I had originally intended this post to be a restaurant
review. I’m way behind on those. But, I kind of had a “Think Like A Chef”
breakthrough.
Last week, I was going to braise short ribs, but didn’t have
the right ingredients, so instead, Cathy said, “Well, get a turkey breast and
I’ll cook that.” When I got to the
store, the only turkey breasts they had were frozen. That’s when the following conversation between
me and myself took place:
“Well, I guess I’ll
just buy a cooked chicken later tonight.”
“Wait a minute…what are you doing all these Think Like A
Chef blogs for, if you aren’t going to use what you learn? Cook something.”
“You don’t have a recipe.
Buy a cooked chicken.”
“What have I learned so far?
Mostly roasting. I’ll roast a
chicken. I don’t need a recipe.”
“No recipe? C’mon
Mike….I mean….you can’t cook without a recipe.
Cook without a recipe?? You may
as well ask Hubert Keller to hire you as his sous chef.”
“Now wait a minute. I
can’t actually ask Hubert Keller to be his sous chef…at best he’d make me a
dishwasher, and I’m way too old to start a new career as a dishwasher, and
anyway, I’m sure the pay isn’t very good.
But…I can actually roast a chicken without a recipe…so I’m gonna do
that.”
And here are the results:
I bought a five pound chicken. First step…into the cavity went thyme and
rosemary. That was the way Colicchio did
it in the book, and the way I did it last time.
But I also decided to add half of a small onion, a couple of baby
carrots and a small piece of celery as well.
My thought process here was that, many times I see people roast chickens
on top of a mirepoix,
so I thought, why not get some aromatics from them?
Next, trussing the chicken.
Not perfect…but better!
Next, dry the skin like crazy! I think I went through ½ roll of paper towels
drying the skin.
Then came the seasoning.
This time, I got under the skin and seasoned it with salt and
pepper. Also did the top of the
bird. Next, I browned the sides for
seven minutes each, and then it went into a 375 degree oven for twenty minutes,
before adding the butter/olive oil product, and basted occasionally. Total cooking time in the oven was 75 minutes
as this was a five pound bird.
 |
| Uhhh....I guess you can tell where we tried the skin...it was crispy!! |
After I took it out, I steamed some broccoli, but left it
ever so slightly crunchy. Just to give
it some mouth feel.
Then I plated the breast, leg, and broccoli and finished it
with sea salt.
The skin was crispy.
(Cathy and I treated ourselves to a small piece.) The chicken was incredibly juicy and full of
flavor. The broccoli was also a very good
compliment to the chicken.
Success!
Now…onto those short ribs…
Bravo! You thought--and cooked--like a chef! Yes...thinking and cooking like a chef doesn't always have to be fancy schmancy ingredients. In fact, getting back to basics (and mastering those) will always make your "bigger" adventures more of a success. Salt and pepper is fine (although overrated as far as "seasoning" goes). Give a try to separating the skin from the chicken using your forefinger, and place herbs between the skin and meat. You'll get some fine flavors! I give props to Hubert Keller too. Although that haircut? No thanks! :) Keep on thinking like a chef, and all of your dishes will be as great as this one....and of course----Keep on cooking!
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ReplyDeleteIn addition to meat, all other produce of ritually unclean animals, as well as from unhealthy animals, were banned by the Talmudic writers. This included eggs (including fish roe) and milk, as well as derived products such as cheese and jelly, but did not include materials merely "manufactured" or "gathered" by animals, such as honey (although, in the case of honey from animals other than bees, there was a difference of opinion among the ancient writers). According to the rabbinical writers, eggs from ritually pure animals would always be prolate ("pointy") at one end and oblate ("rounded") at the other, helping to reduce uncertainty about whether consumption was permitted or not.
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