The Perfect Roast Chicken

I really can't believe I haven't written about the perfect roast chicken yet - it's the Mister and I's go-to Sunday Night Dinner. In fact, I think it was the first SND that I made for us. I really can't think of anything better than a roast chicken - amazing, tender, and juicy. It's a little fussy, but when it comes out right OH MAN is it tasty. I'd love to hear your versions of this classic dish, but for now here's what I think you should do. My version is inspired by the great Ina Garten, and I will NOT tell you what Robb calls her because it's super mean and I love her. So there.

Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. Start with a 4 - 5 pound whole chicken - try to go for organic/free range if you can. It makes quite the difference in flavor, and it's way better for you. Both Trader Joe's and Whole Foods have great options. Remove the giblet package (you can freeze this and use later if you make your own chicken stock) and then give that chicken a rinse inside and out. Be sure to pat dry thoroughly with paper towels and set aside.

Slice up two large onions - white, yellow, or red are all fine - or a mix would be nice. Scatter those in the bottom of your roasting pan with 5 carrots that you've peeled and chopped into pretty diagonally sliced chunks. Don't make them too small or they'll cook too quickly, but you want them to be bite sized. Another don't - don't salt and pepper your veggies at this point, when you S/P the chicken, plenty of that seasoning will fall off into your onions and carrots.

Now back to your chicken - salt and pepper the cavity, then add one half of a large orange, a big ol' handful of fresh thyme, a halved lemon, a halved clementine (you can skip this citrus if you don't have, just add another halved lemon if you'd like), a bulb of garlic halved crosswise, and finish with the other half of your orange, if you can fit. You want the skin of the orange to be showing through the top of the cavity - it will hold everything in if you do this. Tie the legs of the chicken together firmly with some butcher's twine (any butcher will give you a length of this if you bat your eyes, but it's also readily available at kitchen supply stores). Soften two tablespoons of butter - don't melt it completely, just soften it. Time to give that chicken a butter massage! Set the chicken in the rack of the roasting pan breast side up over your veggies and rub that butter all over the skin. Liberally salt and pepper (AFTER you've buttered, it sticks that way - also some of the seasoning will fall down on your veggies) and you'll get a delicious salty crust when you roast.

Pour 1/2 cup of white wine and 1/2 cup of chicken stock over the veggies, and then slide the roasting pan into the oven - make sure the rack is in the middle of the oven. Roast the chicken and the vegetables for ninety minutes. Make sure that there is always some liquid covering the onions and carrots - they will burn otherwise. Add more wine or chicken stock accordingly. When there is about thirty minutes left, take the chicken out of the oven and quickly turn it over so that the underside can brown as well. Turn the chicken back breast side up for the last ten or so minutes of cooking. You want your guy to be 160 degrees - I really recommend a digital thermometer that has an oven safe cord, they're amazing. Mine lets off a little alarm when the desired temperature has been reached. Once your chicken reaches 160 degrees, take it out the oven and transfer it to a wooden cutting board (preferably one with a groove running around the border of the board to catch the delicious juices). Tent that guy with some aluminum foil and let it rest at least twenty minutes before you carve - you'll scald your fingers if you don't wait.

Remove the onions and carrots from the roasting pan with a slotted spoon and cover with foil to keep warm for later when you're ready to eat. Strain the pan drippings into a saucepan and spoon off any fat that has risen to the top (or you can use a handy dandy fat separator - it's the greatest invention ever and available at Crate and Barrel). Add any juice that has collected around the chicken on the cutting board and a splash or two more of the white wine you used before as well as bit more chicken stock. Just eyeball it - you want to have a cup and a half or so of liquid in the sauce pan. As you're simmering that, whisk three tablespoons of cornstarch with a quarter cup of chicken stock in a separate bowl, then whisk that into your saucepan. The gravy should start to thicken right away. Keep whisking, and if it's too thick, add some more chicken stock - too thin, mix a little more cornstarch with some chicken stock and add to the gravy. Taste for seasoning and you should have some spectacular gravy!

You can serve this amazing chicken with the onion, carrots, kick-ass gravy, and some mashed taters or crusty bread. When I made this the other night, I served it with the artichoke gratin that I've featured in an earlier post. Check it out, it makes a really nice accompaniment.

And there you have it! Fairly simple - once you've gotten the chicken in the oven you've got plenty of time to relax with a glass of wine and some port salut.

XO,

D

Swedish Meatballs!

Oh hai everyone! Sorry I missed last week, I was celebrating our country's independence by setting off some totally legal fireworks. For this week, I decided to make a SND from my heritage: Swedish Meatballs! Also, the Mr. loves him some meatballs and has wanted me to try this for a while.

It was a really delicious experiment, but I'd love to hear from ya'll to see if/how your recipe differs, but this is what I humbly suggest via Alton Brown, Marcus Samuelsson, and my own head.

Okay first of all what is with grocery stores not carrying ground pork?? Super irritating. Sometimes they have it, sometimes they don't. Well, Whole Foods always has it, but after I had gone to Trader Joe's and Ralph's I had had it! So when you, my little darlings, try this at home go for half ground pork and half ground beef. I used all ground beef (80/20 fat content heh) and they were tasty, but everything is better with a little pork fat, ya hrrd?

Anyhoo, you want a pound and a half of ground meat - half pork/half beef. If you were politically incorrect you could use some ground veal in there too, or lamb. Delicious. Mix your ground beef in a bowl with 2 eggs, 1/2 cup of panko bread crumbs, 1 1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice, and 1/2 cup (about one half of a medium large) finely chopped red onion. Before you add the onion to the mix, soften it in a pan over medium heat with a two count of olive oil and S/P. Mix everyone together using your hands - it's the best way to get the best mix! After you've mixed, form little meatballs and set aside on a plate or sheet pan. Don't make them big, you want them to be around bite sized (and you need them to cook all the way through), I'd say around 1/2 or 3/4 inch.

Now it's time to cook those suckers! Using the same pan you cooked your chopped onion in, heat two tablespoons of butter and a three count of olive oil over medium-high heat. Brown your delectable meatballs on all sides. Be careful not to burn - you want them to brown evenly but not burn and still cook all the way through, so keep a weather eye on your heat and adjust accordingly. You may have to cook your meatballs in shifts, and when they are done set them aside - you can keep them warm in an oven set to low. Time to make the Swedish Sauce!

Turn the heat down to low in your pan and add a heaping 1/4 cup of flour to the accumulated fat. Whisk that around until you've cooked and browned the flour slightly, it should take two minutes or so. Next add three cups of warmed beef broth - whisk it in a cup or so at a time to thicken your sauce. Okay here comes a weird addition: add 3 tablespoons of pickle juice. No don't argue, just do it! It adds a little somethin' somethin' in the background of the sauce. Whisk that in, then add 1/2 cup of sour cream. Whisk whisk whisk and taste for seasonings, you'll probably need to add some S/P. Whisk over low heat until the sauce is at your desired thickness.

As you cook the sauce, cook some egg noodles or baby red potatoes. Serve your amazing Swedish Meatballs over the noodles or potatoes and ladle your kick ass sauce over the lot. Have some raspberry (or lingonberry) preserves at the ready for those who want, sprinkle some fresh parsley and enjoy! Hooray for the Swedes!

'Til next time...

D

Brooklyn SND - Pulled Pork/Chicken, Coleslaw and Goat Cheese Polenta

Hullo friends! I spent a fab weekend in NYC with my sisie for her birthday, so I now present to you Brooklyn Sunday Night Dinner! Sis wanted pulled pork for her birthday SND, so I came up with a kick ass marinade....which I proceeded to pour some beer into 'cause it would be delicious. Fail. For those of you that don't know, Sisie is allergic to all wheat and gluten. Ah, balls.

But wait! It all turned out okay - I made the gluten soaked pulled pork BUT ALSO some kick ass pulled chicken! Huzzah! Here's how I did it all:

For the pulled pork, I did an all night marinade. I used a three pound bit of pork shoulder that had a lovely fat cap on it. In a large glass bowl I whisked together 3 tablespoons of salt (kosher, people!), 1 tablespoon of cracked black pepper, 1 and 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup red wine vinegar, 3 smashed cloves of garlic, 1.5 to 2 tablespoons of cayenne pepper (yup! make it as spicy or not spicy as you want though - but don't be wussy) and the leaves from three sprigs of fresh thyme. Next add half to three quarters of a bottle of your favorite beer - I recommend a summer brew or a hefewiezen to counter act the cayenne; I used Honeymoon by the makers of Blue Moon. Dude, it's delish! Whisk everything together and put your pork shoulder in. Make sure the pork is covered with this delightful mixture, then cover with saran wrap and refrigerate overnight. If you can't do overnight, I'd recommend at least three hours so the flavors can penetrate (heh) the meat.

Okay, fast forward to the next day, time to cook! I heated a three count of olive oil in a heavy bottomed frying pan (Sisie's Le Creuset risotto pan to be specific) and browned that gorgeously marinated piece of pork shoulder. After I got a good sear on all sides, I put the meat along with the liquid marinade into a handy dandy crock pot and covered. I went with the high setting for three hours, then set it down to low until we were ready to eat. The liquid was poured out and discarded (thank you delicious gluteny marinade!) Take two forks and shred that meat - it will fall apart and you'll be taking taste after taste because you won't be able to resist! After the meat was shredded, I poured some BBQ sauce over it and it was AMAZING. Use your favorite flavor of sauce - Sweet Baby Rays would be good, especially with the cayenne pepper that you used. Serve on some buns and you're in pulled pork heaven.

Hold on! If you are allergic to wheat and gluten, here's what I made for sis! I bought three leg/thighs combos from the butcher - bone in skin on. Gotta go dark meat here, sports fans, if you want the falling apart consistency. Prepare the chicken by giving it a good ol' spice rub. Use your favorite BBQ spice rub, or make one up! I used chili powder - probably a tablespoon total and just massaged it all over the meat. Next, take one leek and thoroughly clean that sucka. Dirt loves to hide between those leaves. Slice up the leek and and throw it in a frying pan that has a cover with a three count of olive oil. Saute the leek for three minutes (add some S and P), then add two sliced carrots. Cook for a few minutes more, then make some room and add the chicken skin side down. Once the chicken is properly browned, add enough rose wine (NOT white zinfandel, shudder) to deglaze and simmer the chicken in. There should be about a half inch of wine covering the bottom of the pan - I eyeballed it, probably a third of a bottle. You could also use white or red wine, or your favorite beer. Cover the pan and turn the heat down to low and simmer for about an hour. You'll know when it's ready - the meat will be fall off the bone, just poke at it with a fork. Once it's ready, turn off the heat and let it cool a bit so you can debone and deskin the chicken. After you've removed the skin and bones shred the chicken back in the pan with the veggies and mix with your favorite sauce! For Sisie's chicken I used a spicier sauce because the chicken was cooked with sweet carrots and the wine. We served her sammich on a delicious gluten free roll and she was in birthday heaven!

I also made a yummy cole slaw. I threw ingredients together into a bowl until it tasted right. It was mayo based, so all you mayo haters out there just need to GET OVER IT. Mayo is freaking delicious. Use one cup of mayo, and whisk in in the bottom of a salad bowl with a 1/4 cup of white or red wine vinegar, two tablespoons of Dijon mustard, a squeeze of honey or maple syrup, a pinch of cayenne or chili powder and some S and P to taste. Whisk and taste, whisk and taste until it's right. A squeeze or two of lemon would be great too. Add some shredded cabbage and carrots on top of your dressing (we used shredded broccoli too, yum) and toss. Now, if you're super cool, you'll put coleslaw on top of your pulled pork or chicken and eat the sammich like a pro.

Serve this all up with some goat cheese polenta and you've got a Brooklyn SND for the ages!

-D

PS I realize I've written this post in several different voices/tenses. Deal with it. It's Sunday Night Dinners not Sunday Night Grammar. Boosh.