Roast Chicken My Way

Here is the roast chicken I made the other day. It was moist and scrumptious, and the skin was nice and crispy. It was such a pleasure to eat.

Roast Chicken
4 servings
Source: The New York Times Cookbook with a few changes
1 four-pound roasting chicken, at room temperature
1/2 lime
salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 onion
2 inch piece of leek
2 garlic cloves
herbs, such as thyme, rosemary, bay leaf, spring of tarragon or parsley
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup vodka
1/2 cup chicken stock
Preheat oven to 350F.
Rub the inside of the chicken with the juice of half of a lime and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place the onion, garlic cloves and leek inside the chicken.  Truss the chicken and place in a roasting pan.
Pour the chicken stock and vodka over the chicken in the roasting pan. Place pats of butter onto the skin and then place the chicken into the oven.
Bake 18 to 20 minutes per pound or about 1 hour and 15 minutes for a four-pound bird. Add more pats of butter to skin of chicken while baking if you like. Baste the chicken as it roasts with the butter, chicken stock and vodka in the pan. Test for doneness by moving the leg of the chicken up and down. If it moves easily, the chicken is done.

I also have news! I recently opened a store on Esty.

A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world.
Oscar Wilde

SPECIAL ST. PATRICK’S CELEBRATION FUNDRAISER FOR THE PLAYHOUSE!

FEBRUARY 19, 2012

SPECIAL ST. PATRICK’S CELEBRATION FUNDRAISER FOR THE PLAYHOUSE! JOIN US!

Join Playhouse favorite Michael McDermott and his group “Cead Mile Failte”
to celebrate  Celtic culture and heritage through narration, stories and joyous music.

Songs that will be performed include “That’s An Irish Lullaby”, “Believe Me If All Those Endearing Young Charms”, “Star Of The County Down”,”Carrickfergus”, “She Moved Through The Fair”, “Danny Boy” and many more favorites.  Our own Beverley Taylor will also be performing a duet with Michael McDermott.

Saturday:  March 10, 2012

Centerbrook Meeting House – 7:00pm

Tickets:  $50 each includes concert, food and drinks

Open seating is limited so book early to avoid disappointment.

For more information on the event, please follow this link.

We hope to see you all on Saturday, March 10 – come and celebrate with us!

Call 860.767.9520 for more information or to secure your seats.

Artist Challenges in Picture Taking

Here is a necklace I created I am preparing for sale.

Asian Inspired Honey-Vanilla Chicken

If you enjoy a favorable, moist meal, you will definitely enjoy this one. It is the marination that makes this chicken so moist. I felt rice was the perfect item to serve with this meal because it is Asian-inspired. I flavored the rice with some of the marinate. It tasted really good.

ASIAN-INSPIRED HONEY-VANILLA CHICKEN
Source: AllRecipe.com
Prep Time: 15 Min Cook Time: 10 Min Ready In: 45 Min
3 tablespoons soy sauce
½ tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon orange juice
½ teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce, or to taste
½ teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast
1 tablespoon honey
meat - cut into strips
½ teaspoon minced garlic

1. Stir together soy sauce, orange juice, hot pepper sauce, vanilla, brown sugar, and honey until dissolved. Season with minced garlic, garlic powder, and Italian seasoning. Whisk in sesame oil and vegetable oil until combined.
2. Toss chicken with marinade, cover, and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes.
3. Adjust oven rack to its top position, and turn oven on to Broil.
4. Place chicken into a baking dish or baking sheet. Broil until golden brown, 5 to 8 minutes. Turn chicken over, and continue broiling until no longer pink, about 5 minutes more.

This is not all I have been doing, I wrote a few articles

Role Model: Lady Penelope Creighton-ward of The Thunderbirds

Role Model: Aloysius "Nosey" Parker of The Thunderbirds

Money...we Hate It! We Need It!

Role Model: Tin-tin Kyrano of The Thunderbirds

Ceos are Not Worth The Money They are Paid

Let me leave you with the words of James Madison
"The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted."

Panko Crusted Salmon by Ina Garten

Yes I eat a lot of salmon and a lot of chicken in my house. This fish is easy and delicious. I made this last night. This is the first recipe I had where I placed the saute pan into the oven to cook.  I used a honey Dijon mustard as opposed to a straight Dijon mustard.

This is what the fish looks like out of the oven.

Panko-Crusted Salmon
Source: How Easy Is That? by Ina Garten
⅔ cup panko
3-4 tbsp. olive oil, divided
2 tbsp. finely minced fresh parsley
4 (6-8 oz.) salmon fillets, skin on
1 tsp. lemon zest
2 tbsp. Dijon mustard
½ tsp. kosher salt
Lemon wedges, for serving
½ tsp. ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 425˚ F. In a small bowl, combine the panko, parsley, lemon zest, salt and pepper. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and toss with a fork until the crumbs are evenly coated; set aside.

Place the salmon fillets skin side down on a work surface. Generously brush the top of each fillet with the mustard and then season with salt and pepper. Press the panko mixture thickly on top of the mustard on each fillet to help the panko adhere.

Heat the remaining olive oil over medium-high heat in a 12-inch oven-safe skillet. When the oil is hot, add the salmon fillets, skin side down, and sear for 3-4 minutes without turning to brown the skin. (If you don’t want to eat the skin, this step also helps the skin stick to the pan so the fillets can be easily removed without the skin later on.)

Transfer the pan to the preheated oven for 5-7 minutes, until the salmon is almost cooked through and the panko is browned. Remove from the oven, cover with foil and let rest 5-10 minutes. Serve warm with fresh lemon wedges.

I leave you with this quote:

"The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious...the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science."

Albert Einstein

Scientist (1875-1955)

Mandarin Chicken

I made Mandarin Chicken the other day. I used the recipe from Blogchef.net. It was very delicious and very simple and has both fresh ginger and fresh garlic. I purchased Ka-me wide lo mein noodles to serve with the chicken. I wanted something different than rice that I had earlier this week

Here are the noodles which can be found on the Ka-me website. They were excellent.

Today is Fettuccine Alfredo day. As you see I did not make Fettuccine Alfredo.

"Men tire themselves in pursuit of rest."
Laurence Stone, English author (1713-1768)

Mustard Glazed Salmon

Mustard Glazed Salmon is such a delectable delight. How can you go wrong with this fish. If you enjoy mustard and maple syrup you will enjoy this very fast and easy dish. Here is the recipe---


MAPLE GLAZED SALMON Number of servings: 4-6
FROM THE BETTER RECIPES WEBSITE...
4-6 salmon fillets or steaks ½ lime, juiced
Salt and pepper to taste ¼ cup pure maple syrup
½ tsp grated fresh ginger ¼ cup Dijon mustard
½ lime, zested 1 tbsp olive oil
Check salmon fillets for bones and remove any you find. Preheat broiler. Mix all sauce ingredients and heat in microwave to meld flavors. Salt and pepper salmon and cook under broiler (on a broiler pan) for 5-8 minutes, depending on thickness of salmon. During the last 3-5 minutes, apply sauce with a pastry brush. Apply as many layers of sauce as you wish to achieve the appropriate amount of glazing.
Notes: The glaze has maple syrup in it and if you use a heavier glaze it should be cooked lower in oven to avoid burning the maple syrup.

This recipe was so easy and I enjoyed that it has fresh ginger and lime. The one item I changed was the maple syrup. I used the run of the mill Mrs. Butterworth's Maple Syrup. 

I have been working on my writing. I wrote an article recently on Tony Hsieh who makes for an excellent role model to all those Wall Street, CEOs, and white collar excutives. More of those corporate junkies should have the morals and values of Hsieh.

Role Model: Tony Hsieh, Founder of Zappos
I also wrote an article on another one of Gerry Anderson's characters from Thunderbirds. They are such characters and they never have to worry about walking.
Role Model: Brains of The Thunderbirds

Today is

Norman Rockwell's Birthday (1894)

The Day the Music Died in Near Clear Lake, Iowa

the Japanese holiday - Setsubun

Let me leave you with these immortal words from Robert Louis Stevenson

"Keep your fears to yourself, but share your courage with others."

Blondes vs. Brunettes Fundraiser for Alzheimer's Disease

Please help the Brunettes with donations to the New York Chapter of Blondes vs Brunettes to tackle Alzheimer's Disease.

My Personal Page

Welcome to the Donation Page of Lani Crescenzi My Team Page     $250 ($250.00 +) $100 ($100.00 +) $50 ($50.00 +) $25 ($25.00 +) Enter Donation Amount Here: *Currency shown: US Dollar $ My Fundraising Goal: $2,000.00 Money Raised to Date: $175.00 If you are unable to donate online, please print out a donation form. Please join me in my efforts to tackle Alzheimer's  Last year we beat the blondes by 1 point, and raised over 120k dollars to support 2 full time positions within the Alzheimer's association. With your support team brunette can not only beat the blondes, but surpass our fundraising efforts this year! Though this is a fun event, it is for a very serious cause to which I hold dear to my heart. Alzheimer's disease effects 1 in 8 older Americans, costing an average of 183 billion dollars annually. There is no cure, prevention, or way to slow the disease. I am motivated by the 15 Million Caregivers that provide 17 billion hours of unpaid care. The NYC Chapter provides free support groups to family members and caregivers, and I am honored to lead a group with them. It is my hope that this event will not only raise funds, but also draw attention for the need to find ways to research and prevent this devastating disease. Please join me in my cause, so that together we can tackle this disease.