Hello, everyone, here we are with another wonderful food and wine experience. Take a look at this photo and start smacking your lips.
Mary and I have been experimenting and gaining experience with whole roasted chicken. It doesn't sound all that exciting. After all, it's just....chicken. What we've discovered, though, is its wonderful simplicity. Roasting the whole bird is so much better than cooking pieces that have already been cut when you buy them. Our friend, Julia (Julia Child, of course...we channel her when we're cooking), says...and I quote..."You can always judge the quality of a cook or a restaurant by roast chicken. While it does not require years of training to produce a juicy, brown, buttery, crisp-skinned, heavenly bird, it does entail such a greed for perfection that one is under compulsion to hover over the bird, listen to it, above all see that it is continually basted, and that it is done just to the proper turn." Julia is my kind of girl.
We had no experience with cooking whole birds until recently. We both had to study carving technique and acquire a good quality carving and boning knife (Wüsthof Grand Prix II 8", Williams-Sonoma, $69.95). It really isn't difficult. Success is in attention to the details, especially the basting. Here's Mary talking about the key steps.
I started with a fresh roasting chicken, just a little over 4 pounds. I bought fresh rosemary, but you could use whatever fresh herbs you want. I already had butcher's twine and, of course, Butter! I rinsed the chicken, patted it dry, and stuffed the cavity with the rosemary and a couple of tablespoons of butter. I ran my fingers between the skin and the breast and put more butter in there along with some sprigs of rosemary. Then I trussed the chicken (legs and wings)!
The chicken sits on a rack over a bed of fresh vegetables: sliced onion, carrot, and some rosemary sprigs. Butter the outside of the chicken and salt and pepper. Put in the oven preheated to 425 degrees.
Basting is very important to a juicy, properly cooked bird. I use a bulb baster. The basting liquid is a combination of melted butter and olive oil and the chicken drippings. Julia says to baste every 10 minutes.
Let the chicken rest for 5-10 minutes to cool and preserve the juices. Then it's ready for carving! Brian does that part!
I made chicken stock from the carcass of the last chicken we roasted. Then I used that stock to make gravy. Freshly-made homemade stock is SO much better than canned "broth"! We had simple side dishes of mashed potatoes and green beans. Doesn't sound fancy, and it's not, but ... WOW! ... how delicious!
Brian here -- This dinner would pair wonderfully with Chardonnay or a Southern Rhone white wine, but we enjoyed it with Au Bon Climat Pinot Noir Santa Barbara County 2003. I wrote an earlier post on Au Bon Climat Chardonnay. This wine is the basic Au Bon Climat Pinot Noir. It is well-balanced with great structure, not all that complex, equivalent to village level Burgundy, but perfectly delicious with a variety of dishes. The aroma profile showed cherry, spices, a subtle earthiness, and crushed autumn leaves. The palate showed medium acidity, excellent balance, a silky smooth texture, medium body. The flavors were fresh, bright red cherry, a bit of cinnamon, and a little earth. Balanced, moderately complex, medium length, an altogether nice wine experience at a good value. 13.0% alcohol. We paid $30 for this wine, but the current vintage costs about $21.
That's it for today's post. Check back soon for more wine and food adventures!
Cheers!
Brian
♥Mary
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