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You are here: Home / Food & Recipes / Cooking / Roast Chicken–A Poultice for the Soul

Roast Chicken–A Poultice for the Soul

by Tom Levenson|  June 24, 20204:05 pm| 84 Comments

This post is in: Cooking, Food & Recipes, Open Threads, Recipes

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Sweet FSM on a pogo stick!

I am losing it today, as each new news drop triggers a fresh cycle of rage.  Fuck every national Republican (and most of the rest)–sideways with a rusty farm implement.

I’m genuinely in fear for the Republic at this point, what with a criminally-led DoJ and an increasingly corrupted judiciary enabling whatever arbitrary power grab the Cheetolini stumbles upon.

Clearly, I need a break, and maybe some of y’all do too.

So…let’s talk poultry.

Some here may recall I am a roast chicken obsessive.  Sunday afternoon, I picked up a really nice bird from our local refinance-your-mortgage specialty butcher (Savenors, for the Massholes among us).

Brought it home, and then thought about what to do with it. I’ve posted before on our defaults–splayed chicken with leeks and mushrooms, roast chicken with duck fat under the skin and so on.

Nothing seemed quite right so we started to vamp.

Roast Chicken--A Poultice for the Soul 1

First, I spatchcocked the bird.

Then I made a wet rub to put under the skin, very, very loosely adapted from a Yotam Ottolenghi recipe for chicken sofrito.  It was somewhere around a 1/4 cup of olive oil, the juice of about 1/3 to 1/2 of a lemon, one huge (or two more regular) garlic cloves very finely chopped, some thyme, and about a teaspoon of pimenton–smoked paprika. A little bit of maple syrup to cut the acid (honey would work too).  Salt and pepper. I stirred it up, tasted it, adjusted it (more salt, and a little more pimenton– I wanted to make sure the smokiness of the paprika comes through–not too much, but there.  I loosened the skin on the breasts and thights, and spooned most of the sauce under the skin, saving just a little to rub on the outside.

I had been preheating the oven to 400 degrees with a large cast iron frying pan heating up inside it.  (A big boi: the Lodge 15 inch beast. Work on your upper body strength before using.) When the oven got to temperature I slopped some more olive oil in the pan and then added the chicken, breast side up.

While that got started, I prepped a red onion, four or five shallots, cut into quarters, and an orange pepper. Mixed them all up in a bowl, added a little salt and pepper, a quarter cup or so of sweet sherry, another third of a lemon’s juice, and some capers.

At about the twelve minute mark, maybe fifteen, I added the vegetables to the pan, scattering them all around the bird, and then shut ’em all up together.  After another twenty minutes or so–maybe 25, who knows?–this was the result:

Roast Chicken--A Poultice for the Soul

It was…sublime.

The texture of the bird was as good as I remember achieving, well, just about ever. The self basting with the spice rub (and the acid involved, I suspect) did something wonderful. The vegetables, braising in booze and chicken fat, turned into a kind of jam. And the garlic-pimenton-lemon flavor was just forward enough to make it all interesting, without overwhelming the quality of the chicken meat itself.

Trump and disease and death simply faded out of mind for a good hour.

I needed that.

So: food porn as a distraction.

Your turn: what have you made or dreamt of that has, at least for a moment, lifted you out of grim reality?

Open food themed thread, jackals!

Image: Annibale Carracci, The Bean Eater, between 1584-1585.

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84Comments

  1. 1.

    Kristine

    June 24, 2020 at 4:20 pm

    That chicken is a thing of beauty.

    My fave roasting method is this one from NYT Cooking. I can never find ramps, so I usually settle for regular onions and garlic. I don’t use cast iron, but a s/s casserole, so I need to keep the temp below 450F. Still results in a tasty bird and eliminates my usual issue of slight underdoneness where the legs meet the body.

    It was a take the car in for repairs/lawn mowing morning–car is back and lawn is mowed. Had lunch on the deck. Mediterranean bean soup with rosemary-garlic bread. Grated some parm reg on both. Also stirred some Les Moulin Mahjoub harissa into the soup for smoky bite. LMM makes my fave harissa by far.

  2. 2.

    randy khan

    June 24, 2020 at 4:20 pm

    We saw the article in the NY Times food section on garden focaccia a while back and decided to start making it.  It’s one of those really easy recipes that’s more than 95% sitting around waiting for things to happen.  (Seriously – 5 minutes mixing, 24 hours resting, 5 minutes putting it in the pan, another hour or two rising, decorate, and bake.)  It turns out a really lovely pan of bread, and you can have fun decorating it with veggies to make the top pretty.  I’ve made it 4 times since the end of April.

    Recipe link at end of article

    I’ve also been doing an apple tart that’s a mashup of recipes from Chez Panisse (the crust) and Barefoot Contessa (the rest).  I think I want to try it with peaches next.

  3. 3.

    Gravenstone

    June 24, 2020 at 4:22 pm

    Do you offer take out?

  4. 4.

    Gin & Tonic

    June 24, 2020 at 4:22 pm

    Keeping it really simple, on Sunday my daughter and SIL came over and brought a honkin’ big piece of bluefish and a couple of dozen oysters. The fish went in one of these, lined with lemons sliced very thinly on the mandoline on the skin side, and just some good olive oil and a little adobo on the flesh side. Shucked the oysters, put the blue on the grill, opened a nice Sancerre, and there you have it. Life didn’t suck. Did I mention I like bluefish?

  5. 5.

    Another Scott

    June 24, 2020 at 4:23 pm

    Looks and sounds good.  Thanks for sharing.

    I had been looking all over (online) to refill my stash of bread and whole-wheat flour, without success, for months.  Then, a couple of weeks ago, I noticed that Nuts.com listed flour.  And it was in stock!

    I just finished baking a mostly whole-wheat loaf in my breadmaker.  It turned out well.

    https://nuts.com/cookingbaking/flours/kyrol/1lb.html

    https://nuts.com/cookingbaking/grains/wheat/whole-wheat-flour/1lb.html

    The WW flour has much more visible bran than the last stuff I bought (from Target) in the Before Times, but it works well.  The rest of the WW flour is very soft and fluffy, and the bread flour is excellent.

    Yummy!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  6. 6.

    Kristine

    June 24, 2020 at 4:24 pm

    @randy khan: I’ve made Ina’s apple tart. I do cheat my using store-bought pastry.

    I love Ina’s recipes. Her meatloaf is a go-to. Also several of her cookie recipes.

  7. 7.

    MattF

    June 24, 2020 at 4:24 pm

    My own cooking tends to be utiliitarian rather than pornographic. But with the low-level reopenings in my neighborhood, I’m looking forward to returning to buying stuff at the French bakery, the Italian deli, the bagel store, and, of course, Trader Joe’s. My current vice is Talenti gelato. Their Double Dark Chocolate and Sea Salt Caramel flavors are just… divine.

  8. 8.

    Gin & Tonic

    June 24, 2020 at 4:26 pm

    @Kristine: But tart pastry is so easy to make, compared to pie crust.

  9. 9.

    Elizabelle

    June 24, 2020 at 4:27 pm

    @ Tom:   Somewhere, Julia Child is smiling at your efforts.  Technicolor bird.

    @randy khan:   Do you have any interest in cut and pasting that foccaccia recipe for us?

    Can see the accompanying article, but the FTF NYTimes hides the actual recipe away from us.  Paywall, because I guess they don’t pay their Food staff enough.

  10. 10.

    Tom Levenson

    June 24, 2020 at 4:28 pm

    @Kristine: That’s our default weekday roast chickie.

    We never bother w. ramps. Instead we use leeks, mushrooms, capers, garlic and lemon rind.

    Sometimes will flip the script and use a curried cauliflour thang–that flavors the whole pot.

  11. 11.

    Joe Falco

    June 24, 2020 at 4:28 pm

    I have a recipe for a glazed orange flan I’m trying tonight to practice before making one for a dinner this Saturday. I’ve tried making a couple of fruit tarts in this past, and I keep messing up and ending up with a soggy bottom.

  12. 12.

    Tom Levenson

    June 24, 2020 at 4:28 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: Call me next time. I’ll bring the Sancerre (or a Rully, if I’m in funds).

  13. 13.

    Louise B.

    June 24, 2020 at 4:29 pm

    Oh, man, that looks good, and the rub sounds delicious.  Thanks for sharing.  We usually roast cut up chicken pieces in a Scan non-stick frying pan.  They brown up nicely at a lower temp than you need for cast iron, and they’re easy to clean.  Fresh wild salmon season is on here in the PNW, and we’ve eating tons of it, roasted on a cedar plank, and accompanied by fresh asparagus.

  14. 14.

    LuciaMia

    June 24, 2020 at 4:29 pm

    Been rewatchng The West Wing, first season on. Forgot just how good it was/is.

  15. 15.

    TaMara (HFG)

    June 24, 2020 at 4:31 pm

    That chicken sounds yummy and looks delicious.

    I’m glad it’s not just me today.

    I made a big batch of Jicama Slaw and am very happy to have it to munch on at random intervals.

  16. 16.

    geg6

    June 24, 2020 at 4:31 pm

    I adore Ina Garten’s recipe for roast chicken with veggies (onions, carrots and fennel). I have played around with different veggies and herbs, but the original recipe is still the best and most delicious thing ever.
    Recently, I made some kebabs with sirloin steaks and veggies in the grill basket (zucchini, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, green onions and red, orange and yellow peppers).  Marinated both in the steak sauce from The Colony, a great steakhouse in Pittsburgh. That steak sauce is to die for. And I don’t generally use steak sauce. For Fathers Day, I made shrimp “boil” in packets on the grill. Almost as good as I used to get in the Outer Banks and Savannah. And super easy cooking and clean up. I’ve been cooking so much through this, I having a hard time remembering everything I’ve made lately that is just wonderful.

  17. 17.

    Tom Levenson

    June 24, 2020 at 4:31 pm

    @Joe Falco: Inevitable: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meCZ5hWNRFU

  18. 18.

    Kristine

    June 24, 2020 at 4:33 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: I guess I just don’t trust myself to do it right. Which doesn’t make sense because I used to make pies all the time when I was in high school, scratch crusts and all. Maybe next time I’ll try making my own.

    Though sometimes, even Ina uses store-bought….

  19. 19.

    geg6

    June 24, 2020 at 4:37 pm

    @Kristine:

    Ina is one of my go to people for excellent recipes for good food that is executable by a home cook and that also presents well.  All with a minimum of fuss.

  20. 20.

    JMG

    June 24, 2020 at 4:37 pm

    I have a rotisserie attachment for my Weber charcoal grill, which works very well for chicken. Last night I grilled swordfish. Brushed it with a mixture of olive oil and lemon, good amount of pepper mixed in.

  21. 21.

    Miss Bianca

    June 24, 2020 at 4:37 pm

    Waitaminnit…

    Are you saying that spatchcocked bird spent a total of only 45 minutes tops in the oven? Am I reading that right?

  22. 22.

    Joe Falco

    June 24, 2020 at 4:38 pm

    @Tom Levenson: It’s true. I am a baker of constant sorrow.

  23. 23.

    phein60

    June 24, 2020 at 4:39 pm

    We’ve been using a vinegar and honey solution (3 T, 1&1/2 t), with thin-sliced red onion soaking in it, to drizzle over oven-fried chicken thighs with about 15 minutes left to go.   The vinegar makes the skin deliciously crispy.

  24. 24.

    Sure Lurkalot

    June 24, 2020 at 4:39 pm

    Very bad at linking but this Jacques Pepin roasted chicken recipe is a breeze and very good. Makes a mess though.

    https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2010/03/dinner-tonight-jacques-pepins-quick-roasted-chicken-recipe.html

  25. 25.

    Gemina13

    June 24, 2020 at 4:39 pm

    I made some bone-in chicken breasts, experimenting with two marinades.  The first was a Jamaican jerk marinade that I boosted with some sliwowicz.  The second was with Olde Thompson’s Nashville Hot chicken seasoning, honey, bourbon, lemon juice, paprika, and a dash of cinnamon.

    The jerk chicken wasn’t bad.  The sliwowicz gave it a little extra sweetness, but nothing extra special.  The bourbon-Nashville Hot chicken, though, came out juicy, tangy, and spicy with a nice bit of depth from the cinnamon.  I’m going to play with the ingredients a bit more (less salt, no lemon juice, maybe half a pinch less cinnamon), but it actually tasted a lot like a Vietnamese seasoning recipe I followed last year.

    Both went well with a cucumber-jicama-strawberry salad, followed up with a homemade French silk pie for dessert.  I added a little rum to the filling, and some vanilla to the crust; I ended up with a fantastic pie with a way-over-the-top crust, so next time, no vanilla.

    This weekend, I’m going to use a coriander-and-orange seasoning on some chicken thighs, and pull out a chuck roast for homemade beef & noodles.  The latter is definitely not a summer dish, but it’s a wonderful feast for when your heart is low and your mind is clouded, as mine has been since March.

  26. 26.

    geg6

    June 24, 2020 at 4:39 pm

    @Miss Bianca:

    That sounds close to about what I would think for a spatchcocked bird at high heat in a preheated cast iron skillet.

  27. 27.

    narya

    June 24, 2020 at 4:40 pm

    I’ve been living on beans (four different Rancho Gordo varieties, cooked, portioned, and frozen) and something else (squash/beets mix; tonight it’s venison/beef bolognese sauce and asparagus from the farm share) and rice, farro, hominy, etc. And cheese, of course. I haven’t had an oven since January (see the kitchen reno updates in the AM open thread), so I am looking forward to baking again like you would not believe. But! My neighbor and I got rhubarb in our farm share, and I invented a salsa/chutney with . . . I forget! Ginger, maybe? and honey? Garlic, most likely? And I don’t know what else. It is awesome on fish, it turns out, and neighbor enjoyed her share on pork and chicken.

  28. 28.

    LuciaMia

    June 24, 2020 at 4:40 pm

    Ive made Ina Garten’s Plum Tatin (tho its a bit more like an upside down cake.) Easy but so good. You can also swap out any other kind of fruit-peaches, apricots, apples, blueberries, etc.  Except strawberries.Tried that once and they nearly swamped the cake!

  29. 29.

    Mike in NC

    June 24, 2020 at 4:41 pm

    After a doctor’s appointment this morning I got a haircut for the first time in four months, then picked up a nice rotisserie chicken from Publix. The ones from Costco might be slightly better but it’s been a long time.

  30. 30.

    Tom Levenson

    June 24, 2020 at 4:44 pm

    @Miss Bianca: Yup.

    Pulled the bird out of the fridge half, maybe 45 minutes ahead of cooking (it was warm enough here Sunday that we were getting close to room temperature in that time). Spatchcocking (and hence nothing in the cavity) speeds things up. And it was not a huge bird, maybe 3.75 lbs. (I’ve cooked sub 3 pound little chickies in half an hour or so.)

    One key: we have an electric convection oven, which cooks a litter faster than a conventional one. And I roast chickens at 400 degrees, which is a little hotter than many do.  I get away with that without drying out the breasts by splaying (if I want a cavity to put aromatics in) or spatchcocking–both of which make the chicken, in effect, thinner and faster cooking. Crucially doing that speeds up the leg/thigh quarters, so they get done before the breast is a wasteland.

  31. 31.

    Tom Levenson

    June 24, 2020 at 4:45 pm

    @Tom Levenson: Should add–I do a duck-fat chicken (globs of rendered duck fat under the skin) and roast that conventionally, no splaying or whatever. Seems to go ok, but I think that’s because the extra fat keeps the breasts moist.

  32. 32.

    Tom Levenson

    June 24, 2020 at 4:46 pm

    @phein60: That sounds excellent. Any particular recipe for the oven-frying?

  33. 33.

    Miss Bianca

    June 24, 2020 at 4:48 pm

    @geg6: I’ve never made one like that. I know Adam among others has held forth on the joys of spatchcocked fowl, and I guess “relatively short cooking time” prepared this way would be one of them.

  34. 34.

    Betty Cracker

    June 24, 2020 at 4:48 pm

    The mister’s garden is producing scads of tomatoes, eggplants and peppers, so we’re eating a lot of sauce and veggies. My go-to lunch these days is a tomato sandwich (on white bread with mayo, salt and pepper — don’t @ me).

    @geg6: Ina’s perfect roast chicken recipe is the truth! We’re having it on Friday, as a matter of fact, though now that I’ve seen Tom’s masterpiece above, I’m tempted to try to replicate that. I even have the Lodge 15 inch beast thanks to Santa!

  35. 35.

    tinare

    June 24, 2020 at 4:49 pm

    I’m making these salmon kebabs for dinner tonight.  Really easy and yummy.

    https://www.skinnytaste.com/these-lovely-grilled-salmon-and-lemon/

  36. 36.

    Miss Bianca

    June 24, 2020 at 4:50 pm

    @Tom Levenson: Sounds sinfully delicious. I have a whole little fryer in the freezer, been wondering what to do with it…

  37. 37.

    NotMax

    June 24, 2020 at 4:51 pm

    Food? Cool.

    Talk about yer East-West fusion.

    ;)

  38. 38.

    pamelabrown53

    June 24, 2020 at 4:58 pm

    @TaMara (HFG):

    We may have had this Jicama salad conversation before. My preference is to go lighter by deleting the yogurt: clean, crunchy and refreshing.

    Back in my working days I frequently ordered salads with interesting mixtures and always ordered dressing on the side, or no dressing-just lemon or lime wedges.

    P.S.I am so Sally in as “When Harry Met Sally”!

  39. 39.

    SiubhanDuinne

    June 24, 2020 at 4:59 pm

    @LuciaMia:

    I just binged the entire series, start to finish, a week or so ago. For the most part, it holds up extremely well, and it was a treat to revisit all those great characters.

  40. 40.

    raven

    June 24, 2020 at 5:00 pm

    @Betty Cracker: I bought a basket for my weber gas grill and have taken to roasting vegetables in that. Our csa share included spuds, squash and cabbage so I just threw them on.

  41. 41.

    geg6

    June 24, 2020 at 5:01 pm

    @Betty Cracker:

    I swear, I dream about that chicken every once in a while because some days I wake up thinking about it.  Tom Colicchio is correct when he says that a great roast chicken is the best meal on earth and, if you can manage that, you can cook anything.  It’s not as easy as it may seem.

  42. 42.

    West of the Rockies

    June 24, 2020 at 5:06 pm

    I assume you made enough for everybody, yes?  I can email you my address so you can overnight my portion.  Thanks in advance!

    That looks exquisite.

  43. 43.

    debbie

    June 24, 2020 at 5:08 pm

    I’m impressed by anyone willing to run their oven in the summer. Too $#@%! hot outside.

  44. 44.

    NotMax

    June 24, 2020 at 5:13 pm

    Recently someone gave me a small bag of their overflow of red cherry tomatoes.

    Best I can say is they were moist. Most devoid of any kind of taste whatsoever maters I’ve ever encountered.

  45. 45.

    Betty Cracker

    June 24, 2020 at 5:13 pm

    @raven: We’ve got a wok-shaped pan with holes in it that we use to do veggies on the charcoal grill. Haven’t done much grilling for the last month or so though. Too dang hot!

  46. 46.

    raven

    June 24, 2020 at 5:14 pm

    @Betty Cracker: It has been so cool here that it’s hard to believe. We’ve got the doors and windows open for most of the last two weeks!

  47. 47.

    randy khan

    June 24, 2020 at 5:16 pm

    @Kristine:

    I’ve made Ina’s apple tart. I do cheat my using store-bought pastry.

    I love Ina’s recipes. Her meatloaf is a go-to. Also several of her cookie recipes.

    The pastry is pretty easy, although it does require you to wait longer than if you use store-bought.  (And Ina would tell you that store-bought is fine.)

    There are a bunch of Ina recipes that we use.  Her roast chicken is good, and one of our go-to recipes for potluck cocktail parties is hers as well.

  48. 48.

    Virginia

    June 24, 2020 at 5:24 pm

    A couple of my art friends and I are meeting for a picnic lunch tomorrow.  I just made some oatmeal, chocolate chip, and dried cranberry cookies to take.  I have sorely missed my watercolor and oil classes so it will be nice to see them again.  I also will drop some of the cookies off at another one of my friends apartment after lunch.

    Gonna go make dough for pizza tonight.

  49. 49.

    randy khan

    June 24, 2020 at 5:25 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    I’m a subscriber (have been since college, and despite my annoyance with a lot of the political coverage, it’s still the best paper in the U.S. by a wide margin), so I don’t notice the paywall, and I’m not really against paywalls if they are what you need to make a profit.

    Nevertheless, ask and ye shall receive, with a bit of commentary added:

    INGREDIENTS

    • 3 ¼ cups/415 grams all-purpose flour
    • 1 tablespoon kosher salt
    • ½ teaspoon active dry yeast
    • 1 ¾ cups/420 milliliters warm water
    • 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for greasing
    • 1 ½ teaspoons coarse sea salt [I don’t think you need this much, but you do want coarse salt, not fine salt because you want to taste and feel the individual grains when you eat it.]
    • Whole or chopped fresh rosemary leaves, dried oregano, fennel seeds, herbes de Provence or other dried herbs, for garnish (optional)

      PREPARATION

      1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, kosher salt and yeast. Add the warm water to the flour mixture and stir until all the flour is incorporated and a sticky dough forms. (Expect a very wet dough; no kneading required.) Pour 2 tablespoons oil into a medium bowl. Transfer the dough to the bowl, turn to coat, and cover tightly with a lid or plastic wrap. Place in the refrigerator to rest for at least 24 hours or for up to 2 days.
      2. When you’re ready to bake, brush the inside of a 9-by-13-inch baking sheet with oil. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and transfer to the prepared pan. Using your hands, spread the dough out as much as possible, adding oil to the dough if needed to keep it from sticking. (Don’t worry if the dough doesn’t yet cover the full pan; it will once it relaxes and rises.) Place the dough in a warm place and let rise until about doubled in bulk. The rising time will vary considerably depending on the season. (In the summer, it may take only 20 minutes for the dough to warm up and rise; in the winter, it can take 1 hour or more.) [It’s never taken less than an hour in my kitchen, and up to 2.] When the dough is ready, it should be room temperature, spread out on the sheet and fluffy.
      3. Heat the oven to 450 degrees. Using your palms, pat down the focaccia to an even thickness of about 1 inch, then, using your fingertips, dimple the entire dough. Drizzle it with the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil. [This seems like too much; it isn’t.] Sprinkle the entire surface of the focaccia evenly with the sea salt and herbs, if using.
      4. Bake, rotating once front to back, until the top is uniformly golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer the focaccia on the baking sheet to a wire rack to cool, then slide out of the pan. Enjoy it hot. (Focaccia deteriorates in quality after the first day. If there is some left over, wrap it tightly in plastic and store at room temperature for another day. Day-old focaccia is delicious in soup.) [If you don’t eat it all right away, it’s still good a couple of days later, although you might want to stick it in a toaster oven for a couple of minutes to crisp it up.]

      Tip

      • To make a focaccia garden, prepare your vegetables as the dough rises in Step 2. Be creative in working with what you have: Peppers make great petals. Tomatoes do, too, but you might want to drain them before you put them on the dough. [You definitely want to do this.] Chives and scallions make great stems. Experiment with olives and seeds, purple potatoes, and red onions. Whatever your fancy, cut your decorations a little thick, about 1/8 inch [especially true for red onion, which will burn otherwise], and dip any fresh herbs in lemon water to keep the colors vibrant as they bake. Arrange the vegetables over the focaccia after you dimple the dough in Step 3. Press them into the dough gently, then drizzle with the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil, and proceed with the rest of the recipe. You may need to increase your baking time, depending on your amount of decorative toppings.
  50. 50.

    Glidwrith

    June 24, 2020 at 5:25 pm

    Made chicken bastilla from the Spruce Eats web-site. Bought the phyllo dough because I don’t hate myself. Divine and bigger than anything from a restaurant.

  51. 51.

    Yutsano

    June 24, 2020 at 5:28 pm

    I live alone. So it’s hard to justify roasting a whole chicken right? NOPE! I have two solutions here.

    A) roast up a Cornish game hen with some of my family’s traditional stuffing.

    B) make the whole bird, separate the meat from the bones, make stock from the bones, then freeze the leftover meat for whatever later on.

    I was actually looking at a couple little hens before I ended up in the hospital. But now I’m not sue when I’ll be getting back to my place so I can do this. I’ll talk to Mom about it after I get out.

  52. 52.

    randy khan

    June 24, 2020 at 5:31 pm

    @Kristine:

    I guess I just don’t trust myself to do it right. Which doesn’t make sense because I used to make pies all the time when I was in high school, scratch crusts and all. Maybe next time I’ll try making my own.

    I was kind of scared of making the pastry dough at first, and particularly because the Chez Panisse recipe basically tells you it’s going to be kind of a gloppy mess and that you shouldn’t sweat it, That was pretty terrifying, as I really had no idea what the gloppy mess should look like, as opposed to regular doughs and batters that I understood.  (The recipe says “ropy,” for whatever that’s worth.)  But it basically all comes together when you chill the dough, which seems like a minor miracle.  I don’t use Ina’s recipe, but I suspect this is true of all of the basic pastry recipes.

  53. 53.

    Cathie from Canada

    June 24, 2020 at 5:34 pm

    @Kristine:  Love her recipes!  Next time you have a few old bananas, try her Banana Cake – excellent, and I even skip her cream cheese icing (regretfully) and just sprinkle some sanding sugar on top before baking.

  54. 54.

    J R in WV

    June 24, 2020 at 5:37 pm

    I did roast asparagus with ham and parm for dinner last night, and a big green salad with onions and olives and Greek dressing. Will probably do something more mundane this evening. NO wait, that was night before, last night was steak and bake and a big green salad…

    All the days run together. Our family doc called Monday, want wife in for a routine appt, has been 6 months since she was in town. She is stir crazy a little bit, but still not too happy to go to town, even though here isn’t terrible regarding the Covid-Trump disease.

    Right now Nolet’s Gin and Tonic, probably something like a pizza for dinner.

  55. 55.

    chopper

    June 24, 2020 at 5:43 pm

    i make something similar often, usually over sliced sweet potatoes. i rub a lil baking powder into the skin, makes it roast up extra crispy.

  56. 56.

    trollhattan

    June 24, 2020 at 5:50 pm

    The vegetables, braising in booze and chicken fat, turned into a kind of jam.

    I missed the booze of which you speak among the ingredients. Please do tell! (Booze always increases my interest when present in recipes.)

  57. 57.

    cope

    June 24, 2020 at 5:51 pm

    I love chicken wings.  In the before days when I would go out with the boys, they were almost always part of what we ordered.  I have tried making them at home in the grill, in a cast iron skillet with hot oil and baking them, all with minimal success.

    Today, in preparation for the Liverpool game, I used Alton Brown’s recipe for cooking wings.  They were perfect.  The secret to crispy skin and moist, tender meat within is steaming the wings, drying them off in the fridge and then cooking at high heat (425) for a long time (40 minutes).  Crispy, tasty, moist…almost made me wish I was drinking again.

    I tried 3 different sauces from 3 different online sources:  lemon pepper, teriyaki and hot.  The first two were the more successful but, sadly, the hot was not even though (or maybe because) I used my own homemade hot sauce.

    Anyway, it’s always fun to discover a new recipe.

  58. 58.

    trollhattan

    June 24, 2020 at 5:53 pm

    @chopper:

    Baking powder, eh? Does it draw out moisture or is there some kind of chemical reaction happening? Never heard of this trick.

    Adapted a Martha Stewart one-pan pasta dinner for backpacking last weekend. It works, even with a thin titanium pan and li’l camping burner. No boiling and draining the noodles separately–so much easier.

  59. 59.

    trollhattan

    June 24, 2020 at 6:01 pm

    Speaking of rusty farm implements, fuck you, Devin Nunes!

    A judge has ruled that Rep. Devin Nunes has no right to sue Twitter over statements made by a fake Internet cow, someone parodying his mother and a Republican strategist.

    Judge John Marshall said in a decision Friday that Twitter was “immune from the defamation claims of” Nunes, R-Tulare, due to federal law that says social media companies are not liable for what people post on their platforms.

    Nunes “seeks to have the court treat Twitter as the publisher or speaker of the content provided by others based on its allowing or not allowing certain content to be on its internet platform,” Marshall wrote. “The court refuses to do so.”

    Nunes sued Twitter, the two parody accounts known as Devin Nunes’ Cow and Devin Nunes’ Mom and strategist Liz Mair in March 2019. He alleged the latter three had defamed him online, ruining his reputation and causing him to win his 2018 election by a narrower margin than normal. He accused Twitter of being negligent for allowing the alleged defamation.

    Twitter’s lawyers, in their motion to dismiss the suit, argued that Twitter was immune from the lawsuit due to federal law. The law, known as Section 230, says that social media companies like Twitter are not liable for what third parties post on their platform. The only exception is if Twitter personally helped develop or create the content. Both Twitter and Nunes agreed the company did not do that in this case.

    Nunes’ lawyer, Steven Biss, argued that Twitter’s actions in allegedly favoring more liberal content over conservation content and allegedly promoting tweets that made fun of Nunes meant that Section 230 protections should not apply.

    https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/article243664982.html#storylink=cpy

    Devin haz a sad, Devin’s cow celebrates.

  60. 60.

    VeniceRiley

    June 24, 2020 at 6:03 pm

    I got an amazon delivery of High fiber lower carb crackers and fettuccini from Fiber Gourmet today. The crackers are delish- 1 carb per. Ate 13 of the honey mustard with an olive tampanade. Picking up some pesto on the way home to have the noodles with chicken and make some for lunch tomorrow.
    Meanwhile, I’ve been on WhatsApp with my wife-to-be. We found a lovely new detached home in Sudbury and Jesus what you can rent for 900 PS a month there!  My gosh.  Making this socal lady swoon. Spent lunch hour on google maps looking at all the great places to walk the dogs, or eat just 2 blocks away overlooking the river Stour.  Its going to be a beautiful life.

  61. 61.

    Madeleine

    June 24, 2020 at 6:05 pm

    @MattF: Ohhhhh! Did you have to mention the Talenti double dark chocolate? Not long before dinner? I’ve been turning my eyes away from ice cream for weeks and now I’ll just have to give in when we shop this evening.

  62. 62.

    trollhattan

    June 24, 2020 at 6:08 pm

    @Madeleine:

    I do love me some Talenti. Even ignore it’s state of origin.

  63. 63.

    Tenar Arha

    June 24, 2020 at 6:17 pm

    I’ve made a few things, including salads, recently that I thought came out really good. But so far the two things I’ve liked the most were this:
    Cumin-Roasted Carrots with Wild Rice and Chickpeas
    the toasted & then ground cumin
    Is yummy

    And this:
    Alison Roman’s Caramelized Shallot Pasta -Video

    Non-paywalled recipe here.

    This stuff tastes so good, I personally have started to mentally call it “crack,“ bc I plan on making this regularly for the rest of my life just to have it available in the fridge.

    ETA spacing & the comment re: toasting the cumin

  64. 64.

    Tom Levenson

    June 24, 2020 at 6:23 pm

    @trollhattan: sherry in this case, though im not above splashing some vermouth in.

    I do cook some w. bourbon, but I tend to do those heavier recipes in colder weather.

  65. 65.

    different-church-lady

    June 24, 2020 at 6:30 pm

    First, I spatchcocked the bird.

    Straight out of every TV docudrama about serial killers ever.

    (DCL +3)

  66. 66.

    trollhattan

    June 24, 2020 at 6:31 pm

    @Tom Levenson:

    Thanks–a little sweet-savory pop sounds good. Could see using Marsala as well.

  67. 67.

    LongHairedWeirdo

    June 24, 2020 at 6:33 pm

    Okay, I find myself feeling way outclassed, because I found myself insisting on trying to find a working recipe for an egg cream.

    There’s actually a bit of a story there; when I was young, my grandfather would sometimes have milk, with a raw egg, and some flavoring and nutrients added; he’d call it a milkshake. When I was young, and first heard of an egg cream, it was in a comic book, Omega The Unknown, that raised another question: is there *really* a neighborhood called “Hell’s Kitchen”?

    Anyway: I figured *I* knew what an egg cream *had* to be – a milkshake, probably extra thick, with an egg mixed in, right? Hah! No. That just goes to show you, comic books are not *nearly* as educational as they could be.

    Why did I suddenly need to do this, right now? I’ve been watching this really neat TV show, called The West Wing. (Insert joke here about how I’m sure it’s brand new, and wow, the actors look 10, 20 years older now. You know, like “Oh, wow, there’s a new Star Trek, with Xavier playing a starship captain, and this guy – I swear he could be Wil Wheaton’s kid brother! And you know the Reading Rainbow guy? I *think* it’s him, but he’s always wearing this visor! OH!!! And they got the guy who did the voice for I Am Weasel to play an actual KLINGON on the Enterprise’s bridge! And….”)

    Where was I? Right: at one point, the President has a drink, which Toby (Brooklynite) explains is an egg cream – milk, chocolate syrup, and seltzer. Well, I know a bit about what milk and carbonation does – that’s where you get the lovely head on a root beer float!

    So then, I had to experience the real thing. I even obtained a real soda siphon (aka “seltzer bottle”) figuring you probably wanted the higher pressure to help foam the milk.

    It’s still a work in progress – my first attempt at the soda siphon didn’t include giving it a good shake after charging, so my first attempts didn’t go well.

    Still, serious question: is it true you’re *supposed* to stir the syrup into the milk only *after* you add the seltzer? If so – what kind of spoon do you use?

  68. 68.

    chopper

    June 24, 2020 at 7:10 pm

    @trollhattan:

    changes the ph of the skin from what i’m led to understand. did it once in a spatchcocked turkey for xgiving and hoo boy it came out like it was deep-ass fried

  69. 69.

    sempronia

    June 24, 2020 at 7:13 pm

    @trollhattan: I definitely remember that some of the founding leadership at Talenti are Democrats. Can’t remember where the interview was, but Google tells me that Dean Phillips, one of the top three guys at Talenti, ran for office as a Dem in Minnesota.

  70. 70.

    chopper

    June 24, 2020 at 7:13 pm

    @LongHairedWeirdo:

    yet not supposed to stir, just lift the spoon up and down a bit to mix it all up.

  71. 71.

    Regine Touchon

    June 24, 2020 at 7:14 pm

    Summer veggies are starting to come in:  yellow squash, zucchini, corn, cukes,eggplant and a smattering of peppers and tomatoes. So we’re vegging out! Made my first eggplant parm this week and my first batch of pesto.  Made for a wonderful dinner along with cucumber salad that I make every day and cantaloupe.  I recommend eating the melon and cuke salad together.

  72. 72.

    Kristine

    June 24, 2020 at 7:31 pm

    @Cathie from Canada: I love banana everything, so I will add the cake to my list!

  73. 73.

    NotMax

    June 24, 2020 at 7:45 pm

    @LongHairedWeirdo

    Long, skinny spoon (what some call an iced tea spoon or a bar spoon). Gently stir the bottom of the glass, keeping the part of the spoon which sticks up through the froth in the same spot; the froth should stay white after the stirring has incorporated the syrup into the other ingredients.

    Tip:: An egg cream comes out best if everything in it is super cold. So at home it is perfectly kosher to put a little ice into the bottom of the glass, pour equal parts chocolate syrup*, followed by milk, over the ice and then top up with seltzer.

    *Not an “official NY” egg cream unless the syrup is Fox’s U-bet brand, but the unofficial versions ain’t bad at all.

  74. 74.

    mrmoshpotato

    June 24, 2020 at 7:58 pm

    Fuck every national Republican (and most of the rest)–sideways with a rusty farm implement.

    Fuck them savagely with a chainsaw?  (I say “Yes!  Now?!”)

    ETA – Back in 2016 (centuries ago), a newspaper editorial called Dump a “damaged human being.” I don’t remember the paper off of the top of my head, but it looks like the whole damned party are damaged human beings.

    Such a fucking shame.  I haven’t known a sane Republican party in my lifetime.

  75. 75.

    mrmoshpotato

    June 24, 2020 at 8:11 pm

    Some here may recall I am a roast chicken obsessive.

    Sounds like a nym update is needed. ?

  76. 76.

    J R in WV

    June 24, 2020 at 8:11 pm

    @mrmoshpotato:

    Such a fucking shame. I haven’t known a sane Republican party in my lifetime.

    True, I’m an old, and when I was really young, the Rockefeller Republicans were in favor of desegregation, and helping people recover from the ills caused by such segregation. My folks were kind and helpful Rockefeller Republicans, with black and gay friends.

    That was then, and this is  now. Between Reagan and the Bushes and Cheney, there is no kindness left in the Republican party whatsoever. Only hate!

  77. 77.

    mrmoshpotato

    June 24, 2020 at 8:33 pm

    Ok, ON topic now.

    Hellthy Junk Food’s

    Barbacoa Recipe

    is in my future.

  78. 78.

    NotMax

    June 24, 2020 at 8:33 pm

    @J R in WV

    Only hate!

    And greed.

  79. 79.

    trollhattan

    June 24, 2020 at 8:56 pm

    @chopper:

    Thanks! Parked away in my sieve-like brain for next time I do chicken.

    (Or is it?)

  80. 80.

    phein60

    June 24, 2020 at 9:11 pm

    @Tom Levenson: Sheet-Pan Chicken with Sweet Potatoes and Peppers, by Melissa Clark, NYT Cooking

    I just cooked this; my kids love it, even the red onion slices.   I just made this, and saw that we use about twice the spices for the chicken rub, and cook the vegetables on a separate tray from the chicken, because we have to make enough for six, and they love sweet potatoes:

    INGREDIENTS
    3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
    1 ½ teaspoons honey
    1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
    1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt, more as needed
    1 to 2 cloves garlic, grated or minced
    1 teaspoon ground coriander
    ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
    2 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (4 to 6 thighs)
    2 ½ tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
    12 ounces sweet potato (1 large), peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
    1 large red, yellow or orange bell pepper, thinly sliced
    1 ½ tablespoons finely chopped fresh sage
    ¾ teaspoon sweet paprika
    ⅛ teaspoon cayenne
    ⅛ teaspoon ground allspice
    Cilantro leaves, for serving

    Step 1
    In a small, shallow bowl, mix together vinegar and honey. Mix in half the red onion and a pinch of salt and set aside for garnish, tossing the mixture occasionally as the chicken cooks.
    Step 2
    In a large bowl, mix together 1 teaspoon salt, garlic, coriander and black pepper. Add chicken to bowl and rub the mixture all over it. Let marinate for 30 minutes.
    Step 3
    Heat oven to 425 degrees. In a large bowl, toss together 2 tablespoons oil, sweet potato, pepper, remaining onion, sage, remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, paprika, cayenne and allspice. Spread vegetables out on a rimmed baking sheet.
    Step 4
    Add remaining 1/2 tablespoon oil to marinated chicken and turn to coat. Place chicken pieces, skin-side up, among the vegetables, making sure chicken is surrounded by them, but not on top of them. (Chicken should rest directly on the baking sheet.)
    Step 5
    Roast for 15 minutes. Remove pan from oven and raise heat to 450 degrees.
    Use a wide spatula to flip vegetables over (but not chicken). Drizzle chicken (but not vegetables) with 2 teaspoons liquid from the onion-vinegar mixture. Roast until chicken is cooked through, 15 to 20 minutes longer.
    Step 6
    To serve, top chicken and vegetables with a spoonful of onion-vinegar mixture and plenty of cilantro leaves.

  81. 81.

    NotMax

    June 24, 2020 at 9:17 pm

    @phein60

    Hmm. Wondering how that might work out using orange juice in place of the apple cider vinegar.

  82. 82.

    phein60

    June 24, 2020 at 9:24 pm

    @trollhattan: You’ll find out about it — more than you probably want to know — if you google   crispy oven-fried chicken wings

    Certain brands work better than others, certain techniques produce crispier skin, etc.

  83. 83.

    laura

    June 24, 2020 at 9:29 pm

    I like a very simple chicken, just salt and pepper, but it’s got to be a really good chicken- and locally there’s a couple of brands -Mary’s and Rocky or Rosie from Petaluma – the egg basket of the world and my late dad’s home town. The chicken-y taste comes through. There’s an almost wine almost vinegar liquid called verjus that makes for a really nice pan sauce – tang without sour, sweet without cloying, just a nice vehicle for a light non-gravy pan sauce.

    Alternatively, I like a 24 hour marinade from a seattle restaurant called Van’s that gives away the recipe with a small bag of chips to smoke in the grill with the chicken – it’s a garlic basil lemon olive oil and other good stuff marinade that gets strong positives.

    Next up for fancy pan rattling is a really lovely cake that the Sunday ftfnyt ran in the food section a year ago or so. It is worth all the fuss and bother:

    https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1020208-watermelon-rose-trifle

  84. 84.

    phein60

    June 24, 2020 at 9:35 pm

    @NotMax:

    I’m not sure what the chemical story is for vinegar and chicken skin, but there are a ton of recipes calling for apple cider vinegar and chicken parts.

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