Monday, September 07, 2009

Magazine Monday #48 & 101 Uses for a Roast Chicken #18: Lemon Basil Chicken

At the beginning of the summer, my good friend Pierce of Life in the Slow Lane at Squirrel Head Manor fame sent me & Juno some goodies and part of the packing material was the Feb/March 2009 issue of Taste of Home. My grandmother actually used to send me a subsciption to this magazine way back in the day, and I see it's improved considerably since then. There are quite a few recipes from this issue I intend on trying out.

This Monday, however, I present you with Lemon Basil Chicken. As you all know, I do love roasting chickens, which is why this post also qualifies as part of my 101 Uses for a Roast Chicken series in addition to being my weekly Magazine Monday contribution. Since I have some jaundiced basil languishing in my garden, I thought this was the perfect time to put some of it out of its misery (and mine - basil does not like me or my garden for some weird reason).

Lemon Basil Chicken

1 lemon
2 garlic cloves, divided (OK, I used way more than this)
1/4 cup minced fresh basil, divided
1 broiler/fryer chicken
2 tbsp butter, melted
salt & pepper

1. Zest whole lemon. Cut lemon in half and juice one half. Set aside the other half.
2. Slice one garlic clove. Place sliced garlic, 2 tbsp basil, and remaining lemon half in the chicken cavity.
3. Place chicken, breast side up, in roasting pan. Rub with reserved lemon juice. Mince remaining garlic & combine with butter & reserved lemon peel. Brush mixture over chicken. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, & remaining basil.
4. Roast until done. Let stand for 15 minutes before carving.

OK. Butter on top of a chicken? Um, this doesn't work for me - even though I was willing to give it a sporting chance. All it did was drip off into the drippings. It added nothing to the taste or texture or look of the chicken. So, I won't do that again. Otherwise, this was a nice easy dish and I love lemon, basil, and garlic together. This would have been just as nice without the butter part. So, a bit of a disappointing recipe, but a good learning experience.

Joining me this week with their magazine experiments:

Tia of Buttercream Barbie made this luscious Cinnamon Chocolate Twist bread from Canadian Living.

Kylie of Thin Crust, Deep Dish made Peanut Sesame Noodles and a Cucumber Salad from a couple of Gourmet back issues.

Pierce of Life in the Slow Lane at Squirrel Head Manor made yummy chicken marsala from an issue of Family Circle.

11 comments:

Coleens Recipes said...

Your chicken looks delicious. I just love a good roasted chicken.

NKP said...

Nothing better than a roast chicken! I love lemon and basil, perfect for chicken.

Tina said...

Oh...I have to try this one too. Isn't that funny that I had that magazione and never noticed the chicken recipe. Doh!

The other contributions look good too, I'll have to give it a go.
I'm going to try and make bread today. Wish me luck!

Palidor said...

That's a great looking chicken. I like to crisp up the skin under the broiler when it's done cooking. Crispy skin is the best part!

Wandering Coyote said...

Palidor: Absolutely - the crispy skin IS the best part! And I always think when I am picking it off that being able to eat all the crispy skin myself is one of the best things about being single, too! Weird, but there you have it.

Inspired by eRecipeCards said...

1 whole chicken and only two garlic cloves, really. Thank the culinary goddess you know what you are doing.

Looks great

Wandering Coyote said...

Dave: actually, I used WAY more than the recipe called for. Sorry - forgot to include that in the post. 2 cloves is definitely NOT enough!

monicajane said...

I love doing roasted chickens too! this looks great...I've not used basil on chicken before and as you know I have a ton of it!

I may actually lather mine with some pesto and add the lemon zest...

mmmmm....

thanks for the idea!

I'll post it on Yes We Cook! when I do it!

Reeni said...

Roasted chicken is the best!! It's so cozy and comforting. I like these flavors!!

Bob said...

Awesome! I do something similar sometimes, it's a great flavor mix.

Dewi said...

Roased chicken is one of those meal that look pretty humble, yet pretty satifying. Yours look really awesome!

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