Herb and Mustard Roast chicken

Roasting chicken can be a daunting prospect, there is prep work, and lots of cook time and basting. And the molesting of the chicken is downright well... gross. Particularly if you want to do it right, you really need to get in between the skin and the flesh.
However the rewards are well worth all of the problems. You can feed many people, and often enjoy leftovers. Like last night. I fed me, my husband and a couple of friends, and we will definitely be enjoying chicken pot pie made from the leftovers.

Roast chicken with mustard and herbs de provance.

I have no clue where I found this one. Somewhere on the interwebs but its deliciousness is only augmented by its simplicity.

1 onion sliced into 8ths
4 cloves garlic crushed
1 lemon sliced
1 stick of butter softened
1/2 cup of dijon mustard
4 T of herbs de provance
4 T salt
2 T pepper
2 chickens

Combine the mustard, butter, and herbs de provance until they form a paste (ew I know but necessary). Set aside. Work your hands between the skin and the flesh of the chicken. then rub the skin with pepper and salt. make sure you make the membrane between the core of the chicken and the legs. put some of the paste between the skin and the flesh and using your hand over the top of the skin, smooth out the paste so that it covers the flesh of the chicken under the skin. make sure to put some on top of the legs. Sprinkle the skin of the chicken with salt and pepper and lightly rub some of the paste over the skin, this will be harder to get to stick so just do the best you can. Stuff the chickens with the onion, garlic and lemon. pour some chicken stock inside the chicken. Then place inside the oven at 345 for an hour. After an hour baste with the juices under the chicken or with chicken broth. then cook for 2-2and a half hours, basting every 30-40 mins.
when the chicken is ready (around 170 degrees on a meat thermometer) remove the chickens from the oven and let them sit for 5 mins on the rack of the roasting pan. Then transfer them to a cutting board to sit for another 10-15 mins before they are ready to carve. ( make sure the cutting board has a groove for the juices to run into. scrape the pan with a spatula making sure you get all of the brown bits. Then, pour the contents of the pan through a sieve into a gravy separator, pour the dark brown liquid into a skillet and cook on medium heat until thickened ( you can add arrowroot to thicken the gravy).
Serve with your favorite sides and enjoy!!

Yeah, so I've been gone a while

So I haven't posted in a while. And I realized that aside from my insane work hours lately, the major reason is that I haven't been taking pictures of my food. So, I've decided to take the pressure off and food blog without pictures or with minimal pictures for a while. I think I'll concentrate on the writing and the food and if pictures happen then hooray. So, having said that I move forward hopefully with a lot more blogging in the future. Tonight we're haveing roast chicken... I might even write about it.

Products that will knock your socks off: Back to Nature's Fudge Mint cookies

This new feature on my blog is inspired by my love of Cocoa Metro. I needed somewhere to share some of the wonderful products out there that have simply knocked my socks off. These are items that my friends will hear about constantly until they try them. It can be a beloved flavored olive oil or a new bottle of Gin anything goes as long as I love it and want other people to give it a shot. For this first installment I offer a cookie to rival the infamous thin mint. Back to Nature's Fudge Mint cookies.

Are you tired of waiting for girl scout cookie time to roll around to get your thin mint fix? Did you miss the little darlings as they came around with their delicious wares this year? Well, then these cookies are definitely for you. I picked them up on a whim the other day when I was trying to fulfill a chocolate-mint craving without baking it myself. These cookies are, dare I say it, even BETTER than thin mints. They are fresh and they don't taste processed or preserved at all. There is no waxyness in the fudge surrounding the cookie. Not only that, but these cookies have a wonderful crispy crunch that many store bought cookies lack. That crunch combined with the melt in your mouth fudge and perfect dark chocolate mint combination makes for one heck of a satisfying cookie. I highly recommend these for anyone who has a love of chocolate and mint together. I found these at Stop and shop, but they are also carried at Whole foods. Next time you are craving chocolate and mint, give these a try I think you will be pleasantly surprised ( and then you will eat an entire box in one sitting :)