I’ve been wanting to roast a chicken for quite some time now and I figured a juicy, moist roast chicken served with some sweet potato fries would provide a healthy alternative to curb my craving for some comfort food.  And, the bonus with a roasting a chicken is that I get to make a delicious salad with the leftover chicken.  I have to say, the chicken was wonderful and the sweet potato fries were even better than I expected.  Even if you don’t like sweet potatoes I guarantee you will like these fries!  I want to acknowledge Giada De Laurentiis from the Food Network for the chicken recipe – as you may be beginning to tell she is one of my faves!  Hope you enjoy these recipes – I know I will be making them again in my household.

Roasted Chicken with Garlic and Citrus

Ingredients

• 1 (5 to 6-pound) whole roasting chicken
• Salt and pepper
• 1 orange, quartered
• 1 lemon, quartered
• 1 head garlic, halved crosswise, plus 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• Chicken broth ( approximately 28oz.)
• 1/4 cup frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tsps. dried oregano (use more if you are using fresh oregano)
• Kitchen string

Directions

Preheat oven to 400F and place rack in center of oven.

Remove neck & giblets from chicken (discard), pat dry the chicken and season with salt and pepper (inside and outside).  Stuff the cavity with the quartered lemon, quartered orange and garlic head.  You may have some difficulty getting everything inside the chicken which is okay, just place any remaining items in the bottom of the roasting pan.

Place chicken (breast side up) on rack of roasting pan.  Pour a small amount of chicken broth on the bottom of the roasting pan to keep pan juices from burning.  Tie legs of chicken together with kitchen string to help hold its shape.  Place chicken in oven and roast for 1 hour.  Baste occasionally and continue to add chicken broth to pan as needed to keep pan juices from burning.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl mix together orange juice concentrate, lemon juice, olive oil, chopped garlic and oregano.  After the chicken has cooked for an hour, brush this mixture over the chicken.  Return to the oven and cook for an additional 45-60 mins, until a meat thermometer reads 170F.  Continue to baste the chicken during this time,  adding chicken broth to the bottom of the pan and brushing with the orange juice mixture.

Once the chicken has cooked, transfer to a platter and tent with foil.  Do NOT discard the juice from the bottom of your roasting pan.  Place the roasting pan directly on your stove over medium low heat.  Whisk in any remaining broth ( I added about 1.5 cups) and any additional orange juice mixture you may have leftover.  Cook this until it has reduced to approximately one cup of liquid (stirring often).  Once reduced, strain liquid into a bowl to remove any solids.  Spoon fat from top of sauce and serve pan sauce with chicken.

Sweet Potato Fries

Ingredients

• Sweet potatoes (approximately 1 per person)
• Olive oil
• Brown Sugar
• Kosher salt
• Chili powder

Directions

Preheat oven to 425F.

Cut sweet potatoes into wedges.  Approximately 8-12 wedges per potato.  Just be sure to cut all the wedges the same size so the potatoes cook evenly.

Toss the wedges with enough olive oil to coat.  Sprinkle with salt, brown sugar and chili powder.  The amount will really depend on how many potatoes you are making.  I made two potatoes using approximately two tsps. of brown sugar,  two tsps. salt and 1/4 tsp chili powder.  Certainly adjust these measurements depending on how sweet or spicy you like it!  If you like things extra spicy, a pinch of cayenne pepper would do the trick.

Spread evenly on a baking sheet and cook for approximately 30 minutes, turning once during cooking.

• Roll your citrus on a flat surface using the palm of your hand to start releasing the juices
• Stick in the microwave for 5 seconds to help the juices start flowing
• When purchasing lemons and limes try to buy fruit that feels heavy – a small, heavy lime will produce more juice than a big, light lime.

Today I’ll share one of my favorite ways to use freshly squeezed lime juice – in a mojito!  Mojitos remind me of spending warm summer days at our friends cottage in Michigan.  We make big pitchers of mojitos and sip of them all day long.  And on this cold, snowy Chicago day in February a little memory of summer is just what I need!

Mojitos

• Simple syrup (simple syrup is just 2 parts sugar to 1 part water which you heat in a pan and bring to a boil and stir until the sugar dissolves.  Once sugar is dissolved you can remove from heat and cool.  Don’t cook too long or you’ll have caramel!)
• Freshly squeezed lime juice
• Light rum
• Club soda
• Mint leaves

Directions

Muddle about 6-8 mint leaves in the bottom of a glass.  Muddling just means to smash or grind up herbs to release the flavor.  You can use a spoon or they make tools called muddlers.

Fill glass with ice and add one part simple syrup, one part lime juice and 2 parts rum and stir.  Top with a splash of club soda and garnish with a mint leaf or slice of lime.   So refreshing!

Kitchen tongs – where would I be without you?  I use my tongs all of the time – in many cases I prefer using them over a spatula.  They really allow you to get a better grip on your food than a traditional spatula and are much better for transferring food between pans, plates, etc.  You must get some if you don’t own them already!  I really like the Stainless-Steel Locking Tongs from OXO.

There are countless recipes that require the use of tongs so I’m going to share my tried and true pork tenderloin recipe that is easy enough for a quick evening dinner but yummy enough to serve to guests.  This recipe uses hoisin sauce which is used heavily in Chinese cooking.  It’s kind of what BBQ sauce is to American cooking.  Hoisin is a soybean based sauce that also contains some other spices, garlic and sometimes sugar.  The result is both a sweet and salty sauce.  You can pretty much find this at any grocery store now in the Asian or international foods section.  Oh, I forgot to take a picture of my pork tenderloin dinner last week so you’ll have to use your imagination with this one.  Enjoy!

Asian Inspired Pork Tenderloin (based on a Cooking Light recipe)

• 2 tblsps sliced green onions
• 2 tblsps hoisin sauce
• 2 tblsps low-sodium soy sauce
• 2 tblsps honey (I like using wildflower honey)
• 1 tblsp hot water
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 pork tenderloin, trimmed (I use one that is roughly 1 lb.)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• Cooking spray
• 1/2 tsp sesame seeds

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Combine first six ingredients (through garlic) in a small bowl.   Pour 2/3 of mixture into resealable plastic bag, reserving remaining marinade.  Using your tongs, add pork tenderloin to bag, seal and marinate in fridge for 30 minutes, turning bag occasionally.

Heat large ovenproof skillet covered with cooking spray over medium high heat.  Remove pork from bag (another opportunity to use your tongs!) and discard marinade.  Sprinkle pork with salt and add to skillet.  Brown on all sides – approximately 2 minutes.  Brush 1 tblsp of reserved marinade on pork and sprinkle with sesame seeds.  Place skillet in oven and cook for 20 minutes (until pork registers 160 on meat thermometer).

Place pork on platter and let rest for 5 minutes.  Cut pork in thin slices and drizzle with remaining marinade.  Serve with roasted potatoes and salad for a simple and delicious meal.

It’s a cold, snowy and blustery day here in Chicago and nothing hits the spot better than a warm bowl of soup.  Even better, a big pot of soup can last for several days and seems to taste better and better each time you eat it.  I came across a recipe from Ina Garten (better known as the Barefoot Contessa) for Italian Wedding soup and I thought “How good does this sound?” (if you watch Barefoot Contessa you’ll get the quote).  I have to say, this is a very good recipe that is both yummy and healthy.  Italian Wedding soup is traditionally a chicken broth based soup with small chicken meatballs and a short pasta.  My grocery store was out of ground chicken when I went shopping so I used ground turkey instead and I have to say the meatballs were fabulous.  I’m going to tweak this meatball recipe slightly for an upcoming spaghetti and turkey meatballs recipe that I will be posting once I hammer down the recipe completely.  Anyway, on to the soup recipe….

Ingredients

For the meatballs:

• 1 1/4 pound ground turkey (ground chicken will work too)
• 2/3 cup panko breadcrumbs (panko are Japanese breadcrumbs found in the Asian food aisle)
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic (2 cloves)
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan, plus extra for serving
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the soup:

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 cup minced yellow onion
• 1 cup diced carrots (3 carrots), cut into 1/4 inch pieces
• 3/4 cup diced celery (2 stalks), cut into 1/4 inch pieces
• 10 cups chicken stock (I’ll admit it, I used boxed stock but homemade stock would be preferred if you had it on hand)
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1 cup orzo
• 1/4 cup minced fresh dill
• 12 ounces baby spinach, washed and trimmed

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

For the meatballs, place the ground turkey, bread crumbs, garlic, parsley, Parmesan, milk, egg, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a bowl and combine gently.  Don’t overwork the mixture, just enough so all the ingredients are combined – if you overwork the mixture the meat can start to become tough. With a spoon, roll and drop 1 to 1 1/4-inch meatballs onto a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. (The parchment paper is key, the meatballs don’t stick at all.) Bake for 30 minutes, until cooked through and lightly browned. You should end up with about 35-40 meatballs, don’t worry if they are not perfectly round!

While the meatballs are cooking you can start on the soup.  Heat the olive oil over medium-low heat in a large heavy-bottomed soup pot. Add the onion, carrots, and celery and saute until softened, 5 to 6 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the chicken stock and wine and bring to a boil. Add the orzo to the simmering broth and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, until the pasta is tender. Add the fresh dill and then the meatballs to the soup and simmer for 1 minute. Taste for salt and pepper. Stir in the fresh spinach and cook for 1 minute, until the spinach is just wilted (it will seem like a lot of spinach at first but once it wilts it will be just the right amount).   Ladle into soup bowls and sprinkle with extra grated Parmesan.

Hope you enjoy this recipe.  Make sure you don’t miss any upcoming great tasting recipes by subscribing to my RSS feed.

However, the recipe I’m sharing today is a take on chicken marsala courtesy of my absolute favorite Food Network chef, Giada De Laurentiis.  As always,  I did take some liberties with this recipe – one of the main things I changed was the fact that I did not add mushrooms.  Traditionally marsala dishes always include mushrooms but that is one thing that the Cooking Chemist just does not like so you won’t see too many fungi dishes on this blog.  However, if you are a mushroom lover this would be a perfect recipe to add some in.  I’ll point out the spot in the recipe on when best to add the mushrooms if you are so inclined.

Oh, just wanted to give a few hints on what to expect next week from the Cooking Chemist.  I’m making some Italian Wedding Soup tonight so I’ll share that experience with you.  Also, I’m making buffalo chicken dip and lemon cupcakes this weekend for a Superbowl party that I’m attending on Sunday.  I’ll also be running a contest to win a free cookbook and reviewing some of my favorite kitchen gadgets.  Sounds like the Cooking Chemist will be busy!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, each breast cut crosswise into 3 pieces (3 to 4 breasts)
• Salt and pepper
• 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup chopped onion
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1 cup Marsala wine
• 1/2 cup mascarpone cheese (4 oz.)
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
• 12 ounces dried long pasta (linguine or fettucine work best)

Directions

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta  and cook according to directions (al dente).  Drain. Toss the pasta with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and season, to taste, with salt and pepper.

While the pasts is cooking, sprinkle both sides of the chicken with salt and pepper.   Heat the remaining olive oil in a heavy large skillet over high heat. Add the chicken and cook just until brown, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer the chicken to a plate and cool slightly.

While the chicken cools, melt the butter in the same skillet over medium-high heat, then add the onion and garlic and saute until tender, about 4 minutes. If you were using mushrooms you would add them at this point and cook until tender. Add the wine and simmer until it is reduced by half, about 4 minutes – make sure to lightly scrap the bottom of the pan to loosen the brown bits from the chicken which adds more flavor to your sauce. Reduce the heat to medium-low and stir in the mascarpone and mustard.  Return the chicken and any accumulated juices to the skillet and simmer until the chicken is just cooked through and the sauce thickens slightly, about 2 minutes. Stir in the chopped parsley and season with salt and pepper.

Swirl the pasta onto serving plates. Spoon the chicken mixture over top and serve.  I also sprinkle some extra parsley on top of the dish for extra color and flavor.  I served a mixed green salad with this meal as well.

On another note, I know part of the premise of this blog is to focus on the science of cooking which I haven’t really done yet. I promise that there will be some great upcoming posts which will be more focused on the science of cooking but at this point I’m still working on generating content and defining the personality of this blog. Please bear with me and keep checking back. Also, if you haven’t done so yet subscribe to my RSS feed so you’ll never miss a new Cooking Chemist post.

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons tequila
• 1 lime, zested and juiced
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon seafood seasoning (I used McCormick’s – Old Bay makes one too)
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 4 (6 to 8-ounce) portions tilapia (or any flaky, white fish such as mahi mahi or halibut)

• 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 2 teaspoons chipotle pepper, in adobo sauce
• Juice of one lime
• 8 (6-inch) flour or corn tortillas
• Shredded cabbage or lettuce
• 1/4 cup roughly chopped cilantro
• Lime wedges for serving

Directions

In a resealable plastic bag, combine the tequila with the lime zest and juice, 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, seafood seasoning, salt and chili powder.  Gentle toss the tilapia in the dressing and let stand for 15-20 minutes.  Remember, you don’t want to marinade fish for too long, particularly if there is citrus in your marinade.  The citrus will begin to “cook” the fish (think ceviche) and you may end up with an unpleasant texture to your fish.

For the chipotle sauce, combine the yogurt, mayo, adobo sauce (*) and lime juice in a small bowl and set aside.  * Note on the adobo sauce – you will find this ingredient in the Spanish food section of your local grocery store.  It will be a small can containing chipotle peppers in adobo sauce.  For this recipe I just used the adobo sauce, not the actual peppers.  However, if you like things spicy finely mince one of the chipotle peppers and add it to your sauce for some extra heat and texture.

Remove the fish from the marinade and grill on a preheated grill or nonstick grill pan (coated with cooking spray) over a medium-high heat until cooked thorough, about 3 to 4 minutes per side. Set the fish aside and gently flake with a fork into bite size pieces and squeeze with lime wedges if desired.

Heat the tortillas directly on the grill for about 30 seconds or if you have you have a gas range you can heat the tortillas directly over the flame until they begin to slightly blister (just be careful to use tongs and don’t burn the tortillas!)

Assemble your tacos with the fish, chipotle sauce, cabbage, cilantro and enjoy!  Especially delicious when served alongside a freshly made margarita.  Here is a quick recipe for my favorite way to drink margaritas – on the rocks!

Margarita recipe

• 2 ounces tequila
• 1 ounce Cointreau (or triple sec)
• 1 ounce freshly squeezed lime juice
• Coarse salt
• Lime wedge

Blend the first three ingredients with ice in a cocktail shaker – shake vigorously for 20 seconds.  Pour into a chilled cocktail glass with a salted rim and garnish with a lime wedge.

Coating the chicken with the Greek yogurt is really what helps to keep this chicken moist and of course is how the coating “sticks” to the chicken.  I’ve marinated chicken in yogurt before and have always found the results to be very good.  The yogurt not only keeps the chicken moist it also helps to tenderize the chicken.  Additionally, the “breading” used in this recipe is really creative, the rice cereal and bagel chips provide a great crunch that does not get soggy.  Overall, a good, solid recipe.  Next time I make this I might add some herbs and garlic to the breading to get even more flavor out of this recipe.

This recipe is courtesy of the Food Network Magazine with a few minor changes from the Cooking Chemist.

Ingredients

• Cooking spray
• 1 1/3 cups crispy rice cereal
• 2 1/4 cups bagel chips
• 5 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 3/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1 1/2 cups plain Greek yogurt (2%)
• 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (the original recipe called for 4 skinless, bone-in chicken thighs or halved bone-in breasts which I’m sure gives this recipe even more flavor but I had boneless, skinless chicken breasts in my fridge so I decided to use them and the results were still really good)
• 1 bunch asparagus
• Sriracha (or ketchup if you are serving to kids or people who don’t like it spicy)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F. Set a rack (I just used a cooling rack that I normally cool cookies with) on a foil-lined baking sheet and generously coat the rack with cooking spray.  This is an important step because you want the entire chicken to get crispy – if you place the chicken directly on the baking sheet it will be crispy on the top but soggy on the bottom.

Finely grind the cereal and bagel chips in a food processor and transfer to a large resealable plastic bag. Add 3 teaspoons olive oil, the paprika, 2 teaspoons salt, and pepper to taste and toss.  I didn’t bother with the food processor – I just put the cereal and bagel chips in a resealable bag and used a small frying pan to crush them up.  This worked just fine and it’s an excellent way to relieve stress!

Whisk 1/2 cup yogurt and the mustard in a shallow bowl. Add the chicken and turn to coat, then transfer to the bag; seal and shake to coat. Place the chicken on the rack and mist with cooking spray.

Bake until the chicken is crisp and a thermometer inserted into the thickest part registers 160 degrees F, about 30 minutes. About half way through the cooking time, toss the asparagus with the remaining 2 teaspoons olive oil, salt and pepper and place alongside the chicken (you can place the asparagus directly on the rack next to the chicken and it will cook up nicely).

Make the dipping sauce: Mix the remaining 1 cup yogurt and sriracha to taste in a bowl (I used about 2 tsps). Serve the chicken and asparagus with the sauce.

Hope everybody enjoys.  I know the picture isn’t great – I hope to be the owner of a new camera soon which will hopefully result in beautiful food photos!