5 Humble Ingredients = Feast of a Meal......What is good for us on a rainy afternoon

So…..when we have a hectic drive home, dodging texting drivers whose vehicle slips into our lane, plus it started raining….again…..all I want for dinner is comfort food. Now, on the drive home, we are also mindful of racing against the clock as to how long a stubborn shiba inu’s bladder can hold out. They brilliantly decided to hide from us early this morning so, no walk. Please add a glass of wine to my comfort food dinner requirement now.

Five simple ingredients is all I need. I can have a beautiful dinner on the table with minimal hands on time. I ask you, what’s not to love about that?



Doug takes the dogs outside in the yard. Girl dog is resisting getting her princess feet wet and stands under the covered patio. While he is standing outside getting mosquito bitten and encouraging the little darlings to attend to business, I am in the kitchen setting the oven to preheat (Convection at 375 F). Go to the fridge and get a 4 ½ pound chicken out.

Yeeesssss…the butter is out and softened! Chop 2 tablespoons and fling into food processor. I now dump in about 2 tablespoons of olive oil and several garlic cloves. Pulse to blend. You are now rewarded with a rich garlic butter which is easy to insert under the chicken breast skin. You know that little hollow just at the top? Gently pull it open and using a mini spatula, smear a good tablespoon of garlicky butter in that tunnel.



Situating the chicken in a roasting pan I smear the rest of the butter mixture over the bird. Sea salt and ground pepper it, insert a lemon in the cavity....now pop in the oven. I now have about an hour and 45 minutes of free time.

Girl dog still hasn’t ventured from the patio. So….what else is to be done but drive them to the park and walk on concrete and asphalted paths. This is evidently acceptable to Aja. The very nice benefit of this is you walk back into the house smelling the aroma of a roasted bird. Instant tummy grumblings!



While the chicken is resting (prior to carving) toss some fat asparagus on a cookie sheet for roasting. The oven is already hot.

Lemon, butter, garlic, olive oil plus a 5 pound roasting hen = a feast of a meal.



Coming up is Food 'n Flix. The movie is Toast.