Marinated Pressed Chicken
My Modified Greek Potato Salad
Sugar Snaps, Pea Pods, Haricot Vert
I bought the whole chicken split thinking it was one piece, flat. Not a problem. I removed the backbone/ribs, put the two halves into a marinade (last night) of olive oil, juice from one lemon, zest of half a lemon, 3-4 fat chopped cloves of garlic, many chopped sprigs fresh thyme & many stems of fresh chopped Greek oregano including flowers, the juice/zested lemon halved and cut into slices, kosher salt.
Before cooking the chicken, I made my potato salad. I have become quite fond of fingerlings and more so of using them for potato salad. Quite simply...little rounds of potatoes cooked just until tender, drained...tossed warm with short strands of green onion, olive oil, white wine vinegar, kosher salt, pepper. THIS with a fresh sliced tomato is enough of a meal for me!
The chicken which could have, should have? been cooked on the grill, was placed in a hot skillet, skin side down, after coming close to room temp. A piece of foil, cast iron skillet (a Griswold, of course!) placed on top. While the chicken was cooking, I placed the sliced lemons in my small oven on the lowest temp.
The chicken just let me know when it was ready to turn over when the air was just fragrant with it! Skin was well-browned, crusty, lovely bits in the pan. Browned on the other side, I removed the chicken, placed it ontop of the lemon slices...temp still on low.
Now...my meal plans did not include a gravy and certainly had I cooked the chicken outside on the grill, the thought would not have crossed my mind. But when I looked at the bottom of my skillet, I simply could not let all that go to waste! Draining off most of the fat, adding flour/water, salt...stirring, scraping the bits from the bottom and allowing to simmer while I cleaned up (I like to clean along the way) and began to prepare the Green portion of my meal.
Because I had them, I did a mix of sugar snap peas, pea pod and haricot vert. The first two in water in a small saute pan just until it was about to come to a boil...then the addition of the haricot vert which were frozen.
Don't gasp! These are from Trader Joe's, huge bag, and are the only frozen vegetable I can think of that passes in my book! I take a cooler with ice packs when I shop there and these are still frozen when I get home. When I don't have 'greens' for my dinner, I always have these and trust me...they are green, crisp, fresh in flavor. ...or I wouldn't have them.
So...these 'greens' are really just blanched until they turn brilliant green, drained, run under cold water asap! I put nothing on them that will get in the way with their flavor and crispness.
Chicken sizzling, snapping in the oven...my dinner is done! Small amount of gravy on the platter, a portion of the chicken on top with lemon slices...the potato salad and greens are room temp. The flavor of the gravy is so concentrated, nicely tart...so lovely with the chicken that I am glad I cooked it inside!
My thought at tasting all the flavors was if I had a meal like this just once a month...how lucky I'd be.
My Modified Greek Potato Salad
Sugar Snaps, Pea Pods, Haricot Vert
I bought the whole chicken split thinking it was one piece, flat. Not a problem. I removed the backbone/ribs, put the two halves into a marinade (last night) of olive oil, juice from one lemon, zest of half a lemon, 3-4 fat chopped cloves of garlic, many chopped sprigs fresh thyme & many stems of fresh chopped Greek oregano including flowers, the juice/zested lemon halved and cut into slices, kosher salt.
Before cooking the chicken, I made my potato salad. I have become quite fond of fingerlings and more so of using them for potato salad. Quite simply...little rounds of potatoes cooked just until tender, drained...tossed warm with short strands of green onion, olive oil, white wine vinegar, kosher salt, pepper. THIS with a fresh sliced tomato is enough of a meal for me!
The chicken which could have, should have? been cooked on the grill, was placed in a hot skillet, skin side down, after coming close to room temp. A piece of foil, cast iron skillet (a Griswold, of course!) placed on top. While the chicken was cooking, I placed the sliced lemons in my small oven on the lowest temp.
The chicken just let me know when it was ready to turn over when the air was just fragrant with it! Skin was well-browned, crusty, lovely bits in the pan. Browned on the other side, I removed the chicken, placed it ontop of the lemon slices...temp still on low.
Now...my meal plans did not include a gravy and certainly had I cooked the chicken outside on the grill, the thought would not have crossed my mind. But when I looked at the bottom of my skillet, I simply could not let all that go to waste! Draining off most of the fat, adding flour/water, salt...stirring, scraping the bits from the bottom and allowing to simmer while I cleaned up (I like to clean along the way) and began to prepare the Green portion of my meal.
Because I had them, I did a mix of sugar snap peas, pea pod and haricot vert. The first two in water in a small saute pan just until it was about to come to a boil...then the addition of the haricot vert which were frozen.
Don't gasp! These are from Trader Joe's, huge bag, and are the only frozen vegetable I can think of that passes in my book! I take a cooler with ice packs when I shop there and these are still frozen when I get home. When I don't have 'greens' for my dinner, I always have these and trust me...they are green, crisp, fresh in flavor. ...or I wouldn't have them.
So...these 'greens' are really just blanched until they turn brilliant green, drained, run under cold water asap! I put nothing on them that will get in the way with their flavor and crispness.
Chicken sizzling, snapping in the oven...my dinner is done! Small amount of gravy on the platter, a portion of the chicken on top with lemon slices...the potato salad and greens are room temp. The flavor of the gravy is so concentrated, nicely tart...so lovely with the chicken that I am glad I cooked it inside!
My thought at tasting all the flavors was if I had a meal like this just once a month...how lucky I'd be.
