America has been conditioned to think of pasta as the never-ending pasta bowl and Olive Garden. …
Joe Bastianich

What a gorgeous spring day at the coast yesterday and today, but it is quite a bit cooler in the 40’s and we will only reach 50ºish temps later, I’ll take it as opposed to the New England snow prediction.

Cooking from my books is on the agenda this week and concentrating especially on good family-style dinners that do not take a tremendous amount of time and effort. There are so many hearty meals from every country to be had and I try to vary my weekly dinner menus to enjoy worldly good cooking recipes.

With the exorbitant food prices forced upon us these days, it pays to create a weekly dinner menu to guide us to some of the best sale prices from our markets to create satisfying meals for a few or many family dinners and also great enough for company dinners. Don’t forget a trip to the freezer and refrigerator to use frozen items and clear out a veggie bin for part of or an entire dinner.

Tonight I came away with 1/2 of a chicken from the freezer and pretty much everything else from the refrigerator or pantry for a Lidia Bastianich recipe, slightly adapted and with Lidia’s notes below:

4 pounds of spring chicken parts
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil
1-1/2 pounds small (about (about 1-1/2 inch) red potatoes halved
3 small onions, quartered (I had a bunch of shallots so I peeled and quartered them)
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
1 whole dried hot red pepperoncini broken in half or (1/ tsp. crushed red pepper) which is too much for someone else around here so I just added a couple small pinches to taste)
20 pitted calamata olives/or a favorite mix)
2 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley
*Optional bottled quartered marinated artichoke hearts with some of the marinade, about 1/2cup

In a large bowl, toss the chicken pieces with the olive oil.
Season with salt and pepper and toss again.

Heat two large (at least 12-inch) non-stick or well-seasoned cast iron pans over medium heat.
Add the chicken pieces, skin side down, and cover the skillets.

Cook the chicken, turning it once, until golden brown on both sides, 5 to 7 minutes.
Move the chicken pieces to one side of the skillet. I removed the chicken to a clean plate to create pan sauce with white wine about 1/4 cup for my halved recipe before placing the chicken pieces and finishing the dish covered.

Add the potato halves cut side down to the clear side of the skillet and cook on medium heat for 15 minutes, turning them and the chicken pieces often, until evenly browned. (At this point, both the chicken and potatoes should be crisp and brown).

Meanwhile, peel the onions and cut them in quarters through the core, leaving the core intact to hold the quarters together while they cook.

Reduce the heat to medium-low, divide the onions, rosemary, olives, and peperoncino between the skillets, and cook, covered, until the onions have softened and the flavors have blended, about 15 minutes.
Stir the contents of the skillets gently several times as they cook. Drain the oil from the pan before serving chicken and potatoes, sprinkle with chopped parsley, and serve.

Note: Cut each spring chicken into four pieces: 2 breasts/wings and two legs.

You can substitute two large (about 1 ¾ pounds each) Cornish for the spring chickens.

Cut the hens into 8 pieces each: 2 wings. 2 breasts, 2 thighs, and 2 legs. Cooking time will be approximately the same.

Enjoy a crispy favorite salad as well as a nice glass of your favorite red or white wine Pinot Noir or would Pino Grigio be my 2 good choices.