Perfecting the Basics

I wonder why I love cooking so much? Aside from the fact that I love to eat, I think it’s because it’s very satisfying to the “control freak” part of my nature (it’s a major part, ok!). Even when things seem chaotic out in the world, I still get to decide what we are having for dinner and I can tweak the recipe to my heart’s content. And I do… I like to have a good recipe to start from, but I almost always tweak it to suit my needs. Enter America’s Test Kitchen. I like that their recipes are tested to be “foolproof,” and I’ve learned a lot from them about food science and smart cooking tricks over the years. But even so, I tweak. Especially since I don’t have all the shiny equipment and appliances. I’m just not into gadgets. I’m thrilled with my new immersion blender but I lean toward simple workhorse items like my cast iron skillet and my Dutch oven. So, baking a whole cut-up chicken in a cast iron skillet is my idea of a perfect easy-to-make-it-awesome recipe.

Cast-Iron Baked Chicken: I followed this one to the letter, which is unusual for me, except I added fresh rosemary with the thyme because I had some on hand. I had been meaning to try baking potatoes at the same time, and it worked out great! The timing worked out just right.

Best Baked Potatoes: My mods were to skip the rack-in-baking sheet setup, since I wanted them to sit next to the skillet in the oven, so I used my griddle pan. Worked fine. A simple frozen veggie or bagged salad make this meal super easy, but the 45-minute baking time would allow for a more elaborate salad or veggie side.