Rosemary Lemon Chicken

There are some crazy superstitions that go along with cooking and baking. I'd like to say that all of them make sense. But for whatever reason they work. When I was little my Aunt Ro-Ro used to always toss salt over her shoulder when she was cooking or baking. And she was always cooking or baking. I thought it was silly, what does it do beside just land on the floor?! I don't quite understand why it's thought to bring good luck.... maybe it's because salt on a floor makes it less slippery? In restaurants if someone spills oil or salad dressing salt is put down so no one slips until it can be cleaned properly by the floor crew.... maybe there's no superstition behind it. I consider it good luck when I don't fall on my a** on a daily basis, no oil needed. I am just that graceful. Even in the best restaurants in the world the chefs "won't" be able to cook without their favorite apron or their favorite set of knives.

This brings me to my mother. My mom has always always surprised me with her cooking and baking claim to fame. She says, "oooh I can smell my (sauce), it must be done." I never understood it, I never tried to figure it out. Quite frankly I rolled my eyes and chalked it up to my mother, well, just being my mother. But, just like the other 99 times that I roll my eyes and think "oh mom" she right. Darn it. It gets annoying!

I love baking but I'm a pacer.... I pace around the kitchen waiting for it to be done. It's something that I am desperately trying to break myself of. Last week I MADE myself sit on the couch and read a magazine while I waited the 6 minutes for the cookies to be done. I down right forced myself. It was then that I found out my mom was right..... when I started to smell the cookies, they were done.

In a previous blog I talked about trying to make meals ahead of time on the days that my daughter is being watched by a family friend. The following meal is one that is perfect for just such an occasion. I made it. Then I put it in the refrigerator so it could marinate until it was time for them to put it into the oven. The cleanup is quick. All in all it's perfect. They were supposed to put it in the oven as soon as my daughter got home from school because she has a busy night ahead of her with school activities. While I was at work I got a text message saying "dinner smells AMAZING." Had I been paying attention I would have replied "take it out of the oven!!!!" When I called later in the evening I was told that dinner was burnt and dry. The only plus side to that was the flavor was awesome, or would be if it wasn't burnt. For those of you that are thinking about trying this recipe, if it tastes good burnt, I imagine it will taste terrific not burnt drier than the Sahara Desert. So kids, the moral of this story is: listen to my mom..... if you start to smell whatever you're cooking or baking RUN to the oven and check it. Chances are, it's done.

Ingredients:
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 lemons
EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
fresh rosemary
2 cloves of garlic, sliced
red potatoes
parmesan cheese





Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl combine 3 Tablespoons of EVOO, salt and pepper, a teaspoon of lemon zest, squeeze in the rest of the juice from the lemon, 2 cloves of garlic, roughly chop fresh rosemary. Brush ingredients onto both sides of the chicken and put it in a baking pan. Cut the rest of the lemon into lemon wheels and place on the chicken cover with aluminum foil and bake. Slice the potatoes and place into bowl with the olive oil mixture. Toss the potatoes so they are covered on both sides. Place potatoes on a cookie sheet. Sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese and a punch more salt and pepper. Bake until golden and soft.