General Trick Blogger

What is the holiday season for if not to step back, reflect on the past year and reconnect with those you love. Since at this time of year calendars seem to magically swell with parties, dinners and casual get-togethers, make your gathering as fabulously effortless as possible with a meal that feeds a small group and a full house alike.

The trick to entertaining with style is to prepare a dish for your guests that is delicious, showstopping and requires as little cleanup as possible. This dish, my friends, is the total package. While it’s written for four, it can easily be cut in half for date night or tripled to serve a dinner party for 12. Season the chicken and queue it and the grapes up on a sheet pan so that it’s all ready to go into the oven later. Prepare the grits a short while ahead of time and keep them warm by transferring them to a heat-safe bowl, covering with plastic wrap or foil and setting the bowl over a pot of simmering water.

Was that the sound of you enjoying your own party? Or perhaps it was uproarious applause for a delicious meal that looks like it came off the pages of a magazine? Either way, cheers to the host!

Chicken Legs with Roasted Grapes and White Cheddar Grits

Total Time: 30 min
Prep: 5 min
Cook: 25 min

Yield: 4 servings
Level: Easy

Four 10- to 12-ounce chicken legs, trimmed of excess fat
1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 1/2 teaspoons ground paprika
Salt and ground black pepper
1 small bunch seedless red grapes
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped or grated
2 cups chicken stock
1 1/2 cups milk
3/4 cup quick-cooking grits
4 ounces sharp white cheddar cheese, shredded (about 1 cup)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Season the chicken legs with the spices and some salt and pepper. Arrange on a baking sheet along with the grapes. Drizzle the chicken and grapes with olive oil. Roast until the chicken is deep golden brown and cooked through, about 25 minutes.

While the chicken is cooking, place a pot over medium heat with the butter. Add the shallot and garlic and cook until softened, 1 minute. Add the stock and milk to the pot and bring to a boil. Slowly add the grits while whisking. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer the grits, stirring often, until they’ve softened and absorbed the liquid, 12 to 14 minutes. Stir in the cheese and season with salt and pepper. Reserve warm.

To serve, divide the grits among the serving plates and top each portion with a roasted chicken leg, bundle of roasted grapes and drizzle of the pan drippings from the chicken.

Patrick W. Decker’s life revolves around food. Always has, probably always will. As a graduate of The Culinary Institute of America and past member of the culinary teams for Food Network stars Rachael Ray, Sandra Lee, Marc Forgione and Bobby Deen, he’s now the Digital Content Manager for FoodNetwork.com, CookingChannelTV.com and Food.com in NYC by day and develops recipes at his home in New York’s Hudson Valley by night. You can see what he’s up to by following him on Instagramor visiting his website at patrickwdecker.com.

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I can remember growing up and rifling in awe through my grandma’s collection of spices. The sights and smells of things like mace, nutmeg and ginger were exotic to a curious 8-year-old. What did not seem that exotic, though, was a jar plainly labeled Lemon & Pepper. I mean, it smelled nice and all, but what was so special about lemon with pepper in it that it needed to be bottled and extolled on a shelf?

Remember when you were a kid and, by total happenchance, something flipped a switch in your head and made you realize that there was a whole world happening around you that you hadn’t paid much attention to before? Like your own little mini mental revolution? Familiarizing myself with that aromatic jar of black and yellow powder turned some sort of key in the lock of my view of the world. A blindfold I didn’t even know was there had been removed, and I started noticing lemon pepper everywhere: on restaurant menus, in other’s people’s kitchens, on cooking shows, at the grocery store. Apparently this was a thing. Apparently I’d also been fed a lot of it without even knowing it.

Somehow it’s less the flavor and more the idea of lemon pepper that reminds me of growing up. So many people around me reached for that red-labeled McCormick jar as their secret ingredient for weeknight dinners. (Or in the case of my dad, a guy whose cooking knowledge knows few frontiers, lemon pepper was a lifeline.) As an adult whose life now revolves around food, I reach for real lemon and freshly ground pepper. The flavor is much fresher. The nostalgia still tastes the same, though. It tastes like being young and blissfully ignorant — like finding something new hidden among the everyday.

Lemon-Pepper Chicken with Orzo

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Inactive Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
Level: Easy

Zest and juice of 2 lemons
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 garlic clove, finely chopped or grated
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
Salt and ground black pepper
Four 3- to 4-ounce chicken cutlets (about 1/2 inch thick)
1/2 pound (half a box) orzo
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
1/4 cup toasted almonds, chopped
1/4 pound feta, crumbled

Place a medium pot of salted water over high heat to boil.

In a mixing bowl whisk together the lemon zest and juice, mustard, coriander, garlic and 1/4 cup olive oil. Season the dressing with salt and lots of pepper. Transfer about two-thirds of the dressing to a second mixing bowl and reserve. Add the chicken to the remaining one-third of dressing and toss it well to coat. Let the chicken marinate at room temperature for 10 minutes.

Add the orzo to the boiling water and cook to al dente according to package directions.

Place a large saute pan over medium-high heat with the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil. Cook the marinated chicken in the pan, turning once, until golden brown and cooked through, 8 to 10 minutes total.

Drain the cooked orzo and, while it’s still warm, add it to the bowl with the reserved two-thirds of dressing. Add the onion, dill, almonds and feta to the orzo; toss the mixture well to coat.

Serve the orzo with the cooked chicken.

Patrick W. Decker’s life revolves around food. Always has, probably always will. As a graduate of The Culinary Institute of America and past member of the culinary teams for Food Network stars Rachael Ray, Sandra Lee, Marc Forgione and Bobby Deen, he now works as a content developer and programmer for FoodNetwork.com in NYC by day and a recipe developer at his home in New York’s Hudson Valley by night. You can see what he’s up to by following him on Twitter & Instagram at @patrickwdecker or visiting his website at patrickwdecker.com .

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