Roasted Chicken and Potatoes

Ok, I know this isn't diet food and I know alot of my blog readers are on diets(just like I am suppose to be) but I had to share this dish with you all. It's comfort food............and a throw "all in the oven" meal. Really simple and very tasty. I found the recipe by watching Martha Stewart Show. Just beware that it's a "winter dish". Meaning it's hardy and you cook it at very high temps. So you want it to be cold outside. Not a good dish to make in the middle of the summer heat. We made this dish recently at my sister's apt. Her apt. is pretty small and the kitchen even smaller. So it heated up her whole apt. We were really sweatin it out. Ha! The upside, we made the whole apt. smell like tasty chix meal. I bet all those hungry college students(mostly college students living in that apt) were getting hungry smelling that cooking. We have made this dish 3 times now. I am not kidding ....it will be the tasty chicken you ever tasted. Here is what you will need: Whole chix, Whole Garlic Glove, and Rosemary and Russet potatoes.

The potatoes cook in that chix juice and the ones on the bottom of the pan(YUM-O Goodness). I ran out and bought a cast iron skillet just for this recipe. I didn't have one. So I went to Walmart and got this 12 inch for under 20 bucks. You can find anything at Walmart and for cheap. LOVE IT! You can check out the recipe at Martha Stewart Online and a plus, it has a video of the actual show making this dish. Enjoy!

Before I forget: here is a pix of all the birds going nutty over our Crab Tree Berries. Recently when it snowed awhile back....the birds were going crazy that day. They couldn't seem to get enough food. So they were all fighting over the berries on this tree and our neighbors trees. Crazy! This pix doesn't do this justice. That day their was so so many birds that the camera just didn't really capture the numbers. I think the robins were just a little confused because of the snowfall. Poor things!

Pumpkin Cheese Bread

Making this pumpkin cheese bread is a tradition for me to make. I make it for my family in the late fall season. I always try to make it around Thanksgiving. Nothing like the taste of pumpkin in November.

I got the recipe in this wonderful cookbook. Among Friends. I love the illustrations alone in this cookbook.

This pumpkin bread is a little different than most recipes. It has about 3 layers.

One is the batter, two a Cinnamon topping, and three is a ribbon of cream cheese filling in the middle. This is the key ingredient as it makes the bread really nice and moist. yet it has the crunchy Cinnamon topping throughout.

Plus, you get 2 bread pans out of this recipe. One for you and one to give to a friend, neighbor, family member or you can just eat them ALL!~ha!

This year's batch I tried to make an extra smaller mini bread pan. So I really got 2 and half loaves out of the deal.

Here are the recipes to share and as you can see...I wasn't kidding about the illustrations on these pages in the book. Aren't they just dang cute??? You can click on the image to enlarge . The recipe (like with most) I had to revise a little. I usually make 3x the toppings. I like alot of the topping on the bread. The Recipe doesn't make enough topping when you make 2 and half loaves.






Here is the "mess" on my center island. I like to get all my ingredients out first and than measure the ingredients and have the ready to throw into the mix. I ALMOST had a disaster in the kitchen.........when I had taken too many pumpkin pie spices out from the spice rack.....it turns out I accidentally grabbed the NUTMEG. Good thing I noticed before I poured it into the mix. The pumpkin Pie spice is really a key ingredient. wouldn't want to mess that up.

Here is the results of the mess above..........the 3 mixes I talked about. The pumpkin batter...as you can see it makes ALOT. Below a pix of my Cinnamon/pumpkin topping (triple the topping ingredients). Finally the cream cheese filling. Just a tip: you don't end up using too much of this filling. Add too much and it will take forever to cook the bread and be over moist. Just a little zig zag ribbon in the middle of the mix.


Here is a photo of all 3 ready to go into the bread pans.


Here is the first step.....I put the cream cheese filling in the mix..... Just continue to make a little more zig zags and your good to go with the cheese. Like I said you don't want to add too much.

2nd Step: Just spread a thin layer of the topping on but make sure to keep enough for the top portion of the breads.

3rd step: Put more of the batter filling over making SURE not to fill too close to the top. You don't want it to rise and make a mess in your oven. So keep about 2/3 left or so at the top. Actually, I need to buy a little mini bread pan. I used my smallest bread pan for my half loaf I made. It ended up filling out a pretty good size bread just with my left overs. That bread is the one I have pictured below. Usually you can't see the cream cheese on the bread .....but I had too little ingredients left and just used what i had left over to fill this pan.........and that bread pictured was the result. Good way to use the left overs. I had alot of cheese filling left so I used more than usual on this bread. However, I didn't have too much topping left. So this small bread pictured doesn't have much of the tasty crusty topping. I do have a slice of bread pictured below that has the normal toppings and ingredients. I highly suggest making your bread with the topping. It really gives it a coffeecake like taste.

YUM.........getting hungry yet? My MIL got the extra bread that we shared. We ate the little mini half bread........in one setting and I still have some left overs from the bigger bread pan we made.

Kiesch

Finally getting around to posting my Kiesch I made this past weekend. Made it for my DH since he is hard at work........working on our porch project. Thought he could use some comfort food. Kiesch isn't normally a "GUY" type of food. Ha! However, my Dh eats anything and everything. So no worries...............and he loves this revised version of Kiesch I make. Normally this recipe calls for Spinach. I stopped using the spinach since all the recalls had been made on spinach. Can't seem to get back to buying it now. I love that bag spinach too. What a bummer! Maybe I will get over and buy it once again. I really don't like buying any veggie in a bag anymore. Since all the recalls and such seems to happen to veggies in a bag. Oh well, anyhow I was going to say that I load this spinach Kiesch with MEAT. Any guy will like Kiesch this way. Just load it with the meats. I also use Pepper jack Cheeses to spice it up. The recipe calls for Swiss cheese but I don't usually like Swiss as much as I like the spicier cheeses. Just depends on what you like. Any meat will work too. I use Grilled Chicken in my recipe. Love it and it's healthier to grill the chicken. Grill it on the grill and than cut it up into small pieces for the kiesch. This is a good way to use left over grilled meat too. If you have left overs from grilling the night before. (you can also use Ham, hamburger, sausage, or make it vegetarian if you like). Kiesch is easy to revise any way you like it with any ingredients really.

Here is my finished Kiesch. I usually keep it in the oven an hour and let it cool for at least 15 minutes or more. Otherwise, it is super hot. I usually cook up some Parmesan garlic toast while I wait for the kiesch to cool.

I use a basic pie crust recipe from any cook book. You could even use a pre-made pie crust. However, pie crust is really easy to make. Here's an easy tip to rolling pie crust. I usually roll it out on wax paper and than just flip it over into the pie plate. Makes it easier to work with and get it into the pie plate. Than I just use a fork and make a decorative edge. Some people will flute their edge too. You can use any edge you like. The fork method is the easiest-LOL!



Than just fill your kiesch however you like. I start with the cheese on the bottom. Gives it a nice taste with the pie crust. Notice I have it filled with pepper jack. Oh yeah, we like it spicy here~ha! If you don't like things spiced up.....the recipe calls for slices of Swiss on the bottom. Either way it's tasty way to start. The next step I load it with the meat. Than I put my already sauteed mushrooms and onions on top.



The recipe calls for 1 Cup Half and half mixed with 3 eggs, flour, and salt. I usually mix these ingredients together and than pour onto the kiesch. Make sure it doesn't overflow over the edge. Than all you do is top with cheeses. I add crack peppercorn to every dish. So I loaded it with peppercorns. I love PEPPER! I am a pepper-holic. The smell is so yummy...cracked pepper. So I added it on top.



Than you just stick that pie in the oven for about an hour or til cheese is bubbly brown on top and your set for a comfort food that will last you thru the whole day. Kiesch is very filling! plus makes good left overs for a snack later in the evening. Ha! I thank my sister Wanda for starting me on this fun and easy recipe. I never made Kiesch until my sister was over one time and she wanted to make Spinach Kiesch. Thanks Wanda for giving us the tips on Kiesch and making us realize that Kiesch isn't just for Gals. Ha! Kiesch is perfect for a Sunday brunch meal.

Here is the recipe: Wanda found this one online but I am sure there are alot of good Kiesch recipes out there. If you have one....please share. I am always looking for new recipes.