Sunday Dinner

Temperatures were still around 50 degrees for most of the day and it has been drizzling. That made it a great day for a roasted chicken. The free range, organic bird was rubbed with a couple of cut garlic cloves and a slice of lemon. It was then sprinkled with some herbs de Provence and salt. About 70 minutes later, and after flipping it once in the rack from breast side down to breast side up, the results called for a picture.There was some left-over Basmati rice that was re-warmed and some fresh spinach, pan wilted with just a touch of bacon fat. A rosemary roll with butter and it made for a great meal.

A major part of this is just smelling the bird and herbs as they roast in the oven. It's both appetite inducing and soothing. The lavender in the herbs de Provence just adds an extra element to everything.

Since this was a Rhone and Provence style bird we popped open a 1999 M. Chapoutier La Bernardine Chateauneuf de Pape. It smelled of dried fruits and leather and a little bit of good, clean, freshly dug dirt. It was just a little orange on the edges, so it is just beginning to show some age. There were warm spices and the tannins finally moved to the background. The acid was just enough to refresh between sips and bites. A good bottle of wine that on its own might not raise an eyebrow, but it married well with the chicken and that made both the wine and the chicken better.

The dogs have scarfed up some the excess chicken skin and are currently working on a hand-out from the recently replenished rawhide jar. Nice day here.