Lemon Chicken Under a Cast Iron Pan

Hi friends! It's been a long time, yadda yadda yadda, let's cook!

I've been wanting to try Chicken under a Brick for a while now, but as some of you might know the grill is not my favorite place to cook. Give me a gas stove and I'm a happy camper. So instead of finding a brick to make this delectable treat I took Mark Bittman's advice and used a cast iron skillet (well, two actually - one to cook in and one for the weight). This seriously is in my top five best chicken preparations ever. The skin get so crispy and amazing, and inside it's so juicy you won't believe it.

Start with one whole chicken that is 3-4 pounds (responsible dining, people! try to get organic, cage free birds). If you get it from a butcher, have them remove the backbone. If you're brave and have a very sharp knife, you can do that yourself. I got this recipe from Mark Bittman's "The Minimalist", and there are directions and pictures on how to remove the backbone. Or you can google it. Just remove the backbone. I've changed his recipe slightly for more lemon flavor.

In a large bowl or cake pan, mix together 2 tablespoons of chopped garlic, 1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary, 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, and the juice of two lemons. Throw the husks of of the lemons in too, why not? Add S&P to taste (be liberal here, you want this chicken to have lots of flavor). Place your flattened chicken in the bowl and rub your lemon mixture all over, even putting some under the skin (without detaching the skin, be careful). Cover and marinate in your refrigerator for at least a half and hour and up to a day. Turn it over every now and then until you're ready to cook.

Which is now! Preheat the oven to 500 degrees, and preheat an ovenproof skillet that is at least 12 inches in diameter. I used my trusty cast iron skillet, and right before I put the chicken in I sprayed some non-stick spray (since there is already olive oil in the marinade). Put the chicken in the pan skin side down, along with the rest of the marinade. Weigh your chicken down with another (smaller) skillet or cast iron pan (or a brick wrapped in aluminum foil). Doing this will flatten your chicken to cook evenly - cook over medium high heat for 5 minutes, then move to the oven. Roast for 15 minutes (use the timer people!), then remove from the oven, remove the weight, and turn the chicken over (it should now be skin side up, der). Place the pan back in the oven and roast for 10 more minutes. And voila! This can be served hot or at room temp. Be sure to garnish with lemon slices for squeezing.

Serve with your favorite sides (I think we did rice pilaf and salad) - and enjoy! Let me know how it goes!

Grilled Chicken and Radicchio w/Roasted Garlic Vinaigrette

Hello friends. It's been a while, I have some backlogged SNDers to report, but let's go with the most recent, shall we? Sometimes I get lazy, what do you want from me.

Okay! No cranky blogging.

This grilled chicken is fantastic, and is courtesy of Mr. Tyler Florence. Side note: Tyler - you looked and sounded out of your element on Food Truck Road Trip. Please shoot more Tyler's Ultimate episodes. That is all.

So Tyler does this awesome grilled chicken with a whole cut up (bone in, skin on) chicken. Adam and I used some great, huge organic (bone in, skin on) chicken legs. Start by tossing the chicken in some olive oil and salt and pepper, then refrigerate while you prepare everything else. Now let's roast some garlic! Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut a bulb of garlic in half horizontally, and set the halves on a square of aluminum foil. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle on some salt, a tablespoon or two of water, and add two sprigs of fresh thyme. Fold the aluminum up around the garlic like a packet and place in the oven for thirty minutes or so. Your kitchen will smell wonderful! The garlic should be nice and soft. Let it cool, then squeeze it out of the peels into a food processor. Add a handful of chopped parsley, the leaves from six or seven sprigs of fresh thyme, 1/2 cup of olive oil, and the juice of 2 1/2 lemons. Whir until you get a vinaigrette - it will be on the thicker side. Add salt and pepper to taste. YUM.

Cut a head of radicchio into quarters, and place into a bowl. Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper, and set aside for the grillin'.

You should have preheated your grill. I always forget to tell you that. Go do it, I'll wait.

/Sips glass of white wine.

Okay good. Now that your grill is magically preheated, let's get to it! Spray some nonstick spray on the grate, and cook the radicchio for two minutes a side so you get some nice grill marks. Remove the radicchio into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap so it can steam and finish cooking.

Place your chicken pieces skin side down on the grill. Cook for twenty minutes, turning once. After twenty minutes have passed, baste all of the chicken with half of the roasted garlic and lemon vinaigrette, making sure to rotate so that the vinaigrette caramelizes. That will take ten or so more minutes. Dude, it's awesome. While the caramelization process is happening, cut a couple of lemons in half, and set them flesh side down on the grill for a few moments. When everything is ready, peel the leaves of the radicchio quarters apart and distribute them in a bowl with the chicken pieces. Squeeze the grilled lemon on everything and drizzle the rest of the roasted garlic vinaigrette and toss. YUUUUUUM. Seriously yum. So easy and fresh tasting. You must try it.

I made some mashed taters with this, but you could have roasted taters or sweet po-tay-toes or rice or whatevs. Go nuts! Try it!

Adam's Summer Artichokes - Guest Blog!

I have never myspaced, friendstered, twittered, or facebooked. And I have certainly never blogged before. Usually my role in Sunday Night Dinner is twofold; I eat and I clean. But this week, we made a spontaneous stop at a farmers market in West LA that we had never visited before and we came across one of my favorite summer treats-- the artichoke.

I love artichokes! And I like them prepared any which way. I like them grilled, gratineed, stuffed, steamed, and fried. I'll take them fresh, frozen or canned. Fresh is best thought they are a PAIN IN THE ASS to prepare. But it's always worth it and this night was no different.

We only got one artichoke knowing that the pot pie would be plentiful. There are many ways to clean or "turn" an artichoke. I'm going to try and explain but google it if you need pictures.

Fill a medium to large bowl with water and squeeze the shit out of a couple of lemons into the water. Grate the zest into the water and add the lemon husks.

Take a sharp paring knife and trim the stem down to a couple of inches (if you have a long stem artichoke, save the stem and steam it with the rest of the artichokes for a marrow-like treat). Remove any small leaves near the step with the paring knife.

The next step is to take your chef's knife or scalloped-edge knife (bread knife) and cut the top of the artichoke so that you remove most of the sharp tips. With your kitchen shears, snip off the remaining thorny-tips.

Now cut the artichoke in half from top to stem. If you'd like (as we did) you can cut them again into quarters. You'll notice that there are fuzzy fibers and small pink leaves that are very sharp at the points. You want to remove all of this. I take the paring knife to cut out what I can, then use a spoon to scrape out the rest. Give the artichoke a rinse under the faucet and drop the artichokes into the lemon water so they don't turn brown. I kept them in this bath, turning occasionally, for about 30 minutes before moving on.

In a large pot, heat some olive oil over medium then add a handful of chopped fresh parsley, a few sprigs ofthyme, one crushed bay leaf, four cloves of smashed garlic and a pinch of red pepper flake. You can really use any fresh herbs you'd like. add the entire bowl-- artichokes, water, lemon and all in with the herbs. Add more water if necessary to cover the artichokes. You can weigh them down by using a lid that's smaller than the lid for the pot you are using. Bring the water to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for about 20 minutes. Strain the artichokes and allow them to cool.

You're just a few minutes away from the well-deserved reward now! Heat some olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the artichokes cut side down and drizzle a good amount of balsamic vinegar over it all. Let them cook for a few minute then move them around, get the backside. You can also do this on a grill for excellent results. It may look like you've burned the artichokes... but you haven't! That's the caramelized balsamic. Transfer to a platter and enjoy. Juicy isn't a word normally used to describe artichokes, but these were the juiciest, best artichokes I've ever had!

All the best,

Adam

(Pretty) Easy Lemon Chicken

Oh hai everyone! Listen I don't want to hear it. It's been a while but c'mon. Planning a wedding is a LOT of work! Now I'm a married old lady, and Sunday Night Dinners are back bitches.

Okay, so Lemon Chicken. This is an Emeril Lagasse recipe that I've jacked just a little bit. His recipe calls for just white meat but I'm a big fan of dark meat too, so I've added that and made it a bit saucier.

First thing: full disclosure. I hate making rice with the fire of 1000 suns. Hate it. Maybe because I'm super bad at it. I always mess it up. So I have Adam make it. Since you guys don't have Adam, you should make it in a rice maker. Or just be better than me at making it. But make it first, mmkay? Just keep it warm without overcooking. Good luck with that.

All right, so then you should make the lemon sauce, it'll save you time later. Mix 1/2 cup of lemon juice with 4 tablespoons (plus a pinch more cause I like it) of soy sauce, 2 tablespoons of brown sugar, 2/3 cup chicken stock, and the zest of one lemon. Wisk it up and set aside for the right moment.

Finely chop up four teaspoons each of fresh garlic and fresh garlic, as well as 1/2 cup of green onions. Set aside FOR LATER. Trust me.

Okie now, take one package of chicken breast tenders and one package of chicken thighs. The tenders are the right shape and size that you need, so slice the thighs into thinnish strips to match the tenders. Next, put 1/2 cup of cornstarch in a shallow dish, and beat two eggs into another. Dip each strip of breast and thighs into the cornstarch, egg, then cornstarch again. Your hands will get all gooey but get over it. It washes off. Set those aside to set up for about five minutes after you're done.

Ooh! One more thing to do as prep! Mix three teaspoons of cornstarch with one tablespoon of water. Wisky wisk that and then set aside. It's totally worth it later to do the prep work first. And clean as you go, right Mom?

Take a large frying pan or wok and heat up 1/4 to 1/3 cup or so of canola or peanut oil until almost smoking over medium high heat. Fry the chicken strips for three minutes on each side. They should get browned but not super dark. Set aside to blot on paper towels. Pour out most of the oil, and put the pan back over medium heat. Toss in the green onions and fry for one minute. Add the garlic and ginger and fry with the onions for thirty additional seconds. Next you're going to add that delectable lemon sauce mix. Give it another wisk then put it in the sauce pan with the ginger, garlic and green onions. Bring the sauce to a boil and then add your cornstarch/water mix and wisk in. The sauce should thicken immediately. Add the chicken back to the pot, cover all the chicken with the sauce well, and turn the heat down to low.

Serve this deliciousness with some veggies if you'd like. I like to buy a fresh "stir fry" ** packet at the market - it's carrots, snow peas, and broccoli all cut up and cleaned neat and proper like. I just heat up a bit more canola or peanut oil in a separate pan with some red pepper flake and more chopped ginger, garlic and green onion. Sautee those veggies for a bit to soften but make sure they still have some crunch. ** Be sure to buy the fresh vegs, not frozen. I purchased the frozen packet once it was an epic fail.

Serve your fantastic meal with over your properly made rice, and enjoy!

It's good to be back! Let's continue this super ride, and hit me back and let me know if you made this or any of my other dinners. I'll take Sunday Night Suggestions, too!

Kisses!

-Mrs. B.