Saturday, August 15, 2009

Herb Gardening and Tasty Treasure's Chicken

A while back I mentioned that I grow a lot of my own herbs. It's wonderful to walk out of the back door and snip the fresh stuff.
Let me point out that I'm not a gardener; although I am really enjoying what I'm growing and learning as I go. A.J. is the real gardener in our family. I really think he could make a shoe grow.
Of course I wouldn't be me if i didn't mess with him when he's outside tinkering. I grab the big green bottle of root starter and he'll ask, "Where are you going with that?", to which I reply, "To fertilize your veggies, they look like they need something." He freaks, I laugh, he puts the root starter on the top shelf where I can't reach it, then I sick the dog on him...not really.
Let's take a look at what we have so far -



Rosemary and basil.


Spearmint -I've chopped on it a lot for tea and it's getting leggy, I need to cut it back.

Chives, which I use the heck out of and thyme. I think all of the rain may be turning my thyme yellow, what do you think? I promise, I didn't put root starter on it.


Italian parsley, I've cut it to bits, it was so bountiful. I don't know what's wrong with it. Maybe it does need root starter!



A.J.'s red bell peppers. I picked about 4 the day before. These are like gold to me.
These are jalapenos, I haven't seen red ones before, have you? I suspect there's some hanky- panky going on out on the deck and the red bell peppers are involved somehow.
This is the only one of the jalapeno plants that is producing green jalapenos. They are evidently innocent and have been asked about the shenanigans on the deck and they aren't talking. See he's got his back to me!
I think these are more bell pepper plants. You see, the minute I went back to work and I am serious about "the minute", A.J. ripped up his tomato plants which were basically done for the summer and he ripped up the cucumber plants because the cucumbers were round and bought some new plants. Maybe he felt more independent and didn't need my unsolicited comments and advice. In hindsight, I haven't seen the root starter in the last three weeks.
These are green beans and I've made sure they are no where near the bell red bell peppers. I don't think I could stomach red green beans!
Donna from My Tasty Treasures posted this recipe last week and I just had to try it. This will become a staple in my chicken rotation. We all loved it! Thank you Donna for sharing this!
Chicken Breasts with Bacon, Rosemary and Lemon -
4 slices bacon, chopped
¼ cup unbleached flour
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Emeril's Essence
1 tablespoon butter
4 garlic cloves, sliced thin
3 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 cup low sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Brown bacon in a large skillet over medium high heat until crispy. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate with a slotted spoon. Remove all but 2 tablespoons of bacon grease from skillet. Add butter to reserved bacon grease.

Pour the flour in a shallow dish. Season chicken breasts with Essence (or salt and pepper). Dredge the chicken in the flour, shaking off excess. Brown the chicken on both sides (the thickest part of the chicken should register an internal temperature of 160 degrees) about 5 to 7 minutes per side. Transfer the chicken to a plate and tent with foil.

Reduce the heat to medium and add the garlic, rosemary, and pepper flakes. Cook until the garlic is browned about 2 minutes. Stir in the broth and lemon juice and simmer, scraping up the browned bits, until slightly thickened about 4 minutes.
Return the chicken and bacon to the pan and simmer, turning the chicken once or twice, until the sauce is thick and glossy, 2 to 3 minutes. Season with Essence or salt and pepper to taste.

36 comments:

buffalodick said...

A red Jalepeno pepper is simply a green one, that has matured- sweeter, and some say hotter.. I love them! Nice herb garden you have there..

Debbie said...

We have rosemary everywhere! I love snipping it to cook.

The Bramble Patch said...

Over here in Maryville I have never been able to get jalapeno's to grow very well. I will get 4 or 5 peppers a year and that is it. Thank goodness for Food City. Ha!

Heather S-G said...

hanky panky, LOL! I was going to tell you about the maturity thing...but since buffalodick has already done it....I'll simply say YUM! Your chicken looks beautiful and I'm so jealous of all of your patio garden!

Cathy said...

Your herbs look so good! Mine were all killed in the hail storm.....hopefully next year I'll be able to have fresh right outside my door.

Carol Murdock said...

Hey Katherine....I love my herb garden and your right, it's great to walk out and pick fresh herbs! My Jalepeno's turn red if not picked green, so will green bell pepper!

Katy ~ said...

The chicken looks and sounds amazing!

I would love to grow herbs but our season here is so short that most of them would have to be in containers inside the house, and our cats...well let's just our cats would confuse the pots with their litter boxes **sigh**

Joanne said...

It seems that your red peppers are very fertile...and not very monogamous! FOR SHAME.

I wish I had more space to grow my own herbs, your garden looks so lovely.

The Vintage Kitten said...

How lovely to have fresh herbs in your garden. You cant beat the scent of the flavour they add to a dish. I remember my mother making parsley sauce with DRIED parsley in the 1970's EWWWWW! X

gigi said...

Perfect, you little gardener you!

Inspired by eRecipeCards said...

These are beauties. I would love to have some red HOT peppers to add color panache to some of my recipes!

I am very jealous...this is on my next year list.

Laura said...

The recipe sounds delicious and I am still laughing about the root starter. I love to get my husband's goat (do people still use that expression?) too.

I am now a follower,

Laura

Christo Gonzales said...

having fresh herbs is such a luxury more people need to enjoy...

pam said...

I love herbs in pots, though your parsley is looking a little sad.

Selba said...

You got many herbs in your garden... that's really nice!

Chris said...

Do you notice that your cooking in summer is significantly better than winter?

I do with my own, and I know most of that is the availability of fresh herbs. My wife is your AJ. I'm only allowed to touch the herbs to harvest them!

Jen @ tatertotsandjello.com said...

Hi Katherine!

Yummy recipe! I love, love, love having my own fresh herbs. Everything is so much tastier when it's fresh!

Hope you are having a wonderful Sunday!

XOOX
Jen

Marguerite said...

Merci for the tour of your lovely herb garden, cher! Now I know why you cook with fresh herbs, so much. Lucky you! And thanks for another mouth- watering chicken recipe!

Mary Bergfeld said...

Isn't it lovely to have herbs waiting for you outside the door. I love the way your recipe sounds. It could not help but be delicious with those wonderful ingredients.I

Reeni said...

The chicken looks incredibly delicious! Comfort food! The same thing has happened to my jalapenos and red bells - I made the mistake of planting them side by side. I really don't know what I'm doing! I just wing it when it comes to gardening!

Anonymous said...

The chicken looks delicious! How nice to grow your own herbs! I lack a green thumb altogether, but I often get some lovely herbs from my friends' gardens.

Gaby said...

I love growing my own herbs! Nothing better than being able to use them in all your dishes! Those jalapenos looks so adorable - but I bet they have a kick!

Pam said...

What a tasty looking chicken dish, I saw it on Donna's site too. Don't you just love fresh herbs.

Jennifer said...

Look at all the herbs, but I could not help noticing the POOL! I want a POOL so badly! Can I come over and swim and drink Tini's with ya?

Maria said...

My herbs are doing great this year. I love having them!

lisaiscooking said...

Your herbs and veggies look great! I've all but given up on growing my own vegetables because they require so much watering here. But, I love growing herbs. The thyme could be getting too much rain. I want those bell peppers!

The Blonde Duck said...

That sounds like great chicken!

Sam Hoffer / My Carolina Kitchen said...

Chicken with bacon and rosemary - three of my favorite things. I just adore rosemary and use it all of the time. I have an herb garden too and it's so much fun. We're growing heirloom tomatoes this year along with herbs. I would suspect our weather is similar to yours since we don't live that far apart.
Sam

Juliana said...

Nice herbs garden...love the idea of using what you grow :-) Nice chicken with herbs!

Greg C said...

Great Herb garden. I had to do a double take on that first picture. That Basil looked like another kind of Herb. LOL I used some Basil in my cooking on Sunday.

Claudia said...

I am going to do an herb garden post! Aren't they the most wonderful things? I have everything in the house for the chicken. Voila! I have dinner! And a scrumptious one at that. Thanks, Katherine.

Anonymous said...

I love your herb garden. I think I've have to try pots next year for my herb and peppers. Didn't do well, except for the spearmint which I grew in a pot.

The JR said...

Great herb garden. I didn't get around to doing mine this year.

Ramona

Julie said...

The chicken dish looks awesome...so nice that you got to use your own herbs :)

Donna-FFW said...

Katherine.. how did I almost miss this post?? Thank you so much for trying the chicken, I am glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for the shout out too.

Your herbs, so jealous.. I miss my herb garden this year, I usually plant in the ground, I just have a few in pots, cant wait till next time, I have my spot already picked out!

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