I am reading a new biography of Julia Child, Dearie, The Remarkable Life of Julia Child by Bob Spitz. I am enjoying his ribald quotations and his wit. And it is renewing faith in my cooking abilities. (Do not listen to my children tell you about too much butter swimming in the Potatoes Anna, or their cries of foul when another foodie experiment goes wrong.) I am not likely to become an expat in Paris and sign up for classes at the Cordon Bleu, but luckily, Julia did all the fieldwork and the intensive research for us.
I whine sometimes about not living in New York City where we would have access not only to many different cuisines and food cultures, but we would also have great restaurant delivery services. Sometimes I fantasize about having a stack of menus for Chinese, and Thai and Italian take away food. Or a corner deli that I could walk to when I want a roast beef sandwich and fresh Kosher dills. (The Tall One just had his first NYC bagel with lox – a memorable moment for him.)
Instead, we live in the suburbs and the nearest deli is 5 miles away. Julia Child is teaching me that even home-cooked humble foods can be a delight. And the economic benefits are many! Last Friday night, instead of the rolling out the usual pizza, I roasted a chicken, vertically. And we ate it all weekend long. It was easy, it was tasty and we saved some money and felt oh, so virtuous. There is nothing quite like a nice cool chicken sandwich on a Sunday afternoon, coming back for Round Two of the Sunday papers. Toss on a few Wickles, and a handful of Wise potato chips and you have a veritable feast. Plus, you have the luxury of taking a nap when you are finished with lunch if you dine at home.
I started with a 3-pound bird and cleared out the cavities. (I do not care what Roy Blount, Jr. exhorted us to do with chicken gizzards in the latest Garden & Gun , “The longer you have to chew on something, the longer you get to taste it.”) Then I shook salt and pepper over the chicken, pretending to be Hermione Granger, whispering a magic spell and hoping for the best.
I preheated the oven to 325° F, then I put the chicken on top of the vertical non-stick minimalist chicken roaster that Best Beloved gave me for Christmas a few years ago. (It’s OK, we give each other kitchen utensils in our Christmas stockings.) And then I balanced everything in a deep-dish pie plate. (I would do this differently the next time , kids. Really.) The dish was a little too shallow to contain all the drippings, and for the next week every time we used the oven, an aromatic wave of chicken-scented smoke wafted through the kitchen. Listen to the smart folks at Food52, and use a deeper cake pan.
And here is when you can be very clever – you can substitute a can of beer or a can of Coke for the wire rack I used. But considering what a mess I made, I will probably stick to my current method. I have included another recipe that uses the Aluminum Can Methodology, though.
I cooked the chicken for 20 minutes a pound, so about an hour. I left it in the oven for an extra 10 minutes, just to brown the skin a little bit. (Garden & Gun also had a recipe for frying chicken skins! Wowser.)
And that’s it: Easy Peasy Weekend Chicken. We had some rice and a salad, and some chilled cheap white wine, of course. And then we ate chicken sandwiches all weekend long. I believe a drumstick disappeared in a midnight raid on the fridge… Best Beloved even made some chicken salad with the very last bits, although he had to fight off the cat at that point. We didn’t have to leave the family compound, and we were very happy.
You can do this on Sunday night, which I have often encouraged the Tall One to try, because then he would have a couple of meals ready when Monday and Tuesday roll around. He is not impressed, and he still finds that grilled cheese sandwiches are both a food group and a culinary coup.
And not that I am encouraging you for one minute to divert your attention away from The Spy, but if you haven’t read Garden & Gun magazine, you really should give it a try. It is beautifully put together on lovely paper, with great photography and fabulous illustrations as well as excellent writing: Roy Blount, Jr. is one of my personal faves. Where else will you get a recipe for frying chicken skins, learn how to dress sharp, tell a great story and uncover the best Southern secrets? https://www.gardenandgun.com
https://food52.com/recipes/3324_wishbone_roast_chicken_with_herb_butter
https://www.splendidtable.org/recipes/lynnes-vertically-roasted-chicken
https://southernfood.about.com/od/roastchickenrecipes/r/Vertical-Roasted-Chicken.htm
“I never see any home cooking. All I get is fancy stuff.”
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
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glennn baker says
Garden and Gun subscriber since issue ONE and love it! Just finished reading the chicken skin recipe and am trying to think of where I can buy chicken skins and what local establishment should be convinced to include it in their bar menu.
Re: chicken left-overs; much better than the store bought sliced “chicken breast” and much less then $8.99 per pound.
Great story, will keep an eye out for more.
BobHallsr says
Bob, Have you ever seen thee comments from a television critic back in the ’60s. Watch an old show of hers and then read it again. PRICELESS!
A critic describing her TV show said “How could TV viewers not be mesmerized? There stood a towering, skinny, middle-aged woman in pearls and an unreconstructed Smith College ’34 hairdo, hovering behind a kitchen counter that rose only as high as her thighs, unspooling this bizarre monologue in a fluted voice and uncertain cadence and gasping for breath in the wrong spots.”
Anyway, I gave up most of my chicken recipes in favor of this one, which guarantees a tasty, juicy bird every time.
Spatchcock Chicken
What is this? It’s a term that probably originated in 18th century Ireland. It means “to butterfly”. It involves removing the backbone from the chicken so you can open it up and press it flat. The purpose of spatchcocking is to cook the food faster, and to increase the flavor by exposing all of the outside and the inside to intense heat. This method will also keep the meat moist.
2 Cornish hens or 1 small fryer
olive oil
sea salt and fresh ground pepper
Cut the backbone off the chicken with kitchen shears and spread it out into one piece.* Rub it with olive oil and sprinkle salt and pepper to taste. Place the chicken in a large Ziploc bag on top of a heavy wooden carving board and pound the chicken with a mallet or a meat pounder until the chicken is flat, but still in one piece. *OR cut it in half for easier handling
During the warm season, grill the chicken , each side, over the hottest fire you can muster on your gas or charcoal grill. Keep the chicken flat by topping it with a foil wrapped brick. The skin should be dark brown when finished. Inside, cook each side on the stove in a very hot cast iron pan or a stovetop grill and add a foil wrapped brick or another heavy weight on top. The secret is to maintain complete contact of the chicken with the heat.
There are several variations to this recipe according to your taste and the season. Herbs, spices or sauces will accentuate their flavors if you add them before pounding the chicken flat.
1. Fresh summer herbs; any combination of tarragon, rosemary, savory, dill, basil, mint or marjoram.
2. Minced garlic and grated lemon skin
3. Prepared rubs, or make your own, with any mixture of garlic powder, onion powder, seasoned salt, paprika, cumin, chili powder, mustard, dried herbs.
4. Pesto, or any other prepared sauce or paste.
Serve the chicken with a grilled vegetable pasta, sliced fresh tomatoes, and a Viognier or a heady white Alsatian wine.