Saturday, July 18, 2015

Upta Camp Skillet Suppah

Spicey Honey Glazed Chicken with a Roasted Root Vegetable Medley


Before I start with my recipe for this dish, let me just get one thing out of the way first. Yes...you read the title of this post correctly; Upta Camp is really a thing and for most Mainers it is the absolute best place on earth. If you live in Maine or are familiar with our quirky ways then you know what camp is.  In Maine we do not have lake homes or cozy cottages...we have camp.  If you do not have a camp of your own, you go to a friends camp or rent a camp but at some point in time you have been to camp and if you are a real Mainer, you loved it and have gone back again and again.

I own a camp, along with my husband and two best friends, on beautiful Moosehead Lake.  It is located at the very top of the lake in the North West Carry in a quiet little cove where there is no electricity, cell phone service or running water.  There is no place like it and there is no place on this earth I would rather be than upta camp!  I could go on and on about camp but I will share more in a later post on my Maine people and places page.  Now lets get to the business of cooking at camp!

Cooking for a large group of people at camp can be somewhat challenging but we always eat well.  Every once in a while we have some guests that love to cook and will help out in the kitchen but for the most part, I am the camp cook.  I love cooking for people at home but I especially love cooking for people at camp.  Somehow the food just tastes better and everyone looks forward to a good camp dinner at the end of each day.

For this camp dinner I decided to break out my trusty cast iron skillet.  It was a chilly rainy day at the end of June so this was a nice hearty dinner to warm us up.  This is also a great meal because it requires only two pans to cook the whole meal.  Honestly, it could have been done in the cast iron skillet alone but I used a sheet pan so I could accomplish two things at the same time.  Here is how I put this camp meal together.

First I started by cutting 3 beets, 4 carrots and 2 large potatoes into medium size cubes.  You want to make sure that you cut everything as close to the same size as you can so they are all done cooking at the same time.  
I spread the cubes out evenly on a foil lined sheet pan, season them with salt, pepper and olive oil and stick them in the oven for about 25 minutes at 350 degrees.

While the veggies are baking, heat the cast iron skillet on high and add two to three tablespoons of olive oil to the pan.  I season 4 bone-in chicken thighs with the few items that I could find in my camp cupboards.
I found some salt, pepper, dried thyme, natures seasoning and a meat rub called Spice Monkey.  
Once you have seasoned the chicken and your pan is nice and hot, add the chicken thighs to the pan just until the skin is brown and crispy on both sides.  Once you have browned the chicken, remove it from the pan and then deglaze the pan by pouring a couple of tablespoons of wine or chicken stock into the pan and scraping the bits of chicken from the bottom.  Do not, and I repeat, DO NOT discard the juices and bits of chicken from the bottom of your pan.  This is where all of your big flavor comes from so just leave it right where it is when you are done deglazing!

Next, remove your partially roasted vegetables from the oven, add them to the cast iron skillet and then place the 4 chicken thighs on top of the veggies.  Add a little more salt, pepper, olive oil, and Spice Monkey and once all of those ingredients are in the pan it is time to add the secret incredient...two tablespoons of Maine Made Honey.

Cover the entire skillet with tin foil or a cover if you have one and place the pan in the oven and bake at 425 degrees for about 30 to 35 minutes or until the chicken is cooked all the way through.  

This skillet dinner was one of the most flavorful dishes that I have ever made at camp.  The addition of the honey really kicked the flavor of this meal up a notch.  It was the perfect accompaniment to the spice rub on the chicken and the earthy flavors of the root vegetables.  This recipe fed two of us quite well and we had some left over for lunch the next day. It would be a fantastic meal to make for a larger crowd. 

 This rustic skillet dish is just the kind of heart warming and welcoming meal to  keep your guest wanting to come back Upta Camp again and again!


Enjoy!