Garlic Rosemary Chicken Bake

I love one dish dinners.  They look fancy, they're so easy to make, and less dishes for me to wash!

This one was a big hit with my boys.  They love anything chicken or bacon, and this has both!

The best part was that I only needed about 5 minutes of prep before I had the whole dish finished and stuck in the oven, but the boys still thought it looked fancy and impressive.  

I don't have a million photos of this like some other dishes, but I'm probably going to make it again pretty soon, and I'll add more photos then, okay?  :)

Garlic Rosemary Chicken Bake

serves 3

Ingredients:

• 3 whole chicken breasts (I used frozen ones, no thawing needed!)
• 3 russet potatoes
• 1/4 Cup garlic cloves, peeled
• 3 branches rosemary
• 3 strips bacon
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.  Drizzle 1 teaspoon olive oil onto the bottom of a 9x13 inch casserole dish.  
2. Slice the potatoes into medallions and lay them flat in the dish.  Lay the chicken breasts on top of the potatoes.  Slice the bacon into 1" pieces and lay the pieces on top of the chicken and potatoes.  Sprinkle the garlic cloves over the bacon, and lay the rosemary branches down as well.  Season with the remaining 1 teaspoon olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder and slide into the oven.  
3. Bake for 60 minutes, or until the bacon and chicken are fully cooked.  

Rapunzel's favorite parsnip and hazelnut soup

With two kids I see A LOT of cartoons, especially Disney movies.  One of Liam's favorites is Tangled.  Every time I see it I wonder about Rapunzel's favorite soup, which supposedly contains parsnips and hazelnuts.  I looked around online and found a recipe to use as a starting point.

This recipe is adapted from Perrys Plate.

Don't be scared by the idea of nuts in a soup.  The whole thing is pureed so its soft, fluffy, and creamy.  The consistency is really lovely.

I'm really terrible at plating.  My pictures of this soup are especially boring, but the flavor is so good.  Even better, this soup is pretty darn healthy, and quite filling.

Start off by sauteing the veggies in olive oil with the salt.  Honestly you can chop the veggies whatever size you want, it will just take a bit longer for them to soften and cook down if you are lazy like me and cut them in huge pieces.

While the veggies are cooking, put the hazelnuts in the oven in the single layer at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes.  Wait for several minutes for the nuts to cool, then wrap them in a dish towel and rub the towel vigorously for a minute to try and get the skin off the hazelnuts.  Remaining skin is fine, but the soup might taste a bit bitter with all the skins still on.

Add the broth, nuts, chili powder, and pepper into the pot.  Bring to a boil, then simmer for about 30 minutes.

Using whatever you've got (blender, food processor, immersion blender, etc.) puree the soup.  You might have to do this in several batches.  If you've got a big vitamix like me, you can do it all in one batch.  Make sure the soup is fully pureed before adding back to the pot.

Stir on low for a minute just to make sure the soup stays hot evenly, then remove from heat and slowly stir in the milk.  Serve.  I found this soup to be filling and tasty, and to my surprise, even after I microwaved leftovers it stayed fluffy.

Rapunzel's favorite parsnip and hazelnut soup
serves 6

Ingredients:

• 1 cup hazelnuts
• 4 shallots, peeled and chopped
• 2 medium leeks (whites only), chopped
• 2 large parsnips, chopped
• 2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large potato, chopped
• 6 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 tsp chili powder

Directions:

1. Chop up the veggies and add into a large hot pot with olive oil and salt.  Saute until softened.
2. Heat oven to 350 degrees F and roast hazelnuts on a baking sheet for 10 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool for several minutes.  Wrap the nuts in a towel and rub vigorously for a minute to slough the skins off.  You don't have to get all the skins off.
3. Dump the hazelnuts into the soup pot with the chicken broth, chili powder, and pepper.  Bring to a boil, then simmer for 30 minutes.
4. Using a blender, immersion blender, food processor, etc. puree the soup thoroughly.
5. Return the soup to the pot, heat on medium low to make sure the soup is heated through thoroughly, then remove from heat, slowly stir in the milk, and serve.

note: This soup makes for really good leftovers, and stays fluffy even after refrigeration and being microwaved.

tartiflette

This dish is comfort food to the max.  And by comfort food I mean completely delicious while being heart attack inducing.  This dish contains bacon, potatoes, cream, wine, and cheese.  Basically, this dish gets tons of compliments, but its a good idea to not mention the ingredients before serving.  Jeff couldn't get enough and ate two huge portions for dinner before he realized what he was eating!  I see this as a great intro to french food for people who think french food is all snooty (ridiculous).

I don't make this dish very often because I usually cook pretty healthy meals, but Jeff loves it, and it makes the whole house smell SO good!  Plus, Liam was pretty darn cute stalking me around the kitchen hinting oh so sly saying, "Mommy, I LOVE bacon!"

Start out by dicing up half a medium sized yellow onion and adding it to a hot pan with olive oil on medium heat.  Stir occasionally and let soften.

Slice up six strips of bacon and add them to the pot.

Cook the onion and bacon for about 5 minutes.

Stir in the moscato and allow it to cook down mostly, about ten minutes.  Surprised about the moscato?  It was on a lark that I used it instead of something drier, but the sweetness really works, and it smells so good!  Jeff even commented that each bite was full of flavor.  He kept waiting for the ball to drop, thinking he just got one really saturated bite, but he said every bite was just as good.

Cut up six medium yukon gold potatoes and mix them in.  Cook stirring occasionally until the potatoes have begun to soften.

Stir in half a cup of heavy cream.  At this point also add a teaspoon of thyme.

Shred the Gruyere and stir it into the pot.  I like to use my le crusuet pot so I don't have to transfer, but if you don't have a pot that can go on the stove AND in the oven, switch containers now and pot into the oven on the middle rack for 30-40 minutes, until golden, bubbly, and beautiful.  I like to bake mine for 32 minutes and then broil for 2 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let sit out for five minutes to set.

Just look at this.  The perfect cold night comfort food meal.

Serve with some good bread to soak everything up.  Enjoy!

 Recipe adapted from Ferdakost

Tartiflette

ingredients:

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 medium yellow onion, diced
• 6 thinly sliced bacon strips
• 1/2 Cup moscato
• 6 medium yukon gold potatoes, cut into chunks
• 1/2 Cup heavy cream
• 2 1/2 Cups Gruyere, shredded
• 1 tsp thyme

directions:

1. Heat the olive oil in the glazed cast iron pot on medium heat and toss in the diced onion.  Once it becomes fragrant stir in the bacon.  Stir them occasionally for about 10 minutes.  Stir in the moscato and cook until mostly evaporated.  Add the potatoes and cook for ten more minutes.  At this point preheat the oven for 350 degrees F.  Pour the cream into the mixture and stir for a minute or two.  Add in the thyme.  Fold in the shredded Gruyere evenly.  If you do not have a le crusuet style pot and have been using a regular pot, now dump the food into an oven safe dish and put into the oven for 30-40 minutes.  Remove from heat and allow to set on the counter for 5 minutes before serving.  

Note: The bake time can differ depending on the size your potatoes are cut (mostly).  I like to bake my dish for about 32 minutes, then broil for 2 minutes, just to get a nice golden crispy top.