Smashed Potatoes and Lemon-Garlic-Pepper Chicken

I have been ferociously writing away trying to finish my dissertation with a semblance of my sanity left intact. :) I have found the best way to stay motivated is with rewards - juvenile and self-indulgent, but it works for me. One of my rewards is giving myself the evening off. As I've become more and more interested in cooking - meaning I'm interested in eating yummy food, so I have to cook it myself - I've been using those evenings to try new recipes. I got two new cookbooks (The new Make-Ahead Cookbook from the Barefoot Contessa and the Southern Living Cookbook) for Christmas that are filled with recipes I've been excited to try! Last week, I tried a new recipe from the Barefoot Contessa, smashed potatoes, and revamped a recipe from the Pioneer Woman that I've tried once before.

Smashed Potatoes

I loved potatoes - boiled, mashed, roasted, baked, scalloped, fried, chipped...there really is no wrong way to do a potato. When I get a new cookbook, I read it straight through like any other book. I find that by doing this, my brain thinks about the recipes and works on how I would do them (I rarely cook straight from a recipe). So, as I was working my way through my new book, this recipe jumped out at me and I mulled it over for about a week and a half before I just had to test it myself. I'd never made smashed potatoes before and I REALLY wanted to taste these. 

Here is the original recipe: Smashed Potatoes

And here is what I did:

1. I took Yukon potatoes and scrubbed them, then put them in a pot of water and set the burner on medium-high.

2. Once the potatoes started boiling, I lowered the heat to medium and let them boil for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, I tested them to see if I could easily stick a fork through the center. I could, so I moved on. If I couldn't, I just would have let them boil longer.

3. I placed the potatoes on a foil-lined baking sheet that I sprayed with Pam. Using my old-fashioned potato-masher, I smushed the potatoes. They were really messy looking at this point, and that is ok. 

4. I sprinkled salt and pepper on the potatoes and put them in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes. 

5. After 20 minutes, I took the potatoes out of the oven. I put a little slat of butter on each potato and sprinkled mozzarella cheese on top (I would have used Parmesan as the original recipe called for, but I didn't have any). 

6. I put them back in the oven for 3 minutes.

7. I took them out of the oven and devoured them instantly. They were so stinkin' good! I've really been wanting more vegetable recipes and this one will certainly make my regular rotation from now on! 

Lemon-Garlic-Pepper Chicken

I'll be honest, chicken is not my favorite meat to cook. Often, I find that chicken is just bland and flavorless no matter what I try. I really don't get excited for chicken and my favorite chicken recipes mostly slather the chicken with sauces and other toppings. I saw this recipe for lemon-garlic chicken drumsticks on an episode of the Pioneer Woman and was intrigued. Typically, I do not like lemon, but I thought it was worth a try. She cooked the drumsticks for a picnic so they were actually cold when eaten and she remarked how great they are hot or cold. To me, this suggested something that would be tasty for lunch. 

I made this recipe exactly as she did. The chicken turned out great! The lemon was not too strong and the drumsticks did work great in my lunch for work - except for two things. 1) My entire office, hall, and the workroom smelled like garlic all day. 2) Drumsticks are super messy. In fact, I'm really picky about chicken and like chicken breasts or tenders best. Drumsticks are a lot of work for not much chicken and they are messy. I decided to try this recipe again, but use chicken breasts instead of drumsticks. I loved the result!

Here is the original recipe: Lemon-Garlic Chicken

And, here is what I did:

1. I rinsed the chicken breasts and placed them in a bowl. 

2. I added garlic (however much you like - I like a lot). 

3. I cut four lemons in half and squeeze the juice on top of the chicken. 

4. Then, I sprinkled salt and lots of pepper on each chicken breast. I threw the lemon rinds in the bowl (for extra flavor), covered the bowl and placed it in the refrigerator over night. 

5. The next day, I heated the over to 400 degrees. Then, I placed the chicken breasts on a foil-lined baking sheet I sprayed with Pam.

6. I sprinkled more pepper on each piece of chicken and laid the lemon rinds around the chicken. (I wish I had taken a picture of this; it was so pretty! I could see this recipe being good for a dinner party just because it looked so nice!)

7. I cooked the chicken for about 33 minutes, until I could easily cut through the center and saw clear juice and no pink. 

These were so full of flavor, even in the center of the piece of chicken, which is usually really bland. They were garlicky, with just a hint of lemon, and had lots of pepper flavor. I don't think this will be a recipe I want on a regular basis, but it will be great to through in occasionally. I also think slicing the chicken and using it in a summer salad with oranges and strawberries would be great when it gets warmer outside. 

I have marked my cookbooks up with more recipes I cannot wait to test! :)