Podcast!! Marinated Roasted Chicken and Spinach Salad

Ohhhh...! I LOVE roasted chicken! But if you marinate it first, you've really got me. This is such an easy dinner. Marinate a Cornish Hen or chicken pieces in olive oil, lemon, herbs and spices in the morning (or even the night before) and while it's baking at dinnertime, put together one of the most decadent Spinach Salads evah!


Remember that Tony has put many of the items I'm using on sale on our Picky Produce Page and every week he's adding more and more of the "Kitchen Toyz" that I use all the time on that same page.

I really could not live without my squeeze bottle for olive oil. It really lets me control how much I'm using and makes measuring a snap! So watch the video and make a plan to order the items shown, make a great dinner and GET FREE SHIPPING TO BOOT!

Here is the recipe:

Marinated Chicken

1 Chicken cut in pieces - or 1 Cornish Hen cut in half - or any mixture of cut pieces of Chicken with skin on the bone, totaling 6-8 pieces
1 C Olive Oil
Zest and Juice of one Lemon (go ahead and leave the seeds in!)
1 lg. clove Garlic, minced
2-3 sprigs fresh Rosemary(or about 1 Tb. dried)
1 Tb. Salt
Freshly ground Pepper

Mix the marinating ingredients in a zip top bag until the salt dissolves. Add the washed and dried chicken. Close, toss well and marinate all day or overnight in the fridge. To bake, preheat oven to 450. Shake off all the marinade from the chicken pieces and place on a rack over a baking pan. Bake 20 min. Reduce heat to 375 and bake for 30-40 min more -- more time if you have big pieces, less time if the pieces are small. A half of a Cornish Hen will take 40 minutes more to bake. Allow to rest for 10 minutes after removing from the oven.

Old School Spinach Salad

1 - 2 bunches fresh Spinach, washed and dried with center veins removed
12 strips Bacon fried until crispy, drained and cooled
4 eggs, hard boiled
1 Shallot
1/4 C Olive Oil
6-8 White Mushrooms, cleaned and sliced thinly (optional)

Dressing:

2 cloves Garlic, minced
1 tsp. Dijon Mustard
2 tsp. Sugar
6 Tb. fresh Lemon Juice (remove the seeds)
2 tsp. Salt
freshly ground Pepper

Mix the dressing ingredients and allow to sit for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the Spinach, Bacon, Eggs and Mushrooms. Tear the Spinach into bite sized pieces in a serving bowl. Keep cold.

When Bacon grease has cooled a little, pour off all but 2 Tb. Chop the Shallot, and add Olive Oil. Begin to cook the Shallot, but not a lot. As soon as the Shallot begins to cook, add the dressing and mix well until heated through on medium heat.

Pour the dressing on the Spinach to wilt it. Add the Bacon and toss. Slice the eggs on top.

NOW CHECK OUT THE SALE ITEMS:

*E|Bacon, Pound	6.99
	*E|Cleaned Baby Spinach, Each	2.99
	*E|Cornish Hen, Each	5.99
	*E|Cut-Up Chicken, Pound	5.49
	*E|Extra Virgin Olive Oil 12.7oz., Each	12.29
	*E|Garlic, Bulb	.69
	*E|Kosher Salt, Each	2.79
	*E|Large Eggs, Dozen	3.69
	*E|Lemon, Each	.59
	*E|Rosemary, Each	1.49
	*E|Shallot, Pound	4.99
	*E|Spinach, Bunch	1.99
	*E|Whole Chicken 2-3 Lbs Pound	3.79

It's SOOOoooo Easy! And Delicious, Too!!

Spanakopita -- Cooking Class

Spring means Spinach. And Spinach means Spanakopita!! (aka: Greek Spinach Pie)

This is such a good dish! You can make it for breakfast, lunch or dinner. You can eat it hot, cold, room temperature or warmed up. You can put it together and bake it later. It is SO versatile! And, it’s vegetarian! So let’s get started!!

1 pkg. Fillo dough, thawed in the refrigerator overnight

2 lb. of fresh Spinach: washed, stemmed, steamed, dried and chopped

OR 3 boxes frozen Spinach: thawed, and squeezed through a towel until thoroughly dried

1 med. Onion, chopped

1 clove Garlic, minced

Olive Oil and Butter

Salt and Pepper

6 Eggs

½ lb. crumbled Feta Cheese

1 tsp. Oregano

1-2 sticks Butter, melted

First, the spinach. However you arrive at the destination described above, remember that you must-must-must put the spinach in a dish towel and twist it with all your might over the sink to dry it. Wet, soggy spinach will ruin this dish.

Bring a small frying pan up to medium high heat. Put in a Tb. of Butter and a Tb. of Olive Oil. Saute the onion and garlic. Add about 1/8 tsp. of salt and a nice grinding of fresh black pepper. When the onion is translucent, remove from heat and cool.

In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs. Add the cheese, oregano and chopped spinach. Mix well. Stir in the cooled onion/garlic mixture. Now your filling is ready.

Melt a stick of butter and pour it into a large shallow bowl. Butter a 10” x 15” jelly roll pan (cookie sheet with sides). You can use a larger pan, it will just make a thinner Spanakopita, and there’s nothing wrong with that!

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

This is the part where things get hairy. Read through these instructions before attempting this next part. Also, the pictures included here are of a “half-sheet” size pan, not the one noted above. Instead, I made two smaller ones and gave one as a gift.

Fillo dough is so thin, that it will dry out in no time. The object of the game is to get this next part done as quickly as possible. So, first set out your shallow bowl of melted butter, your jelly roll pan. Open up the box of Fillo and unfold it to lay it flat on the counter. Have a dishtowel ready to lay over it to help keep it from drying out. Cover the Fillo with the towel whenever you have a pause in this next assembly step.

Take 2 sheets of Fillo and arrange them in the pan with the edges hanging over the sides. Depending on the brand of Fillo (some are half sheets, some are whole sheets), you might have to use 4 sheets to start so that you get a good overhang. Now put the palm of your hand right into the butter. Pat a palm print twice – once pat on each quarter of the pan. Butter your hand again and pat a palm print on the two remaining quarters of the pan. Cover this with two (or 4) more sheets of Fillo. Repeat. Cover with more Fillo, Repeat. And do it once more. The object of the game is to get about 8 sheets of Fillo (buttered between every 2 sheets) into the pan. The top layer does not have to be buttered.

Now, grab your bowl of filling and use your fingers to get it evenly spread over the entire bottom of the pan. Dip your fingers into the butter and fold all of the overhanging Fillo onto the top of the filling. Make sure the now-exposed underside of the formerly overhanging border is well-buttered.

Grab two pieces of Fillo and lay them on top of the filling. Dip your palm in the butter and proceed with the palm prints as above. Set two more pieces of Fillo on top again, and continue until you have used up all the Fillo. Then tuck the overhanging edges into the inside of the pan edge, and slather LOTS of butter all over the top.

Now, using a very sharp paring knife, cut the Spanakopita into the size slices you want. You just have to cut the top Fillo layers, not all the way through to the bottom.

Place the pan in the oven and bake for 50 minutes. It will be a beautiful golden brown. Allow it to cool somewhat, and then using the cut marks you made earlier as a guideline, cut all the way through and serve. MMMMMMMmmmmmmm !!