Roast chicken

Emeril's Garlic Smeared Rosemary Roast Chicken

1 free-range chicken, about 3 1/2 pounds
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons finely chopped rosemary (reserve stems)
1/3 cup Roast Garlic Puree, recipe follows

Preheat oven to 425ºF.

Rinse chicken well inside and out and pat dry with paper towels. Rub chicken all over with olive oil and season inside and out with salt and pepper. Sprinkle rosemary all over chicken (place stems inside cavity) and roast in the oven for 1 to 1¼ hours, until chicken is almost cooked through. Remove chicken from the oven and schmear the 1/3 cup roast garlic puree all over outside of chicken and return to the oven for 15 minutes, until chicken is cooked through. Remove from the oven, set aside to rest briefly, then carve and serve.

Yield: 4 servings

Roast Garlic Puree

Recipe courtesy of Emeril Lagasse and Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc.

10 heads of garlic (about 1 1/2 pounds)
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Cut the top quarter from each garlic head and place, cut side up, on the prepared baking sheet. Drizzle the oil over the garlic and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Turn the garlic cut side down, and roast until the cloves are soft and golden brown, 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let sit until cool enough to handle. Squeeze a head of garlic, gently pressing with your fingers to expel the cloves into a bowl. Repeat with the remaining garlic. Stir the garlic with a rubber spatula to blend thoroughly. Use as needed, or store refrigerated in an airtight container.

Healthy Hot Cocoa

Dark Is Key
In one study, just 6 weeks of a daily dose of cocoa made skin smoother, better hydrated, and less sun sensitive. And 12 weeks did even more. All thanks to the skin-boosting antioxidants in cocoa, called flavonols. But it’s got to be dark chocolate, according to Wechsler. "Skip cocoa mixes, which don't have the same flavonol levels, and go for the real thing: dark, unadulterated cacao powder that contains 70 percent or more cacao," she writes in her new book, The Mind-Beauty Connection. Here's her to-die-for recipe (actually, it’s her husband Harry's!):

Harry's Super Simple, Healthy Hot Cocoa
The secret to this easy recipe? Heat it slowly. Slow heat helps release the antioxidants.

Ingredients
1 1/2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder with 70% or more cacao (such as Scharffen Berger natural cocoa powder or Ghirardelli unsweetened cocoa)
2 teaspoons sugar
Pinch of salt
1 cup skim or low-fat milk

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and heat gently (do not let it boil), stirring frequently, until cocoa is just beginning to steam. Pour into a mug and enjoy.