Still on my Meyer Lemon kick… while they are available, I will eat them! So I thought I would use some of the curd that I made last weekend and make some crumble bars (aka shortbread bars). And what pairs nicely with the tropical flavors of Meyer Lemons — why Macadamia Nuts! While these were a bit annoying to cut (should have chopped the nuts finer) they taste amazing!
This recipe isn’t so much about the ingredients as it is about the technique: butterflying (or spatchcocking) a whole chicken and then placing it in a searing hot cast iron skillet that you have heated to 500F in the oven. It’s a technique that was recently on America’s Test Kitchen and I thought that I would give it a go. The result: a yummy roasted bird in under an hour. I will have to remember to open the windows in the kitchen though, because it was a little smokey (just because my oven is old and there isn’t good airflow; most people likely won’t have this issue). Lovely comfort food on a wet January day.
It’s usually this time of year — mid January — that I get on my Meyer Lemon kick. Maybe it’s because these gems are so bright and colorful when New England is particularly dreary. Or maybe it’s because they are so plentiful in the shops right now — all three of my regular stores had them on sale this week. So I’m going on a little bit of a Meyer Lemon overload for the next few days. Here are two ways to keep them going for a few weeks longs — Meyer Lemon Sugar, which is perfect on fruit or mixed into tea and Meyer Lemon Curd, which is spectacular on fruit, in oatmeal, on toast or in yogurt.
Nothing says winter and comfort food quite like Chicken Pot Pie. Yummy. While I think that most recipes for Chicken Pot Pie take advantage of winter veggies, I thought that I would use some that seem to be even more common here in the northern climes — carrots (of course) but also cauliflower and broccoli. Add in the fact that I used a Whole Foods bought rotisserie chicken, the whole thing was on the table in about 90 minutes.
Sort of Swedish Cookies. Sort of. I’m guessing that these are not *really* Swedish, because when I was looking for cookie recipes, I didn’t find these on the Internets, but the flavors are distinctly Swedish in my mind, so I went with it anyway. Cardamom always reminds me of a family friend from Sweden, who actually was the one who gave me the spatula that is pictured in the photos. She gave it to me at Christmas past so I thought it apt that I bake something that would match. Besides, I had some Lingonberry jam from IKEA. 🙂