cinq à sept

Soooo, I somehow failed to actually photograph the process when cooking this amazingly simple but yummmmmy meal last week. But at least I got the actual plate shot before I dove in! And let me tell you, it was de-li-cious.

I am a big fan of roasting the whole chicken when cooking for the clan, and here’s why:

the aroma.. the whole house smells like thanksgiving day while waiting for dinner to be ready. THE. BEST.
downtime: it’s a bit of preparation, but once the chicken is in, I have time to throw together the other sides, and then clean up the kitchen a bit before it’s time to eat!
leftovers. period.
chicken stock!! I never feel wasteful after roasting a chicken. we make use of the whole thing.. The stock, if jarred properly, can be used for months to come.

Inside of this particular chicken, which was roughly 3 1/2- 4 1/2 lbs, I used;

1 lemon, thinly sliced
2 cloves of garlic, halved
rosemary and thyme sprigs(to eye)

For the rub, I used;

extra virgin olive oil
ground himalayan pink salt
fresh ground pepper
rub the chicken well with the oil, and then rub in the salt and pepper (inside and out).. because I used the grinders, I just eyeball it. Make sure it’s covered well, and that when you’re rubbing it in, you can really feel the salt granules. To be perfectly honest, I almost never make the same recipe twice.. there’s always a little tweak here and there, and I encourage you to add/subtract your own touches to any recipe I share! I am no master chef here, just learning as I go along.

Ok, so I roasted it at 425 for 15 minutes, and then reduced the heat to 375 and roasted for another hour before removing it. I always baste the chicken throughout the cooking process.. keeps the skin crispy and golden, as that is one of my favorite parts to eat fresh out of the oven! I then let it sit for another 20 minutes before carving it. And let me tell you. Damn. It was so good. Seriously, the meat was so juicy and tender. I was pretty impressed with myself this particular evening!

Oh, and for the gravy, I just made a quick roue with a little water and flour, added it to the grease left in the pan, added a little salt and pepper, and cooked it down just a few minutes.. easy enough.

Paired up with some roasted asparagus and potatoes, and we had ourselves another perfect summer-to-fall transition meal.

la bonne maman

These days, I often feel very very scattered. I have thoughts and ideas and dreams and goals spewing from my ears (I mean like smoke shooting out both sides sort of shit). I have laundry piles that never seem to get folded, even though it feels like all I am ever doing is folding laundry. I have three businesses that I am attempting to build, two children that I am attempting to raise, and then there’s that marriage thing too.. I have friendships I adore and cherish and am always trying to find time for. I have my body, heart, and mind that I want to take care of.. (my mere 5k a week is all I’ve been finding time to fit in lately.) I haven’t been out for a ‘cinq à sept‘ (happy hour in french) in, well, I actually have no idea how long. Our happy hours currently consist of dinner and bath time.

These days, it seems, I spend most of my time in the kitchen. And ironically, this is by choice.. I mean, if you had asked me 6 years ago if I liked cooking, (let alone did it), I would have probably responded with something like, wait, what’s that??. The kitchen has become, for me, a place where I can focus. Where I can get creative. Where I can try new things. Where I can put on music and get messy and make mistakes and sip on some delicious red wine while doing it, of course.

And then, the best part at the end of all of this, is that I get to feed my people. And that grounds me and brings focus and calm and peace into my crazy, short, often stressful days. This is my new cinq à sept, and I must say, as surprised as my 27 year-old self is about it, I am totally ok with it.

It’s been chilling down at night here in Québec City, and I’m finding myself starting to crave some of my staple fall foods and spices. I threw this sort of play-by-play version of a sort of autumn swedish meatballs dish together with some frozen meat we had in the freezer and some fresh veggies the girls and I had picked up at Marché du Vieux Port on Sunday. My favorite part about living in a big farming community, is that you always have fresh, local stuff at your fingertips. The rosemary and thyme on the potatoes, and the little bit of allspice I threw in last minute into the meatball sauce(which I made with coffee creamer btw… ha!), added just the perfect touch of cool weather comfort, while the buttery corn still had us holding onto the tail end of this summer season.

I devoured my plate, and the girls ate about 2/3 of theirs, which is impressive for them. All in all, I think I can say that it was a pretty successful dish!