Loving' My Oven Series May 19, 2012

                                               Friday Night Pizza Feast

Hello cats and kittens. Friday we decided to invite a few friends over for dinner at the last minute, so I fired up the oven. I started my fire at 2:00 PM, and the oven floor was nice and hot by 5:00 PM.
This time I decided that I was going to plan my meals a little more carefully. I wanted to cook pizza of course. There's hardly a day goes by that I don't want a pie, but firing up the oven is a big deal. It takes a lot of work and time. You have to tend to the fire, and that means you can't go gallivanting around town running errands etc.  I am after all, "Keeper of the Flame."
So, I went shopping before with the idea of cooking not just the pizzas, but of cooking food for the next couple of days. I decided to stuff and roast a chicken, and cook some sausages and potatoes.
Now I have heard numerous celebrity chefs say to never stuff the bird, Bobby Flay being the one who comes to mind right now.  This is bad advice in my opinion.  My mother Mary stuffed the bird her entire life, her mother before her, and I have been stuffing the bird my whole life. Here you have a nice bird, a huge cavity, come on, it begs to be filled with goodies. The flavor that comes from the natural juices can't be beat. If it's salmonella that you're worried about, that comes from not cooking the bird at a  safe temperature i.e., 155 degrees.  That's what the digital thermometer is for Bobby.
I stuffed this bird with bread crumbs, celery, sauteed mushrooms and onions, roasted fennel, herbs, and seasonings.
Then I rubbed the bird with a little olive oil,  herbs of Provence, extra dry sage, salt, pepper, and turmeric. I  baked it in the pizza oven with the door open around 400 degrees. I rotated the pan every 10 minutes or so.  It took about an hour and a half to cook. I pulled it out of the oven at 150 degrees.
I also cooked roasted potatoes and homemade chicken sausage, pictured below.

Baked New Potatoes

Chicken Sausage

New Potato, Feta, sun dried tomatoes in the oven

New potato, Feta, sun dried tomatoes

Genoa salami and three cheese pie

Old Hippie Tom Monaghan

Genoa salami, 3 cheeses, and  fresh basil

Baked Chicken with Stuffing

When I bake a chicken in the kitchen oven I keep it covered, and about 15 minutes before it's finished I uncover it to get a nice crispy skin on it, just like the one you see in this picture. I didn't have to do that with this bird in the pizza oven. I kept it in the Savory Jr. roasting pan the whole time, and it came out, as you can clearly see, crispy as can be. It was juicy as can be as well, and the stuffing was perfect, not to dry and not soggy. I hate soggy stuffing.
It's important to let a bird rest after it's been cooked.  Meat will naturally release juices after it has been cooked, but if you cut into it right away it will release those juices too quickly, and you will end up with tough meat every time. We had this bird, with a salad, for our dinner the next evening.
Well, a  good time was had by all this night.  We had four pizzas, and a lovely fresh dandelion salad, wine, and beer. We all ate at the bar,  hand to mouth.
Good food, good friends, and here's hoping the party never ends.
My sister Helene and her husband Howard come to town next week, and I'm going to plan a special meal for her birthday, which was May 15th. She and I are the only two left in our family. She's very special to me.

Peace,

Make Food, Not War