A Chicken for Kenny Mae – Roasted with a Parsley, Parmesan and Lemon Serving Sauce

~ Teresa Blackburn ~ 14 Comments

Kenny Mae, my grandmother, was quite an intrepid country-woman with many skills that had to do with putting food on the table with not a lot of money. She kept chickens so there were always fresh eggs for breakfast and for making desserts.

If she planned to serve chicken for dinner, then early in the morning she would thoughtfully choose one of her chickens. She swiftly and silently grabbed the unsuspecting bird, wrung its neck, plopped the stunned chicken down on a stump in the back yard and with the other hand holding an axe, she would chopped off its head. Plan and simple, practicle and straightforward.

As a girl I often sat on the back porch swing watching the flapping and running around of the already dead chicken fully aware that this was how her delicious roasted or fried chicken dinners came to be. That was how it was. This was just one of her many skills along with gardening, canning, baking mile high cakes using a old timey not-electric hand mixer, as well as allowing us kids to be underfoot during all of these moments without ever acting irritated or angry at the intrusions.

I, of course, purchase a whole hen to roast at my local market. There is no head-chopping involved, no flapping going on, nor all that time removing the feathers. I am grateful that I saw how to turn a live chicken into a dinner the old-fashioned way, but I am also happy I don’t have to do it. I think I could if life dealt me that card….maybe…I’ve got a bit of Kenny Mae in me when I need it.

This is a riff on a recipe I have kept in my notebook of recipes-to-try for many years. It’s source long gone, but I mention it to pay tribute to the unknown author either way. I added baby potatoes and baby carrots to cook along with the chicken in a 12″ cast iron skillet, where they caramelized in the juices. Lots and lots of fresh lemon juice as well sprinkled over everything.

The serving sauce, fresh and tangy with lots of garlic, parsley, lemon juice and olive oil is drizzled on the roasted chicken and vegetables brightening all the flavors and kicking the concept of a roasted chicken up to a new level of deliciousness.

Thanks Kenny Mae for your patience, food knowledge and love.

A Chicken for Kenny Mae – Roasted with a Parsley, Parmesan and Lemon Serving Sauce

A juicy roasted chicken and vegetables served with a fresh, zesty sauce that says Spring.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine Eclectic Southern
Servings 6

Ingredients
  

  • 1 organic whole chicken, about 3 1/2 llbs Rinsed inside and out and patted dry
  • 3/4 cup olive oil, divided 1/4 cup for Chicken, 1/2 cup for Sauce
  • a handful of fresh parsley with stems
  • kosher salt
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • 3 lemons 2 cut into quarters, 1 juiced for the sauce
  • 1 lb small new potatoes
  • 1 lb whole baby carrots
  • 4 cloves minced garlic
  • 1 cup roughly chopped fresh parsley
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • kosher salt to taste
  • Pinch of Red Pepper flakes

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
  • Place whole chicken, breast side up, in a large cast iron skillet, or other large baking pan.
  • Rub 2 tablespoons of the olive oil over the bird. Season outside and inside with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Place fresh parsley stems and a few of the lemon quarters inside the chicken cavity. Tie legs together with kitchen twine. Tuck wings up under the chicken.
  • Toss the potatoes and carrots in 2 tablespoon of the olive oil. Season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Scatter around the chicken. Squeeze the remaining lemon quarters over the chicken and the vegs. Toss the squeezed lemons into the pan as well to roast.
  • Roast for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 375 degrees and cook for 25 minutes. Rotate the pan, toss the vegs and cook until the vegs and chicken are golden brown and a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the chicken reads 165 degrees, about 25 minutes more. Remove from oven and let chicken rest for 10 minutes.
  • While chicken is roasting make the sauce using a mini chopper or by hand. Combine minced garlic cloves, chopped parsley, 1/2 cup remaining olive oil, grated parmesan cheese, salt to taste and a pinch of red pepper flakes to taste. Blend until mixture is like a rough-chop pesto. Taste and adjust seasonings if need be.
  • Drizzle the sauce over the roasted chicken and vegs. Toss potatoes and carrots to cover well. You can reserve some of the sauce to serve on the side when the chicken is carved. Amazingly fresh, juicy and Spring-like roasted chicken.
Keyword Easy to Make, Fresh and Spring-like, Roasted Chicken and Vegs for Spring

Irish Soda Bread Rolls with Herbs and Cheese…

~ Teresa Blackburn ~ 7 Comments

“A loaf of bread, the Walrus said, is what we chiefly need…..” Author Lewis Carroll

Do you remember the bread baking craze at the onset of the Pandemic? The obsessive approach to bread baking became somewhat cultish during that time. Everything was so scary and unknown, the confines of our kitchens became our safe places…our creative outlets.

Images of homemade baked bread filled the world of social media. It was a collective game of “find the flour”…. and if that part was successful… then it was time to move on to the next level and play “find the yeast”, both often scarce. It took a lot of time to procure the ingredients as well as the prepping and the baking time. Time was a new luxury bestowed upon us in those historic dark days…..then….

….time moved along… and soon my food styling photo shoots resumed and no longer did I have, or take the time to spend entire days baking bread. Bitter sweet.

Missing homemade crusty bread fresh from the oven, I recently revisited one of my favorite easy recipes for Irish Soda Bread . It is a simple, sober kind of bread that can be made as plain-as-day, or as dressed-up as you like using a few inexpensive ingredients…four the be exact. It is a bread that doesn’t demand a lot of a cook. It does not become an obsession nor a job, but simply a pleasure. The process of making and baking is quick and relaxing. Slice it for sandwiches, toast it for butter and jam, break off pieces to sop up roasting juices, or to eat with soups. These rolls have a crusty outside and soft inside which are great cut open and stuffed with cheese and ham.

I added lots of herbs to the dough along with some grated cheese…..

…then topped them with lots of dill before baking. A tempting bite….

..when warm fresh-from-the-oven and slathered with Kerrygold butter.

Herbed Irish Soda Bread Rolls

Easy, delicious homemade bread.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
0 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Servings 12 rolls

Ingredients
  

  • 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour sifted + extra for work surface
  • 2 tsps dried thyme leaves
  • 3 tbsps dried dill divided
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/3 cup grated white cheddar, or gruyere
  • 1 1/2 cups buttermilk + extra if needed

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a sheet pan(s) with parchment paper.
  • Mix sifted flour, thyme, half of the dill, salt and baking soda together in a mixing bowl. Add grated cheese and blend.
  • Make a "well" in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in buttermilk. Mix together gently. Add a bit more buttermilk if the dough seems too dry. The dough should be somewhat soft and wet. Scrape dough out onto a lightly floured work surface.
  • Fold together and knead the dough until smooth. Tear off 12 equal pieces of the dough and shape each one into a ball. Place dough balls on the prepared sheet pan and using a sharp knife dipped in water make an "X" in the top of each one. Sprinkle the remaining dill on top of the rolls.
  • Bake rolls for about 25 minutes or until golden brown and crusty.

Lemon-Lentil-Turnip Chowder for a Snowy Day 2024……E.A.T. # 52

~ Teresa Blackburn ~ 10 Comments

Chowders, soups, stews and all of their variations with out without meat or seafood make lots of appearances in our kitchen in mid-January when the weather in Nashville finally decides to turn cold. The heartier the better. Thick broths, full of vegetables and lots of seasonings are our favorites.

We are quite lucky in many ways to have part of our extended family next door. Gary has a farm down in West Tennessee and regularly brings us vegetables from the garden and honey from the hives. I use everything gifted to us. In the summer there are cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, squash and now, turnips from the fall garden. These beautiful turnips inspired this chowder on this snowy day. Many thanks to you Gary.

This is what is looks like outside our kitchen window today…….beautiful and cozy.

The recipe is easy to make and takes under an hour start to finish. Lentils, turnips, onion, broth, unsweetened coconut milk, seasonings and plenty of fresh lemons.

Bon Apetit. Stay cozy. Be kind and be thankful for neighbors.

Lemon-Lentil-Turnip Chowder E.A.T. #52

A vegetarian's dream. Thick broth full of lentils and turnips, onions and garlic, with lots of fresh lemon juice and spices.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Course Chowders and Soups, Main Course
Cuisine Eclectic Southern
Servings 8

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup diced onion
  • 3 garlic cloves, smashed
  • 3 tbsp butter
  • 4 medium size turnips, peeled & chopped
  • 1 1/2 cups lentils
  • 1/2 tsp celery seed
  • 1 tbsp dried dill weed plus extra for serving
  • 4-6 cups broth, chicken or vegetable
  • 1 can unsweetened coconut milk
  • 3 lemons, juiced plus extra for serving
  • Freshly ground black pepper and sea salt to taste

Instructions
 

  • Saute the onion and garlic in the butter over medium hi heat. Add chopped turnips and saute a few more minutes.
  • Add in lentils, celery seed, 1 tablespoon of dill weed, broth and coconut milk. Bring to a boil. Turn heat to low simmer and cook just until turnips and lentils are softened, not mushy.
  • Serve hot with additional dill weed, slices of lemon, pepper and salt.
Keyword Easy, Hearty, Vegetarian

Harriet’s Dragon’s Tail Radishes Summer Salad with Ginger-Miso Dressing – E.A.T #41

~ Teresa Blackburn ~ 5 Comments

My friend and neighbor Harriet is a very generous gardener. As well as fresh kale and cucumbers, she recently shared some of her very interesting radishes. Not the round or oval red, pink and white variety, but a bag full of Dragon’s Tail Radishes. I am totally enchanted by their unusual beauty…colors from almost black, to a dark purple and a hint of lime green and their very peppery flavor with long curly “dragon’s tails”. They are a crisp, tender edible roots, with an intense peppery bite. The larger the stem the spicier. Have you ever grown these? I have not, but Harriet says they are easy to grown from seeds, and prolific. Next year. Thanks, Harriet.

Isn’t it fun to try something new? Or to use something you eat all the time in a new way? All of the ingredients in my salad could also be just as delicious quickly stir-fried with some shrimp or tofu. I hear they are great pickled as well.

Dragon’s Tail Radishes (or any radish) chopped up and added to a bowl (is there any reason at all to turn on the stove for meals this very hot summer?) along with a few large cucumbers peeled, seeded and sliced, homegrown sweet golden cherry tomatoes cut in half (from our small garden) with a few of your favorite greens, then drizzled with the ginger-miso dressing…a complete joy to eat.

For the “there-is-no-recipe dressing” you toss into a blender 1 heaping tablespoon freshly grated or chopped ginger, 2 tablespoons white miso, 1/2 cup rice vinegar, 2/3 cup canola or vegetable oil, a splash of orange or apple juice, 1 tablespoon honey and some red pepper flakes to taste. Blend, taste, adjust, pour into a container with a lid and chill. Shake and drizzle on whatever salad you like.

Bon Apetit…

This summer might be a good time to try some new things all around. Wear less clothing to stay cooler? Spend more time in the shade? Sit in a comfy cool indoor space and read, read, read a book or 10? Give and take dinner ideas that are easy, healthy and fun from your friends and neighbors? Take very early morning or late day strolls? Doze in a hammock? Take up cards or board games? What do you like to do to get outside your life-box? Do share.

Take care and stay cool

Dark Chocolate Coin Cookies…Slice and Bake

~ Teresa Blackburn ~ 10 Comments

Make the cookie dough, shape into rolls, chill and bake….or make, shape, wrap and freeze for later. These thin very chocolatey, buttery, crispy lovelies would be so pretty for Valentines.

I am not one to go overboard at Valentines, but I do love a good cookie anytime of the year and this one is rather special. I used De Zaan cocoa and Kerrygold butter, Olive and Sinclair dark chocolate and Maldon sea salt flakes. The hibiscus tea is steep deep red and strong from dried hibiscus flowers I bought in Mexico. But, you can use any cocoa, butter, chocolate or sea salt you might have in your pantry. Delicious either way.

Cocoa powder and chopped dark chocolate, butter and pistachios or hazelnuts with a drizzle of dark chocolate and sea salt create a cookie that is not too sweet with a salty crunch.

Use a small metal whisk to drizzle the melted chocolate over the cookies in a random pattern and immediately sprinkle on the salt.
Beautiful hibiscus tea hot and steamy, a few cookies to share…Imagine.

Print

Double Dark Chocolate Coin Cookies – Slice and Bake

Make, shape, slice and bake these double chocolate, nutty, crisp, cookies for a Valentine's treat.
Total Time1 hour 45 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: easy, Valentines, special dessert cookies
Yield: 60 more or less
Author: Teresa Blackburn

Materials

  • 1 cup butter softened
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 egg room temp
  • 1/4 cup cocoa good quality
  • 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup chopped pistachios or hazelnuts
  • 8 ounces dark chocolate chopped
  • 1/2 teaspoon solid shortening
  • 2 tablespoon flakey sea salt for topping such as Maldon

Instructions

  • Beat together the softened butter, sugar and 1/4 teaspoon salt on high until well blended. Scrape down bowl as needed.
  • Add and beat in the egg and the cocoa powder until blended.
  • Beat in the flour bit-by-bit using the mixer as long as possible. If dough gets too thick stir remaining flour in with a spoon. Stir in the chopped nuts.
  • Scrape dough out onto a work surface and using your hands knead dough into a ball. Divid dough in half. Form dough into two logs about 1.5 inches in diameter and wrap each in plastic wrap. Chill for an hour or two. You can freeze at this point to bake later if you like. If baking from frozen thaw in refrigerator overnight before slicing.
  • Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Slice cookie logs into 1/4 inch slices and place on an ungreased cooked sheet. Bake for 7-9 minutes or until the tops of the cookies are a bit firm to the touch. Cool cookies on wire racks.
  • For the chocolate drizzle, melt the chopped chocolate and the shortening in a pan over low heat. Stir with a metal whisk and use the whisk to drizzle the melted chocolate over the baked and cooled cookies in a random pattern. While drizzle is still melted sprinkle on the sea salt flakes. Allow drizzle to set for about 30 minutes.

Black-eyed Pea Potato Salad with Pickled Okra

~ Teresa Blackburn ~ 9 Comments

2023…Happy New Year….This recipe is from a cookbook I worked on 2016 entitled “The Peace, Love and Potato Salad Cookbook”. It is very easy and quick to make and delicious for all seasons, but for New Years especially so. A definite twist on the traditional hoppin’ John, this bowl of “good luck” has the bright freshness of a salad and the coziness of a winter entree.

You can use cooked, canned black-eyed peas if you are in a hurry, or dried peas if time is on your side, frozen or refrigerated black-eyed peas cook pretty quickly and have lots of flavor. I used Marsh Hen Mill Black-eyed Peas and just reading the label is enough to make you feel better about life.

I understand that pickled okra might not be everyone’s thing, but the saltiness, slight crunch and tang is perfect with this dish.

A cold dark beer or chilled crisp white wine, maybe a skillet of cornbread will surely turn this entree salad into a hearty meal certain to increase your sense of well-being and make you feel lucky and relaxed….ready to meet 2023 with vim and vigor.

Here is the original image from the cookbook….by the amazing Danielle Atkins Photography.

And….here is the recipe for you to concoct from…enjoy, be kind and share…Happy, happy new year.

Fresh Cranberry-Pear-Orange Relish E.A.T #40

~ Teresa Blackburn ~ 10 Comments

This is a re-post from November 2019….deep in the land-of-covid…not so long in the past. This is just so good and simple I wanted to re-share. Have a grateful, thankful and really good day.

I must confess I have a weakness for that (kinda gross) jellied cranberry sauce in the can. I am sure it has to do with childhood Holiday memories nested deep in my brain.  On the other hand, I really love this cranberry relish that is quick, easy and fresh. It is a little bit sweet, a little bit tart and very special with a baked ham or a roasted chicken or turkey, not to mention roasted vegetables.. All you need is a food processor and about 10 minutes. It will keep in the fridge for a few days in a glass jar with a tight-fitting lid so it is an excellent make-ahead.

There really isn’t any need for an official recipe, but I put a quick one at the end just in case.

About 2 cups of fresh cranberries,  2 firm but ripe pears (or apples), 1 orange including the peel and a 1/2 cup raw or turbinado sugar are the 4 ingredients needed. All chopped in a processor, jarred and chilled. It really is “easy-as-this”. What a nice jar of this would be for a food-lover on your Holiday List!

Fresh Cranberry, Pear and Orange Relish

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups fresh cranberries, rinsed and drained
  • 2  firm, but ripe pears, cored
  • 1 orange, cut into wedges, seeds removed
  • 1/2 cup raw or turbinado sugar

Directions:

  1. Medium chop cranberries in a food processor. Scrape into a mixing bowl.
  2. Puree pears and add to mixing bowl.
  3. Medium to finely chop orange wedges and add to mixing bowl.
  4. Add sugar and stir ingredients together. Taste and adjust sugar if needed.
  5. Store in the refrigerator until ready to use in a glass jar with a tight-fitting lid for up to 4-5 days.

Note: For gift-giving, add a ribbon or tag with the date made and ingredients in a pretty jar. How easy is that?

Teresa Blackburn.       http://www.teresablackburnfoodstyling.com

 

Matzo Ball Soup My Way – E.A.T. #53

~ Teresa Blackburn ~ 2 Comments

Cool fall day…soup day…Matzo Ball Soup My Way day….restorative and nourishing. My way with lots of fresh lemon juice and chopped parsley, freshly ground black pepper…it is as “easy-as-this”.

You know what else is as “easy-as-this”? Voting. It is also restorative and nourishing for the soul. Coming up in just a few days is one of the most important times to get out and vote to keep women’s health care a free choice for all, to keep it safe and legal. It is a time to say no to no-background check gun purchases. It is a time to support our public schools. It is a time when doing good is possible if we vote. Vote early if you can or on Tuesday November 8th at your local voting location. It is as “easy-as-that”.

First grab a box of matzo ball and soup mix…there are quite a few to choose from. I use whatever is on the shelf..Streit’s or Manischewitz are the most common in my supermarket. They are very similar in what is in the box….a packet of matzo meal for making the balls and a packet of dried soup mix. Follow the directions on the box, but with a few additions to make it “my way”.

The additions of fresh lemons, low salt chicken stock or bone broth, generous amount of freshly ground black pepper and chopped fresh parsley turn an already good packaged product into something special. Adding chopped fresh parsley and black pepper to the matzo balls and the broth adds an updated flavor profile while the lemon juice brightens up the overall finished soup.

Restorative and nourishing this soup is ready to eat in under 1 hour…as easy-as-this dinner on brrrrrr chilly days.

Restorative and nourishing voting only takes minutes.

Matzo Ball Soup My Way

Ingredients:

1box matzo ball and soup mix, usually 4.5 oz

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 large eggs

6 cups water

4 cups low sodium chicken broth or bone broth

freshly ground black pepper – 1 teaspoons for the matzo balls + extra for serving

3 lemons – 2 juiced + one l sliced thinly for garnishing soup

fresh parsley chopped – 1 tablespoon for the matzo balls + extra for serving

Directions:

  1. In a mixing bowl whisk together the vegetable oil and 2 eggs until light and frothy. Add the matzo ball packet contents, 1 teaspoon of the black pepper and 1 tablespoon of the chopped parsley to the bowl, cover and chill for about 15 minutes.
  2. Meanwhile, add the water and chicken broth to a large stock pot. Stir in the soup mix packet and bring to a boil.
  3. Form chilled matzo ball mixture into balls about 1 inch in diameter to make about 12 balls. Wet hands if need be while rolling.
  4. Drop matzo balls into the boiling broth, add a tight-fitting lid to the pan, reduce heat to low and simmer for about 20 minutes, or until matzo balls are throughly cooked. Remove pan from heat and add the juice of two lemons, additional black pepper and fresh parsley. Stir and serve bowls of hot soup with slices of lemon.

Be well.

Sheet-Pan Peach Jam with Thyme and Lemon A Sunday Morning in June – E.A.T. #52

~ Teresa Blackburn ~ 8 Comments

If I keep at it, I will find the absolute easiest way to do everything. It is not that I am lazy, but that I do not like to fuss. I want to start a task and take it through to the end as effortlessly as possible while ending up with something special…whether it be food, or art, or gardening. I am pretty sure my personality leads me in my approach…c’est la vie. Whipping up a batch of homemade jam and the time needed to do so can be at odds with one another…full of desire to do the first without the time usually needed, my recipe for oven roasted fresh peach jam makes the process of jam making doable and satisfying in all ways.

It seems a lot of friends and acquaintances are in traveling in France this Spring, which started me thinking about how much I love a simple French breakfast…why not partake of one here in Nashville this Sunday morning? So freshly baked croissants, just made peach jam and cafe au lait is close enough to please me and Wouter. C’etait tres bon. Oui? Oui.
Fresh Peach Truck peaches from the Downtown Nashville Farmer’s Market.
Nicely ripened, unpeeled and rough chopped, fresh thyme from my herb garden and the zest and juice from one lemon, along with a little brown and white sugar..that is all you need.
Sheet pan jam in the works.
Ready to mash…..
….voila! One hour from sheet pan to jars. It is as Easy-as-This to make your own petit dejeuner francais.

Sheet Pan Jam with Thyme and Lemon

Ingredients:

  • Around 3 lbs fresh, ripe peaches, not peeled, but pitted and stems removed, chopped
  • The zest and juice of one lemon
  • 1/4 cup raw sugar + 1/2 cup white granulated sugar
  • 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves

Directions:

Toss all the ingredients together in a bowl. Let sit while oven pre-heats. (The peaches I used were clingstone, meaning the fruit’s flesh clings to the pit, so I cut the fruit away from the pit and then squeezed the juice around the pit into the bowl as well. More peach flavor and not waste.)

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Scrape peach mixture out onto a baking sheet pan. Spread out evenly. Bake for about 25-30 minutes until fruit has softened and juices on pan start to thicken. Ovens may vary so keep an eye on the progress.

Remove baking sheet from the oven when fruit is quite soft and then mash with a potato masher or fork until it looks like jam.

Fill two pint jars, or more jars if using smaller ones, with the warm peach jam and allow to cool to room temperature. Add a lid and refrigerate or freeze until ready to eat.

Note: This basic method could be used for plums, cherries, apples, and berries. It’s a great way to keep the summer in the freezer for later.

Be well. Be kind and take care.

teresablackburnfoodstyling.com