MMmmm....oh, Mmmm....

This is SO GOOD! (ok, let me explain now that I'm a very verbal eater. if I think it's that good, the people sitting at the next table in the restaurant will know)

Dinner last night...was. so. freaking. delicious.

The last couple of Barefoot Contessa episodes were Paris based which got me inspired to have a night of French cooking.

So yesterday afternoon, I pulled out my cookbooks, made my list, headed to the grocery store, and for the first time in my life, I bought a whole roasting chicken (uncooked...trust me, we've done the cooked versions many times).

Let's first get something out on the table: I am not a cook. I try. There are many memories and stories about me in the kitchen, fighting with my uncooked food. I am the queen of pouring batter into the trash because I don't think it tastes right. I once baked salmon for 45 minutes. Flan has ended up with whole cinnamon sticks because the three recipes failed to mention to remove the cinnamon and the flan has ended up as a sticky mess, running down the cabinets onto the floor during the breath defying 'flip.'

You get the idea....but I've gotten a little bit braver, gained some more self confidence, and if I see how it's made on TV and then read, and reread the recipe about 4 times, I might be able to make something half way decent.

So yesterday I made Barefoot's lemon chicken with croutons and french string beans. The hardest part of the recipe was cleaning out the chicken (I think my chicken had two livers-ew) and then tying the chicken legs together and tucking the wings under. I kept the chicken in the oven for just under 85 minutes.

While that was cooking, I prepped the bread for the croutons and prepped the veggies for the side dish. In the cookbook, Barefoot makes a point of saying to use french string beans, NOT regular string beans. It's pricier, but so delicious. And who doesn't love a little gourmet every once in a while? When the chicken came out of the oven to rest, I put the veggies in the oven and started cooking the croutons. I don't think my oil was hot enough for the croutons, and I probably added too much olive oil, but it all came together nicely.

Ryan was cutting up the chicken while I was sauteing/warming up the string beans before finally mixing it all together with the peppers and onion. (I had already blanced the green beans.)

The dinner was delicious. the chicken was incredibly moist. I was surprised to have not tasted any lemon flavor at all....in fact, it tasted just like chicken, but I didn't find it bland...maybe because it was so moist and I used so much olive oil with the croutons. For next time, I would use an entire red and yellow pepper, not just half for the vegetable side dish-because I liked the sweetness it added. I would have allowed the olive oil to heat up more prior to sauteing the bread for the croutons.

It's an incredibly simple dish that probably took me longer than it should since I felt I had to babysit the meal. It would be a great dinner for guests. I'm curious to see if anyone else has made this (or is willing to try)-let me know what you think!