Episode 267: Braised Chicken, Roasted Lemon Relish, and Treats for the Freezer

This week in Food News, we talk about a story in the Washington Post that asks, “Why did the food media ignore the best selling cookbook of 2018?

In our What’s For Dinner segment, Marisa talks through the recipe for braised chicken, green peppers, onions and tomatoes that she made recently. It’s one her mom used to make and tasted like childhood to her.

In How’d You Make That, Joy shares a roasted lemon relish she made recently as a way of using up some organic lemons that were going south.

Then we talked about making treats and other kitchen staples to stock the freezer.

Finally, in What We’re Loving, it’s all about ranch dressing.

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6 thoughts on “Episode 267: Braised Chicken, Roasted Lemon Relish, and Treats for the Freezer”

  1. What makes her a food expert?! Oh dear Joy, if only that were a requirement for publishing a cookbook…or a book in any genre these days. And I am very surprised you didn’t even see this book, it is all over amazon ads, which made me suspicious right away. As for how many meatloaf recipes do we need? That can be said for EVERY food category, seriously how many times can the salad/pie/cupcake/pasta dish be reinvented? Sadly the WP link (and not only yours but every one I found online) requires a payment, so I didn’t get a chance to read the article that was so well written. Thanks for another thought provoking and humorous episode! H

    1. I really am not sure how I missed it because since I’ve become aware of it, I have absolutely seen it everywhere!

  2. I have a theory about the ranch-pizza combination, which is that when Buffalo wings became popular as a pizza complement, they used to be accompanied by blue cheese dressing. My best friend in high school in the 90s used to love the pizza-blue cheese combo. As Ranch has grown in popularity, it’s displaced blue cheese. What’s not to love about spicy, acidic tomato sauce cut with a hint of creamy, tangy dressing?!

  3. Marisa, you mentioned stocking your freezer for when after the babies are born. One idea is to have a baby shower that is a cooking/stock the freezer party. If you have access to the right space for this type of party, you can have your guests divide into teams and make double batches of the recipes you want in your freezer. I did this on a suggestion from a friend, and it was not only a really fun party but also incredible for relying on when we came home from the hospital.

  4. Marisa, I also only had a freezer-above-fridge when my daughter was born. Yes to folks bringing you food! But here are a few things I’ve learned after two kids:

    1. Don’t forget about breakfast (and/or snacks). I found that I needed quick, easy protein/calories first thing in the morning and at non-mealtimes. So anytime someone was visiting for a couple days I’d ask them to make a batch of Company Muffins from Simply in Season, a batch of lactation cookies (which are great whether or not you’re breastfeeding – I can share a recipe and offer warnings about some terrible ones that a google search will turn up!), or a batch of muffin tin frittatas. These I could pull out and defrost in 30 seconds, shove in my face with one hand while rocking or nursing the baby, or grab on the way out the door for *another* doctor’s appointment.

    2. Prep ingredients. This is just like canning for convenience. Roast and portion chicken or brown ground meat; chop and portion veggies like onions, peppers, and carrots for your favorite recipes; etc. These things take up less freezer space than whole meals but make meal prep tons faster and easier.

    Good luck!

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