Roasted Lemon Herb Chicken and sides

Ingredients
2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon seasoning salt
1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 (3 pound) whole chicken
2 lemons
2 tablespoons olive oil


Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Combine the seasoning, salt, mustard powder, garlic powder and black pepper; set aside. Rinse the chicken thoroughly, and remove the giblets. Place chicken in a 9x13 inch baking dish. Sprinkle 1 1/2 teaspoons of the spice mixture inside the chicken. Rub the remaining mixture on the outside of the chicken.
3. Squeeze the juice of the 2 lemons into a small bowl or cup, and mix with the olive oil. Drizzle this oil/juice mixture over the chicken.
4. Bake in the preheated oven for 1 1/2 hours, or until juices run clear, basting several times with the remaining oil mixture.


Cooked by Cristina
Recipe provided by: allrecipe.com


Roasted Asparagus with Garlic and Parsley
Serves 4 to 6
Look for asparagus during the spring of each year, when the flavorful, fragrant stalks are at their best. This vegetable goes particularly well with roasted or grilled fish, but it's equally delicious roughly chopped and tossed into hot pasta or whole grains, too.


Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds asparagus, ends trimmed
2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste

Method
Preheat oven to 400°F.


Arrange asparagus in a baking pan in a single layer. Sprinkle parsley and garlic over the top then drizzle with oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast until just tender, 5 to 8 minutes. Transfer to a platter and serve hot.


Cooked by Cristina
Recipe provided by: wholefoodsmarket.com




Garlic Mashed Potatoes with Olive Oil

Ingredients
2 1/2 pounds baking potatoes
salt to taste
6 garlic cloves, peeled
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil or more to taste
freshly ground black pepper to taste


Directions
PEEL the potatoes if you wish. Or peel half and leave the other half with the skins on.
CUT the potatoes in half and plunge them into a large pot of rapidly boiling water. Add the whole garlic cloves and cook, covered, until the potatoes are very tender - about 25 minutes
DRAIN the potatoes and garlic well and turn them into a warm serving bowl.
USING a potato masher, mash them coarsely, adding the olive oil a little at a time.
WHEN all the oil has been added, taste and add more salt if needed and an abundance of black pepper.
SERVE immediately.


Cooked by Cristina
Recipe provided by: grouprecipes.com

Wine Pairing:

Starborough Sauvignon Blanc
New Zealand 2009


Courtesy of: Edmond Wine Shop
Selected by: Aaron




Surprise Mystery Dessert: Oreo Pudding
So before I write this down, please know that I do know how to make pudding. I had to figure out a short cut so I could still bring this to dinner this particular night. (the night after Aaron licked bird crap off of his arm) Just as long as we are on the same page about the fact that I would never really do this unless it was some sort of bird poop emergency, I'll continue...


Ingredients:
1 pkg vanilla JELLO pudding snackpacks (comes in a pack of 6)
1 pkg chocolate JELLO pudding snackpacks (comes in a pack of 6)
1 pkg OREO cookies (probably won't need the whole package)


In a 9 x 9 dish, empty all of the chocolate pudding cups. Spread it evenly. Crush many OREOs and spread them over the chocolate pudding until its covered. Repeat with the vanilla pudding and another layer of crushed OREOs. Place in the fridge until time to serve.




COMMENTARY


Aaron: I liked this meal quite a bit. I thought the chicken had great flavor despite Stephanie's face in the video. It did have a very lemony flavor. However I think it is because the recipe called for a whole chicken and Cristina just used breasts. the chicken was great, moist and tender! I give the lemon chicken a B+, only because I would have loved to see a whole chicken prepared and I think the flavor would have spread evenly. The Asparagus was very good, only thing I would do is add a little more lemon and sea salt but I loved the addition of garlic I give the asparagus an A-. The potatoes were prepared very well, I loved everything that was in them. However because it was prepared to early they were a bit cold and clumped together, but the flavor was still there. I give them a B, probably a A if they were hot and fresh. The wine was a new kind for me as well, but it had great taste and accompanied the meal very well. I give the wine an A.

Cristina: For the chicken, I used boneless breasts instead of a whole chicken and cooked for 30 minutes at 350. I really loved this chicken. It was really lemony, but I thought it had great flavor and it was super moist. I give the bird a 9.0. The asparagus I added a squeeze of lemon on the flower end to really bring out the flavor and I have to say, I loved this too. A solid 8 for me for sure. I would maybe add a little more garlic and some thyme next time though. I had high hopes for the mashed potatoes, because mashed potatoes are my favorite food in the whole world. These were actually pretty good. Unfortunately they were done earlier than the other two items, so they were cold and had to be reheated by the time I served dinner. Also, I think I am going to invest in some higher end olive oil for next time, because the flavor was a little off for me. I give these potatoes a 7, but I am positive with some improvements I can get them to a 10. The wine Aaron selected was surprisingly good. I haven't had many Sauvignon Blancs, but it really complemented the citrus in the chicken well and it had a smooth finish. For $12, it will be a good competitor for my normal Rieslings.

Stephanie: Despite my reaction in the video, I didn't hate this meal, per se, it just didn't complete agree with my taste buds. :) The chicken was...interesting. It was overwhelmingly tart. I think you could probably stretch that amount of lemon juice over 2 whole chickens and it still be a little tangy. The juiciness of the chicken, however, was great! That was a nice change. It's so easy to dry out chicken! After eating all of my chicken breast, being careful to eat it with potatoes and asparagus instead of by itself, I realized that it wasn't all that bad. But still, it was sour.

The asparagus was too crispy for me. I am not wanting baby food soft veggies but something that appears to be cooked. The flavor of the asparagus was also, not to my liking.
The potatoes were good, not a lot of flavor, but it worked with the rest of flavorful things on my plate.


My ratings:
Lemon Chicken: C+ (A without the lemon!)
Asparagus: B-
Mashed Potatoes: A

Guest Judge Karen Suchite: Well I was super excited to be invited as a guest judge to Casa Cristina but that’s just because I love to eat, oh yeah and to spend time with my sister. : ) She sent me the menu earlier that day…. and then that’s all I could think about. I’ve always secretly wished I could be a judge on Top Chef, that would be my freakin’ dream job! Anyways on to the meal, I walked into the house and it smelled delicioso! First item I spotted was the asparagus, it looked so tasty. Well we sat down for dinner and wine, first sip of the wine I thought it was quite tart not my favorite flavor but hey its wine so I’m going to pass it up (listen for my comment about “drinking” wine in the video).

Now the chicken was perfectly seasoned, lemony, juicy-just awesome; and afterwards I enjoyed the wine even more, it paired with the flavor of the chicken wonderfully.

The asparagus was crisp, I hate when veggies are cooked to much! They should retain their original texture, if not you can just enjoy some mashed up veggies aka baby food. Lol.

And the mashed potatoes were good but not my most favorite part. I like potatoes a little creamier, thicker; but that’s just because I’m used to my momma’s potatoes. They were very fluffy, kinda made it seem like they were good for you potatoes, like they had less carbs-or that’s just what I was telling myself.

And the Oreo pudding dessert, although very delicious I’m sure I enjoyed it more than Cristina’s brother! Good times, word of advice don’t park under trees.

Overall I was absolutely pleased with the dinner, I have decided that my grade scale will be based off the stickers that teachers give out in elementary school!

Chicken: Perfect!
Asparagus: Awesome!
Mashed Potatoes: Good work.
Dessert: Brilliant!
Wine: “Happy Face” Sticker

The End.