Lemon and 40 clove Garlic Roast Chicken...stuff them up its butt!

Continuing with all things lemon here is a twist on roast chicken. I used a lot of whole peeled garlic and included lemons in the pan itself to get a nice citrus tang to the pan juices. Definitely is tart but still very tasty.

Lemon and 40 Clove Garlic Roast Chicken

• 2 roasting chickens, about 5-6 lbs each
• 8 lemons
• 4 cloves garlic
• 2 T thyme
• 2 c cubed carrots
• 4-5 medium white potatoes quartered
• salt, pepper
• olive oil
• 1/2 - 1 c water, white wine or broth

Preheat oven to 425. Wash and clean the chickens. Dry them. With cut one lemon into 4 slices. Remaining lemons cut in half.

For each chicken: Salt and pepper the inside of the chicken. Sprinkle in approx 1 t thyme. Add 3-4 lemon halves and 6 cloves of garlic. Slip fingers between skin and breast meat. Insert 2 lemons and 2 cloves garlic on each breast of the chicken. Fold wings under, truss and tie legs together. Lightly oil the chicken with the olive oil. Salt and Pepper the top and bottom of chicken. Sprinkle remaining thyme over the two chickens.

Place the celery stalks in the center of large roasting pan. Place chickens on top of the celery. Add remaining lemons, cut side down around the chickens. Put in the oven and roast for 15 minutes.

Toss remaining cloves of garlic, carrots and potatoes with 1T olive oil. Add 1 t sea salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste. At the end of the 15 minutes remove the roasting pan. Add the vegie mix around the chickens. Insert thermometer or oven probe to the thickest leg of the largest chicken.

Lower oven to 325. Roast until thermometer reaches 170. Baste as needed if your pan starts to dry out. (The potatoes soak up a lot of pan juices so you do need to monitor).

At the end of the cooking time remove the chickens and put on platter, tenting to let stand 10-15 minutes. Spoon out the vegies and put in serving bowl. Add additional broth to pan juices and a thickener to make a gravy.

Chili Corn Chowder

Not exactly a cool winter day but I'll grab those soup nights while I can as soon enough it will be blazing hot.

Tonights soup is an adaptation of a very healthy soup from the Cooking Light Magazine. This one has a nominal bit of fat for flavor and to aid in the sautee at the beginning. I tend to like things with a bit of a kick so I do add in some chili powder and cayenne. Not enough so it burns out the back side, just enough so you feel a little heat at the back of the mouth.

Chili Corn Chowder

• 2 c fine diced cooked chicken breast
• 1/4 t Chili powder
• 2-3 pinches cayenne pepper
• 1 1/2 pound frozen corn
• 1/2 C fine diced celery
• 1/2 C fine diced onion
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/4 t fresh cracked pepper
• 1 T butter
• 1 can chicken or vegetable broth
• 1/2 c each finely sliced green onion and cilantro.

Toss chicken with chili powder and set aside.

In a large nonstick stock pot melt butter and add the celery, onion, salt and pepper. Cook until soft and just starting to carmelize, about 10 minutes. Stir often. Add 1 lb corn and broth. Over low heat cook about 15 minutes until corn is heated through. Remove from heat.

Take mixture and put in blender whizzing it on high until smooth. Pour soup back into your pan, add remaining 1/2 lb corn and reserved chicken. Heat over low about 10 minutes until warmed through and just starting to bubble. You may have to add 1/2 c or so of water at the end to get it to the desired consistency. Taste and adjust seasonings if needed. Serve hot garnished with the green onion and cilantro.

There you go a pretty easy and low fat soup. Just enough butter to brown and give it a little smoothness. Unlike typical chowders that are thickened with a roux and milk, cream or half-and-half this soup get's its thickening from the whizzed corn....a natural thickener. The end result is a very low fat chowder that is extremely tasty. Also, added bonus if you substitute vegetable broth and a clear cooking oil you'd be pretty close to vegan which helps when you are on a pipe cleaning diet.