Monthly Meal: September 2006

This month’s meal is roasted chicken with vegetables. I’d like to point out that I am not responsible for this recipe, I give all the credit to The Barefoot Contessa (a.k.a. Ina Garten). I was watching her highly addictive cooking show several months ago, and came upon this masterpiece.

However, I have changed a few key items and made this recipe my own. I think it’s a good example of how, if you start with a good foundation, you can alter any recipe or cookbook based on what you choose to eat by changing it to suit your needs. This meal is very simple to make, and it’s guaranteed to impress anyone, whether your’e serving a dinner party, or just your spouse.

MAIN DISH

Roasting Vegetables

Since this recipe is an all-in-one, I’m starting with the vegetables first because they have to go on the bottom of the roasting pan. Clean and cut these vegetables:

•Two yellow onions, cut in half, remove skin, and cut into chunky slices
•4–5 large carrots, peeled and cut into 2″ pieces
•4–5 red potatoes, scrubbed and quartered
*The original recipe calls for fennel. I love fennel, and when I’m roasting a larger chicken I like to omit one of the onions and add two fennel bulbs to the mix. Prepare fennel by chopping off any greens and the hard bottom, slice in half vertically, and treat each half as you would a peeled onion, cutting into chunky slices.

Spread the vegetables out evenly in the bottom of the roasting pan, separating onion/fennel slices from one another. Add a small handful of fresh thyme leaves, be sure to pull from stems. Thoroughly coat with red palm oil and salt. (I use the red palm oil because it is very high-heat tolerant, and it imparts a fantastic flavor.) Set aside.

Roasted Chicken

Start with a whole chicken. I buy the Rocky Jr. chickens at Whole Foods, because I’m usually just feeding Ted and myself. If you use a full-size chicken, you may want to add 10 minutes onto the cooking time (while covered) to compensate.

Preheat oven to 425º. Pull bag of innards out from body of chicken, if they are there. These can be used to make other dishes, or simply discard them.

Hold the chicken with the hole in the body facing upward, and sprinkle salt inside. You will stuff the inside of the chicken with three ingredients:

•One whole lemon, quartered
•One garlic bulb, cut in half horizontally
•A few stems of fresh thyme, leaves attached

You will now truss the chicken, which simply means tie its legs together to ensure more even cooking. Make sure to place the chicken on its back, with the legs up in the air. Use cooking twine, and tie the legs together tightly.

Rub softened butter and/or red palm oil over the body of the chicken, and sprinkle it with salt. Place it in the roasting pan, making sure the prepared vegetables are spread out beneath it evenly.

Place lid tightly on roasting pan. If your roasting pan does not have a lid, you can use aluminum foil, as long as you are careful to seal it well. Bake covered for one hour and twenty minutes. Remove cover/foil, bake uncovered for another ten minutes (this will brown the meat nicely).

Test the chicken to see if it’s done. I’ve found the best way to do this is to make a small cut in the crease between the body and one of the legs, and then examine the juices inside. If they’re running clear, and the leg separates easily when you cut it, it’s done. Wrap the chicken in aluminum foil and let it rest for twenty minutes.

While the bird is resting, place the pan with vegetables, uncovered, back in the oven to carmelize a little longer. When they are well carmelized, usually within ten or fifteen minutes, turn off oven and remove vegetables.

Carve the chicken and serve with vegetables. Pouring a little liquid from the pan over the meat and veggies adds a delicious flavor to the meal.

Since the whole meal is made in one dish, you don’t need any other dishes. If you’d like, you can serve with a french baguette, sliced diagonally.

DESSERT

Ice Cream with Espresso

Since this dinner recipe is very hurry-up-and-wait, I’ve chosen a fairly easy dessert.

Buy a carton of good organic vanilla ice cream. I prefer the Organic Vanilla Bean ice cream from Strauss.

To make the espresso, you can use an espresso maker if you have one. I like my Italian-style stovetop espresso maker. Be sure to use real espresso beans, and grind them fresh in your kitchen.

For each serving, scoop ice cream into a bowl, pour a shot of espresso over it, and serve immediately.

MUSIC

Album of the Month:
Ray LaMontagne, Till the Sun Turns Black

You may be familiar with Ray LaMontagne. This is his newest album, and Ted and I have been listening to it constantly since it was released at the end of last month. I think it perfectly defines the transition into fall: a little whispery, a lot folksy, and altogether music for the soul.