Lemon Chicken on Cauliflower Mash

Doesn't this look fancy? It has the look of a gourmet meal. It takes a little more work than most of my recipes but it's worth the time. The key is in the presentation. Do you have someone to wow? This would be your dish. I love to make dinners like this. People eat with their eyes first and this dish says, "Marvel at my creator because I taste great!", even before they take the first bite. I've actually seen a dish like this at a local restaurant for about $26.00.

You can make this dish with bone-in chicken or with boneless breast or thigh. It's really up to your preference. The cauliflower mash is super simple and not bland at all with the addition of caramelized onion and garlic powder. You may even consider making this for Valentine's Day dinner in lieu of an overpriced and super-rushed, crowded and noisy meal where they usher you in and out in an hour so they can seat their next group of victims... I mean, patrons. Don't gasp at me! It's just a suggestion.

So let's get to makin' some chicken!

What you'll need:

For the chicken:

Chicken pieces of your choice

1/3 cup olive oil

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 bunch of parlsey

2 lemons

a ziplock bag

For the Cauliflower:

1 head cauliflower

chicken broth (low sodium, gluten free)

1 white onion

1 tsp garlic powder

A bag of spinach

A garlic clove

an additional lemon for the sauce

pepper

What you do:

Wake up way too early in the morning. Stumble to the kitchen and step down full force on the GI Joe that was left strategically in the middle of the kitchen floor. Wish you could scream in pain but hold it inside. The twins are still sleeping and you just...need... five... more... minutes...of...peace. Hop to the coffee pot holding the injured foot in your hand while trying not to trip over your robe tie and fire that sucker up. Catch your reflection in the window, recoil, and ask yourself when you turned into the Bride of Frankenstein.

Meander in a half fog over to the fridge and take out your ingredients to get the chicken marinating. Suck down half a pot of coffee. Grab your ziplock and put in the olive oil. Chop up the garlic and throw that in there too. Tear the stems off the parsley and rough chop it. Get that in the bag. Half the two lemons and squeeze the juice in the bag. Throw the whole lemon rind in the bag too. Put in your chicken and seal the bag. The key word here is SEAL. Although you may be in a twin induced coma, you are going to want to seal the bag so when you shake it marinade doesn't slosh all over you causing the opposite sex to become suddenly intrigued (and quite hungry) with your new scent. Get the chicken in the fridge. That's it for the morning. You can go about your day now.

About 15 minutes before you are ready to cook, take the chicken out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature. Put a little olive oil in a pan, get it hot, and add the sliced onion. Stir it around a bit. Cook it a couple of minutes and then turn the heat down low. Let the onion cook slowly. This pulls the sugar out of the onion creating the caramelization. The onion is done when it's soft and shiny and a deep caramel color. Smell the sweetness... mmm... sooo good. Remove the onion from the pan and chop it up. While the onion is cooking, cut the cauliflower into chunks and steam it for about 7 minutes until it's slightly soft. Put it in the food processor with a tsp of olive oil and a little pepper. Pulse to desired consistency adding chicken broth as necessary for smoothness. Transfer the cauliflower mash to a bowl and gently stir in onion and garlic powder.

There are two ways to cook the chicken. If you are using boneless breasts, I like to butterfly them and saute them in the pan with olive oil. When the chicken is cooked through remove it to a plate add about 1cup of chicken broth and another lemon squeezed to the pan. Boil the broth with lemon and scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Reduce the sauce by half.

If you are using bone-in chicken like in the picture, you can bake it at 350 for about 45 minutes or until chicken in no longer pink inside. If you want to get fancy you can trim the wing so just the drumette remains. Use the pan drippings as sauce with an additional squeeze of lemon.

If you want to get all crazy you can saute some spinach in olive oil with a little chopped garlic for a side. It adds a great pop of color.

And now for the piece de la resistance! Get a shallow bowl and put your cauliflower mash on the bottom like a little mountain. Oh yeah, that's lookin' good! Add the chicken on top, at an angle you're amazing, and a little dab of spinach on the side... such talent! Top with a little pan sauce. Bobby Flay could not have done this one any better.