Raccoon and Lobster

What started as a simple roast chicken has turned into a multi-part cooking project. First, there was brining, roasting, and carving the chicken, which was a brief lesson on avian anatomy. Then I turned the chicken carcass into a homemade chicken stock, which meant making a mirepoix. Finally, I used the chicken stock to make a delicious mushroom risotto.

Mirepoix is just a fancy name for onions, celery, and carrots, and since I am looking to improve my knife skills, I actually did the small dice on all the attendant vegetables. As a quick aside, Knife Skills Illustrated has been a good resource for learning proper techniques. Each chapter has instructions and lots of pictures for both right-handed and left-handed cooks. This seemed slightly redundant to me, but it’s probably a godsend for lefties who are often ignored as the sinister deviants they are. There’s a sample chapter here on how to cut onions if you are interested. I ended up picking up a giant bag of onions and an even giant-er bag of potatoes at Costco to practice my skills on.

A pasta pot with a built in colander is ideal for making stock as you can easily separate all the solids from the broth.

Chicken Stock

1 chicken carcass
4 carrots, diced
4 stalks of celery, diced
1 onion , diced
2 tablespoons whole peppercorns
4 garlic cloves
bay leaves
parsley
thyme
5 quarts of water

Combine all ingredients  in a large pot and simmer for about 4-6 hours. Skim the surface of impurities as needed. Sieve and chill in a water bath until cool enough to refrigerate.

This chicken really blew me away. The meat is so tender and juicy that it puts every other roast chicken I’ve had to shame. It was so tender that a reheated piece of chicken breast was still moist and succulent. When I tried to carve it, a thigh bone came off  in my hand. It was so flavorful that Arthur spent the entire day standing guard in the kitchen, begging for scraps every time someone walked by. Thomas Keller knows his bistro food.

Brine adapted from Bouchon

1 gallon water
1 cup kosher salt
1/4 cup honey
6 bay leaves
1/2 cup garlic cloves, smashed
2 tablespoons black peppercorns
3 large rosemary sprigs
1 large thyme sprig
1 large bunch parsley
zest and juice of 2 lemons

Combine all ingredients in a large pot and bring to a boil. Boil for one minute, and stir to dissolve the salt and honey. Let cool completely before adding chicken. Can be made a day ahead and refrigerated.

Roast Chicken also adapted from Bouchon

The recipe calls for 2 birds, about 2.5 lbs each. I used a single bird that was just under 6 lbs.

Rinse the chicken under cold water and place in the brine. Refrigerate for 6 hours. My chicken was refrigerated overnight for 8 hours and it was just a smidge on the salty side.

Preheat oven to 475ºF. Remove the chicken from the brine and rinse with cold water. Pat dry and lightly season the inside with salt and pepper. If you have twine and know how to truss a chicken, now is the time to do it. Let the chicken sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes and then place on the roasting rack and into the oven. Check the bird every 15 minutes or so and rotate if necessary to ensure even browning. Roast until the internal temperature comes to 155ºF, should be about 40 minutes for 2 small birds and was about 55 minutes for my large bird.

When the bird is done, remove from the oven and baste with the pan juices. Let sit in a warm place for 10 minutes before carving, the chicken will continue to cook as it sits.

Curried Chicken Salad

3 chicken thighs, cooked and diced (approx same as 2 small chicken breasts)
2 medium potatoes, cooked and diced
1 red pepper, diced
1 stalk celery, diced (I actually was out of celery today, but next time!)
1/2 green onion, minced
1/4 cup golden raisins

For best results, steep the raisins in boiling water for about a minute to get them extra plump.

1/2 cup mayo
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1-2 tablespoons honey to taste (I err on the high side)
1 teaspoon curry powder
salt and pepper to taste

Combine and mix. Lick the curry mixture off your camera. Walk to the grocery store to buy bread.

Edit: Like many other foods of this type, it gets better if you let it sit to let the flavors marry. A few hours later, the leftovers were downright amazing.

I feel once again compelled to defend my culinary honor by posting successful meals from the recent past. This one dates back to the end of March and was the inaugural dish for my beautiful blue dutch oven (made possible via dealzdealzdealz from Stacy)

Milk and lemon together sounds like a terrible combination, but this came out beautifully and the split milk is actually a very nice gravy for the chicken.

Jamie Oliver’s Chicken in milk

1 whole chicken, approx 3.5 lbs
salt and pepper
1 stick of butter (4oz)
olive oil
1/2 cinnamon stick
sage leaves
zest of 2 lemons
10 cloves of garlic, with the skin on (I used probably double this)
1 pint milk

Preheat oven to 375°.

Season the chicken with salt and pepper and fry it in the butter and olive oil, turning until golden all over. Remove the chicken and pour off the fat. I saved it for the veggies that accompanied the meal. Put all remaining ingredients in pot along with the chicken and cooking in the oven for 90 minutes with the lid on. Baste occasionally.

Meat should be tender and practically falling off the bone. Serve with plenty of sauce.