Bake or Die.

Herb Roasted Chicken, Curry Roasted Cauliflower, Baked Sweet Potato

I've been wanting to mod podge, paint, and sew all weekend and the most making I've done was dinner this afternoon.  Herb Roasted Chicken, Curry Roasted Cauliflower, and baked sweet potatoes.   I baked everything together at 350.  It took the sweet potatoes about 1 hr. 20 min., and the cauliflower about 45 min. Everything was delicious, and my house smelled wonderful. 

The baking times and temps. below are for baking dishes separately.

Herb Roasted Chicken

1 roasting hen

Herbs de Provence

seasoned salt

olive oil

fresh minced garlic

1 c. water

(Tip:  If you have a bulk dry goods section in your grocery store, get your herbs there.  I spent .78 cents on the same amount of Herbs de Provence that would have cost up to $7/bottle in the baking aisle.)

Make an olive oil slurry with Herbs de Provence, salt, garlic, and oil.  Massage slurry into bird, including under the breast skin.  Place herby bird in dutch oven (I used enameled cast iron), pour in water (don't pour over the bird), cover.  Bake at 350 for 2 hours.  You can also roast it open and it will brown, but I wanted mine "fall apart" tender.  I also baked the neck along with the bird to make a rich broth.

Curry Roasted Cauliflower--Ready to Bake

Curry Roasted Cauliflower

1-2 heads of fresh cauliflower florets

1/2 medium onion, large dice

curry powder or mixture of Indian spices:

     (turmeric, coriander, garam masala,

      red pepper, dried ginger, etc.)

salt or seasoned salt

olive oil

Put onion and cauliflower in large plastic zip-lock bag.  Add olive oil and spices.  Shake well to coat.  Bake at 350 to 400 until browned, (30-45 minutes) stirring once. 

I make my own curry mixture with Indian spices.

Baked Sweet Potatoes

Rinse whole sweet potatoes well to remove any dirt.  Pierce skin in several places with fork.  Bake at 400 on cookie sheet for 30 min., turn potatoes over and bake an additional 30 minutes.