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8.28.2008

Barefoot Bloggers: Butterflied Chicken

I hate raw chicken. Blech. But that's ok. I made it through as you can tell. It was the moment of a lifetime. Ok, so that's a little dramatic, but when Bimmer's trying not to puke taking pics of you stuffing chicken... well, that's life.
The ingredients. And don't forget the recipe. Disregard: bagels, Sunchips, watermelon, tomatoes and um, well, the beer.
You're supposed to use a whole chicken. I cannot handle cutting up a whole chicken. I tried but it went into the crockpot.
The yummy smells that will emit from your kitchen...
Garlic. I think my pores will emit the smell tomorrow. That's kinda gross! Sorry work friends!
Smash three cloves of garlic with the back of your knife. You should actually make a fist, but I feel like I get more power from the heel of my hand.
And it should look like this.
Then chop rosemary. Or whatever it's called. I can't remember. I don't have the recipe in front of me.
Then make a paste. Stir it well, kind of smashing as you go. I made a mistake. I dumped a whole bunch of pepper into it - you can tell that I like pepper, so it was ok with me. But still, don't do that.
And then stuff the paste under the skin of the chicken while Bimmer gags and takes blurry pics all the way through it. It's ok, you'll get over it. And eat it.
Still blurry. Sorry, Bimmer.
Finally, he can put the camera down - and I thought I had all the right settings for him too, but then I forget that he doesn't really know anything on the camera besides automatic. Oops.
Ick. Chicken skin. But you can see the bulge of the paste underneath it - sprinkle salt, pepper, more paste if there's any leftover, and some olive oil.
Cover and refridgerate for one hour.
And then chop watermelon accidentally on the same board that you cut garlic about 15 minutes earlier.
And keep forgetting. Then make a face once you try the watermelon. Garlicky watermelon is not so good. Don't laugh, the best of us makes mistakes. Sometimes they taste great and well, sometimes they don't.
You're supposed to grill the chicken 12 minutes per side. It rained, sorry Ina. Sear the chicken for 4 minutes per side. The burner should be on high. You want grill marks. You want the fabulousness of char.
Then put it in a preheated 350 degree oven for 13 - 15 minutes or until the juices run clear.
And just out of the oven...
And onto my plate!!!
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. 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.

Enjoy!
PSH

8.26.2008

TSA Blogs. Seriously.

Did you know that TSA has its own blog?

Yeah, I didn't know that until exactly 30 seconds ago and now I have to share.

http://www.tsa.gov/blog

Sorry that I'm not more foodie this week. We've been grilling hot dogs and brats. Who the heck would want to see pics of a blown up hot dog because I've burnt it? Not me, dudes & dudettes.

I'll return to regular blogging tonight. It's Barefoot Bloggers food night for me...

PSH

8.22.2008

Man vs. Grill

The beginning of the end of summer. A good end of summer.
My Bimmer Man attracts bugs. We need the citronella. Anyone else have any ideas of debugging the backyard???
The Bimmer Man reads directions. I think I've taught him well by buying so much Ikea furniture.
Oh, the concentration of screws...
It's so hard putting the handle on the top.
Or maybe he just doesn't like his picture taken.
Ok. I snapped one of my feet. They're not pretty, but it sure made Bimmer feel better.
I didn't know that you needed an actual drill to build a grill. I guess you do. Or maybe it's just a manly power tool thing. Whatev...
I like his new haircut.
He really knows how to fiddle with that lid, huh?
Aha... so that's what the drill is for!
Finally. Very close to being done.
The lid fits! The drill worked!
And even the spiders were clapping... Ok, well, not really because Bimmer Man fumigated the outside of the house for spiders last week.
The lovely ending.
Now, where's my chicken? I hope it's been defrosted...
PSH

8.21.2008

I Know, I Know

This isn't food related. But I'm not sorry.

You need to see this. It's fabulous, because in about 6 weeks when I have money, it's EXACTLY what I'll be doing. But I'll probably have some meatballs anyway.

I do have to say that I also enjoy the Food Part of the Apartment Therapy website. Lately, Bimmer Man has been taking up MUCH of my time with trying to get me to go to the bar. I have not resisted.

Tomorrow, I will resist to drink booze at a bar and continue with food posts. Why? Because I miss my kitchen island. It's fab for chopping... I'll leave you with a pic of the new house...


Enjoy!

PSH

8.18.2008

Me Thinks Me Needs A Vacay...

I have one of these. It's actually for Kemi, Finland. Why? Well, because I'm Finnish, that's why. Nuppa means belly button. That's the extent of my knowledge along with a swear word or two. I would also like to go on a honeymoon with Bimmer Man before our pictures start to turn this color. Although, I do like it photoshopped like this, oddly enough. Last year, when we got married he left for an 8 week internship right away. Next year he starts working as a lawyer.

I've decided to grovel for a honeymoon. I don't know if it worked yet. But I tried.

So I took the day off tomorrow before the last year of Law School starts next week. It's a mini-moon.

And I'm SUPER EXCITED. We can go to the beach, read, walk, go running, whatever. I get Bimmer Man all to myself for 24 hours. Ha! Law School, take that!

PSH

8.15.2008

Artichoke Stuffed Chicken with Goat Cheese

Measure out the dry ingredients first - you might or might not thank me later.
Here's all the ingredients. Chicken, goat cheese, lemon, bread crumbs, salt, pepper, artichoke hearts, and olive oil (not shown, oops). Disregard the women's daily vitamins and the Execedrin. Moving is a pain. Literally.
Then ponder the thought of why you're not strong enough to put together your kitchen island. And remember that Bimmer Man will be home in a few days. Not to worry, only live in chaos for a few days (but, this post has been created after Bimmer Man got home, so really I'm remembering back to the day that I made this). Mmmm... goat cheese. It's so dang good. Spread it over crackers and I'm in Heaven.
But then I'm hungry. So get the chips instead. This is going to be my dinner instead.
And reach into the bag... Dang, there's almost no chips left...
Mmmm... It's a good thing Target brand is Archer Farms. They make the best potato chips. I should probably go running.
And then toss them to the side. There's goat cheese and chicken 'awaitin' for me.
Roughly chop the artichoke hearts, just enough to be bite size and flattened so you can roll chicken around 'em.
But whatever you do, do not come over to my house and just stick your hand in a drawer. Do you see the knife? Um, yeah, I'm still waitin' for that island.
Toss most of the ingredients into a bowl (except the chicken).
You're supposed to use some zest. Well, who the heck knows where my zester is? So I used lemon juice instead. Still tastes pretty fabulous. No worries...
Mix all together. I bet if you added a block of cream cheese and a bit of cream, mixed it all up and stuck it in the oven, it'd be a fabulous artichoke dip. Next time, next time.
I don't have much counter space, so I actually stick kitchen utensils (except for knives) in my apron. My apron used to be used for my pottery days, but since I don't have a wheel, well, let's just say that it's been repurposed. AND that's why it has pockets!!!
I've kinda got a gut. I need to go running more. I hope my neighbors weren't watching through the window. Oh, where's my beer?
Yea, no beer. But there's chicken! Beat it to a pulp! It should be about 1/4 inch thick.
Then, since I don't want chicken guts on my camera, I'll skip a step for photographing. Put about 2 tablespoons of filling on the flat chicken, roll it up, secure with a toothpick and throw (well, gently set) the rolled up chicken in a VERY HOT PAN. For 4 minutes on each side.
Mmm... filling...
Turn and then after 4 minutes on each side, shove into the oven for 15 - 17 minutes.
And voila!
Ingredients
2 1/2 tablespoons Italian-seasoned breadcrumbs
2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 (6-ounce) jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1 (3-ounce) package herbed goat cheese, softened
4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
Cooking spray

Preparation
Preheat oven to 375°.

Combine first 6 ingredients; stir well.

Place each chicken breast half between 2 sheets of heavy-duty plastic wrap; pound to 1/4-inch thickness using a meat mallet or rolling pin. Top each breast half with 2 tablespoons cheese mixture; roll up jelly-roll fashion. Tuck in sides; secure each roll with wooden picks.

Heat a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add chicken to pan, and cook 3 minutes on each side or until browned. Wrap the handle of pan with foil, and bake at 375° for 15 minutes or until chicken is done.
Enjoy!
PSH