H A P P Y   A P R I L !

 Happy Sunday too!  And my favorite spring time song!!  Did you all remember to turn over your calendar pages?  Rabbit-rabbit never made more sense than today!  I know not all of you got the calendar this year since we ran out of them — which, btw, is being fixed this year — some of the new 2013 calendars, including the 12 x 12 wall calendar (but not the blotter), are coming in early — by the end of May.  I’ll be gone, off to England, and you’ll all be with me, so don’t forget, if you want one — we realized that when everyone orders in November we don’t have a chance to reorder when we run out, so we hope this will make a difference.

And now, due to popular request but mostly just to prove that occasionally we do eat something other than cupcakes or tea cakes . . . I give you Joe’s recipe for

♣ BRICK-FLATTENED LEMON CHICKEN ♣  

Most likely, the manly piece of kitchen equipment needed for this cooking project won’t be in your kitchen drawer!  So put “one brick” on your shopping list!  Or head out to the garage to begin the search!

This lemony, herby, butterflied chicken dish is as delicious cold as it is hot; we often pack it up for the beach or a picnic in the summertime.

You can make it the day before you want to serve it, let it marinate in the overnight in the fridge, or cook it immediately, whichever is easiest for you.

You know as soon as you get out a brick and busy yourself around the kitchen, most likely your kitty will come lay down in the center of the action.  Take a moment to kiss him, even if he has a look on his face that says, “If I don’t have eye contact with her, maybe she’ll let me stay.”  Look at the way he bends and tucks his paws.  One of my favorite things.

This is why kitties are so cozy at all times.  But I digress.

Get down kitty.  ♥

Out comes the soapy hot water to wipe down the counter before we begin (for anyone that fears kitty on counter).

So after you raid the garage or the garden, you brush off your brick, but don’t wash it, you don’t want it to be wet; wrap it twice in aluminum foil.   I just remembered, I have a video of Joe making this last summer, here you go, don’t blink or you will miss it!  I think when you can hear it, you can almost smell it!

XOXOXO XOXOX

If you ever, by the way, want to see some of my other very short videos, you can go to my Youtube Channel and see them; I know someone was asking for a video of my house, and there are a few there.

 OK, so anyway, after you get your brick wrapped, preheat the oven (if you plan to cook the chicken right away).

This photo ought to sear it into your memory!  I do love these big photos!  So, in case you didn’t notice, you should set the temp for 400°.

First make the Garlic Lemon Sauce.  I’ll put the condensed recipe at the end of all this, easy for you to print out.  But here’s the How-To:

You will need fresh lemon juice, olive oil, garlic cloves, and fresh lemon thyme leaves (other herbs that would work would be sage, savory or rosemary).  The thyme was growing in our garden; be sure to plant this amazing herb this summer, put it in everything; it’s just delicious in salads too!  I also love to mix the purple flowers into creamy vanilla ice cream, yum!  (Write that on your calendar for July!)

 Save some thyme leaves to sprinkle over the chicken just before serving.  So lemony fragrant!

Mix all sauce ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.  Now for the chicken:

Prepare yourself, there is a horror-show aspect to this back-bone removing method that reminds me somewhat of feeding time in the Eagle Nest in Decorah, Iowa.  (If you’ve been watching it, you’ll know what I mean!)  I took the photos as daintily as I could. The plan is to remove the backbone; you start by putting the chicken on his head on a cutting board, as shown, and get a grip on his tail.

With a sharp knife, carefully cut all the way through, close to each side of the backbone down to the bottom.

 And remove it.

Save that beautiful backbone for chicken stock.  Now you have a butterflied chicken.  Easy huh?

Bend it open as hard as you can.

Use the heel of your hand to push and flatten as much as possible.

Until it looks like this.  Joe split the breast bone a little bit, can you see that?  Cut off any bits of excess fat; rinse the chicken well; dry it well with paper towels (so that it will cook evenly); put it into a roasting pan or baking dish and . . .

. . . gently rub the garlic-lemon-oil mixture over both sides of the chicken and under the skin.  At this point, if you like, you can cover and refrigerate the chicken for an hour, or overnight, turning occasionally.

When ready to cook, add another tablespoon of olive oil to a heavy oven-proof skillet.  Regulate the heat so it’s hot and sizzling.

Put the chicken, skin side down, into the hot oil; adjust the heat to medium-high.

Pour all the extra sauce on top of it.  Salt and pepper it, and cook until the chicken is golden brown; don’t turn it or move it for five minutes; then check it and make sure it’s golden brown.

 Now pull out your fancy new kitchen equipment and lay it over the thickest part of the chicken.

And into the oven she goes.

Roast it for twenty-five minutes; remove the pan from the oven; set the hot brick aside.  See that pan back there?  Joe put the brick in there.

Turn the chicken over, remembering that everything is hot, so be careful.

Replace the brick, again over the thickest part of the chicken, and put it all back into the oven to cook for another ten minutes.

And that’s it.  Cool, cover, and chill; or cut it into pieces and serve.

Sprinkle it with the additional lemon thyme, mmmm so so so so good!

Tender, juicy, lemony, and delicious.  Thank you Joe!  Take a bow my man! ♥

That’s it for today girls, but because it’s April First, and a beautiful spring day on Martha’s Vineyard, we need our moment of nature love . . .

XOXOXOXOXOX

HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY ♥  Here’s that recipe!

BRICK-FLATTENED LEMON CHICKEN

• 1 brick, double wrapped in aluminum foil
• 1 2½ to 3½ lb. chicken, organic if you can do it
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2 Tbsp. fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 2 lg. garlic cloves, pressed or minced
• 4 Tbsp. fresh lemon thyme leaves, minced and divided (or sage, savory, or rosemary)
• salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil

In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, and 2 Tbsp. of the lemon thyme leaves and set aside.  If cooking immediately, preheat oven to 400°.

Rinse chicken in cold water, rinse and pat dry with paper towels.  Remove the backbone from the chicken: put the chicken upside down, standing on its neck, on a cutting board.  With a sharp knife, starting on one side of the tail, carefully cut cut down the back, close to the bone, all the way through.  Cut along the other side, remove the backbone and save it for chicken stock.

Place the chicken skin-side down on the cutting board; with both hands bend the chicken backwards to flatten; you can also crack the breast bone with your knife, then, using the heel of your hand, press to flatten as much as possible.  Remove any excess fat from the chicken, rinse and dry the bird well with paper towels and put it in a large roasting pan.

Pour the reserved garlic lemon sauce over the chicken; rub it all over and under the skin.  At this point you can cover it, put it in the fridge, and keep it overnight, turning it at least once).

Sprinkle the chicken with salt and freshly ground pepper.  Heat the tablespoon of olive oil in a large oven-proof skillet until hot and sizzling.  Place the chicken, skin-side-down, in the skillet regulating the heat to medium-high.  Cook, without moving the chicken for about five minutes, check it and cook until golden brown.

Place the wrapped brick on top of the thickest part of the chicken and place the skillet in the oven.  Roast for 25 minutes.  Remove from oven, use potholders to remove hot brick, set aside (Joe put it into another pan) while you carefully turn the chicken over.  Replace the brick, and put it all back in the oven for another ten min. until chicken is done.  Put a fork into the thickest part of the thigh meat, if the juice runs clear, it’s done.  Sprinkle it with the remaining lemon thyme leaves.  Serve immediately or cool, then cover and refrigerate.  Best hot or at room temperature.  Depending on size of chicken, this serves either two or four. ♥