Recipes inspired by They Died With Their Boots On (1941)

Roast Chicken, Scallions, Potatoes Au Gratin, Roasted Asparagus, Creamed Pearl Onions and Spiced Pears in a Red Wine Sauce.

This meal is inspired by the film They Died With Their Boots On (1941). Please check out my post on my movie blog, Out of the Past ~ A Classic Film Blog, for more information on how I came to create this meal.

Roast Chicken

Ingredients:
Whole Chicken, rinsed and patted dry
1/2 a lemon cut into 4 wedges,
1 small onion peeled and cut into wedges
a few tabs of butter
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Salt and pepper the cavity of the chicken as well as the outside (don't forget to remove that bag of extra bits from the cavity). Add the onion and lemon wedges to the cavity and slide tabs of butter underneath the skin where you can, namely on the breast and drum sticks. Tuck under the wings and transfer your chicken to a roasting pan. Cover with aluminum foil and cook for 2 hours then remove foil and cook for 30 more minutes or until the skin is nice and golden. Let rest for 15-20 minutes and serve. You can cook the bird without the foil but you'll need to baste, baste, baste a lot!

Potatoes Au Gratin

Ingredients:

3 or 4 large potatoes, peeled, halved and sliced into thin half moons

Shredded Gruyere cheese

half-and-half

butter

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees or add this for less time in the oven with the roast chicken.

Butter the bottom of a casserole dish and add a layer of sliced potatoes. Salt and pepper the potatoes and top with some shredded Gruyere (based on taste, I went very light). Create another layer of potatoes, salt and pepper and Gruyere. Keep doing this until you get to the top of the casserole dish. Then top it off with a few knobs of butter and drizzle some half-and-half. I'm not giving exact measurements because it'll be based on taste. I used about 1/4 cup but you can use more or less. Just make sure it's even distributed.

Cover the casserole dish with aluminum foil. Bake in the oven for 40 minutes at 375 or 30 minutes at 400. Remove the aluminum foil then broil the top at the low setting until the top gets nice and golden and the edges are a little crispy. Let cool for a few minutes then serve.

Roasted Asparagus

One bunch of asparagus

2 tablespoons of very light olive oil

salt

lemon zest

Snap off the tougher ends of the asparagus stalks and add them to a baking sheet. Drizzle the olive oil over the asparagus and move them around so they are thoroughly coated in the oil. Spread them evenly on the sheet and salt them. Add them to your 400 degree oven, you can even put them on a lower rack beneath your roasting chicken. Cook for 10 minutes. A little more if you like the tops to be crispy. Remove from the oven, add a little finely grated lemon zest on top and let cool.

Creamed Onions

1 bag of frozen pearl onions
1 cup of half-and-half
1 tablespoon of butter plus a bit more
1 tablespoon of flour
salt, pepper and nutmeg
2 tablespoons of breadcrumbs

Preheat oven to 375 degrees or 400 degrees to cook with the chicken.

Add the bag of frozen pearl onions to a pot of water (make sure water covers the onions by at least one inch) and bring to a boil. Cook for 20 minutes, drain and set aside. In the same pot, add butter and melt then sprinkle in flour. Mix thorough then slowly add the half-and-half little by little, incorporating the roux into the cream making sure there are no lumps. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Cook at medium-low until the sauce thickens. Add the cooked pearl onions and coat with sauce. Butter a small baking dish then add the onions with sauce. Top with breadcrumbs. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes in a 375 degree oven or 20-25 minutes in a 400 degree oven until it's bubbly.

This is a recipe created by Ellie Krieger of Food Network fame. You can find the original recipe here. I've modified it slightly

Spiced Pears Poached in Red Wine

4 Pears peeled and with bottoms cut off
2 cups of red wine
1/4 cup of sugar
2 inch strip of orange peel
the juice of one orange (I used a Cara-Cara orange)
2 cinammon sticks
3 cloves

Add wine, orange peel, orange juice, cinammon sticks and cloves to a pot and bring to a simmer. Add the pears and cook for 15 minutes, turning them every five minutes. Remove the pears carefully and stand them up on a plate. Transfer plate to the fridge. Remove peel, cinammon sticks and cloves from the pot. Bring the liquid to a boil and simmer down to a syrup for 10-15 minutes stirring occassionally. Then let the syrup cool and set aside. When you serve, drizzle some of the syrup on top of the poached pears. Enjoy!

Cooking with Friends ~ Kevin

When Kevin first moved into his condo, I took one look at his kitchen and declared that I must help him cook a meal there. He owns the bottom level of a gorgeous Queen Anne style home and he's got a big kitchen/dining area that has a lot of character. Last night, I lived up to my promise and we cooked a nice meal together in his kitchen. I've cooked with friends before and it's something I want to do more of because there is something special about preparing a meal with someone and sharing it with them.

On last night's menu was the following:

Mesclun Mix with Grape Tomatoes, a Dijon Vinaigrette and Fried Goat Cheese

Carrot, Leek and Orange Stir-fry

French Silk Tartlets with Fresh Raspberries

Kevin is a vegetarian so we didn't cook anything with meat, which was fine for me because I love creating vegetarian meals. Kevin doesn't cook as often as I do, but when he does he whips up very unique creations. He's famous for his wonderful carrot cake which is so beautiful and so delicious that everyone can't help but be impressed by it. He also makes a great carrot-ginger soup and I'm dying to try his special lasagna and his new recipe for vegetarian chili. He's also a top-notch host and has entertained many guests in his lovely home.

Here are the recipes for the different items on the menu. 

Mesclun Mix with Grape Tomatoes, a Dijon Vinaigrette and Fried Goat Cheese

Ingredients:

Bag of Mesclun Mix

1 cup of grape tomatoes (or a small container)

2 teaspoons of dijon mustard

2 teaspoons of white wine vinegar

2 tablespoons of light olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

1 egg beaten with a bit of water (egg wash)

1/4 cup of breadcrumbs

1 small log of herbed goat cheese cut into chunks

Coat the chunks of goat cheese in the egg wash then in the bread crumbs. Cook in a skillet with a bit of oil until both sides of the breaded goat cheese are nice and brown. Set aside.

In a small container, mix the dijon mustard, white wine vinegar, olive oil and salt and pepper. Shake shake shake. Taste the mixture and add more of any of the ingredients if you want to adjust the flavor.

In a big bowl, toss the mesclun mix, grape tomatoes and dressing. Serve on a plate topped with some pieces of fried goat cheese.

Carrot, Leek and Orange Stir-fry

Ingredients:

Sunflower oil

2-1/4 cup of grated carrots

1 leek halved and sliced

2 oranges sectioned

1/2 cup of dry roasted peanuts

Sauce:

1 tablespoon brown sugar

2 tablespoons ketchup

2 tablespoons soy sauce

In a large skillet or a wok, heat up a couple of tablespoons of sunflower oil (or another really light oil). When the oil starts to sizzle add carrots, leeks and oranges and stir and fry until cooked. Mix the the brown sugar, ketchup and soy sauce in a bowl. Stir in the sauce. Serve hot in a bowl topped with the roasted peanuts.

Note: If we were to make this again, we may try mandarin oranges instead of regular oranges.

French Silk Tartlets with Fresh Raspberries

The recipe for this can be found on the Shape Magazine website. I altered it a bit. I made 6 tarts instead of 4. I used 8 graham cracker sheets instead of 6. I used a whole container of silken tofu (16 oz instead of 10 oz). Also I put the raspberries on top only, not in the center. You'll have a lot of leftover pudding which is delicious by itself. This is a super-healthy dessert. The tofu replaces any kind of dairy product, the crust has egg white instead of butter and the filling is sweetened by apple juice and honey instead of regular sugar. I highly recommend you try this.

Mesclun Mix With Grape Tomatoes, A Dijon Vinaigrette and Fried Goat Cheese