Sunday, September 11, 2011

Exciting culinary weekend!

I have had fun cooking dinner last night and tonight. Sadly, last night's entree did not get a photo - it looked so good that Vance and I dug in before I could remember to snap a shot! We feasted on zucchini parmesan. I found it on one of favorite blog's A Cozy Kitchen.
The only change I made, was peeling about half of the zucchini skin off. This dish is delicious and fast!

Tonight is herb and lemon roasted chicken with potatoes, carrots and onions. Thank you Ina Garten.
I just popped this little bird in the oven...
Lemon and Herb Roasted Chicken

Here it is:


Ingredients

  • 1 (5 to 6 pound) roasting chicken
  • Kosher salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 large bunch fresh thyme, plus 20 sprigs
  • 1 lemon, halved
  • 1 head garlic, cut in half crosswise
  • 2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter, melted
  • 1 large yellow onion, thickly sliced
  • 4 carrots cut into 2-inch chunks
  • 1 bulb of fennel, tops removed, and cut into wedges
  • Olive oil

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
Remove the chicken giblets. Rinse the chicken inside and out. Remove any excess fat and leftover pin feathers and pat the outside dry. Liberally salt and pepper the inside of the chicken. Stuff the cavity with the bunch of thyme, both halves of lemon, and all the garlic. Brush the outside of the chicken with the butter and sprinkle again with salt and pepper. Tie the legs together with kitchen string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the chicken. Place the onions, carrots, and fennel in a roasting pan. Toss with salt, pepper, 20 sprigs of thyme, and olive oil. Spread around the bottom of the roasting pan and place the chicken on top.
Roast the chicken for 1 1/2 hours, or until the juices run clear when you cut between a leg and thigh. Remove the chicken and vegetables to a platter and cover with aluminum foil for about 20 minutes. Slice the chicken onto a platter and serve it with the vegetables.

I did not have fennel and I added a few quartered red skin potatoes. Additionally, I had some fresh oregano to use up so I added that in with thyme.
Issue: My cute carrots and onions got a bit charred at this high temp. Next time I will put the veggies in after about 30 minutes of roasting.
I see chicken salad made from leftovers! Night all!

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