Four Foods For Friday #107

Uh oh. Kitchen “appearance” questions. My kitchen is a DISASTER and is in desperate need of a re-do. I am praying that this year is the year.

One question again this week.

1. Name two items on your kitchen counter.
2. What’s in your sink now?
3. What’s on your stove now?
4. What’s in your oven now?

1. Just two? Ummmm… like my contemporary coffee tables that I have scattered throughout the house, my kitchen counters are a catch-all for lots of stuff. I’ll *try* to keep it down to just two things: my Hamilton-Beach coffee maker (new one, review coming soon!) and three dish drainers of clean dishes! We have no dishwasher, and with 6 people in the house, three of whom work full-time and three of whom are in school… the dishes do pile up. :S

2. Dirty dishes. Not too many, though, thank God.

3. A tea kettle and a spoon holder that says “Give us the day our daily bread.” It’s new, and I like it.

4. Burnt food at the bottom.

So, that’s my FFFF! How did yours go?

Salamida’s Lemon Garlicious on Roast Chicken

I received some of that yummy Salamida marinade– the Lemon Garlicious marinade– from the folks at Salamida. They asked me to try out some of their spices and marinades and mention them on my blogs. Wooo! I love to grill with Salamida products during the summer… but we got two feet of snow, so I don’t think I’m pulling out the grill anytime soon. Some folks still have to pack up their winter pop displays! But I really really wanted to try the marinade, so I marinaded my roaster chicken.

I slathered the chicken with onions and elephant garlic cloves. And I tucked in a few potatoes for good measure.

I baked in a slow oven (300 degrees) for about four hours. Mmmm the house smelled good.

The chicken was incredibly tender; it practically melted in our mouths. The potatoes were SUPERB. I like the light garlic taste of the marinade, but wasn’t too fond of the lemon. I don’t like lemon, in general. This was light enough to make the chicken very luscious, though.

I wrote about the Upstate New York phenomenon that is Salamida marinades here. We love the marinades; I go bananas for the original Spiedie marinade. If you place an order, use the discount code SAUCE3 at Spiedie.com, you will get 15% off your order. The coupon code is good until April 1st. This is the best marinade EVER. It’s not all that expensive, and you can order online, which is nice.

Four Foods For Friday #106

Here we are again! The question is nice and simple, too.

What are four spices you must have in the house?

Good question! I am a “plain Jane” kind of cook; I don’t use too many salts, peppers, oils, butters, etc. Even at the dinner table, I rarely butter my bread or salt my food. But there are a few favorite spices I just love. I spent a few years experimenting with various spices, such as a curry/cinnamon mix that was actually kind of good. Plus, I hear curry is incredibly good for you. Not only has it been suggested to fight cancer, it is a possible appetite suppressant and therefore one of those natural weight loss supplements. I have no idea for sure– I never lost an ounce from eating a curry dish, I think you’d have to turn orange from eating it before you saw any results, eh?

ANYWAY. Spices. Here are my absolutely necessary spices:

1. Basil. I make a lot of Italian dishes, and I over do it with basil. I just can’t help myself!
2. Salamida Hickory Spice “Pinch” seasoning. This stuff is amazing. I use it on everything- soups, chickens, rice, veggies. It’s outstanding.
3. Garlic powder. For those days when I’m too lazy to mince garlic cloves. Which seems to be a lot of the time.
4. Oregano and Paprika and Cinnamon. It’s a tie.

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