Roast chicken with 40 cloves of garlic

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To paraphrase a popular chick flick:

In winter, we eat chicken with garlic.

On pink plates.

Note: This recipe is super easy when you buy one of those huge containers of peeled garlic cloves from Costco (or whichever big-box store you frequent).

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Roasted Garlic Chicken

by Erika Kerekes January-28-2016

Chicken. Garlic. Oven. What else do you need?

Ingredients

• 8 large chicken thighs, bone-in and skin on
• 1 Tablespoon herbes de Provence, Italian herb mix, or any other dried herb mix you prefer
• 1 cup fresh garlic cloves, peeled
• 1 lemon
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• salt and pepper

Instructions

Heat the oven to 450 degrees. Spray a large roasting pan with nonstick cooking spray.Lay the chicken pieces in the pan, skin side up. Sprinkle them with the dried herb mix and scatter the garlic cloves around them. Cut the lemon in half and squeeze the juice over the chicken. Put the lemon halves in the roasting pan. Drizzle the chicken with the olive oil, then shower it generously with salt and pepper.Turn the chicken pieces over so the skin side is down. Put the roasting pan in the oven. Set the timer for 15 minutes. (This step crisps the skin.)After 15 minutes, turn the heat down to 350 degrees. Bake another 40 minutes or until the chicken thighs are cooked through and very tender.Serve the chicken skin side up with the garlic cloves and pan juices poured over.

Details

Prep time: 5 mins Cook time: 55 mins Total time: 1 hour Yield: 4 servings

Copycat Starbucks hazelnut Frappucino

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My kids have always loved coffee.

My older son, now 16, developed a taste for coffee with milk (not milk with coffee) when he was a toddler. The Starbucks baristas gave him some funny looks when he ordered his own decaf before he could see over the counter.

My younger son, now 13, drinks his coffee black most of the time. Decaf, of course - we'll never know if the old wives' tales about caffeine stunting your growth hold water, but I don't take any chances in the height department given my five-foot-nothing stature.

Younger son, however, also has a sweet tooth. When he spent his allowance one too many times on a huge-ass blended coffee drink, with its many, many grams of added sugar, I decided to bribe him with a copycat version where I control what goes into the blender.

This copycat Starbucks hazelnut Frappucino tastes better than the original, in my opinion. I buy sugar-free hazelnut syrup via Amazon Prime. Not even the 13-year-old minds the lack of sugar.

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Copycat Starbucks hazelnut Frappucino

by Erika Kerekes November-16-2015

This hazelnut-flavored blended iced coffee drink has a fraction of the sugar and calories of the real thing. Trying to cut down on added sugar and trim your expensive coffee habit? This recipe is for you.

Ingredients

• 4 cups ice cubes
• 1 cup strong coffee
• 2 cups unsweetened almond milk
• 2 Tablespoons sugar-free hazelnut syrup
• Dash of ground cinnamon
• Whipped cream (optional)

Instructions

Add ice cubes to blender. Pulse a few times to break the ice into smaller pieces. (If your ice maker generates crushed ice, use that instead.)Add coffee, almond milk, syrup and cinnamon to the blender. Blend on high until smooth, about 30 seconds.Pour into two glasses, dividing evenly. Top with whipped cream if desired. Serve immediately.

Details

Prep time: 4 mins Cook time: 1 mins Total time: 5 mins Yield: 2 large servings

Paleo fried chicken with almond crust

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I've been trying to eat fewer grains lately. This is tough for me - no one is a bigger fan of the white starch category than I am. But hey, I'm coming up on 50. I figure it's time to make a few adjustments.

I came across a few "Paleo" recipes for fried chicken coated with almond meal instead of flour. I doubt I'll ever move all the way over to a true Paleo diet - it's pretty restrictive - but I thought I'd give almond-crusted fried chicken a try.

It. Was. Stupendous.

I went full-on Paleo and fried the chicken thighs in coconut oil, but if you're not following the Paleo diet strictly you can use any other high-heat frying oil, like grapeseed oil or canola oil.

ON THE SIDE: I served my fried chicken with my Not Ketchup fruit "ketchup" sauces, of course. Sweet and tangy, they're the perfect partner for this crispy, salty, umami-rich fried chicken. Pick up a bottle at NotKetchup.com or Amazon.com today!

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Paleo Fried Chicken With Almond Crust

by Erika Kerekes August-19-2015

Fried chicken coated in almond meal and spices and fried in coconut oil. Grain-free, Paleo and delicious!

Ingredients

• 2 eggs
• 2 cups almond meal or almond flour
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 4 cups coconut oil (can substitute grapeseed or canola oil)
• 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs

Instructions

Crack the eggs into a medium-sized bowl and whisk until frothy. In another bowl, mix together the almond meal, garlic salt, smoked paprika and pepper until combined. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.Heat the coconut oil over medium heat in a deep, heavy pot. I use a 5-quart cast iron Dutch oven. Get the oil up to about 350 degrees F. If you're too impatient to use a thermometer (like me), wait until the surface is visibly shimmering. Dip a piece of the chicken first into the egg, then into the almond meal mixture. Make sure the chicken is coated all over with the almond meal. Drop the chicken gently into the hot oil and fry until golden brown on both sides. You'll have to work in batches, frying three or four pieces at a time (depending on the size of your pot).When the chicken is golden brown, put it on a rack set over a sheet pan (or just on a sheet pan if you don't have a rack). When all the chicken is fried, slide the pan into the oven for 15 minutes. This will ensure that even the thickest parts of the chicken are cooked through and will re-warm the pieces you fried first.Serve hot with your favorite flavor of Not Ketchup for dipping.

Details

Prep time: 10 mins Cook time: 30 mins Total time: 40 mins Yield: 4 servings

Perfect tomato soup {no dairy}

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Got tomatoes? I'm not growing any this year, but I often buy "second" heirloom tomatoes at the farmers market. They're a little soft and scarred, but they taste the same and they're much cheaper. And they're perfect for tomato soup.

I've seen tomato soup recipes that add sugar and baking soda to smooth out the flavors and balance the acid in the tomatoes. I don't. I want my tomato soup to taste like tomatoes. I don't add cream, either, although I guess you could. Personally, I think it's great just the way it is.

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Perfect Tomato Soup

by Erika Kerekes August-5-2015

Six ingredients, half an hour, and a good blender: That's all you need to make this perfect classic tomato soup.

Ingredients

• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1 yellow onion, peeled and chopped
• 1 carrot, grated or shredded
• 3 pounds fresh ripe tomatoes, chopped
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 1/4 cup fresh basil, roughly chopped or torn (optional)
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and carrot. Cook until the vegetables have softened, about 5 minutes.Add the tomatoes, chicken stock and basil (if using). Bring to a boil, turn down the heat, and simmer about 20 minutes, until the vegetables are very soft.Puree the soup in a blender (or in the pot using a hand-held blender) until very smooth. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper as needed. Serve hot.

Details

Prep time: 5 mins Cook time: 25 mins Total time: 30 mins Yield: 8 servings

How to make perfect cheese popcorn

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Every afternoon around 3 p.m. I look around my home office and think "Yep, time for a snack."

Popcorn is one of my go-to afternoon snacks. I used to do the nasty microwave bags. But then I read Elise's "Perfect Popcorn" method on Simply Recipes and threw the bags away. A pot, some oil, popcorn kernels, salt, and five minutes: That's all it takes to make truly perfect popcorn with virtually zero unpopped kernels.

It pays to start with high-quality popping corn. I buy mine in the Whole Foods bulk food department and store it in a recycled jar in the pantry.

What do you like on your popcorn? My favorite topping is Cabot Creamery's Cheddar Cheese Shake, real cheddar cheese in a soft flowing powder that coats each fluffy kernel. It's so flavorful that I don't even need any extra butter or salt. Sometimes I add a little chili powder or garlic powder along with the Cheddar Cheese Shake, just to change things up.

And yes, in case you were wondering, I am eating a bowl of cheese popcorn right now as I type this! Sorry, keyboard.

Disclosure: Cabot Creamery provided me with a sample of Cheddar Cheese Shake as part of their Cabot Cheese Board blogger program. No actual money changed hands.

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Perfect Cheese Popcorn

by Erika Kerekes July-23-2015

All it takes to make perfect cheese popcorn is five minutes and a few simple ingredients. You'll never go back to microwave popcorn after trying this simple method.

Ingredients

• 3 Tablespoons olive oil (can substitute a more neutrally flavored oil like canola or grapeseed)
• 1/3 cup unpopped popcorn kernels
• 1/4 teaspoon salt (optional)
• 3 Tablespoons Cabot Creamery Cheddar Cheese Shake

Instructions

Put the oil and 6 kernels of popcorn in a heavy 5-quart pot with a tightly fitting lid. Turn the heat to high. Wait about 45 seconds.When the first kernels start to pop, turn off the heat. Pour in the rest of the popcorn kernels and the salt (if using), then cover the pot again. Count to 30, slowly.Turn the flame back on to medium-high and start shaking the pan gently, back and forth across the burner - this keeps the popcorn from burning. It's a good idea to vent the lid slightly, but you'll need a heavy-duty oven mitt on the hand that's holding the lid ajar, as steam will be escaping.Keep shaking the pan as the popcorn starts to pop. After about a minute, the popping will stop. Turn off the flame and pour the finished popcorn into a large bowl.Sprinkle the popcorn with the Cabot Creamery Cheddar Cheese Shake. Toss the popcorn to distribute the cheese powder. Eat immediately, licking the extra cheese powder off your fingers between bites.

Details

Prep time: 1 mins Cook time: 4 mins Total time: 5 mins Yield: approximately 6 cups