Well, we are still in Lake Tahoe and yesterday the weather started to improve. It was still petty cool, but the sun was out more than it was behind the clouds. Our morning walk around the neighborhood was brisk but beautiful.

After our walk, we headed down to the store to pick up a few things for dinner.  Yes!Chef! had already taken a whole chicken out of the freezer several days prior to this to thaw in time for Sunday Roast Chicken (which is one of Yes!Chef!’s specialties.)  He found some recipes that would incorporate things we already had on hand like jalapenos, limes and sweet corn.  So, we only needed to pick up a few things.  On my way in I did have to stop a look at all the pretty flowers. (The urge to photograph pretty/shiny/colorful things I call Crow Photography and I am one of the biggest offenders.)

It made me itchy to buy some for the cabin, but I knew we wouldn’t be here enough to make sure they got watered everyday.  (I’ll just wait till mid June she thought to herself knowing she couldn’t wait that long.)

Anyway, on to the chicken…

Oh! Not this chicken…the one we had in the refrig. (And she was already…how should I put it…dead.)

Yes!Chef! chopped and sliced and prepped his heart out.  He had never made Butterflied Roast Chicken, so this was going to be a new thing for him.

In the above photo, you can see the steps he took to prepare the chicken for butterfly roasting.  Basically, he cut out the backbone so that it would lay fairly flat.  I read a whole article on why this was the best way to cook a chicken so that the breast would not be overcooked or the leg and thigh meat undercooked.  The article is a little geeky, but very informative.  You can find it here.  Yes!Chef! washed the chicken thoroughly and dried it with paper towels.

After that, he kind of smashed the chicken flat (close your eyes Henny Penny) with his hands. (la la la la…I don’t want to hear those bones crunching…)

Then, Yes!Chef! loosened the skin from the meat so that he could place his chile and lime marinade stuff (not a technical term) inside.  Yes!Chef! says that more of the flavor gets into the meat this way.  More magic marinade on the top of the chicken. Into the oven it went and roasted for about an hour.  You can check out the recipe below for exact times.

While we were waiting Yes!Chef! surprised me with a Margarita made with fresh limes, Tequila and Triple Sec.  Look how pleased he was with this little surprise.

It was quite tasty.  I don’t have his recipe, but there are plenty of good ones out there.

After the appropriate amount of time, the chicken came out of the oven to rest.  That’s when I whisked it away to my favorite window for a quick photo shoot.

So, you can see how nicely the chicken lays in the pan before and after.  The skin was beautifully browned and crispy, the breast meat was moist and the thighs and legs (my favs) were not undercooked and had absorbed a lot of flavor from the marinade.

Yes!Chef! cut off the legs and arms…I mean wings (kinda reminds me of Monty Python “It’s just a flesh wound…I digress). Then he cut the remaining chicken into quarters.

Yes!Chef!, meanwhile had made a tasty concoction with some of the remaining corn that we picked up cheap (10 for $2.00) the day before.

Yes!Chef! served it up and patiently waited for another quick photoshoot.

Now, I’ve mentioned before that Roast Chicken is one of my all-time favorites and Yes!Chef! outdid himself with this bird. Lime was the flavor that tied the whole meal together, but it was not over-powering.  I love to squeeze lime on my sweet corn, anyway (you should try it sometime), so this little side-dish was heaven for me.  The chicken was moist, flavorful and had a little kick to it from the jalapenos.  The corn was sweet and limey.  (Did I say that I like lime with my corn?)

Another good one, Yes!Chef! I would highly recommend this recipe if you like a little spicy lime in your life…and in your chicken.

Here’s the recipe for the Chile-Lime Chicken from Food Network

Roasted Chile-Lime Chicken

Recipe courtesy Aida Mollenkamp

Prep Time:

5 min

Inactive Prep Time:

30 min

Cook Time:

1 hr 0 min

Level:

Intermediate

Serves:

4 to 6 servings

Ingredients

• 1 (5 pound) chicken
• 5 medium serrano chiles, seeded and finely chopped
• 5 medium garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
• 5 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon freshly grated lime zest
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Directions