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.