Twice Cooked Half Baked

Down to the sea in ships and Greek Tomato/Zucchini Fritters (Domatokeftethes)

twicecookedhalfbaked — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 21:03:14 +0000

Down to the sea in ships and Greek Tomato/Zucchini Fritters (Domatokeftethes).

. I like the addition of tomatoes. This would be a nice twist on my usual summer fritters.

{VIDEO POST} Chicken Part 2: Stock

twicecookedhalfbaked — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 18:14:22 +0000

If you have been following along for a bit now, you know that this is only my 2nd actual video. My sister had been teasing me for about a year that I should make a series of videos with the kids running around screaming in the background. Just like my real life. I didn’t include the kids screaming (this round!), but there is still a lot to laugh about.

I decided that when I tackled this whole video thing I would come up with something that would get me off to a good start. I figured that if I walked my readers through the roasting of a chicken and then took them into making stock and then that stock into another recipe, I would be golden. Well… the cooking plan was fine, but making a video and cooking about it is a whole other story. I have newfound respect for those who decided to take this challenge much earlier than I have. Not to mention those who do this for a living. Of course, they aren’t their own cameraman or talking to their kids during the shoot.

All in all, I think this turned out OK. Nice and short and to the point, considering we still can’t figure out the editing tool.

Please note that this stock was purposely made without aromatics because of the 3rd recipe in this series. If you want a more traditional stock, you will need to add onions, bay, salt, pepper, etc. I have found that I can add literally anything I have on hand and have a decent stock. Do note however, that some of the things you can add may be strongly flavored (ex. turnips) and will change the flavor of your final stock.

Chicken Stock
1 roasted chicken carcass, mostly carved
10 cups of water

Place the chicken into a large pot and cover with the water. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Let simmer for 3 hours and remove from heat. Allow to cool. Pour into a sieve over a bowl to catch the liquid. Pick through the meat and remove the bones. Pour into sealed containers and store in the fridge for a week plus or freeze for several months.

National Margarita Day!

twicecookedhalfbaked — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 19:06:26 +0000

Thank God that there is finally a holiday that I can really get behind. I L.O.V.E. margaritas! One of my favorite pastimes was to make a batch of margaritas and play cards on a Friday night. Fortunately for me, I am all ready for this holiday. Not only do I make the traditional margarita that people are familiar with from Mexican restaurants, but I regularly mix it up and add my own syrup bases. Last night, we made a white wine and Meyer lemon margarita. Over the holidays, I made a Ciderita! from some of the cider we pressed with the apples from our orchard.

I highly recommend that you find a way to celebrate this national holiday

Cranberry Margarita

Stop the New SOPA: Sign the ACTA and TPP Petition NOW!

twicecookedhalfbaked — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 01:33:48 +0000

If you haven’t already, I highly encourage you to sign the petition to sign the new backdoor legislation to censor the internet.

Kill the ACTA legislation!

VIDEO POST: My Famous Lemon-Rosemary Chicken

twicecookedhalfbaked — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 02:06:27 +0000

In an attempt to learn to make videos and use them to teach more about my cooking than simply blogging about them can do, I decided that I would start with chicken. Why not? This is the first installment of three videos showing what you can do with a simple roasting chicken. To start, I am going to walk you through my famous (in the family at least) Lemon-Rosemary Chicken. This is a very simple recipe with some delicious results. I hope you enjoy laughing at me as much as I did. And man, after seeing myself on tape, I realize that I really need to lose some weight (no need to comment about it! – focus on the bird’s big thighs, not mine!). Sadly, we couldn’t figure out the editing tool, so you get the whole damn 10+ minutes of it. I recommend letting it load before watching it.

Back-story: I had bribed my oldest son into filming for me, in exchange for making this dish. He loves it THAT much. But then, my spouse decided that he and the younger ones were going to go to the dog park and then the kid park, so son number one bailed on me. Then I got mad and his dad made him come back and help me. After lying on his bed crying, he finally decided that it was better to help me than get in more trouble with his dad. I guess I should be thankful that dad, at least, has that kind of leverage – LOL!

Anyway, he did a couple of practice runs to make sure he had the right angle (something that I should have done myself, as you will see later on in the video) and instructed me to “be more enthusiastic!”, plus he kept messing with my hair. As the day went along, my hair looked the worse for wear. Anyway, so off we went. He complained that I talked too long and that it hurt his arm to hold the camera that long. I had a tripod, but he felt it was “impeding his creativity.” Then my spouse came back just before the half-way point and took him along for the kid-park part of the day… and I was left without a cameraman. My work as cook and cameraman leaves a lot to be desired. In the midst of trying to film myself, the crew all came home and vigorously rang the doorbell, having left dad with the keys to unload the car by himself. Then later, one of the kids yells out something in the middle of me talking. I had to laugh. That is really closer to what my life is like anyway.

Besides, I think this just might be the video that my oldest sister was looking for.

Lemon-Rosemary Chicken
One large roasting chicken, rinsed and patted dry
1 onion, halved and sliced
2 lemons
3-4 springs of fresh rosemary
2-3 T. softened salted butter
2 tsp. chives, chopped
olive oil
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large skillet, add 2-3 T. olive oil to cover the bottom. Arrange the onions to cover the bottom of skillet. Cut half-way through one of the lemons and place the sprigs of rosemary into the cut. Stuff this lemon into the cavity of the chicken. Loosen the skin over the breast to create a cavity. Add the chives into the butter and then divide evenly in two parts and stuff under the skin on the breast. Cut the ends off the other lemon and slice into rounds and stuff them under the skin on top of the butter. Rub the skin with olive oil and salt and pepper. Tuck the wing tips under the bird and truss the legs if you desire. Place the skillet into the oven and set timer for 45 minutes (half-way point). Check the bird and move the onions around a bit. Put back into the oven for 30 minutes and check the internal temperature to see if it is at 165. Put back in for 15 minutes if needed. Remove from the oven when it reaches 165 and remove to a board to rest for 10 minutes before cutting. Reserve the onions in the pan and either reduce for a more concentrated sauce or add to it to create a gravy.

Click to view slideshow.

Enjoy!