I GENERALLY CHOOSE between two sources for my method of roasting chicken: Julia Child or Judy Rodgers. There are all kinds of ways of flavoring the chicken: Julia Child recommends forty cloves of garlic; Judy Rodgers tucks herbs under the skin. Then there are other methods: stuff the cavity with a whole lemon or two, pricked to let the juice out; or completely cover the bird with bay leaves.
Tonight I went to Judy Rodgers, as outlined in her magnificent Zuni Cafe Cookbook. It's simple: you rinse, then dry the bird; salt it well; let it stand a day (in the refrigerator, covered, of course); then tuck thyme or rosemary or sage under the skin of the breasts and the thighs, set it untrussed, belly up, in a preheated black iron skillet, set that in the preheated oven at 450°, and roast it — about half an hour up, then another twenty minutes turned.
I roasted some peeled and halved potatoes in olive oil and rosemary, and Cook took care of the lima beans. Green salad afterward. Nothing to it.
I neglected to mention Saturday night: we dined at a friend's house, on sausages in buns, mustard, salad, while watching the Cubs cinch the League championship for the first time in seventy-one years. Superstition precludes my mentioning the possible consequence.
☛RESTAURANTS (and now recent hotels) VISITED, with information and rating: 2016 2015
No comments:
Post a Comment