Quick and Easy Lemon Chicken

We just got back from an epic trip to Florida.  I say I couldn't live there but I sure do find it hard to come back sometimes after visiting so many of my close family and friends.  In a strange and wonderful coincidence, the 3 girls I had as bridesmaids and I all had baby girls.  Girls rule!

Yes, we did the Disney thing.  Kuen's first trip.  As much as I'd love to get all "Oh gawd, it was Disney and I hated the mind numbing music, crowds, etc.", I actually loved it.  Kuen had a blast.  Aside from 2 rather titanic meltdowns - one experienced when I dared to take her in a race car at the ever offensive Tomorrowland Speedway.  What?  I'm from Daytona?!  She actually got a little violent when I tried the second, even more objectionable Dumbo ride.  The look on her face as she thrashed about as violently as only a 3-year-old can read, "how dare you try to make me fly on this adorably plump elephant with large ears?!"  Other than that, she had a great time and is full-on Disney Princess and Frozen-crazy.  This is something I've tried very hard to rage against but my resolve just melts away when I see how much joy she gets out of it.  I guess she'll just have to learn to love Disney Princesses and still grow up to be a strong, independent girl that doesn't need to wait for a man to be her meal ticket.

*steps down from soap box*

We stayed on property and needless to say, we ate a lot, ON PROPERTY.  Totally by design.  That Walt Disney really knew what he was doing, I mean, what a cash cow?!  They make it pretty hard to get on/off the grounds so it's just easier to stay and make them take your money.  I was happy to see that they actually did allow patrons to bring their own food and beverages in to the park so with a little planning, you can actually get away with a cheap(ish) Disney experience, but we didn't have time for that this go around.  Next time.

How are we going to top ourselves next year??

After 3 days of Mickey Mouse and Disney Princess paraphernalia, 20-80 minute ride lines, being ass to ankles with tourists from all over the globe and sleeping in the same bed as a nocturnally acrobatic toddler, I was ready to leave and have a nice home cooked meal.  I made this a few times while I was down in FL and it was a hit!

The sauce is definitely the best part.

It's one of those really quick meals you can throw together in 15 minutes, pop it in the oven and have some time to play w/ your kid(s) or veg out in front of the TV before the smells from the oven lure you back for some super fresh and delicious chicken.  This is a great make-ahead meal as well and can be prepped for a quick 30 minutes in the oven.  (Cindy - let me know how the crock pot version turns out!)

Note: The dish is very versatile - I usually use chicken thighs (bone in, skin on) because I think it's the most flavorful cut of chicken but I've used drumsticks as a backup.  If you opt for the white meat, make sure it's at least bone-in with skin.  The breasts will likely dry out if you use boneless skinless breast meat. The amount of chicken is scale-able.  I usually use 5-8 pcs of thighs depending on the size.  When I'm making this and serving immediately, I like to take the chicken out of the fridge to take the chill off.  This helps with not only cooking time but more even cooking.

Another note, I'm not writing in any measurements for salt or pepper.  I season all three layers (veg, sauce and chicken) but never measure it.  The amount of seasoning also depends on the amount of chicken you're using and your own tastes.  Just err on the side of caution, you can always add more but you can't take it out if it's too salty.

Quick and Easy Lemon Chicken

adapted from this recipe

serves 3-4

3-5 lbs bone-in skin-on chicken thighs (see above note for substitutions)

1/2 medium onion, diced (sometimes I add the whole thing)

1 to 2 lbs potatoes, diced (any waxy version is good - red or yukon)

1 fennel bulb, diced (celery works in a pinch)

2 lemons (cut in half, juice 3 of the 4 halves and slice the last one)

1/2 c. extra virgin olive oil

salt

pepper

optional: your favorite dried herbs - see the original recipe for inspiration, I always forget to include herbs but never miss it

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Dice the onion, fennel and potatoes and place in a roasting pan (you want something that's going to be deep enough to hold all the sauce) and season with salt and pepper.  Juice the 3 lemon halves, add olive oil and any optional herbs, add salt and pepper to taste.  Mix and pour 1/2 the sauce over the vegetables, toss to coat.  Season the chicken pieces and spoon the rest of the sauce over the chicken, coating both sides.

Bake for 25-30 minutes.  Again, this will depend on how thick the cut is and how cold your chicken is when it starts baking.  I always go by how brown the skin is which isn't scientific at all but hasn't failed me yet.  Make sure you let the chicken rest after it comes out of the oven for at least 10 minutes before serving with rice or noodles.

Enjoy!

Yum!

Lemon Bars

When Gabe and I first started dating, he made these lemon bars for me.
He's never made them for me since. That's not his fault really, I don't let him in the kitchen to make any meal other than breakfast. The man can cook a mean sunny side up egg.

Lucky for me, the recipe's his mom's and he wrote it down (however illegible the handwriting). It comes together pretty easily and they're YUUUUMMY. Hope you give them a go.

Start w/ some flour. I saw some post last week that spelled 'flour', 'flower'. This was some chick who claimed to love baking. I'm a bit of a spelling nazi. It annoyed me.

Flour.

Powdered sugar:

Now, let it be known that I regularly think one stick of butter is only 1/4 cup - it's not. ONE stick of butter is 1/2 cup. Say it again: ONE stick of butter is 1/2 cup. I've corrected myself several times but I failed today and made the same mistake again. The real recipe only requires ONE stick of butter, which is how much, class? 1/2 cup.

I was clever enough to use the butter wrapper to grease the pan - which, let's face it people, when you use a whole CUP of butter when only 1/2 is required, the greasing of the pan is ridiculously redundant.

See how clever I am? Thought I was being smart.

That extra stick of butter is shamefully rich. But I have a bit of a secret: it made them even better. I'm going to continue writing the recipe and pretend like I made it w/ the correct amt of butter, but you'll know the truth. It'll be our dirty little secret.

Cut the butter into the flour and powdered sugar until it resembles a coarse meal texture.

One of these helps:

Wow..that crust looks pretty buttery, doesn't it? It is.

Press into an 8 x 8" pan:

If it sticks to your fingers, dust a little flour on your fingertips.

Should look something like this. This is the point where I did a double take on the recipe and realized my mistake. I thought about making another crust but then I would've just wasted TWO sticks of butter. No. I shan't. Charge forward. Stay the course. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 10-12 minutes until golden brown.

For the filling:

Two room temperature eggs.

Beat until incorporated.

Whisk in sugar.

Juice a lemon - you'll need 3 tbsp.

Meyer lemons, I'm having a love affair w/ them.

This lemon produced about 4 tbsp. and I just used all 4. I already screwed up the recipe, I thought. Go big or go home.

Mix 2 tbsp. flour and 1/2 tsp. baking powder.

Slowly add the flour mixture to the egg mixture.

I did it in a few batches.

This is what it looks like when it's all mixed. A little foamy on top - don't be alarmed.

It's actually a pale yellow - here's a picture w/ flash to show the color. Pour this on top of the baked crust (no need to cool) and bake for another 20-25 minutes.

I was so annoyed w/ myself at the butter ordeal, I didn't take a photo of my crust of shame. This is what it looked like:

Cut into about 12 squares.. ..and sprinkle w/ powdered sugar to make them SUPER pretty.

Mmmmm.

The crust was SUPER buttery.

In fact, you can't tell where the crust and filling end and meet.

Then I ate one and had to slice up some lemon slices to cover up the empty spot where I just ate one of the bars.

Lemon Bars

Crust:
1/4 c. butter (ONE stick, people)
1 c. flour
1/2 c. powdered sugar

Filling:
2 eggs
3/4 c. sugar
3 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp. flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix the flour and sugar together, cut in the butter (room temp is fine) until the mixture resembles a coarse meal texture. Try not to overwork the dough. Press the dough into an 8x8" square pan. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly golden brown.

Beat the eggs until incorporated. Whisk in sugar until melted - about 5 minutes. Mix in lemon juice. Mix flour and baking powder together and sprinkle in slowly to egg mixture. When the crust is finished, pour the egg/lemon mixture on top and put back in the oven (still at 350 degrees) for 20-25 minutes until filling is set.

Let cool and cut into 12 squares, sprinkle w/ powdered sugar. Enjoy!

Lemon Lavender Pancakes

What do you think of when you hear the word "lavender"? I used to think spa. Lotion. Bubble bath. Calm. Now, I think of my friend Lisa.



I was in World Market the other day when I was in their spice aisle - they have super inexpensive spices. Anyhow, Lisa and I have been talking about getting together to cook something for months. She loooooves lavender. All things lavender. So I've had it on the proverbial back burner to try and use lavender in something I cook.

Gabe was up pretty much all night working on an emergency so I wanted to make a hearty breakfast for him on my day off before sending him to work. This boy loves pancakes. Almost as much as I love shrimp. So what does he request when I ask what he wants: these yummy lemon pancakes I make. Then I decided, wouldn't some lavender be awesome in there? And not surprisingly, they were. I hope you try these!



Lemon Lavender Pancakes

Makes about 10 - 5" pancakes, 2-3 servings

dry ingredients:

1 c. AP flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1.5 tbsp. sugar

wet ingredients:

1 egg (I use extra large, room temp)
3/4 c. sour cream
3/4 c. buttermilk
4 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 c. milk

other ingredients:

1 tsp. dried lavender
zest of 1 lemon, about 1.5 tsp.
maple syrup and more butter for pancakes, optional

I start by measuring my dry ingredients on a flexible cutting board.




Crack the egg into a medium mixing bowl:



Melt 4 tbsp. butter (1/2 stick):


I throw in the microwave for about 30 seconds:


Whisk the egg to break up the yolks:


I forgot to take a picture after I whisked the melted butter into the eggs, but do that.

Then, get your other wet ingredients:


Add your sour cream:


Mix, mix, mix..


Add the buttermilk next..






Grate the zest of 1 lemon on top of the wet mixture. It adds this fantastic fresh and super intense lemon flavor to the pancakes. Sometimes pancakes can seem super heavy to me, but these are light and delicious.



Whisk in..



Then add the vanilla extract:





Now for the dry ingredients. I like to sift everything in to make sure there are no lumps. Nobody wants a lumpy pancake.



Just sift right on top of the wet mixture.



This is what you're trying to keep out of your mixture.


Saboteurs. Lumpy lumpy saboteurs.


"You shall not pass!!!"


I'm no Lord of the Rings freak, it just happened to be on the other day and this came to mind. Not apologizing.



Mix in and check the texture. If you knock off the whisk and it looks like this:



You need that 1/4 c. of milk. Sometimes you don't need it. I think I was a little generous on the 1 c. flour measure.


There we go. Should be a little looser but still pretty thick.

Make sure that griddle is nice and hot (but not too hot). Not that it matters, everyone knows the first few batches of pancakes don't turn out well.

You need a few sacrificial lambs before you get the acceptable ones.


I went ahead and did lavender on half the pancakes. Few reasons:

1. Never tried this recipe before so if it sucked, only 1/2 would be inedible - because that lemon pancake batter is tried & true.

2. Gabe didn't want to risk a few man cards and say he ate Lemon Lavender ANYTHING for breakfast.



Check out the height on these:







Throw some piggy on the griddle..



Mr.'s pancake stack.



My pancake stack:



More butter:



I microwave the maple syrup for about 30 seconds and I watch it like a hawk. As soon as you see some bubbling, get it the heck out of there or you'll have a hot sticky mess to clean up in the microwave.





Hot syrup. Butter melting. Must eat.



Be still my heart.



Piggy & lemon lavender pancakes. A match made in heaven.

......


Bye bye pancakes.