Sunday Dinner

I was in the garden yesterday evening helping to get it covered because it was going to be too close to freezing for comfort. While I was there, I dug up my some potatoes - my first from our garden. One little plant yielded about 8 good size potatoes. I'm guess over 2 lbs, and they'll provide for at least three meals I'm guessing - all from one little plant!



And they are gooooood. So this made me think of the following recipe, and the story that precedes it...because what's a recipe without a good story :)

My friend Jamie moved to Aspen. Jamie was my neighbor in Breck, and then we both needed to move and decided to become roommates. She was the best roomate I ever had, but she up and left me for a job in FLORIDA only a few months after we had moved in together. This was November of last year. As we all suspected, she ended up hating Florida. So while I was busy meeting Jim and moving to Aspen, she was busy trying to move back to Colorado.

How did I get so lucky that the job opportunity she was offered was also in Aspen!? And so about three months after me - in mid August - Jamie joined us here in the Roaring Fork Valley!

One Sunday afternoon, when she was staying with us while looking for an apartment, I decided to make a good Sunday feast. Now, Jamie is not a cook - although she's learning - and she seems to think this dinner was something out of Martha Stewart's kitchen!

The menu consisted of: Organic Roaster chicken with garlic, orange, and lemon; pan seared oven roasted rosemary farmer's market potatoes, and garlic broccoli and cauliflower straight from our garden!

I am a big proponent for organic/local eating, so the fact that I knew where all this food came from made me even prouder of the end result. The broccoli and cauliflower were easy - steamed with a couple cloves of smashed garlic, but I would like to share the "recipe" (we all know how I actually measure anything, haha!) for the potatoes.

Pan Seared Oven Roasted Farmer's Market Potatoes:

Start with about a pound of tiny new potatoes - I pick the smallest ones they have, wash them well.

In a large oven proof pan, heat up some olive oil and two cloves of minced garlic. Don't let the garlic burn. Also put in a sprig of rosemary and a sprig of thyme (no need to chop). Let the flavors meld with the olive oil and then add the potatoes and salt and pepper liberally. Let the potatoes brown lightly, tossing them around a few times, and then throw in a small pat of butter, cover with foil, and put the pan into the oven. The best part is, you can let them cook at the same temp as the chicken...and you can also swap out rosemary and thyme for whatever you prefer. I usually leave them in the over for at least 30-40 minutes or until a knife easily goes through, but the best part is you can leave them in as long as it takes everything else to cook because the potatoes don't seem to overcook in this method. I usually take them out a little earlier so they'll cool and then finish to taste with a little extra salt and pepper.

As for the chicken, you'll have to tune in to the next exciting episode for that recipe!

P.S. I thought I'd share a little excitement: I've sold over $25,000 in paintings in three days. And its the slow season! Go me, go me go me ;)