A Life, Lived

Travel Tuesdays - Berlin

Last week I posted about the post Christmas my friend and I enjoyed in Amsterdam and Berlin. After a week in Amsterdam we hopped the train to Berlin. Note to self: don't take the train from Amsterdam to Berlin. While it looks to be a short distance on a map it is LONG. It didn't help that I was sick. We were in a train with private compartments - I slept in the corner and Nancy enjoyed herself talking to all of the folks who joined us for a part of the journey.

Here are some shots from our time in Berlin.

Snow Cones

Oh Calvin . . .

Lemon Herb Spatchcock Chicken

This is one of those recipes that comes along every now and again that wows with simplicity, ease, and amazing flavour. The chicken is moist and flavourful. The veggies perfectly roasted. Dinner will be on the table in just over an hour making this a perfect weeknight meal. The deliciousness factor also means it is a perfect meal for entertaining.

The potatoes, carrots and Brussels sprouts roast along with the chicken. This blend of vegetables bakes to perfection and every bite is supremely flavorful. The potatoes have a crisp salty skin with a creamy inside and these were some of the best tasting Brussels sprouts I’ve tried.

A whole roasted chicken can be tricky because the chicken breast can quickly dry out by the time the dark meat is cooked through, but when you butterfly a chicken (spatchcock), the chicken breast sits lower in the pan on the same level as the legs so it bakes more evenly and results in a juicy, moist and flavorful chicken. While it is easy to spatchcock a chicken yourself (there are tons of videos on YouTube) do yourself a favour and ask your butcher to do this for you.

The star of this show is a relatively simple flavoured butter. It tastes incredible and makes every bite memorable. I think the butter compound would be flexible and you could play around with the herbs used and even add some chill pepper flakes for a hint of heat.

Enjoy!

Lemon Herb Spatchcock Chicken

4 1/4 lb whole chicken, spatchcocked
1/2 tsp salt, (we used sea salt)
1/8 tsp black pepper
4 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1 Tbsp olive oil, plus more to drizzle
1 Tbsp parsley, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp lemon zest
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp salt, plus more for vegetables
1/8 tsp black pepper
2 lbs medium red potatoes, scrubbed and quartered
3 medium carrots, peeled and quartered
8 oz Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved

Preheat oven to 425˚

Line a large, rimmed baking sheet with foil or parchment paper.

In a small mixing bowl, combine the butter, olive oil, garlic, parsley, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Mash with fork for a couple of minutes until lemon juice is mostly incorporated into butter. 

Spread 2/3 of mixture under the chicken skin and and dot/spread remaining butter all over chicken.

Place prepared vegetables all around the chicken and drizzle everything with olive oil. Sprinkle chicken and vegetables generously with salt and some black pepper to taste.

Bake uncovered at 425˚F for 45 min or until instant read thermometer reads 160˚F when inserted into thickest part of chicken breast. Remove form oven and rest uncovered 10 minutes on a cutting board before serving.

Travel Tuesdays - Amsterdam

The Facebook memory feature reminds me that I was in Amsterdam 8 years ago. It was the perfect post-Christmas gettaway.

Creamy Linguine with Peas, Ham, and Sage

With everyone having been damaged or sick over the Christmas period I've been playing catch up with some of our traditional meals. The other day I baked a ham - something we might enjoy on Boxing Day or New year's Day during a normal Christmas.  Having enjoyed a ham dinner I was left determining a plan to use up the leftovers.

This delicious pasta dish helped with some. Pasta, ham, peas in a rich cream sauce . . . what is not to love?

If you're of those folks who resolves to lose weight after the calendar flips to January then this is not a dish for you. 2 cups whipping cream. . . 1.5 cups cheese . . . pasta . . . Nope, dieters move on. Don't even try to figure out a low fat or low carb version of this dish because you'll likely be disappointed. Bookmark this for when your resolution goes belly up (see what I did there?) and cooking returns to a happy normal.

When I made this I had to cobble things together a bit at the end. It turns out that what I thought was fresh linguine in the freezer was not. I didn't feel like racing out to buy some so I used the gianormous fusilli that I had purchased in Trader Joes during my one happy trip across the border before Omnicrom washed over us and things closed up again.

I think this may have been a better pasta choice because the ridges in the past caught all of that delicious sauce. MMM

The recipe called fro adding pasta water to thin the sauce. make sure to grab some with a measuring cup BEFORE you drain the pasta. In the end I thought the sauce was a perfect consistency so I never needed to add it. If the sauce is thick add a small amount and stir until you think it is a proper consistency. You want it think enough so that it sticks to the pasta with its luscious, rich, cheesy goodness.

All in all, this was a quick and easy weeknight meal.

Creamy Linguine with Peas, Ham, and Sage

12 oz. fresh linguine (or fettuccine)
1-1/2 cups shelled fresh peas or frozen peas, thawed
2 cups heavy cream
1 heaping Tbs. chopped fresh sage (or 1 scant tsp. crumbled dried sage leaves)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 oz. ham, cut into bite-size pieces
1-1/2 cups finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, more for serving

Cook the linguine in boiling salted water according to package directions until al dente, adding the peas about 2 minutes before the pasta is done. Reserve 1/2 cup of the water and drain the pasta.

Meanwhile, in a 12-inch skillet, simmer the cream, sage, 1 tsp. salt, and 1/2 tsp. pepper, stirring occasionally, over medium-high heat, until slightly thickened, about 3 minutes. Turn the heat down to medium, add the drained pasta and peas, ham, and Parmigiano; toss to combine and heat through. Add some of the cooking water to loosen the pasta, if necessary. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve topped with more Parmigiano.

Cleaning

Anyone else have days like this?

COVID in Ontario

There is a lot of truth to this . . .
Harry Potter fans will understand.

 

Travel Tuesdays - Hamilton

Back in December Paul and I had a bit of an outing in Hamilton.

We started with brunch at a restaurant called the Electric Diner. I head read about on social media and it was listed as one of the top diners in Ontario. The restaurant is located in Hess Village - a lovely area of restaurants and bars in old Victorian houses.

Brunch was fabulous!

The plan was for us to meet up with friends at 2 at the Art Gallery of Hamilton. Our one friend is a docent there and he was giving us a private tour of the Maude Lewis and Tom Thomson exhibits.

We had time to kill before we met our friends so we wandered around downtown Hamilton a bit. I used to live in this area but when I lived there I never really took the time to wander about. It was nice to have that gift of time now.

It is amazing what you see when you stop and look around you.

Happy New Year!

When I go back and read previous new year's posts they are generally full of optimism for the year ahead.

I'm trying.

I really am.

Given the past two years it is probably a bit naturally to head into 2022 wonder what fresh, new hell is laying waiting for us in the shadows.

Optimism is hard.

So 2021 ends like this.

Survived we did. A bit battered and bruised and hopefully a LOT wiser.

Onward.

A lot of people go into the new year making a list of things that they want to fix about themselves or their existence.

I refuse to do that this year.

Not for this reason though . . .

LOL

I know that I am far from perfect. I know there are plenty of things that I should try and change. I also know that if they were so easy to change it would have happened already and I wouldn't need to wait until some arbitrary calendar page flip to do so.

So let's continue to muddle through life being kind, trying to mitigate the damage caused by our worst urges and amplify our innate good that often is hard to find.

All tbe best for a more joyful 2022.

Confused Period of Time

This is me . . .

If you want me I'll be on the sofa chips, shortbread, and mince tarts within reach, reading my Christmas books.

Enjoy!