-5 large cloves garlic
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/8 cup soy sauce
• 1 tbsp Italian herb blend

Toss everything together in a big bowl, then roast at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until veggies are slightly softened and well browned.

The veggies tonight are going onto open-faced sandwiches and topped with melted provolone.  Mmmmm, cheese!

The ribs were from the farmer’s market - there’s a pig guy I usually buy bacon from, but he was out by the time I got there so I went for some ribs instead.  The gratin is a WF Cookbook recipe, with collard greens standing in for kale because my supermarket is small and local and not always well stocked.

For the ribs, I simply rubbed them down with salt, pepper, and Penzey’s Northwood’s Seasoning and tossed them into the slow cooker with 1 can chopped green chiles, 1 sliced onion, and 2 cubes frozen spicy chicken stock (leftover from the chili from last Monday).  I set it to low and let it braise for 8 hours, though it probably would have been ready after 6.  It was literally falling off the bone and melt-in-your-mouth tender.  The onions and chiles disappeared into a rich silky sauce and the whole thing was pretty much delicious. Continue reading →

All recipes for cilantro-lime rice follow the same basic formula, and this one does not stray from the path.

Heat a few tbsp olive oil in a saucepan with a tight fitting lid.  Add some minced garlic, lime zest & lime juice, salt.  Add rice (I made 1.5 cups), saute until lightly browned and nutty.  Add water (twice as much water as rice), cover and let steam 30 minutes.  Stir in minced cilantro and scallions just before serving.  (Most recipes, including this one, also call for chopped spinach.  I accidentally turned all the spinach in my fridge into creamed spinach two nights ago, and so had none left for this rice.  Oops!) Continue reading →