Souffles and Custard

For our wedding we received a bunch of beautiful appliances like blenders, food processors, mixers and the like.  For the first 3 months of marriage the only energy I had to exert on dinners and desserts was enough to sear some chicken breasts, throw together a salad, or order pad thai and have Michael pick it up on his way home from work.  But this last week, I whipped out every appliance and made tons of different and delicious (is it ok to call my own food delicious?) things.  It was so fun.  But I also realized my kitchen is just miniscule.

Here is the healthy custard recipe I made:

3/4 cup part skim ricotta chesse

4 oz low fat cream cheese

1/4 cup granular sugar substitute, like splenda, or regular sugar

1/4 cup fat free half and half (I used part milk and part regular half/half)

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1 egg

1 egg white

Cinnamon for garnish (I added some to the mix which was delicious too!)

1.  Preheat oven to 250 degrees

2.  Place cream cheese and ricotta cheese in mixing bowl and use mixer at medium speed and mix well.

3.  Add the rest of the ingredients and mix until thoroughly combined.

4.  Pour mixture into 4 (8oz) ramekins and place the ramekins in a baking dish with about 1-inch of water at the bottom of the dish. (you may cool mixture for an hour up to overnight if you wish, this is optional)

5.  Bake at 250 for 45 minutes.

6.  Remove from water and cool.

7.  Sprinkle with cinnamon and indulge guilt free!

Dinner, meal, supper, feast, informal spread.

So who is hungry?  And not have a clue what to make?  Even after just two months of marriage, I still come home at night and slump in the kitchen looking through cabinets, the fridge, the freezer, more cabinets, looking for something to make.  So I have decided to help, both myself, and you (whomever you may be!) come up with something new to eat.  So, whatever you call the meal you eat between the hours of 4:30-??? (Yes, sometimes I am so famished that dinner is served at 4:30), let's eat!  Come back each week (Mondays except for, ya know, today, Wednesday) for a new delicious recipe.  Taylor and Michael approved.

Bon appetit!

Roasted chicken with mediterranean vegetables

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken (4-5lbs)
1 red bell pepper, quartered
1-2 zucchini, cut into large chunks
1 fennel bulb, trimmed and quartered
1 lb new potatoes
8 garlic cloves, whole and peeled
1/2 lemon
Sprigs of fresh thyme
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt
Pepper

So, forewarning...I do not cook with exact measurements.  I cook with the things I like and add more of it and add less of what I hate.  This recipe called for eggplant, but I hate eggplant (a ruined experience of eggplant parmesan that I would like to repress, but I just can't), so I switched it out for zucchini.  The recipe called for 8 cloves of garlic, but I put in about 12.  Garlic...mmm...garlic.  The fun of cooking is to make it your own and be creative.  So, hate fennel?  Use onion.  Hate peppers?  Use more potatoes.  OK, moving on...

How to:

1.  Preheat oven to 400 F degrees.
2.  Take whole chicken and pat it dry.  Place in a large roasting pan and lightly coat with olive oil and pepper.  Place 1/2 lemon and a few sprigs of thyme inside.  Place chicken breast-side down and roast for 30 minutes.
3.  Remove from oven and flip chicken over to breast-side up and add potatoes.  Roast for 30 more minutes.
4.  Remove from oven once again and add vegetables, garlic, and a few more sprigs of thyme to vegetable mix.  Roast for 30-50 more minutes occasionally stirring vegetables.  (Note:  To know when chicken is done, pierce meat between breast and leg and juices should run clear.  If the juices are pink, keeping cooking at 10 min increments till clear).
5.  Serve with rosemary garlic bread or anything else you like.  Yum.

This recipe is so easy and yummy.  Perfect for cold winter nights.  Enjoy!