the $12 chicken breasts were thawed and ready to go.  tonight was the night. my friend dave was coming for dinner and i wanted to knock it out of the park.

and i’ll be damned if i didn’t get cookers block.  the time came to prepare this basic, unassuming dish and i didn’t know what the hell to do.  now i’m not so big on chicken and have rarely done the ‘on the bone with skin’ thing.  so i panicked, sent an SOS to a really talented food blogger and then proceeded into the kitchen all on my lonesome. 

well i must have channeled the chicken gods or the kitchen gods or the god of all things cooked - because before you knew it – i had me a version all figured out. not like this is rocket surgery or anything, but still…

i chopped up some fresh oregano, minced some garlic, very thinly sliced some lemon and stuffed that under the skin along with salt and pepper – threw the breasts in a baking dish, drizzled some olive oil on top, winged it all into my super hot oven and proceeded to bake for about 15 minutes on 475 finishing it up for about another 15 at 350.   

and they came out crispy, flavorful and moist – and chickeny – but in a good way.  i even honestly impressed myself which believe me,  is no small feat.  so hey. check it out.  i can roast chicken and have it be great.  life is good.  but… hold on because before i get to feeling too pleased with myself i must give credit to the pastured broilers themselves, raised close by, all organic and really free ranging as opposed to what we usually buy when we think we’re getting the good stuff – as in ‘big organic’.  as in to a gnat’s ass of the law… but don’t get me started.

and then yesterday i was reading the ny times sunday mag and there were these recipes for – of all things – flattened food and i happened to have the perfect tomatoes that they were asking for.  not roma’s and not cherry’s but large cherry’s.  i assumed that these are something like the illegitimate child of the two. and sure enough, i had them here.  hell, if monty hall was calling out for just about any summer vegetable that could possibly be found in your kitchen, i’d be a contestant on ‘let’s make a deal’ as we speak.   so i broiled the juliette’s (their true name) quickly on both sides, blistering ever so slightly and then gently squashed them down with a potato masher.  they got tossed with some good olive oil, salt and pepper. the definition of simplicity giving way to perfection. 

the leftover risotto from the weekend sat beside the chicken and tomatoes as though it was all meant to be.

a dinner in nashville in three part harmony…