Lazy Sunday

Hectic work week + rainy weather = much needed low key weekend.

Jason and I have spent the last couple of days taking it easy and it has been really nice. I think we made it out of the apartment for all of an hour yesterday. We did a little better today—managing to squeeze in brunch with some friends and a trip to the grocery store (which was surprisingly empty for a Sunday—thank you Daylight Savings!) before coming home and relaxing. I capped the day with a Lost marathon while Jason spent some quality time in his green chair with a book.

I decided to go with the lazy Sunday flow and ease back into the kitchen with a fairly simple dinner—goat cheese chicken and cauliflower puree.  Goat cheese chicken was one of the first things I ever made for Jason when we were dating and it remains a household favorite. It couldn’t be easier—slip a little goat cheese and basil underneath the skin of some chicken and roast until done. The hardest part is actually finding skin-on, bone-in chicken breasts! Since I didn’t feel like going to multiple stores today to try and find them, we ended up with chicken thighs instead and they worked just fine.  It paired really well with the cauliflower puree—a light yet satisfying meal to close out the weekend.

Getting ready to go into the oven

 

 Cauliflower, onion and garlic

 

Mixture pre-boil

Goat Cheese Chicken
Just barely adapted from Ina Garten

Ingredients:
2 bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts or thighs
1 4oz cylinder package of goat cheese, cut into 1/4 inch thick slices
Fresh basil leaves
Olive oil
Salt and Pepper

1.Preheat the oven to 375. Place chicken pieces on a sheet pan lined with aluminum foil or parchment paper (for easy clean up). Loosen the skin from the meat with your fingers.
2.Place 1 or 2 slices of goat cheese along with a large basil leaf (or two depending on the size) underneath the skin of each chicken breast/thigh.
3.Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
4.Bake chicken for 35-40 minutes (maybe less depending on size of chicken pieces you are working with) until the skin is slightly browned and chicken is cooked through.

Cauliflower Puree
Again, just barely adapted from The Kitchn

Ingredients:
1 small yellow onion, chopped
2 TBL olive oil
½ of medium cauliflower, cut into pieces
2 cloves of garlic, peeled
3 cups of milk
2 TBL butter
Salt and pepper to taste

1.Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until soft, 2-3 minutes. Add cauliflower, garlic and milk. Season with salt and pepper
2. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer (covered) until the cauliflower is tender (about 12-15 minutes). Be careful to reduce the heat to low otherwise the mixture might boil over!
3.Drain, reserving the liquid.
4.In a food processor or blender puree the cauliflower mixture with butter and about ¼ cup of the cooking liquid (you can use more or less depending on how thick you want the puree to be). Adjust seasoning before serving. (Note: I would not recommend using an immersion blender for this. I tried it, thinking it would be easier than digging out the food processor but given the small amount of liquid it was difficult to get completely smooth. Next time I’ll definitely take the extra time and use one of the other options I suggested.)