Wednesday, May 23, 2012

A story

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I was just wondering to myself how other people with food blogs find interesting things to say about their recipes. Fact is not every meal has a story. Sometimes dinner is just dinner. Take this one for instance.
A while back I realized I had barely touched the Gourmet Today cookbook D. gave me for my birthday. And so I went through and marked off a bunch of recipes I thought looked worthwhile and easy.

Then, the other day, I was thinking about what to make for dinner, grabbed the book, flipped through a few of the recipes I’d flagged and chose this one. And that's it.













I should mention that this was delicious. The tahini sauce is nice; I added a bit more lemon juice than the recipe suggested, plus a bit more salt. Nothing fancy here.

Roast Chicken with Asparagus and Tahini Sauce
(adapted from Gourmet Today)
1/3 cup well-stirred tahini (Middle Eastern sesame paste)
1/3 cup water
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 garlic clove, minced
1 bunch asparagus
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 bone in chicken breast halves

Put oven racks in middle and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 450°F.

Purée tahini, water, lemon juice, sugar, garlic, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a blender until smooth, about 1 minute. (Add more water if sauce is too thick.)
Pat chicken dry and sprinkle all over with 1/2 teaspoon salt and remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper.

Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a 12-inch heavy ovenproof skillet (not nonstick) over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then brown chicken, turning over once, until golden.

Transfer skillet to middle of oven and roast chicken until just cooked through, about 15-20 minutes.

10 minutes into the chicken's cooking time, toss asparagus with 1 tablespoon oil, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a hallow baking pan. Roast on bottom rack, shaking pan once or twice, until just tender, about 10 minutes.

Serve chicken and asparagus drizzled with some of sauce and with remaining sauce on the side.

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