We moved to a farm!!
Well kind of. The boyfriend, who will now be known by his Christian name, Calvin, moved to a farm on the east end of Long Island. I’m splitting my time between the farm and my parent’s place on the Upper West Side so I can run the restaurant five days a week. This isn’t a “We Bought a Zoo” situation (full disclosure, I’ve never seen that movie, but I’m assuming the plot is Matt Damon buys a zoo even though he has no experience running a zoo) – Calvin farmed for five plus years before moving to the city three years ago when I opened the restaurant. We even lived on a farm the summer of 2012 when Calvin was farming in Amagansett. After over three full time years in the city Calvin was offered a job managing an organic vegetable farm out in Southold — pretty much at the end of Long Island on the North Fork (not the South Fork which is the Hamptons)(the North Fork is way chiller)(it’s also wine country!) and he couldn’t be happier to be doing what he loves.
SO Calvin’s out on the farm full time with Misses Loretta the dog who is also doing what she loves – running around in open fields all day herding sticks. It’s a brand spanking new farm so he gets to start from scratch – planting, buying animals, setting up barns. You really need to lay all the ground work for the growing season early in the winter so even though they haven’t started growing anything yet (animal or vegetable) he has his work cut out for him cleaning out barns, building chicken coops and deciding what they’re going to plant and when. Eventually, he’ll have a full blown farm stand and sell at market but for now there’s lots of prep to be done!
What do I do when Calvin’s at the farm all day? If you know me at all you know I’m not helping. I’ve tried working on the farm a couple of times and I don’t last long. I liken my experience farming to some of the worst school field trips I’ve been on – too cold, too hot, and plain old boring. But just because I’m no help on the farm itself doesn’t mean I’m no help at all! Once after a particularly frusterating day mulching garlic in Amagansett (mulching pretty much means throwing dead leaves on dirt) I gave up after about 20 minutes on a cold windy day, went back home and showed everyone up with two homemade challahs made from fresh farm eggs. I’m clearly much better at cooking the vegetables than growing them! And home cooked meals are always welcome on the farm or anywhere really. So I’m spending my off days on the farm cooking elaborate meals, blogging (!), teaching myself how to drive Calvin’s stick shift (and stalling a lot) and spending hours embroidering. It’s kind of awesome. It’s like I finally have the country house I always wanted! Plus the views from our house are RIDICULOUS. You guys should all come visit just to watch the sunset!
I’ll be posting updates of the farm’s progress from now on! Along with recipes I’ll be making based on seasonal vegetables Calvin will be growing from the farm. Today I’m sharing the very first meal I made at the farm — my Papa’s garlic rosemary roasted chicken, Italian Sausages and potatoes. It is an INCREDIBLE and easy one pan dish (just realized I’m posting two one pot meals in a row but whatevs). This recipe is also great for these last cold winter nights and equally enjoyable in warmer months. It’s great for a crowd but also holds up well if you make it for two and eat the rest as leftovers. I can’t wait to make it again with potatoes, garlic, rosemary and chickens all grown of the farm!
Even though my father has owned restaurants my entire life he almost never cooked. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen him cook three things – once he made me chicken soup when I was sick at home, once he had a date and he told me he was making her steak (I only saw the raw steaks, not the finished product) and this chicken dish which he has made for me over and over and I love every time. I first started making it on my own in college when I was a head cook at my co-op Tuesday nights — it feeds a lot of people and somehow the chicken always stays super moist and tender. It’s almost a full proof recipe! The real trick is to over stuff the pan and get a good 1/4 inch of olive oil on the bottom. The only time I’ve ever messed this recipe up was when I made it on a cookie sheet instead of the baking pan – all the ingredients were too spread out and wound up dry and over cooked. You need the potatoes, chicken and sausage to be crowded together to create the ideal moisture to crispyness ratio. Don’t skip the extra step of browning the sausages before you bake – it gives them that extra oomf of flavor and texture. And make sure you nestle the sausage and chicken next to each other next to each other for optimal flavor enhancement. Now here’s what you’ll need!
PAPA JOE’S ROASTED GARLIC ROSEMARY CHICKEN AND POTATOES
Serves 6
INGREDIENTS
4 white thing fleshed potatoes – peeled and cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
1 whole head garlic (we’re not kidding around here) – minced
6 chicken thighs – bone in!
1 lbs sweet or spicy Italian sausage – up to you
10-12 sprigs of FRESH rosemary – removed from stems and roughly chopped it should be about 1/4 cup
A LOT of olive oil – at least 1/3 to generously cover all ingredients and leave a 1/2 inch on the bottom on the pan while cooking
salt and pepper
1. preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. in a 9″x13″ baking dish (or around there – you can use a smaller baking dish but not a larger one. remember you want to crowd your ingredients in the pan) throw in chopped potatoes, half of the chopped rosemary, garlic and chicken and cover with olive oil so all ingredients are coated then add salt and pepper. Roughly mix ingredients together so chicken and potatoes are evenly covered in garlic, oil, rosemary salt and pepper. Set aside.
3. Heat 1 tbs of olive oil in a medium sized pan. Once hot brown the sausages on both sides -about one minute each- but do not cook through! You will be cooking the sausages along with chicken and potatoes so if cooked through on the pan they will get dry! Remove from heat and let cool till you can handle.
4. Once cooled but sausages into 4″ pieces and arrange with chicken and potatoes. You want all the ingredients to be touching! I find it easiest to spread out the potatoes, nestle the chicken and then squeeze sausages between the chicken and potatoes.
5. cover with more olive oil and salt and pepper and the remaining rosemary. Once again, you want there to be about a 1/2 inch pool of olive oil on the bottom of the pan – this helps keep the chicken moist while making the potatoes crispy and turns in tot he most delectable sauce once everything is good and baked.
6. bake for one hour – you want your chicken to be cooked through, juices running clear, with crispy skin. potatoes should be brown and crispy on the outside but fork tender on the inside.
7. served everyone a good portion of potatoes, one chicken thigh and at least one sausage! cover with oil sauce from the bottom of the pan and serve with crusty bread – you’re gonna wanna do some dipping!