Lemon-Onion Chicken

Who likes finding a yummy new recipe using the same old ingredients you always have around?! 

I DO!!!

Lemon-Onion Chicken
Recipe adapted from Melissa D'Arabian
Prep time: 10 minutes   Cook time: 20 minutes

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1-2 tsp dried thyme, divided
Salt and freshly ground pepper
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 large red onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup white wine
1 cup chicken stock
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 1/2 tbsp butter

1.  Heat a large saute pan over medium heat and add the olive oil.

Don't be too skimpy with the seasonings.

2.  Season the chicken with about 1 tsp dried thyme, lemon zest, and salt and pepper to taste.  Put the flour in a shallow dish. Dredge the chicken in the flour and add to the pan; cook until golden brown, about 3-5 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate and tent with aluminum foil.

GORGEOUS golden brown color.

3.  Add the red onion and remaining teaspoon of thyme to the pan and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until aromatic, about 5 minutes.   

I adore the color that red onions add to a plate.

4.  Combine the wine, chicken broth and lemon juice in a bowl. Turn the heat under the pan to high and deglaze with the broth mixture, scraping up the pan with a wooden spoon. Add the chicken back to the pan, turning to coat it in the sauce.  Top each piece of chicken with some of the onions, cover the pan and simmer until the chicken is cooked through, about 5-7 minutes.

Yes, I forgot to take a picture of the sauce simmering.  Oops!

5.  Uncover the pan and continue to simmer until the liquid starts to reduce, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk in the butter. Season with salt and pepper.

As I was pulling this together, it felt a lot like a variation of chicken piccata.  Rob and I really enjoyed the flavor of this dish.  The onions really give this a deeper, earthier flavor.  The lemon zest and juice brighten the dish, without making it too perky. 

And I especially loved how, with this sauce, I could easily omit the onions in the servings I gave my boys.   Because they haven't yet discovered how awesome caramelized onions are.  But they will someday!  Just give me time... ;)

Lemon Garlic Rosemary "Roast" Chicken

The slow cooker and I have been making up for lost time.  Years ago, when I got my first one, I was all kinds of excited to try these great foods.  Roasts.  Soups.  Yumminess.

I did not get yumminess.  I got the opposite of yumminess.  So opposite that I rarely used my slow cooker until the last year or so. As long as I have a recipe to guide me, I can usually pull off a decent, if not a really great dinner.  Rarely do I venture away from a recipe with the slow cooker (yes, those early attempts were that awful).

Except when it comes to "roasting" a chicken in one.

Super moist.  Super delicious.

Rob's grandmother told me this concept.  It was so simple, and so easy, there really isn't a way to screw it up.

Lemon Garlic Rosemary "Roast" Chicken

1 (4-5lb) whole chicken
1/2 stick butter, softened
Zest and juice of one lemon
1 bulb garlic, plus 1 clove
2 long stems fresh rosemary, divided
Salt & freshly ground black pepper

1.  Remove rosemary from one of the stems and finely chop; about 1 tbsp.  Mince one clove garlic.  In a small bowl, combine the softened butter, zest and juice of one lemon (do not discard the hollowed out lemon!!), minced garlic, chopped rosemary, salt and pepper.

If you forget the garlic clove, just sprinkle in some garlic powder

2.  In the bottom of your slow cooker, lay 5-6 crumbled balls of aluminum foil.  These will act as your roasting rack and will keep the chicken up out of the fatty juices that will collect at the bottom of the pot.

3. Take the chicken and discard the neck and giblets from inside the chest cavity.  Rinse the bird all over, inside and out, and pat dry.  Tuck the wings underneath and place in slow cooker.  Season the cavity with salt and pepper.  Slice garlic bulb in half and place inside the chicken, along with the remaining lemon rind and rosemary stem.

These will flavor the bird from the inside out

5.  Using your fingers, loosen the skin over the breasts, creating a pocket for the butter.  Scoop half the butter with a spoon, put into this pocket, using your fingers to slide the butter off the spoon.  Massage the butter around so that as much of the breast is covered as possible.  Repeat with the other side.

You could also chill this as a log, slice disks, and put those under the skin.

6.  Dribble a little EVOO over the chicken and season with salt and pepper (are you seeing the Flavor Layers we're building here?  If you have kitchen twine, feel free to tie up the legs.  Cover and cook on LOW for 4-5 hours.

I don't have kitchen twine.  Chicken is just as yummy without it.

Whenever I make this, I usually get everything together early enough that the chicken sits at WARM for at least an hour or two.  This resting time does AMAZING things to the moistness of the meat.  That, and the flavored butter bath.

What I really love about this foil concept is that you can make this chicken using whatever flavors you like.  Go with just a citrus selection of oranges, lemons, tangerines, and limes.  Do garlic and various fresh herbs (thyme, rosemary, oregano, sage...).  Whatever floats your boat!

A word of caution now: if you are a Skin Person then I'd recommend roasting the chicken in a roasting pan in the oven, instead of the slow cooker.  The slow cooker doesn't get hot enough to get the skin brown and crispy.  Still use whatever flavor combo you want, just cook it in a 350 preheated oven for about an hour or so. 

Lemon Pork Tenderloin

In my never-ending quest to get Gavin to eat and enjoy a nutritious dinner without dissolving into a tantrum because I'm not making mac & cheese or pancakes, I came across this recipe.

Easy. DELICIOUS. Awesome.

Make this.

Lemon Pork Tenderloin
Recipe adapted from Ina Garten

Grated zest of 1 lemon
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup EVOO
2 tbsp minced garlic
1 1/2 tbsp minced fresh rosemary
1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme
2 tsp Dijon mustard
Salt & freshly ground black pepper
3 pork tenderloins (about 1lb each) 

1.  Combine the lemon zest, lemon juice, oil, garlic, rosemary, thyme, mustard, & 1 tsp salt in a resealable plastic bag. Add the pork tenderloins and turn to coat. Marinate pork in the fridge for at least 3 hours, preferably overnight. 

Such delicious, simple ingredients

2.  Preheat oven to 425.  Spray a shallow baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.  Remove the tenderloins from the marinade and season with salt and pepper.  Place them the baking pan and discard the excess marinade.  Bake for 25-30 minutes.

Do you own a microplane?  If not, GET ONE!

3.  Transfer the tenderloins to a platter and cover tightly with aluminum foil. Allow to rest for 10 minutes. Carve into 1/2" thick diagonal slices. 

Flay. Vor. TOWN.

 So, once again, the end result smelled so amazing, was so durn TASTY that I neglected to take a picture of the finished product.  TRUST ME though, this is a recipe to add to your collection.

Lemon Pasta with Roasted Shrimp

Does anyone remember that old Rice Krispy treat commercial from the early 90's?  The one where the kids and husband are yelling for the mom to finish cooking and she's reading a novel, enjoying the completed dessert.  Then she shakes out her hair, dusts flour on her face and a sprinkling of fish bowl water before taking her family the beloved treats. Clearly her implication is she slaaaaaaaaved in the kitchen for them.

I think about this commercial a lot because it's in a way applicable to my style of cooking.  Sometimes I get the impression that others see my cooking style and schedule as complicated and nearly impossible to duplicate.  That is sooooo not the case though!! I do my very best to find recipes that are easy and can quickly be thrown together in under an hour.  It is so much fun to find a recipe that sounds fancy and complicated, only to realize it calls for a few basic ingredients and comes together in 15-20 minutes.

This pasta dish is like that.

I like to use whole wheat pasta.

You may notice that I'm experimenting more with lemon flavors lately  Two reasons for that... 1) I happen to like a bright lemony flavor.  I think it makes a dish taste fresh and summery.  And 2), though this is the main reason actually, Gavin loves lemons.  He will seriously order extra lemon slices at a restaurant and eat them straight.  No sugar or anything; just lemon.  And yes, it's hysterical to hear my 3-year-old politely order a glass of ice water with sliced lemon on the side.

Hello shrimp, prepare to be roasted!

Anyway, back to cooking...  I found this recipe and thought I'd give it a shot since it combined lots of lemony flavor with a very short & basic list of ingredients, plus a fast cooking time.  Can't go wrong with that right?

Lemon Pasta with Roasted Shrimp
Recipe adapted from Food Network Magazine

2 lbs frozen shrimp, thawed, peeled, & deveined
Olive oil
Salt & freshly cracked black pepper
1 lb angel hair or thin spaghetti
2-3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
Zest and juice of two lemons

1.  Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Add pasta and cook according to package directions.  Drain, reserving 1 cup of pasta water.


2.  Preheat oven to 400.  On a cookie sheet, toss together the shrimp with a couple tablespoons of oil, some salt and pepper.  Roast until the shrimp turns pink, about 6-8 minutes.

Look at those pink cuties!

3.  In a large bowl, add the zest and juice of two lemons with the melted butter and a tablespoon of olive oil.  Whisk to combine.  Add the hot pasta and toss to coat.  Pour in some of the pasta water if the noodles seem too dry.  Add the shrimp and serve with shredded Parmesan.

Don't have a micro plane?  Get one.  They're AWESOME

Yummy, yummy, yummy pasta and shrimp

I reeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaally liked this dish.  It was so easy to make and I liked that bright, intense lemon flavor.  I liked the freshness of it, the lightness of it.  Even Rob enjoyed it!  Gavin.....well, he took a bit more convincing.  He ate the pasta right away.  But after pushing the lonely shrimp I gave him around his plate for an hour (not kidding, an entire hour), he finally ate it and declared "I like it! Buuuut, it's kinda weird."  *sigh*  Oh well, I guess that's a 3-year-old for you.  At least he ate it and I think I might have a shot of getting him to eat more shrimp in the future.  And honestly, that's all I'm looking for at this point.