Roasted Cornish Hens

Who doesn't love a crisp, savory, and warm roast chicken for dinner?  Especially with roasted potatoes and mirepoix (that's diced celery, onions, and carrots) drizzled with olive oil and white wine.  For dinner tonight I've prepared three Cornish hens, and I've already caved and eaten some - they're absolutely delicious!  Even better, they only take about 15 minutes to prepare, then you just put them in the oven for an hour and you're done!

What are Cornish hens?
Cornish hens are young chickens, around 28 days old, that are a hybrid of the Cornish breed of chicken, and any other type of chicken.  Because of their young age, they are tender and moist.  They're a bit pricier than normal roasting chickens, but they are certainly worth the extra dollars!

Ingredients: 

• 2 or more Cornish hens, washed, dried, and gizzards removed.
• 4 Potatoes, peeled.
• 2 Large onions
• 1 Carrot, peeled
• 2 Celery stalks
• 1 Lemon, halved.
• 1 Tablespoon dry thyme
• A dash of white wine
• Olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

I recommend a large roasting pan as showed in the picture below to roast your hens and vegetables in.  It allows for all the vegetables to be exposed on one side so they can brown and get all delicious and flavorful. (I just LOVE crusty brown bits on my potatoes!!)

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Start by peeling and dicing all of your vegetables.  We want a medium dice, nothing too small, or too big.  We're looking for a nice texture, something that will lend to a nice mouthfeel with a bite of chicken.  

Throw all of your veggies in the roasting pan, drizzle with a few tablespoons of olive oil, and season liberally with enough salt and pepper to give them flavor; be careful not to over-do it on the salt.  One thing that can ruin a dish instantly is over-salting.  The opposite is also true - dishes will also be lackluster if you under-salt, so just be sure to get the proportions correct.  Sprinkle with 3/4 of the thyme, and save the rest for rubbing on the chicken. To really kick the veggies up a notch, put a splash of white wine in - it REALLY gives a nice, fruity flavor. Toss to combine the veggies and seasonings.

Stick one half of a lemon in the cavity of each chicken.  Next, rub a bit of olive oil all over the chicken, enough so that all of it is covered, but not dripping.  Sprinkle the rest of the thyme on top, and season with salt and pepper.  

And that's it!  It's so simple, and only takes about 15 minutes to prep (mostly cutting the veggies).  Stick it in the oven for one hour.  After one hour has elapsed, flip the hens and roast for 10 minutes.  Flip them one last time so they are right side up, and roast for another 5 minutes. 

After you take them out of the oven, LET THEM SIT!  I cannot stress this enough.  Meat needs a good 10 minutes to set after it has been taken out of the oven or off the grill for the juices to settle. If you cut into it now, all of those delicious juices are going to leak out!

This is a delicious and easy recipe to make that can feed 4-5 people easily.  The potatoes are crispy and brown, the onions get a bit caramelized, and the white wine gives them all a great fruity flavor.   

Feel free to comment with requests of recipes that you would like to see.

Signing out,

The Minimalist Chef

Quick and Healthy Snacks to Munch On

If you are someone who is looking to lose weight and stay in shape, you need to think about what you are eating. The truth is that starving yourself is never the key; if you want to lose weight and keep it off, eat often, but choose foods that keep your energy up and your calorie count down!
Fruit
You can’t go wrong with fresh fruit. Fruit is sweet and it gives you some sugar to burn for more energy. While you might love the idea of keeping plenty of apples and pears on you, you may find that this is inconvenient. As a substitute, consider keeping boxes of raisins on hand to make sure that you don’t start starving. If you prefer fruit like melons, consider chopping up a melon, leaving the pieces in your fridge and then eating a piece or two throughout the day. This is a good way to make your snacks fast but healthy.

Cheese
Though cheese is considered to be fairly fattening, the truth is that it is fine in small quantities. Keep a few low-calorie cheese sticks on hand. Skip the ones with battering, and instead choose the ones that are packaged to be part of your lunch. Cheese is a protein that will keep you running when you are tired, and if you eat it after a workout, you’ll find that it helps you gain muscle.

Nuts
Whether you love peanuts, macadamia nuts or almonds, you’ll find that nuts give you a great snack. While plain nuts are often the best for you, don’t shy away from nuts that have been salted or roasted in honey. The key is to have a low-fat snack that leaves you filling satisfied. For example, salted peanuts are much healthier for you than potato chips, which are a common choice for people who want to eat something salty.

Salsa
Keep a jar of salsa in the fridge along with a bag of low-calorie baked chips. Salsa is a fairly good source of vitamin C when you are in a hurry, and the contrast in flavors between the chips and the salsa help you feel as though you have had a full meal. Salsa comes in many flavors, and if you want to skip the preservatives, it is very easy to make at home.
Consider what you have been eating lately, and think about whether you could improve on it. There has never been a better time to make a commitment to eating better, so choose snacks that you know are healthy for you!

This post was contributed by ezCater.com. For more information and to find and order Auburn catering visit ezCater.com.

Kitchen Helpers: Some of the Most Useful Kitchen Equipment

The kitchen is a great place to be these days, especially due to the range of interest that there is nowadays in good, quality cooking due to the range of great television cooking programs and interest in fresh ingredients.
Cooking quality fare is one of the greatest things in life and frankly eating it probably is the best thing in life. The relationship we have with the food we eat sums us up in so many ways on both physical, social and interest levels. For many of us, the kitchen is a great place to be and so here are some great gadgets that can make all the difference when in front of the stove, rustling up a salad or in the throes of experimentation all thanks to Rice Homewares.

The Tomato Press

This item is the best in the world for turning tomatoes into those beautiful and juicy fresh sauces that we eat when on holidays. Unlike the pre-packaged food we get these days, which is often still quite fresh, there is still something special about making your own sauces. The press looks like something you would use for grinding meat and all you do is turn the handle to get the best from the little or large tomatoes. It removes the skin and seeds and allows the pulp to enter the bowl alone, meaning you get fresh quality tomato sauce right from the source.

Herb Keeper

One of the biggest issues for those who love the kitchen is how to keep herbs at their best and a good herb keeper is the key. This gadget from Rice Homewares immerses the herb’s roots in water and allows them to be replenished for weeks and so maintain their strength and also keeps them fresh for a long period of time. As fresh herbs beat dried any day of the week, this is a great gift for those who love the kitchen.

Ginger Grater

One of the greatest of all herbs is ginger. The amazing flavour of this herb is so versatile and can be used in a wide range of foods and drinks. Add to this the fact it is good for your stomach and you need a good grater for it. Ginger graters have sharp teeth and collect ginger when it is grated off them. They are also made from aluminium coated in rust proof materials and so are easy to clean, don’t rust and also are great for resisting bacteria.

Grill

Whether you have an oven or a pan, you need a grill and a good frill can make all the difference to the fat levels in food and health. From Rice Homeware’s stock to the George Foreman health grills to grill racks, these items area must have and allow you to create a range of great foods you may not have been able to before such as stuffed vegetables and kebabs among other things. Fortunately like everything else here they are low in price and make all the difference in the kitchen to those who love cooking.

At Olive Loves Alfie you can find great equipment for your kitchen, such as the Rice Homewares series.

The Essence of a Blueberry Muffin

You are trying to decide what to serve your unexpected guests to eat and are scrambling throughout your kitchen, trying to think of the best solution for this immediate situation. Even though most people may think of grandiose dishes or even ordering out, you really do not need to look any further than making a nice batch of blueberry muffins. These delicious and easy-to-cook muffins, if done correctly, will be thoroughly enjoyed by all of your guests and have them coming back to you for more! How easy to cook are blueberry muffins? If you do not know already, then you are going to enjoy this article as we walk you through the process step by step.

The Ingredients

o Milk: ¾ cup of milk is needed for the purpose.
o Vegetable Oil: Vegetable oil is a pre-requisite in case of muffins. You need to have half cup of vegetable oil for making blueberry muffins.
o Eggs: Only one egg is required to carry out the intended task.
o Purpose Flour: Around 2 cups on average of purpose flour is needed.
o Sugar: Go with 1/3rd of a cup of sugar. Amount can be added or decreased according to requirement.
o Baking Powder: 3 Tablespoons of baking powder is required.
o Salt: Normally 1 tablespoon is the ideal amount, but can be varied according to taste.
o Blueberries: One cup of fresh blueberries is needed.
o Muffin pan containing twelve cups is required.

The Basics & the Benefits

Unlike with other dishes, time is definitely on your side when it comes to blueberry muffins. You really will only need 4-6 minutes to prepare the muffins and between 15-18 minute to bake them. Since the ingredients are not expensive at all, blueberry muffins are the most economic choice for a nice dish for your friends and family to share. Since blueberries are rated as the healthiest and finest berries available, these muffins also make healthy alternatives over unhealthy and fattening baked goods, such as cookies and cake.

How Do You Cook the Muffins?

You need to start by pre-heating the oven to a temperature of about 400 degrees. You should grease the bottom part of the pan. This way you can prevent the pan from getting sticky. After getting the pan ready, you need to beat the egg, milk and oil together in a bowl. After all the three ingredients have been mixed properly, you need to stir in the salt, sugar and baking powder. You have to stir until the mixture gets lumpy. After the mixture is ready, you have to put the mixture, which should be moistened, into the cups, i.e. the muffin cups. Filling should be done evenly to give a pleasant look and distribute the mixture equally. After filling is done, 15-20 minutes of baking is enough, which would result in a brown color.

The Perfect Solution

Blueberry muffins are easy to cook and a treat to eat. Since you now know the proper way of making and baking them, you will no longer be stumped when you hear the doorbell unexpectedly with people that you care about.

Videojug is a how-to video tutorial website with everything from how to make blueberry muffins to planting a tomato tree.

How to Save Money on Groceries

How to Have All of Your Favorite Foods at a Fraction of the Price

It’s that time of the week. The cupboards are bare and it’s time to go food shopping to replenish your stocks. You’ve already prepared a budget and have carefully planned your shopping list so it doesn’t break the bank. However, in the cash strapped times we all face at the moment, you’re wishing there was a way to save even more money on your shopping; a way where you don’t have to compromise on buying the brands that you love. If that sounds anything like you then the good news is there is a solution…

It’s All To Do with Dates

The answer to cheaper food is one that is slowly emerging from secrecy to provide considerable savings to households everywhere, and it has everything to do with those things we call ‘best before dates’. Every supermarket throws away food when it is approaching its best before date.

The best before date, however, does not mean that the food cannot be consumed after this time. It is merely a guide that is used to ensure quality control. Around one third of all the food produced is wasted because it is not purchased before the best before date. This food is still perfectly fine to consume, and companies have been busily selling food that’s passed its best before date to happy consumers everywhere.

How do I know it’s safe to eat?

Well, the great thing is you don’t have to take my word for it. Instead, you have confirmation from the horse’s mouth…also known as the Food Standards Agency (FSA). The guidelines set by the FSA state that it is perfectly fine to consume food after the best before date. In many cases, this foods tastes exactly as it would before the best before date, with only a minority of foods losing some of their original texture or flavour.

The only food product that needs to be consumed on or prior to the best before date are eggs. Every other food is completely safe to eat all the way until its ‘use by’ date. It is only the use by date that you should pay close attention to, and it is after that date only that food should be thrown away.

So, how can I save money?

The fact that food is still fine to eat after its best before date means that it is still fine for companies to sell this food. Because of this, businesses have formed that are buying food approaching the best before date at a reduced rate. They are then passing these savings on to you in the form of cheap food items, keeping that bank balance happy.

Many of the foods can be found with up to 75% off of their original retail price. So, if you’re usually spending around £100 per week on your food shopping, then you can realistically still buy all of the same foods and only spend around £25 – £30. Don’t be one to let the best before dates faze you and join the thousands of others who are making considerable weekly savings on their food bills.

Stuart Withers is a copywriter and money saving pro. He’s been actively consuming food after its best before date for a long while now and is happily reaping the rewards of a satisfied wallet. If you want to see how you can reap the rewards too, then he recommends heading over to Food Bargains, where you’ll find a whole range of quality, branded foods at a fraction of their original price. If you want food for less, then check them out today!

Ridiculously Addictive Cookie-Brownies!

I saw a picture on Pintrest a few days ago of a cookie-brownie.  As you might assume, a cookie-brownie is literally that - a brownie recipe with cookie dough dotted on top, and then baked to fuse into one awesome creation.  I just HAD to make them, because it's not like I had any summer work to procrastinate on...oh wait, I have two calculus packets to finish for my summer class.  That's exactly what I wanted to be doing on a Saturday afternoon, right? 

I must implore you to make these brownies.  They only take about 20-25 minutes to prep, and then 35ish minutes to bake, so roughly an hour in total.  That is NOT a lot of time for such a delicious, fattening, stuff-your-face brownie recipe!

Cookie-Brownies:
Makes about 25 brownies, depending on how you cut them.

Brownie Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 eggs (replace with 1 cup applesauce if vegan; but if you're vegan, you won't be making these anyway...)
• 1/2 + 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup butter
• a splash of pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• a pinch of salt (optional, though highly recommended)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix eggs, sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl.
3. Microwave butter until melted, and stir into bowl.
4. Stir in the remaining ingredients until smooth.  Pour into a square pan.
5. Wait to bake until the cookie dough is spooned on!

 
Cookie Dough Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup room temp. butter
• 3/4 cup + 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chips
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• a splash of pure vanilla extract
• 2 eggs

1.  Beat the sugars, eggs, and vanilla extract until creamy and smooth. 
2.  Combine flour and baking soda.  Slowly add to the creamed mixture.
3.  Fold in the semi-sweet chips.
4.  Spoon tablespoons on top of the brownie mixture, spacing evenly.  Make sure the entire surface is covered.
5.  Bake for 40 (give or take 5 minutes) minutes at 350 degrees.  Use a toothpick to see if it is done or not!  If it comes out clean, it is done!  

I hope you enjoy these delectable treats as much as I did! They sure are delicioso; c'est magnifique!

Enjoy!
The Minimalist Chef

Chocolate Mint Tea - David's Tea, Upper East Side

The past weekend I was in Manhattan with friends on a food-splurge.  We ate almost everything under the stars - soup dumplings from Joe's Shanghai,  delicious chocolate from the Bald Man (Max Brenner's), unlimited, delicious breadsticks from Olive Garden; fried pizza from some random restaurant on the West Side, and finally, chocolate mint tea from David's Tea, in the Upper East Side.

Now while the loose-tea community ABHORS Teavana for a plethora of reasons, they don't seem to have any qualms about David's Tea.  In fact, I hadn't even heard of it until we stumbled upon the little storefront.  When you walk inside, you notice the neatly organized, colorful canisters of loose tea arranged on the side walls, and the clean, white walls.  This all screams "modern" to me, and while I like modern restaurants and stores, a tea store should not be modernized.  The art of making tea is an ancient ritual, and modernizing it has taken away some of the feeling that one gets when they brew tea.  Teavana especially has fallen to this, with their exotic "designer" teas, such as their Blackberry Mojito green tea.  For what reason does a good green tea need to be boggled down with disgusting flavors that mask the taste of the tea?  The answer is probably because the tea is of poor quality.

So I ask the woman in David's Tea which is their best selling tea.  She points to a canister on the wall that says "Kiss My Lips."  Now at this point I was wondering if she was trying to initiate something romantic, but I used my better judgement and just opened the canister and smelled the tea.  It smelled of chocolate and mint.  Looking at the actual leaves, I was able to see that it was a black tea, which one might say is not usually...well...MY CUP OF TEA.  There were little red kisses in the leaves that were cute, and gave it some color.  I decided to buy it.

Blogger is not cooperating and won't let me add a photo of the tea, so you'll have to look it up instead!  It's called "Kiss My Lips."  I'm sure Google Images has a picture of the tea leaves.

So I get home and try brewing it.  I tried four minutes because black tea usually brews for a solid four minutes.; I was REALLLLY not in the mood for bitter tea (when IS anyone ever in the mood for bitter tea?).

The tea smells absolutely amazing; in fact, I would probably use it as an air freshener around my house.  Unfortunately, it smells a lot better than it tastes.  It has very little tea flavor, and mostly tastes of chocolate and poor-quality mint.  I finished the tea-pot because I was really in the mood for tea but didn't feel like making another brew, but it was not very enjoyable.  And to top it off, black tea contains a decent amount of caffeine, so I stayed up for an extra hour.

Overall review:

David's Tea Store: Nice looking, the people were helpful.  They didn't have any pure teas though, only "designer" blends.  I wouldn't come here unless I was out of loose-tea and had no other place to get it. 3/5

Chocolate Mint Tea:  Had no taste of tea, only chocolate and mint.  Smells amazing, but isn't really a good tea.  2.5/5

I hope you enjoyed this tea review, hopefully I'll get my hands on some more unique tea and critique it for you soon!  Please comment if you have any recipe suggestions, questions, or ideas!

Signing out,
The Minimalist Chef