The best thing about roasted chicken — especially if you live alone — is how much it can provide for you throughout the week. What’s dinner one night can be lunch for the next few days.

However, later in life when I learned how to roast a whole chicken, it quickly once again became part of my weekly diet.

The best thing about roasted chicken — especially if you live alone — is how much it can provide for you throughout the week. What’s dinner one night can be lunch for the next few days.

From the breasts to the oysters, roasted chicken should be a Sunday staple in every carnivorous home.

As I walk you through the process of roasting a chicken, let me offer the best piece culinary advice I’ve ever received: KISS. That’s short for Keep It Simple, Stupid, and roasted chicken is a dish where it applies beautifully.  You’ll be rewarded if you let the meat speak for itself.

What you’ll need:
1 Whole Chicken
Kosher Salt
Pepper

Roasting pan of some sort — I use a 12” skillet
Butcher’s String
Tongs
Cutting Board
Meat thermometer
Oven thermometer

Clean the bird
Remove the heart, liver, and neck. Pro tip: save the neck for stock and if you have a cat, lightly sauté the heart and liver for it to eat. Rinse the bird with cool water and pat it completely dry with paper towels. Let the chicken rest on a cutting board for an hour to bring it to room temperature.

Remove the wishbone
Place the chicken, breast side up and find the wishbone at the tail end of the cavity. Glide a knife along the bone, releasing it from the meat. Discard.

Season and truss the bird
Salt and pepper the cavity and exterior. Next, cut a long piece of butcher’s string and position the bird so that the drumsticks are facing you. Place the string under the wings and tuck the wingtips under the back end of the drumsticks. Pull the end of the strings so that they’re even length and cross them over the breasts. Then wrap each end around the bone of the drumsticks and tie together tightly. Salt and pepper once more to ensure all skin is covered.

Preheat
Thirty minutes prior to cook time, preheat your oven to 425°.
Note, get an oven thermometer and use it––it’s worth the $20 it will cost you.

Cook the bird
Place the bird in a pan and roast for an hour and a half, or slightly more, depending on the size of the bird. Your bird is done when the thickest piece of meat is 165° and the juices that run from the cavity are clear.

Let chicken rest for at least 10 minutes before you serve it.

The post Roasted Chicken: The Whole Bird, and Nothing But the Bird appeared first on FactoryTwoFour.

“I’ve always associated chili with winter, and it’s become a staple of the season. It also happens to be a seriously easy food to make, and you can whip large batches and freeze it for later.”

What’s winter food? You know, like soups, stews, things that are hearty — things like spicy black bean and corn chili My fondest memories of eating chili are from when I was younger, and we’d go to the local college to watch football games.

There would be a large group of us with piles of blankets, screaming and yelling, and after we’d won (because they were good back then), we’d trek back to a friend’s house for a giant bowl of steaming hot chili.

Since then, I’ve always associated chili with winter, and my spicy black bean and corn chili has become a staple of the season. It also happens to be a seriously easy food to make, and you can make it in large quantities and freeze it later. Chili is versatile, meaning you can adjust the spices and vegetables to fit your tastes or the tastes of the people who live with you.

You’ll want to do this in your slow cooker, or a large, heavy-bottomed pot. If you’re using a slow cooker, you’ll want to do the first few steps in a regular pan, as you can’t sauté in a crockpot.

Start by browning your meat. I went with some really nice, lean ground beef, but you can also do ground turkey if you want. Both hold up well in this dish. Sprinkle in some salt and pepper, and make sure it’s fully cooked, then drain it and put it aside (or in your slow cooker.) 

Pro-tip: The draining is essential because while that fat tastes good, it’s going to pool up in the chili and then you’ll just end up with mouthfuls of it.

Next are the veggies. I go simple here because I don’t really like chunks in my chili. My veggie combo is onions, garlic, black beans, and corn. You don’t need to drain the black beans if you want- their liquid adds some flavor. You could totally add in squash, other kinds of beans, or any other vegetables. Just make sure you sauté them before you put them in the chili.

Sweat out the onions and garlic, and throw in the black beans and corn just to get them warmed up. You’re not fully cooking the veg here because they’ll keep going in the pot itself, and no one likes disintegrating produce.

Dump the meat and your vegetable mixture into your pot or slow cooker, and add in one monster can of crushed tomatoes, one regular sized can of diced tomatoes, and then use that can to dump in some water. The water is optional, but I like the texture a little thinner.

Now, the seasonings. These are totally adjustable, especially for the spicy ones. We like things with a little heat in my house, so there’s a little more pepper in my recipe. My spice mix is as follows: salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, cayenne, chili powder, and cumin. Dump these in too, give the whole thing a mix, lid it, and you’re done. If you’re using a slow cooker, keep it on high for about 4 hours. If you’re using a regular pot, try medium-low for a couple hours.

Chili doesn’t really have to be cooked very long but it might taste a little watery or diluted if you eat it right away, so I like to let it sit for a while. Of course, I top the whole thing with a silly amount of cheese, and some crushed up tortilla chips, but you could add sour cream or even avocado if you’re feeling fancy.

INGREDIENTS| Makes 4-6 servings

• 1 lb ground meat
• ½ large onion
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 can of black beans
• 1 can of yellow corn, drained
• 1 large can crushed tomatoes
• 1 small can diced tomatoes
• ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
• ¼ tsp red pepper flakes
• ½ tsp chili powder
• ½ tsp cumin
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp pepper

RECIPE

1. Brown the meat with some salt and pepper until fully cooked. Drain and set aside (or in your slow cooker, if cooking separately.)
2. Sauté onions and garlic, and any other vegetables you are adding. Add to cooking vessel.
3. Dump in tomatoes and spice mixture. Stir well.
4. Cook for 3-4 hours on medium low (stockpot) or high (slow cooker).
5. Taste throughout and add seasonings if necessary.
6. Top with cheese, sour cream, tortilla chips, or avocado (or anything else you can think of.)

The post Warm Your Soul: Spicy Black Bean and Corn Chili appeared first on FactoryTwoFour.

“So how do you know what’s seasonal? Look for the cheapest produce at the grocery store. When something is out of season, it means the farmer has to go to more extensive lengths to produce it, and therefore the prices are higher. It’s that simple.”

The idea of eating clean stems from the notion that you’re consuming foods that are made from Mother Nature, rather than a factory. Yes, some people take it very far and won’t even eat certain oils or have any butter or use any salt, but that’s just crazy to me. Sure, you can never look at a drop of butter or chocolate again but what’s that going to do for you? Let you be skinnier for an extra year? That’s cool, I guess.

For me, I aim for moderation. I eat lots of veggies but I season them really well and sometimes cook them in a little butter. It’s called balance, people.

That’s where stuffed peppers come in. You can take all these delicious, healthful veggies and mix them all up in a yummy sauce and shove them in another vegetable and voila! You have a super tasty meal that also happens to be good for you. What’s better than that?

So for this recipe, I went with seasonal vegetables because I have easy access to them. How do you know what’s seasonal? Look for the cheapest produce at the grocery store. When something is out of season, it means the farmer has to go to more extensive lengths to produce it, and therefore the prices are higher.

Anyway, back to the veggies. I used Brussels sprouts, leeks, potatoes (sweet and russet), onions, and garlic. The Brussels sprouts and leeks can get finely sliced, and everything else should get a small dice (cubes) so it cooks down easily. There really isn’t an exact science to this, so don’t get stressed out about proportions.

Saute all your diced veggies (except the garlic) in olive oil on medium heat until everything is nice and soft. What does it mean to saute? Essentially you’re just using heat and oil to pull the moisture out of the vegetables and cook them down. Make sure to season with salt and pepper while they’re cooking, and stir them around continuously so they don’t burn.

After a few minutes, you should notice a little crust forming on the bottom of your pan. Most people assume this is just burnt garbage and ignore it but they are sorely mistaken. This is all the good stuff! It’s the oil and seasonings and flavor from all the veggies that’s gotten nice and toasty. This is when we deglaze the pan.

Turn up your heat just a little bit and pour in any kind of cooking liquid. This could be wine or stock, or if you’re me and you have random soups in the fridge, you can use some of the liquid for those. The more flavorful the liquid, the better your mixture will taste- I went with the beef stew I had just made and it was the bomb.com.

So you pour in just a smidge and you should hear a sizzle. Take this opportunity to scrape up some of the yummy bits from the bottom and mix it all together, then turn down the heat. The extra liquid helps your vegetables cook down even further. Every now and then, continue to add just a little bit of liquid just to help enhance the flavor. You’re going to do this until the potatoes are really tender.

WAIT! You don’t want to completely cook the vegetables though because you’re still going to bake these, and no one like soggy veggies. At the very end, right before they’re done in the pan, throw in your garlic. Garlic cooks extremely fast and if it stays in the pan too long, it can burn.

Okay so your vegetable mix should be looking all delicious and it should smell pretty amazing in your house too. Let it sit for just a second while you prep your peppers.

You want to make sure it’s a pretty big pepper otherwise it won’t fill you up. Slice off just the top and core out the seeds so you have a cute little pepper container for that tasty mixture you just made. I like to use a high-walled pan so they don’t fall over. You can also shove some foil in between to help hold them up.

Now, pour the mixture into each pepper so it comes just to the top of the open pepper, and then top it with cheese. I went with parmesan but you could do cheddar, pepper jack, or really any kind of firm cheese you want. The goal is just to get something that melts well.

These go in a 375 degree oven for about 18 minutes, or until the cheese is completely melted and starting to brown.

Here’s the great thing about stuffed peppers. You can stuff them with literally anything. Throw some browned ground beef, or shredded chicken, in there. Or maybe some chorizo and corn for a little Tex-Mex flair? The combinations are honestly endless. Just make sure you don’t cook the internal mixture 100% before it goes in the oven or it could come out dry. Get creative and remember, eating healthy doesn’t have to be painful or tasteless! It’s all about moderation.

INGREDIENTS | For One Pepper

• Large bell pepper of any color
• 6 large brussels sprouts
• One leek
• Half a Russet potato
• Half a sweet potato
• ¼ red or yellow onion
• Cooking liquid- stock, wine or soup
• 1 clove of garlic
• Salt
• Pepper
• Olive oil

RECIPE

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Finely slice Brussels sprouts and leeks. Only use the firm part of the leek, not the floppy ends.
3. Dice the onion and potatoes, and mince the garlic.
4. Saute sprouts, leeks, potatoes and onion on medium high heat. Season well with salt and pepper.
5. Deglaze with cooking liquid of your choice by slightly turning up the heat and pouring liquid in, then scraping the bottom of the pan.
6. Turn the heat down and let mixture simmer. Continue to add small amounts of liquid until vegetables are soft and homogenous.  Add garlic.
7. Slice off top of pepper and stand it up in a high walled pan.
8. Pour in vegetable mixture and top with shredded cheese.
9. Bake for about 18 minutes or until cheese is melted and golden brown.
10. Serve immediately!

The post Eat All of Your Veggies Together with a Stuffed Pepper appeared first on FactoryTwoFour.

“Chicken Tortilla is honestly one of the easiest soups you’ll ever make, because it’s basically created by dumping a bunch of ingredients into a pot and stirring. But it’s as delicious as it is easy.”

There’s something so fun and delicious about incorporating an entire meal into one bowl that warms you from the insides and brightens up even the gloomiest of cold days.

My roommate and I have a deal in our house: I cook, she bakes, and we both win. So in exchange for the chocolate cake that I asked for—which was waiting patiently on the kitchen counter when I came home from work—I made her favorite soup, chicken tortilla.

I started this recipe last fall and have given it a few tries over the last year, but I have to say, it’s finally perfect. Not to mention fairly healthy and definitely filling. The best part of this recipe is all of the add-ins and delicious ingredients that you can choose from to really round out your soup.

I started this recipe last fall and have given it a few tries over the last year, but I have to say, it’s finally perfect. Not to mention fairly healthy and definitely filling. The best part of this recipe is all of the add-ins and delicious ingredients that you can choose from to really round out your soup.

It’s important when you’re cooking to be clean and prepared, which is why I like to get my spice mixtures ready ahead of time. With spicy ingredients, you should start with less and add more so it’s not overwhelming. Unfortunately, that’s something I’ve learned from experience. So I began with ½ a teaspoon of cayenne pepper and chili pepper and added more as I went.

Now, let’s cook that chicken. I’ve found that poaching is the most effective technique for keeping the chicken juicy and flavorful. You’ll want a good liquid to poach in (that’s not water), like a chicken or vegetable stock, or if you’re as lucky as me, corn broth! Basically the idea is you’re keeping all the moisture in and adding flavor at the same time.

“Top with tortilla chips, or cheese, or even avocado if you’re feeling fancy. This super-yummy, belly-filling meal sure to please everyone who eats it.”

Season your chicken with a little salt and pepper and let it sit for a few minutes so the seasonings get good and stuck. In a large (4-5 quart) pot, bring your chosen liquid up to almost a full boil and submerge the chicken. There might be a little bit of the chicken breast uncovered by the liquid, but that’s okay. Keeping it at medium heat, let the chicken sit for about 10-12 minutes, and then flip over so each side gets evenly cooked. Make sure you check the temperature of the inside of the chicken by cutting into it, and only remove when it’s cooked almost fully through. You don’t want it to be 100% cooked as it will finish in the soup itself.

While the chicken is cooking, get working on those veggies. I like to saute some onions, garlic and bell peppers for some of that Mexican flavor in the soup. Give the onions and peppers a rough chop or medium dice, and toss them in a pan with some olive oil, salt, and pepper. Sweat them out, or cook until translucent, and then add a finely minced clove or two of garlic and your can of black beans. The point of doing these things together is to combine all those yummy flavors for a consistent blend that will bring the whole thing together.

This is honestly one of the easiest soups you’ll ever make, because it’s basically created by dumping a bunch of ingredients into a pot and stirring. Side note: I picked whole tomatoes for my second can of tomatoes because I really just enjoy squishing them myself. Plus, it’s a nice variety of texture.

You can use pre-crushed tomatoes if you don’t enjoy the mess.

Pour your tomatoes, tomato paste, green chilies (if they’re separate from your tomatoes), and your sauteed veggie mixture into the pot of broth and turn to a medium-low heat. Add in your spice mixture and let this simmer with a lid for a few minutes, making sure to stir occasionally. You may have to stir a little vigorously to fully dissolve the tomato paste but you’ll notice a consistency change once it’s fully incorporated.

This is a great time to pick your chicken. Yeah, that’s a weird sentence but it just means shredding your chicken with two forks, or your hands if you’re an animal (#noshame.) You’ll want the pieces to be relatively small so you’re not getting enormous chicken chunks and no soup on your spoon.

Once the liquid and vegetable mixture is the right level of spicy and flavorful and the veggies have mixed in nicely, toss in the shredded chicken, give it a stir, and voila! You have a super-yummy, belly-filling meal sure to please everyone who eats it. Top with tortilla chips, or cheese, or even avocado if you’re feeling fancy. This soup can continue to cook or you can serve immediately, and it also freezes really well, so no pressure.

INGREDIENTS

Soup

• Two boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 28 oz. can whole or crushed tomatoes
• 8 oz. cans of tomato paste (2)
• 2 oz. can diced tomatoes
• 4 oz. can diced green chilis (optional)
• 12 oz. can black beans
• ½ diced yellow onion
• ½ diced bell pepper (color of your choice)
• Clove of garlic
• Quart of stock- chicken, veggie, corn

Spice Mixture

• Cayenne pepper
• Paprika
• Chili Powder
• Garlic Powder
• Salt
• Pepper

RECIPE| Feeds 4-6

• Season thawed, room temperature chicken with salt and pepper. In a large pot, bring cooking liquid to a low boil.
• Place chicken in the pot, almost completely submerging in the liquid, and turn down to medium heat.
• Dice onion and pepper. Mince garlic. Saute onions and peppers in olive oil until translucent and add garlic and black beans.
• Once chicken is 90% cooked, remove and let stand.
• Combine all spices in a small bowl, starting with 1/2 tsp each and adding to taste.
• In the pot of broth, add in tomatoes, tomato paste, veggies and spice mixture. Let simmer covered for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Shred your chicken with two forks until deconstructed into small string-like pieces.
• Add into soup for 2 minutes and stir.
• Serve with tortilla chips, cheese or avocado.

The post It’s Soup Season: Here’s How to Make a Delicious Chicken Tortilla appeared first on FactoryTwoFour.