i am not the biggest fan of chicken i have to admit, i find it bland and usually dry. i have heard chicken-haters speak glowingly of thomas keller's roast chicken recipe and thought it was time to give it a go.
he says all he does is shower it with salt (enough so it leaves an obvious coating, see photos), bung it inside the oven at 450 degs f, leave it for 50-60 mins and voila. sounded simple enough to me. he doesn't bast, turn, prod at all whilst the chicken is cooking. the timer went off at 50 mins and the entire downstairs is now filled with smoke. he didn't say anything about that in his recipe. no harm done, poulet looks fine, and it's in there for a further 10 mins.
i made a roasted garlic celeriac to go with it. here's the recipe for that.
you'll need:
2 heads garlic, top 1/3 trimmed to expose cloves
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon plus 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons oil
1 celeriac, roughly chopped
6 tablespoons butter (room temperature) cut into pieces
1 cups celery, peeled and finely minced
preheat oven to 375°F.
a. place garlic in small baking dish. drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt. cover tightly with foil and roast until golden brown and fragrant, about 50 to 60 minutes.
b. uncover dish and cool garlic, then squeeze softened cloves into small bowl and set aside.
1. in heavy stockpot over moderate heat, heat oil. add celeriac and sauté, stirring frequently, until starting to soften, about 8 minutes.
2. add water just to cover, raise heat to high, cover, and bring to boil. reduce heat to moderate and simmer until celeriac is easily pierced with fork, about 20-30 minutes.
3. drain celeriac, reserving liquid, and transfer to food processor. add roasted garlic and whizz away.
4. slowly add butter, 1 piece at a time, pureéing until smooth. the pureé should appear slightly thinner than mashed potatoes. if too thick, add a small amount of the reserved cooking liquid, 2 tablespoons at a time. if too thin, add additional butter, 1 tablespoon at a time.
5. place puree in a serving dish. sprinkle remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and a pinch of pepper over pureé, then fold in celery and serve.
update: the chicken came out perfectly -- the skin was not too salty, it was crispy and brown, and the meat was cooked to perfection. it was a 3.5lb chicken in the oven for 60mins at 450 degs f.
i am not the biggest fan of chicken i have to admit, i find it bland and usually dry. i have heard chicken-haters speak glowingly of thomas keller's roast chicken recipe and thought it was time to give it a go.
he says all he does is shower it with salt (enough so it leaves an obvious coating, see photos), bung it inside the oven at 450 degs f, leave it for 50-60 mins and voila. sounded simple enough to me. he doesn't bast, turn, prod at all whilst the chicken is cooking. the timer went off at 50 mins and the entire downstairs is now filled with smoke. he didn't say anything about that in his recipe. no harm done, poulet looks fine, and it's in there for a further 10 mins.
i made a roasted garlic celeriac to go with it. here's the recipe for that.
you'll need:
2 heads garlic, top 1/3 trimmed to expose cloves
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon plus 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons oil
1 celeriac, roughly chopped
6 tablespoons butter (room temperature) cut into pieces
1 cups celery, peeled and finely minced
preheat oven to 375°F.
a. place garlic in small baking dish. drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt. cover tightly with foil and roast until golden brown and fragrant, about 50 to 60 minutes.
b. uncover dish and cool garlic, then squeeze softened cloves into small bowl and set aside.
1. in heavy stockpot over moderate heat, heat oil. add celeriac and sauté, stirring frequently, until starting to soften, about 8 minutes.
2. add water just to cover, raise heat to high, cover, and bring to boil. reduce heat to moderate and simmer until celeriac is easily pierced with fork, about 20-30 minutes.
3. drain celeriac, reserving liquid, and transfer to food processor. add roasted garlic and whizz away.
4. slowly add butter, 1 piece at a time, pureéing until smooth. the pureé should appear slightly thinner than mashed potatoes. if too thick, add a small amount of the reserved cooking liquid, 2 tablespoons at a time. if too thin, add additional butter, 1 tablespoon at a time.
5. place puree in a serving dish. sprinkle remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and a pinch of pepper over pureé, then fold in celery and serve.
update: the chicken came out perfectly -- the skin was not too salty, it was crispy and brown, and the meat was cooked to perfection. it was a 3.5lb chicken in the oven for 60mins at 450 degs f.
