Hello & Happy 2012! I have decided to resurrect this chat about what we cook and eat and why we do the things we do. I have been busy over the last year working and raising a new middle school student, but that has always included daily breakfast and dinner and usually lunch, which we cook, and I photograph, I just haven’t been writing about it.
2012 is going to be a year for us to really look at what we eat and who we are supporting with our food dollar. I made a quick budget the other day and realized just how much of our monthly income we eat, a little less than 25%. I think that might be a bit high on average, I’d be curious to hear, but I live in NYC where prices are high for everything.
One of the things that I know boost our monthly food budget is reasonably raised meat. Last week I brought home a chicken that cost me $30.54. I will admit, I stood at the meat counter a good, long time, deciding on whether or not I was going to put that bird into my cart. At last, I hefted the fatty into my cart, it was a 5 pounder, and headed to check out. I am very happy I did.
My $30 chicken fed us for three meals. Michael butchered it for me, roasting the carcass for stock for that night’s soup. The leg/thigh portion were saved for chicken cacciatore later that week with the breasts frozen for the next. Three dinners for 3 for $30!
This is what the breasts turned into. Although we only had two, they were whoppers and easily fed the three of us!
Roasted Chicken Breast with Grainy Mustard Sauce.
Preheat oven to 400〫
salt and pepper two generous chicken breast halves on the bone (being on the bone helps keep everything moist and adds flavor to the meat)
Heat a saute pan with one table-spoon olive oil and one of butter. When the butter is done foaming put your chicken breasts in with the skin down. Throw in two or three springs of rosemary and let brown, not moving the chicken until it is time to flip.
When the edges of the skin start to look brown, flip the chicken and put in the oven. I have a great electric meat thermometer that I put into the meat, not touching the bone and leave in since the reader part sits on top of my stove. I recommend these to everyone so you don’t have to guess if your chicken is done and have bad results at the table.
When the chicken has reached 163〫take it out of the oven and transfer to a platter to rest, tented with foil. Skim any fat from your drippings and place the pan over a med high heat. Glug in 1/2 glass white wine, two tbs whole grain mustard and let reduce by half. Pour in 1/2 cup heavy cream and continue to boil until sauce thickens up to the consistency you like. Adjust the salt and pepper.
Slice the chicken against the grain and smother with sauce or serve sauce on the side. Our chicken was accompanied by roasted potatoes, sautéed kale with white beans and garlic and the rest of that white wine I used for the sauce!
The dinner was delicious and I can feel rest assured that the bird had a good life.
