Monday was my first paid holiday off ever. Well... not EVER, but it was the first agency holiday that I was able to have off with the rest of the agency, regardless of if it fell on my day off or not. Because I recently became a salaried employee. And can make my own schedule. And am such a big girl!!
When I woke up in the morning, I think my subconscious wanted to celebrate, because I was craving roasted chicken and mushroom risotto like nobody's business. I rolled over and pulled my mascara-caked eyes apart to find Danny watching me with his little half-smile I love seeing first thing in the morning. My mother always told me that if someone loves you enough to watch you sleep, they are either a serial killer or a keeper. In this case, it's the latter, thankfully. Besides that, he kisses me when I have morning breath, and I can have some pretty rancid morning breath.
We took a trip to the grocery store and set a goal to get all the ingredients for under 20 dollars. One 5.5lb whole chicken, bundle of fresh rosemary, arborio rice, mushrooms, cream and some brussel sprouts later (Danny was determined to change my mind about those disgusting little cabbages) we came in under budget and went back to my apartment to prepare. Granted, we did have some ingredients at home already, but my momma taught me to budget shop with the best of them!
Once home, Danny started making his magic in the kitchen. When he's cooking, I like to stand across the counter and watch him work. It literally is magic, the way he just knows exactly how much of anything to put in, the accuracy and skill he has when handling ingredients and marrying them all into one beautiful dish. Tonight was no exception, and being the wonderful person that he is, Danny took extra care to explain each step of this somewhat tedious dish to me in detail, including tips on how to get the breasts nice and juicy. Obviously, I turned that into a dirty joke, hence "naughty chicken" but more on that later.
Here, you see Chef Hoyt preparing the herbed butter for the "rub down." Simple butter, olive oil, garlic, fresh rosemary, (we used dried) thyme and lemon zest, all mixed together into a lovely, buttery lump. We warned you... there will be LOTS of butter.
Next we put the herbed, zesty, sexy butter underneath the chicken's skin. Convienently enough, Frank Sinatra was playing, and just before this step Danny led me around the kitchen to "Under My Skin." The trick to this is making sure the butter is as evenly spread over as much of the breast as you can get at without damaging the chicken. We then cut the lemon in half, sandwiched some whole rosemary sprigs between the halves, and then stuffed the whole shebang into the cavity of the chicken.
WARNING: DIRTY JOKE ALERT!! (All those with less tolerance or higher morals than I, I apologize in advance...) Danny then placed our perfectly seasoned bird FACE DOWN onto the baking sheet. When I asked him why, he explained in a very serious, non-perverted way that putting the bird on it's belly makes the breasts good and juicy. It was too much for my thirteen year old little boy mind to handle, and naturally I went into gales of laughter about how #foodporn had taken on a whole new meaning for me. The lesson here, folks, is not that I shouldn't be allowed in public on most occasions, believe it or not. It is that in order to make the most delectable bird you've ever tasted, you have to think a little dirty, and put it doggy style for 20 minutes at 375 degrees Farenheit.
After 20 minutes, flip the chicken to missionary postion (that's the last one, I promise!) and contine baking at 375 for roughly 20 to 30 more minutes, until skin is golden brown and juice runs clear. If you have a kitchen thermometer, which I did not, the meat should be at least 170 degrees Farenheit.
While the chicken roasted, Monseiur Hoyt made some mushroom and rosemary stock, quickly sauteed mushrooms so they were still firm yet beautiful, and then created risotto, of which I am still too scared to make. I have been informed that I will be making pumpkin risotto this weekend, so stay tuned!
Danny then made brussel sprouts, or as I like to call them; Death Cabbage. I remember trying them as a kid and being absolutely repulsed. I had never tasted anything in my life that so closely resembled a sweat sock and I vowed never to eat them again. That was, of course, until Danny convinced me otherwise, claiming that his brussel sprouts would certainly change my mind. We took 8-10 of the vile little buggers and de-stemmed them, then halved them length-wise. Then, we (and by we, I hope you have all picked up on the fact that Danny made this whole meal. I supervised...) blanched the sprouts in boiling, salty water for about a minute, shocking them immediately afterwards in VERY COLD water. We let the liquid drain while heating a pan on the stovetop. Then, we tossed the sprouts into the pan, which was very hot (I'm told this is the secret to good brussel sprouts) and let them sit, turning every few minutes until they began to brown. They should be crispy, so don't be afraid if they get a little darker color. Once they darkened up, we added butter and seasoning to taste. If it helps, think of it as sending them on vacation and they're getting tan... except for when it's over, they're devoured by hungry humans. Fun, no?
And Voila! There you have it! A delicious rosemary roasted chicken, mushroom risotto and brussel sprout dinner. One of my favorite things about Danny is that he plates EVERYTHING he makes for me, as you will soon witness. He barely gets food on his plate most of the time, but mine always looks like it came straight from a five star restaraunt. Here's my plate, complete with the gravy he concocted from chicken drippings and sherry and butter that I didn't get a picture of.
I asked for a thigh, since I love dark meat, which was incredibly tender and had a subtle hint of the rosemary and lemon. Danny took a breast piece, which was EXPLODING with the sexy butter flavor and absolutely to die for. After I destroyed my leg, I went up for seconds. And thirds. But who's counting?
The risotto was the perfect consistency, sticky yet creamy, and full of hearty flavor and perfectly portioned chunks of mushroom. As much as I was a skeptic, I think that brussel sprouts might be a top three favorite veggie for me now. I asked for seconds and there were no more, since we only got a few in case I didnt like them. Next time, I will make a quadruple batch of sprouts, eat 3/4 of them and bring the last 1/4 to work the next day. My coworkers were jealous enough when I returned from our long weekend with mushroom risotto and roasted chicken. Imagine if I walked in with a tupperware full of emerald brussel sprouts that just returned from their pan vacation with a nice tan? Can you say jealousy or should I spell it out for you?
Hope you all had a fantastic President's day. I know, after this meal, I certainly did.
'MERICUH. (Like "America," but in American... Danny didn't get it either, so if you don't it's okay.)
Peace, Blessings and Butter,
Brooke and Danny
