Still Cooking

Last week I made "Baked Cut-Up Chicken with Fruit" from Mollie Katzen's Get Cooking: 150 Simple Recipes to Get You Started in the Kitchen.

Although Ms. Katzen suggests using a cut-up whole chicken, I just used a package of chicken thighs which my father bought at Whole Foods.  First, I made a spice mix with pepper, paprika, salt, cumin, and cinnamon.  Then I rubbed the chicken with it.  After I put the thighs in the pan, I surrounded them with lots of peeled garlic cloves, sliced onions, dried apricots, dried figs, and prunes.

Finally, I finely sliced an orange (including its peel) and mixed it in, too.  Ms. Katzen points out that it is really important to use an organic orange since much of the pesticide used on non-organic citrus stays in the peel.

After I finished filling the pan, I put on the lid and put the dish in the oven for an hour. After that time, we took the dish out, basted it, and flipped the chicken. Then I put it back in for twenty minutes.  Then I removed it again, basted it, and put it in for a final ten minutes without the lid.

I served the chicken on some whole wheat couscous.  My mother made steamed broccoli with a little walnut oil to dress it.  It was a great meal.  I am eager to make it for my grandparents when I visit them in Florida for our New Year's celebration.

Get Cooking

Recently, I have been cooking out of Mollie Katzen's new book Get Cooking: 150 Simple Recipes to Get You Started in the Kitchen.  My mother gave me the book so I could continue to learn to cook as part of homeschooling this year.

 Last night I made a peach and nectarine crisp. It was very good!  The original recipe called for apples but Ms Katzen suggests using other fruit as well.

The fruit we used was from the farmer's market.  We bought a huge basket of nectarines.  Because they were seconds (meaning a little rotten, but still great for pies) they were only a dollar for the whole basket!

On top of the cut-up fruit, I put a sort of crust-like topping made out of oats and other things mixed with butter.

*  *  *

About a week ago I made macaroni and cheese, also from this book.  I used two cheeses for the sauce, a Parmesan and a Cheddar.  I grated them both on a box grater until I had enough for the dish.

The sauce was a roux, made by combining flour, butter, mustard, pepper, milk, and later, cheese over slow heat.

At the end, I added steamed broccoli to the noodles...

then topped it with breadcrumbs...

and baked it for 20 minutes.

I had a lot of fun making--and eating--both the macaroni and cheese and the peach/nectarine crisp.  They were delicious!