Superbowl Bites: Oven Fries and A GIVEAWAY!!

And we're back with the 2012 edition of Superbowl Bites and I'm not going to lie and couldn't be more excited about this Superbowl.

Why, you ask?

Why because my beloved NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS will be heading down to Indy to (hopefully) destroy the Giants.  I promise I'll keep this and future Superbowl related posts free of trash talk, I'm not that kind of fan.

Did you know that the Superbowl is the second biggest food holiday, second only to Thanksgiving?!

Nutty, right?

Loving Big with Potatoes

Tania from Love Big Bake Often is back again to share one of her fabulous recipes, made with love.

Hi there....Tania again! So happy to be guest posting again, thank you Jen.

I have another savory dish here for you....there aren't that many on my own blog (working on that), so I thought it would be fun to come up with a couple for here.

Jason bought a new grill....for himself. He will tell you that he bought it for us, that he even bought a RED one to go with MY red kitchen. And I love him for it. Seriously. It makes me giggle. He loves to grill. He will admit that he is still on the learning curve...especially with chicken. So lately these days (when he is home in time) I work on the sides and he grills the meat. Perfect combination. Just need to get the timing down, like I said - a learning curve. But there is no challenge to these potatoes, they are simple, easy and delicious. You can mix it up with spices, citrus, and different vinegars....but I like to stick with Balsamic. It's so yummy.

Knitting & Food: Grill Roasted Baby Potatoes

And we're back with our next installment of Knitting & Food.  April is Baby Month at In the Loop and I tossed around all kinds of ideas incorporating "baby" foods.  Not jarred baby food, but things like baby greens or baby peppers.  The thing is here in the Southern Ontario and in New England where the lovely ladies of In the Loop are, alot of those baby veggies aren't really locally available yet.  They will be this summer, just not in April.  We do have gorgeous little baby potatoes that are easily procured year round.  Once I settled on potatoes I then needed to figure out how to prepare them.  I wanted something that was super simple, that would carry through the spring and summer we are all so desperately wanting to actually arrive. 

We had a couple of gorgeous days here in Toronto, where all you needed was a light jacket.  It was during these days that I decided I wanted to try out some sort of grill roasted potato, one where the prep and clean up was super simple and it could easily be made along with other grilled meats.  The foil pouch is the ultimate in easy clean-up, especially when done on the grill.  

Braised Chicken Thighs with Pommes Puree

There are few meals that are more satisfying on a cool fall, almost winter night than chicken and potatoes.  As much as I love roast chicken and potatoes, sometimes there just isn't enough time in the day to roast a whole chicken, sometimes you're only feeding one or two people and just don't need that much food.  And sometimes, like when the holidays are quickly approaching, money is a little tight and one of the most inexpensive items at the meat counter are bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs.

I've written before about my new favorite cookbook Stir by Barbara Lynch, specifically her Fennel, Cucumber, Green Bean & Roasted Potato salad.  It was delicious, fresh and uber easy.  As I was trying to figure out what to do with the some of the plethora of chicken thighs I have in my chest freezer (yes I am a bit of a meat hoarder, especially when things are on sale) I recalled seeing a recipe in Stir.  I quickly turned to the page, looked over the ingredients and realized I had everything I needed to try this recipe out, with a minor tweak here and there.  I love when I have an idea or want to try a recipe and find, that without planning for it, I have all need right in my kitchen. It was Chef Lynch herself that recommended serving the chicken with her Pommes Puree and who am I to question that?  Plus I also had potatoes and since the boy is a fan of all things starch I decided to go whole hog and make a whole meal from Stir.