The Cookbook Junkies

 

I am thrilled to announce that I will be covering cookbook reviews every other week for the Sunday Supper Movement. The mission of the Sunday Supper Movement is to bring families back to the table to connect and share a meal. We all are held prisoner by this fast-paced, world making it is difficult to capture those special moments that draw us closer. The conversations shared over a meal with family and friends will remain in our hearts long after the meal is over.

My first review was for Béatrice Peltre’s gorgeous book, My French Family Table, and can be found here Cookbook Envy.

To celebrate, I have purchased a copy of this book to share with you and Béatrice will be sending me an autographed book plate to place inside.

Random Number Generator picked #27 – Kerrey – congratulations!

GIVEAWAY:  To enter, please leave a comment on this post sharing something from my post at Sunday Supper Movement. You may enter this giveaway daily until a winner is chosen. You may enter a second time today by sharing this post. The giveaway is open to U.S. addresses only. A winner will be chosen on July 14th – Bastille Day. Good luck!

 

 

 

 

Random Numer Generator picked #149 Sarah (email sent) for the first prize and the 2nd prize Danielle S. (email sent). Congratulations!

We are nearing 30,000 members in The Cookbook Junkies group. To celebrate I am posting this giveaway today which you may enter by leaving a comment daily. If you share the post – you may leave an extra comment. When we hit 30,000 members or soon thereafter, Random Number Generator will choose two winners.

The first winner will receive the contents of the first photo: Pasta machine, drying rack, ravioli form, Italian cookie press and the boards I use to make gnocchi as well as all the Italian books shown in the photo. The second winner will win the three extra copies of those Italian cookbooks shown in the second photo. This giveaway is open to U.S. addresses only.

The second winner will win the three Italian cookbooks shown in the second photo.

This giveaway is open to U.S. addresses only. I purchased all the items in the photos to share with you – the pasta machine, drying rack and several other items were purchased new – the books are in great shape – but purchased at a used book store or thrift. I would never offer you a terrible copy of anything (the book jacket on a copy or two may be a little worn but the books are very good copies).

 

 

 

A while back when traveling to New York, I downloaded Beyond the Pasta to read on the flight. The book shares the story of Mark Leslie, a theater actor from Alabama and avid cook, who lived in Italy for a month with a family to be immersed in the food and culture. I enjoyed this book from the first page and one of the passages stayed with me. It involved the Nonna in that book making a meatball stuffed chicken.

I tackled something like it yesterday. I deboned a chicken with the help of a video from the great Jacques Pepin and this knife. My big mistake was using too small of a bird – so I will try this again with a larger chicken – just so that it appears fuller.

The night before roasting – I seasoned the whole chicken with salt, pepper and placed slices of thin garlic under the skin along with some basil. Be sure to season in all the crevices – where the leg and thigh bone were and I placed garlic in there as well.

I had leftover meatballs and sauce in the freezer from a prior meal – I made basic meatballs – bread soaked in milk, Romano cheese, beef and pork mix, parsley, seasonings, onions and garlic – these meatballs I happen to coat in bread crumbs to make them extra crispy. For the sauce – I use a mix up of Marcella Hazan’s famous Tomato Butter sauce: to mine I add garlic cloves and end up pureeing the entire batch. I finish with fresh herbs at the end.

The bird came out of the fridge and I let it come to temperature for about 20 minutes while I prepped everything else. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

I had some leftover focaccia that I cubed up and made croutons to spread under the rack of a small roasting pan.  You can use any leftover stale bread or totally skip this part – but those croutons were incredibly tasty.

Back to the bird — with the bird skin side down – I broke up about eight meatballs and stuffed it into all the cavities and down the middle. I added some extra sauce to the top before closing it up. I then folded one side of the chicken over and secured it with poultry lacing skewers so that everything stayed tucked in – I used about five skewers. Season the bird liberally on the skin side with salt and pepper. Place the bird on the rack – and drizzle with olive oil.

Place into the preheated oven to roast for approximately 40 to 45 minutes. My bird was small – so it was done in 40 minutes. You can check the temperature at the thigh and in the meatball stuffing to make sure the meatball mix is at 165 degrees. After removing it from the oven – I drizzled some olive oil on top and tented it with foil until I was ready to plate. After about ten to fifteen minutes – the bird is still hot but slices so much easier.

I served the chicken with some pasta and extra sauce and meatballs and it was a huge hit. The chicken was flavorful, tender and juicy and when sliced made a great presentation.

Random Number Generator picked comment #29 Elaine Charest.