Whole Roasted Chickens

My first born turns seven tomorrow (*sniffle*) and as goes family tradition, he gets to pick out what he wants for his Birthday Meal. What does he choose? Chicken Soup!!! Right smack dab in the middle of June!

Oh well, he's gonna get it! Today I roasted two organic whole chickens with this fancy herb oil. This works well with fresh herbs too. Experiment and be creative!

HERB E.V.O.O.

about a cup of extra virgin live oil

8 - 10 cloves minced garlic

salt

freshly ground black pepper

about 2 tsp each of dried:

-parsley

-rosemary

-thyme

-basil

Make this mixture in the morning, or even a day or two ahead of time (if you're that efficient). Let mixture sit in fridge so the flavors incorporate. Rub all over the outside of the whole chickens.

I bake my two birds at 375 for one hour (depending on size and weight). You pretty much want the internal temp to be 165 degrees Fahrenheit.

After we eat these beauties for dinner tonight, I'll take the bones and make a homemade stock, from which I'll make his birthday soup!! Even with the six of us eating tonight, we usually end up with some leftover chicken meat. I'll use some in the soup, then I'll save the rest for another whole meal. (I do this roast chicken thing about once a month - I love trying to come up with new ways to stretch a chicken!)

Easy Fried Chicken Tenders with Cous Cous - a kid pleaser!

FIRED CHICKEN FINGERS

This is an easy, healthy alternative to drive-thru chicken nuggets ~ and the kids will be equally as satisfied!

I served my Fried Chicken Tenders alongside Tricolor Cous Cous that I cooked with chicken stock and then tossed with a few pats of butter, grated cheese, salt, pepper, and diced fresh zucchini (always sneaking in fresh veggies!). Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS:

6 chicken breasts, cut into strips (or use the chicken tenders from your butcher)

1 egg

1 cup buttermilk (If you don't have buttermilk, you can use regular milk. Buttermilk just adds a slightly different flavor & naturally tenderizes the chicken when it soaks.)

2 cups flour

2 tsp salt

2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp black pepper

1/2 - 1 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)

Peanut Oil for frying

INSTRUCTIONS:

Cut & trim your chicken as needed. Combine the buttermilk, beaten egg, and 1 tsp. of garlic powder. Soak the chicken in this mixture for 1-3 hours in the fridge. In a large resealable baggy, combine the dry ingredients thoroughly. Bread the chicken strips in the flour mixture. Fry each strip in the peanut oil, turning only once. When removing from the pan, drain on a paper towel and immediately dust with grated cheese.

NOTE: If you want a fluffier crust, you could add 1 tsp of baking powder to the flour mixture.

Also, if you are using regular milk, you may omit the marinating step.

Rolled Chicken Bites

The other night I asked for volunteers to help cook dinner. Of course, my daughter, Gabriella, was first in line. She never misses a meal. This girl literally lives for food....she can hear a wrapper opening miles away! And then, of course, she comes running..."What are you eating, can I have some?!"

I mean it, I will try to sneak a snack while riding in the car, and she can see, from the third row of the van, that I am stuffing something in my mouth. "I smell something," she says, "what are you eating?"

One day, her love for food will either make her husband very well fed, or she will fall into obesity and have no husband at all. (My husband is hoping for the latter!)

So back to dinner....Gabriella and her plastic 'sharp' (as she calls knives) were on hand to help make these wonderful snacks that my parents and grandparents would serve up at every party. So as kids, we only ate them when guests or lots of family came over...which usually meant there wasn't much left for us. This made my brother and I especially angry. Let's face it, a hungry Italian is not a pretty sight. So, I decided I would never put my children through such torture.

They are a great party snack, but you can make them larger, like I did, and have them as a meal. So, as promised, another great recipe from the family cookbook: "La Cucina Di Rosa"

ROLLED CHICKEN BITES (call them anything, I suppose...we just named them this as kids)

Getting Ready

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Cut chicken breasts into strips

Cut bacon strips to half size

Cute a block of swiss cheese into small cubes

Beat eggs with a touch of milk, salt, pepper, garlic powder

have ready: bread crumbs, toohpicks, parchement paper

The Dirty Work

Start with the cheese. Wrap a piece of chicken around it as tightly as you can. Then wrap a pice of bacon around that fairly tightly. Secure with toothpick. Dip into egg mixture, then into breadcrumbs. (If desired, repeat to double coat the breading...its a litle crispier that way.) Place on parchment paper on a baking sheet for about 30 min, depending on your oven (so keep checking!)

You can remove the toothpicks once they're slightly cooled.....then dig in. They are especially good with some marinara sauce to dunk. You could even substitute prosciutto for the bacon, but you can't use too large of a piece since it dries out so easily.

Bon Appetit!