Roast chicken, a dish so simple yet so difficult to master. When I was in the restaurant business roasting a simple chicken was often used as a test when hiring a new chef. At a glance roasting a chicken is one of simplest things in the world, but really think about it. How often have you had a truly great roasted chicken? So often the breast is dry or the thighs are undercooked, the skin never takes on that great crispness, or the whole thing just tastes rather bland. Yes, it’s simple to roast a chicken and yet so difficult to make it great. Roasting a chicken takes a lot of skilled technique and it is difficult to cover up if you have made an error at any point. That’s why so many people use it as a standard to measure chefs by.

Believe me, I have roasted countless chickens in my time. In the beginning it was a hit or miss proposition, but slowly I learned a few techniques that helped me conquer this foe. Search the internet and you will find a number of “fool proof” ways to roast a chicken. Let me tell you, first off there is no fool proof way. It takes diligence and missing that mark will definitely mean undercooked thighs or overcooked breasts. Some methods will have you rub butter over the flesh, under the skin. This is a great method but time consuming and a pain the ass if you aren’t careful as you can easily tear the skin. Also what about the wings and legs and thighs, it’s pretty hard to get under the skin on those.

All good methods will have you truss the chicken, pulling all the meat in tight to the body. Many people kind of tune out when they hear the word truss, thinking it is some difficult task better left to butchers and chefs. Not so! It is relatively easy and I will show you, step by step, how it’s done.

If at all possible start with a good quality chicken. At least try to find an organic bird from a small producer, or better yet source chicken from a local farmer if at all possible. Your last resort should be any of the large named producers. These birds are filled with antibiotics and hormones and in general are quite tasteless compared to locally raised birds.

Finally, we come to seasoning. A good roasted chicken requires copious amounts of salt and pepper to make a flavorful bird, both on the outside and on the inside. Beyond that the choice of herbs and aromatics is yours. Personally, I like to keep it simple, oftentimes, flavoring the bird with garlic only, though adding lemon or orange wedges to the cavity imparts some wonderful flavor as well as herbs such as thyme, rosemary, tarragon or others, whatever suits your tastes.

Roast Chicken
1 whole chicken (4-6 pounds)
1-1 1/2 Tbsp. butter*, softened
2 heads garlic
salt
pepper

Remove the giblets from the chicken and save for another use. Rinse the chicken under cold running water, then pat dry. Allow to sit for 1 hour at room temperature to take the chill off (don’t worry about letting it sit out, it’s not sitting out long enough for it to be dangerous). Meanwhile break apart the heads of garlic and peel the cloves. To make the job easier, lightly crush the cloves with the flat side of a knife. The skins should then pretty much slip off. Preheat the oven to 500°F. Once the chicken has rested, pat dry again and season the cavity with plenty of salt and pepper, getting your hand in there to run the seasoning into the flesh. Add the garlic cloves to the cavity. Next fold the wing tips underneath the bird.

Take an 18″ piece of butcher’s twine, find the center of it and wrap it around the neck of the bird, making one complete loop to secure it. Bring the two ends of the string up alongside the bird and over the thighs.

Loop the string around the end of the legs and have the ends cross in the center.

Next loop the strings all the way around the bird, underneath the tail, again meeting in the center, pulling them tight and tying them off.

Season the outside of the chicken liberally with salt and pepper. Use more than you think you need. Finally, take the softened butter and rub it all over the outside of the chicken. Place the chicken in a pan on a roasting rack. If you don’t have a roasting rack, peel 1 or 2 onions and cut into 1/2″ slices. Place the slices in the pan and place the chicken on top of that. Place the chicken into the oven and immediately reduce the heat to 425°F. Roast for approximately 45-55 minutes or until an instant read thermometer, stuck into the thickest part of the thigh registers 162 degrees (I prefer to use a digital probe thermometer that I leave in for the entire cooking process. I set it so that an alarm goes off when it reaches the proper temperature). Remove the chicken from the oven and allow to rest for 5-10 minutes before carving. Many recipes will tell you to cover the bird during this rest, but I find this to cause the skin to get soggy and one of my favorite parts or roast chicken is the crispy skin. Giving the chicken this resting time will allow the meat to relax, which in turn will allow more of the juices to stay in the meat. Carving before allowing this rest period will cause the chicken to expell much of its juices and moisture. This resting period goes for just about any large cut of meat. Carve and enjoy!

*I often use butter, but many fats can be used in place of the butter. Olive oil is probably the other most popular choice although I have used both duck fat and goose fat on numerous occasions. Bacon fat alone would be too strong and overpowering, but if you want the additional flavor cut 1 part bacon fat with 2 parts butter or oil.

When it comes to Thanksgiving, I am very much a “traditionalist.” I like my roasted or grilled turkey, the stuffing, the mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie, etc. I don’t have nearly that same feeling about Christmas dinner. Sure, I am happy with a repeat of Thanksgiving, which often happens in my family, but I am also very happy to change it up. My wife’s family often follows a more European tradition and serves goose, with all the trimmings. Since her father is from Hungary that usually means an Eastern European flair to the meal with lots of sweet and sour dishes, plenty of starches, the giblets showing up in numerous recipes, and wonderful, earthy rye bread.

In my family, when we move away from turkey, we sometimes do a standing rib roast (aka Prime Rib), one of my favorites, but in recent years we have done a lot of pork, usually in the form of a Crown Roast. It usually gets filled with a stuffing of cornbread, sausage, dried cherries and pecans. This has become a favorite of ours and looks quite festive and elegant gracing our holiday table. Unfortunately, if you want to do a crown roast you either need to be feeding an army or be prepared for plenty of leftovers as these things are quite large. Luckily pork is very versatile and there are numerous, smaller cuts that can be turned into an elegant centerpiece for your Christmas dinner.

Pork loin is an obvious choice for a holiday dinner. Roasted, it makes a beautiful looking focal point to the holiday groaning board. It can be purchased is any size from 1 pound to about 8 or 9 pounds, making it a great choice for just about any size get together. Pork also goes well with many of the dishes people serve at Christmas time, many of which mirror people’s Thanksgiving spreads. To make it even more of a standout, I like to stuff it “pinwheel” style. Sliced and laid out on a platter, surrounded by Rosemary Roasted Potatoes and a few sprigs of fresh herbs, you have a dish that will wow friends and family alike. (continue reading…)

Halloween is only a few days away and I am excited!!!! Halloween has always been one of my favorite holidays and now even more so since my daughter was born on Halloween. Our day will be booked solid with her birthday party in the morning and afternoon and trick or treating in the evening. Of course, party preparations started weeks ago as we finally cleaned and organized the garage, but last night was the start of the fun. It was pumpkin carving night. I only did 2 this year, while the wife carved one. Not as many as in some past years, but I still have time if I feel like carving a couple more. One of the benefits of carving pumpkins is the seeds. I really enjoy toasted pumpkin seeds. The problem is that I usually over do, snacking on them so by the end of Halloween I’ve seen enough pumpkin seeds until the following year.

I usually just make the regular, salted variety of pumpkin seeds but this year I wanted to spice it up a bit so I made three different flavors. Besides the regular pumpkin seeds I also made a Harissa inspired one, spiced with chile, coriander, caraway, garlic and cumin, and a Sweet, Smoky Asian one scented with Chinese 5 spice and chipotle pepper.

Over the years, one key I have learned to making good pumpkin seeds is a slow oven. I like to bake mine for almost an hour at about 275F. I think that it makes for a crisper seed that is less tough (an important consideration if using larger pumpkins with bigger seeds).

Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

2 cups Pumpkin Seeds
1 1/2 tsp. Salt
1 1/2 Tbsp. Vegetable Oil

Preheat the oven to 275F. Clean all the pulp from around the pumpkin seeds, removing all the strings. Rinse and blot dry with a towel. In a bowl drizzle the oil over the pumpkins and toss to coat. Sprinkle on the salt while tossing the seeds, making sure the salt is evenly distributed. Spread seeds out, in a single layer, on a cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Stir the pumpkins seeds and bake another 20 minutes. Stir again and bake for an additional 10 minutes. Seeds should be crispy and just lightly browned. If not done place in oven for 10 more minutes.

Harissa Accented Pumpkin Seeds

1 cup Pumpkin Seeds
1/2 tsp. Coriander seed
1/2 tsp. Caraway seed
1/2 tsp. Ground Cumin
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/4-1/2 tsp. Cayenne Pepper (depending on how hot you like things)
1/2 tsp. Garlic Powder
1 Tbsp. Vegetable oil

Grind the coriander and caraway seeds in a mortar or electric grinder. Add all other seasonings. Toss pumpkin seeds with oil then with spice mixture. Place on a cookie tray and bake like the Toasted Pumpkin Seeds above. (continue reading…)

I hate to admit it but I am not a huge fan of vegetables. Oh, sure, they’re all right, but I would much rather fill up on starch and proteins. I know, I’m such a Midwesterner! In my defense, I have been trying to consume more vegetables in the past few months, but I still have a long way to go. There are notable exceptions to this though. Fresh, in season tomatoes, fennel, and asparagus are just a few I like and I have always loved many of the vegetables from the Brassica genus. This includes things like cauliflower, broccoli, brussels sprouts, and cabbages. It also includes many of the root vegetables that I like such as rutabagas and turnips.

Root vegetables have a pleasing sharpness that I enjoy, but they also have a wonderful, underlying sweetness. This sweetness can be developed and brought to the fore by roasting the vegetables, which is the way I prefer to cook them. In this recipe I accent that sweetness even further by glazing them with cider and a little bourbon, enrich them with a little butter and add an herbal note with fresh thyme which is still looking good, in the herb garden, despite the numerous frosts we’ve had.

Cider-Bourbon Glazed Root Vegetables

2 Tbsp. Butter, melted
2 pounds Root vegetables, peeled and cut into thick, medium length sticks (I use a mix of carrots, parsnips, rutabagas and turnips)
4 each Shallots, peeled & quartered
4 sprigs Thyme
3/4 cup Cider
2 Tbsp. Bourbon
Parsley, minced
Salt
Pepper

Preheat the oven to 400F. Toss the root vegetables with butter, to coat then place in a 9×13 baking dish. Pour cider over the vegetables and add the shallots and thyme. Season liberally with salt and pepper. Cover the pan with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the foil, add the bourbon and roast for 25-35 minutes more, stirring every 7-8 minutes. The vegetables are done when they are tender, starting to brown and the liquid as mostly evaporated, glazing the vegetables. Season again with salt and pepper, if needed and sprinkle with the minced parsley. Serves 6 as a side dish.