The Perfect Roast Chicken

When planning a menu I try to think about many things, and there are certain rules I (*usually try to*) follow whether it's for a fancier party-type sit down dinner or just something for a weeknight meal.

For instance, I like to have one item as the "main attraction"... but it's not necessarily the main (meat) dish that plays this role. If I choose a side such as a fancy pasta with lots of vegetables, I might have a more plain and simple pan roasted chicken breast. It can be eaten with the pasta and not vie for attention... instead the flavor melds well with the pasta.

There's a possibility of one dish not really fitting with another- one flavor may not go well with the others. For example, I personally don't think I would want a very spicy, garlicky beef to go with a mushroom risotto. The risotto has it's own flavors that should be allowed to shine, but they would be totally overpowered and completely lost- taste buds might be numbed by the peppery and garlicky meat. In this instance I would go for a more subtle risotto, something plain, or maybe potatoes or rice pilaf.

Sometimes it's good to think in a "territorial" way when planning a menu. If you're having something Italian-inspired, something else that's Indian may not fit so well in the meal. "Mediterranean" may work a little better (this might include something a little Greek or French- at least they're more feasible than Indian).

Color is also important. Food is "eaten" with all the senses. It has to LOOK good. Boiled chicken, mashed potatoes, and cauliflower anyone?

Green is good! As many colors as you can get on a plate is good!

Seasonality is something else to think about in many respects. You wouldn't want to serve fresh peaches in the middle of winter, right? Other than the fact that it just seems wrong, they wouldn't taste very good since they're not in season (and if you do find them, since they're probably imported from somewhere in the southern hemisphere, they've been picked before they're ripe and have no flavor).

Meals in the summer can be much nicer if they're lighter, on the contrary it can be great to have a hearty roast or stew in the winter.

Along with flavor variety, textural variety can also be very important! It makes things interesting. Think about salads: it's nice if they have something a little creamy (bleu cheese), crunchy (toasted walnuts), crisp (greens and some fresh pears), and chewy (dried cranberries).

If the main part of the meal is extremely fancy and busy, I usually like to try to start with a more simple salad, such as good greens and a good, fresh homemade vinaigrette.

As for dessert, I think its good to pay attention to what will compliment the dinner well. Rich and heavy dinner? Maybe it's best to not have a dessert that's too heavy such as a flourless chocolate cake or something extremely cream-based. There's a chance that people won't even be able to eat more than a bite with any enjoyment (or maybe they won't really taste it at all).

Something lighter and fruit-based may be more in order in this case.

Balance can be so important!

There are some that may know I do have a certain repertoire, some certain standbys that I really like to do because I've found they just work well over and over again. In my organized state I try to have these things filed in an orderly manner under tabs such as "mains", "salads", "potato, rice, etc.", and "vegetables". Thrilling, yes. Am I always organized? No.

This particular chicken recipe is great for a weeknight meal. There aren't many ingredients and it doesn't take that much attention, but it tastes wonderful. Depending on what else you serve, this chicken could either be the main attraction or take a supporting role. With the chicken I might serve a nice risotto (plain OR mushroom in this case), polenta, or garlicky mashed potatoes, plus some plain steamed broccoli. The salad I would choose might be very colorful: Greek or something with roasted beets, a little chevre (goat cheese) and avocado on mixed greens. Something chocolate might be very nice for dessert...

The juices you will get from the chicken after carving are very nice served with the chicken. Be careful of the lemon inside though! It's hot and there are holes all over it.

This recipe is based on one from Marcella Hazan's Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking.

It will serve 4-6 people (depending on who you have eating), any more than that (or even if you find yourself wondering) you may want to roast a second chicken. Leftovers are great.

Feel free to take a little creative license with what you put inside. While it is completely fantastic as written with only lemon, salt, and pepper, if you would like you could tuck in some whole garlic cloves, sprigs of rosemary or thyme.

Remember to clean up.

Roast Lemon Chicken

one 3-4 lb. chicken

kosher salt

fresh ground black pepper

2 small lemons, or one larger lemon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Remove any organs that may be inside the chicken and rinse the chicken inside and out with cold water. Place the chicken on a slightly tilted pan and let it drain for about 10 minutes. Pat the chicken inside and out with paper towels. Salt and pepper both the inside and outside of the chicken very well and rub it in. Tuck the and fold the tips of the chicken wings so they come to the backbone side of the chicken (To MAZ: sort of a full nelson for a chicken).

Wash the outside of the lemons with soap and water, rinse, and dry well. Roll the lemon on the counter with the heel of your hand to soften. Poke about 20 holes in the lemons with something sharp (ice pick, knife, skewer). Tuck the lemons into the cavity of the chicken. Cross the drumsticks at the ankles and either tie them together to somewhat close the cavity or use skewers to close the cavity as best you can.

Place the chicken (breast side down) in a 9x13 pan with sides, and put the pan into the oven. Roast for 30 minutes. Turn the chicken over (breast side up) and roast for another 30 minutes. Increase the heat to 400 degrees and roast for 20 minutes longer.

Serve the chicken with its juices.

Olive and Thyme Bread

One very interesting thing about baking bread is that you don't really need a lot of yeast when making it. Time is much better at making a really great loaf of bread than tons of yeast. With time you get good fermentation, and FLAVOR is developed. This is the reason behind the bit of yeast started the night before in this recipe, it's a pre-ferment... a flavor booster.

The problem is that people usually don't want to take time- they want what they want and they want it done NOW. Sadly, this can sometimes lead to inferiority in one way or another.

Beautiful purple-black olives.

Fermentation is the anaerobic (without air) conversion of sugars and carbohydrates to acids and alcohols. So... without fermentation beer would be yeasty/hoppy water, wine would be grape juice, pickles would be cucumbers, and yogurt would be milk.

Black tea, chocolate and vanilla wouldn't be what they are either...

Sourdough has a lot of flavor because of the fermentation that has taken place, and because of the production of lactic and acetic acids. Since it is so acidic, "bad" bacteria is prevented from forming. Some sourdough cultures go back a long time- there are some in San Francisco that are more than 150 years old.

Starters needs to be fed, used, and attended to- but they could theoretically last forever.

Personally, I have not had much luck with making my own sourdough starter. I should probably try again, but the problem is that it takes time... and you don't know until a couple of days after you've started that you've actually failed.

Tip: to take thyme leaves off the stems, it's easiest to pinch a stem and run your fingers backwards (against the growth of the leaves) from the top to the bottom. Zip.

Much easier than pulling the tiny leaves off one by one!

This recipe is somewhat based on a recipe from Bread: From Sourdough to Rye by Linda Collister.

It's great with a glass of wine or as part of an antipasto tray.

Yum.

Olive and Thyme Bread

makes 1 medium loaf

The night before:

1/4 t active dry yeast

1 T AP flour

1T whole wheat flour

2/3 c tepid water

Mix yeast and flours and add water. Stir to combine, cover with plastic wrap, let sit at room temperature 1 hour and refrigerate overnight.

************

In the morning, remove the yeast mixture from the refrigerator, set aside and let sit at room temperature about 2 1/2 hours.

2 c AP four

3 T whole wheat flour

1 T kosher salt

2/3 c + 2 T tepid water

1/2 t active dry yeast

pinch of sugar

1 scant c good quality black olives (like kalamata), halved

3 t fresh thyme, stripped from the branches

Mix yeast and sugar with water, cover and let sit at room temperature about 15 minutes.

Mix the flours and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture, add the reserved yeast and water from last night and the yeast and water you just mixed. Work the mixture together with your hands to make a soft dough. Depending on dough consistency you may have to work in a little extra flour. However, you do not want to add too much flour.

It may be sticky, but if you are willing to take the time to "work" the dough to add air to it you don't need the amount of flour you might normally use in this instance. If you are willing to work with it, you can pick up the dough at least a 12 inches above the surface you're working on, slap it down, and turn it onto itself quickly. This may take 10-15 minutes. The dough should be soft and spring back when poked lightly with a finger.

Return the dough to the bowl, cover with plastic, and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 2 hours. Punch down the dough, place on a lightly floured surface, and using your knuckles, shape/punch into a rectangle about 16 inches long and 6 inches wide. Sprinkle the olives and thyme down the middle of the dough and fold the sides to enclose the filling. Pinch the seam closed and gently roll the dough with your hands to make a sausage about 2 feet long.

Lift the dough onto a large baking sheet that has been greased well or covered with a sheet of parchment paper. Make sure the seam is facing down and shape the dough into a ring. Pinch the ends together to close the ring. Either cover the ring with a large bowl or place the pan in a large plastic bag. Let rise in a warm place about 2 hours.

About 1/2 hour before it is finished rising, preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. Place a roasting pan inside the oven on the bottom rack to create a steamy atmosphere. Uncover the ring and slash it lightly with a razor (a baking razor) or a sharp knife. Put the pan into the hot oven and bake until it is brown, crisp, and sounds hollow when tapped underneath (8-15 minutes depending on the oven). Cool on a wire rack and eat warm.

The bread is best within 24 hours, or it can be frozen for up to a month.

Honey Harvest

We harvested honey at the beginning of the month. Yes, there's a bee hive in the back yard. We used to have 2, but one group was either killed or it swarmed and the bees ran away!

I just thought this was interesting...

I know this is a butterfly. Bees tend to move pretty quickly, and I'm unable to get them to pose for me.

The smoker helps to calm the bees.

(If you double click on this picture you can see there are LOTS of bees in the hive.)

The beeswax caps are cut off the cells with a hot knife so the honey can be removed.

The frames are loaded into racks that are spun inside a cylinder. Centrifugal force causes the honey to be flung out of the honeycombs.

It's interesting- the types of visual aids one might happen to find in one's camera if said camera is left and others happen to pick it up and "assist" in the "educational" photography.

Uh-huh. Finger puppets can be SO useful.