Dinosaur Egg Chicken

Unfortunately I have to start off this post by telling everyone that I am a moron (As if everyone doesn't already know)! In my last post, I thought I had a brilliant spur of the moment idea for a contest.... one that would send all my readers scouring through my archives, reading all my old recipes looking for that elusive can of soup. Well, I had my winner exactly 2 minutes and 42 seconds after I published the ill-fated post. AND, as I discovered, any enterprizing individual who wanted to go to Google and type in "Janet is Hungry can of soup" would have had the results returned to them in 0.23 seconds.

Mario sent me an e-mail: "Sweetheart, you might want to think your contests through a little better in future"... yeah thanks, hon. But its OK, I think I just ran my first and last contest on Janet is Hungry. (Don't quote me on that, I'm a notorious liar).

So without further ado, first prize of my favorite cookbook goes to Deeeeeeena who writes the blog, Miche Mache. (Deeeeeena send me an e-mail using the "Contact Me" button with your mailing address).

An honourable mention goes to Suzanne, a coworker of mine, who found BOTH recipes that use canned soup. Pork Chop and Rice Bake and Chili.

Today's recipe is one that I have been meaning to try for a long time. I've seen this prepared several times before. The recipe that I used came from Laura Calder.

Although the skin doesn't crisp up at all, the meat of the chicken stays so moist and juicy and the flavours from the fresh herbs really penetrate. My kids actually did think I'd cooked a dinosaur egg... they were gathered around me in a sort of "hushed awe" when Mario and I were cracking it open (those are HIS hand in the picture for anyone who thought I might have "Man-Hands"). I think the kids were actually expecting a baby dinosaur to pop out... boy were they disappointed when it was only a chicken. Yet still confused... Claire: "Um, so do you think it was the Mommy or the Daddy that was a chicken"...


Dinosaur Egg Chicken

3lb whole chicken
Fresh herbs (I used rosemary and thyme)
4 - 5 garlic cloves, minced
pepper to season
A drizzle of olive oil

Salt Crust:
4 cups flour
6 egg whites
500g coarse salt (about 2 cups)
Water
1 egg yolk

1. Slide plenty of herbs under the chicken skin. Put garlic in the cavity, along with any remaining herbs. Rub the chicken with pepper and olive oil.

2. Make the crust: mix the flour, egg whites and salt well, then add enough water to make a pliable dough (the consistency of play-doh).

3. Roll out 1/4 the dough to make a base for the chicken to sit on. Set the dough base on a baking sheet. Lay the chicken on top. Roll out the remaining dough, drape it over the chicken, and seal the edges. Becareful to patch any holes or rips. Add a splash of water to an egg yolk and paint the pastry case all over.

4. Bake for 1 1/2 hours at 325ºF. Let the chicken sit out of the oven 10 minutes before serving.

5. Cut off the crust and discard it. Carve the meat and serve.

Pork Chops and Stuffing

This is yet another old favorite of mine. I love the way the pork comes out so tender... it's just like cutting butter with a knife!

I may have gotten a little carried away with the massive pile of stuffing on top of the pork chop. I just love the stuffing and I guess my eyes were a little bigger than my stomach (as usual). I had extra breadcrumbs so I made more stuffing than the recipe called for and I split it between 3 pork chops instead of 4.

I actually don't often cook with cans of soup. I would usually prefer to make my own creamy sauce for a recipe that calls for a can of soup. If you go back through the near 200 recipes I have on this site... you will only find ONE other recipe (I think)that calls for a can of soup. Can somebody please find it and report back to me?

Actually, this is a perfect opportunity to kick off the first CONTEST on Janet is Hungry. The first Janet is Hungry reader to locate another recipe on my site that calls for a can of soup and leave it in the comment section wins a PRIZE. The prize will be a copy of one of my favorite cookbooks! I will announce the winner in my post tomorrow (if anyone bothers)...

Pork Chops with Stuffing

4 pork chops
1 tbsp oil
3 cups soft bread crumbs
3 tbsp dried summer savory
1/2 onion, chopped fine
1/4 cup butter
1/3 cup water
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 can of water

1. Brown pork chops in oil for a few minutes on each side. Place pork chops in a greased casserole dish that has a cover.

2. In a large bowl, mix breadcrumbs and summer savory. Melt butter in the microwave with the onion. Stir into breadcrumbs. Add water to breadcrumbs.

3. Form breadcrumbs into a ball. Or press into a mold (I used a 3/4 cup measuring cup... but a 1/2 cup or 1/3 cup measuring cup would give you a more reasonable portion of stuffing). Place a ball of stuffing on top of each pork chop.

4. Mix soup with 1/2 a can of water and pour over pork chops and stuffing. Bake for 1 hour at 350F. This is really good served with rice, because you can use some of the extra sauce on the rice.

Apple Cheesecake Squares

It's that time of year when I start buying tons of apples, thinking I am going to make all kinds of goodies.... apple pie, apple crumble, apple dumplings... and I almost never do. But then I was watching Paula Deen on the Food Network ("Hey y'all") and I saw her make this recipe. I had everything in the house, so I literally jumped up from the couch and started baking.

Wow. Was this good. I decided to serve it with a maple cream sauce that I saw over on The Pioneerwoman Cooks. The sauce is wicked! I have a ton of sauce leftover, and I am planning on serving it on the weekend with French Toast. I think that will be heavenly.

The kids aren't huge fans of cheesecake, they find it "sour". So, after Mario and I sampled our piece, or two (or four) I brought the rest into work. I cut them smaller like cheesecake bars for work.


Apple Cheesecake Squares with Maple Cream Sauce

2 cups flour
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup butter, softened
2 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
4 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and diced
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
2 tbsp sugar

Streusel Topping:
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup flour
1/2 cup quick-cooking oats
1/2 cup butter, softened

Maple Cream Sauce:
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
5 tbsp maple syrup
3 tbsp light corn syrup

1. Make Maple Cream Sauce: Combine all ingredients in a heavy sauce pan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until thickened and reduced by about 1/3. (about 15 minutes). Chill.

2. For Cheesecake squares: In a medium bowl, combine flour and brown sugar. Cut in butter with a pastry blender until mixture is crumbly. Press evenly into a 13x9-inch baking pan.

3. Bake 15 minutes, or until lightly browned.

4. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese with an electric mixer at medium speed until smooth. Beat in 1/2 cup sugar, eggs, and vanilla until smooth. Pour over warm crust.

5. In a small bowl, stir together chopped apples, 2 tablespoons sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Spoon evenly over cream cheese mixture.

6. To make Streusel Topping, cut together the flour, brown sugar and butter, stir in oats until all crumbly. Sprinkle evenly over apples. Bake 30 minutes at 350F or until filling is set.

5. Drizzle with Maple Cream Sauce.

Italian Salad

I had my Mom and Dad over for dinner on Sunday night. I wanted to make homemade Gnocchi for them, since my Mom has never tried it before. I have made this Gnocchi recipe 5 times since my friend, Roger, taught me how. It is so easy to make and so so good. The last time I made it, I made way too much, and before I boiled the Gnocchi I flash froze them, now I have a huge Ziploc bag of homemade Gnocchi in the freezer, just ready to be dumped into some boiling water for a few minutes. GENIUS!! (if I do, say so myself).

Anyway, enough about the Gnocchi, this post is supposed to be about the salad. I didn't feel like making a Caesar salad to go with this. It just seems like I am ALWAYS making Caesar salad. But, I wanted something that complimented the meal. So, I went on Google and typed in "Italian Salad"...I found this recipe on Epicurious. It was so unbelievably good! It was perfect and this one is "recipe file worthy".

I made a couple of small changes to the recipe (because I can't help myself... I like to meddle). I even wanted to change the name of the salad because "Italian Salad" just doesn't sound that sexy. But unfortunately my creative juices aren't running today and the only name I can come up with for the salad is.... "Chopped Salad with Garbanzo beans, Red Pepper, Red Onion and Fennel garnished with Proscuitto, Black Olives and Goat Cheese, in a garlic oregano Vinagrette, seasoned with Salt and Pepper"

Italian Salad

1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 large garlic clove, minced
8 cups chopped lettuce (mixture of romaine and leafy)
1 19 oz can garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained
1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 cup very thinly sliced red onion
1 cup very thinly sliced fresh fennel bulb
1/2 cup crumbled goat cheese (about 3 ounces)
2 ounces thinly sliced proscuitto cut into strips
1/4 cup sliced pitted black olives
salt and pepper

1. In a bottle, let the minced garlic sit in the olive oil for a few hours. When ready to mix the salad add the white wine vinegar and oregano. Close the bottle and shake well.

2. In a large bowl add chopped lettuces, garbanzo beans, red pepper, red onion and fennel. Toss with salad dressing and season.

3. Sprinkle olives, goat cheese and proscuitto on top.

Spaghetti Carbonara

I was inspired to make this dinner after watching an episode of Everyday Italian on the Food Network last week. Giada made a lovely looking Linguini Carbonara with a fried egg on top. I loved the idea of the egg, but I think I made too many other changes to the recipe, to really claim that this is her recipe. Giada's version had fresh basil and asparagus. Mine has bacon and oregano.

Everyone loved this dinner, even the kids. I do have a "lighter" version of Spaghetti Carbonara that I have been making for years. It uses a can of 2% evaporated milk for the sauce (I will post that one sometime). The "light version" is very good, but frankly, this one just blows it away.

But, if you are counting your calories, or watching your fat intake.... CLOSE YOUR BROWSER NOW and run! Run very very fast ... all the way to your treadmill. Then hop on and run some more (about 3 hours should do it). Only then can you come back and make this dinner.


Spaghetti Carbonara

Garlic Aioli:
2 egg yolks
2 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp lemon juice
1 clove garlic
1 tsp dried oregano
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup canola oil
salt and pepper to taste

12 oz spaghetti
4 eggs
2 tbsp butter
8 slices bacon
Parmesan cheese

1. Prepare Aioli. In a food processor, or with a hand blender. Add in the egg yolks, mustard, lemon juice, garlic, and oregano. If using a food processor turn it on, and add oils - canola first - in a slow stream. If using a hand blender, you can add the oils all at once, and then blend them up. Season and set aside.

2. Meanwhile, cook the bacon slices and boil pasta in salted water.

3. Fry the eggs, sunny side up in 2 tbsp of butter. Season with salt and pepper.

4. To assemble, toss cooked pasta in aioli (just enough to coat the pasta - I only used half). Arrange pasta on plates, top with 2 slices of bacon, a fried egg and some shaved parmesan. Make sure you serve this with a salad, because this recipe is a little light on veggies!

Mud Pies

This was a favorite of mine growing up, and was a recipe that my Grandmother used to make. I haven't made them in a while, but my Mom recently reminded me about them. Apparently one of my cousins, who lives in Ireland and reads my blog, asked my Mom if I was going to post "Grandma's Mud Pie's".

Well of course I am, Susan!

The reason I don't make these as often as I like has a lot to do with the fact that Mario hates coconut. I usually try to make sweets where I can sample one or two and then leave it up to him to polish off the rest. Well he won't touch a mud pie! I think I am going to try to make them again, but find something to replace the coconut... maybe some graham cracker crumbs? or chopped nuts? I'd welcome suggestions...

Another interesting little tidbit... when I pulled out my battered and beaten recipe card to make these, I noticed that my Mom had written, "Mrs. Pearson's Mud Pies". Well who the heck is Mrs. Pearson? Apparently, my Grandmother clipped this recipe out of the Newfoundland Telegram many many years ago, and Mrs. Pearson would be the wife of former Canadian Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson.

Mud Pies

2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup shortening
5 tbsp cocoa
1 cup fine coconut
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups quick cooking oats

1. In a saucepan, stir together the sugar, milk, shortening, cocoa, salt and vanilla. Bring to a boil and remove from heat at once.

2. Add oats and coconut. Stir well.

3. Cool a bit and drop by spoonfuls onto cookie sheets lined with waxed paper. Chill until set.

Mixed Nut Bars

Does anyone else buy those big bags of mixed cracking nuts during the holidays and eat only a few? Actually, I usually end up left with a big bowl of everything but walnuts, since my father-in-law will come over and systematically pick out all of the walnuts (he has learned to just ignore my dirty looks).

Well here is a recipe that I discovered LAST YEAR to use up the leftover mixed nuts (or you could just do like my Mom and put them away and bring them out again the next Christmas.... ** eat the mixed nuts at my Mom's house at your own risk **)

Well, speaking of OLD NUTS (no not you Mom), these are the mixed nut bars that I made with the 2006 Christmas leftover nuts. I made them in January (before I started my blog). I sent some to Mario's work, kept some out for the kids, and put some in the freezer. I found them yesterday at the bottom. I'm really scared about what else might be down there, so I stopped looking after I discovered the mixed nut bars.

But at least now, I can report with confidence, that this recipe freezes well!

Back when I made these, I actually sat down and figured out the nutritional information per serving. It was a little shocking, so I destroyed it. Luckily, I have a good memory for these types of things, and I believe these were fat free!


Mixed Nut Bars

1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 cup mixed nuts (measure after you remove the shells)
3/4 cup corn syrup
3 tbsp butter
1 cup butterscotch chips
2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter

1. With a pastry blender, cut together the flour, icing sugar, and 1/2 cup butter. Press into an un-greased 9" x 13" pan. Bake 12 minutes at 350F.

2. Sprinkle nuts over crust.

3. In saucepan, melt 3 tbsp butter, butterscotch chips, and corn syrup. Pour over nuts. Bake 5 more minutes at 350F.

4. In another saucepan, melt chocolate chips and peanut butter. Spread over bars. Let stand until cool and cut into small rectangles (or big if you want, I don't care).