Slow Rosted Herb Chicken

I have been cooking a lot lately, but posting very little. I blame the full time job. Do you know that there are some people who blog for a living? Those people must have rich husbands who do more than go to college.

What a life.

I made roast chicken though. I made it because my husband was gone for two. whole. months. doing an internship in San Francisco. When a loved one is gone for an extended period of time and then return home, you make a roast chicken to celebrate. It's just what you do.

Andrew loved it. I got more rave reviews from this meal than all other meals combined. It was so nice.The chicken was fall-off-the-bone tender and had a rich, herby flavor without being overwhelming or overdone.

Making a roasted chicken is simple, easy, delicious, and makes  you feel like you're doing something really fancy like. It's a great feeling.

Enjoy!

Slow Roasted Herb Chicken

•  1 whole chicken
• 2 TBS chopped sage
• 2 tsp dried rosemary
• 1 TBS chopped basil
• 1 bulb of garlic (4 cloves diced, 6 whole cloves)
• 2 TBS olive oil 
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 lemon cut length wise into 6 wedges
• 1/2 onion, chunked
• 2-3 sage leaves, whole
• 2-3 basil leaves, whole
• 1 cup white wine

1. Remove the giblets and neck from the inside of the chicken. Rinse the chicken off under cold water, then use a paper towel to pat dry on the inside and out.
2. In a bowl, combine: sage, rosemary, basil, diced garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper, and lemon juice from one wedge.
3. Rub this herb mixture under the chicken's skin, leaving 2 TBS to rub on top of the chicken. Squirt some lemon juice on top of the chicken.
4. Stuff the chicken's cavity with the garlic cloves, lemon wedges, onions, and extra sage and basil leaves.
5. Let marinate over night.
6. Put 1 cup of white wine in a glass cake pan or baking tray. Place the chicken in the baking dish and cook at 320º for about 2 hours.

Rice Pilaf & Ramblings

I made these buttermilk biscuits the other day. Look delicious? They were disgusting. Literally horrible. This was better:

We'll get to that in a minute.

For the last two months, Andrew has been living and working in San Francisco while I have been living and working in Provo, Utah. He definitely got the cooler life. While he's been away I've been eating cereal for dinner, watching tons of Gilmore Girls reruns, and decorating.

See, we live in this apartment that kind of resembles a jail cell. There's a lot of lovely, stark white cinder block. Everywhere. When we moved in we figured we'd live here for a few months because it was great deal, but then we ended up getting lazy and decided that moving sucks and living somewhere that doesn't have mold issues is overrated.

So, since we decided to stay I decided to decorate on the cheap. Mind you that I am putting my husband through school so a lot of what we do is on the cheap. Now if you hate it and think it's awful, humor me because I am kind of in love with the new decor.

I bought black poster board ($.68) and three sheets of stationary ($1.25), printed out some images from the internet, traced them on to the black paper, snip, snip, snipped away, taped them on the stationary and stuck them in frames I bought at Ikea a while back.

It took me approximately 2ish hours and I was dead pleased by the results. I think I spent the next to hours admiring them.

Now featuring the cinder block. I can't hang pictures on the walls because we get fined for making holes and 3M strips don't work on it. So, I finally decided to do this.

It's not going to be featured on Martha Stewart Living anytime soon, but it makes me happy.

And I got ducks. The yellow one is named Cheryl. The red one is unnamed. Any suggestions?

Now about that rice pilaf... it is good and easy and a great addition to any meal.

Enjoy!

Mama's Rice Pilaf

• 1 1/2 cups white rice
• 3 cups low sodium chicken broth
• nickle size bunch of angel hair spaghetti (uncooked)
• 1/4 an onion, diced
• 2 tsp butter
• garlic powder
• onion powder
• salt
• dash of cayenne pepper

1. Break up the angel hair pasta into 1/2 inch sections. Place in a skillet with the butter and brown the noodles over medium-high heat (about 4 minutes). Stir occasionally or burning is eminent. 
2. Place the browned spaghetti, rice, chicken broth, and raw onions into a rice cooker and let cook. Or if you don't have a rice cooker, place browned spaghetti, rice, chicken broth, and raw onions in a large pot with a lid and bring to a boil. As soon as it reaches a boil, turn heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes.
3. If rice is too dry when done, add more chicken broth, a tablespoon at a time.
4. When rice is cooked thoroughly, add in the seasonings in to taste.

Blueberry buttermilk syrup

I bought a big thing of blueberries from Costco a few days ago because I've been craving some blueberry pancakes. It took me a few days to get around to making the pancakes but in the mean time I have been chowing down on the blueberries. They are so good!

Something I learned while eating a blueberry is that the insides are not blue. That came as quite a shock to me. I don't think I had ever eaten blueberries plain before so I was unaware of this phenomenon. I took a delicious, crisp bite into it and lo and behold... a little white blueberry belly!

Blueberries. You learn something new every day.

Anyway, tonight I made blueberry pancakes from this buttermilk pancake recipe (because I think there is nothing better than buttermilk pancakes in the world) and mixed a handful of blueberries into the batter. Easy-peasy.

Then I went ahead and made some blueberry buttermilk syrup that I dreamed up and oh. my. gosh.

I really enjoyed it.

I hope you try it and enjoy it to.

Blueberry Buttermilk Syrup*

• 1 stick of butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1/4 cup fresh blueberries, pureed
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp baking soda

1. In a food processor or blender, throw in two handfuls of fresh or frozen blueberries and blend until pureed. 
2. Melt the stick of butter in a sauce pan. Add the sugar, buttermilk, and blueberry puree.
3. Bring to a boil and stir constantly.
4. Remove from heat and add the vanilla and baking soda**.
5. Stir to make frothy. You can strain it at this point to get out any pieces of blueberry skin, but I don't. That's where all the fiber and antioxidants live! Plus its yummy.

*Omit the blueberries and you have yourself some delicious Toolson Buttermilk Syrup which is practically divine all by itself. The blueberries though... they just push it right through those pearly gates.

**The baking soda and blueberries causes a chemical reaction that turns the foam green. Don't worry about it, after a few minutes you get a nice deep navy color.