Friday 22 November 2013

Herb Roasted Chicken with Potato Gnocchi, Quinoa and Vegetables

Ingredients

Serves 4-6 



1 Chicken (2 ½ to 3 pounds)
1 Lemon
1 Onion, peeled and quartered
3 Sprigs of Rosemary
1 Bunch of Flat Leaf Parsley
1 Pound of Baby Carrots, peeled or Regular Carrots, cut into ½ inch thick pieces
1 Butternut Squash, peeled and cut into ½ inch thick pieces
3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper
½ Pound of Cherry Tomatoes


Potato Gnocchi



1 Pound of Starchy Potatoes such as Russets or Yukon Gold
½ cup of All Purpose Flour
1 Egg
1/3 cup of Grated Parmesan Cheese
Salt
Olive Oil
1 Tablespoon of Chopped Parsley




Sautéed Quinoa

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1 Small Onion or Shallot, diced
1 cup of Red Quinoa
2 – 2 1/2 cups of Water or stock
Salt and Pepper




Method


1. Rinse the chicken and pat it dry with paper towel. Using a peeler, make two strips of lemon zest and insert under the skin of each breast of the chicken. Rub the chicken with the juice of half lemon, olive oil, salt and pepper. Slice the rest of the lemon and fill the cavity of the chicken along with some onions, a sprig of rosemary and parsley. Chop a sprig of rosemary and sprinkle on the chicken

2. In a roasting pan, mix the onions, a sprig of rosemary, carrots and butternut squash. Season with salt, pepper and olive oil. Put the chicken on top of the vegetables. Roast in a preheated 350°F oven for one hour. Baste the chicken a few times while roasting. Add the cherry tomatoes to the roasting pan on the last ten minutes of roasting.

3. For the potato gnocchi, cut the potatoes in half. Boil the potatoes in salted water until very soft. Drain the potatoes and let it cool for 5 minutes just until it is comfortable to touch. Peel the potatoes, and then mash the potatoes using a potato ricer, a sieve or a fork. Add the egg, flour and parmesan cheese, and mix until soft dough is formed. Divide the dough into four pieces. Dust with more flour. Roll each piece into a shape of a long rope. Cut the gnocchi about 1 inch long. Poach the gnocchi ten pieces at a time in salted boiling water with olive oil. The gnocchi will float when ready.

Drain and set aside on a platter with olive oil and chopped parsley.

4. For the quinoa, sauté the diced onion or shallots in a frying pan with olive oil. Add the quinoa and sauté for five minutes. Add 2 cups of the water, salt and pepper. Let it simmer until all the liquid is absorbed. Add the rest of the water if you like the quinoa to be softer.

5. After one hour, your roasted chicken is ready, as well as your vegetables and natural sauce (jus) from the chicken. For presentation, carve the chicken. Separate the breasts and the legs. On the platter with the gnocchi, put the quinoa and arrange the roasted vegetables all around. Put the carved chicken on top. Drizzle the natural juices from the pan or serve on the side.



Health Canada recommends an internal temperature of 175°F for roasting a whole chicken.


Health Benefits



Chicken is perhaps best known for its high protein content, but it is a food that actually provides broad nutrient support. With respect to protein, one 4-ounce serving of pasture-raised chicken breast provides about 35 grams of protein, or 70% of the Daily Value (DV). Included in this excellent protein content are plentiful amounts of sulfur-containing amino acids like cysteine and methionine, as well as branched chain amino acids (leucine, isoleucine, and valine) that are important for support of cardiac and skeletal muscle. All B vitamins are present in chicken meat, including B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B12, folate, biotin, and choline. (There remains controversy over the biotin content of chicken meat, which appears to be smaller than the average 10-microgram amount of biotin in chicken eggs and which seems more sensitive to the chicken's dietary intake.) Chicken is a particularly helpful food for obtaining vitamin B3, since it provides about 77% of the DV per serving and ranks as an excellent source of this B vitamin. About one-third of the DV for vitamin B6 is provided by 4 ounces of chicken breast, which also provides about 20% of the DV for choline.
In terms of minerals, chicken is richest in selenium and provides about 45% of the DV in a single 4-ounce serving. Zinc, copper, phosphorus, magnesium, and iron are also provided by this food.http://www.whfoods.com

Wednesday 20 November 2013

Hazelnut Chocolate Chip Cookies


To each his own: there's a cookie for every taste.


 
Hazelnut Chocolate Chip Cookies

 Inspirations: 


Gianduja: (dʒanˈduːja) is a sweet chocolate containing about 30% hazelnut paste, invented in Turin, Italy during Napoleon's regency.

Nutella is the brand name of a hazelnut chocolate spread. Manufactured by the Italian company Ferrero, it was introduced to the market in 1964.

Nutella is a form of a chocolate spread. Therefore, the process of this food item is very similar to a generic production of chocolate spread. Nutella is made from sugar, modified palm oil, hazelnuts, cocoa, skimmed milk powder, whey powder, lecithin, and vanillin.

Nutella is produced in various Ferrero facilities. Production for the North American market is produced at a plant in Brantford, Ontario in Canada


Recipe

1 cup Nutella
1 cup soft butter
2/3 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

2 1/2 cups All purpose Flour
1 tsp. baking powder

1 cup of chocolate chips or chopped dark chocolate
1/2 cup of chopped toasted hazelnuts

Method 

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C).
2. Beat the Nutella and the butter together until soft and creamy. Gradually add both sugars until fluffy.

3. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition.
4. Sift the flour and baking powder over the mixture and stir until blended.
5. Add the chocolate chips and the hazelnuts. Roll into 24 balls. Press lightly and arrange 2 inches apart ona baking sheet.
4. Bake for 12-14 minutes until very light golden. be careful not to over-bake.


Tips:

Use an ice cream scoop to make cookies even. 

Know your oven. Every oven is different and it is important for you to know how yours behaves. If you know what to expect, then you can find ways to work around the expected problems.For example, one side may cook faster than the other.

Start with a cold pan. Put your baking sheet in the fridge to cool before you put each set of cookies on. If you want to save time, you can scoop the dough onto parchment paper and store them in the fridge until they are ready to go out on a cooled pan. 

To convert to a gluten-free cookie recipe, replace the flour with quinoa flour or coconut flour. 

These cookies freeze well.