Greek Salad

Hello there!,

Well I know no one really needs a recipe for salad but I made a great greek salad today and thought it would make a great blog post. I personally despise salad, mostly because I hate lettuce, but, this salad is really flavorful and totally easy to make. It is pretty fast to cook up but does take a few hours to marinade the chicken. This salad consists of marinated chicken and a homemade vinaigrette.

Lemon-Rosemary Vinaigrette

I recommend making the dressing right before you make the salad so it is nice and fresh.

You'll Need:

1 bunch fresh chopped rosemary, but sub for 1/2 tablespoon dried if you must

1/2 cup olive oil, this is an approximation. Use as much or as little as it takes to get the right consistency.

The juice of 4 lemons, again fresh is best but sub with aprox 1/2 cup bottled lemon juice

1/2 tablespoon of sugar

Pepper

1 tablespoon jarred minced garlic, the jarred is sweeter and adds a nice kick

1-2 tablespoon honey mustard

tiny pinch of salt

All you have to do is whisk these together in a bowl till they are just about the thickness of a regular store bought vinaigrette dressing, it will be a little thinner but that's fine.

The marinade:

4 thin slice boneless skinless chicken breast

2 tablespoons minced jarred garlic

4 tablespoons of olive oil

1 tablespoon fresh oregano, or 1/2 a tablespoon dried

chopped bunch of fresh rosemary or 1/2 tablespoon dried

salt and pepper

Mix together in a zip top bag and chuck in the fridge for 3 hours to overnight.

Cooking the chicken:

I did mine in a skillet on the stove top but this would be amazing grilled. Also I tried to not get the herbs from the marinade into the pan just so they wouldn't burn but it is no emergency if you skip that.

Since they already are basted in olive oil there is no need for additional fat if sauteing the chicken. Saute over medium heat about 3-5 min a side or until the inside is no longer pink.

Assembling your salad.

You'll need

A small block of feta

sliced mild banana peppers, or whole pepperonchini pepper, spicy is a little overpowering for this dish

Small jar/can sliced olives, or whole if you prefer

A large bag of baby greens mix salad

Your homemade dressing

And if you want to make it a lovely fatoush salad some fresh pita that has beI en toasted in the toaster. I would skip the supermarket for the pita and if available go to your local middle eastern market it won't cost you more than $2 for amazing fresh pita.

Your garlic herb chicken, sliced

I like to put the dressing in the bottom of the bowl and then pile the rest in and toss. Crumbling the pita and feta on last.

I hope everyone enjoys this easy and amazing salad!!

Love,

Ditzy

LEMONS!!!

Well hey there folks,

So I have decided to jump on the preserved lemon bandwagon. Now, since I generally have the history of messing up the simplest recipes I am trying this with basic lemons and basic salt. Now with that said, should this work out I will try it with other herbs and spices. I can't wait to see how these will turn out. I have also been furiously working on plants. I have some rosemary that is trying to make it and some basil that very well may have a fungus. I am on hiatus from knitting at the moment and thinking of combining all the blogs into one. I hope everyone is surviving the heat. I have at least a month before these lemons will be viable but keep posted!

Love,

Ditzy

CHICKEN STOCK!!!

Hey Folks!!
Ok so I love chicken anything and one of the best things you can do with a carcass of roasted chicken you can make the most magical incarnation of poultry imaginable.... STOCK!
This lovely, and slightly gross, concoction can be the foundation of amazing soup, flavorful rice, and added to just about anything. Just like a tub of bacon fat, this is a staple for your fridge and it freezes excellently. OK so there are several ways you can make this awesome liquid gold. My method involves a crock pot.

Prep Time: 15 min
Cook Time 13-15 hours

Tools:
Crock pot
Ladle
Colander
Large Freezer Bags
Measuring Cups
Large Mixing Bowl


Ingredients:
A left over chicken carcass, I used the one from the roasted chicken recipe I posted last. I froze it to use later!
3-4 carrots, peeling and sliced
3-4 stalks of celery, cleaned and sliced
1 medium onion
1 tbls of fat of choice, I chose bacon fat :D but olive oil works very well also
1 tbls of garlic, minced
pinch oregano *opt*
sprig of thyme *opt*
1-2 tbls of fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon of salt and pepper
1 bay leaf
8-10 cups of fresh water, by fresh I mean the kind you would drink straight up so if your tap water is nasty then don't use it

making your stock!
Sweat the onions, garlic, celery, carrots, and fat. Add the chicken, water, veggies, s&p and herbs to crock pot and set it to high for the first hour. After an hour move heat to low and go about your day till the next after noon. * I started it at 11 pm and finished it at 3 pm the next day*

Storage and Straining
Once you remember that you had some stock bubbling away and are ready to pack it away you will need to strain it. The nice thing about this stock is there is no, or minimal, fat to skim off the top. I used a colander and a large mixing bowl to strain the soup and help cool it down some. Using a ladle and some freezer bags, spoon mixture into colander and use measuring cup to dole out a few cups per freezer bag * I use about 3-4 cups a bag* I let the bags chill in the fridge then chuck them in the freezer and forget them till you need them!!

Enjoy your chicken liquid to and a great use of your dusty crock pot! This recipe is so easy and really makes a great stock that is minimal in salt, because wouldn't you rather salt the end product your using the stock in rather then have a salty broth?

Thanks for reading and have a fantastic day!!
Love,
Ditzy!!

Summer is here and gonna keep knitting and cooking

Well I have been away from the knitting for awhile, and as always, I will try to get back in the swing now that schools out. I have been having a ball in the kitchen as you can see here at my ditzy kitchen blog. I have been making the cream of spinach scarf a lot though just because I think it is a great pattern. But keep checking in and I will keep posting on ditzy kitchen. Posting one on homemade stock today.

Much love!,
Ditzy

Awesome, Fool Proof Roasted Chicken PLUS peach cobbler!!

Ok so I work late tonight and had about 5 hours to kill before work so I decided to make something very comforting... roasted chicken! As well as chicken fat potatoes, asparagus, and peach cobbler.
The recipe for the cobble can be found here.

But with out further ado... The roasted chicken recipe!

Ingredients:
Small fryer chicken-de-gutted
2-3 tbl olive oil
1-2 tbl minced garlic
2 springs fresh rosemary
small sweet onion, quatered
small granny smith apple, halved
small lemon
s&p

Preheat oven to 375,
In a 13X9in shallow baking pan place the chicken breast side up. Take apple, onion, and one sprig of fresh rosemary and insert in the cavity. Take garlic and remaining rosemary, removed from twig, and massage on and under the chicken's skin. liberally sprinkle with olive oil and continue to massage garlic, rosemary, and oil until the chicken is well coated. Sprinkle with salt and fresh black pepper. Cook till internal temp reaches 180, or juices run clear, around 1 and half hours. After an hour sprinkle with a bit more olive oil and wait patiently till the temp is right.

Let sit for 10-15 min and carve it up!!!

I took the drippings and used it in place of olive oil on roasted potatoes, it was amazing!

Happy cooking!

Gone Granola Crazy

Hey folks! Well I have been dying to try out homemade granola. So I finally caved and got some fantastic organic rolled oats and organic dried cranberries. I highly recommend natural dried cranberries over the sweetened ones, they are plenty sweet without the syrup not to mention the sweeteners in the granola. As far as the almonds go I used smoked almonds w/ no salt. Although really you can used blanched/sliced/raw whatever floats your boat on there.

I modified the recipe from Chow.com which can be found here.

Olive Oil and Honey Granola
Ingredients:
3 cups old fashioned rolled oats-NOT quick cook
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup olive oil
3 tbl spoon brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
A baking sheet

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. In a bowl mix the oat,brown sugar, and cinnamon. In another bowl mix oil, honey, and vanilla. Add liquid to oats mixture and mix it well. Spread mixture thinly and evenly on a baking sheet and sprinkle lightly with more cinnamon. bake for 15 min, or till light golden brown. Remove pan and let the granola cool completely, stirring occasionally. It will harden as it cools. When cool and well mixed move to air tight plastic container.

Almond-Cranberry Granola w. Dark Chocolate Chips

These measurements are not set in stone! Put as much or as little as you like
1 cup of chopped almonds
1-2 cups of dried cranberries
1/2 cup good semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips, or carob chips
half your batch of olive oil and honey granola

Making sure your granola is totally cooled off in a bowl mix the almonds,cranberries, and chocolate with your granola and stir till well incorporated and move to an air tight plastic container.

These are great as a snack, on top of yogurt, or as your morning breakfast cereal! Let me know if anyone tries these out!!!!