dinner – Page 11 – Myfrenchkitchen

With our weather being somewhat cooler and the rain pouring down constantly, our bones are in need of some warmer nourishment. The grey skies whispered lemon chicken. So we had the old classic, lemon chicken with herbs. An ever popular meal, so easily done in the oven and sliced at the table, which leaves you with ample time to indulge in that book you just glance at every time you speed past it.

Oven baked lemon chicken with herbs

Do I need to give the recipe?

Take a chicken, clean it. Flee into your garden and cut herbs to heart’s delight…tarragon is a must. Lemon cut into chunks is a must. As is some butter, salt and pepper and two or three shallots. Then just stuff the chicken with all ingredients, rub with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
Bake in a 180 deg. C oven for about an hour or until you have clear juices running when piercing the chicken into the thick flesh of the thigh next to the bone, normally the part which takes the longest to cook. Turn the chicken over and drizzle often with the pan juices.
In the meantime prepare some vegetables. I used green asparagus, of which I snapped the ends off and some cherry tomatoes. Clean and dry them.
When the chicken is done, remove from the pan and cover with foil on a serving platter. Skim off the excess fat from the pan.
Arrange the asparagus in the pan and roast at 200 deg. c until nicely caramelized. Add the tomatoes 10 minutes before the asparagus is done and roast until the tomatoes start shrinking.
Serve on the platter alongside the chicken, drizzle with the pan juices and serve the rest of the sauce on the side.

*for more about herbs and it’s uses, see “In my herb garden”

…the more you pick, the better I grow…

This is an entry for WHB, whith this week’s host being Wandering chopsticks.

The past weekend was summer. Beautiful long, lingering days. On weekends like this, you want energy. You want healthy. A ham spring roll.

Ham spring rolls

There is no formal recipe for this. See what your fridge and pantry comes up with and take the road to fresh and seasonal.

Cut some vegetables into matchsticks. I’ve used carrot, cucumber, mango, rocket leaves and chives. Place a slice of ham on a chopping board and stack some vegetables onto the one end. roll up tight and secure with a toothpick or tie with a chive(softened in boiling water for a second or two).
Serve with a dipping sauce made of natural joghurt and chopped herbs and splashed with a swirl of lemon juice.
Or serve with a lime ginger sauce: A tablespoon of each – freshly squeezed lime juice, rice wine vinegar, mirrin, soja sauce and some grated ginger and chopped lemon grass. Taste and adjust.