Greek Oven-Roasted Potatoes

I made these for the first time this past Easter and they were excellent - for an Irish boy who had his fill of potatoes growing up, I still couldn't get enough of these!

INGREDIENTS

5 large potatoes (baking size)
3/4 cup of olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
3/4 teaspoon of dried oregano
2 teaspoons of salt
freshly ground pepper
2 1/2 cups of water

PREPARATION

• Preheat oven to 480F degrees.

• Peel the potatoes and cut into quarters.

• Rinse the potatoes and then dry with a kitchen towel or paper towel.

• Spread potatoes in a large roasting pan, at least 11 x 14 inches.

• Add the oil, lemon juice, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper and toss with your hands.

• Arrange the potatoes so they are face down (largest side on the bottom).

• Add the water to the pan.

• Roast at 480F until the water boils (about 5 minutes).  Reduce heat to 355F and cook for 1 hour.

• Potatoes should be light and fluffy and water should be gone.  Continue roasting until done.

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Perfect Roast Turkey

In honor of the Thanksgiving "panic" that has suddenly developed at all the stores over the weekend, and which will only get worse and culminate with Mad Wednesday (where people shop as if there were an impending snowstorm or turkeys were endangered species), here is the turkey recipe I use when I am assigned the Thanksgiving hosting duties.

Warning - you will need cheesecloth for this recipe! And I never buy it the week of Thanksgiving since it is hard to find. Stock up!

My partner and I used this recipe for our first Thanksgiving and I nearly burned the house down. I had the beast all ready to go into the oven in his apartment stove (electric - feh!) which had never been used in two years. Can you say single and bachelor? Anyway, I follow the directions as to temperature and all of a sudden there are flames coming out of the oven. The knob for Bake/Broil/Pre-heat had been placed incorrectly so that Bake was really Broil.

This is basically a recipe that Martha Stewart published many years ago. To me it is the best way to make turkey - especially if you like that photo op of having perfectly brown beast on your holiday table.

INGREDIENTS

1 twenty- to-twenty-one-pound fresh whole turkey, giblets and neck removed from cavity and reserved
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, melted, plus 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
Cheesecloth
1 bottle 750-ml dry white wine (chardonnay or poiully fuisse - not sauvignon blanc or pinot grigio)
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
2 small onions
1 lemon
1 orange
2 celery stalks
Sage, rosemary or other fresh herbs

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Rinse turkey with cool water, and dry with paper towels. Let stand for 2 hours at room temperature.

2. Place rack on lowest level in oven. Heat oven to 450°. Combine melted butter and white wine in a bowl. Fold a large piece of cheesecloth into quarters and cut it into a 17-inch, four-layer square. Immerse cheesecloth in the butter and wine; let soak.

3. Place turkey, breast side up, on a roasting rack in a heavy metal roasting pan. If the turkey comes with a pop-up timer, remove it; an instant-read thermometer is a much more accurate indication of doneness. Fold wing tips under turkey. Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper inside turkey. Fill large cavity and neck cavity loosely with whole onions, quartered lemon and orange, whole celery stalks and the herbs; do not pack tightly. Tie legs together loosely with kitchen string (a bow will be easy to untie later). Fold neck flap under, and secure with toothpicks. Rub turkey with the softened butter, and sprinkle with remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and pepper.

4. Lift cheesecloth out of liquid, and squeeze it slightly, leaving it very damp. Spread it evenly over the breast and about halfway down the sides of the turkey; it can cover some of the leg area. Place turkey, legs first, in oven. Cook for 30 minutes. Using a pastry brush, baste cheesecloth and exposed parts of turkey with butter and wine. Reduce oven temperature to 350°, and continue to cook for 2 1/2 more hours, basting every 30 minutes and watching pan juices; if the pan gets too full, spoon out juices, reserving them for gravy.

5. After this third hour of cooking, carefully remove and discard cheesecloth. Turn roasting pan so that the breast is facing the back of the oven. Baste turkey with pan juices. If there are not enough juices, continue to use butter and wine. The skin gets fragile as it browns, so baste carefully. Cook 1 more hour, basting after 30 minutes.

6. After this fourth hour of cooking, insert an instant-read thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh. Do not poke into a bone. The temperature should reach 180° and the turkey should be golden brown. The breast does not need to be checked for temperature. If legs are not yet fully cooked, baste turkey, return to oven, and cook another 20 to 30 minutes.

7. When fully cooked, transfer turkey to a serving platter, and let rest for about 30 minutes.

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Roasted Vegetables

Well I guess I am on a roasting kick - must be the weather. When I was growing up vegetables were boring. Being of good Irish German American stock, our main vegetable was the potato. Nowadays, I look at it more as a starch and lump it in with others like squash, rice, corn. We also had beans (green, yellow and wax - which I hated), beets, carrots, peas - nothing out of the ordinary. Unfortunately they were all canned. And when I say that I mean tin cans bought at the store, not my great-grandmother's vegetables that she would can herself.

I eat a lot more vegetables these days and it must because we have more opportunities to get fresh and organic ones. There are farmer's markets and organic grocery stores.

Here's a recipe I developed and it is what I call "flexible" - measurements don't need to be exact, you can add other ingredients or remove what you don't like. Sort of like Gypsy Soup (I'll discuss that in a later post).

Ingredients:

4 large russet potatoes
3 red, green or yellow bell peppers
1 large butternet squash
3 large yellow onions
1 lb baby carrots
2 bulbs fennel or sweet anise
1 lb large white mushrooms
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Rosemary
Balsamic Vinegar

Instructions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Sprinkle 4 tbsp olive oil in a large, deep roasting pan.

3. Wash potatoes but do not peel. Cut into large slices so that you have 6 pieces for each potato. Place in roasting pan.

4. Remove seeds and ribs from peppers. Cut into quarters and place in roasting pan.

5. Remove stem and seeds from squash. Cut into large pieces (about 3 inches long by 1 inch wide) and place in roasting pan.

6. Cut onions into quarters and place in roasting pan.

7. Place baby carrots in roasting pan.

8. Cut green stems off of fennel bulbs (use for salad later) and cut into quarters. Place in roasting pan.

9. Clean mushrooms and place whole in roasting pan.

10. Sprinkle vegetables with 1 tbsp salt and 1 tsp black pepper - use more or less as you see fit.

11. Chop about 3 tbsp fresh rosemary and sprinkle over vegetables.

12. Toss with hands - vegetables should be coated with oil so they don't burn but there shouldn't be excess oil.

13. Place in oven and roast for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. After 45 minutes, if larger pieces such as potatoes are not soft yet, keep roasting and checking vegetables. Remove when potatoes are soft but not mushy.

14. Sprinkle 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar over vegetables. Adjust salt and pepper.

Serving: This makes a lot of vegetables! They work well with lamb, chicken or a roast beef or pork. Later on in the week, I like to eat them cold or throw them into a soup.

Photo: Roast Vegetable Goodness by Pat Kight on Flickr

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Roasted Tomatoes

Well, the first frost of the season has hit us here in Chicago - and it was about time! This has been one of the longer growing seasons this year. From what I've read, the standard season is 121 days but this one has been closer to 135! So, if you still have tomatoes on the vine or have brought the green ones in to ripen (my great-grandmother used to wrap them in newspaper which helps speed up the process), here's a tasty way to put them to good use.

This is another great appetizer and I seem to make it almost every weekend once tomatoes arrive in the markets around June. Sometimes I serve the tomatoes whole or mash the roasted tomatoes in a large bowl and serve with fresh bread to dip into the resulting tomato sauce. This recipe is originates in Spain and is great for a simple "salad, wine & cheese" dinner.

Ingredients:

6 medium tomatoes
Salt
Fresh Ground Pepper
Chopped Garlic
Breadcrumbs
Olive Oil

Instructions:

1. Cut off the tops (1/4 inch) of the tomatoes so the flesh is exposed. Tomatoes should be ripe to very ripe.

2. Place tomatoes in light oiled casserole dish - tomatoes should not be too tightly packed nor should they slide around.

3. Sprinkle tops with fresh pepper, salt and as much chopped garlic as desired.

4. Drizzle tomatoes with olive oil - 1/2 tsp per tomato

5. Cover each tomato with 1 tbsp of bread crumbs

6. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes but don't let tops get too dark. Tomatoes should be mushy but still hold some shape.

Serving: Place in a large bowl with pieces of breach - mash tomatoes slightly and spread on bread as a "tapa" dish.

Photo: Roasted Tomatoes by stuandgravy on Flickr

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