Right now in Madison it is too hot to do anything.  114 degree heat index about a million percent humidity……good thing I did three rounds of roof top dining before this swath of the south moved up passed the Mason Dixon line.

 

Night One Menu:

Grilled Lemon Cumin Chicken

Salt and Pepper Corn

Arugula Salad with Sunchokes, Roasted Yellow Beets in a Basil Vinaigrette

Beer, Wine and G&T’s

 

Nothing better than watching the sunset and your male friends puzzle over coals that refuse to light! (Three heads and a little estrogen in the situation get us straight.)   No, I am  teasing, everyone and everything turned out perfectly.

 

 

Matt and Alex achieved the illusive: a perfect caramel-y skin on the chicken without drying the meat in the slightest. Atop the cumin/cayenne/thyme marinade, a fresh squeeze of lemon cut through the spicy heat like a blast from an edible watergun.

 

Personally the salad was my favorite.  Sunchokes are a crunchy sweet discovery that will become a staple on my table.  More than anything though  Madison in the summer with friends greatly missed is what makes life good. Oh, and a really good gin, that makes life really, extra good. Here is the first in a series of recipes for roof top fun.

 

Grilled Chicken with Cumin, Thyme and Lemon

Serves 4

 

4 bone-in-skin-on-yum- Chicken Breasts

2 tablespoons ground cumin

1 teaspoons chili pepper (cayenne is fine)

1 teaspoon salt to taste

2 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme if you have it. (sounds weird I know but it is good)

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoons pepper

2 cloves minced garlic

1/3 cups olive oil

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice  plus an extra lemon for later

 

Mix all dry ingredients and fresh thyme in a small bowl. Make sure it smells delicious. Grab a large gallon bag and add spice mix, chopped garlic, olive oil and fresh lemon juice. Moosh it around to mix and add chicken breasts. Allow to marinate for at least an hour. The longer the better, but who really can marinate chicken for 3 hours and not get hungry?

 

Prepare the coals in a chimney starter (judge the coals on the size of your grill, 60-70). When they get started, pour them onto one side of the grate and allow them to turn grayish white. Place chicken, skin side up partially over the coals. Allow to cool, flipping half way through for 30 minutes. If the marinade starts to burn, move to the non coal side.

 

When the chicken ready, squeeze the juice of one lemon over the top. Let the breasts sit for 5 minutes before cutting through the skin.

500 Chicken. It could be 500 cloves of garlic; it could be 500 minutes of marinating, but no. 500 Chicken means firemen, frantic phone calls and the only way to accurately roast a bird. The number 500 is actually the temperature inside your oven just before the alarms start blaring- that’s you know the chicken is done.

Preparing a whole bird delivers a wonderful bonus gift every time: the glorious wishbone. Known in England as the Merrythought, the wishbone isn’t actually good luck itself, but only releases its fair favor when broken in two.  The person who wins the longer half in a face off is granted his or her wish. It is like a thumb war but you have the a shot at world peace.

I love this dish. I remember smelling the chicken roasting downstairs as I toiled away at my fifth grade homework on the second floor. The scent meant it was fall again, and we would continue to make this warming, comforting meal all winter. As the older (and wiser) sibling, I liked when the wishbone split exactly in half, which mean both Jake and I were granted our wishes.

Much like the legend of the wishbone, the perfect roast chicken is something of an enigma, often eluding the chef, coming out too dry or with an unwanted blackened skin. Not 500 chicken, provided you take it out of the oven before the fire engine rolls to the door. We eventually asked the volunteer team in Minneapolis if they would like to stay for dinner. They apparently had real emergencies on their hands. Boy did they missed out.

Famous 500 Chicken

1 roaster chicken (any size will work, cooking time must be adjusted accordingly

2 cloves garlic, peel and sliced in have horizontally

1 lemon sliced in half

1 onion sliced in half

1 bunch basil (optional)

Tons of Kosher Salt

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees!!**

Rinse the chicken and rub with sliced garlic. If you can handle it, place the sliced cloves under the skin of the chicken breasts. Do the same with a handful of basil leaves. If this doesn’t sound appealing to you, I don’t blame you, reserve herbs and garlic cloves. Now, salt the entire chicken, covering all surfaces. Place lemon and onion (and potentially unused garlic and basil) into the cavity of the bird and place wing side up on a v shaped wrack (or regular slatted rack) in a roasting pan.

Now put the bird in the oven and wait. I used a 2.5 lb’er and it took roughly 40 minutes including cooking. When a thermometer plunged into the breast reads 160, and the juices run clear from a small cut into the meat, the your ‘goose is cooked.” Remove it from the oven and let sit for 10-15 minutes. Enjoy with absolutely anything your heart desires.

**Truth be told, there is no reason your oven needs to be 500 degrees, and in fact that is a little extreme. I would recommend starting it at 375 for 10 minutes then increasing to 450, however, just leavening the oven at 450 will do the trick.

Happy eating everyone! This Monday is another movie night (500 chicken was the dish of choice along with White Russians of course for a screening of the Big Lebowski). I’m thinking of mussels next week, but you never know.

Over and out.

December tastes good with Jameson and Ginger Ale, a first course of cheeses and bread and this beautiful Rosemary Chicken with Tomatoes and Beans.

What are you getting from this combination of deliciousness (besides the possibility of a hangover?)

Skinless chicken breasts and navy beans are healthy, low calorie ways to take in some protein; the tomatoes help stave off colds (and cancer) with anti-oxidants and vitamins A and C;  and rosemary tastes great and helps immune system stimulation and increased focus!

Ok, so it is not really Sunday anymore, just took me a while to post this bad boy…here goes:

Dancing in my delicates while cooking over high heat has to be one of my favorite activities. On Sunday, I threw together an easy clean out the fridge meal while grooving to Solid Gold.

For throw together meals, the quantity all depends on what you have. The “recipe” below was for two or three servings, dinner on night and lunch the following day plus a snack.

What you need:
2 skinless boneless Chicken Breasts
Fresh or frozen spinach (judgment call on how much)
1 Chopped onion
2 ish cloves chopped garlic
Olive oil
Spices (depending on what you have will determine what genre this dish falls under)

I was feeling like Indian flavors, so I reached for the garam marsala and whole cumin seeds while I assembled the rest of my ingredients…

In a large pan, start two dashes of olive oil heating over medium. When hot, but not smoking, add the onion and garlic and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. If using whole seed spices, add at this time, let ‘em warm for about 30 second and then toss in the cubed chicken.

Sear chicken until light brown on all sides and add the remainder of your ground spices, about 2-3 teaspoons worth. This will eventually create a little moisture, at this point, add the spinach and ¼ cup water (less or more depending on amount of spinach). Saute until chicken is cooked and spinach wilted.

Serve with some salt and pepper and rice (if you have it, I didn’t!)