Oven Roasted BBQ Chicken

I've been following Chicken Farmers of Canada on Twitter for awhile now (@chickenfarmers). Chicken Farmers of Canada is an organization that works with our 800 chicken farmers making sure there is a steady supply of safe chicken to the Canadian consumer market. Their website is a great visiting spot for me to check out chicken recipes, sauces, rubs and tips, especially from new chef partner Chef Rob Rainford. Not only is Chef Rob an accomplished chef and cookbook author, he's pretty easy on the eyes too. (did I really just say that?) Val from More Than Burnt Toast had an interesting post about Rob Rainford worth reading.



I found an interesting recipe for BBQ Chicken Rub on the website and had to try it out. I had a couple of small packages of chicken pieces, felt inspired and that was all it took.

BARBECUE CHICKEN RUB

1/4 cup brown sugar, packed 60 mL
2 Tbsp chili powder 30 mL
2 Tbsp paprika 30 mL
1 Tbsp cumin, ground 15 mL
1 tsp cayenne pepper 5 mL
1 Tbsp garlic powder 15 mL
1 Tbsp mustard powder 15 mL
2 tsp salt 10 mL
1 tsp pepper 5 mL

Mix all ingredients



Store in an airtight container until needed
Coat chicken generously with rub and roast or grill

Tip: Dispose of unused rub that comes in contact with the raw chicken.



I coated the chicken with the rub, put it in the oven at 350 F for 35-40 minutes (depending on how hot your oven is) and that was it. Pretty darned easy and within seconds the rub was giving off an aroma from heaven. I can really remember hearing myself have a Martha moment and saying "this is a good thing."

Ina's Daisy Shortbread Cookies

Two of the staples for me each holiday season are the fruit cakes and the shortbread cookies. I always do these first since the curing process makes both better with time. I generally make the food processor variety. We all love them; easy to make and so melt in your mouth. This year, I wanted to add a variety that's more firm so I started my search online for the best rated cookies. It was no surprise to me that Ina Garten's Daisy Shortbread Cookies had such great reviews. It's hard not to love everything that comes out of her kitchen.



Makes 24 cookies

Ingredients

3/4 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 pound confectioners' sugar
Yellow white chocolate buttons, for decoration
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix together the butter and granulated sugar until they are just combined and add the vanilla. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour and salt, then add them to the butter-and-sugar mixture. Mix on low speed until the dough starts to come together. Dump onto a surface dusted with flour and shape into a flat disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes.

Roll the dough 1/4-inch thick and cut into flower shapes with a cutter. Place the cookies on an ungreased baking sheet.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the edges begin to brown. Allow to cool to room temperature.

For the glaze, place the confectioners' sugar in a medium bowl and add about 4 to 5 tablespoons of water until you have a runny, but not too thick frosting. Spread the glaze to the edge of each cookie and garnish the middle of each cookie with a chocolate button.

I didn't include the glaze or finishing touches but frankly, I found these cookies to be fantastic the way they come out of the oven.

Tip: Don't roll the dough too thin or your cookies will brown too quickly.

Butternut Squash Gnocchi

Remember when Giz lost her mind and bought way too many pumpkins?   I know that's vague seeing as losing her mind and buying too much food is a bit of a regular occurrence.  Well, one of the side effects of this was me having frozen pumpkin puree in my freezer for about a year.  Maybe that makes me an enabler.

I figured, it would probably be 'pushing it' to keep the puree in the freezer for more than a year.  Around the same time, I saw this really great post and video about making pumpkin gnocchi.  The inspiration began...  Then, Proud Italian Cook featured a gnocchi-making day on her blog.  I would love to be able to take part in one of her mass pasta-making days.  I e-mailed Marie, asking for her recipe.  Turns out she got about 200 other similar e-mail requests.


Butternut Squash Gnocchi 


Ingredients

• 2 cups of  pureed butternut squash (I used pumpkin)
• ½ cup Parmesan cheese
• 1 tsp. salt
• Pepper to taste
• 2 eggs
• 2+ cups flour

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Cut the squash in half. Remove the seeds, drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Lay cut side down on parchment lined baking sheet. Roast the squash until soft—30 minutes or so.

Scoop the flesh of the squash out and place it in the food processor. Puree until completely smooth.

**I started at this point in the recipe, since I already had the pureed pumpkin.  However, I figured I should remove the water from the puree.   I put the puree in cheese cloth and let the water drain for about an hour (and then squeezed it impatiently).  

What originally started out at about 4 cups, turned into about 2 cups, after the water was removed.

Mix the pureed squash with parmesan cheese, salt, pepper and eggs. 

Then add the flour into the mixture and work together by hand (I started with a spoon and then switched to using my hands).

 

It will be very sticky.  I ended up needing well over 2 cups (probably closer to 2 and 3/4 or 3 cups) by the time I was done.

Once smooth, flour work surface, Divide dough into 6 pieces.

Roll each piece into a long strip, about ½ inch wide. Cut the strip into ¼ to ½ inch pieces.

Using a gnocchi board, a fork, the back of a grater (or just as is) to create ridges. 

Place each piece on the floured wax paper and repeat with the rest of the dough.

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Boil until all the gnocchi floats—about 5 minutes.

While gnocchi is cooking have your sauce ready so you can toss right in.  

If not you can freeze them.

The recipe made enough for 3 sheets worth of gnocchi.  I actually froze them all, but defrosted one sheet the next day for dinner.

The rest went into a freezer bag for leftovers.

Verdict: A very good first effort, if I do say so myself.  My gnocchi may not be as pretty as Marie's, but I really liked the taste. I didn't really taste the pumpkin flavour, but that's probably my fault for pairing it with a tomato sauce.  I would definitely make this (or one of Marie's other gnocchi recipes) again -- probably a double or triple recipe. 

It has been a really long time since I've made a pasta dish worth blogging about. So, I've got to share this with Presto Pasta Night.  This week's (week #243) roundup is being hosted by Jamie at Cooking with Moxie.