Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic

Chicken with 40 cloves of garlic is a very popular recipe that has many different variations. This is a crock pot version which I love because it can be made so easily while you are out running errands or at work. This recipe creates a moist and flavorful chicken with little effort. I highly recommend it for an easy (and healthy!) meal during the week! 

Ingredients

Salt and Pepper chicken

                                    

Roasting garlic (above) Adding in the white wine (below)

Pour it on top of the chicken, then add the rosemary and thyme

Three hours later....

Making the sauce

Crock Pot Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic

Cook Time: 4 Hours

Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 5-6 pound chicken
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 40 cloves of garlic, peeled but still whole (about 3 bulbs of garlic)
• 3/4 cup white wine
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 
  

Directions

1. Rub the chicken generously with salt and pepper, then place it in the crock pot.

2. Heat your olive oil in a skillet and add the peeled, whole garlic. Cook for about 8 minutes over medium heat until the garlic is golden, then add the white wine. Stir until the liquid has mostly evaporated, another 3-5 minutes over medium heat.

3. Pour the garlic and white wine over the chicken in the crock pot, and sprinkle the thyme and rosemary over everything. Add in the bay leaf. Turn the crock pot to low and cook for 3-4 hours (I did mine for 3 hours. Once the inside of the chicken hits 165 degrees is perfect). When ready, remove the chicken and place on a separate platter, then cover with foil to retain its heat. Set aside.

4. Pour the juices from the pot through a mesh sieve into a pot, then press the garlic through the sieve to form a paste. Cook the gravy with a tablespoon of butter over medium-high heat until slightly thickened, about 5-8 minutes. Serve over the chicken. 

I served this with Farrotto with Acorn Squash and Red Russian Kale (also on the blog!)

Adapted from Crepes of Wrath

Heirloom Pumpkin Pie

 My Grandmother, Domenica Battaglia, is an excellent cook. I try and cook with her often while she is in town visiting. Last year, through our CSA, I received an heirloom pumpkin and saw it as a great opportunity to spend time with her, learn from her, and cook my first homemade pumpkin pie. 

It turned out delicious! I just received another heirloom pumpkin today at the CSA pick up and I cannot wait to make this again!

As you can see (top right), Loosey thought it smelled delicious!!

The process from start to finish

The raw heirloom pumpkin. I didn't weigh it but it was big and heavy!

             The baking pumpkin, softening in the oven

Scraping the cooked pulp out, being careful to leave the seeds behind

Ready to be baked!

Heirloom Pumpkin Pie

This recipe makes 2 pies

Ingredients

1 heirloom pumpkin
1 1/3 cup of cream or half & half
12 tablespoons honey
4 beaten eggs
6 tablespoons flour
4 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

2 9-inch pie crusts (You can make your own pie crust if you would like- I decided to save time and use store bought)

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Place the pumpkin in the oven for 2-3 hours until it is tender.  The length of time will heavily depend on the size of your pumpkin- just keep a close eye on the pumpkin after the 90 minute mark if your pumpkin is smaller.

2. Once the pumpkin is tender, scrape out the pulp and put it in a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth. This should yield about 1 1/2 - 2 quarts of of pulp. Divide into 2 equal parts.

3. Mix 2/3 cup of cream, 6 Tbsp of honey, 2 beaten eggs, 3 Tbsp of flour, and 2 tsp of pumpkin pie spice in with 1 serving of the pumpkin puree. Pour into the 9 inch pie crust. Repeat for the second pie.

4. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for about an hour. Check with toothpick and cook until the toothpick comes out clean.

Enjoy and of course, serve a' la mode!




Thank you to CSA member, Sally Reynolds for sharing the delicious recipe!

Roasted Butternut Squash

Butternut squash is a fall favorite! I had not cooked it prior to receiving it in our CSA basket a couple of years ago. I have tried it several different ways, but I will share with you my favorite so far. To boot, this recipe is super, super easy to make. I like to serve it as a side to a meat (usually chicken or pork). This recipe has a hint of sweetness so its balanced nicely by another vegetable or salad. I hope you enjoy it!

It would make a perfect side to compliment your turkey on Thanksgiving!

Not many ingredients are required

Peeled and chopped squash with the butter and brown sugar mixture

Ready to be roasted

Delicious!

Roasted Butternut 

Squash

Ingredients

1 medium butternut squash (2-3 pounds)
3-4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/8 cup light brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees

2. Peel the squash and cut in half lengthwise. Remove and discard the seeds. Cut the squash into 1 - 1 1/2 " cubes and place them in a bowl.

3. Mix together the melted butter and brown sugar. Pour over the cubed squash. Add the salt and pepper and toss the squash to coat.

4. Spread out the squash in a single layer on a baking sheet. Roast for 45 - 55 minutes until the squash is tender and the glaze begins to caramelize. Be sure to turn/stir the squash while its roasting to be sure it browns evenly.

5. Once roasted, taste a piece, and add more S + P as needed. Serve immediately and enjoy!

Singapore

My in-laws moved to Singapore 3 years ago for my father-in-law, Rick's job. Singapore is a very small island in Southeast Asia. It is located between Indonesia and Malaysia (Malaysia is below Thailand). I had no idea where it was prior to them moving there. Everyone Will and I talked to was just as lost with the geography! I also had no idea what them moving to Asia would do for me. I am not sure I would have been so interested in traveling to Asia if they had not been there. Asia has become a "hot spot" for traveling in the last couple of years so maybe I would have, but I always thought I would go to Europe before I ever went to Asia.

Sunrise from Sentosa

Rick and Cora's (my father and mother in-law) adventure became a big adventure for Will and I as well! Singapore is an amazing city/island/state. Singapore is the name of the city as well as the state. It is an island that measures 31 miles x 16 miles.  Will's parents lived on Sentosa, an island below the island of Singapore. Sentosa is nick-named "Asia's Playground". It is an island resort that has a casino, Universal Studios, aquarium and waterpark all owned by the company Resorts World Sentosa, which is the company Rick worked for. What an experience, right?!

Views from the porch

Sentosa is just like a playground. We spent a lot of time on Sentosa but the city of Singapore has a lot to offer as well. Singapore is known for its interest and mastery of food. Being a multi-lingual, multi-religious, and multi-racial society, there are many different cuisines and an overlap of cuisines (from marriages between cultures) creating a completely new type of food. There is a fusion of cultures unlike anywhere else.


What opened my eyes to all of this was watching Anthony Bourdain's episode of his 24 hour layover in Singapore. He  describes Singapore as a melting pot of cultures and ethnicities that all come together over a national obsession with food. An obsession that he (and I!) shares in.

Will and I were fortunate enough to visit Singapore twice. The first time was shortly after Rick and Cora had gotten there so much of the exploring we did was new for them as well. Hope you enjoy looking at our first trip!

Tanjong Beach & Club

 The Singapore zoo and Jurong BirdPark. We went for the day time and stayed for a nighttime safari

The Singapore flyer

                      Views from the Flyer

Floating soccer field

Walking around exploring downtown Singapore

The Merlion (above) is the mascot of Singapore           

(Above) Marina Bay Sands, a 3 tiered hotel with a casino underneath and an infinity pool and restaurant on top

Views from the top of Marina Bay Sands

Singapore is well known for their hawker stands. The stands are in hawker centres which are essentially open air markets with individual stalls that are separately owned and operated. You can go to a hawker centre and order different foods from different stalls. Hawkers are known as the place to go for great, local food at cheap prices. They've got anything and everything you could ever want. Here are some scenes from the markets.

Laksa

Pad thai

Pad thai, naan and Tiger beer- the beer of Singapore

Mutton Soup and Naan

Indoor Market

Pad thai

Prawn Noodle
and
Chang Beer
from Thailand

Pork Rib Soup

Hawkers

Chicken Rice, the National Dish of Singapore- SO delicious

Fruits galore

Will, his mom and I (Rick was unfortunately at work, someone's gotta earn money, right!?) would go out individually and just order whatever looked good from the stalls. We would bring what we bought back to our table and pass around all the different dishes. It was so much fun. We quickly learned what we liked and didn't like.

Black Pepper Crab

SO many interesting fruits

Gorgeous views from the sunset cruise

Singapore will always hold a special place in my heart. I'll share our second trip on another post!