Among my many obsessions are great cookbooks. If a cookbook is truly lovely, I can read it like a novel – cover to cover, ogling every photo and fantasizing about the event for which I’d make every recipe.

I’ve clearly been living under some sort of rock, as I didn’t know much about Melissa Clark before now, other than that she’s the food writer for the New York Times. But from the moment I cracked the spine of her latest book, Cook This Now, I was a devoted follower. Organized by month, Clark walks you through what’s in season and great to cook with every month of the year, so you can adhere to her strict localvore attitude or mix-and-match recipes throughout the year.

As mouth-watering as every recipe appeared, I had to give things a try before I committed to our new love. So, I tested her recipe for Roasted Chicken with Chickpeas. Friends…all I can say is that roasting chickpeas and lemons underneath a chicken is pure culinary genius. They get all crunchy and delicious from the long cooking time, and the butter-slathered chicken drips down on the chickpeas as it cooks…the whole thing is complete genius.

For once in my life, I made this recipe exactly as written. And I wouldn’t change a thing…but I do have a few comments/helpful hints:

1. The gremolata is, as is often the case in my opinion, optional. The parsley is a nice touch, and adds a bit of freshness and color, but the lemons in the chickpeas are so bright that I couldn’t really taste the gremolata anyway. If you do want to go for the gremolata, I suggest zesting half of one of the lemons you’re already using (the half you’ll put inside the chicken), just to save yourself some work.

2. Butter is nearly impossibly to apply to wet chicken skin. So, before slathering, dry that chicken off thoroughly.

3. A roasting rack with handles is a nice effort saver here – I lifted the chicken out to add the chickpeas and stir everything around, and it made my life much easier than trying to maneuver around the bird.

4. Baby carrots would work every bit as well as larger carrots here, and would be a great shortcut. Also, dried thyme works out just fine in the chicken cavity if you don’t want to buy fresh.

Other than that, follow Clark’s directions to the letter, and you’ll have a seriously stunning dinner on your hands. My husband, carnivorus maximus, threatened to eat the entire bowl of chickpeas and lemons by himself.

Melissa Clark’s Roasted Chicken with Chickpeas & Gremolata

For the Chicken:
2 lemons
2 (15-ounce) cans chickpeas, drained
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons garam masala
2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1 (3 1/2-pound) whole chicken, rinsed and patted dry
4 thyme sprigs
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 pound carrots, peeled, trimmed, and cut into 1-inch rounds

For the Gremolata:
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1 small garlic clove, finely chopped

1. Preheat the oven to 400° F. Quarter the lemons lengthwise and remove and discard any seeds. Thinly slice six of the lemon quarters crosswise (you will get little triangles) and in a bowl, toss them with the chickpeas, oil, 1/2 tablespoon (which equals 1 1/2 teaspoons if you don’t have a 1/2 tablespoons measure) of the garam masala, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.

3. Season the inside of the chicken cavity with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Fill the cavity with remaining wedges of lemon and thyme sprigs. Rub the outside of the chicken all over with the remaining 1 tablespoon garam masala, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Rub the butter all over the skin.

4. Scatter the carrots in the bottom of the largest roasting pan you have (use the one you use for your Thanksgiving turkey). Place a wire roasting rack over the carrots; arrange the chicken, breast-side-up, on the rack. Transfer the pan to the oven and roast, stirring the carrots occasionally, for 30 minutes. Scatter the chickpea mixture into the bottom of the roasting pan. Continue to roast until the chicken’s thigh juices run clear when pierced with a knife, 45 to 60 minutes longer. Let chicken rest 5 minutes before carving.

5. Meanwhile, combine the parsley, lemon zest, and garlic in a bowl. Spoon the carrot-chickpea mixture onto a platter; arrange the chicken on top. Sprinkle the gremolata over the dish and serve.

I enjoy making risotto, when I have the time. Since that doesn’t happen as much as I’d like and I had a container of arborio rice staring me in the face, I looked up “oven risotto recipes” online. To my surprise, there were quite a few, ranging from recipes that required just a few minutes of stove-top prep to ones that required closer to 15 minutes of prep. Since I didn’t have most of the ingredients for either on hand, the decision was easy: Keep it simple. After coating a casserole dish with oil, I threw a cup of rice in the bottom, grated a little nutmeg, stirred in some minced garlic and added three cups of low-sodium chicken stock. (Low sodium is important, since the liquid will reduce.) Then I covered the dish tightly and threw it in the oven. After 20 minutes, I jiggled the casserole dish and there was still an inch or so of liquid on top. I let it go another 10 minutes and checked again. Bingo. I cubed up the butter and gently stirred it in, then did the same with the parmesan and seasoning. Total effort? Five minutes for a creamy and flavorful risotto. Not bad. I’ll definitely try this again, experimenting with adding a few more ingredients. Click through to the next page for the recipe!

Another one-pan rice dish you may like:
Broccolli rabe with sausage and rice

No-Stir Oven Risotto
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat the bottom and sides of a 1 1/2 quart casserole dish with cooking spray or oil. Add first four ingredients. Cover tightly and put in oven. Check after 20 minutes but don’t remove lid! If liquid thinly covers the rice, remove from oven and add final three ingredients. If not, cook another ten minutes. Check again. If it looks good, add the final three ingredients, stirring gently. Plate immediately and garnish with grated Parmesan.

1 cup arborio rice
3 cups low-sodium chicken stock
1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
1 tsp. pre-prepared minced garlic

salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup grated parmesan, plus more of garnish

Good old Facebook, the place where I (disturbingly) get more and more of my first news reports, and where a friend just hipped me to this hilarious hot dog dish, which a Livejournal thread), but there’s a great post and photos at Filth Wizardry, where they take it to the next level with carrots and ham. Would you make this dish for adults? How would you serve it? — Mary T.

These days, during the height of winter, I feel like I could roast a chicken a week and be happy. It’s just the easiest, loveliest, most satisfying meal — not to mention it warms up your house and provides plenty of leftovers. This past Sunday I decided to give a recipe from the new Martha Stewart Living a try, roast chicken with parsley, lemon and parmesan. Blessfully simple, the only prep work is to rub the bird with some oil, salt and pepper, and stuff the cavity with some parsley and a half a lemon. Toss some fingerling potatoes with oil and salt and add them to the pan. First you bake it at 425 for 15 minutes, then lower heat to 375 for 25 minutes, rotate pan, and then roast another 25 minutes. Meanwhile chop up some parsley (I used a small food processor), add oil, lemon zest, lemon juice and parmesan. Dollop some over the chicken and potatoes and serve the rest on the table. Heavenly. Click here for the recipe at MSL.com. — Angela M.

What’s your favorite way to roast a chicken? Here are some of our favorites, and leftover recipes, too.

Roast Chicken with Chick Peas and Lemon

Jamie Oliver’s Lemon Chicken

Lemon Rigatoni with Chicken and Broccoli

Peanut Noodles with Mango and Chicken

Not exactly the delicious, satisfying lunch I had in mind. If anything, it conjured more of a gag reflex than hunger pains. As I scraped the sorry remnants out of the pan, a series of flashbacks of prior mishaps appeared before my eyes. In reality, this panini pan has plagued me since the day it arrived. I didn’t return it after the first stick-tastic catastrophe, thinking it was just a fluke, or I was doing something wrong. A year later, I’ve determined there’s just no amount of grease sufficient to prevent this pan from destroying everything it touches. And, as you might expect, clean-up is – well, not a breeze. But I spent so much money on it…you know how it goes.

We all have them. Those appliances, gadgets or tools in the kitchen that we absolutely despise. Something we probably shelled out a good chunk of change to buy, with hopes of it transforming our culinary lives. Only to discover, once we put it to use, that it’s an utter horror to have around. Yet for some reason, you just can’t bear to throw it out.

As for me, I’m finally ready to admit defeat. I’m sending this pan off to my local Goodwill, complete with the residual PB&J crud I couldn’t free from its clutches, where some poor sap will undoubtedly discover it and think they’ve hit the thrift store jackpot. That is, until they get it home.

Please…tell me I’m not alone. Do you have any gadget wreckage cluttering up your kitchen? –Becki S.

I have a new favorite place for finding recipes — Pinterest. Yes, we’ve gushed about the wonders of the social sharing site before, but I can’t let a day pass without browsing around and pinning some yummy looking recipe suggestions. Last week I found this dish from Tartelette Blog, a gluten free, butternut squash coconut rice wonder and decided to give it a try. Helene from Tartelette wrote that this healthy number was her go to recipe during the hectic holiday season, as a relief to all the decadent food they had been eating. Seemed like a perfect way to start the new year to me! The recipe is a little time consuming, only because cutting up a butternut squash always takes a commitment. I also had a hard time finding lemongrass but did eventually (at Whole Foods, naturally). The black beans and squash worked really nicely together, and the coconut milk-cooked rice was wonderfully fragrant. The only complaint that arose was about the pesky lemongrass. I cut it up nice and small, but it still had a tough consistency and was too crunchy for our liking. I wonder if there is a better way to incorporate lemongrass? Any tip?

And, if you’re wondering what I’m thinking of cooking next, check out my Things To Cook board at pinterest! — Angela M.

I always like to have a few baking mixes handy for the days when I am lazy and Isadora is restless. Lately I have found myself seduced by the pretty packaging of Barefoot Contessa‘s mixes, which seem to be placed near the checkout aisles, where we are all more vulnerable to impulses. Today I gave her Gingerbread Cupcakes with Maple Frosting a try. Unlike good old Betty Crocker mixes, this one required an additional trip to the grocery store when I realized that cream cheese was needed for the frosting. It was worth the extra trip. The cupcakes are moist and have little pieces of crystalized ginger in them, and the frosty smells maple-y but tastes creamy and not too sweet. Last week I made her Peppermint Brownies and they were great too. — Angela M.

What’s your secret baking mix favorite?

The best Swedish meatballs I ever had were indeed in Sweden. About ten years ago, while visiting friends in Malmo (which is like Hoboken to Copenhagen), they whipped up batch with little more than a bat of the eye. I probed for the recipe, but was shown something that resembled a carton a half and half. That delicious gravy I was enjoying was store-bought. Swedish store bought.

Now, whenever I find myself famished after wandering through the maze of Ikea’s marketplace, I always stop and enjoy a hearty plate of their signature meatballs. So you can imagine my delight after seeing this recipe in a recent issue of Food Network magazine. Their “almost famous” Swedish meatballs were meant to be a homemade version of Ikea’s. I whipped them up according to directions, but encountered two problems: First, the meatballs took longer to cook through than the instructions said (20 mins) and the sauce was merely okay; a little bland. I wish it had a more tang to it and wonder if some more Worcestershire sauce would have done the trick. Or maybe a touch of cognac? Luckily, the Lingonberry jam that I served alongside raised them from okay to great. I picked up a jar at Whole Foods and it is a must-have if you are going to make this dish.

Another thing about this recipe: It made a lot of meatballs! I froze half of them and hope that round two will have a little more flair. Have you ever made Swedish meatballs. Share your secrets, please! — Angela M.

Our fancy dishes were just put away after holiday entertaining, but already we are fantasizing about new dining time accessories. These swanky pepper grinders from The Pepin Shop bring the reclaimed wood trend to tabletop. Made from naturally fallen branches (mostly from wind storms!), they are rustically gorgeous. Maybe the next time a hunking piece of tree falls in your yard you’ll look at in a new way? Maple pepper grinder, $89.

Related previous posts:
My new paranoia, fear of falling trees

Bless Food Network magazine. They think that adding a little ground Flaxseed to an oatmeal cookie recipe constitutes as health food for the New Year. And you know what? I am right there with them. When I spotted this recipe in the January issue, I knew I had to make it because a) it includes my favorite add-to-everything ingredient, chocolate chips. And b) it gave me a way to use the under-used ground flaxseed in my fridge. I bought it thinking I’d sprinkle it in oatmeal in the mornings. I do so occasionally, but have been on a Greek yogurt kick lately… I digress.

So these cookies have everything you want in a yummy cookie: butter, two kinds of sugar, vanilla, cinnamon. The twist is you mix in ground flaxseed in with the dry ingredients, which also includes quick cooking oatmeal. The results were tasty, but I only cooked them for 10 minutes and they got a little burnt. My oven is testy. Perhaps it doesn’t like health foods.

If you’d like to give it a try, you’ll find the recipe here. Let me know how it goes. — Angela M.

More cookie recipes I heartedly recommend:
The Best Oatmeal Cookies

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies, Ever (Honest)