Bundt Pan Chicken and Winter Potato Salad

bunt pan chicken

I love beer can chicken, I make it throughout the summer all different ways on my grill, the meat always comes out moist and juicy and because it’s cooked vertically the bird get’s nice and crispy all the way around. I never attempted to make it inside my oven although I have seen it done.

I was dreaming of spring the other day and wishing it was warm enough to grill outside when I happened to come across bundt pan chicken on Pinterest, sort of the same concept without the beer and it’s made in your oven. I was inspired!

bunt pan chicken

Perfect timing because Whole foods had a one day, half price sale on their organic chickens, so I picked up a few and dusted off my bundt pan which I haven’t used in, I can’t even remember how many years! I also had a bunch of herbs I needed to use up so I made an herby paste and rubbed it all over the outside of the chicken and underneath the skin.

fingerling potatoes

While I was there I also picked up a package of their fingerling potatoes, the heirloom variety. You could place your potatoes right in the bundt pan along with the chicken, most of the pictures I saw showed it done that way but I like my potatoes really crispy so I decided to roast them separately and toss them into a salad.

bunt pan chicken

It was sort of fun and to make it this way, using the bundt pan, although I had to reduce my oven temp from 450 to 400 because my smoke alarm kept going off but other than that it turned out very flavorful, crispy and juicy. I guess it will just have to do until spring gets here!

Bundt Pan Chicken and Winter Potato Salad

Ingredients

  • For the Paste
  • 2 tablespoons each parsley, basil
  • 1 tablespoon each rosemary and thyme
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • zest of 1 lemon
  • olive oil
  • For the Potato Salad
  • 1 package of fingerling potatoes
  • 1 bag of arugula
  • tomatoes, either roasted or sliced grape tomatoes
  • balsamic glaze and olive oil
  • 1 chicken
  • bundt pan

Instructions

  1. Make a paste by finely chopping your herbs, smashing your garlic, adding the lemon zest, salt and pepper to taste and enough olive oil drizzled in to make it loose
  2. Loosen skin around the breast of the chicken then rub the paste under and all over the whole bird
  3. Spray bundt pan with cooking spray and place bird on top
  4. Place bundt pan on a foil lined baking sheet with rim to avoid any drips
  5. Roast in a 400 degree oven for around 1 hour and 10 minutes or until meat thermometer reaches 165
  6. For the potato salad, roast potatoes on a separate baking sheet drizzled with olive oil, salt and pepper, around 30 minutes on top shelf, same oven temp.
  7. Toss your arugula in a separate bowl with drizzled olive oil and balsamic glaze or a good aged balsamic vinegar. Add tomatoes and toss.
  8. Place salad mixture onto a platter and scatter the crispy potatoes all around.
http://www.prouditaliancook.com/2013/02/bunt-pan-chicken-and-winter-potato-salad.html

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Chicken Parmesan Meatloaf

I have to admit it was the name of this dish that first intrigued me! Sure I like chicken parmesan, so why wouldn’t I like it in a meatloaf form? I was convinced to try this after my sister-in-law from Florida gave it rave reviews recently while we were talking on Facebook.
What’s not to like, it’s tender, moist and loaded with so much flavor! You could definitely pin this under,
comfort food!
I served it with roasted veggies tossed in my favorite balsamic glaze, a delicious weekday meal it was!
What makes this meatloaf taste so good is a healthy scoop of marinara sauce mixed right into the meat,  then when it’s about 3/4 done, you spoon more marinara over the top and layer on fresh mozzarella, it’s a beautiful thing!
The husband loved it so much he wanted to eat the leftovers the very next day!

Ingredients
recipe adapted from Joelen
I used ground turkey and it was a little over a pound but you can also replace with ground chicken
2 finely chopped garlic cloves
1/2 chopped onion
2 eggs
panko crumbs, enough to just soak up the moisture
1/2 cup marinara sauce, homemade preferred, additional for top and to serve with.
3/4 cup of small cubed asiago cheese
a handful of grated romano cheese
fresh chopped basil and parsley
s&p, of course
Mix everything together and form into a loaf on a sprayed baking sheet. Bake at 375 for around 1 hour. Last 20 minutes spoon marinara over top and place fresh mozzarella slices over it. Garnish with fresh basil.

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Warm and Cozy Fall Dinners

The cooler weather is bringing out my urge to cook more comfort foods. When it’s damp, rainy and cold outside, like it happens to be today, a salad just isn’t going to cut it! I’m sharing with you two of a very long list of dinners that bring me comfort.  Neither take too long to cook, so both would be great for a mid week meal as well as for the weekend.
Boneless Pork Chops in a Creamy Mustard Thyme Sauce with Mushrooms and Caramelized Shallots.
Sound fancy or complicated?  It’s really not, providing you have some caramelized shallots or onions done ahead of time.

Season your chops with salt and pepper then brown them in a drizzle of olive oil.*** Remove chops, do the same with the mushrooms, then set aside as well.*** De glaze your pan with chicken stock enough to cover the bottom and let it bubble.*** Add two heaping tablespoons of grainy mustard, some fresh thyme and a cup or so of cream or half and half, whisking until smooth.*** Place the chops back in along with the mushrooms and simmer until meat is cooked through.*** Garnish with the caramelized shallots.
You’ll need to have something green on the side so, how about a little broccoli rabe? It goes very well with both the pork and the chicken. Here’s how I make it.
And speaking of chicken, I love making this Ricotta Stuffed Chicken. You’ll need a butterflied chicken, which means you need to remove the rib, back and breast bone of your chicken then flatten it out like a butterfly. I’ve tried to do it myself but it’s never a pretty site so I just let my butcher at Whole Foods do it for me, it takes him 2 seconds and it comes out perfect every time!
Gently loosen the skin all around the chicken with your fingers, be careful not to rip into it.

Saute in a small pan, 3 chopped green onions and 1 minced garlic clove.*** After it cools, place into a bowl along with 2 cups of drained ricotta cheese,*** 1/2 cup of chopped sun dried tomatoes in oil,***1/2 cup of grated romano cheese,*** the zest of 1 lemon,*** chopped fresh basil and parsley,*** salt and pepper. Mix it all together.
Take a spoon and shove the mixture all over underneath the skin that you loosened. Rub the outside of your chicken with olive oil and fresh herbs and roast in a 375 degree oven until internal temperature reaches 180.

Get your sweater on and start cooking! 

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