Moroccan Chicken (Reality Checked Version)

Have you ever had one of those reality checks that checked your reality really hard?  Like you thought you did something that was pretty damn awesome only to find whilst basking in the glory of your self proclaimed awesomeness that not only was your accomplishment NOT awesome, but was in fact mediocre and insignificant? And now that your reality has been CHECKED you realize that not only are you just mediocre but there are multitudes of people far more talented and awesome than you? That's generally how I feel about most of my cooking, and definitely how I felt about this dish. See right what had happened was that I made this "Moroccan" chicken dish weeks ago, and it was pretty damn tasty, there's no doubt about that. But then the week before last, I took a mental health Monday, and treated myself to sleep on my new love seat and hours of Food Network. Everything was going fantastically until Tyler Florence burst my bubble with his Ultimate Moroccan Chicken dish that literally blew my little chicken dish not only out of the water, but off the face of the planet.  Bastard. So for the last two weeks, I've been obsessing over that recipe with an unadulterated loathing and envy that has me determined to replicate that dish one day soon to prove to myself and Tyler Florence [because we totally know each other in my head] that I can make a bomb ass Moroccan brick chicken too. Just as soon as I get a cast iron skillet, a garden brick, and a spice grinder. But before my bubble was burst, I was happy about the dish I made. I was pretty amped to use the spices I bought in Morocco, which were a 35 spice blend and Moroccan paprika.  In hind sight, I wish I had bought lots more spices. But now I know for the next time, bring more money, stay longer, and bring containers for spice transport. Ingredients  2 large bone in, skin on chicken breasts Sea salt Fresh ground black pepper 3 tablespoons butter Olive oil* 1 tablespoon 35 spice blend 2 cloves garlic, cracked (corn) 1 ear yellow corn

1/2 tablespoon Moroccan Paprika

Olive oil

Sea Salt

Black pepper

(bruschetta) 2 on the vine tomatoes 2 cloves garlic, minced 1/2 french baguette, sliced on a bias Olive oil Sea Salt Black pepper 1/4 teaspoon Moroccan Paprika Season the chicken generously with salt and pepper, set aside. Melt butter in a large, heavy skillet on a low flame. Bloom the spice blend in the melted butter, for about 1 minute.  Add a generous** drizzle of olive oil and cracked garlic cloves to the mixture, and bloom for another minute, stirring occasionally to prevent the garlic from burning, about another minute. When the mixture is bubbling and fragrant, remove from heat.  Pour mixture over seasoned chicken breast, thoroughly coating the chicken. Turn skillet back on medium-high flame, and add chicken to skillet, cover with lid and saute about 8 minutes each side, on medium flame until done. I personally like to flip the chicken several times, to get better idea of the doneness seeing as how I don't own a meat thermometer (yet) and dry chicken is not good look. When chicken is done, remove from skillet, along with pan drippings, and allow meat to rest.

While the chicken is cooking, prepare bruschetta and corn: Dice the tomatoes and finely mince garlic cloves. Mix together with salt, pepper, and olive oil, and refrigerate. Peel and rinse corn ears. Drizzle with olive oil and rub with salt, pepper, and paprika. Heat cast iron grill pan on high heat. When pan is hot, drizzle with vegetable oil, and add corn.  Grill on corn for about 10-15 minutes, be sure to rotate to ensure thorough cooking. Remove from pan when corn kernels are firm but have some give, it's hard to explain, but you'll know it when you see/feel it.

While the chicken is resting, drizzle baguette slices with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and paprika. Add to hot grill pan and cook until slightly crisp, about 2 minutes on each side.

The flavor of the chicken was pretty good, but it got better as it sat in the fridge for a few days [yeah, it takes me forever to eat all my leftovers because I can only stand to eat the same thing like 2 days in a row]. The paprika on the corn just gave it a hint of smokiness that was really enjoyable. And well bruschetta is always a winner in my book. It was all good until that damn Tyler Florence put my tasty chicken to shame. This ain't over Tyler, just wait and see...