About this time of year, when the temperatures start cooling down and I hear the leaves from our ash trees crunching underfoot, I start thinking about turning on the oven and making some of those favorite dishes that have been left off our tables all summer. What with all the barbecuing of large hunks of meat, the tomatoes (and tomatoes and tomatoes) piling up in the kitchen and the unbelievably fabulous fruit at the farmers markets, what else could we do but surf the avalanche?
So now that things have calmed down a bit, I bought a large roasting chicken at the store. I always ask for the biggest one, the better to have leftovers for other delicious dishes like enchiladas or chicken pot pie. I think the largest I've roasted was over nine pounds, more like a small turkey, really. But still not larger than Chester (right), our gorgeous hunk of 13-lb. marmalade cat. (Still unroasted.)Anyway, about that chicken. I use James Beard's method, which calls for roasting the bird on a bed of vegetables, turning it every once in awhile to get a good infusion of aromatics of whatever kind. As usual, I mess around with the recipe, covering it with bacon during roasting (afterwards you can crumble the bacon over the mashed potatoes and gravy or use it in a salad), or stuffing the cavity with a half lemon and a bunch of fresh herbs like tarragon or thyme. And doggone if it doesn't turn out beautifully every time! (That's how it gets to be a favorite, you know.)
Jimmy's Roast Chicken Kinda
loosely adapted from James Beard's American Cooking
3 Tbsp. olive oil
1 onion, roughly chopped
2 carrots, halved and chopped
2 ribs celery, halved and chopped
1/2 c. white wine or dry vermouth
1 roasting chicken
1/2 lemon
Handful of fresh herbs (sage, rosemary, thyme or tarragon)
4-5 slices bacon, optional
Salt to taste
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Pour 2 Tbsp. oil into a frying pan and saute onions, carrots and celery (or whatever vegetables you might have) till slightly tender but not fully cooked. Put in 9" by 12" pyrex casserole dish (or your favorite Le Creuset roaster). Pour wine over vegetables.
Rub chicken with remaining 1 Tbsp. oil, throw 1 tsp. or so salt and the lemon and herbs into the cavity and place the chicken on its side on top of the vegetables. If using bacon, drape strips crosswise over the chicken. Place in oven and roast for 25 minutes. Remove from oven, turn chicken on its other side (relaying bacon, if using it, on top) and roast for another 25 minutes. Remove from oven, turn chicken so it is breast-side up (again draping bacon), baste with pan juices and sprinkle with salt. Roast another 15 minutes, remove and baste, then roast a final 20 minutes or, for our tastes, until an instant-read thermometer reads 160 degrees on the inside of the lower thigh. Remove from oven, allow to rest for 10 minutes. We cut it into pieces, but the breasts we remove whole and slice crosswise.
I like your website. It is full of sensuous food and drink tips and thoughts. One slight suggestion relates to the roasted chicken. I have been roasting chicken whole for many years, having picked up the idea in London, where we lived for thirteen years. One big no-no is cooking the chicken with other vegetables on the same pan. The reason is that the steam from the vegetables would not allow that wonderful chicken crispness!
ReplyDeleteHere is my 'recipe': One whole chicken, usually about four pounds, stick slivers of garlic under the skin all over the chicken. I sometimes stuff in fresh rosemary, too, with the garlic. Salt the outside, and sprinkle dried chilies over the whole chicken. Finally, squeeze a lemon and a bit of olive oil over the outside. Then I stuff the inside with rosemary or lemony sorrel. Stick it in a 425 degree oven on an olive oil greased pan and cook for about an hour(depending on the size). It is done when it is a delicious crisp brown. If you cook it faster it stays moist, while crisp outside.
- SG
Thanks for the compliments and the roasting ideas! And I love the idea of the garlic and rosemary under the skin, as well as the sorrel stuffed inside. I'll have to try your recipe next time!
ReplyDeleteAs for the skin, since Mr. Beard's recipe calls for leaving it breast-side up for the last half hour to 40 minutes or so, the skin seems to get pretty crispy and brown. Plus sprinkling salt on it makes it irresistible!
And for those of us who are not great cooks (like Kathleen or need instant gratification, I highly recommend the roast chicken at New Seasons (Attnention Portlanders!)
ReplyDeleteI'm in complete agreement! I've been known to buy one of their roasted chickens to take to a picnic or when we're having one of those don't-want-to-cook but don't-want-to-go-out nights. And at $7.99 for a whole chicken, the price is certainly right!
ReplyDeleteAs a matter of fact, it may be worth a post all on its own...thanks, Laurie!