New puppy in town & How to: Overcook a Chicken

George loves Frank

This last week has been wild!  There is a new puppy in town, and is name is George. George is a live teddy bear, and we all love him- TONS! Puppy’s are SO demanding! It IS all about The Puppy. Of course, I have been cooking much less because of The Puppy, but I have managed to sneak in a few things. I made a pork and chicken italian sausage red sauce for pasta. It was derived from my husband’s aunt’s recipe. Her’s contained beef and veal. I am not ready for that just yet- I thought it came out pretty good. Mr. thought it a bit bland. Veal. Beef. sigh. That’s another post.

I also roasted the hell out of a chicken. This is easy to do. First, under cook the chicken. Sigh.Butterfly the chicken and cook until you think it should be done but it will not be done. Refrigerate overnight. The next day cook the chicken in foil at 400 degrees until there is no chance of it being edible. A couple of hours should do it.  Feed the chicken to the dogs over a few days.

Wednesday I cooked Chicken Cacciatore a la Michael.  That is a no heat version. No peppers of any kind, (not any. not bell peppers. none.) except for fresh black pepper. Onions, mushrooms, carrots and celery roasted with lots of fresh basil and thyme in tomatoes and homemade chicken broth. (broth from the freezer. I. Am. So. Smart.) It was deelish. Also declared a success by Mr.!  That’s worth everything. I made my southern yogurt biscuits  to go with the hearty dish. Perfect really. Last night I made Heidi Swanson’s Easy Little Bread recipe- with my own little riff. More on that another day. Here’s her recipe and pics. Try it, you’ll love it!

This weekend I want to make brownies, and cakes and some soup. There are Meyer lemons and blood oranges calling to me. I bought them for specific recipes but… I cant remember what they were. Now where is that puppy…?