February 8, 2010
This is our fool proof roasted chicken recipe with crispy skin. It originally came out of Alice Waters’ The Art of Simple Food (I think?). This is our go-to-meal for guests that’s so easy and can be paired with pretty much any potato side and good red wine.
What you’ll need for the chicken:
3 lbs. chicken (trussed)
a bundle of rosemary
a bundle of thyme
a whole head of garlic (half sliced, half whole cloves)
salt and pepper (I use lemon pepper)
4 tbsp. of room temp. butter
2 tbsp. of butter
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- I’m terrible at trussing chickens. I just shove the wings in the front cavern and tie the legs together with twine. You can then anchor them to what James calls the “goula” (probably some Sicilian slang for chicken ass) or better known as the “pope’s nose”.
- First salt and pepper the chicken generously and refrigerate for about an hour. Don’t forget to salt and pepper the inside of the chicken.
- Take the chicken out and let sit in your roaster about a half an hour before you cook it to get it down to room temp.
- I cut a little slit in the breast of the chicken (both top and bottom).
- Stuff about 3 sprigs of rosemary and thyme in each slit.
- Add two sliced cloves of garlic in each slit.
- Add remaining whole garlic, rosemary and thyme in chicken cavity.
- Some people like to put lemons and onions in the cavity as well…I leave it out because I like my chicken to have a simpler flavor but it tastes just as lovely. Sometimes I put onion rings in the bottom of the roaster.
- With your hands, rub butter all over chicken skin.
- At the end, I add some of this Sunny Paris herb combo that I bought at Penzy’s which includes shallots, chives, green peppercorns, dill weed, basil, tarragon, chervil and bay leaf (did I just say simple flavor?).
- You will cook the chicken approximately a half an hour per pound (So in this case, 1 1/2 hour). I turn the chicken over and baste after every half hour. The inside of the chicken should be 180 degrees (both legs and breast).
- At the end, let chicken stand for 10 minutes before carving.
- In the mean time, make gravy by putting the whole roasted garlic cloves and the run off butter, juices and herbs in a small sauce pan. Stir in 2 tbsp. of flour and gently stir over low heat until it thickens.
February 5, 2010
Music: Low Man – Alberta Cross
Soooo…I was very recently diagnosed with GERD. I won’t go into the ugly details but I’ve got vocal cords that look something like the Normandy beaches (too soon?). This is not so fun when you are wanna-be singer. I’ve got to cut out all the things that make life worth living (and keep this blog alive) like coffee, chocolate, citrus, raw veggies (specifically onions, garlic, etc.) dairy, any kind of pepper, fried foods, alcohol and stress. Basically, I have to eat baby food. Additionally, I have to stay away from “character voices” – which basically means my own brand of comedy is dead.
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February 4, 2010
Music: Heavy Lifting – Ambulance LTD
To quote Kurt, after being fed this on Sunday, “This is my favorite dessert, I would ask for this as my last meal if I were on death row. I could die tonight, flip the switch!”
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February 3, 2010
THE LETTER NO WOMAN SHOULD EVER WRITE
The mails carry letters every day that are so many packages of TNT should their contents be exploded by falling into wrong hand (I swear that’s how this sentence reads – copied it straight from the book). Letters that should never have been written are put in evidence in courtrooms every day. Many cannot, in any way, be excused; but often silly girls and foolish women write things that sound quite different from what they innocently, but stupidly, intended.
Of course the best advice to young girls who feel impelled to pour out their emotions in letters to men can be put in a word, don’t! (in modern contexts, hello drunk texting, thank you!).
However, if you are a young girl – or even a not-so-young woman – and are determined to write a letter to a man (who is neither you husband or your betrothed) that contains any possibility of emotion, then at least put it away for “an overnight” in order to re-read it and make sure that you have said nothing that may “sound different” from what you intended to say. (probably her best advice yet ladies! now have another margarita…)
Remember this above all: Never write a letter to anyone – no matter who – that would embarrass you were you to see it in a newspaper above your signature. Not that this means YOU, but thousands apon thousands of women, inspired by every emotion known, have poured words on paper, but few of the many made public have had beauty. There were, as many may rememeber, a certain few letters read in a Pacific Coast divorce four not long ago, which reveled a woman’s character of unforgettable loveliness. But such characters – as well as letters – are rare (I wonder who this woman was and what she did to impress dear ol’ Ems here…a tough job indeed!)
A point to remember, then, is the written words, unless destroyed, are permanent, and that thoughts carelessly put on paper can exist for hundreds of years (Thank God for Facebook).
February 1, 2010
Music: Speak Softly Love – Andy Williams
This was one of the Sunday Dinners menus that was near and dear to our hearts. It is pretty traditional Italian fare and we shared it with friends Peter, Erin and Kurt. It’s not a glamorous meal but it sure got us in the mood to cling to our roots and apply for dual citizenship. We served a traditional antipasto, focaccia, eggplant parmesan with penne and tiramisu (look for this Thursday).
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January 29, 2010
Music: Celia Cruz – Ritmo, Tambó y Flores
Some of my best memories of NY come from a wobegone time (5 years ago) when I would visit James and his old roommate Greg at their apartment in Greenpoint. I was much younger then and Greenpoint was only just simmering with the young folk. They lived in a beautiful building called The Astral. The Astral was built in 1875 as a residence for the Astral oil workers (Pratt Institute was built by the same architects). (Speaking of oil, Greenpoint was affected by the largest domestic oil spill in the history of the United States – starting with a leakage from the refineries in the 1950’s, it wasn’t discovered how massive the spill was until the 1970’s when the Coast Guard observed an oil streak up river into Queens)
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January 28, 2010
Music: Edan – Beautiful Food
We recently met baby Eloise, daughter of our friends Laura and Mike. In honor of this meeting, we made these wonderful caramels to share as an after dinner treat. No, my little sillies, not for the baby! For us!
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January 25, 2010
Music: The Hotcakes – Mister Mister
Yesterday I posted the classic Seaseme Street segment with the little girl making her way to the grocery store while trying to remember her mother’s grocery list. Well, yesterday morning, James was that little girl. We decided on Sunday pancakes but didn’t have the milk, butter or eggs to make it. So off he went to the market to gather the things we needed most.
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Happy Sunday.
