Roasted Chicken with Potatoes and Tomatoes

Roasted Chicken with Tomatoes and Potatoes

All I wanted was to do was use up a half jar of homemade canned tomatoes my hubby had opened for some other dish the other night before they went bad in the fridge. I also had a ginormous bone-in chicken breast to cook soon. I was glommed down in work and it wasn’t “my turn to cook.” The hubs came into my office and asked if I had any dinner ideas and told him to make something with the tomatoes and chicken. When I went down to the kitchen a couple of hours later, nothing was cooking. Hmmm. Hubs complained he had leave to run our daughter around town for various after-school activities. He said he would make some baked chicken tenders when he got home, but we’d only just had those less than a week ago AND there are no tomatoes in that dish.

Seasoned Chicken and Potatoes

Right after they left the house, I made a quick decision. I grabbed the dutch oven, seasoned the chicken and seared it on both sides, tossed in that half-jar of tomatoes, added one more jar of them, cut up a few potatoes, then threw in some seasonings. Placed it in the oven and said “Dinner will be ready in an hour or so” to nobody except the dog at that point.

Tomatoes and Seasonings

“What, no warm bread?” asked my daughter when she got back when I announced dinner was ready. “Ummm, no. Butter some up from the pantry, OK?”

Now on to the recipe, which by the way, I thought came out delicious but I think the family didn’t want to talk to me that night about whether they liked it or not. But it’s quite easy to prep if you are in a pinch to get  a meal on the table in less about an hour.

Roasted Chicken with Potatoes and Tomatoes

1 pound of chicken, bone-in, with skin
Ground black pepper, to taste
Salt or Mrs. Dash, to taste
2 large potatoes, any kind
1/2 tablespoon butter
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup chicken broth, (or wine)
1 or 2 cans/jars tomatoes, with liquid, diced
2 or 3 cloves of garlic, smashed
Fresh or dried herbs, to taste

Simmering Chicken, Tomatoes, and Potatoes

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Season the chicken with pepper and Mrs. Dash (any flavor) or salt to taste. If your chicken parts are big, feel free to cut in half (which we did.) Cut the potatoes (skin on is fine) into 2-inch chunks. In a dutch oven, add the butter and oil over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the chicken and sear on both sides for 2 or 3 minutes a side until browned. Remove from pot and set aside to drain. Add chicken broth (or wine, we didn’t have any) to deglaze the pot, stirring up crispy bits. Add the tomatoes, potatoes, garlic, herbs of your choosing (I added some fresh Thai basil and crushed dried oregano) to taste, then bring to a simmer.

Roasted Chicken with Tomatoes and Potatoes

Once simmering, add the chicken pieces back in on top, cover with an oven-proof lid,and put in oven. Cook for 1/2 hour, then remove lid and continue to cook in oven until chicken is done, about 15 to 20 more minutes depending on size of meat. Remove the chicken and potatoes to a large bowl or plate with a slotted spoon, then put the dutch oven on the stove on medium-high and cook tomato mixture down until thickened, about 5 minutes. Pour sauce over chicken and serve with hot warmed bread (or not, HA!) and a vegetable of choice. I made hubby steam up some broccoli. Enjoy!

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Tarragon Chive Lemon Butter on Grilled Steaks

Tarragon Chive Lemon Butter on Steak

My parents have made it back to town for the summer to escape the sizzling heat of Texas, only to bring their sizzling heat with them. OK so high 80s/low 90s is not exactly sizzling by Texas standards, but when you have no AC that’s hot enough, thank you.

We invited them for dinner this past weekend and figured we’d grill them up some steaks, but I wanted to make their welcome-back dinner a little more special. So I tried my hand at making a compound butter with some of the fresh herbs from my planter garden.

Butter, Lemon, and Tarragon

This was so gosh-darn easy. OK I take that back. I do not have a proper zester and it frustrated the heck out of me to finally get at least a teaspoon of zest from the lemon on my cheese grater. I was so frustrated that I finally took a photo of my pitiful attempt before getting that amount (minus the chives, those were added last minute). But I finally got ‘er done!

This herbed lemon butter can be used for more than steaks, such as fresh steamed green beans or asparagus. In fact, I must try that!

Herbed Butter Log Ready to Chill

Tarragon Chive Lemon Butter on Grilled Steaks

1 stick of unsalted sweet cream butter (8 tablespoons)
Zest of one lemon plus about a teaspoon of the lemon juice from it
2 tablespoons fresh chopped tarragon
1 teaspoon fresh chopped chives
1 steak per person (we used New York Strip, any good steak cut will do)

Let the butter sit on the counter for a few hours to soften and bring to room temperature. Add the softened butter to a small bowl, then add the rest of the ingredients (except the steak, ha!). Using a fork, combine and squish and mix around until it’s all incorporated well. Plop the butter mixture onto wax or parchment paper, then roll it around until it’s the shape of a large tootsie roll. Seal it on the ends and then refrigerate until the butter hardens. In the interest of time I put it in the freezer for about 15 minutes then transferred to the refrigerator.

Grill up those steaks seasoned lightly with salt and lots of black pepper, then top with a pat of the herbed butter. Put the butter on while the steaks rest for five minutes, so it starts melting all over it. YUMM! This added such a fresh taste to the steaks, and my mom even used more of the butter for her baked potato. I loved the fact that nobody asked for any kind of bottled steak sauce! You will not be disappointed.

p.s. We are leaving again for a trip to our RV property on the coast for four days on Thursday after work. I don’t know if I’ll have time to write that one before we leave, but if not, you’ll see a fab new recipe early next week!

Melting Herbed Butter on Steak

Lemony Tarragon Summer Squash Soup is a Community Pick!

Lemon Tarragon Summer Squash Soup

Please forgive my lack of new recipes during my “camping and fishing season” but I am happy to announce that another one of my recipes has made it as a Community Pick in a Food52 recipe contest. I am very proud of this soup, and I hope you have a chance to enjoy it this summer. The squash I am growing have just started to flower, but I already have a bunch of fresh tarragon and chives just waiting for my first crop of squash. This entry was for the Your Best Fresh Herbs contest.

Here is the link to the contest: Food52 Your Best Fresh Herbs

And below I have copied the recipe that was adapted for the contest so you can save it for when your crops come in. Or heck, just go buy some from the Farmer’s Market!

p.s. My recipe still needs testers, so please feel free to sign up and test the recipe. Anyone can become a tester, you just have to join the Food52 Community. Easy sign up. Plus they have awesome recipes to browse through.

p.s.s. My last recipe that was chosen didn’t make it as a finalist in that contest, but I’m just glad it made it in! Hundreds of recipes are submitted, so it’s just perseverance to continue to submit, and especially have the ingredients called for in the contest.

Squash, Tarragon and Green Onion

Lemon Tarragon Summer Squash Soup

1 large yellow squash
2 green onions (scallions), light and white parts, chopped
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh tarragon leaves, chopped
1 garlic clove, finely minced
Ground black pepper, to taste
3 cups chicken broth, preferably homemade
Juice of 1/2 large lemon
1/2 cup milk or cream
Tarragon, snipped chives, shredded Parmesan cheese, croutons for garnish (optional)

1. In a soup pot, sauté the squash and onion in the butter and olive oil until onion is tender, about 7 to 10 minutes. Add the garlic in the last minute or so.
2. Season with black pepper to taste, add the tarragon, then pour in the chicken broth and lemon juice and stir.
3. Cover and bring to a simmer for about 10 to 15 minutes until the squash is tender all the way through.
4. Remove from heat and add the milk or cream.
5. Puree about half the soup with whatever device you have, then return to pot.
6. Serve immediately, and garnish with optional additional tarragon, chives, shredded Parmesan cheese, and croutons.