I baked a whole chicken. I wanted to make roasted potatoes in this new way that I learned from my mum-in-law, but I decided at the last minute to combine the potatoes with the chicken.
It was a good move.
While the chicken was cooking, I made up a batch of baking powder biscuits (the recipe is all the way at the bottom). Served piping hot with three different kinds of fruit spread (blueberry, strawberry and some of the cranberry jelly leftover from the last time I made a batch). And put together the ingredients for a build-your-own salad.
The build-your-own salad featured baby lettuce, goat cheese (with pasteurized milk, yeah!), toasted walnuts, steamed broccoli, dried cranberries and a raspberry vinaigrette. I made the raspberry vinaigrette the other day and can't stop eating it. I like it best in a simple salad of greens+goat cheese+toasted walnuts and the dressing drizzled over it. Love, I tell you. Pure love. That hunk of peccorino romano is there just for show. I forgot to remove it from the table.
Man do we eat good around here.
Recipes for the potatoes and the salad dressing below. Is it really worth it since they are so easy? Oh, what the heck...
my mum-in-law's roasted potatoes
half pound of potatoes (I used mini yukons so I didn't need to cut them up) cut up into big chunks. leave the skins on 'em
1 small onion quartered
6 cloves of garlic or more depending on how garlicky you like things. don't be afraid, you really can't over do it with the garlic in this recipe
salt+pepper to taste
2-3 tbsp olive oil
Preheat oven to 350.
In a big baking dish combine all the ingredients and toss to coat evenly with the olive oil. Cover with lid (my mum-in-law uses a aluminum tray and covers it tightly with aluminum foil) and roast for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Don't touch the suckas during this time. Your house will smell nice and garlicky and roasted oniony. After the 45 minutes/1 hour has passed, open up the dish and check on the potatoes. They should be fairly cooked through. Give them a good stir and remove the lid/foil and let cook for another half hour till they get nice and brown and caramelized.
Raspberry Vinaigrette
2 tbsp raspberry preserve
1/4 cup toasted walnut oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
Try to use the best quality ingredients you can afford. It will really make a difference. Combine all ingredients into a blender or a tall container and blend. I used my immersion blender and gave it a good whirl. The dressing got nice and creamy/emulsified. Store in a sealed container. Keeps for 1 week (or longer, depending on how anal you are about such things).
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