FFWD: Roast Chicken for Les Paresseux

So I've never roasted a chicken. I'm not a huge meat eater. I'll have a small portions here and there, but I tend to gravitate toward side dishes to fill my plate at dinner time. And dessert.

A major reason I've never cooked a whole chicken, turkey, or any other bird for that matter, is the business of removing the innards.

Ick.

I've heard that sometimes they come in a bag, all neat and tidy. This was reassuring.

Unfortunately this was not the case with my little organic bird. I pulled three or four chunks of god knows what out of the inside of that sucker and I'm telling you, it was pretty gross. Good thing I had gloves. Oh, and the liver?? You know, the liver to spread on that crispy piece of heaven in the bottom of the pot? Not sure which part was the liver, but I tossed it pretty quickly and ate my crispy bread plain, that was good enough for me!

The chicken was killer, though. I threw together a stock with the carcass in the crockpot with the intention of making a chicken noodle soup when I came home the next night. No such luck, my husband polished off ALL of the chicken!!! In his defense, it was his dinner the night before, and lunch that day... So, the stock went into the freezer, instead. I'll just have to roast another chicken, and it was so easy, so why not!?

To check out the group, head over to French Fridays With Dorie. And to buy the book (which you should!) head over to amazon. Do it!!

BB: Un-butterflied Chicken

Okay, okay, I'm a chicken (hehe). I just couldn't buy a whole chicken and debone and butterfly it. I just couldn't. I'm kind of new to this whole cooking thing, and I've been doing really well, and I wasn't in the mood for a disaster.

SOOO... I bought bone-in, skin-on breasts. And just rubbed the yummy "paste" under the skin. I grilled these babies, on medium heat on the grill for about 15 minutes on each side.

In the words of my husband: "This is the best chicken I've ever had". Seriously, it was good. So here it is, this weeks Barefoot Bloggers pick, Butterflied Chicken, chosen by Stefany of Proceed With Caution.

The recipe:

1/4 cup chopped fresh rosemary leaves, plus 2 sprigs
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
Good olive oil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 roasting chickens (2 1/2 to 3 pounds each), deboned and butterflied
1/2 lemon, thinly sliced

Mix the chopped rosemary, garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 2 teaspoons salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper together in a small bowl to make a paste.
Place the chickens on a sheet pan, skin side up, and loosen the skin from the meat with your fingers. Place 1/2 of the paste under the skin of each chicken. Rub any remaining paste on the outside and underside of the chickens.

Turn the chicken skin side down and scatter the lemon slices and sprigs of rosemary over each chicken. Season with salt and pepper. Roll each chicken up, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Heat a grill with coals (I used a gas grill- on Medium heat). Spread the coals out in 1 dense layer and brush the grill with oil. Unroll the chickens, place them on the grill and cook for 12 minutes on each side.

BB: Parmesan Chicken

Source: Foodnetwork.com

This is my first Barefoot Bloggers post! This is also my first Ina Garten recipe! It was tasty! I have wanted to try a few of hers, but was never able to get around to them... so I am excited to see what new recipes this group brings to us! One more first... it is my first blogging group that I have joined!!! If you are interested check us out at barefootbloggers.wordpress.com! Thanks to Megan of My Baking Adventures for choosing a great recipe!

As you can see, no photo...

Unfortunately, my camera is acting up. Hopefully we can figure it out soon, since I just started my own blog, and I have very few pics so far!

This recipe was EASY, so simple! Really, I am no expert cook, I followed the recipe to a T and it came out perfectly! The only thing I would change, it that I would use a spring mix as the salad topper. I love spring mix, and our grocer was sold out, so I used an Italian mix of romaine and radicchio. It was a little too bitter and had a bit too much crunch. So definitely spring mix next time!!

4 to 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 extra-large eggs
1 tablespoon water
1 1/4 cups seasoned dry bread crumbs
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan, plus extra for serving
Unsalted butter
Good olive oil
Salad greens for 6, washed and spun dry

1 recipe Lemon Vinaigrette, recipe follows

Pound the chicken breasts until they are 1/4-inch thick. You can use either a meat mallet or a rolling pin.
Combine the flour, salt, and pepper on a dinner plate. On a second plate, beat the eggs with 1 tablespoon of water. On a third plate, combine the bread crumbs and 1/2 cup grated Parmesan. Coat the chicken breasts on both sides with the flour mixture, then dip both sides into the egg mixture and dredge both sides in the bread-crumb mixture, pressing lightly.

Heat 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large saute pan and cook 2 or 3 chicken breasts on medium-low heat for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, until cooked through. Add more butter and oil and cook the rest of the chicken breasts. Toss the salad greens with lemon vinaigrette. Place a mound of salad on each hot chicken breast. Serve with extra grated Parmesan.

Lemon Vinaigrette:

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons)
1/2 cup good olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper.
Yield: 6 servings

Cobb Salad

Adapted from allrecipes.com

Okay, so, for my first post I have a Cobb Salad. Do you really even need a recipe for a Cobb salad? Really? I would say no, but hey, I have to start somewhere. DH and I have been craving a Cobb salad like crazy, and we both said we kind of felt like salad, so I figured I'd make one up for us. It was as good as I'd hoped - fresh lettuce, cucumbers, blue cheese... mmmmm. I also made a delicious homemade ranch dressing for it (Click here!). DH even asked what brand of dressing I bought because he thought it was so great! He was shocked that I made it myself! Silly man. So here it goes, a fresh Cobb salad, perfect for those days when it's too hot to cook!!

4 eggs

8 strips of bacon

1 head iceberg lettuce, shredded

1 rotisserie chicken (I used a premade chicken, purchased from the prepared foods section)

2 tomatoes, seeded & chopped

1 large cucumber, chopped

3/4 cup crumbled blue cheese

1 avocado, seeded & chopped

1. Hardboil eggs and chop

2. Cook bacon to a crisp, let cool, and crumble

3. Shred rotisserie chicken

4. Place iceberg lettuce on a large plate, drizzle homeade ranch dressing (or your favorite) over the lettuce, top with rows of each ingredient. Enjoy!

Makes 4 large salads.