How was Dinner?

Since I usually have two or three new to me recipes a reader should probably not assume each recipe is a sure fire winner. I will try to * the newbies. Of course, if the item is linked to an old post that is generally a sign that it was good enough to give it another go or the fates intervened and I didn't get it made last week and I am scheduling it again. With the last week of school and other chaos, some dinners just didn't happen, but there we're some excellent punts.

So the Pasta with Escarole and Roasted Red Pepper didn't happen...floor hockey practice, last minute book report speech drama, didn't store the Escarole well wilted to fast, blah blah blah. Neither did the Yakisoba, didn't get the pork defrosted in a timely manner, but that looks like it will be Sunday's dinner.

However we had two successes this week too. The Apple Cheddar Squash soup was pretty tasty, the crumbled bits of bacon totally made the difference. The salty meat with the slightly sweet soup combined in the best bites (slurps?).

I am ambivalent about barbecue at best. So I found the North Carolina recipe in a cook book I've had for years, but never tried. It is a spice rubbed pork with a sauce, some pretty hot spices at that, but if you dipped that hot spicy crust in the mop sauce then it mellowed and blended and was all kinds of good. I still think that I don't find barbecue very compelling, but if I was planning it for someone else, I wouldn't mind having this one again.

Then there was the surprise...that night that I was totally making yakisoba except the pork tenderloin hadn't come out of the freezer, so not so much. I eventually recalled that I had picked up a whole chicken at the market on a bit of a whim. Originally thinking of it as a potential dinner for the next weekend or maybe making stock and some shredded chicken to throw into salads or casseroles. Now I'm in total punt mode even breakfast for dinner was going to require a run to the store for bacon, but I remember this chicken. So I google roasted chicken. Now I have roast chicken recipes, but it was too late for the crock pot, and I didn't have 40 cloves of garlic. Inspiration was required. Epicurious.com totally came through, My Favorite Simple Roast Chicken by Thomas Keller (ooo fancy Top Chef judge) and it was so good. It was fast, school night friendly, and very simple, had everything in the house. Next time when I plan it, I'll be ready to make the simple green salad that he recommends.