Oven Roasted Chicken with Lemons served on Croutons

I'm spoiled...absolutely one hundred percent spoiled rotten. You see, yesterday I took a day off from the kitchen and the big guy cooked - including lunch, tea in the afternoon and dinner. And what did I do you ask? I read a book and watched 2 football games. Yup - me watching football. Imagine that! As for dinner and all the big guy's hard work - it was spectabulous!

He cooked a chicken using this Ina recipe and kicked it up a notch by adding 4 garlic cloves and 2 extra lemons. Our tree full of Meyers seems to have a life of its own - like the parable of the loaves and fishes they just keep multiplying and the fruit is so unbelievably sweet. The kicker though is roasting the darn things - honestly if you've never had roasted lemons, you just have to try them. They are incredible!

 

The big guy stuffed the chicken with a couple of lemons, and the garlic then laid it on a bed of onions mixed with a little olive oil along with a couple more lemons. I think the key to success though is the use of a dark roasting pan or as in our case, cast iron, because not only do the lemons get all caramelized and sweet and gooey-licious, the onions are amazing too. After the chicken was cooked he let it all rest for a few minutes, then removed it from the pan to carve and deglazed the pan with a little white wine. Now as for the croutons - don't think we're over this moderation plan. It's OK to have anything you want as long as you don't go overboard and the croutons with the chicken and pan juices over top are absolutely fabulous. They soak up the flavor from those wonderful juices but still remain crisp and delicious.

While the chicken would have been wonderful with a simple green salad, the big guy's been craving his fabulous fried vegetable shavings, so he cooked up a batch. Using a harp peeler, he sliced the yams, parsnips and beets very thinly and fried them twice - once for about a minute and a half, then he removed them, let them cool and then they hit the pot again for another minute or until golden and crisp. Dusted with coarse sea salt they are unbelievable - light, crisp and really flavorful.

So what was with the scale this morning? Oh, as expected it was up a bit, but we're not talking pounds here - just a few ounces. Quite honestly, we're feeling a little smug if you want to know the truth. But we'll be watching ourselves in the portion department for the next couple of days to make sure the upward trend doesn't continue.

Comments

[gman]

Guess I didn't say it just right. The garlic was put in the pan not in the chicken. But i guess once the pan juices were put over the chicken, it may not have been in it but it was on it. :-)

LU

[June]

Thanks GMan. I stand corrected! LU2

[Lea]

lucious - and I like the cruton idea! You 2 truely eat really well - in many ways!!!! How 'bout dem Saints!!!!
ounces don't count... esp in the morning - go potty and they are gone hehehehehehe

[June]

Lea - I bet there's a lot of celebrating going on in your neck of the woods after yesterday's win.

[Mags]

I didn't watch the second game but still patted myself on the back for making it through the entire first game!

Yum on that chicken and I'm so jealous of all those lemons you have!

[June]

Mags - I couldn't believe I sat there all that time, but I did manage to read most of a book too. Ya, we've lemons galore (and tangelos and grapefruit).

[Elizabeth]

Those fried vegetable chips sound unbelievable! I'll be making those soon.

[noble pig]

Oh so yummy!!! I mean roasted chicken is just the best!!!

[June]

Elizabeth - yes, they are spectacular and one of the big guy's specialties. Be sure to let me know what you think when you give 'em a try, OK?

Cathy - you're right!