Looks like Summer

After writing about planting herbs in the apartment yesterday, I looked in the fridge and realized that I had a whole bunch of basil leftover from this past weekend. The sun was shining and as I was walking around the apartment in a tank top and flip flops, I felt like a picnic. Voila! Inspiration for dinner.

Since Jesse was at work all day yesterday, I thought it would be nice to surprise him by (doing dishes) and cooking a delicious Friday celebration meal. We both made it through the week feeling relatively upbeat, which these days, is quite the feat. Given the abundance of basil, pesto pasta was definitely on the menu. Paired with oven fried chicken and (clean out the fridge) roasted vegetables, you have the perfect summer meal. I realize that we just entered Spring, but I was feeling optimistic. Jesse pulled out a bottle of Belgian beer for the occasion; a Lunatique Triple. It was the perfect end to a pretty great day.

Today, we're hopping on our bikes and finally going out to the farmers market in SW Portland. I have every intention of getting some delicious veggies for the week, maybe a specialty cheese, and definitely a pastry or two to carry me through the ride home. In case you want to make your own batch of oven fried chicken here's the recipe that I used:

Spicy Oven Fried Chicken
**don't be scared, the chicken isn't really spicy at all, go ahead and use all of the hot sauce and cayenne***

1 1/4 c. buttermilk
1/4 c. olive oil
3T. hot sauce (I used a combo of Sriracha and Tabasco Chipotle)
2T Dijon mustard
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp. salt
ground black pepper
1 lg. onion, sliced
12 chicken pieces with skin and bones (I used drum sticks)

1c. unseasoned bread crumbs
1/3 c. grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 c. flour
2 tsp. thyme
1/2 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. cayenne
3T. melted butter

Whisk buttermilk, oil, hot pepper sauce, mustard, garlic, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon
pepper in large bowl to blend well. Add onion, then chicken and turn to coat. Cover; chill at
least 3 hours or up to 1 day, turning chicken occasionally.

Place cooling racks on 2 large rimmed baking sheets (otherwise the chicken will be soggy on the bottom). Whisk breadcrumbs, cheese, flour, thyme, paprika, cayenne and 1 teaspoon salt in large baking dish to blend. Remove chicken from marinade, allowing excess to drip off. Add chicken to breadcrumb mixture and turn to coat completely. Arrange chicken, skin side up, on racks on baking sheets. Let stand 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 425°F. Drizzle butter over chicken. Bake until crisp, golden and cooked through, about 50-55 minutes. Enjoy warm or at room temperature.