Lemon Chicken And Jalepeno Mac

We may be a full week into September, but apparently somebody forgot to notify the Montana skies, as we're still regularly getting high 80 temperatures.  Despite the lack of proper Fall weather we decided to brave the oven anyway and start making some fun baked meals.  Before getting into that though, here's another look at one of our grilled kebab adventures.

This time for a little more fun and flair we wrapped thin slices of zucchini in an "S" shape around the marinated chicken and vegetables.

Here's a look at a similar meal where we grilled large pieces of bone-in chicken, but also threw on mushrooms and veggie strips, which were dipped into a delicious garlic/yogurt mixture.

Now onto the real goods: a whole chicken stuffed with boiled lemon and baked inside a dough crust!  We got this one from an episode of "Oliver Twist" on Netflix. You can also see an herb mixture we ground up in our mortar and pestle in the picture below.

Boiling the whole lemon for a few minutes gets it hot and releases more flavor so the chicken gets cooked from the inside from the lemon and from the outside via the oven.

After putting the lemon inside the chicken, the whole thing gets covered in an herb mixture and then tied up with kitchen string.

A simple flour dough made from scratch gets wrapped around the chicken to keep all the juices and heat inside.

Here's the finished chicken right out of the oven before the dough barrier is cracked open to get at the lemony delicious goodness inside.

To complete the meal we had a salad covered in fruits and vegetables, along with cornbread stuffing and a generous helping of gravy.  It's amazing how much the lemon flavor soaks into the chicken - and not just the skin!  Every bite of the meat has a definite lemon zest going on.

For another fun baked meal this past week we decided to put a twist on the standard baked pasta dish and went with a jalapeno theme.  Rather than breadcrumbs, the top of the pasta was covered in jalapeno flavored chips, which gave just as much crunch and way more flavor. Chopped jalapenos also went inside the pasta, of course.

Hopefully the temperature will start to dip soon so we can get into more Fall baked goodness.  Coming up soon we'll be having a new murder mystery dinner meal, along with more pasta and chicken dinners.

Oh, and just because it was stupidly awesome and I'm still basking in its glow, go back and check out our Fried Chicken Benedict from last year!