Spring time with a hint of Winter...Welcome to March in Utah

This is a weird time of year in Utah, 70°F one day and then snow the next.  Not sure what to wear, eat, do outside, do inside, it's a real quandary (I know, not a word I usually use but seemed to fit).
So, in trying to eat healthier and still have a relatively quick weeknight meal, I'm trying to use a lot of chicken thighs. Let's face it, more tasty, less expensive and can take overcooking if it happens.  This dish combines the comfort quality of roasted chicken with the spring-time ingredients of asparagus and white wine.  We served this over white rice with a salad, but you can serve it however you would like!

SKILLET ROAST CHICKEN WITH ASPARAGUS AND WHITE WINE SAUCE

Yield:  4 servings

INGREDIENTS

1 3- to 4-lb. chicken, trimmed and cut into 8 pieces, or 8 bone-in, skin-on thighs
Lawry’s Season Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
3 tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperature
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1 onion, halved and then sliced thin
1 lb. asparagus, trimmed and cut in half
8 oz. mushrooms, sliced
1/3 c. low-sodium chicken stock
1/3 c. dry white wine
2 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 450°F. Rinse and dry chicken thoroughly, then generously season with salt and pepper. Massage 2 tablespoons butter over and under the skin.
2. Heat a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat; add garlic and onion and sauté until soft, careful not to burn garlic. Place chicken skin side up on top of vegetables (avoid overlapping chicken) and roast until internal temperature is 165°F, 30 minutes – If using convection roast, time should be around 20 min. and if you desire crispier skin, finish chicken under broiler.
3. Transfer chicken to a plate to rest and cover loosely with aluminum foil.  Return skillet with onion and pan drippings to the stove.  Add stock and wine and season with salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, then add asparagus and mushrooms.  Using a wooden spoon, scrape bottom of pan to release brown bits.  Reduce temperature and simmer until asparagus is almost fork tender, 5 minutes. Add remaining butter and stir into sauce.
4. Add chicken and juices back to skillet and spoon sauce over chicken.  Put dish back in oven for about 5-6 min. for everything to come up to temp.  Sprinkle with sea salt and garnish with parsley. Serve over rice/potatoes/pasta.

Weeknight Meal - Chicken, Garlic, Lemon and Artichoke Hearts

This fall, Smiths had a great deal on chicken thighs and drumsticks ($.69/lb.) so of course I had to buy quite a few of these 4lb.+, family-sized offerings.  Who doesn't like marinated, grilled dark meat chicken, right?  Well, apparently we didn't eat as many as I thought, so we have quite a lot of frozen chicken in the freezer that needs to be eaten.  Thank God for Google and recipes on the internet.  I found a version of the following, and as usual had to adjust it to our taste...

Braised Chicken Thighs with Garlic, Lemon and Artichoke Hearts

INGREDIENTS

8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
10 garlic cloves
2 large yellow onions, thinly sliced (about 4 cups)
1 lemon, thinly sliced, seeds discarded
2 tablespoons fresh herbs (thyme, oregano), plus more for garnish
1 tsp. ground Coriander
1 small jar artichoke hearts, chopped in large pieces
Juice of 1 lemon
1 cup chicken stock

DIRECTIONS

1. Remove the chicken from the fridge 20 minutes before cooking to remove the chill. Preheat the oven to 350°. Season the chicken on both sides with salt and pepper.
2. In a large ovenproof pan or Dutch oven large enough to hold all the thighs in a single layer, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the chicken, skin-side down, and sear until golden brown, 5 to 6 minutes. Add the garlic cloves to the pan and flip the thighs over. Cook until the garlic is fragrant and has gotten a little brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the chicken and garlic from the pan and set aside.
3. While the pan is still hot, add the onions, lemon slices, coriander and herbs, and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring often, until the onions have wilted and the brown bits on the bottom of the pan have loosened, 6 to 8 minutes.
4. Nestle the thighs skin-side up in the onion mixture and add the garlic and the artichoke hearts. Pour the lemon juice and chicken stock around the chicken (so you don’t disturb the crispy skin) and transfer the pan to the oven. Bake for ~40 minutes. Scatter fresh herbs over the top and serve with your choice of rice and a green salad.

New Year's Eve...Hors d'oeuvres time

Since Julie and I have been married, we have pretty much stayed at home for New Year's Eve.  Especially after moving to Utah, not only is it not a good idea to be out partying and then drive home, it's damn cold and usually icy out on the roads, I won't even go into the discussion about Utah drivers...
As the kids have gotten older, we have had a bunch of food and they and their friends just come and go.  I don't mind, at least I know where they are.
I usually end up overdoing it: hors d'oeuvres, dinner, then more hors d'oeuvres and munchies, topped off by some sparkling something and a few sweets.
This year, hopefully I will keep it to a reasonable amount of food...we'll see!
So...on the menu for tonight we have:
Chips and Queso
Bean Dip
Pico de Salsa
Brie and Crackers
Brie puff pastry
Fresh Fruit
Fresh Veggies
Cheese Ball w/Crostini
and possibly Wings.
Martinelli's Sparkling Cider

Random stuff I have wanted to mention:
When I lived in Argentina, a big celebratory meal was an Asado or barbecue as we refer to it here.  Just meat, some rock salt and the grill over hot coals...basic, but spectacular.  Part of the experience was the sauce they use with the fresh grilled meat...Chimichurri (plus, it's fun to say).  I found a recipe that's pretty damn close to what I remember...

Chimichurri

Yield: Makes about 1 cup

Ingredients

1 cup (packed) fresh Italian parsley

1/2 cup olive oil

1/3 cup red wine vinegar

1/4 cup (packed) fresh cilantro

2 garlic cloves, peeled

3/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon salt

Preparation

Puree all ingredients in a food processor. Transfer to a bowl and serve. Can be made 2 hours ahead. Cover and let stand at room temperature.  If refrigerated between uses, which isn't necessary, let sit at room temp until the olive oil has thawed and it looks normal.

Probably won't use that tonight, but who knows...

The following two recipes are #3 and #1 on Epicurious' website for 2013 Recipes.  I have a variation of these, but I really like the technique used, and the commentary of Thomas Keller:

Pan Roasted Chicken Thighs

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

6 skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs (about 2 1/4 pounds)

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Preparation

Preheat oven to 450°F. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a 12" cast-iron or heavy nonstick skillet over high heat until hot but not smoking. Nestle chicken in skillet, skin side down, and cook 2 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-high; continue cooking skin side down, occasionally rearranging chicken thighs and rotating pan to evenly distribute heat, until fat renders and skin is golden brown, about 10 minutes.

Transfer skillet to oven and cook 12 more minutes. Flip chicken; continue cooking until skin crisps and meat is cooked through, about 5 minutes longer. Transfer to a plate; let rest 5 minutes before serving.

My Favorite Simple Roast Chicken

Thomas Keller - Bouchon

Yield:  2 to 4 servings

Ingredients

One 2- to 3-pound farm-raised chicken

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 teaspoons minced thyme (optional)

Unsalted butter

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 450°F. Rinse the chicken, dry it very well with paper towels, inside and out. The less it steams, the drier the heat, the better.

Salt and pepper the cavity, then truss the bird.

Trussing is not difficult, and if you roast chicken often, it's a good technique to feel comfortable with. When you truss a bird, the wings and legs stay close to the body; the ends of the drumsticks cover the top of the breast and keep it from drying out. Trussing helps the chicken to cook evenly, and it also makes for a more beautiful roasted bird.

Now, salt the chicken—I like to rain the salt over the bird so that it has a nice uniform coating that will result in a crisp, salty, flavorful skin (about 1 Tbsp.) When it's cooked, you should still be able to make out the salt baked onto the crisp skin. Season to taste with pepper.

Place the chicken in a sauté pan or roasting pan and, when the oven is up to temperature, put the chicken in the oven. I leave it alone—I don't baste it, I don't add butter; you can if you wish, but I feel this creates steam, which I don't want. Roast it until it's done, 50 to 60 minutes. Remove it from the oven and add the thyme, if using, to the pan. Baste the chicken with the juices and thyme and let it rest for 15 minutes on a cutting board.

Remove the twine. Separate the middle wing joint and eat that immediately. Remove the legs and thighs. I like to take off the backbone and eat one of the oysters, the two succulent morsels of meat embedded here, and give the other to the person I'm cooking with. But I take the chicken butt for myself. I could never understand why my brothers always fought over that triangular tip—until one day I got the crispy, juicy fat myself. These are the cook's rewards. Cut the breast down the middle and serve it on the bone, with one wing joint still attached to each. The preparation is not meant to be super elegant. Slather the meat with fresh butter. Serve with a simple green salad. You'll start using a knife and fork, but finish with your fingers, because it's so good.

See what I mean, love the part about eating the wing immediately and sharing the oysters...only someone who truly loves food will understand.

I'll post my Beer Can Chicken as the weather warms up, it's a grill item.