Jessi & Gwyneth {12}

10 hour chicken

For serious - 10 hours... I had to have it the oven by 8:30 am  to have it ready for 6. 
When we finally took it out of the oven it was falling off the bones, thought I found the breast piece I had a bit dry - maybe I cooked it a little long at the end when you are supposed to uncover and up the heat 


I also am not a good judge of measurements - and when it says to put a "generous" amount of salt - I think I maybe put "excessive" amounts :)


Now I need to go tweet it so Gwyneth sees it and invites me over for some of her schancy cooking :P

at the 9.5 hour mark 

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> Jessi

Jessi & Gwyneth {10}

Slow Cooked Tomato& Arugula Crostini 

I went on a Gwyneth binge a few weeks ago and then got busy and neglectful, so before heading to the grocery store this past week I went through the book, picked out some recipes and made sure to get all the ingredients so I would have no excuses.  But lets face it I probably will find other ones :)

I made this recipe for an appetizer for dinner with our neighbours, It was pretty tasty and easy so I will definitely be making these again!

 

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Jessi & Gwyneth {9}

Can you tell I am on a bit of a cooking binge right now?

Tomato and Arugula Pasta

Another pasta recipe with my new attachments! Spaghetti went a lot quicker than the Ravioli, though it is still a bit of work, but the novelty of it has not worn off yet!

This was a really easy recipe, just tomatoes, arugula (which have now become staples in our house!) and a handful of spices. 

We opted to cut the recipe in half as we had so much when we made the ravioli, but it wasn't enough for this pasta loving household...and we ended up picking up so burgers later to fill us up (I was going to a going away party later that night and needed to have something a little more solid to drink on!) I am sure that's how Gwyneth would roll to :P

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> Jessi

Jessi & Gwyneth {8}

Sweet Potato Ravioli

We have wanted the pasta maker attachment forever and have never been able to justify it, until Gwyneth. Getting it opened up another section of her recipe book I could not have done without it :)

I have never made pasta before - it actually really fun- time consuming but fun! The inside of the ravioli is a sweet potato and mascarpone mixture. We had so much pasta that for variety we made a batch with spinach and mascarpone ...but the sweet potato was better. We invited our friend Suzanne over who is not a sweet potato fan - but liked these! The sauce is a butter and sage mix - which again I never would have thought to do - I probably would have dumped a jar of tomato sauce on it!

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> Jessi

Jessi & Gwyneth {7}

 Happy Monday! Hope you had a great weekend - we got suddenly hit by winter here, it's been very cold! I hear it's supposed to warm up this week so I can quit complaining :)  I have been quite busy in my kitchen - there are alot of food posts coming as well as a sweet Valentine treat tomorrow! Also Cassie has been working on a new  feature that we will start sharing this week!
 

Gwyneth's Rotisserie Style Chicken

There is nothing Clifford hates more than when I decide to make something I have never made when we have company..but you can't really go wrong with chicken right? I have in the past made things that he had to take over and help with, but this was so easy! The drinks were flowing and I forgot to take a nice picture of the whole meal, so enjoy these ever so creative pictures of a dead chicken :)

My journey through Gwyneth's cookbook is making me feel alot more confident in the kitchen and making me a more comfortable with experimenting, like with this recipe you  make a rub for the chicken, and that is something I never would have thought to do and I now have a few ideas of different flavour bases for it. Do you have a go to recipe book - or one you love?

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ingredients for the rub

weirdly this step made me fell like a fancy pants chef

delicious roasted chicken!

> Jessi

Jessi & Gwyneth {6}

Seriously I am only at 6??? I feel like I have made more than that!

Anywho last night I was this close to getting take out (I didn't really want to cook) but I plowed through it and made a pretty decent meal! 

I had no ingredients for any Gwyneth mains, so I decided to try her caramalized brussle sprouts. I have never cooked brussel sprouts, and was a little worried of doing it wrong, but they turned out great, Clifford ate most of them and even the kids liked them, Kate said "why do they always here people say these are gross?" I think what makes them good is the lemon you squeeze over them when cooking. Some of them are a little over caramelized ..oh well lol

For our main I made a "shake n bake-ish" coating (flour, garlic powder, black pepper and bread crumbs) and battered and fried some chicken legs...which apparently is not the best way to cook them (we ended up having to bake after my failed frying attempt). 

All in all it turned out pretty good for a last minute meal! 

What is your go to meal when you have to quickly come up with dinner?

they cooked a little uneven

a little peek at my kitchen (can you tell dish soap was on sale?)

> Jessi

p.s I also did a little post over at Thrifty Gypsies!

Jessi & Gwyneth {5}

Yes, I have been neglecting my Gwyneth cookbook, but am trying to get back on the wagon (in my defense I have made the chicken milanese, 3 more times!)

I needed something affordable and not to time consuming to feed 5 kids & 5 adults, so I decided to attempt her wood oven pizza.  I didn't make any changes to the recipe (unless you count the fact that I used my kitchen stove and not a wood burning pizza oven..but I don't :P)  

I did however heat my stone pan in the oven for an hour prior to cooking the pizza. I think it made a difference,  but really I am probably just trying to justify the fact that I had the oven on for an hour with nothing in it.

no shortage of helpers in our house!

> Jessi

Jessi & Gwynteth {4}

My latest Gwyneth recipe was her Chicken Milanese (pg.146) with slow-roasted cherry tomatoes & arugula (pg.148). It was probably my favorite recipe so far. I didn't change or adapt anything, and I served it with corn and roasted rosemary potatoes (I was going to make her baked cauliflower, but the grocery store was out?!). 

I fed 6 people with 5 chicken breasts - and there was leftovers, I could have used just 4. I am so bad a judging portions!

I'm kinda sad that my cookbook is starting to get stained and dirty, but I guess that's a good sign because it means I am using it.

roasting the tomatoes

 

> Jessi

Jessi & Gwynteth {3}

For weekly neighbor dinner, bbq steak was on the menu, so I decided it was high time I made Gwyneth's potato bake. (Is it just me or am I managing to make the least healthy recipes in her book... someone is not to ready to commit to healthy eating!)

What I changed:

-I used like quadruple the amount of potatoes, as it was feeding 6 

- I added cheese between the layers

What I would do next time:

- less salt

- add some bacon(oh that's right - healthy what?)

almost burnt it ...

fingers crossed it comes out in cake form....

yeah it did!

> Jessi

Jessi & Gwynteth {2}

Friday Night = Gwyneth recipes 2 & 3. I made her "Best Chicken Stir Fry" and "Fried Rice with Kale". Aside from burning the first round of garlic it went pretty smoothly - and that probably had more to do with the wine I was drinking :)  The recipe was a hit and will definitely make again!

Things I changed:

Ginger for All Spice

Brown rice for  Whole grain

Also I will go through and draw the giveaway winners tonight - so stay tuned for that tomorrow!

> Jessi

Jessi & Gwynteth {1}

Friday marked the beginning of project Gwyneth, and I think round one was a success!

I made her cheese stuffed turkey burger with baked fries (I couldn't make us go totally healthy right away, one has to ease into these kinds of things...right? :)

The only change I made was to double the recipe (and that fed 6 adults with one burger left over). It also didn't specify a cheese so I opted for Mozzarella thinking it would melt well and compliment the turkey flavour - and it did, but  I haven't tried it with other cheeses, so there may be something better.

The pictures didn't turn out great, but they tasted good, and I'll try for better pictures next time

> Jessi

Jessi & Gwyneth??

Inspired 1 part Julie & Julia, 1 part Knitxcore  (who is blogging his way through the encyclopedia of craft), I am going to blog my way through my birthday present. Why?

A) I have had a girl crush on Gwyneth since forever. Instead of the cliche Scarface or Pulp Fiction movie posters, in college I had Duets and Talented Mr.Ripley. Did I cry when she won her Oscar..Yes. Do I  subscribe to her Goop newsletter...affirmative. Do I sound kinda crazy obsessed? Maybe lol.

B) I am notoriously getting cookbooks, with the intent to become a gourmet chef.. but they always just sit on the shelf...maybe one recipe attempted, hamburger helper on the dinner table.

C) I need a blog mission to feel excited about!
and,

D) Our family needs a kick in the butt when it comes to how & what we eat

So that's why :) Skimming through the book I realize I am allergic to some and will probably do the poor man's version of a few of the recipes, but hey, some of us weren't born into Hollywood royalty..but we can pretend!

> Jessi