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Last night I tried making a lemon herb chicken dish more or less from scratch. There weren't exact measurements or anything, which might have been one reason for the result; I just threw in lemon juice and various herbs until it looked good and covered. I marinated the chicken breasts overnight in lemon juice, oregano, garlic powder and crushed black pepper, then added a little more oregano and pepper before baking. As a side dish, I made up a quick box of Pasta Roni chicken and broccoli.
The lemon bite that I was looking for came through loud and clear, and there was a bit of a peppery flourish that was nice. For the most part, though, the chicken was a little dry and the breasts didn't quite pop the way I wanted them to. I baked the breasts at 375 degrees for 45 minutes, which might have been a *little* bit overkill. Maybe 40 minutes next time?
Anyway, I want good, juicy, flavorful chicken without having to resort to salt or MSG; nothing wrong with those, but I want to see if I can get away with having a dish that doesn't use them. I'm going to have to research various marinades to see what works a little better than the simple one I came up with; maybe adding dried herbs is the completely wrong approach for this. Also, I'm wondering if there's a good way to make cheesy broccoli and rice that doesn't involve something prepackaged. There probably is, but it might take a little more time than it's worth.
Ryan says the flavor was a bit *too* strong, which surprises me because I was underwhelmed. I'd be happy with suggestions if anyone has them. A small caveat: I use boneless, skinless chicken breasts (which are relatively flavorless, I know) because I just can't deal with bone-in, skin-on chicken. I don't like it. It's too...*shudder*...carnivorous. ;)
I'm thinking I might try to tackle a different dish every week; next week, I have an idea for really lean bacon cheeseburgers with oven-fried potatoes. It sounds like it'd be a good dish to make when Vlad comes down for the Star Wars game. Also, Mat will be in town and I want to impress him with my mad sandwich-making skills. He taught me everything I know about gourmet sandwiches. :D
The lemon bite that I was looking for came through loud and clear, and there was a bit of a peppery flourish that was nice. For the most part, though, the chicken was a little dry and the breasts didn't quite pop the way I wanted them to. I baked the breasts at 375 degrees for 45 minutes, which might have been a *little* bit overkill. Maybe 40 minutes next time?
Anyway, I want good, juicy, flavorful chicken without having to resort to salt or MSG; nothing wrong with those, but I want to see if I can get away with having a dish that doesn't use them. I'm going to have to research various marinades to see what works a little better than the simple one I came up with; maybe adding dried herbs is the completely wrong approach for this. Also, I'm wondering if there's a good way to make cheesy broccoli and rice that doesn't involve something prepackaged. There probably is, but it might take a little more time than it's worth.
Ryan says the flavor was a bit *too* strong, which surprises me because I was underwhelmed. I'd be happy with suggestions if anyone has them. A small caveat: I use boneless, skinless chicken breasts (which are relatively flavorless, I know) because I just can't deal with bone-in, skin-on chicken. I don't like it. It's too...*shudder*...carnivorous. ;)
I'm thinking I might try to tackle a different dish every week; next week, I have an idea for really lean bacon cheeseburgers with oven-fried potatoes. It sounds like it'd be a good dish to make when Vlad comes down for the Star Wars game. Also, Mat will be in town and I want to impress him with my mad sandwich-making skills. He taught me everything I know about gourmet sandwiches. :D
