Roast Chicken with Lemon and Rosemary Roast Potatoes deconstructed

This past weekend, I had the luxury of spending 4tj of July in the Bay Area, among the bounty of delicious foods and superb bread. I wouldn’t say that SF and/or Berkeley surpasses us in fine dining or ethnic foods, but Northern California bread is pretty hard to beat, especially with Acme doling out its beautiful baguettes. While this post is not entirely about bread (and mostly about chicken as you can see), it was the natural precursor to chicken consumption. How can one enjoy really fresh-baked, local bread without wanting some kind of equally fresh protein?

I returned from 6 hours on the road with an Acme baguette and a hankering for some really good roast chicken. Roasting chicken has never been my thing. I always find chicken roasted at home to be too dry and bland. My friend Alice recently cooked up a pretty good bird that was juicy and lemony. I wanted to see what Jamie would do in my situation, so I decided to test his Roast Chicken recipe online. Lucky for me, a friend emerged from the woodworks with a desire to cook chicken as well. That friend and I decided that it would be “chicken” night at my house, though I felt it was more like Acme baguette-night with a side of roast chicken.

Jamie says to go for organic, free-range chicken. We found one at Gelson’s that was the perfect size, enough for 2-4 people. A bouquet garni was prepared in advance; it was some rosemary, parsley, and thyme, tied up and stuffed in the chicken cavity. We also cut up some lemon halves to be “jammed” inside the chicken. Jamie says that “the benefits of the hot steaming lemon going into the chicken are very obvious as the meat tastes amazing, and the chicken cooks slightly quicker because of it.” Everything else that happened was more spontaneous. I had to put the recipe down because what with poultry juice all over my hands, it seemed necessary to go with gut instinct from then on. A garlic, parsley, French butter compound was rubbed all over the chicken exterior and thinly sliced lemon was neatly inserted under the skin. Under the roasting rack and in the pan, we placed thinly sliced onions, more lemon, and purple potato pieces lightly seasoned with salt and pepper. The side veggies needed very little flavor enhancement. Chicken fat alone would be flavor enough.

We popped the set up in the oven and during the 30 minute wait period, I cut up some Acme bread and made a grilled peach salad with leftover arugula, toasted walnuts, goat cheese, and peaches. Like I said, I wasn’t expecting too much from the chicken so I was sure I would be happy just with the salad and bread. But then…

The roast chicken emerged from the oven and holy mother of God, it was glistening with juice and begging me to eat it. The slightly charred skin looked crispy enough for my tastes. And the smell of citrus drowned out any desire to kill off the rest of the bread. We watched in awe as the juice just squirted with each slice. Ok, that sounds a bit pornographic, but I was truly in an insatiable beast-state of mind. And I didn’t even describe the potatoes yet...

The chicken dinner was simple, light yet hearty, and yielded enough leftover chicken for additional meals, and perhaps two of the best meals I’ve whipped up in ages…

Stay tuned…



Sitting pretty on the rack; about to get some sauna work.


Acme bread, gazing up at me, wanting to be devoured.


Almost being devoured!


Now, tell me this isn’t a Bon Appétit magazine cover shot!?


This was really tasty. Purple potatoes and onions with chicken fat, a sprinkling of sea salt, and tons of lemon juice!

SHOP AT
Acme Bread Company
1601 San Pablo Ave
(between Cedar St & Hopkins St)
Berkeley, CA 94702
(510) 524-1327

A meal fit for the Taj Mahal. Sort of. Chicken Tikka Masala, Aloo Gobhi, Stacey’s stove top rice and purchased naan.

I’m a creature of habit. Once I find a recipe I like, I often stick with it, to a T. Then, when I feel totally comfortable, I might start doctoring it up with my own tweaks. I’ll also eat or make a winning dish a couple of days in a row. Sucks to be my kid.

With that caveat in mind, my account of a somewhat unsuccessful Jamie experience will make more sense.

Since I’m a tikka masala newbie (see previous posts), I decided it was necessary to restrict myself to what Jamie instructs in the recipe. There was that coconut milk addition that I was a bit wary of since most tikka masalas I have had were made sans coconut milk. And, there was a serving of water used in the dish that just seemed odd. With coconut milk in the mix, another “can” of water seemed like a superfluous amount of liquid. But, Indian cooking isn’t instinctual for me, so I erred in second-guessing myself. It didn’t help that I was chatting it up with Stacey while supposedly cooking in earnest.

The whole over-submerging the meat in liquid was pretty much the theme of the night. Everything smelled great: the onions sautéed with the meat browned ever so slightly, the homemade tikka masala paste was flavorful, though not as spicy as I would like. Next time when I do this, I will probably use “REAL” chilies, and not the red jalapenos I get from Whole Foods. Those are terribly weak-sauce.

I kept the tikka masala cooking for a pretty long time, but it didn’t reduce much. It felt a bit like tikka masala-soup and the heavy salting I did in the sautéing part felt null and void with all that water and coconut juice. When we “ladled” it over our rice, the watery particles took over the plate, which is nice if you like that sort of thing. I would have preferred something a little drier. All in all, with a little more salt to pass and lemon juice, the food tasted good. That store-bought naan really gave me the gut-bust though. I could barely move after the meal. I guess the beer didn’t help either!

Sidenote: I’m also a creature of perfectionism so due to my dissatisfaction with the turn-out, I will probably revisit this recipe. Sorry Jamie- hope I didn’t let ya down.


Chilies, spices, home-made tikka masala paste getting a good sauté.


It’s rare that I get an action shot in the mix. Thanks Stacey.


Berkeley looking for eats, and looking real cute while doing it.


While I didn’t make my own naan, the one I bought from India’s Sweet & Spices tastes homemade. It had the most incredible chew and was slightly sweet.


Devin, Stacey, and I are just tearing our food apart. The Taj Mahal beer in the back paired nicely with the food.

COOKED FROM



SHOPPED AT
New India's Sweets and Spices
1245 S Fairfax Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90019-4437
(323) 936-6736