Easy moist Roast Chicken

Is anyone else dying at the cost of chicken lately. Then, whenever it is on sale I always seem to miss it, or they sell out too fast. So, I have been experimenting with roasting whole chickens. I finally found an easy recipe that makes a nice moist chicken. Ches couldn't get enough of it. This is the recipe as I found it on All Recipes.com

Juicy Roast Chicken

INGREDIENTS
1 (3 pound) whole chicken, giblets removed
salt and black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon onion powder, or to taste
1/2 cup margarine, divided
1 stalk celery, leaves removed

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Place chicken in a roasting pan, and season generously inside and out with salt and pepper. Sprinkle inside and out with onion powder. Place 3 tablespoons margarine in the chicken cavity. Arrange dollops of the remaining margarine around the chicken's exterior. Cut the celery into 3 or 4 pieces, and place in the chicken cavity.
Bake uncovered 1 hour and 15 minutes in the preheated oven, to a minimum internal temperature of 180 degrees F (82 degrees C). Remove from heat, and baste with melted margarine and drippings. Cover with aluminum foil, and allow to rest about 30 minutes before serving.

Notes: My chicken was bigger, and I still used less butter then that. I used enough celery to fill the chicken full, and probably almost half as much butter, and my chicken was 7 lbs. I also cut the skin down the center of the top, put the seasonings and some butter on the inside, and then pinned the skin back up with my roasting pins. It was fabulous! Then I just take all of the leftover and bag and freeze for easy chicken later.

Roast Pumpkin Soup

I got this recipe from Elizabeth, who I think got from an English cook book she has. It is a great fall meal, or any cold day meal!! My family prefers it made with Butternut Squash, but I have done both ways.

Roast Pumpkin Soup

2 c. pumpkin
(to roast, cut up squash, brush with olive oil, and bake at 350 til tender. I cover mine for the most of it, and uncover at end to get a good roast flavor)
1 TBS olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 tsp cumin
2 large carrots (or more)
2 celery sticks (or more_
4 c. chicken broth

Cook onion and cumin in oil for 2 min. Add carrots and celery, cook for 3 minutes. Add pumpkin and stock. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 plus minutes. Puree when all vegs are tender.

Serve with sour cream, nutmeg and parsley.

Country Tomato Bisque

This is my cousins recipe. It makes a lot so I freeze it in portions for later. A big hit in my family, and so much healthier then Cambell's.

Country Tomato Bisque
Serves 8-10

4 Tbsp butter
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 stalks celery, chopped
3 large carrots, peeled and chopped
2 onions, chopped
3 zucchini, chopped
4 Tbsp flour
2 28-oz (or 4 14-oz) cans diced tomatoes with juices
3 cups chicken or vegetable broth
2 Tbsp brown sugar 1 tsp salt
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried marjoram
2 bay leaves
2 cups half & half
grated Cheddar cheese
sunflower seeds

Melt butter in large soup pot. Stir in garlic, celery, carrots, onions, and zucchini until vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes. Blend in flour. Add tomatoes, broth, sugar, salt, basil, marjoram, and bay leaves. Heat to boiling. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Remove bay leaves. Puree mixture in a blender in small batches until smooth. Pour in half & half and stir. Garnish with grated Cheddar cheese and sunflower seeds.

Spiced Pork Chops

This is the meal that made me want to start posting again. It was so good Ches kept asking for more, and CJ wanted me to make it again tonight!! It is from my a distant cousin of mine (I think).

Spiced Pork Chops

1/2 c. flour
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp ground mustard
1 1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp. celery salt
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/8 tsp. dried oregano
1/8 tsp dried basil
1/8 tsp salt
pinch of pepper
4 pork chops (boneless)
1 to 2 Tbs oil
1 c. ketchup
1 c. water
1/4 c. packed brown sugar

In a shallow dish, combine the first 10 ingredients; dredge pork chops till completely covered. In a skillet, brown chops in oil on all sides. Place in a greased square pyrex dish. Combine ketchup, water and b. sugar; pour over chops. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 1 hour, or until tender. Serve with rice.

Notes: I cut up my chops into smaller pieces so as to get more coating on everything. I didn't have any dry mustard, so I added some spicy brown mustard to the ketchup mix. Do not over cook. Enjoy!!

Re-Start!!

Okay, it's time to get this thing restarted. I have several recipes I have been wanting to post, but haven't because I forget to take pictures. Then I thought, that is dumb, I shouldn't with hold fabulous meals just because there isn't a pretty picture to share! So, post now, picture later.

And we're off!!