Rosie Roasts A Chicken And Makes A Corn Casserole.

With two of the Hawthornelets home,

I've been trying to have "family meals."

Not an easy feat with their work shedyules.

Dau Haw and Mid Haw

were both sharing a rare day off.

I'm roasting a chicken.

What's more family than a roasted chicken?

I went downtown shopping in my freezer,

and found this hen which I'd stashed away.
(See what you learn from watching Guy Fee-yeh-dee?)

I'm making a compound butter:

1 stick unsalted butter

1/2 tsp Aleppo pepper

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp pink Himalayan sea salt (Only because I have it.)

1/2 tsp hot paprika

1/2 tsp chipotle chili pepper

1 tsp minced dried onion

1/2 tsp smoked paprika

Substitute with anything you might have.
This ain't rocket science.

Don't forget the raw, green coriander seeds

on your cilantro plants.
You must have these.

I love the citrusy pop of fresh coriander.

Work it.
Mix all together.
Be aggressive.
Get angry at it.

 You can calm down now.
Slather butter mixture between skin and meat,
being careful not to tear the skin.

Drizzle with olive oil.

Add freshly ground salt and pepper.

Truss that bird!

There's a reason for doing this.
If you leave your bird with a gaping cavity,
the heat circulates inside the bird
 and cooks the breast meat first, drying it out,
before the legs and thighs are done.

Stuff an onion or lemon or orange

in the cavity to provide more protection.

This baked at 350° for about 1 1/2 hours.

Internal temp should be around 165°

and the juices should run clear.

Always let your meat sit for about 10 minutes

before slicing to allow the juices to redistribute.

I loved the flavors I stuffed between the skin and meat.

And the breast meat was juicy and tender.

Perfect!

Next, I'm making a corn casserole

which everyone loved.

Mr. Hawthorne declared it "the best" corn casserole.

Corn Casserole

1 can corn, drained

1 can creamed corn

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup flour

1 stick unsalted butter, melted

1/2 cup skim milk

1/2 cup heavy cream
2 eggs

freshly ground salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients.

Bake at 350° about 1 hour 15 minutes.

Simple.

Just mix it all together and ...

... pour into an 8" square baking dish

and bake away.

Isn't this pretty?

Trust Rosie on the corn casserole.

All in all, a very nice "family" dinner.

Now, if I could just do something

about that pesky family part.

Mr. & Mrs. Hawthorne's Lunch Today.

Mr. Hawthorne and I had a lovely lunch today. We started out yesterday, with Mr. Hawthorne making a compound butter.

Here's the wonderful butter, softened, we bought from Yoder's Amish Market in Yanceyville, NC., last time we went to Danville, Va. I went to the herb garden and picked thyme, chives, and parsley.

Then I decided some shallots and garlic would not be amiss.

Chopped chives go in.

Mr. H. pulls off thyme leaves from the sprig by pulling backwards along stem.

Mr. H. chops the garlic, shallot, and parsley.

All herbs go into the butter.

Then a few drops of white wine. Next, we decided we'd make our own fries, pommes frites, if you will, according to the recipe provided by Anthony Bourdain in his Les Halles Cookbook.

First, Mr. Hawthorne peeled and sliced the potatoes.

He immediately put them in ice water.

After 30 minutes, the water was looking a bit cloudy, so I poured it out.

Rinsed the taters and returned them to another ice water bath and let them sit overnight in the fridge.

This is what's leftover in the bottom of the potato bowl. Starch.

The next day, I drained the potatoes, rinsed, and patted dry.

Now, I should have read the instructions in Bourdain's book, but Mr. Hawthorne was determined to do this himself. The instructions clearly said to use peanut oil. And lots of it. Mr. H. used vegetable oil and not enough of it.

Here's the process: First, blanch the fries for 6-8 minutes in 280-degree oil. Remove and spread evenly. Let rest for at least 15 minutes. Then bring the oil up to 375. Fry for 2-3 minutes, remove from oil, and season with salt. My take on this: I'll take the frozen Ore Ida Crinkled or Ore Ida Shoe Strings ANYDAY. Tony's were good. But not worth the trouble. Ok. I'll do it again. MYSELF. With Peanut oil. And my other pan. With much more oil.

Next, I started on my salad dressing.

From bottom left, continuing clockwise, I have 1/4 cup vegetable oil, then some chili/garlic sauce, Tamari soy sauce, sesame oil, seasoned rice vinegar, salt and pepper, toasted sesame seeds, sugar, and garlic.

Mix all together.

Now, my Maifun rice sticks.

Here's the video. Enjoy.

Here are the fried rice sticks.

Now, for my salad. I have iceberg lettuce, spinach, beansprouts, red onion, peanuts, toasted almonds, sliced cucumbers and snow peas.

Looking very good.

Our salads with the dressing awaiting. On my new TABLE!

Our new table. Calling us. "Come eat on me. Come eat."

Divine dressing going on.

Oops! Forgot the fried rice sticks. Oh my goodness. Click on that pic. Those rice sticks are bee-you-ti-ful.

Next up, the filet mignons.

Just season with salt and pepper.

Into a hot iron pan, with butter and olive oil, then some mushrooms.

Tong action going on.

The plated dish. Filet mignon, leftover slice of corn bread, mushrooms, corn on the cob with compound butter. Absolutely delicious.