Garlic-crusted roast rack of lamb recipe

Holy smokes this sounds so good. This would have been the PERFECT dish at my family's holiday dinner. Instead we had a ham, which is odd becuase my dad is Muslim. I think that from now on we make this! He would LOVE that.

Also, please note all of my dishes that I have found that encorporate rosemary! Makes me so happy!


What you'll need:
1 head garlic cloves, peeled
1/4 cup rosemary leaves
1/4 cup olive oil
2 racks of lamb, frenched, 2 lbs each

1. In a mini food processor, combine the garlic, rosemary and olive oil and process until the garlic is finely chopped. Season the lamb with salt and pepper and rub the garlic- rosemary oil all over them. Set the racks fat side up on a large rimmed baking sheet and let stand for 1 hour.
2. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Roast the lamb in the upper third of the oven for 15 minutes. Turn the racks and roast for 10 minutes longer for medium-rare meat. Transfer the racks to a carving board, stand them upright and let rest for 10 minutes.
3. Carve the racks in between the rib bones.

This is a very classic recipe with simple, fresh ingredients. Sign me up. I will be making this.

Honey mustard chicken recipe

I hope everyone had a FABULOUS holiday! I have had quite the break from posting anything due to the ice storm that knocked out my power for a few days. But I am back and have LOTS of things to share.

So I am going to let you in on my strategy for picking recipes to try.

• When I find a recipe online the first thing I do is check the ingredient list. If there are more than like 4 items that I don't have in my kitchen I am usually turned off to it because I don't want to break the bank making a meal every night. That is where things start getting expensive. It is much more cost effective to utilize the ingredients that you have in creative ways so you are not getting bored of the same flavors and still not buying outlandish ingredients that you are only going to use once and then will go bad in your pantry.
• The next thing I look at is the comments. This is where you are going to get a pretty good idea about whether this recipe is going to be successful. If there are a lot of negative comments about how they couldn't get the recipe to work or it didn't turn out chances are there is something wrong with the recipe, not the cooks. This is also where you can find good ideas of ways to alter the recipe. It is a great way to get inspiration for customizing the recipe to your taste as well as what works and what doesn't.

Moral of the story: I really urge, if you find a recipe that looks good, check out the comments and do your research. It can really save you some time and possible kitchen disasters.

Without further rambling, I give you Honey mustard chicken!

What you'll need:
1/4 cup grainy mustard
1/4 cup smooth dijon mustard
1/2 honey
3 tsp olive oil
1 drop 100% pure rosemary essential oil (optional)
1/2 small yellow onion, diced
1 cloves garlic, minced
2 1/2 lbs chicken tenderloins
3-4 springs fresh rosemary

1. In a small bowl combine the mustards, honey, 2 tsp olive oil, and rosemary oil.
2. In a saute pan or cast iron skillet add 1 tsp on olive oil. It make it easier if you can use a stove to oven dish for this. Add the onion and cook over medium heat until golden and tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for an additional 1-2 minutes, until fragrant.
3. Place the chicken tenderloins on top of the onion and garlic mixture. sprinkle with salt and pepper. Pour the honey mustard mixture on top of the chicken and arrange the rosemary springs around the pan.
4. Bake the chicken covered at 400 degrees for 20 minutes then remove the cover, baste the chicken with the sauce and continue to cook and additional 20-30 minutes uncovered or until the chicken is browned on top and cooked through.

So, as I read this recipe I thought "wow, 50 minutes baking at 400? That is way too long, that can't be right." What do I do? Read the comments! Turns out the recipe creator really crowds her pan and it took an extra long time to cook. Other than that, there were MANY comments of people that actually made the recipe and said it was perfect. So there you have it. Do your research and you will be way more prepared when you walk into the kitchen.

Lemon rosemary Cornish game hen recipe

Let's just call today "Comfort food Saturday"...not very catchy but whatever. I am just going to keep sitting in my bed posting all my favorite cozy weekend recipes for you all to enjoy!

This was a dish that I was very hesitant to make because I was really intimidated by the actual act of eating one of these things! Of course Eric begged me to make them, so I did...but I was worried. I imagined that I would be digging through this bird scavenging meat off the bones, and that was just terrifying and totally unappetizing (sorry for the visual), but once they came out they were so irresistible I dug right in and scavenged away! They were amazing, I think I found and are every piece of meat that little bird had to offer. These were really fun to make, they look BEAUTIFUL and they are a great meal for a weekend night in with friends or family. 

What you'll need:

2 Cornish game hens (multiply this recipe for a family dinner if needed)

1 lemon, quartered

4 springs fresh rosemary

3 tbsp olive oil

1 whole garlic bulb

1/3 cup white wine

1/3 cup chicken broth

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. 

2. Rub hens with 1 tbsp oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place one lemon wedge and one spring of rosemary in cavity of each hen.

3. Arrange in a heavy roasting pan and arrange garlic cloves around hens. Roast in the oven for 25 minutes then reduce heat to 350. 

4. In a mixing bowl whisk together wine, chicken broth and remaining oil. Pour over hens then continue roasting for 25 minutes longer, basting evenly every 10 minutes.

5. Remove cooked hens from pan and put juices and garlic into a sauce pan and boil for about 6 minutes until it begins to thicken. Spoon over hens and serve. 

Yum Yum Yum!

Bacon and rosemary chicken recipe

Rosemary to me is like the hidden gem of herbs. I don't know if other people feel that way, but I really feel like I can't find enough ways to incorporate it. I really enjoy the deep flavor it gives to a pan of roasted potatoes or a cornish game hen. Now that I have discovered my love for rosemary I really like trying it in new ways, and this recipe from Taste of Home looks like it could be a great one to add to the list!

What you'll need:

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, halved and pounded to 1/4 inch thickness

1/4 cup flour

5 bacon strips

1 tbsp butter

4 gloves garlic, sliced thin

1 tbsp minced fresh rosemary or 1 tsp dried crushed rosemary

1/8 tsp red pepper flakes

1 cup chicken broth

2 tbsp lemon juice

1. Prepare your chicken breasts so they are even thickness. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and place chicken into a large bag with the flour. Shake to coat.

2. In a large skillet cook bacon over med heat until crisp. Remove and set on paper towel to cool. Reserve 2 tbsp of the bacon drippings in the skillet and add the butter to melt. Place the chicken breasts into skillet and cook on each side for about 4-6 minutes. For my waistlines sake I would add about 1 tbsp of olive oil into a fresh pan and skip the bacon fat and butter. 

3. Remove the chicken from the pan and add in the garlic, rosemary and pepper flakes, cook for 1 minute. Add broth and lemon juice, bring to a boil. Cook until liquid is reduced by half. Return the chicken and bacon to the skillet, heath through. 

Some other things I would change here would be to add mushrooms, cooked in the sauce while it was reducing. I also do not think I would re-add the chicken to the sauce and would instead serve the sauce over the chicken just to try and preserve the crispiness that I would have gotten from man frying it in the oil.