The Family Meal: No. 22
Up tonight? Numero 22!
On the menu:
- Peas with ham
- Roasted chicken with potato straws
- Pineapple with lime and molasses
First, I prepped the chicken. Rubbed with olive oil, salt, lemon zest and a homemade poultry seasoning of bay leaves, thyme, rosemary and pepper:
The chicken roasted for awhile before I began prepping the peas. Peas met proscuitto, a slice of bacon (The recipe called for “ham fat” or pancetta. I had bacon.) and carmelized onions.
Also, apparently no one sells the shoestring potato chips the recipe calls for anymore. I roasted some fingerlings until nicely browned instead.
The chicken came out of the oven to rest.
While I creamed a small portion of the peas, added them back in, and finished the peas with some black pepper.
And made the chicken jus.
Opened a bottle of our very favorite Albarino and busted out the good stemware (normally its Riedel O unless we have guests).
Dark meat for the hubs:
White meat for me:
Dessert. This could not have been simpler: sliced pineapple, juice and zest of half a lime, molasses drizzle. This tasted like a tropical vacation!
This was our third full meal from The Family Meal book. Tonight Mike pronounced it “the best cookbook of all time.” I don’t disagree. So far, everything has been extremely easy to prepare, has required only a few ingredients (and only one hard-to-find ingredient, which was easily subbed out) and has been delicious.
Tonight’s dinner was no exception. The peas and ham were so tasty, the spice rub for the chicken gave an incredible flavor to the meat that is hard to get without brining (usually the skin is flavorful, the meat bland) and the pineapple was light and refreshing.
Verdict? Good stuff!
