Dispatch no. 7: full-on fall
skillet-roasted chicken ftw | addictive celery, bell pepper + green olive relish | panna cotta with poached quince
IN PRAISE OF CHICKEN !
stories + thoughts
I’ve (almost) never met a - properly cooked - chicken i didn’t like. of course we all know that there are as many ways to serve up chicken as there are ways "to skin a cat" — fried, roasted, paillard, braised, rotisserie-d, grilled — and i pretty much love them all. but this chicken might just top all the rest while being as easy to make as 1, 2, 3 — that is, once it’s been deboned and halved. i am here to tell you that, daunting as doing that yourself may seem, it is not difficult, and the resulting chicken eating experience is so worth it. The only thing standing between you and the best chicken you’ve ever made is a sharp knife and your newfound ability to butcher that chicken.
In my case, if you know anything about me at all, you know that i am not going to bother with just any old chicken. i want one that’s been running around on grass, eating all the bugs and worms and weeds and fed, if not organic feed, then at least non-GMO feed + scratch.
Sometimes you can find exactly that at a supermarket (where there is most likely also a willing and able butcher), but other times it means your chicken is coming directly from a farm, and that means you’re going to have to butcher (not slaughter! don’t worry!!) that bird yourself.
SKILLET-ROASTED CHICKEN ! (with pan sauce)
This chicken preparation has been in my steady rotation for i can’t remember how many years, as a result of eating it cooked this very way and asking the chef how to make it (omg! some nerve!) in an NYC restaurant that sadly no longer exists, The Red Cat.
The thing is, even though i went to cooking school where Jacques Pepin - see his tutorial below - was a founding Dean (!) and broke down so many chickens in the course of my studies, we did not debone them because we were usually using the whole chicken pieces in various French dishes such as coq au vin, or removing just the breasts to flatten them for poulet paillard.
Anyway, you get it, i didn’t really learn in school what i’m trying to teach you now.
Also, a little secret: when we lived in Connecticut, i had a butcher friend at my local market. the market sold perfectly nice chickens, and i would get him to debone and halve my chickens and i would even freeze several of them prepared as such — so whenever i wanted to cook them this way, it was a cinch.
But the older i got, and the more i learned, the pickier i got — so i started sourcing my chickens from really incredible nearby farms who were raising organic pasture-raised chickens, like Millstone Farm and Stuart Family Farm, both located near me.
At this point, (and here’s the secret) i started sneaking the off-site farm chickens through the back door of the market so that my butcher friend could do me a favor and do his expert deboning thing with my superior birds. my point? well, i never really had to get good at butchering them myself because i was spoiled by having it done for me.
Until now!
So, yes, i could share a video of me deboning and halving a chicken, but it would not be a pretty sight. fortunately, i DO have a video of someone doing it the way it’s meant to be done (none other than Jacques Pepin!) all while making it look incredibly easy.
Watch Chef Jacques here.
(In the recipe provided below, i make one additional change to his butchering process, because we are making an entirely different dish!)
Cooking chicken butchered this way is practically foolproof, insuring golden brown crispy skin all over, consistently tender juicy meat with both the light and dark portions evenly cooked, so that you need nothing more than perhaps some mashed potatoes or maybe some cauliflower puree or, as in this case, a creamy polenta to soak up the jus that naturally accompanies the chicken or the pan sauce that i include with my recipe, a simple green salad on the side.
addictive CELERY, GREEN BELL PEPPER + GREEN OLIVE RELISH !
That said, as this chicken is delicious and appropriate any time of the year, it is also the perfect backdrop for any kind of seasonal accompaniment that strikes your fancy. with the rainbow array of peppers in all shapes and sizes at the markets and farm stands right now, i concocted a brightly piquant and crunchy green relish featuring green bell peppers (hear me out!), celery (same!) and green olives and green herbs to scatter on top of and around the chicken on the plate. we could not stop eating it out of the bowl, no chicken necessary!
Two overlooked and often unenthusiastically-received vegetables are the absolute STARS of this addictive relish/salad/side dish. i know i know — green bell peppers sometimes feel like a salad bar holdout that everyone avoids, and celery is just so mundane.
But if you’re coming across bunches of celery and green bell peppers at the farmers’ market right now, snag them — they are both pure fresh deliciousness and, in this preparation, elevated to new heights. my very favorite thing is when humble ingredients are encouraged to shine.
This perky relish can compliment almost anything, especially something rich and meaty to provide a welcome crisp and tangy antidote. i can happily eat a whole bowl of this stuff , and have ;-) — add some pine nuts and crumbled feta and you have lunch.
But this time, it’s very happy embellishing your perfectly cooked boneless chicken.
PANNA COTTA WITH POACHED QUINCES IN SYRUP !
must be the season of the quince (recipe below!)
Every year, for i don’t even know how many years now, i’ve been lucky enough to be invited to my friend Casey’s house in Westport, to help myself from her heavily laden quince trees and fill my baskets. it never ceases to amaze me to watch the chartreuse hard-as-rock fruits — that are fragrant yet inedible prior to cooking — transform into soft rosy sweetness. i have made lots of quince jelly and the quince paste membrillo, but this time i poached quince slices to serve in their own syrup with a panna cotta made of plain grass-fed yogurt (and whole milk and heavy cream ;-). a very simple yet impressive custard that can be made in advance, the silky rich + creamy sweetness pairs beautifully with the subtle exotic flavor of the quince, not to mention the color is divine.
Now, quinces are not all that easy to come by, it is rare to find them at the farmers’ market, but specialty produce markets are bound to have them, like Natoora in Brooklyn or Cookbook in LA and if you do see them, please try cooking with them. the flavor is like nothing else you’ve had, and they are so easy to preserve. last year i made quince + (local of course!) cranberry jelly to serve at Thanksgiving — an exotic twist on the standard, and very well received.
If quinces are not to be found where you are, the panna cotta will nevertheless be delicious with another poached fruit. pears are abundant and delicious right now, figs would be heavenly, and if you come across my favorite Concord Grapes, well, make my Concord Grape Compote !