Lemon and Orange Herb Chicken with Carrots and Roasted Asparagus

Saturday night was "Date Night" for me and Donovan. He is leaving on Friday for a 2 week det, so we have been trying to have little "dates" together, even if it means watching a movie on pay per view and having a "picnic" on the floor in our living room. So I decided to make a "fancy" meal, since I knew we wouldn't be getting a real date anytime soon.

I had a whole chicken in the fridge and I knew I wanted to roast it in the oven. I also had a bunch of oranges and lemons to use, so I decided to put it all together.

Preheat your oven to 350.

First I rinsed the chicken off and took out the neck and gizzards and innards and tossed them aside. Normally I wouldn't condone throwing away perfectly good innards, but I knew I wouldn't have time to put them to use, so in the trash they went.

Pat the chicken dry and gently loosen the skin on the chicken. Cut a stick of butter into even slices and stick the butter under the skin. Put chicken, breast side down at first (this helps seal in the juices), into a roasting pan, and cover with 1-2 cups chicken stock or broth, if you don't have stock on hand.

Cut an orange and squeeze the juice all over the chicken, then stuff the orange shell inside the chicken. I threw some baby carrots into the pot with the chicken and dunked them down under the broth so they could get soft. Melt a stick of butter and pour it on top of the chicken.

Salt and pepper your chicken, then sprinkle with rosemary, thyme, sage, and any other herbs you like. Put in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, covered with foil or a lid. Then pull the pot out and flip the chicken over so the breast side is up. Then sprinkle with the same herbs you put on the other side, and a little more salt and pepper.



Slice a lemon or two into 1/4 inch thick slices. Then, using toothpicks, secure the lemon slices to the top of the chicken.



Roast for about 2 more hours, uncovered, or until the thickest part of the thigh reads 170. I cooked ours until the thigh read 180 just to be on the safe side, and it was still super juicy and incredible!!! If you want the skin to get a little crispier, you can remove the lemon slices and put it under the broiler for a minute or two, but don't overdo it! You don't want a dry chicken!!!

Let the chicken rest for ten minutes before serving: this helps the juices settle and keeps all the juices from running right out of the chicken when you make that first slice.



While the chicken is resting, pop your asparagus into the oven and let it roast. I usually just cut off the woody stems of the spears, then drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt, pepper, and my homemade lemon pepper seasoning. Then place on a cookie sheet and roast for about 5 minutes on each side in the already preheated oven.

Flavored Butters

So this is pretty much the most simple thing that anyone, anywhere, could ever write an entry about...

Which means it is perfect for me on a day where I feel awful and my brain is functioning about on the level of my 1 year old son... (would be lower than that but I at least have to much wits with the Kiddo).

So one of my favorite things to offer guests when I serve bread, rolls, sweet breads, muffins, etc., is flavored butter.

Are you rolling your eyes yet? Okay well stop that. Seriously, you probably are thinking "yeah yeah, that is easy enough", but have you ever done it? If you have, then you are exempt from the explanation part of the recipe, but at least look at the different combo ideas and things that I have tried... Then resume eye rolling.

So this is how easy peasy this is:

Lug out your magic bullet (my favorite kitchen tool, or at least pretty high up there), food processor, or blender... Or, if you are really ill-equipped and have none of these things, grab a fork and roll up your sleeves!

Set a stick of butter on the counter about 30 minutes before you plan on making this so it can get soft, but not melty. (margarine will work fine, but butter tastes so good...!!)

Choose what type of butter you want to make and add those ingredients to your blender container, along with the butter which you have cut into tablespoon or smaller sized pieces.

Turn on blending device.... Blend until smooth... Remove from blender and scoop into a serving dish (I always try and round mine out like a ball to make them pretty) and chill until ready to use.

How hard was that?!?! Not hard at all, I know... (I saw you roll your eyes just then...!)

Types of Flavored Butter:

Maple - add a generous amount of maple syrup (about 1-2 T, then add to taste)
Honey - same as above but using honey
Southern Style Honey Butter - same as above but add 2 T sweetened condensed milk and extra honey to taste
Almond - add a few drops of almond extract and a couple crushed slivered almonds to taste
Vanilla Honey - add a few drops of vanilla and 1-2 T honey plus extra to taste
Orange - add a drop or two of orange extract and some orange zest
Orange Honey - add a drop or two of orange extract, some orange zest, and 1-2 T of honey
Lemon Butter - add a drop or two of lemon extract (don't over do it, lemon is strong), and some lemon zest
Lemon Herb - make lemon butter but add italian seasoning and garlic, this is delicious on light dishes, like on top of asparagus or chicken
Italian Herb - add a generous sprinkling of italian seasoning and some garlic powder if desired (don't use garlic salt, butter has plenty of salt if you are using salted butter)
Rosemary - crush some rosemary with a mortar and pestle until fine and add a generous amount, or for a butter with some texture, leave it coarse
Basil - add a generous amount of dried basil
Garden Herb - add favorite herbs like dill, thyme, a little celery salt, and any favorite herb for a perfect addition to any spring time meal
Pumpkin Honey Butter - sprinkle in some pumpkin pie spice, 1/4 c honey, and about 1/4 c canned pumpkin puree


These are only just a few options for flavored butter... You can get as creative or simple as you would like.