Rosemary Garlic Chicken with Fried Rice

This recipe was a toss-up...I completely BS'd my way through what I thought was garlic chicken. I recommend preparing the oil infusion a few days ahead of time, though, to let the flavors truly infuse the olive oil. My husband didn't think the chicken had enough flavor to it.

Rosemary Garlic Oil Infusion:

1- 1 1/2 cups olive oil
3-4 sprigs fresh rosemary
3 cloves garlic, halved or quartered
1/8 tsp garlic pepper
1/8 tsp sea salt

Drop all ingredients into a seal-able jar (I poured the oil in last) and shake, then let sit for a few days. You won't need this much just for this recipe, but if you add a little garlic salt to the oil mixture after you're done with this recipe, this will make a great bread dip for later.

Chicken:

1 1/2 pounds bone-in chicken thighs
seasoned salt
ground black pepper
1/4 cup rosemary garlic oil infusion

Rinse off meat and pat dry, then sprinkle both sides of each piece with a few shakes of seasoned salt and pepper. Pour oil into a large bowl. Rub spices in, then dip each thigh into the oil, coating both sides. Place meat on broiler rack in roasting pan and roast at 375 F for 35-40 minutes or until no longer pink inside.

Fried Rice:

1 1/2 cups Nishiki rice
2 cups water
3 Tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup frozen corn
2 sticks celery, sliced lengthwise then chopped fine
1/2 sweet onion, chopped
2 eggs, beaten
pinch of garlic powder and ground black pepper
1/4 cup soy sauce

Bring first two ingredients to a boil in a pot, then simmer for 15 minutes until rice has absorbed all water. Put peas and corn in bowl together with a few tablespoons of water and microwave for 2 minutes, then drain. Heat oil in a large Wok on medium heat, then add celery, onions, peas and corn.

Once these begin to wilt and become see-through, push to side of Wok and drop eggs into the space left, moving and frying until cooked.

Mix all together and sprinkle spices over all; keep frying. When rice is finished, add it to the Wok and add soy sauce, mixing well and cooking on low to heat all through.


This meal makes 2-4 servings; we only had 3 thighs but I could have easily made 4 with this recipe. There was enough rice to feed at least 5 or 6 people a serving.

And of course, if you get a fresh loaf of sourdough or French bread, you can rip bits off and dip in some of the leftover oil.

Crispy Roast Lamb with Rosemary Vegetables

My husband's work schedule is going to be changing soon to the point where most of my dinners will likely be made in the Crock Pot while the baby looks on. Tonight, however, I had him available and so he kept an eye on the little one while I tried something new on the lamb roast we love to eat.

Ingredients for the lamb:

2 lb. boneless leg of lamb roast
1/2 cup flour
1 Tbsp rosemary
1/4 tsp garlic pepper
pinch of seasoned salt and ground black pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

Watch the terrible chunk of video my husband took of me doing this part:

Mix the flour and herbs together in a large bowl while the oil heats up in a large pot/skillet/dutch oven on the stove top (low-medium heat). Rinse off the lamb then drop into bowl and coat generously with flour mixture. Place carefully into dutch oven on the stove and brown on each side for about 5-6 minutes.

Spray olive oil into bottom of roasting pan to grease it and place lamb in center of pan. Gently pour balsamic vinegar over lamb, coating as best as you can.

Ingredients for the potato mixture:

5 red potatoes, rinsed and cubed
1/4 cup olive oil
1 Tbsp rosemary
pinch of ground black pepper
2 cloves garlic, chopped finely

Mix all together in a bowl, coating the potatoes well. Drop into roasting pan, spreading out to surround the lamb.

Vegetables:
1 lb. bag of baby carrots
2 shallots, sliced vertically
1/2 large sweet onion, sliced vertically
1 Tbsp seasoned salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Spread rest of vegetables in pan and mix up with potatoes. Shake the seasoned salt and pepper over all.

Roast uncovered in oven at 325 F for 1 hr. and 30-40 minutes or until cooked well on outside and pink in the middle. All in all, this took about 30 minutes to prepare.

This turned out great! We like our lamb a little on the rare side. Don't worry, moms; I'll be changing up the pace to cheaper foods very soon!