This last week or so I seem to be doing not much else but working and sleeping. The sleeping being necessary because I am pretty sure I had some form of Venusian death plague starting last weekend that I refused to acknowledge other than to sleep for nearly 36 hours straight. I got over this just in time to have one of my busiest weeks all year, personally and professionally, and then enjoy the weekend full as it was of a 6 hour class, an admissions meeting for school (hopefully to start in August), and moving furniture.
After weeks like this, simple is better. I ended Sunday night with an impromptu family dinner of turkey burgers with friends. A few weeks ago I made this chicken, and I think this would have worked out nicely as well.
Roasted Chicken, with Lemon and Mint
Serves 2-3
1/2 of a 5lb whole chicken, cut down the breast and backbones
1 medium or 2 small lemons
handful of mint leaves
2 medium cloves of garlic
salt
pepper
olive oil
1) Prepare your whole chicken by cutting it in half up the back bones and breast bones. Reserve the other half for dinner another night (should hold in fridge for up to 2-3 days depending on how fresh it was to begin with, or you can freeze in a large freezer bag).
2) Slice half of the lemon(s) into whole thin slices, should be a complete cross-section of the fruit. Crush the garlic cloves with a fork. Rinse and shake off the mint, it is not necessary for it to be completely dry.
3) Run your fingers under the skin of the chicken to create several deep pockets for stuffing. Place lemon slices, garlic, and mint liberally inside these cavities.
4) Salt and pepper the skin of the chicken. Place skin side down over medium-high heat in a HOT cast iron pan with 2 generous tablespoons of olive oil. Brown well, 7-10 minutes - including a few minutes with the ribs down and skin up.
5) Turn chicken skin side up, squeeze remaining half of the lemon, cut into wedges over the top. Throw the wedges in the pan with the chicken and place the whole pan in a 400 degree oven and roast until the chicken is done, 40-50 minutes. The internal temp will be 165 in the thickest part of the breast and the juices will run clear.
Enjoy with some crusty bread, a quick greens salad, a glass of wine, and your feet up.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Restorative
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
The Sophmore Slump
Nearly a week without cooking anything of consequence. How is a girl supposed to keep her blogging up if there isn't anything to blog about? Well, to be fair my parents were in town and we went out to eat quite a bit. I was hoping to regale you all with visually stunning photos of what I ate, but 1) I forgot to take pictures of most of it, and 2) I think the best thing I had all weekend was a martini at Scoma's in Sausalito. Gin. Extra dry. With an olive. Mmmm... nothing like raw oysters and a big fat Martini to make everything right with the world.
So instead of showing you, I will tell you about the one thing I did make (which I also conveniently failed to take a picture of), Jamie Oliver's Chicken in Milk. It was so good. Go make it. Go. Right now. No, seriously. You need to have made this for yourself yesterday because it really is that good. It is also incredibly simple.
I pretty much never follow a recipe explicitly unless I am unfamiliar with the end product or cooking technique, or if I am baking. This recipe is so simple, straightforward, and practically perfect that the only thing that could be adjusted is one of the cooking instructions. The recipe calls for the lid of your cooking vessel to be off the entire bake time, but another blogger made the accidental discovery that its even better if you leave the lid on for the first hour and then take it off to finish for the last 20-30 minutes. Leaving the lid on for the majority of the cooking time prevents the delicious sauce from evaporating and turning into charcoal at the bottom of the pot, and makes the chicken that much more moist and juicy.
So that is all I have to show for the last week. I'll come up with something better next time, I promise.
P.S. Jamie Oliver just won the 2010 TED Prize to pursue his desire to help revolutionize the way we teach children about food and eating. His work goes hand in hand with Michelle Obama's new Let's Move campaign to fight childhood obesity. There are so many things I could say but I think that these inspiring people and their projects can speak for themselves. Please click on the links to these sites to learn more about these projects, and, if you would like to become more involved, find out ways that you can offer your support.
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