Don’t throw out that chicken carcass!  And that goes for your turkey carcass, too.  Although I know you won’t be roasting a turkey nearly as often as you roast chicken, this recipe goes for either bird’s bones.

After you roast The Perfect Chicken courtesy of moi, you can extend the life of your meal by making homemade chicken stock.  And then using the chicken stock in all sorts of great recipes.  Some of which will definitely be provided by yours truly.

So here we go:

Take your entire chicken carcass – after you’ve eaten all the chicken meat, of course – and place it in a very large stock pot.  Add one can of high quality chicken broth.  That may be a little bit of a cheat, but it’s the way I like to start things off, and it’s my recipe, so . . .

Anyway, leave the chicken broth out if you’re some kind of purist.

Next, add to the pot the following:

One whole onion, quartered

Two stalks of celery, each cut in half and two carrots, each cut in half

One head of garlic, but cut it across the top lengthwise, so that all of the cloves are exposed.

One handful of sage leaves.

Fill the pot with water until it covers the chicken entirely.  Set the pot on the stove and bring the water to a gentle boil.  Once the boil starts, reduce the temperature until the stock is simmering, and let it simmer for several hours — or all day, if you want.  Some evaporation will occur, so keep adding water a bit at a time to keep the amount of stock in the pot consistent. You should end up with the same amount of liquid you started the recipe with.  Once the stock is done, remove the pan from the heat, let the stock cool down some, then strain it and store it in containers (I use tupperware-type containers).  You can use within two weeks if you keep it in the refrigerator, or freeze it for later use.

Once you have the stock simmering, your house will fill with the most amazing aromas.  Everyone who walks in the door will say “Mmmmmmm.  What’s that smell?”  and you can impress folks by saying “Oh, I’m just whipping up a pot of chicken stock.”

I spend the whole day on my chicken stock.  If I have to leave, I just turn the pot off until I return.

This is such a beautifully simple and rich-tasting tomato sauce.  I used to make it all the time, somehow forgot about it (go figure!) but then…  I stumbled upon a similar recipe recently when I was browsing at Foodgawker.

Memories of my sauce came back, and I determined to make it the very next night!

You really need high quality canned whole tomatoes for this sauce, because the tomatoes play the starring role.  I went ahead and spluged on these San Marzanos (at $3.85 for a 28-ounce can).  As you can see, they aren’t actually imported from Italy, but grown here in the U.S. — and I totally agree with the review that these are “spectacular.”

Along with the tomatoes, you’ll need 2 cloves of garlic, one large whole yellow onion (peeled and halved), and 5 tablespoons of butter.  Please DO NOT try to substitute margarine or (God forbid!) “light” butter for REAL butter in this recipe.  When only four ingredients are involved, you just can’t take those kinds of liberties.

And here’s the way I prepare this sauce:

Melt the butter in a medium-sized saucepan until just bubbly.  While the butter is melting, mince your garlic cloves and half of the onion.  When the butter is melted and bubbly, throw in the minced garlic and onions and let them soften in the butter for about 5-6 minutes.  Don’t let the butter get too hot — you don’t want any browning!

After the garlic and onion have cooked in the butter for a few minutes, add the entire can of whole tomatoes, along with their liquid, and the entire other half of the onion.

Let the sauce simmer gently for about 45-60 minutes.  During cooking, you can crush the tomatoes against the side of the pan to break them up some.  Also, after about 45 minutes of cooking, I take out about 3-4 of the tomatoes and the onion half and puree it.  It makes for a really nice consistency.

Cook whatever pasta you’re going to use until al dente — about a pound of pasta is right for the amount of sauce in this recipe.  Drain the pasta and then serve mixed with the sauce.  I like to grate fresh parmesan on my serving.

So I made this and really knocked the hubby’s socks off with it.

“Wow!” he exclaimed, ”You are the most amazing woman and the best cook ever.  I’m SO lucky to be married to you!”

Okay, he didn”t really say that.  It was more along the lines of  “Man this sauce is great.  What’s in it?”

But that’s what he meant.

I was standing under the hot Kansas sun this morning glaring at my tomato plants, which are currently full of green tomatoes.  Yes, still green.  In August.

It’s been a slow year for tomatoes in eastern Kansas, and my tomatoes are steadfastly refusing to hurry up and get ripe.  I’ve had to to to the farmer’s market to scavenge whatever ripe tomatoes I can get.

Try as I might, I can’t hurry Mother Nature.  And patience isn’t one of my many virtues.  So I played a little hardball with the tomato plants and snatched three half-ripe green tomatoes off the vines.

Instead of sulking, I’ll just make some fried green tomatoes tonight.

For those of you stuck with blessed with a bumper crop of green tomatoes, here’s the recipe I use.  Just make sure you get your hands on green tomatoes that are firm and medium in size — the bigger and riper they are, the bigger chance they’ll fall apart when you turn them in the hot oil.

Fried Green Tomatoes

Aside from your three green tomatoes, you’ll need:

1  large egg, lightly beaten

1/2  cup  buttermilk

1/2  cup  all-purpose flour, divided

1/2  cup  cornmeal

1  teaspoon  salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper

2 cups vegetable or canola oil.

more salt and pepper to taste

hot sauce, to taste

Slice your tomatoes about 1/3 of an inch thick.

Put 1/4 cup of flour into a shallow bowl — we’ll call it Bowl 1.  In another shallow bowl, mix the egg and buttermilk — this is Bowl 2.  In a third bowl, mix the cornmeal, the other 1/4 cup of flour, and the teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper — you guessed it, Bowl 3.

Heat your oil.  It’s recommended that the oil get between 350 and 375 degrees, but I confess I never actually check the temperature.  I just throw a few drops of water into the oil, and if they pop I call it ready.

While the oil’s heating, dredge your tomato slices in order into Bowl 1, Bowl 2 and Bowl 3.  When the oil’s ready, slide the tomato slices in and fry for about 2 minutes on each side (until they are a light golden brown).

Drain the tomatoes on paper towels and serve hot.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper to your taste.  Some like to dash a little Louisiana Hot Sauce, too!

for rotini pasta!

Spring is here, and my herbs are planted and growing strong. It puts me in mind of my favorite spring recipes, and one of my standby recipes as the weather gets warmer is a fabulous fresh tomato and basil sauce that’s so easy to make you really have no excuse not to try it! My whole family goes nuts for this dish, and everyone who has eaten it at my house asks for the recipe.

You’ll need about 6 ripe, fresh tomatoes of the best quality you can get.

My neighbor and I have planted a nice plot with a variety of tomato plants, and I know this sauce is going to be best when those babies are ready to eat. You can generally find good tomatoes in season in your farmers markets, as well. A good brand of organic tomatoes will do just fine, if you can’t find them in season. For this recipe, you’ll need to squeeze all of the juice and seeds out of the tomatoes and then chop them into small chunks.

You’ll also need about 6 cloves of garlic, finely chopped. If you love garlic, add a couple more cloves. And you’ll need a VERY generous cup full of roughly chopped FRESH basil.

Mix your tomatoes, garlic and basil in a bowl, then add about 1/3 to 1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil. Mix thoroughly and then add salt and pepper to taste, and mix again.

Place the sauce in the refrigerator until it is chilled, about 2 hours minimum. (You do need to use the sauce the same day you make it.)

When you’re ready to eat, bring a large pot of water to a boil and add 1 lb. of rotini pasta. Why rotini? Because the rotini ridges are perfect for trapping the tomatoes, garlic and basil in the sauce.

When the rotini is perfectly al dente, drain it thoroughly and move it to a large serving bowl or platter. Add the cold sauce and stir it up until the pasta is coated completely. Serve. You may add more salt and/or pepper to taste.

If you have any left, just stick it in the fridge.  This dish makes a really nice leftover pasta salad.

There are few things I enjoy more than a Perfect Roast Chicken.  Sounds simple, right?  But I’ve only recently, after decades of roasting chickens, truly completed the evolution of my Perfect Roast Chicken recipe.

What are some lessons I’ve learned along the way?  I used to roast chicken at 350 degrees, but have recently discovered that a higher temperature yields a much crispier skin and juicier meat.  Live and learn, right?  Another handy tip I’ve picked up is to make sure that your chicken sits out at room temperature for at least half an hour before roasting it.  This makes it so your chicken roasts more evenly from inside to outside.

For this recipe, you’ll need

One whole plump roasting chicken:  I usually go for a 5 lb. chicken because there are five of us. A chicken that size feeds us all and leaves a little left over for chicken salad.
8 large cloves of garlic, chopped in half
2 tablespoons olive oil and 4-5 tablespoons REAL butter, melted together PLUS two more tablespoons of melted butter for basting
Two handfuls of fresh sage leaves
1 whole lemon
Salt
Fresh Ground Black Pepper

To prepare:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Line a shallow baking pan with aluminum foil. Place a cookie rack in the baking pan. This will keep the chicken elevated slightly — you don’t want the skin of the chicken resting on the bottom of the pan. You can also use a roasting pan that has its own rack.   Spray the whole surface of the pan with cooking spray.

Rinse the chicken thoroughly and pat completely dry. Reserve the heart, liver and gizzards, if there are any, and if you happen to like them. I do. I like to roast these alongside the chicken as an extra treat — just sprinkle with salt and pepper and roast for about 20 minutes.

Place the chicken on the rack in the roasting pan. Using your fingers, loosen the skin over the breast meat and slide 4 pieces of the garlic, along with several sage leaves, under the skin over each breast. Turn the chicken over and loosen the skin on the back of the chicken, sliding 4 more slices of the garlic and several more sage leaves, under the skin on the back side and pushing them toward the thigh meat on either side. Place the rest of the garlic inside the chicken cavity. Sprinkle about 1 teaspoon of salt inside the cavity of the chicken, along with several grindings of fresh black pepper. Then toss a handful of sage leaves into the cavity.

Note:  If you can’t find fresh sage leaves, or don’t have any growing conveniently in your backyard garden pots like I do, you can enjoy this chicken without the sage.  Or you can substitute fresh rosemary.  All three options are equally delicious.

Next, rub the chicken skin thoroughly with the melted olive oil and butter. Cut the lemon in half and place the lemon rinds inside the chicken cavity. Sprinkle sea salt and fresh ground pepper all over the outside of the chicken.

You are now ready to roast the chicken. Your chicken should be breast side up in the roasting pan.

Roast for about an hour and 15 minutes.  After about 30 minutes, I baste the chicken with another two tablespoons of melted butter.  The chicken is done when you can pierce the skin between the thigh and breast and the juices run clear.  Or you can be paranoid like my husband and use a meat thermometer.  When done, the thigh meat will be 190 degrees and the breast meat will be 180 degrees.

When the chicken is done, take it out and let it sit for 15 minutes before carving.   Serve with your favorite green vegetable as a side dish, along with rice or couscous.