Roasted Chicken with Salsa Verde and Roasted Lemons (the roas

I spent Valentine's Day with a great friend and needed a recipe that would give me some inspiration to not just order in on this freezing cold winter weekend here in NYC. So I grabbed the latest copy of Food and Wine magazine and jumping off the pages was a recipe for "the roasted chicken that changed America".

There is a spread in this month's issue celebrating California cuisine in an iconic NYC restaurant in the early 80's. Well for those who know me this is perfect. I was born in 1980 and am a California guy now living out my dreams in New York City. This had to be the recipe to try.

And OH MAN what a recipe this was! This will become a staple in my arsenal of mains.

Shopping List:

1 4-lb chicken (I used 4 skinless chicken breasts)

1 cup plus 2 tbs EVOO

S&P

4 lemons - cut in half

1/4 cup capers - rinsed & minced

anchovy paste

3 garlic cloves - minced

1/2 cup arugula - finely chopped

1/2 cup cilantro - finely chopped

1/2 cup basil - finely chopped

1/4 cup tarragon - finely chopped

1/4 cup chives - finely chopped

1/4 cup sage - finely chopped

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

2. Mince the garlic and capers. Add a bit of coarse salt. Use the back of your knife to create a paste rubbing the knife along your cutting board "smashing" the ingredients together until them combine and become relatively smooth. Add to a mixing bowl, incorporate 1 tbs of anchovy paste and whisk in 1 cup of EVOO. Add pepper.

3. Finely chop all herbs, add to the mixing bowl and combine together. Add a pinch of pepper.

4. Place your chicken (or chicken breasts in this case) on a wire rack on a sheet tray. Rub EVOO and S&P on the chicken. Add the cut lemons to the tray and bake for about 40 minutes or until the chicken is just cooked through. Let rest for 10 minutes.

5. Squeeze the roasted lemon into the herb salsa verde. Plate the chicken and spoon on this deliciously fantastic herb spread.