I preheated the oven to 375 degrees, took the chicken out of the marinade and put it on a broiler pan, added salt and pepper and discarded the marinade. Here is where I preach safe chicken handling: Wash everything, especially your hands, when dealing with poultry. Always discard the marinade. You can’t boil the bacteria out of that shit.

I Safely tucked the chicken in the oven for about 30 to 35 minutes. Then I watched some of the NFC Championship game because either the Saints or the Vikings will play THE COLTS IN THE SUPER BOWL in a couple of weeks.

After 35 minutes (these were some big old breasts) I checked the temperature with my meat thermometer and it was only 140. I wanted to see at least 155 to 160 before I felt like the bird was ready to serve. Safe handling guidelines will tell you 175 to 180, but there is residual cooking when you let the chicken rest before serving, and honestly, as long as the meat is white and not even slightly pink, it’s done. Back in the oven it went for about five more minutes.

Five minutes elapsed and I turned the oven from bake to broil to get the skin crispy. But at that point, it was kick off on the Saints/Vikings game and I think the Vikings struck gold in the end zone first and I lost track of time and, yeah, I charred the skin. It should only have been in the broiler for about two minutes and I left it in for at least a series of downs, probably five to six minutes.

This ain’t the damn Food Network, y’all.

Any old hoo, the thermometer came quickly up over 160 and I knew the bird was done. Removing the charred skin is OK, since the skin is the majority of the fat calories. As you can see, I served the chicken breast with roasted asparagus and a lovely Pinot Noir,  VICTORY WINE AS WE TOASTED THE COLTS!

And the chicken? Kick ass delicious.  Much like my COLTS!