Chicken with Cilantro and Lime

1 whole chicken, 4-5 pounds
or 6-8 drumsticks, breasts, or thighs

Marinade:
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tbsp minced garlic
2 tsp onion powder or 1 tbsp grated onion
2 tbsp cilantro
1/2 tsp ground chile pepper

If roasting a whole chicken, remove giblets. Rinse chicken inside and out with warm water. Tie chicken with kitchen string if you will be cooking it on the rotisserie.

Mix marinade ingredients in large ziploc bag. Put chicken or pieces in bag and marinate 6-8 hours in refrigerator.

Preheat oven to 450. Roast about 15-20 minutes per pound. When done, temperature should be 180 (170 for breasts, thighs, or drumsticks).

Let stand 10 minutes before cutting.

Basil Cream Sauce

makes six servings

2 cups fresh basil leaves
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup olive oil
2 ounces pine nuts
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste
pint light cream

In a food processor, combine basil and garlic. Begin processing and pour in olive oil in a thin stream. Process for about 40 seconds, or until mixture begins to emulsify. Add pine nuts and Parmesan, then blend for 1 minute.

Heat cream in a saucepan over low heat until simmering. Pour 1/2 of the hot cream into the processor with basil pesto, and pulse for 20 seconds to incorporate. Pour mixture back into cream, and simmer for 5 minutes, or until thickened.

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From AllRecipes.com. Mom and I made this tonight to go on chicken cooked with mushrooms, tomatoes, and broccoli. It was excellent. I actually used about twice as much cheese, a mixture of parmesan, asiago, and romano. For hors d'oeuvres (so we didn't starve while cooking) we had wheat crackers topped with smoked mozzarella, tomato slices, basil leaves, and drizzled with herb-laden olive oil. To die for!

Chilled Cucumber Soup with Smoked Salmon and Dill

1 1/2 tbsp butter
1 cup onions, chopped
4 cucumbers, peeled, halved, seeded, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices (about 5 cups)
1 8-oz russet potato, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch dice
3 1/2 cups chicken broth
3 large fresh dill sprigs
6 tbsp fresh dill, minced
1 tsp salt to taste
1 cup crème fraîche or sour cream
3 oz smoked salmon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

Melt butter in heavy large pot over medium heat. Add onions and sauté until slightly softened, about 3 minutes. Add cucumbers and potato; stir 1 minute. Add broth, dill sprigs, and salt. Increase heat and bring to simmer. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer until cucumbers and potato are tender, stirring occasionally, about 25 minutes. Working in batches, purée soup in food processor until smooth. Return to pot. Cool 15 minutes. Whisk in 1/2 cup sour cream and 4 tbsp minced dill. Cover and chill until cold, about 4 hours. Serve with a dollop of sour cream in center of each bowl; sprinkle with smoked salmon and remaining minced dill.

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Another excellent recipe from epicurious.com that did not taste at all like I expected. Apparently crème fraîche is like fancier, whippable sour cream. Also take note of the pureeing the soup in BATCHES; I have a bad habit of overfilling my food processor and leaking liquid whatever all over the place. The smoked salmon goes really well with the dill and everything, although if you leave the leftovers mixed together in the refrigerator as I did, the soup sucks all the flavor out of the salmon and you get slices of tasteless, very oddly textured orange stuff instead. Not terrible, but it was surprising.

Chicken With Red Grapes and Mushrooms

in a thyme cream sauce

2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
1 cup red wine
1 cup heavy cream
1 tbsp dried thyme
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 cup seedless red grapes, rinsed and dried

Melt butter with oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. When hot, add chicken breasts. Brown 3 to 5 minutes on both sides until golden. Add mushrooms, and saute for 2 to 3 minutes, or until soft. Deglaze pan with wine, making sure to loosen any brown bits from bottom of pan. Simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in cream. Add salt, pepper, and thyme. Reduce heat to low, and cover. Simmer for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove cover. Reduce cream for 3 minutes, until thickened. Add red grapes, and heat through.

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This is a fantastic dish! I made this for dinner last week and my parents and I nearly died of deliciousness. Even the cold leftovers tasted great. I ended up having to add more grapes because we had way too many they were gone with dinner. This was also a good vocab recipe; I learned what 'deglaze' and 'reduce' meant. =)

I was hoping to find some angel hair pasta to serve this over, but all we had was whole wheat spaghetti. It wasn't bad. At allrecipes.com they suggest bowtie pasta or wide egg noodles. Personally, I think everything worth eating can be eaten with rice, but I try to cater to the Italian in everyone as well. ^^ They also suggest using white wine rather than red and adding garlic, which both also sound wonderful.

Herbs

All I know about herbs I learn by smell. When I'm cooking something, I go through our spice cabinet and smell everything, dumping in what seems like appropriate amounts of whatever smells good. I guess that's kind of how I cook as a whole...just keep going till it smells done.

While visiting the farmer's market today to buy veggies, honey, and herbs, I was told that marjoram is great with chicken and would be delicious in chicken salad. I have no idea what it tastes like; the dried stuff in our cabinet smells like tea. I'll try adding that next time and see what comes out.

I convinced my dad to run down to the store and get some Southern Comfort because my mom keeps talking about mint juleps and I decided I wanted to try this mystery drink. Making it was easy enough, just crush some mint in water, add crushed ice, and dump in a shot or two of SoCo. I haven't really acquired a taste for that yet, so I didn't drink much. But hey. I can say I've had one now.

P.S. I really want some egg molds. There are some on ebay, but the sellers require PayPal, which I haven't quite figured out yet. It's such a cute idea though! I tried it a little with chocolate molds, but they were a bit large. Got the idea though- it's fun! I've been reading through bento websites, including cookingcute.com for cute ideas like that. Hopefully I'll get to try some of them before too long!