Honey White Bread & Lemon Tarragon Chicken

Last night's dinner was Lemon Tarragon Chicken, rice, broccoli, corn and bread. Patrick ate every single bit which had been claimed by no one else, explaining that he's hording calories to survive the fall semester in college. I've made this kind of chicken before, but this time I did it differently. Instead of making a paste of butter and spices, I simply loosened the skin on the bird, crammed chopped tarragon and lemon peel under the skin, then patted the skin back in place, squeezed the juice from half the lemon over the skin, drizzled a tiny bit of oil over it, then salted the bird. With the lemon chopped and placed inside the bird, I roasted it at 350 for a while (which is my favorite kind of recipe and timing....sorry!). I used cornstarch to make a gravy from the pan drippings, and it had a nice tang of lemon to it. Plain white rice is a perfect accompaniment to this chicken, because the lemon and tarragon are such vibrant flavors!

Last night was also the inaugural run for the breadmaker. I didn't bake the bread in the machine, of course; I think of a breadmaker as a nice closed mixer, which keeps the flour from puffing out of the bowl and making an obnoxious mess. If you want to use a breadmaker as a mixer, add the yeast into the warm liquids, then follow with the other ingredients and turn it on! This recipe is from Beth Hensberger's Bread Machine Bible.

HONEY WHITE BREAD

2/3 cup warm water
2/3 cup warm milk
6 tsp yeast*
4 cups flour
1-1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp oil
3 tbsp honey

Add the yeast to the water *Note: if you aren't in a hurry to have the bread get itself finished, you can use only 3 tsp yeast; it will take about 60 to 90 minutes to rise instead of 30 to 40. I am simply waaayyy too impatient to wait - and I rarely plan 3 hours ahead PLUS start the work then! I digress; sorry. Stir the flour and salt into the water and milk, and add the oil and honey before it's completely combined. Using a stand mixer, it will take about 10 minutes to knead; by hand, you'll have to knead about 10 minutes after all ingredients are thoroughly stirred in, until the dough is smooth. Either way, let it rise 5 to 10 minutes, then split into two loaves, let rise about 30 minutes, or until it's about doubled in size. Bake at 375 for 23 to 25 minutes. The crust will be dark, and the honey imparts a different flavor to this bread. Since the boys ate more than a full loaf for dinner, I'd say this bread was a hit!