Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Bake it, Baby

2 for 1 today! A recipe AND a restaurant review. We are on a roll.

First - is there anything more boring sounding for dinner than "baked chicken"? Why is it that we say "roasted chicken" and it instantly sounds more appealing? But here is one of the world's easiest, inexpensive, and yummiest dinners: roasted chicken leg quarters. In fact, it's so good and easy that I'm suddenly wondering if I've blogged it before...but since I'm in a hurry (aren't I always in a hurry?) I can't be bothered to go back and check. If I've forgotten, then maybe you, dear reader, have as well. (And, as my grandmother would say, together we could hide our own Easter eggs...)

6-8 chicken leg quarters
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Optional: your other favorite seasonings or spice rub (I have a "Mediterranean" dry spice rub that was a hostess gift one time, and I love it with this recipe. Side note - nicely packaged spice rubs make great hostess gifts!)

Preheat oven to 400. Line roasting pan with aluminum foil (only to make it easier to clean up. If you have it out for whoever cleans up dinner, you can skip this step). Place chicken leg quarters in pan, skin side up. Rub with olive oil, and then sprinkle with salt, pepper, and optional spices. Roast for 1 hour. Remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes.

This is a great recipe to do with the "delay start" function on your oven. We always have this with lima beans and mac & cheese. Mmmmm...

***
And Attorney Mom had a fantastic lunch the other day at Cafe 37:

Cafe 37- Or, as we'll call it, Cafe 5 (Stars)

This week a dear friend and I enjoyed ourselves immensely at Cafe 37, a small, rustic-inspired cafe tucked into Savannah's Victorian district, on 37th street. The cafe has been open approximately a year, and serves brunch, lunch, and dinner. The space is small but filled with light, with a bar tucked on one side and the kitchen upstairs. I've only sampled the brunch and lunch menus, and as this is becoming my new favorite spot, I'll be presenting myself for dinner soon!

Lunch was just divine. Simple, flavorful, and executed to perfection. The soup of the day was french onion, and as I usually avoid this soup due to the (normal) overabundance of cheese and grease, I ordered it with a slight hesitation and a salad on the side. The soup arrived, in an appropriately sized bowl, with a perfect toast and adequate (but not overkill) amount of broiled cheese, and it was excellent. The flavor was the obvious result of a slow-cooked soup, with an fantastic depth that could have been provided by beef stock. (My friend and I were too absorbed in our conversation to chase down the chef, but dear reader, go after him!) The house salad was also Quite Perfect. Excellent greens, with fat dried cherries and lightly-candied pistachios, with a generous dollop of goat cheese that had been quickly heated, served on a toast.

I cannot wait to sample dinner, and to eat my way through the rest of the lunch menu throughout the next year!