Great minds... and taste buds!

I know it has been a while and I apologize. Life has been busy and the kitchen has been neglected. My oven was calling to me today so I decided to make one of my favorite dishes growing up. Roasted lemon chicken. There really is nothing to it, but I hold the trick to crispy skin....mmmm. We used to fight over the skin in our house. I even converted Chris to be a skin lover and he used to never touch the stuff.

After I popped the bird in the oven I called Mom and asked her what they were cooking.... Roasted lemon chicken! I figured it was a sign that I need to get back to the blog! This meal is pretty cheap but tastes like something decadent! But only if you follow our cooking instructions, not the temps the packaging suggests, unless you like dried out meat. I have also included the gravy I make with the drippings, which tastes good on mashed potatoes or rice too!

Roasted Lemon Chicken

Whole chicken

Lemon

Pepper

olive oil

chicken stock

**** Preheat oven to 450******

1. Clean out the guts and rinse your bird and pat dry

2. Thinly slice the lemon and put some pepper on your slices(or two if you are lemon lover like me)

3. Carefully separate the skin and the breast and thighs of the bird being careful not to tear the skin. Then slide lemon slices between the skin and the meat to cover as much of the meat as you can.

4. Fill the cavity with some lemon wedges and throw some pepper in there too

5. Put the olive oil on the outside of the bird and pepper ( I often squeeze a little lemon juice on there first)

5. You want to cook your ckicken in a roasting pan with a rack.

6. In the pan add a cup or two chicken stock and of course lemon lovers can add a few more squeezes of juice! YOU might need to add a little more as the chicken cooks.

7. Put the bird in the oven and cook at 450 for 10 minutes (this will crisp up the skin)

8. After 10 minutes turn the oven down to 350 (do not open) and cook your chicken for 20 minutes per pound.

Gravy

After you remove the chicken from the pan whisk the drippings with some wondra or flour. You may need to add a bit of stock to regain the liquid that cooked off. I usually just put the pan over the stove on a burner and whisk until I get the consistency I like.

Enjoy!!!

Great for Kids!!

This one is sooo good. It is perfect for kids of all ages! Dad found this in a magazine and altered it a bit, and wooo hoo it is tasty! It is great with tenders but I think if you have kids it would be perfect as nuggets( just cut the tenders into chunks) ... cooking times would probably need to be adjusted. I am sorry I didn't take any pictures.... it was gone too fast and that pesky camera is still missing. Please remember these measurements are not exact and probably never will be in this blog!!

Cheez-it Chicken

1¼ lb chicken tenders
2 cups Cheez-It Cheddar Crackers
¾ tsp fresh ground black pepper
½ tsp fresh ground white pepper
Big pinch of cayenne pepper
1 egg
2 Tbs Dijon mustard
2+ Tbs water
2 Tbs olive oil or cooking spray

Set your rack in the bottom 1/3 of a 475 degree oven. Spread the olive oil over a cookie sheet. Blend the Cheez-Its in a food processor until a fine powder and put in a bowl with the peppers and blend thoroughly. If you dont have a food processor....get one...or put them in a freezer ziplock and beat the hell out of em with a rolling pin or mallet. Mix the water and mustard in a bowl until the mustard is completely dissolved, then beat in the egg. Dip the chicken tenders into the egg then coat with the cracker mix and arrange in a single layer on the cookie sheet. Bake for about 8 minutes then turn the pieces over and bake another 8 minutes.

Dad dont edit this recipe..... I added an extra minute because my gas oven isnt as efficient as well as cooking spray because thats what I used! And to your surprise there are people on this planet who do not own food processors.

My parents are coming to visit this weekend so hopefully we will have some great food adventures to share with everyone!!!

Dad says: Try this with White Cheddar flavor Cheez-Its. It is even better!