My most recent virtual cooking lesson with my brother-in-law, Conor, was supposed to prove how easy it is to make delicious roasted chicken and vegetables in just a single sheet pan.

One of our versions turned out delicious, but the other — not so much.
Conor's parents have recently moved from their city home to join him and my sister, Julia, who's about a month out from having a baby.  Julia had joked that they would be much easier graders of her husband's culinary endeavors than she has been.

Case in point: Conor texted me after we each sat down to eat: "My mom gave it a B. Julia gave it a 'See me after class.'"

This was not a huge surprise, given that throughout the process of cooking, Conor's chicken and vegetables had stubbornly refused to brown — to the point that I was throwing shade at their oven.

We will have to claw our way back to honor-student status in our next cooking foray. For now, I  did come up with some learning from this failing grade.

The basic recipe is flexible, but not as much as I'd hoped, apparently.

Russet potatoes (the only kind Conor had) really don't get crispy and delicious when roasted the way all-purpose, waxier potatoes do. I used a mix of fresh broccoli and radishes; Conor used frozen broccoli. I recently learned the latter can be roasted, but in this case the water in the broccoli turned the oven into a steam bath, preventing crisp chicken. And finally, the smoked paprika I used is much more flavorful than the regular paprika that Conor used.

It's also pretty widely understood that roasting or baking two densely filled pans of something in an oven, versus a single tray, will likely take a bit more time. We allowed for that, but it couldn't compensate for the other issues. (I did use a second tray for my vegetables to avoid overcrowding, but that didn't prove to be a problem.)

Please don't let Conor's challenges impact your interest in this recipe, which really is a lovely, easy way to make a one-pan meal with relatively little fuss and mess. The caramelized lemon slices are an especially nice touch.

• 4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, or full legs (2-3 pounds)
  
• 1 1/2  teaspoons coarse salt, divided, plus more to taste
  
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
  
• Small handful fresh herbs, such as thyme or rosemary, divided
  
• Several generous grinds fresh black pepper
  
• 1 1/2 pounds unpeeled white, red or yellow potatoes, washed well and cut into 1-inch chunks
  
• 1 lemon, washed well, sliced thinly into rings, seeds removed and ends discarded
  
• 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
  
• 1 medium leek, white and light green part thinly sliced and washed well (sub: one medium onion sliced into 8 wedges, or 6 shallots sliced lengthwise in thirds)
  
• 2 to 3 cups raw vegetables cut into bite-size pieces, such as broccoli or cauliflower florets, radishes or fennel bulb

Directions

1. Ideally, at least 30 minutes before cooking and up to 24 hours ahead, put the chicken in a resealable bag with 1 teaspoon of the salt, the smoked paprika, about half the fresh herbs, and several grinds of fresh pepper. Seal the bag and massage the seasonings and chicken together to combine. Refrigerate if more than 30 minutes before cooking.
   
2. Heat the oven to 425 degrees. On a large sheet pan or shallow broiler pan, toss the potatoes with the lemon slices, remaining herbs, 1 1/2 tablespoons of the olive oil and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt. Spread the potatoes out and add the seasoned chicken, skin side up, keeping everything in one layer to ensure even cooking. Put the chicken and potatoes in the oven and set the timer for 20 minutes.
   
3. While the chicken starts roasting, toss the leeks and other vegetables in a bowl with the remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, a pinch of salt and a few more grinds of pepper.
   
4. After 20 minutes, turn the potatoes to get as much crispy surface as possible and, if there's room, tuck the vegetables around the chicken and potatoes. If the pan is too crowded, use another sheet pan for the vegetables. Roast another 25 to 30 minutes until the chicken and vegetables are all nicely browned and crispy. (Chicken should register 165 degrees on an instant-read thermometer if you have one.)
   

Source: Adapted from My Kitchen Chalkboard: Seasonal Menus for Modern New England Families by Leigh Belanger (Union Park Press, 2018)

Got cooking questions? Feel free to email them to [email protected].

On May 21, the New York Times published an article by restaurant critic Tejal Rao headlined, "As the Restaurant Industry Struggles, the President Talks About Butter."

The butter in question captured President Trump's fancy during a May 18 meeting with restaurant executives to discuss potential federal support during the pandemic. Diane St. Clair makes it at Animal Farm in Orwell from the milk of her tiny herd of grass-fed Jersey cows.

Jackie Oktay has been busy homeschooling her kids, converting two restaurants to takeout businesses, and keeping 40 people employed. So she missed the news on Wednesday that restaurants could open for outdoor dining on Friday. They'd been ordered to stay closed for two months as part of the state's effort to rein in the coronavirus.

Oktay, co-owner of Istanbul Kebab House in Burlington and Tuckerbox in White River Junction,  found out Thursday morning  that restaurants got the green light.

“I’m like, ‘Oh my God,’ ‘’ Oktay said by telephone Thursday afternoon. “The wheels start turning: What the heck do I have to do now?”

The Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont's pizza oven has been a reliable sign of summer since 2006. Established by the late Enid Wonnacott, who led NOFA-VT for more than 30 years, the mobile oven could be found on farms throughout the state, bringing people together around pies topped with local, farm-fresh ingredients.

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the pizza oven is still a beacon of commensality, though the mission has a different focus this year.

The nonprofit has launched a new project called "Feeding Those Who Feed Us," which brings the mobile oven to certified organic farms around the state to cook for hardworking farm crews.

The Monkey House opened back up Thursday with drinks to-go — and a disclaimer. The Winooski bar's website, which is now set up for online ordering, states that every order with one or more alcoholic beverage "must include at least 1 Hot Dog or 1 Cup of Noodle." 

Bar snacks were a pretty random category to begin with, but Gov. Phil Scott's directive allowing delivery and takeout of alcoholic beverages from restaurants and bars during the COVID-19 pandemic — as long as they're purchased with a meal — has brought the land of popcorn and peanuts to a whole new level. 

ShiftMeals, the hunger-relief  initiative started by Skinny Pancake restaurants to provide free meals to unemployed restaurant workers, musicians, gig workers and others, is establishing an agricultural component, the organization announced this week. The endeavor,  ShiftMeals GrowTeam, is part of the group’s effort to address the rise in food insecurity from the economic impact of the coronavirus.

ShiftMeals GrowTeam will provide laid-off cooks, servers and other hospitality workers access to farms and the means to grow their own food and learn about agriculture.  Through partnerships with gardens and farms in Burlington, Richmond and Marshfield, ShiftMeals GrowTeam will build so-called Victory Farms at which people can cultivate their own food.

Updated on May 21, 2020.

Restaurants in Vermont can open for outdoor dining starting Friday, according to guidelines released Wednesday by state officials.

Gov. Phil Scott closed the state's eateries on March 17, though he allowed them to continue takeout, curbside and delivery service. Wednesday's decision to allow outdoor dining on-site is the latest step in reopening the state's businesses.

The update to Vermont’s “Be Smart, Stay Safe” order includes certain stipulations: Restaurants must use disposable menus, and a reservation or “call-ahead seating” system; tables must be at least 10 feet apart; takeout service, as opposed to table service, is preferred; and the maximum number of diners seated at one time can be 50 people or the licensed seating capacity, whichever is less.

Leunig’s Bistro, located at the high-traffic corner of College and Church streets in Burlington, can seat 50 people outdoors, chef-owner Donnell Collins told Seven Days Wednesday night. But with tables spaced 10 feet apart, Leunig’s can accommodate 18 to 20 customers, Collins said.

“I can’t support 95 people with 20 seats,” she said, referring to the size of her staff. “It’s just not gonna happen.”

I cannot count the number of times I've made these cupcakes over the last five years since their creator, Nancy Cain, told me it was the single recipe in her then-new cookbook I should try if I only tried one.

I will admit I was skeptical. Not only were they gluten-free, as was everything in Cain's cookbook, Against the Grain: Extraordinary Gluten-Free Recipes Made from Real, All-Natural Ingredients, but I had  recently experienced full-on disaster with another baking recipe (not Cain's) featuring the same gluten-replacing ingredient.

But I had promised I would give them a try, and when I did I was floored. With just six simple ingredients that many people will have on hand (even in a pandemic), this is the best and easiest chocolate cupcake recipe I've ever baked.

Nancy Cain and her husband, Tom, cofounded Against the Grain Gourmet, a gluten-free baked-goods company, in Brattleboro in 2006. Tom and one of their sons had been diagnosed with celiac disease; Nancy, a scientist by training, approached recipe development for her family with that rigorous approach.

"I'm very good at holding variables constant," she told me back then.

Nancy has always prided herself on recipes that feature whole ingredients, no funny business. This is a case in point: You literally just blend the ingredients in a food processor, scrape the batter into the pan, and turn out moist, fine-crumbed chocolate cupcakes. 

I've since made the recipe as both cupcakes and as a whole cake for birthdays, team dinners and graduations; for preschoolers, teenagers and octogenarians. It is beloved by all, and I think only one person has ever guessed the secret ingredient on their first try. (No, I'm not going to tell you, but the recipe is below!)

As noted, the recipe is gluten-free (i.e., no flour required) and also dairy-free. That means it can deliver more joy to more people, but I make it even for gatherings without dietary considerations because it's so good.

The original recipe calls for a white-chocolate-lavender icing, but I make a simple chocolate glaze instead. Then I garnish with whatever fresh berries or edible flowers are in season.

The cupcakes pictured here were made a couple weeks ago and garnished with dandelions from my (unsprayed) lawn for a birthday girl who appreciates wild edibles. The cake version was made for another birthday and  decorated with some gorgeous, professionally grown blooms. Each brought a lot of joy.

Cocoabean Cupcakes

Makes 12 cupcakes

Ingredients

For cupcakes:

• 1/3 cup coconut oil
  
• 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
  
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  
• 4 large eggs
  
• 1 cup sugar
  
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  

For glaze:

• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips (dairy-free if desired)
  
• 2 teaspoons coconut oil
  

Directions

1. Position rack in center of oven and heat to 350 degrees. Line cups of a standard muffin tin with paper liners.
   
2. In a food processor, blend coconut oil and beans together until they are smooth and creamy, scraping down sides of processor bowl as needed.
   
3. Blend in cocoa powder. The batter will become stiff. Blend in eggs and sugar until sugar crystals are dissolved. Scrape down sides of processor bowl a couple times to make sure everything is well blended. The batter will become creamy and look like chocolate pudding. Blend in baking soda.
   
4. Scoop or pour batter into prepared muffin tins; each liner will be about 2/3 full.
   
5. Bake cupcakes for about 30 minutes, until the tops are firm and a cake tester comes out clean.
   
6. Cool cupcakes completely before glazing.
   
7. To make glaze, melt together chocolate chips and coconut oil gently in a small, shallow bowl in a microwave, or in the top of a double boiler, just until they whisk together smoothly. Dip the top of each cupcake in glaze. (Tip: Twirl it as you pull out to prevent drips.)

Note: A friend tried to make them egg-free (using flax egg as a sub) and that did not work. I have successfully made the recipe, doubled, as a 9-by-13-inch cake and a 12-inch round. Both take about 40 minutes to bake. Double the glaze.

Source: adapted from Against the Grain: Extraordinary Gluten-Free Recipes Made from Real, All-Natural Ingredients by Nancy Cain (Clarkson Potter, 2015).

Reported cases of serious illness due to people mistaking highly poisonous false hellebore (Veratrum viride) for a prized wild edible, ramps (Allium tricoccum), have more than doubled in Vermont over last year's number: to 22 so far, according to Dr. Karen Simone, director of the Northern New England Poison Center.

"It makes you wonder: Are people just having more time on their hands, or are they going back to nature because of all the things that are happening?" Simone said. "It's hard to know, but it's definitely a big increase."

The Poison Center, based in Portland, Maine, serves Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire; it typically receives from zero to eight reports of false hellebore poisoning per year across all three states. The total number of cases to date is 25. All but three of those have been reported in Vermont, mostly in May. 

Last week, we asked Emily Morton, general manager of Deli 126, if she could whip up a cocktail recipe for a front porch or backyard hangout — something to drink at home with the arrival, at last, of warm weather.

Our request happened to coincide with a phone call that Morton got from her parents in Williston.

“Did you know you can get wine in a can?” they asked her. Her parents had discovered it at a convenience store and bought a 12-ounce can to share.

“Yes,” their daughter replied. “I definitely knew.”

(I neglected to tell Morton that wine in a can was news to me, too.)

Morton wanted to share a cocktail recipe that uses ingredients people are likely to have at home. She decided to build the drink around 12 ounces of wine — dry white or rosé, canned or bottled.

Her drink, called Brighter Days Sangria, calls for jam and fruit. I used clementines, frozen raspberries and strawberries. Morton gave a shout-out to rhubarb, which is growing in her garden.

We had no liqueur at our house, so I made a quick run to the packie, where I hit the 2 p.m. rush. I bought a big bottle of Aperol, bright red and sticky. It should last a lifetime.

Brighter Days Sangria is quick and easy to make and lives up to its name.  Our only adaption, in a microwave-less house, was heating the jam in a pan on the stove. I even pulled a pitcher out of my sleeve — OK, down from a high shelf — a development that stunned my daughter.

“We have a pitcher?” she exclaimed.

If you want the pros to mix your drink, you can get a cocktail to go three nights a week at Deli 126. Morton and bar owner Jake Shane serve drinks in vacuum-sealed packages: grown-up juice boxes. Open and pour over ice.

Brighter Days Sangria

Serves 2

Ingredients

• 1 12-ounce can of dry white or rosé wine, or 12 ounces from a bottle
• 1 heaping tablespoon of berry jam, heated in the microwave until runny
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/4 cup liqueur (Aperol, peach, apricot, Grand Marnier, etc.)
• Berries, citrus slices, rhubarb ribbons from your fridge or garden
• 1/4 cup citrus seltzer (more if desired)

Directions

1. Whisk together the jam, lemon juice and liqueur in a pitcher.
2. Add fruits and wine.
3. Let the mixture sit for 30 minutes.
4. Add ice and seltzer, and serve!

Source: Emily Morton of Deli 126