the hot days of summer

well it's officially hot!  and after a bit of a random start to the weekend, we've had a great lazy weekend.  good food, plenty of time with friends and with each other, and plenty of time in the a/c which is totally key right now :)  we're planning out several trips for the rest of the summer to cooler locales which always helps keep us sane :)  hope your summer is about to kickoff with a great start! :)  wishing you plenty of watermelon, ice cold beer, a/c, swimming pools, margaritas and the beach :)

(delicious) Roast Chicken!

This was a new one for me- and I had NO idea how easy it was!  I think the idea of the prep scared me, but it wasn't bad at all.  And I realized that I rarely cook a dinner that just cooks away in the oven, giving me time to prepare everything else :)  I also made a few equipment substitutions... no twine?  Cut a strip from a rag!  No roasting pan?  Put an (all metal) cooling rack on top of a 9x13 casserole dish! :)  No meat thermometer?  Hope you get lucky (and err on the long side of the cooking times)! :)  It is of course, another great recipe from Cooking Light :)

Ingredients

1 (4-pound) whole roasting chicken
2 teaspoons unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon ground coriander
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 shallots, peeled and halved
3 fresh thyme sprigs
1 lemon, quartered

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Discard giblets and neck from chicken. Starting at neck cavity, loosen skin from breasts and drumsticks by inserting fingers, gently pushing between skin and meat.
3. Combine butter and next 7 ingredients (through garlic) in a small bowl. Rub mixture under loosened skin, over flesh; rub over top of skin. Tie ends of legs together with twine (or... cut a strip off a rag ;). Lift wing tips up and over back; tuck under chicken. Place chicken, breast side up, on a rack; place rack in roasting pan. Place shallots, thyme sprigs, and lemon in cavity of chicken.
4. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes. Increase oven temperature to 450° (do not remove chicken); bake at 450° for 15 minutes or until a thermometer inserted in meaty part of leg registers 165°. Remove chicken from pan; let stand 10 minutes. Discard skin. Carve chicken.