In Which Monday Menu Mayhem Bounces Back

YOU GUYS.

There are explanations to be made involving travelling for work, moving (Hello, Scout Camp!) having one day out of fourteen to get settled after moving, and then an epic hurricane that knocked out power to everyone I know for at least 3 days.

But explanations are boring, and I have a feeling you didn't notice one way or another that this blog has been shockingly void of new material since July (!!).

So let's just get right back in to it, shall we?

And, starting back on the right foot, I of course have no photo to offer of the Ten-Hour Chicken I made for  Ma, Pa, and Baby Bro Jones on this glorious Labor Day.

I do, however, have an explanation.

It's a Gwyneth concoction, and it's actually the second time I've made it: you squeeze a half a lemon over each end (front/back, top/bottom, whatever you want to call it) of the chicken, then thoroughly salt-and-pepper the whole thing.  Stuff the lemon halves and 3-4 cloves of garlic into the chicken, put it in the pan, and put another 3-4-5 cloves of garlic in the pan, seal tightly with foil, then cook at 200 for nine and a half hours.  At the nine and a half hour mark, you pump the oven up to 400, remove the foil, re-salt-and-pepper, and chuck back in the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until the skin reaches desired brownth.

This is some of the best chicken I've ever eaten.  The foil seal and slow cook keeps all of the moisture in, and all of that lemon and garlic infuses in to every square inch of the chicken.  Additionally, the juice that ends up at the bottom of the pan makes for (literally) effortlessly delicious gravy.

The original recipe calls for the chicken to be cooked breast-side down for the nine and a half hours, and then flipped when the browning needs to occur.  We tried this the first time, and the problem becomes that after nine and a half hours, the chicken falls the frak apart.  In a great way.  In a glorious way.  In a way that makes it impossible to be flipped intact.

Make this chicken, friends.  Make it right side up, and enjoy every bite.