Vegetable

I love a good roast chicken. My favorite recipes for chicken always start a couple of days in advance. Whether it’s brining or marinating them, if you buy your chicken on Friday and cook it Sunday, then you can use the leftovers during the week. That is, if you have any leftovers! I can usually scrape enough off the carcass for a few servings of chicken to toss into a salad or just a midnight snack.

David’s Poulet Crapaudine Facon Catherine has an exceptionally crispy skin and the marinade is incredibly flavorful. We used the last little bit of Sriracha we had in the pantry (need another bottle STAT!) along with the honey, wine and soy sauce to create a deliciously sweet and spicy bath for the bird to hang out in for the weekend. The marinade would also be great to use for boneless/skinless breasts or thighs that you grill too. I can certainly see this being added to our roast chicken repertoire.

The technique of spatchcocking a chicken cuts the cooking time down. It exposes more “flesh to the fire” as they say and the skin crisps up in no time while keeping the bird moist inside. We use our cast iron pan for roasting chicken, but we always add a little oil to the bottom so that the chicken skin does not stick. No matter how hot the pan is, the skin will stick if a little oil isn’t used. And the skin is one of the best parts, so you don’t want to leave it behind in the pan!

David suggests a side of Raw Vegetable Slaw to go with the chicken, which is really just a mixture of any of your favorites that you may have around, topped with a tangy, garlicky dressing. We had some broccoli and carrots so I tossed them together, but I can see devising several different combinations and adding nuts, and fruits to the mix as well. But for this time, I kept it super simple.

This week’s recipes can be found on pages 173 and 96. For details on recreating this and other recipes, check out the CookTheBookFridays site and see others who are also cooking the book-

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Vegetable Barley Soup is one of my favorites. Of course I also love Beef and Barley soup or Barley and Mushroom soup too. However, I’ve never thought to venture far from the traditional preparation. Now we’ve gone a bit wild and are combining some of my favorite flavors together for a hearty, spicy and curry inspired dinner. For this week’s French Friday’s with Dorie, we made a Vegetable Barley Soup with the Taste of Little India.

This soup could not have come at a better time. I’ve had a terrible cold for the past two weeks or so and nothing has really helped. It’s been on and off and I’ve pumped myself full of decongestants and ibuprofen in an attempt at some relief to little avail. However, the gentle heat of the ginger and red pepper flakes along with the fragrant, warm aromas from the Garam masala provided some much needed sensory appeal and soothed my symptoms greatly. I honestly felt myself breathe for the first time in quite a while. By today, I was completely better and I think it’s all because of this soup.

I am very happy that this recipe made a generous amount as I’ve been eating it all weekend and still have some left over to take to work this week for lunch.

The thing about barley though is that it expands. It also doesn’t seem to stop expanding, so the broth is nearly fully absorbed into the grain. Which of course, is fine, it’s just less liquidy by the second and third days. You can add more stock if you want, but I am enjoying the more stew like quality at this point.

This recipe was super easy to make too- which is always a plus when you are feeling under the weather and don’t want to be bothered to prep too much. I can definitely see this one being made again (and again!).

While I cannot share this delightful recipe, you can (and should!) buy the book and cook along with us. It’s great fun! Every Friday we make a new recipe. Looking forward to next weeks! For details and to see how others are recreating the dishes from this awesome book, check out the FFWD site.

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