Roasted Chicken with Artichoke, Lemon & Olives

For some reason, compliments usually come in the form of an insult around here. Take the Roasted Chicken with Artichoke, Lemon & Olives I made recently for example. It started the second I set the chicken down on the table… “what’s this,” my  husband asked suspiciously. He then proceeded to accuse me of buying the chicken from a restaurant and passing it off as my own… “there’s no way you made this… these are very sophisticated flavors… this is so $%&^*%# good!” This went on for the rest of the night until I got tired of defending my chicken roasting abilities and went up to bed.

This is the kind of dinner you can throw together in less than 10 minutes and your guests will think you are a culinary genius. It’s absolutely outstanding served with pasta or spaghetti squash with a simple pesto.

If you can get your hands on it, use Fleur de Sel sea salt from the Island of Ré. It has a natural lavender taste and can take a simple roasted chicken from mediocre to fabulous just like that. I’ve purchased it at Whole Foods and sometimes Williams-Sonoma carries it.  Continue reading »

Low-Carb Corned Beef Hash

This Low-Carb Corned Beef Hash is a great way to use up leftover corned beef from St. Patrick’s Day.

It occurred to me the last time I roasted cauliflower, that the tastiest bites were the smaller, more crispy pieces and that these nicely browned pieces could easily take the place of roasted potatoes in a corned beef hash if chopped finely enough. I made this for breakfast this morning and it was pretty incredible… I challenge you to tell the difference between potatoes and cauliflower in this recipe!

The best way to chop the cauliflower small enough is to slice through the head in 1/4 inch slices first, and then chop. You really want your cauliflower and onions nicely browned and crispy, so only stir every few minutes to allow the bottom to brown before mixing. Don’t make the same mistake I did… fry your eggs separately. I had my hash nice and crispy, but when I added the eggs on top I put a lid on the pan so they would cook and the steam softened up everything. Even so, it was amazing!  Continue reading »

The Best Margarita Ever

I did it!!!! Finally! The Best Margarita Ever! The thing is, there are so many different recipes online all giving different proportions of ingredients and they all claim to be authentic! I tried at least a dozen, but none came close to my favorite margarita at Bar Taco, in Wesport CT. I gave up in frustration, but the other day as I was driving my kids to dance (what can I say, I am always thinking about margaritas), the correct proportions came to me like that!

If you can get your hands on them (they’re hard to find), use the brands in parenthesis which are the ones Bar Taco uses. I don’t like my margaritas overly sweet so 2 tablespoons of agave is perfect for me, but if you find that you like yours sweeter just add another tablespoon. I used Cointreau in this recipe, but many recipes use triple-sec or other orange flavored liqueurs. I get lazy about juicing limes by hand because sometimes they are too dry so if you have a juicer, just cut away the peel and juice in the machine. Continue reading »

Tangerine Creamsicle Frozen Custard

If you have an obsession with Shake Shack’s Frozen Custard and love Orange Creamsicles, you are going to devour this Tangerine Creamsicle Frozen Custard! Forget ice cream, gelato and frozen yogurt… nothing compares to frozen custard’s  smooth, silky creaminess and nothing comes closer to an Orange Creamsicle’s creamy center. I could have used oranges for this recipe of course, but I happen to have a bag of gorgeous, bright orange tangerines on hand. This frozen custard recipe is a great base for any flavor. Next up… salted caramel!

Keep in mind… frozen custard does not freeze to a harder consistency like ice cream so ‘s it’s best eaten out of a cup as opposed to a cone.  Continue reading »

Almond Crusted Chicken

I have to say I rarely use a recipe that’s not my own more than once, but I’ve made this Almond Crusted Chicken dish adapted from Dr. Mark Hyman’s Almond-Flax Crusted Chicken recipe at least 100 times and each time it disappears so fast I can barely grab a piece for myself! Whenever I ask my kids what they want for dinner, the answer is inevitably “Almond Chicken!” For a dishl that’s gluten and dairy free, low-carb and incredibly healthy,  it is surprisingly good!!! Continue reading »