Adventures of a Jayhawk Mommy: Fire Chicken and Cheesy Potato Gratin

During the summer, my husband loves to grill. I guess that is typical of most men. I, on the other hand, do not go near the grill. It freaks me out. I have this weird phobia with fire. It is so bad that I can't even light a match, much less a normal size lighter. (I can light one of the extended ones though.)

Therefore, when I see a recipe that will involve grilling, I know it will require me to recruit my husband's help. Luckily, Chris is usually up for the challenge.

The other night I recruited my DH to grill something called Fire Chicken that I found on Pinterest (via Plain Chicken). She named it fire chicken because the marinade causes the grill to kick out some fire. It isn't called fire chicken due to any extra spice, so no worries. Fire Chicken is basically grilled chicken that has been marinated in a lemon concoction. Oh, and let me know forget to mention that it is delicious!

Our meal of Fire Chicken & Potatoes

I marinated the chicken a bit longer than asked, letting it soak in the flavors for 24 hours before serving. I really think that the long time in the marinade and poking the chicken with a fork made a huge difference. The chicken had a lovely flavor that brought a huge grin to my husband's face. I think it is his favorite marinade now!

I served some potatoes, also found on Pinterest, with the chicken. They were a "healthy" version of au gratin potatoes called Asiago, Potato, and Bacon Gratin. Let me start out by saying they were good, but they weren't my favorite. I imagine that is because I made a few mistakes, but I don't see trying this again either.

The first time you try a recipe, you need to make sure you read it through. I did that. When I read it, it sounded like it made sense. When I got into the heart of cooking the dish, I realized that there were issues either with my skill level or the recipe. While you have 1 1/2 pounds of sliced Yukon potatoes simmering, you saute in a saucepan some shallots (I had none but I did have some green onions on hand) using cooking spray. I ended up adding a bit of olive oil because the onions were sticking a bit.

Me attempting to get things nicely blended

Now here is where I began to have issues. Maybe the problem arose because I used the green onions instead of shallots, I'm not sure. I think it unlikely. The recipe says to keep the burner on medium heat and add 1 cup of flour (by sprinkling it). From there you had 1/2 cup of milk and blend it with the flour using a whisk. Sounds like it will work, right? Not so much. I ended up with paste. Right before I did it, I had a feeling it wouldn't work. Then you add the rest of the milk, gradually, until it is well blended.

Honestly, it took longer to get a good blend. If I were to do this again (or if you want to try it), then I would add a little bit of flour then the milk, blend. Add more flour, more milk, then blend, until it was all in. I would also do it over medium heat and not medium high heat since it thickened way too fast. Once everything was blended, the recipe says to let it simmer for 9 minutes until it is thickened. I had no need to do that. By the time I had things blended, it was thick so I went on to the next steps, adding cheese and bacon. I was unable to find asiago cheese by itself at my grocery store so I used an Italian blend instead. I also cheated and used bacon pieces.

Once everything is mixed together and the potatoes are drained, place half the potatoes in an 8-in square baking dish then half the sauce over it. Repeat the layers then add parmesan on top, if you wish. I did not because the cheese blend I used had parmesan in it. Then bake for 35 minutes in a 350 degree oven.