Pollo Arrosto per Paz (Roast Chicken for Paz)

August 4, 2008 | Filed Under Briciole blog, Fellow Bloggers, Guest Bloggers, Poultry | 27 Comments 

 Please help me welcome Simona of Briciole, this week’s guest blogger!  Thanks so much Simona for helping out!

Paz

2008 © Briciole – All Rights Reserved

One of my favorite posts by Chef Paz is (Christine’s) Sunday Night Whole Roasted Chicken, which I refer to as "the disappeared roast chicken" post, because of the great photo of the empty serving dish where the roast chicken of the title once was. Reading that post made me laugh heartily and generated a lasting memory. The photo of the suggestively empty serving dish came back to my mind in the occasion of the production of my first roast chicken ever.

Let me back step a second to give some background information on my meat-eating habits. On December 25, 1997, at the end of a traditional English Christmas dinner, I told my husband that I would stop eating meat, which I proceeded to do for many years. (Clarification: the dinner was nice and was not the cause of my decision, which I had been mulling for a while.) Fast forward to the summer of 2008, when good influences of various nature have inspired me to taste meat again, and you will find me buying a Red Broiler, described as the true "slow food" chicken by the young woman who raises this variety (in small flocks that enjoy "sunshine, fresh air, grubs, green pasture, room to stretch their wings, and protection from predators") at a local farm (Wild Chick Farm). I went to pick up my order at the appointed time and location and brought it home, not a little intimidated and wondering what I would do next. You see, my mother never liked to use the oven, so, growing up, for me pollo arrosto always meant roast chicken from a rotisserie.

On Epicurious, I found Thomas Keller’s recipe for My Favorite Simple Roast Chicken, and decided to go with it. The word "simple" in the title was quite tempting, since I needed something extremely simple for my first venture. But I was also charmed by the way the famous chef describes eating the roast chicken. I followed the recipe as is, and the result was excellent. Of course, I had no benchmarks in my career of amateur cook against which to measure the result, but I also needed encouragement for future endeavors, so I declared it excellent and my husband agreed. We didn’t put anything on the cooked meat: no butter, no mustard, just the salt and pepper I had added before roasting. Delaying a bit my reward for not much toil but a lot of anxiety, I took a photo before carving the chicken.

Thomas Keller suggests serving it with a simple salad on the side. I love roast potatoes and since the oven is already on, there is no excuse for not making some, like fingerling potatoes, tossed with a bit of freshly-ground pepper and a mix of fresh herbs from my garden, finely chopped (rosemary, dill, sage). I added them half-way through the cooking time of the chicken, so they would be ready at the same time, or shortly thereafter, while the meat is resting before it is cut. Unfortunately, I have no photo of the potatoes: I can assure you, they were good.

Dear Paz, this pollo arrosto is dedicated to you, with heartfelt wishes for a speedy recovery, a big hug (Italian-style) and many thanks for our blog-friendship.

2008 © Briciole – All Rights Reserved