Thursday, February 5, 2015

Rosemary-Sriracha Chicken

I trespassed on private property in the early morning hours to make this rosemary-sriracha roasted chicken. 

Allow me to elaborate.  

It's 6:15 in the morning and I want to make this marinade before I go to work, so the chicken can sit in it and get delicious all day. I have all of the ingredients, but no rosemary. At my old apartment I could hop over to the traffic circle across the street and take as much as I wanted (rosemary grows EVERYWHERE in Seattle). But in my new neighborhood I haven't seen any "public" rosemary...instead, the closest bush is in my neighbor's yard, bordering their front door entry.
  
Do I wait and pick some up from the store? Do I swing by the old hood and snip a few branches from a perfectly respectable public source? No...I throw my coat and shoes on over my PJs, grab some scissors, and sneak into my neighbor's yard. I creep up to their front door and breathe a sigh of relief that they don't have motion-activated floodlights. I keep my head down, snip a solid five rosemary branches, and then book it down their pathway, across the street, and back into the safety of my apartment. Isn't cooking exciting??? 
Worth it
Sometimes cooking chicken gets boring. Especially if you are trying to be healthy. ENTER: rosemary-sriracha chicken (adapted from here). It comes together quickly, has a delicious, earthy, and unexpected flavor, and can sometimes cause unexpected petty crime. Let's get on with it, shall we?

You'll need:
Bone-in, skin on chicken drumsticks, thighs, or breasts.  I always do drumsticks for myself and white meat for Curtis.
1/2 c plain Greek yogurt
4 T olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
4 T finely chopped fresh rosemary
4 T sriracha
4 cloves garlic, minced
salt and peppa (about 1/2 t each)

Generously salt and pepper chicken and place in a large ziploc. Combine all ingredients (except chicken, silly!) in a medium bowl, and then pour into the bag. Do what you gotta do to make sure the chicken is evenly coated. Place in fridge and let marinade for at least an hour...as you can read from above, I prefer if the chicken is marinated for at least 8 hours/overnight.

Frantically thrown together before going to work
Forgot about the ziploc trick - more dishes for me
Preheat oven to 375 F and line a baking sheet with foil (if you're smart and don't want to scrub dishes). Arrange the chicken evenly in a single layer - I recommend putting the bigger pieces on the edges, and the smaller pieces inside. Bake 35-40 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through. At the end, broil on high for about 5 minutes, or until the skin is crispy and golden. 
I like to boil the remaining marinade and spoon over the chicken when it is done. The sauce looks pretty weird after it is boiled, but I promise it still tastes good!
Looks aren't everything???
I served this with some easy bacon-broc, which I'll post soon!

******Update: At the time this was posted, I have found a more appropriate neighborhood rosemary source that does not require trespassing.******



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