Mystical Travels through the World of Food, Wine, and a delicious recipe to prepare Roasted Chicken!

The Wine Tasting:

Friday night was great! I joined the wine tasting organized by Carlos Mata and a group of very fine young wine lovers from Panama. I know Carlos and his wife Concepción are big fans of Gary Vaynerchuck from the Wine Library TV, and to tell you the truth I am heading to that same direction!

Antonio Touriño from VinoManiacos.com and Monica Arauz from Panama Coffee Lovers were there too, they are such a fun couple!

***The report on the wines we tasted will follow soon! We'll keep you posted***

Wine Tasting photo credits: Carlos Mata.

My Meditations on Food:

We work hard at developing new delicacies every day, experimenting with what I call the "neglected" tropical ingredients, and I truly love it. It is like creating these magical concoctions, playing a little with chemistry, at the same time getting my little travel book of notes out, the same I work on during my many trips around the world. They are truly beloved memories, all surrounded by mystical aromas of food and the lost-in-time moments when my senses got the first glimpse of the bounty.

Sometimes, in special days like today I stop all the rush I feel I have most of the time in my life, and in search of inspiration...I find myself meditating through the photos of my past travels: one after the other, they bring joy and tears sometimes. This has been a very intense year so far, and far from complaining or crying my lungs out of the stratosphere, I cook!

We are blessed in so many ways and it is a tough task to find an equilibrium between the spiritual and the day to day life. You know what I mean, right? You have probably been there too...One thing I can tell you is that I am working at finding that perfect balance. You've got my word!

But, back to the basics, now...I just want to have a juicy homemade roasted chicken. How about you?

The Scrumptious Roasted Chicken Recipe:

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1 whole young chicken, rinsed and patted dry
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander seed
• 1/4 teaspoon ground paprika
• 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
• optional: baby potatoes, carrots and onion (to roast with chicken)

Serve with: Chimichurri Sauce AND/OR Roasted Garlic Mayonnaise.  If you love rice sides, do not miss our Black Beans and Rice recipe. They are out of this world! Yum!

Instructions:

• With a flavor injector (large-new syringe for marinating), inject the melted butter in the two chicken breasts, followed by the legs. So, you will actually inject the bird four times.
• Season chicken inside and out with salt, pepper, cumin, coriander and paprika. Transfer to roasting pan and roast until golden brown and thermometer registers 170°F when inserted into leg joint (45 minutes approximately). Remove from oven and let stand covered with foil for 10 minutes.
• Halve chicken in four  pieces and serve with the sauce and side of your choice.

Have a delicious week!

Un abrazo,
Melissa

by Chef Melissa - CookingDiva · July 22, 2007 · 09:21 PM
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