I love cookbooks. I ordered this non-assuming book, Victuals by Ronni Lundy, thinking it was a cookbook. I was surprised to find it has recipes but is something quite different.

Victuals, pronounced ‘vi-dls, is an amazing journey into life and food in the Appalachian region. The stories and recollections took me back to my grandparent’s farm.

The recipes are authentic to the region—things like buttermilk brown sugar pie, speckled butter bean cassoulet with rabbit confit (I might have preferred they had not pictured the skinned rabbit carcass), and sorghum and apple sticky pudding.

A recipe I am planning on making this week is Kale Potato Cakes. It looks amazing and you can use left-over mashed potatoes and/or greens. You add a bit of Asiago cheese and brown till crispy in a olive oil.

Kale-Potato Cakes

Victuals wasn’t what I thought it was, but I love it. Ronni Lundy writes with warmth and wit. I felt as if I went back in time a hundred years to a slower time when folks lived off the land and enjoyed life. I received this book in exchange for an honest review from Blogging for Books.

THE ABSOLUTE BEST ROAST CHICKEN EVER!

My daughter Amy is an avid fitness expert and also a great cook. Her conversation is peppered with words like good fats, metabolize, gluten and the like. I just let her talk and hope she doesn't notice when I butter my bread. Anyway, she's always up for a good roast chicken and asked me to share this one.

Over the years, I've cooked a lot of chicken. It' a staple of life, right? I've stuffed, brined, fried, grilled, smoked, steamed-well, you get the idea, with a wide range of mixed results, from pretty good to straight-to-the-stock-pot.

I recently came across Chef John's Salted Roast Chicken recipe. If you haven't seen any of his videos, you should. He is delightful to watch and a fabulous chef.

This is, by far, the best roast chicken recipe I have ever tried, and perhaps the easiest.

Best and Easiest don't usually go in the same sentence, but this is the exception.

It is deceptively simple. Really. For the chicken, all you need is kosher salt. Thant's it! 

Imagine enjoying this beautiful dish on a weeknight, with only 20 minutes active work time. The oven does the rest.

The secret is the high cooking temp. You will roast the chicken at 450 degrees for about 50 minutes depending on the size. The high heat and kosher salt lock the juices in and makes the skin dry and crispy. 

Roasted on this high temp, it will ALWAYS be juicy and the skin will be crisp. Guaranteed.

(Well, that's assuming you don't over cook it, but I'm sure you wont.)

Interested? Let's get to work. 

Start with a chicken and kosher salt.

My grocery recently had a sale on chickens. 39 cents a pound. 

I wasn't sure if you'd believe it or not, so I took a pic of the label.

I bought 18. If we didn't have chicken once a week before the sale,

we do now.

 Dry the skin thoroughly with paper towels. This helps 

the skin to brown.

Tie the legs together with butcher's twine and tuck the wings

 under.Tying the legs keeps them closer to the body and they 

won't dry out as bad. Sprinkle about 3 T of Kosher salt all 

over the chicken, including the cavity. It will be more than 

you think you need, but trust me this time. A word of warning, 

do this on your cutting board. You don't want extra salt on 

the bottom of your pan, since we're going to make a pan sauce.

That's all the prep. Now, pop it in a 450 degree oven for about

50 minutes until it reaches 165 degrees internal temp.

I use an enameled cast iron pan so I can make the pan sauce

over the top burners. 

This isn't in Chef John's recipe, but I always throw roast 

vegetables with my chicken. It's a complete meal and since the 

oven's on anyway, I might as well use it. I use whatever vegetables 

I have on hand. In the winter, I sometimes add turnips and other 

root vegetables. 

Chop the veggies, toss with salt, pepper and a little 

olive oil. I love a sprinkle of Herbs de Provence. It's 

a mixture of herbs from the south of France. As it cooks, 

it gives off an amazing, earthy aroma. Now, put them

in the oven with the chicken.

 While the chicken is cooking, gather the ingredients

for a quick pan sauce. You will need a handful of fresh thyme, one lemon,

2 T of butter and 1/3 cup of chicken broth.

 Remove the thyme stems and discard. You should

have about 1-2 T of leaves. I'm sure you could use 

dried thyme if you don't have fresh. Just reduce the amount

by 1/2 to 2/3.

 Once the chicken is done, remove it to a platter

and tent foil over it. Put the pan over a burner and scrape up

browned bits. 

 Pour the chicken broth and lemon juice in and reduce by half. 

Since I had to juice the lemon, I slice it very thinly and add it to

the sauce. It's pretty and delicious.

 Once the sauce is reduced, remove it from heat and add 

2 T of butter cut into small chunks, and whisk. 

The sauce will thicken slightly. Check for seasonings. 

 Arrange the chicken on a platter surrounded by the vegetables

and pour that amazing thyme-butter sauce over the top. 

(I hope Amy notices it's only 2 T of butter for the whole dish.)

JUICY, DELICIOUS, AMAZING!

A Delcious Quick and Easy Summer Supper- Crispy Chicken Thighs with a Blueberry Salad

 Crispy sauteed chicken thighs with a delicious blueberry salad-

The perfect meal for a hot  summer day.

I'm so glad that chicken thighs have finally come into vogue. The best restaurants in New Orleans now feature the lowly chicken thigh on their prestigious menus. In my opinion, the dark meat has so much more flavor. This quick and easy recipe is so refreshing and ready in less than thirty minutes.

 This is an adaptation of a Michael Symon's recipe from his fabulous cookbook, 5 in 5.  To reduce cooking time, you can remove the bone and pound the thigh to make it thinner. It will reduce the cooking time, but you will sacrifice flavor in the process. 

Ingredients

4 bone-in, skin-in chicken thighs 
2 T olive oil
1- 6 ounce pkg fresh blueberries
4 cups arugula
1 cup thinly sliced red onions
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
Balsamic Vinaigrette (I use Emeril's recipe or you can use a purchased one.)
2 T crumbled blue cheese (optional)
Kosher Salt
Freshly-ground pepper

Dry the chicken thighs with paper towels, in order to crisp the skin.
Sprinkle generously with kosher salt and fresh-ground pepper.

Add olive oil to a heavy skillet until medium-hot. (I prefer cast ion.)
Place the chicken, skin side down in the skillet and sear until the
skin is crispy, about 4 minutes.

Flip the chicken and sear on the other side for about 3 minutes.
Slip the skillet into a 375 degree oven for about 6-7 minutes.

 While the chicken finishes in the oven, slice the onion and
add arugula and torn basil to a bowl.

 Remove the chicken thighs from the oven and check the temperature. in the
thickest part (being careful the thermometer doesn't touch the bone).
It should be 165-170 degrees.

Notice that crispy skin with only 2 T of oil for the whole meal.

Toss the salad lightly with the vinaigrette. Salt and pepper 

to taste and sprinkle blue cheese on top.

Enjoy! 

GRANDMOTHER HILL'S CHICKEN AND DUMPLINGS

My mother-in-law, Louise Hill, made the absolute best chicken and dumplings in the world! She made a pot for almost every family gathering.

Like a lot of older folks, she didn't use a recipe--just add a little of this and a dab of that.

She was visiting my daughter, Amy Ramsey, one day. Amy talked her into making a pot, then followed behind her carefully measuring everything she added.



In relaying her recipe, I hope I've done her justice. This is one of our family's most treasured recipes, if not THE most treasured one.

Start with a baking or stewing hen. The flavor is much better than a young chicken.

The secret to great dumplings is a well-seasoned stock. Rough cut a few
stalks of celery, 2 or 3 large carrots, a head of garlic and an onion. Add
all to a stock pot along with the hen and a generous amount of salt and pepper,
two bay leaves, garlic salt and a touch of cayenne.

Once the water comes to a rumbling boil, cut the heat down to a slow
simmer and allow to cook until the hen is tender, about 3-4 hours.

 

Once the hen is tender, take out of the water and set aside to cool.
 



Time for the DUMPLINGS!
It really doesn't get much simpler than this. You will need:
3-3 1/2 cups self-rising flour
2 T Crisco
1 cup hot water
I know that most recipes call for very cold water. I've tried it both
ways, but the hot water makes a silkier dough.

Turn out onto a floured surface. I use my countertop. Knead for
2 or 3 minutes until the dough is smooth.

Using a floured rolling pin, roll out the dough to about

1/8" thick. You don't have to worry about trying to make it too pretty.

 

With a knife, cut the dough into small squares, about 1-1/2 " each.

 

Drop one by one into boiling chicken stock. Shake the pot

gently as you add the dumplings. When they are all added, cook

about 3-4 minutes and then take off the heat. The extra flour

on the dumplings will thicken the stock.

 

To the pot add 1 can cream of mushroom soup, 1 stick of butter

and a 1/2 cup of milk. (I use heavy whipping cream.)

My mother-in-law is the only one I've ever known that did this

last step. Chop up and add two boiled eggs to the top.

The eggs make a wonderful garnish, but also, the flavor with

the dumplings is delicious!

 

 

I would love to hear about your family's treasured recipes. As mothers and grandmothers, it is our responsibility to keep our beloved traditions of food alive.

CHICKEN CONFIT

You got it right. Chicken confit--not duck.

We were having our supper club over last week and I wanted to cook something a bit different. I thought of duck confit, which I adore, with it's crispy skin and melting tender meat. But it's hard to find duck leg quarters, and I was afraid some folks might not like duck anyway.

So, I came upon the idea of using the centuries old technique of confit with chicken.

 Why not, right?

It elevates the lowly leg quarters to a meal fit for, well, your best friends!

It's a very simple recipe. Even though it takes a couple of days to make, only about an hour is active cook time.

INGREDIENTS:

4 chicken leg quarters
2-3 cups duck fat or mixture of vegetable and olive oil
6 T salt
1 shallot-minced
6 garlic cloves-smashed
6 sprigs fresh thyme
Coarsely ground black pepper


Chicken Confit has crisp skin and
luscious meatthat melts in your mouth.



In a small bowl, mix the scallions,
garlic, fresh thyme and black pepper.
 

Rub the scallot/garlic mix into the
chicken, being careful to rub it under the skin.
Fit the chicken in a single layer into a gallon-size zip-lock.
Refrigerate overnight.

The next morning, wash the leg
quarters in cool water to remove the salt mixture.
 Place the leg quarters into an oven-safe dish and pour duck fat or
a mixture of duck fat and olive oil over the legs to completely cover them.
Bake uncovered in a 225 degree oven for 3-4 hours until a toothpick easily
pierces the skin and meat.

Remove from the oven and pour the fat off. Save it to season other dishes.

Heat a heavy skillet until very hot. Sear the leg quarters, skin side down until crispy.

 

SERVE AND ENJOY!

 

 

Meet our supper club. (We don't always segregate the men.) Our guests were:

Jane and Al Fandrich,

Terri and Allen Sayre,

 Janis and Bob Ducote,

Desi and Pat Cross

 Joyce and Warren Haun.