Roast Chicken, Homemade Brown Bread, Asparagus

Unfortunately, Sunday was rainy. Instead of cooking our roasting chicken outside on the grill rotisserie, we roasted it in the oven. For something a bit different, we made the Roast Lemon Chicken that we frequently make, but we substituted orange for lemon. This is not a Lemon Roast Chicken stuffed with lemon and covered with salt and lemon, which we also frequently make. This recipe involved slicing the chicken and squishing it down them pouring in chicken broth and freshly squeezed lemon (orange) juice.

First, use kitchen shears to cut through the bones on either side of the backbone and use the heel of your hand to flatten the breastbone.

Next, make a zest mixture of 3 T grated zest (lemon or orange), 1 tsp sugar, and 1 tsp salt. Rub 2 T of the zest mixture under the skin of the chicken. Season chicken with salt and pepper and place in roasting pan. We used a glass casserole dish.

Whisk together 2 cups low sodium chicken broth, 1 cup water, 1/3 cup lemon (or orange ) juice, and remaining zest mixture. Pour into roasting pan. If the liquid doesn't reach the skin of the thighs, add enough water to reach the skin of the thighs.SP handled all the raw chicken cutting and smushing and seasoning!

Roast until golden brown, about 40-45 minutes (or until thigh meat registers 170-175 degrees).Transfer chicken to a cutting board and let it rest. Time for 'gravy!'

Pour the liquid from the roasting pan into a saucepan. Skim off the fat and then cook over medium high heat until reduced to about a cup. Whisk 1 tsp cornstarch with 1 T water and then whisk into saucepan. Simmer until slightly thickened. Remove from heat and whisk in 3 T unsalted butter and 1 T finely chopped fresh parsley (we used dried).Carve and serve chicken with sauce.Orange instead of lemon was tasty and I'd do it again for something different, but I think I like the lemon a bit better.

SP got out the bread machine and made us a tasty brown bread with parmesan and basil. Mmmm yum! He found the recipe online, but I'm not sure where. The bread has a nice crisp crust and the crust has a very nice parmesan taste from the cheese browning in the crust. I didn't really taste the basil, maybe because we used dried and not fresh, but that doesn't matter - the bread itself is quite tasty.We roasted asparagus for our vegetable. The usual seasoning: salt, pepper, olive oil, grated parmesan.A delicious Sunday meal with leftovers!

Bread:
1 and 1/8 cups water
1.5 T olive oil
1/3 cup grated parmesan
1/3 tsp salt
1 T sugar
1 tsp basil
1.5 cups whole wheat flour
1.5 cups white flour
1.5 tsp yeast