Cook: Farm Food

Everyone on the farm (except Meg) is in their skinny-jeans from all the work! Which is normal for my hyper-active babies anyway. We really love stick-to-your-ribs full butter kinda foods. I'm a firm beliver in cooking with full-fat gives you a better flavour and fills you up much faster then last satisfying foods.
 
Roast Chicken
This is a one-pot chicken I've been making for years, trust me on the butter. It's absolutely delicious, you get the best caramalized chicken butter vegetables! I pick up the chicken when they go on sale for $5 each at the store, and keep them in the freezer. Hopefully we'll be using our own birds very soon!

What you need:
Whole Chicken
Veggies from the Fridge
Butter
Chicken Herbs (Thyme, Salt, Pepper, etc.)

I like to use potatoes, carrots, onions & garlic. You can get more creative though! Take whatever is in the fridge, peel and cut into 2"+ pieces. You can cook your chicken from fresh or frozen. I like to mix my herbs into a softened butter. 1/2 a cup or 1 stick is more then enough for a chicken. Smother the chicken with your butter. If I've got extra time I'll peel the chicken skin back from the breast meat and stuff underneath as well.

I use an oven roaster with the lid on, and turn the chicken breast meat down. Once you're nearing done you flip the bird over and remove the cover to brown the skin on the top. In the oven at 425F between 1 hour and 2 hours depending on the size of your bird. (If you start your chicken 3 hours before dinner it will take 1 hour, if you start your bird 1 hours before dinner it will take 2 hours...). Sit back and watch your kids eat their vegetables. Save the chicken bones for stock!

Pot Roast
Another favourite around here, and it's not just a Sunday night dinner. This meal really does taste better with our grass raised young beef, but it's also a great way to use up an older cow/cheaper cuts from the grocery store and really stretch your dinner.

What you need:
Roast, any size
Veggies from the fridge
Beef stock/water/coffee/red wine
Beef Herbs (S/P, Rosemary, Garlic, etc.)

Peel whatever veggies you want and toss in the pot, normally I do onions, carrots & garlic. You want to brown your veggies this time, give them a quick simmer and throw them in the slow cooker OR save them on a plate and cook your roast in one pot. You also want to brown all sides of your roast; you can do this from frozen if you've forgotten to de-frost it. You should remember to season it first, but I frequently forget and just throw the herbs in the slow cooker behind the beef. Throw veggies & beef in your slow cooker, or you can do this on a pot on the stove. Add 1 cup or so of water or beef stock (home-made is best) or 1/2 cup of coffee (which is suprisingly good, and you can't taste the coffee!) and you can throw a little red wine in there too. Leave for 4 hours or so.