Engagement Chicken

I know what your thinking, Engagement Chicken? But I'm here to testify to its truth.  Almost exactly one year ago, my best friend, Kristian, introduced me to something called Engagement Chicken she found in her Glamour magazine.  Now there were about 50 testimonial posts depicting their success with this bogus sounding recipe.  I was apprehensive, but Caleb and I did need to eat, so why not try it out?  Well, I made it for him, exactly the way it said... three times.  Now about 3-4 months after the first time I made this meal... he proposed! It was the happiest day of my life!  So I'm here to tell all you single girls, TRY THIS RECIPE! It may not work overnight, but it works eventually! (Not that Caleb was probably not already planning proposing before having engagement chicken!  Now that I am passed engaged and on my way to be married, I try out some variations on the recipe and I also follow some of Ina Garten's tips. Sunday is a great day for this recipe because it does take quite a long time, but it is well worth it! And not very difficult at all!

To start you MUST brine your chicken! We bought a four pound bird so that we could have left overs for chicken salad and chicken BBQ sandwiches.  For my brine I did simply salt, pepper, and bay leaves; left it for 24 hours; then patted it completely dry.  I salted and peppered the chicken VERY generously on both sides inside and out; then I added lemon juice all over (and you can see I sliced an onion in the pan for the juices and gravy I made).  Then I pricked two lemons and stuffed them with some garlic into the cavity of the chicken.  (I would have put more if the chicken was bigger or less if it was smaller)

Then I added some white wine to the bottom of the pan so that the drippings would not burn and I could create the gravy.

 Then I threw it in the oven (preheat to 400) then once you put it in uncovered drop the heat to 350.  Then after about an hour and a half it came out at 170 and (although I should have taken it out at 160) it was perfect!You can see I got a great crispy brown skin and the drippings make for an awesome sauce.

So with the drippings I simply poured them ito a small sauce pan, added some flour, cooked it off and then added a splash of milk and it was a yummy mixture of concentrated chicken goodness.

 To go with the yummy engagement chicken I made twice baked potatoes! I love them so  much but hardly ever have time to make them! They are so yummy but also very time consuming! I love Pioneer Woman's recipe the best! So you start by cutting them in half and scraping out the inside!

 Then throw in about 3 tbs butter for two whole potatoes, with some sour cream, salt and butter..

 Then I threw in the cheddar cheese, green onions and fresh made turkey bacon!











 Then I threw some cheese on top and threw them in the oven at 350 for 20 minutes.

Then they came out all melted like this.  We ate them up, even the skin!

Now to go with the twice baked potatoes we also made some Grilled Parmesan Eggplant... and the reviews are not as good... I really just think we overcooked them when cooking them on the George Foreman, but I don't we will be making them again since we didn't eat but one bit last night. But hey, at least they looked yummy with the balsalmic reduction!

Now for the piece de resistance.... if you don't speak french, I call this my prized baked possession.  S'mores tart meringue!  It was just plain heavenly! I started by melting 1 cup of chocolate chips in 1/4 cup warm milk.

 Then I poured it into my pre-made graham cracker crust and put it in the freezer for 20 minutes.

 Then it was time for the meringue! It was crazy to watch 3 egg whites get so fluffy and huge!

 Once stiff peaks formed, I added about 1 cup of sugar and 1 tsp of vanilla. Mixed again. Then added to the top of the pie!

I put it in the broiler for about 3 minutes and this came out! I was so unbelievably proud!  And it was as delicious as it looks!

So our meal was complete after this dessert!

 And the gravy was oh so delicious on the chicken! And Hercules was able to sneak in!

This is how much chicken we had leftover! We have enough to make a meal to go with a homemade BBQ sauce as well as to make chicken salad for this week's lunches! YUM!