No Recipe recipe: Throw A Chicken in the oven!

Real food shouldn't be that complicated, right?  But sometimes it just is.   Jobs, kids, housework, errands, and life in general can get in the way.  Not to mention our culture's elevated expectations of a home cooked dinner.  (Thanks, restaurants.)

When I read my vintage magazines and cookbooks I always notice how simple the meals sound.  Yes, there are some organ meats on occasion and Jello makes an appearance in both sweet and savory forms, but most recipes are for busy families who want a nutritious meal.  (Isn't that what we want today too?)  Real food was a given.  That's all there was until about the 50's.  I also note how little detail was given in the instructions.  The reader is assumed to have some basic cooking knowledge, even those written for the new bride.  Tracie McMillan elaborates on this point in her book, The American Way  of Eating.  See my review here.  Better yet pick up a copy and read it for yourself!  (I don't personally know Tracie- just really loved her book.)

So what does a quasi-foodie mom make for dinner on soccer/rehearsal night (Both my daughters are into theater.  Two different shows at two different locations with two different schedules.  My car is three years old and has almost 50K miles!) when there's also a Target run on the agenda?  She throws a chicken in the oven!

Check out the video on You Tube!

The details:

1 Whole chicken with the organ sack removed from the body cavity
3-4T Olive oil
A mixture of herbs:  Garlic, Savory, Rosemary, Thyme (Others that are good are Sage, Parsley, Oregano, Basil, or Paprika.  Any combination is good, assuming you like the herb.)
Salt and Pepper
An onion if you have it
A lemon if you have it
1/2C White wine if you have it

Preheat the oven to either 350 or 300.  See note below*.

Mix all of the herbs, salt and pepper in a bowl.  Coat chicken with olive oil.  Rub the entire bird with the herb mixture.  Pour the wine over the chicken.  Squeeze the lemon over the chicken.  Put a few onion and squeezed lemon quarters in the cavity.  Sprinkle the herb mixture in there too.

Add any veggies you want.  (Potatoes, carrots, beets, onions, Brussels spouts are good.  See my Vegetable post for more details.)    Coat with olive oil and sprinkle with the herb mixture if you have any left or just use salt and pepper.

Cover the chicken with tin foil.  Cook for 1 hour at 350.  Uncover and cook for another 20 minutes to brown the top.  You can speed up the browning by raising the temp to 425.

That's it!  YUMMMMMM.

That note* about the oven temp.  If you are making this ahead or aren't going to be home (and feel comfortable leaving the oven on a low temp) set the oven to 300.  You'll need to cook the chicken for at least 90 minutes.  If you are concerned use a meat thermometer to check for doneness when you get home.  If I remember correctly the temp in the thigh should be 165.  (I think my meat thermometer is buried in the backyard of my old house.  Long story.  There were lots of neighborhood kids over one snow day and it's been missing ever since.)  Your meat thermometer will have the correct temps for many kinds of meat marked on the dial.

Total prep time can be five minutes, once you make this a few times.  Tonight I made it while my son got his snack and found his uniform.  (It was all ready for him!)  My oldest daughter came home 10 minutes before me and raised the oven temp and took off the foil so it was really ready to hit the table within minutes of walking in the door.  Nice!

Enjoy,
Sarah

A few pics of a new house on the market. It's SWANK-Y!!

Hi!  Some of you really liked the vintage kitchen post I did a few weeks ago so when I saw this local real estate listing I knew I had to share the pics!  The home was a custom built mid century modern home.  While this isn't my favorite vintage home style I loved this home's spacious rooms and abundance of natural light.  It was built in 1957.  

So let the swankiness begin!

This is the basement kitchen.  Yep these partiers had what appears to be a full kitchen.  And it's even  fuller than with a built in Rat Pack bar.

 A close up of the Rat Pack bar.

Here is the main kitchen.  Looks like it may have been painted white in the 80's.  Notice the sliding cabinet door on the bottom right.  Also the shuttered upper cabinets.  Really nice size kitchen for the age of the home.  I also love the back door.  Kitchens should always have a back door in my opinion.  Good for kids, dogs, and trash.

This home also had pretty cool bathrooms.  Love the toilet paper nook under the window.  (At least that's what I assume it's for.  Maybe feminine supplies in a cute box.  Any ideas?)  I love how there are closed shelves in front of the sinks in addition to the medicine cabinets.  My bathroom, while beautiful, has very little storage.  The family who did the remodel must have been minimalists.

Another bathroom.  The tile was replaced but the cabinet is similar to the other bathroom.  The sink, counter, and tub may be a very light blue.  Maybe the black tile isn't so bad in person…

Here's another picture of the basement.

I love this green sofa.  The peach walls not so much.

I hope you like!  :)

Sarah

Chesapeake Crabcakes, American Home September 1954

I'm back with a recipe post!  (Finally.)

I found this recipe for Chesapeake Crabcakes in the September 1954 issue of American Home.  It's mostly a decorating magazine but there's always a page or two of recipes formatted in an index card style so they can be cut to fit the reader's recipe box.  Luckily neither Mrs. Katz nor her daughter Mrs. Cohn were scissor happy.

I've always loved crab cakes but I've only eaten them in restaurants.  I've made salmon patties which are sort of similar.  But crab cakes bring to mind elegance and white tablecloths.  Salmon patties are all about a hungry daddy who can't find any leftovers in the fridge after mother has gone to bed.  

Here's the recipe.

Click to enlarge.

The only thing I added was a shake of garlic powder.  The serving size is small.  I made 6 crab cakes using a double recipe.

Here's what they looked like.

I really liked them as did hubby and son.  The girls considered them in the pan and passed, which I expected.  These had a nice homemade quality- not like a gourmet restaurant; like an upgraded version of my daddy's salmon patty recipe.  It was easy to prepare on a busy night and paired with a salad was a nice meal.  I plan on adding fresh garlic when I make them again.  

Let me know if you try it.   :)

Sarah

Bonus post! Classic cars

Hey there.  Our club had a classic car show today.  I missed it due to a soccer game but stopped by just before it was over.  I took some pictures but unfortunately don't have much info as to the makes/models.  Here you go!

My favorite, and one of the few from the '50s.  It was parked in front of the paddle courts and not with the others on the street.  Not sure why.  The club has been around since the 1890's so I bet in the '50s this car and similar models were actually in the parking lot as simple transportation- not part of a car show.  I can just imagine elegant housewives driving over to the club for bridge...

Not sure what this is.  Anyone know?

Wish I could have gotten a pic of this orange one from the front.  Very cool.

 I spoke with the owner of this '61 Mercedes.  He and his wife actually drive it every weekend during the summer.  He likes to enjoy his car, not just look at it.  I agree!

I hope everyone is having a happy Sunday.  As you can see it's beautiful weather here.  I wish I could go out and enjoy it more but I've got a lot of laundry.  Travel soccer will do that to a mom.  ;)

Sarah

Hey there, Rosemary!! Thanks for my shiny, happy hair!

Once again I'm going off topic but it's food related so it's cool, right?

I'm sure by now many of you blog lovers have heard of natural hair cleaning options like "no 'poo",  conditioner only, or ditching everything all together and just using water.

So what does all this have to do with this Rosemary chick?  Well after 3 years of no 'pooing followed by my ultimately luxurious L'Occitane leave in conditioner the company reformulated their wonderful product into a hair oil.  My hair was not happy and neither was I.  Just no 'pooing was fine but I was afraid I was killing my hair (There's some no 'poo controversy out there.  Google and learn.) and it didn't look as shiny.   Boo hoo.

Enter Rosemary tea.  Not sure how I found it but someone blogged about using herbs for healthy hair.  All you do is make a tea with the dried leaves and pour it on your hair after washing and conditioning.  No rinsing.  And ta dah…healthy shiny hair!

My Tervis tumbler keeps my hair tea warm while I get my baking soda and vinegar ready.

Here's the recipe:

1C Water
2-3T Dried rosemary

Heat rosemary in water until boiling.  Simmer for a few minutes.  Take it off the heat.  The longer the tea sits with the rosemary the stronger and darker it will be.  When it's at the desired strength strain, reserving the liquid into a plastic cup or other container with a spout top.  Let the tea cool until it's a comfortable temperature.  Wash and condition your hair as usual, ring out your hair, and pour the tea over your hair.  Don't rinse.  Style as usual being careful of light colored clothing if your hair is long.

Other tips:

*I've done this on the stove top and in the microwave.  The microwave is easier but be sure to cover your (glass) container so the rosemary doesn't float out when boiling.

*The darker the tea is the more staining you may have.  Beware if you have light colored towels.  My hair color isn't effected much (I have very dark brown hair.) except the grey is less noticeable.  Those with lighter hair may want to make their tea less strong.  Unfortunately the staining isn't enough to forgo coloring my hair but it makes the color more varied and natural looking.

*If your hair tea gets too cold it can be reheated in a microwavable container.

*You may like to make a big batch to keep in the fridge.  Just multiply the amounts keeping the proportions the same.  Just reheat before you hop in the shower.

*Using this much rosemary gets pricey.  Buy it in bulk if you can.  But try it first by using what's in your spice cabinet.  Then go out and buy the highest quality you can afford.

*You may be wondering if your hair will smell like rosemary.  Yes, when it's wet; no when it's dry.  Personally I love the results enough to not mind smelling like a chicken roasting in the oven.

Using the rosemary tea in combination with the no 'poo method allows me to get away with washing my hair once a week versus every day when I was using conventional hair products.  Seriously.  I went to a girls night out over the summer after a busy week and crazy day with the kids.  No time to wash my hair but I put it up with hot rollers.  The results were excellent.  I got compliments from many of the ladies, including some who are regulars at the beauty shop.  Boo ya, my friend Rosemary!!

I promise to get back to recipe posts.  Just not much cooking going on.  Tonight hubby and son are going to the annual lobster boil at our club (Remember my 10 year old foodie??) and us girls are having girls night at home.  Not sure what's for dinner but it will probably include popcorn.

Sarah

Vintage kitchens

 I wanted to share some pictures of vintage kitchens I found in local real estate listings.  Sometimes when I'm at an estate sale I can picture a fictional lady of the house fixing breakfast for her family or cleaning up after dinner.  (Weird?  Well I call it imagination.  HAAAAA!)  I also notice the kitchen's layout and storage.  It's not usually not ideal by today's standards but somehow it worked.  A lot of vintage kitchens have double ovens, even if space was tight.  The ovens aren't huge European models- just basic Sears models or another solid old American made brand- but they were clearly a necessity in the age before the microwave.  I know some people don't use microwaves due to safety concerns but at least today it's an option.  I can't imagine having what we call "leftover buffet" without being to heat up food in the micro.  That's one of the reasons I love leftover buffet night- less cooking time and no pots to wash.

Onto the kitchens!  Here's a double oven.  See how narrow it is?  Probably 36 inches.  I love how there's room between the burners so the pots aren't crowded.  The little cabinet to the right is typical of what I see in vintage kitchens around here.  In my old house the kitchen was redone a few times before we bought it but I could tell from other homes on my street (with less updated kitchens) that mine probably had this type of cabinet.  Much more functional than what was build to replace it.

This kitchen seems to have the original cabinets in which the fronts have been painted blue as an accent.  I love the natural light from the big window and the back door.  A back door coming right into the kitchen looks convenient for taking out the trash or bringing in groceries but in reality it would mean snowy boots, backpacks, coats, and doggy paw prints strewn in front of the sink for me.  Ha ha.

This is my favorite!  There was an estate sale at this one and I'm so bummed I missed it.  I think we were all sick that weekend.  The whole house was beautiful in the real estate listing photos.  It needs updating but the character shines thru the old decorating.  It's a landmark home so the integrity will be kept but I bet we can say bye bye to the kitchen.  The stove looks awesome.  Much larger than the typical vintage range.

This is the same kitchen from a different angle.  See the doorway in the back?  Looks like it's the old service porch that was enclosed and now houses the refrigerator.  Not the most convenient but quaint nonetheless.  It may serve as a mudroom too.  (I say keep the paw prints and kid accouterments contained if you can.)   Love the long counter in the back and the cute floral wallpaper.  You may have to click on the image to really see the details.

 This kitchen has been updated a bit but the cabinets seem to be original.  The open lines in the wood in front of the sink show that these are old wood cabinets.  Does anyone know if the open lines are decorative or functional?  I think they're to circulate air under the sink if you have dish towels hanging to dry inside but they may just be the style.  The range is obviously newer but it appears to be free standing, another very vintage kitchen trait.

I hope you enjoyed these pictures.  I'll be back to posting recipes soon.  Between school and soccer season I've been just making basic dinners- nothing exciting to post.  But I'll be back!

Sarah

Edited to add- I found another kitchen.  Well just a picture of the stove in an estate sale listing.  Pretty cool!!

Bonus Post: Homemade Helper

With soccer season beginning tonight and the first day of school looming ahead I thought I'd share some quick make ahead recipes that embody all of the wholesome real ingredients you're used to here at Ode To Mrs. Katz Cohn.

I've never been a fan of Hamburger Helper as my foodie-vegetarian mother never made it at home.  I'd tasted them at friend's homes but never made them myself as an adult.  Boxed meals are everything I've grown to despise about processed food.  They're made in a factory, use chemicals and artificial ingredients, contain too many calories and salt, and taste unsatisfying.  So why explore homemade versions?  In reading The Way America Eats by Tracie McMillan (see my review here) I learned why these meals are popular and that it takes about the same amount of time to make them from scratch.  (The biggest reason- not having to decide what to make for dinner.  Count me in!)  So while Tracie didn't include a recipe I was intrigued.  Off Googling I went and found Suzanne McMinn's blog, Chickens in the Road.  There are many recipes out there but Suzanne's has different flavors of Homemade Helper and she created each one herself.  I couldn't wait to try them!

First I made the Salisbury and then tonight I made the Lasagna.  Neither are the best meals I've ever made nor are they meals I'd make for a special occasion but for their intended purpose, making a nutritious meal from scratch in about 20 minutes, they were perfect.

Take a look at Suzanne's original post.  Poke around her site too.  There are tons of recipes she's created and most are made from real whole foods.  I already bookmarked half a dozen to try!

Since I enjoyed the first two I thought I'd prepare more as ready-to-make mixes to have in the pantry.  It took about 10 minutes.  

Yes, I still have holiday zip bags.  Ha ha!

First measure out the spices and mix them in a little container, labeling the tops.  Then measure out the pasta and put it in the big zip bag.  Write the fresh ingredients required on the bag so you know in a glance if you have everything else.  Slip the instructions into the bag and that's it!

What's nice about making Helper meals yourself is that you can adjust the amount of salt, sugar, and seasonings to suit your taste and dietary requirements.  Use gluten free pasta if you need.  (And pure cornstarch.)  Strict about organics?  Use all organic ingredients.   Want to make use of that bargain pasta that was on sale and you bought way too much?  Well here you go!  (Er, uh... I have no idea how it happened.  Really.  You should see my basement!)  Sneak in more veggies if you want.  Mushrooms or onions sound good in a few of these dishes but experiment when you have time.  (See Suzanne's original post linked above regarding fresh veggies.)  The recipes can be doubled or tripled if you have hungry teens or a larger family.  Each recipe made enough for 4 servings for us but I can see myself doubling them as my son grows up.  He's already eating more than his older sisters.

Everyone in the family gave these meals a solid B.   Pretty good since I feel like I didn't put forth much of an effort.  What more could a mom want?  (An easy A!  But in the kitchen an easy A is hard to get. LOL)

Here's to a terrific school year!

Sarah