I’m excited to share a new endeavor in 2021: Cookbook Feature Friday! I have a vast collection of cookbooks stacked around my house. These are a few of my favorite things! Vintage cookbooks and new releases fill my kitchen countertops and baker’s rack, adorn my coffee table and decorate my bookshelves. I love lazy weekends while sipping on coffee and flipping through their pages. With the energy of a new year, one of my goals for 2021 is to cook one recipe per week from my collection with my husband, Kurt. So often, I get a new cookbook and love looking through its pages, but get too busy to actually cook from it. I love my cookbooks, and am excited to take on this challenge. It will serve a few purposes: 1) Spice up dinner time. I can’t wait to get inspiration from my cookbook collection. Choosing a new recipe to cook each week will help me to get out of my weeknight dinner rut, providing new flavors and cooking experiences.
2) Spend time with loved ones. Cooking together is a great way to bond and share quality time. I’m looking forward to sharing the highs and lows from our days while chopping vegetables with my husband, Kurt, and sharing a Some Kinda Good meal together.
3) Share new recipes. This endeavor will bring lots of new recipes your way, and keep things interesting. I have Southern cookbooks and coastal cookbooks, but also cookbooks from culinary school and Food Network personalities like Ina Garten, Anne Burrell and Alex Guarnaschelli. These are sure to offer different perspectives of food and reveal some interesting flavor combinations.
4) Discover cool cookbooks. Each week, I’ll feature the cookbook and recipe that I made, and share my thoughts on how it turned out. So, let’s get started!
Reading it by the fire is even more enjoyable.
For Christmas, I got this beautiful new release by Ina Garten, Modern Comfort Food. The first recipe I made from its pages is Skillet-Roasted Chicken and Potatoes.
Ina Garten’s Skillet-Roasted Chicken and Potatoes is Some Kinda Good!
Ina’s recipe called for white wine, Dijon mustard and skin-on chicken thighs. Unfortunately, I didn’t have those ingredients on hand, so I made a few substitutions with tequila, horseradish mustard and boneless skinless chicken breasts. I adjusted the cooking time slightly because boneless skinless chicken breasts don’t require as much time to cook. The flavor of the potatoes with the pan juices was delicious and I enjoyed tossing them together in the cast iron skillet.
“Overall, I enjoyed this recipe, and love Ina Garten. I will make this dish again.” -Rebekah
LOVED:
Cooking the potatoes in the pan juices.
Everything cooks in one pan, so clean up is easy.
DIDN’T LOVE:
This recipe requires a good bit of time to make. You have to marinate the chicken in buttermilk for at least 4 hours. Always read the recipe fully through before making it, so you are not surprised with steps like these!
Skin-on chicken thighs can be hard to find, depending on where you live.
My boneless skinless chicken breasts would have needed to be put under the broiler to achieve the golden brown color of the thighs.
At least 4 hours (but not more than 12 hours) before you plan to serve, sprinkle the chicken all over with 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper. Place in a 1-gallon sealable plastic bag and pour in the buttermilk. Seal the bag and massage it lightly to be sure the chicken is coated with the buttermilk. Place in the refrigerator to marinate.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Pour 2 tablespoons olive oil in an unheated 12-inch cast-iron skillet and tilt the pan so the oil covers the bottom. Lift the thighs out of the buttermilk, letting any excess buttermilk drip off, and place them in the skillet, skin side up, in one layer. Discard the marinade. In a small bowl, combine the mustard and wine and brush it on the top of the chicken. Sprinkle with the thyme, paprika, 1 teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper. Place the skillet in the oven and roast the chicken for 30 minutes.
Using tongs, transfer the chicken to a plate and put the potatoes, garlic, 1 teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper into the skillet. Toss to coat with the pan juices then spread the potatoes out. Return the chicken to the skillet, placing it on the potatoes. Roast 30 minutes longer, until the chicken registers 155 degrees on an instant-read thermometer. Transfer just the chicken to a plate and cover loosely with aluminum foil to keep warm. Return the skillet to the oven, raise the temperature to 425 degrees, and roast the potatoes for 15 minutes, until they’re tender and starting to brown. Return the chicken to the pan and sprinkle with the parsley, chives, and extra salt. Serve hot from the skillet.
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