Recipe 2: Something About Rosemary Chicken

Greetings, greetings. Last week I was lame and told you how to make rice (better). This week, though, I retrieved from my arsenal of recipes something that will change your life. Let me jump right into the main ingredient for today's post, a little herb called rosemary. 

Ingredient Spotlight:
Name: Rosemary
Origin: Mediterranean
Known for: A sensual aroma and a Simon and Garfunkel song.
Uses: Adding flavor to chicken and beef, as well as bread.
Can you eat it raw? Most definitely.

I've had a love affair with rosemary for a while now. I used to get it dried, but later found out that it's far more seductive when it's fresh. Oh yes, rosemary and I go way back. Why, I remember when we were but teenagers, meeting up in secret to explore each other's bod--- I've gone too far. You don't need to know the rest.

Being an herb, rosemary needs to be treated delicately, and with the utmost love. Don't fry it, in other words. But bake it? Yes. Do bake it. Bake it good. Today, let's make... 

SOMETHING ABOUT ROSEMARY CHICKEN

This is a sexy and elegant dish that will cause people to fall uncontrollably in love with you. Use with caution.

(The following is for 1 serving. Use math to make more than 1 serving.)

Main Stuff:
A few sprigs of rosemary
1 chicken breast
Olive oil
Onion/shallots, diced
A few cloves of garlic, diced

Spices/Herbs (All to taste):
Black pepper, cracked (Ground is fine too)
Salt

Optional ingredients:
A handful of mushrooms, sliced
A splash of white wine (Do NOT use red wine)
Your favorite sauce

Total cost per serving:
In the neighborhood of $2.98

Steps:

1. Preheat your oven to a sultry 380 degrees (That's 190 celsius for you metric system users).

2. Cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Then, and this is very important imperative, tear off another fairly large sheet of aluminum foil and put the chicken in the center of it.

3. With the chicken on the foil, turn up the edges of the foil to make a sort-of box. Add about a tablespoon of olive oil and enough water to make a shallow pool for the chicken. Don't drown it, though. This is also when you add the wine, if you're using it, or whatever other sauce tickles your fancy.

4. Now, add the salt, pepper, onion, garlic and about half a sprig of rosemary in there. Feel free to break the leaves off the stem and throw the stem away. But be gentle. If you're using mushrooms, put them in now. You should have something that looks like this:

That is my famous chicken pouch. It sounds adorably gross, but it's single-handedly the best way to bake chicken. Now, close the foil up. Tight. That's right. Pinch it. Ooh yeah, squeeze it. Love it. Yeah baby. Here, let me show you how it's done:

That's what I call a chicken pouch! It makes ten thousand worlds of difference.

5. Bake for, like, a while. Follow this chart:

Amount   |   Baking Time
1 breast      45-50 minutes

Add 20-25 minutes for each additional breast. Teehee.

6. Walk away. Sing a song. Watch a show. Enjoy the aroma that is most certainly taking over your home.

7. Remove the chicken from the oven, and open the pouches very carefully and slowly, like you're making sweet, tender love to them. There will be steam. It will be hot. Mind your face.

8. I suggest you just plop the chickens out of the pouches right onto the plate. If you try to remove them, use tongs, because if you did everything right they will fall apart the moment they touch a fork. Be careful. Feel free to pour the juices over the chicken, as they should be salmonella free now.

9. Eat, eat and be... rosemary. Most likely, you'll be orgasming at this point. Yeah. You're welcome.

Serve with noodles or rice, or whatever, I guess. And make sure you add a vegetable. I used roasted Brussels' sprouts because the oven was on anyway. Which is super easy, just cut them in half and put them on the tray. Take them out after 15 minutes.

I actually made this dish two days in a row, because I love it that much. I like to experiment with it, and you should too. Here's a variant using a curry-like sauce that I will probably make a post about in the future:

You may have wet dreams about this dish in the future. That's okay. It happens. Don't be ashamed.

Until next time. And to the ladies out there: I must shamelessly... plug my sister's fashion blog. It's quite good. Visit QueenLeen Stylephile to find out more.