Judson's Birthday Dinner
Today was Judson's birthday, so I tried to make him a great dinner (and took a day off from calorie counting). I opted on a roast chicken with roasted broccoli and potatoes. Then for dessert, I tried to replicate the delicious peanut-butter mousse dish we had when we ate at Lola.
In the world of gastronomy, many consider the true test of one's cooking skills to be how well they can roast a chicken. And as it turns out, roasting a chicken is a pretty tricky thing. You want all the meat to be done and flavorful, juicy and moist. You want the skin to be thin and crispy. It's a simple process, but one that's easy to ruin, as my (and Judson's) past experiences have proven. The skin is really what makes it tricky, I think. At any rate, this time, I decided to try out Bittman's approach, which appealed to me because it seemed clever and because it didn't require me to truss the chicken. In my experience, trussing chickens results in losing some of the best skin. I turned the oven on to 450F and stuck a cast iron skillet in it. While it preheated, I started my mise en place for the other dishes, and then I got out my chicken. I checked to make sure it didn't have any kidneys and such, patted it dry, dusted it with pepper, stuffed a bunch of thyme, some rosemary, and a lemon inside it, and then rubbed olive oil over the whole thing. It's probably worth noting that I was using a Kosher chicken. The beauty of Kosher chickens is that the Koshering process ensures the chicken will be well-seasoned (with salt). Also, Kosher animals are killed humanely. That's important to me. At any rate, about 10 min after the oven claimed it had hit 450 (I wanted to make sure that skillet was 450 too), I carefully removed the skilled from the oven, put the chicken in the skillet, and then put the skillet back in the oven, burning myself only once or twice.
With the chicken done, I moved on to other projects. I sliced some garlic and cut up two small heads of broccoli. I put these in a half-sheet pan, tossed them in a little olive oil, and sprinkled on some salt and pepper. Then I set them aside.
I chopped a medium-large onion and some more garlic and placed those in a bowl together. Then I cut up two potatoes into cubes roughly 0.5" per side. I put a pot of water on the stove to boil, adding some salt.
Then I got to work on my mousse. After the chicken had been in the oven about 30 minutes, I slid the broccoli in with it (using the top rack). When the water was boiling, I added the potatoes. At some point, I chopped two pieces of bacon and started cooking them over medium heat in our large Le Creuset casserole.
I boiled the potatoes until they were almost ready to eat, and then drained them. I finished cooking them by first adding the onion and garlic to the casserole with the bacon, and then adding the potatoes when the onions and garlic were fragrant and the onions were turning translucent. The broccoli was finished long before the chicken. I put it in a casserole and tossed it with a little parmesan cheese, lemon zest, and lemon juice.
When the chicken was done (the thigh registered 165F), I removed it to a cutting board to rest. I added some of the pan juices to my potatoes to finish cooking them and warmed up the broccoli in the oven.
Then we ate dinner.
A while later, I came back to finish the mousse (which was made by heating milk, pouring it over some peanut-butter chips, stirring until smooth, adding peanut butter, and then stirring that until smooth, and then folding in homemade whipped cream) by making caramel sauce. For this, I heated sugar and water in a pan over medium heat with the lid on until the sugar was boiling. Then I removed the lid and stood there watching it until it was a nice, medium amber, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon to keep the cooking even. Then, I added cream, vanilla, and a pinch of salt. I stirred until it was smooth. I carefully tasted a little, added more salt, and cheered with delight.
When the caramel was no longer flesh-burning hot, I spooned some of it over the mousse and topped it with peanuts.
All in all, the chicken was fabulous, the broccoli was good (but would have been better had my timing been better), and the potatoes were delicious (but you knew that since they contained bacon). The mousse was a bit too sweet, but the caramel was delightful.
Should I feel guilty about eating a Kosher chicken and some bacon in the same meal?
In the world of gastronomy, many consider the true test of one's cooking skills to be how well they can roast a chicken. And as it turns out, roasting a chicken is a pretty tricky thing. You want all the meat to be done and flavorful, juicy and moist. You want the skin to be thin and crispy. It's a simple process, but one that's easy to ruin, as my (and Judson's) past experiences have proven. The skin is really what makes it tricky, I think. At any rate, this time, I decided to try out Bittman's approach, which appealed to me because it seemed clever and because it didn't require me to truss the chicken. In my experience, trussing chickens results in losing some of the best skin. I turned the oven on to 450F and stuck a cast iron skillet in it. While it preheated, I started my mise en place for the other dishes, and then I got out my chicken. I checked to make sure it didn't have any kidneys and such, patted it dry, dusted it with pepper, stuffed a bunch of thyme, some rosemary, and a lemon inside it, and then rubbed olive oil over the whole thing. It's probably worth noting that I was using a Kosher chicken. The beauty of Kosher chickens is that the Koshering process ensures the chicken will be well-seasoned (with salt). Also, Kosher animals are killed humanely. That's important to me. At any rate, about 10 min after the oven claimed it had hit 450 (I wanted to make sure that skillet was 450 too), I carefully removed the skilled from the oven, put the chicken in the skillet, and then put the skillet back in the oven, burning myself only once or twice.
With the chicken done, I moved on to other projects. I sliced some garlic and cut up two small heads of broccoli. I put these in a half-sheet pan, tossed them in a little olive oil, and sprinkled on some salt and pepper. Then I set them aside.
I chopped a medium-large onion and some more garlic and placed those in a bowl together. Then I cut up two potatoes into cubes roughly 0.5" per side. I put a pot of water on the stove to boil, adding some salt.
Then I got to work on my mousse. After the chicken had been in the oven about 30 minutes, I slid the broccoli in with it (using the top rack). When the water was boiling, I added the potatoes. At some point, I chopped two pieces of bacon and started cooking them over medium heat in our large Le Creuset casserole.
I boiled the potatoes until they were almost ready to eat, and then drained them. I finished cooking them by first adding the onion and garlic to the casserole with the bacon, and then adding the potatoes when the onions and garlic were fragrant and the onions were turning translucent. The broccoli was finished long before the chicken. I put it in a casserole and tossed it with a little parmesan cheese, lemon zest, and lemon juice.
When the chicken was done (the thigh registered 165F), I removed it to a cutting board to rest. I added some of the pan juices to my potatoes to finish cooking them and warmed up the broccoli in the oven.
Then we ate dinner.
A while later, I came back to finish the mousse (which was made by heating milk, pouring it over some peanut-butter chips, stirring until smooth, adding peanut butter, and then stirring that until smooth, and then folding in homemade whipped cream) by making caramel sauce. For this, I heated sugar and water in a pan over medium heat with the lid on until the sugar was boiling. Then I removed the lid and stood there watching it until it was a nice, medium amber, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon to keep the cooking even. Then, I added cream, vanilla, and a pinch of salt. I stirred until it was smooth. I carefully tasted a little, added more salt, and cheered with delight.
When the caramel was no longer flesh-burning hot, I spooned some of it over the mousse and topped it with peanuts.
All in all, the chicken was fabulous, the broccoli was good (but would have been better had my timing been better), and the potatoes were delicious (but you knew that since they contained bacon). The mousse was a bit too sweet, but the caramel was delightful.
Should I feel guilty about eating a Kosher chicken and some bacon in the same meal?
posted by megan at
11:58 PM
1 Comments:
AWESOME sounding dinner!! As to your final question...heck no! Happy Birthday Judson.
By
Lynn Thompson, at 7:11 AM
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