40 Garlic Clove Chicken

This meal is one of the best I have made in a very long time. It was so good that no pictures of the finished product were taken because my husband and I scarfed it up so quickly! The chicken was juicy, oh so wonderfully garlic-y. My husband was literally drinking the gravy that I made with the juices. With fresh herbs and a ton of garlic (40 cloves, to be exact) this chicken was out of this world delicious. An added bonus is your house will smell divine as it cooks! Do yourself a favor and serve it on top of some mashed potatoes. 

40 Garlic Clove Chicken
Found on The Crepes of Wrath
Serves 3-4
Printable Version
Ingredients
3 1/2-4 pound fryer chicken (I used a whole chicken but recommend chicken that is already cut into serving pieces)
Salt & pepper to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil
40 cloves of garlic, peeled but still whole (about 3 cloves of garlic)
3/4 cup white wine
1 teaspoon thyme (I used way more because I had fresh on hand)
1 teaspoon rosemary 
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon butter 

Directions
Spray the inside of your crock pot with non-stick cooking spray. Rub the chicken generously with salt and pepper and place in your crock pot. 

Heat the olive oil in a small skillet and add the peeled whole garlic. Cook for 5-8 minutes over medium heat until the garlic is golden. 

Then add the white wine and stir until the liquid has mostly evaporated, another 3-5 minutes.

Pour the garlic and white wine over the chicken and sprinkle the thyme and rosemary over top of everything. Add in the bay leaf. Turn on the crock pot to low and cook for 3-4 hours. Set aside. Pour the juices from the pot through a mesh sieve into a saucepan. Press the garlic through the mesh sieve, scraping it off to form a paste. Cook with a tablespoon of butter over medium-high heat until slightly thickened and serve over the chicken and whatever else you happen to be eating (cooked vegetables, potatoes, crusty bread, etc). Enjoy! 

And because I don't have a finished product photo for you here is something pretty for you to look at -- this view is from my front yard (and what I often see out my kitchen window) - an amazing sunset over the East China Sea!

Herb Marinated Pork Tenderloin (Gluten Free)

One of my neighbors recently had a baby so I helped coordinate some meals to take to the family. They are eating Gluten Free for health reasons so I scoured the internet looking for a gluten free main dish and decided on this herb marinated pork from Ina Garten. Not only is it simple, the ingredients are easy to find. I ate a teeny slice of this just so I could try it and it was very juicy. The marinade, made up of lemon zest, garlic, rosemary, and mustard shines through. It also showed me that Gluten Free really isn't that difficult and doesn't mean you have to sacrifice on flavor!

Gluten Free Herb Marinated Pork Tenderloin
Modified From Ina Garten
Printable Version
Ingredients
Zest of half a lemon
Juice of one lemon
Olive oil
2 cloves of minced garlic
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, minced
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 lb pork tenderloin

Directions
Combine the lemon zest, lemon juice, 1/3 cup olive oil, garlic, rosemary, mustard, and a sprinkle of salt in a one gallon resealable bag. Add the pork and turn to coat with the marinade. 

Squeeze out the air and seal the bag. Marinate the pork in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours or overnight. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Remove the pork from the marinade and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Heat a couple of tablespoon of olive oil in a large oven proof saute pan over medium-high heat. Sear the pork on all sides until golden brown. 

Place the pan in the oven and roast for 10 - 15 minutes or until the meat registers 137 degrees at the thickest part. Transfer the pork to a platter and cover tightly with foil. Allow to rest for ten minutes. Carve in 1/2 inch diagonal slices. Season with salt and pepper (if desired) and serve warm at room temperature. 

Grilled Rosemary Lemon Garlic Chicken

Now that summer is officially here and it's time to get out the grills, I wanted to share one of my favorite ways to grill chicken. This simple marinade will give your chicken lots of fresh flavors and is a cinch to prepare. 

Grilled Rosemary Lemon Garlic Chicken
Printable Version
Ingredients
4 chicken breasts
1/2 cup olive oil
1 lemon
4 tablespoons fresh rosemary, chopped
3 tablespoons garlic, minced
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper


Directions
Place chicken in a large container and pierce with a fork on all sides. Pour olive oil on chicken and squeeze the juice of the lemon over chicken as well. Sprinkle on the chopped rosemary and add the garlic. Season with salt and pepper. 

Place a lid on the container and shake well to combine the marinade. Place in the refrigerator for at least thirty minutes. 

When ready to prepare, place on heated grill for about 15 minutes on each side, or until internal temperature of chicken reaches 170 degrees. 

30 Things to Make Before I Turn 30: Rack of Lamb

I was the most nervous about this item on my 30 Things to Make Before I Turn 30 List. I do not cook with much red meat and if I do, it's beef. But this list and my cooking adventures is all about challenging myself to try my hand at new ingredients so rack of lamb made the list. My husband was very excited about this one. He loves lamb and will order it when we dine at a nice restaurants. I will usually take one teensy weensy bite of his lamb, but I am not usually a fan of the taste, as it is often very gamey or tough. I was really expecting the worst. 


Finding rack of lamb at my local grocery stores proved difficult in itself. I finally came across a rack of lamb from New Zealand at Costco. I usually try to buy fresh, local, organic meat, but I really had no other choice. I started to research recipes and found this recipe for Herb Marinated Lamb on Food Network.com. While reading the reviews of the recipe, I learned that imported lamb from New Zealand is tends to be less gamey than domestically raised lamb and this was very true for the rack of lamb I bought. It was tender, flavorful, and had just the right amount of crispiness on the outside of the meat.

I apologize that I don't have more pictures of this recipe - - the photo software on my computer is being testy and I lost several pictures of the lamb. I had some beautiful pictures of the meat after we cut it too. Sigh. On a brighter note, I thought I'd point out how my husband ate every morsel of meat off his racks and that our pug Wendell tried very hard to get a bite. 

Herb Marinated Lamb
From Food Network
Printable Version


Ingredients
1 rack of lamb, about 8 or 9 ribs each
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus 1 tablespoon
2 garlic cloves, unpeeled and crushed
1 rosemary sprig, crushed
3 thyme springs, crushed
2 rosemary sprigs for garnish
Freshly ground black pepper
Sea salt

Directions
Clean the rib bones well by scraping off sinew with a small sharp knife. Mix together the olive oil, garlic, crushed rosemary, and thyme sprigs in a large bowl. Add the lamb and coat well. Grind some coarse black pepper over all. Marinate overnight.


The next day remove the lamb from the marinade and scrape off as many herbs as possible. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. 


Heat a large saute pan over medium high heat and add 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Season the lamb well with salt. Sear fat side down until golden, about 7 minutes. Turn over so that the fat side is up and roast in the preheated oven for 20 to 30 minutes. Let the rack rest for 10 minutes before cutting. 


To serve cut each lamb rack into equal pieces. Garnish with rosemary. 
Note: I served these with Emeril's rosemary roasted potatoes and it was outstanding!

Grilled Shrimp with White Truffle Oil & Scentsy Giveaway!

My beautiful cousin Lindsey is helping me host another giveaway to celebrate my one year blogging anniversary. Linds is a Scentsy representative and has offered to give one lucky reader a $25 gift certificate to purchase anything they would like from her Scentsy site. If you have never heard of Scensty you are missing out! I have been using Scentsy warmers and scents for over a year now and they are SO much better than candles! You don't have to worry about the hazards that go along with burning a candle and the scents are so yummy. Right now I am using Cinnamon Vanilla in my kitchen and Mediterranean Spa in our bedroom. My favorite scent is French Lavender, which I use in my car, and my hubby has Coconut Lemongrass in his car. There are so many great Scentsy products, I know you will have a hard time choosing just one, but in order to be entered in the giveaway you need to visit Lindsey's site and then leave a comment telling me what you get if you won the $25 gift certificate. If you are a follower or become a follower of my blog, leave a second comment and you will receive a second entry. For a third chance to win post about this giveaway on your blog or facebook and leave another comment. Please enter by midnight (Eastern Time) on Friday, November 12th. The winner will be announced on Saturday the 13th. Good luck everybody!!

All right now that we've covered the giveaway details, let's talk about Grilled Shrimp with White Truffle Oil. When my hubby and I were in NC recently, we found the coolest little shop called Green Gate Olive Oils. The store features over 40 olive oils and vinegars that you get to sample. It was so much fun trying the different oils and vinegars and we had a really hard time deciding on which ones to bring home with us. We finally settled on garlic olive oil, white truffle oil, and a balsamic vinegar aged for 18 years. This is the first thing I've made with the truffle oil and it was really delicious. The truffle oil makes the shrimp taste like mushroom, earthy and rich. 

The recipe called for fresh parsley for the dipping sauce, but I didn't have any and substituted fresh rosemary instead. I also added in about quadruple the amount of onion that the recipe called for, which I am not so sure was a great idea because it wasn't so much of a dipping sauce and became more of an onion sauce. Overall, it was a great use of our new white truffle oil. If you cook with truffle oil, what is your favorite way to use it?? I'd love any ideas!

Grilled Shrimp with White Truffle Oil
From What's Cooking America.net
Serves 4
Printable Version


Ingredients
16 large shrimp
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup white truffle oil
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
2 tablespoons chopped sweet onion
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Salt and freshly ground black pepper


Directions
Peel and devein the shrimp (I didn't have to do this because I use precooked shrimp). Using a sharp knife, butterfly shrimp by cutting along the inner curve or underbelly about halfway, leaving the tails firmly attached. Press the shrimp down flat like a butterfly and place in a a shallow dish. Sprinkle with olive oil and refrigerate, covered until ready to cook. 


In a medium bowl combine white truffle oil, lemon juice, onion, and parsley. Season to taste with salt and pepper and set aside. 

Preheat grill. Oil grill to help prevent shrimp from sticking. Season the shrimp lightly with salt and pepper. Place shrimp onto hot grill and cook for approximately 2 minutes on one side. Turn and cook another 1 minute or until shrimp are opaque in center. Remove from grill.

To serve arrange shrimp on a plate and drizzle with a little of the white truffle vinaigrette. 

Place remaining vinaigrette in a small bowl for dipping. 

30 Things to Make Before I Turn 30: Rib-eye Steaks with Pan Jus

This recipe is from Williams-Sonoma Bride & Groom Cookbook, a wedding present that I received from my Mom's dear friend Sidney. When I came up with my list of 30 Things to Make Before I Turn 30, I saw this recipe in the book and knew it would make my husband a happy man. Plus, I was interested in trying steak served with pan juice. I am not a big fan of red meat, but this was an excellent dinner. The steak is juicy and the jus that is created from the meat drippings, red wine, broth, and fresh herbs turns regular rib-eye into succulent piece of meat! My husband was in heaven because I served blue cheese mashed potatoes as a side.


Rib-Eye Steak with Pan Jus
From Williams-Sonoma Bride & Groom Cookbook - I definitely recommend this book as wedding present by the way! :)


Printable Version



Ingredients
18 - 20 ounces of rib-eye steak - look for one that is about 1 1/2 inches thick
Kosher salt and pepper
1 sprig fresh rosemary (I used three springs!)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup dry red wine (I used a Cabernet Sauvignon)
1/2 cup beef or chicken stock (I used broth since that is what I had on hand)
2 springs of fresh thyme

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Season the steak liberally with salt and pepper. Pick the rosemary leaves from the stem and press them into the steak. Heat the olive oil in an ovenproof saute pan over medium-high heat. Let the oil get quite hot, but before it starts to smoke, sear and brown the steaks one each side for 1 minute.

Place the pan with the steak in the oven and roast for 10 - 12 minutes or until the steak is medium rare (or desired doneness). Remove the steak from the pan and transfer to a cutting board. Let rest for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile add the wine, stock, and thyme to the drippings in the pan and place over medium high heat. Deglaze the pan, loosening any caramelized bits stuck to the bottom. Simmer until the sauce is reduced by half. Remove the thyme sprigs (I left in!)

Carve the steak with a sharp knife into thin slices. Arrange the slices on a plate and spoon the pan juices over the top. **I actually put the meat into the pan with the juices and covered the meat, then put it on the plate and added more juice My hubby used the juice as a gravy for his mashed potatoes.

30 Things to Make Before I Turn 30: Pioneer Woman's Buttered Rosemary Rolls

Mmmmmmm why didn't I make these melt in your mouth rolls the moment I first laid eyes on them? So much of my life has been wasted without them! They are so heavenly! My deprived husband, who never gets fresh from the oven rolls, ate 3/4 of the pan in one sitting. Pioneer Woman recommends making these if you have dinner guests and I concur that these rolls are most definitely guest-worthy. The hardest part is waiting for them to rise - it takes 3 hours! Oh and PLEASE heed my advice...after you take the skillet out of the oven, lay a pot holder over the handle because if you are like me, you will forget that it is still 400 degrees and spend the rest of the night icing your hand. YIKES! 

Pioneer Woman's Buttered Rosemary Rolls

Ingredients

Frozen, Unbaked dinner rolls (PW uses Rhodes and my grocery store happens to carry those too)

Melted butter, regular, salted (I used unsalted because that is all I had and they were still amazing!)

Fresh rosemary, coarsely chopped

Coarse sea salt

Directions

Spray an iron skillet with cooking spray or coat with olive oil. Place frozen rolls in the skillet, leaving plenty of room for rising. Cover and allow to rise for several hours (at least 3).

After rising, brush rolls with melted butter. Sprinkle on chopped rosemary and brush with additional butter. Sprinkle with sea salt.

Bake according to roll package directions (usually 400 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes) until rolls are a deep golden brown on top.

Brush again with butter and serve skillet on table. 

Roasted Sweet Potato Fries

These roasted sweet potato fries make a wonderful, healthy side dish. The deep orange color of these fries is beautiful and the flavor is earthy and sweet. I tossed mine with fresh garlic, thyme, rosemary, and kosher salt because those are my favorite fresh herbs, but there are so many different ways you can season these. The aroma of these baking will fill up your house and make it seem that you were very domestic even though this is a very simple recipe.

Sweet potato fries do not crisp up like traditional fries, instead the texture is much softer. These are so filling and yummy I made a batch with just one potato and ate it as my lunch. 

Sweet Potato Fries

Ingredients

3 sweet potatoes (some people peel them, but I like the skin on!)

Fresh rosemary 

Fresh thyme 

Garlic, minced

Olive oil

Kosher salt

Pepper

Directions

Preheat over to 400 degrees and spray a large baking sheet or two small baking pans with cooking spray.  Wash the sweet potatoes and cut them into wedges. Rustic is good here! Place the sweet potatoes wedges in a large bowl and drizzle with olive oil. Season to taste with rosemary, thyme, Kosher salt, and pepper.

Spread out on pans and bake for 40 - 45 minutes, turning the fries every 15 minutes to prevent browning. 

Rosemary Chicken and Potatoes

I love using fresh herbs. They really amp up the flavors in a meal. Fresh rosemary brings this recipe to life. I'm proud to say this is an Ashley Original!


My husband and watch the show "Top Chef" religiously, so while eating this meal together I asked him what he thought Tom Colicchio and Padma Lakshmi would say if they judged my dish. He said something along the lines of, "The ingredients are simple but this dish is what cooking should be, fresh, flavorful, and from the heart." What a guy I have, huh?? :)


Ashley's Rosemary Chicken and Potatoes


Ingredients:


10 or so red skinned potatoes, washed and chopped into bite size pieces
Chicken of your choosing - I used five chicken legs, with the skin on...but you could use chicken breasts, thighs, or even a whole chicken!
Olive oil
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary - chopped
5 cloves of garlic - chopped
2 tables spoons of lemon juice or a fresh lemon
1/2 tablespoon of oregano
Salt and Pepper


Directions:


Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Place the potatoes in a large bowl and drizzle olive oil over the top, enough to coat the potatoes.
Add in half of the rosemary, garlic, oregano, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, and salt and pepper to taste - don't be shy on the salt!! Salt those babies up!!
Toss with your hands to coat the potatoes and place in a large pan.


Place the chicken in the bowl and coat with olive oil, and the remainder of the rosemary, garlic, oregano, 1 more tablespoon of lemon juice and rub with salt and pepper. Place in pan with the potatoes.

Cook for about 1 1/2 hours (depending on how crispy you want your food), turning the chicken and stirring the potatoes half way through.


I served these with Green Beans Almondine...delicious!


Although I'm not quite sure I'm ready for Top Chef (okay, I'm ABSOLUTELY not ready) I will definitely be making this flavorful, easy recipe again!