Roast chicken has been on the mind for a few days now, well Derek's mind at least, so that trumped our "tradition" of pasta sauce Sundays that we have carried on for a few Sundays (not consecutive, so not really a tradition per se....). I'd say chicken is probably right on up there when it comes to a Sunday tradition - smells wafting through the house...comforting sides of mashed potatoes and peas accompanying the chicken...what an "olden day" concept!!
With all of the somewhat non-traditional dishes that we make, sometimes it's nice to have a simple, comforting meal, and that's exactly what tonight's meal was.
Lemon and Rosemary Roasted Chicken
I found this recipe while waiting in line at Whole Foods to check out. It was already about 7:30 PM and we were still at the store...in Berkeley...with no chicken in the oven...not quite the "wonderful wafts of roast chicken coming from the kitchen while you spend quality time as a family" situation - but we are no strangers to continental dinners, and we are not exactly traditional. My hope was to have a recipe read and memorized by the time we got home so we could go-go-go and pop the baby in the over to start cooking. The marathon chicken making didn't quite go that quickly, but it was good to get an idea of what we were going to do so we didn't have to spend precious time comparing recipes from FoodNetwork.com and FoodandWine.com and Epicurious.com....you get the idea.
I went straight for what I find to be one of the BEST combinations for roast chicken, lemon and rosemary. Fresh and vibrant flavors that do wonders to a simple piece of meat. Here's what we did:
1 Whole Chicken (ours was 3.6 lbs - natural, organic...$13)
Fresh Rosemary (a few sprigs)
Fresh or dried thyme (received some fresh thyme from a co-worder on MONDAY - bummer, used dried, just about 1/2 tsp or so...)
1 Lemon, juice and peel
Honey (about 2 Tablespoons)
2-4 T. of butter, softened
Salt and Pepper
Chicken Preparation:
Take the 1-2 sprigs fresh rosemary off its stalk and give it a nice chop. Put it into a small bowl. Also zest the whole lemon and put the zest into the small bowl too. Combine the rosemary and zest with the butter, salt, pepper, and thyme. Add a decent amount of salt and pepper.
Take some of your herb butter mixture and stuff it under the skin on both the top and the bottom of the chicken. Try and get as much under the skin as possible. Salt and pepper the outside of the chicken as well as the inside of the cavity -- but be careful. Remember that there's salt and pepper in your herb-butter mixture so you'll have to make sure the outside is not too salty.
Chop the lemon into quarters and stuff into the cavity of the chicken, along with a big sprig of rosemary. The heated lemon and rosemary will release flavor into the rest of the chicken, mainly the breast.
Drizzle a bit of honey on the top of the chicken, salt and pepper the skin, and you're all set to start roasting!
Place the chicken in a roasting pan in an oven pre-heated for 425 degrees. Roast for 20 minutes at this temperature and then lower to 350 degrees. With a 3.6 lb chicken, it took us about 1 hr. and 40 minutes to roast - the additional time may be attributed to a potentially cold inside of the chicken.
We let it sit for about 10 minutes and then it was ready...well almost...Derek took the lemon from inside of the chicken and squeezed a bit over the exposed meat - and THEN it was dinner time.
Crispy skin - and tasty. And I am NOT one to eat skin...at all...but I did try the little bit that was on my piece and I quite enjoyed it! All in all - super tender (and no brining necessary) - and sooo flavorful. Wow.
To go with the chicken, we did a recipe of our own creation:
Braised Swiss Chard with Mushrooms
salt pork, enough to render about 2 T. fat
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1 spring onion, sliced
1/4 yellow onion, sliced
1 bunch of swiss chard (we had a mix of red and green), stems removed and chopped
1/2-2/3 lb mixed mushrooms (white button, oyster, cremini)
4 tsp. red wine vinegar
Juice of 1/2 lemon
salt and pepper
Heat the salt pork and render fat - about 2 T. - remove the pork, leaving the fat in the pan.
Sautee garlic and onions until translucent, about 7 minutes (make sure not to burn the garlic!)
Add the swiss chard and cook until just wilted.
Add the mushrooms and red wine vinegar. Stir well and cover.
Cook at a low temperature for about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Finish off the vegetables with lemon juice, salt, pepper. Ready to serve!
I love swiss chard. I love mushrooms. I loved this dish.
and wine...my other love...tonight's wine came from our wine shipment so we had no prior knowledge of what to expect. Meridian "Limited Release" Santa Barbara County Pinot Noir - comes in at about $22 a bottle. Apparently it's only available through the winery or through Cellar360 - so you won't be finding this one in the stores!
I think I was more pleased with the wine than Derek was. We both agreed it was good - but I thought it was great. The winemaker described it as "offering aromas of strawberry jam, smoky oak and leather which are supported by vibrant flavors of cherry and a full body." Sure...sounds good to me :)
With all of the somewhat non-traditional dishes that we make, sometimes it's nice to have a simple, comforting meal, and that's exactly what tonight's meal was.
Lemon and Rosemary Roasted Chicken
I found this recipe while waiting in line at Whole Foods to check out. It was already about 7:30 PM and we were still at the store...in Berkeley...with no chicken in the oven...not quite the "wonderful wafts of roast chicken coming from the kitchen while you spend quality time as a family" situation - but we are no strangers to continental dinners, and we are not exactly traditional. My hope was to have a recipe read and memorized by the time we got home so we could go-go-go and pop the baby in the over to start cooking. The marathon chicken making didn't quite go that quickly, but it was good to get an idea of what we were going to do so we didn't have to spend precious time comparing recipes from FoodNetwork.com and FoodandWine.com and Epicurious.com....you get the idea.
I went straight for what I find to be one of the BEST combinations for roast chicken, lemon and rosemary. Fresh and vibrant flavors that do wonders to a simple piece of meat. Here's what we did:
1 Whole Chicken (ours was 3.6 lbs - natural, organic...$13)
Fresh Rosemary (a few sprigs)
Fresh or dried thyme (received some fresh thyme from a co-worder on MONDAY - bummer, used dried, just about 1/2 tsp or so...)
1 Lemon, juice and peel
Honey (about 2 Tablespoons)
2-4 T. of butter, softened
Salt and Pepper
Chicken Preparation:
Take the 1-2 sprigs fresh rosemary off its stalk and give it a nice chop. Put it into a small bowl. Also zest the whole lemon and put the zest into the small bowl too. Combine the rosemary and zest with the butter, salt, pepper, and thyme. Add a decent amount of salt and pepper.
Take some of your herb butter mixture and stuff it under the skin on both the top and the bottom of the chicken. Try and get as much under the skin as possible. Salt and pepper the outside of the chicken as well as the inside of the cavity -- but be careful. Remember that there's salt and pepper in your herb-butter mixture so you'll have to make sure the outside is not too salty.
Chop the lemon into quarters and stuff into the cavity of the chicken, along with a big sprig of rosemary. The heated lemon and rosemary will release flavor into the rest of the chicken, mainly the breast.
Drizzle a bit of honey on the top of the chicken, salt and pepper the skin, and you're all set to start roasting!
Place the chicken in a roasting pan in an oven pre-heated for 425 degrees. Roast for 20 minutes at this temperature and then lower to 350 degrees. With a 3.6 lb chicken, it took us about 1 hr. and 40 minutes to roast - the additional time may be attributed to a potentially cold inside of the chicken.
We let it sit for about 10 minutes and then it was ready...well almost...Derek took the lemon from inside of the chicken and squeezed a bit over the exposed meat - and THEN it was dinner time.
Crispy skin - and tasty. And I am NOT one to eat skin...at all...but I did try the little bit that was on my piece and I quite enjoyed it! All in all - super tender (and no brining necessary) - and sooo flavorful. Wow.
To go with the chicken, we did a recipe of our own creation:
Braised Swiss Chard with Mushrooms
salt pork, enough to render about 2 T. fat
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1 spring onion, sliced
1/4 yellow onion, sliced
1 bunch of swiss chard (we had a mix of red and green), stems removed and chopped
1/2-2/3 lb mixed mushrooms (white button, oyster, cremini)
4 tsp. red wine vinegar
Juice of 1/2 lemon
salt and pepper
Heat the salt pork and render fat - about 2 T. - remove the pork, leaving the fat in the pan.
Sautee garlic and onions until translucent, about 7 minutes (make sure not to burn the garlic!)
Add the swiss chard and cook until just wilted.
Add the mushrooms and red wine vinegar. Stir well and cover.
Cook at a low temperature for about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Finish off the vegetables with lemon juice, salt, pepper. Ready to serve!
I love swiss chard. I love mushrooms. I loved this dish.
and wine...my other love...tonight's wine came from our wine shipment so we had no prior knowledge of what to expect. Meridian "Limited Release" Santa Barbara County Pinot Noir - comes in at about $22 a bottle. Apparently it's only available through the winery or through Cellar360 - so you won't be finding this one in the stores!
I think I was more pleased with the wine than Derek was. We both agreed it was good - but I thought it was great. The winemaker described it as "offering aromas of strawberry jam, smoky oak and leather which are supported by vibrant flavors of cherry and a full body." Sure...sounds good to me :)
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