Despite the total lack of any indication of it here, I have in fact been cooking, rather than subsisting on sacks of Zapp's I smuggled out of New Orleans. Right before Christmas, I made a lot of stock, and much of that has found its way into what I've been cooking.
Lots of what I've been cooking are familiar dishes, which turned out pretty well. It makes for decent eating, but not such compelling posts. For instance, on Boxing Day I made osso bucco w/ risotto milanese and an undercard of gnocchi w/ brown sage butter, but somehow, "I made this, and it was good," did not seem worth the effort of typing.*
The only really salient general observation I can pass on, and I've said it before, is that having real stock to hand makes a huge difference. With real stock, you are only an onion and a carrot away from Lentiles du puy, presuming you keep lentils and bacon in the house. Even though hydrocarbons increasingly make winter an abstraction, there is a satisfaction in pulling a meal together out of the larder. The cinetrix and I were able to entertain on relatively short notice on MLK day largely out of the freezer. Another gnocchi undercard, (different crowd), and a soup: a rough (very) celery/onion/carrot brunoise, some of the pancetta I cured diced, chestnuts out of the freezer, and real stock. I had cooked wild rice to hand to add, but it was plenty hearty with the chestnuts, which are a Coulter to peel, but worth it.
But I digress. The first actual news out of the Gurgling Cod Test Kitchen is the Hot Bird. As my record reflects, I am a big fan of the Zuni cookbook, especially her chicken technique: instead of brining, you rub the bird with salt, put herbs under the skin and let it sit for 1-3 days. I've done it with sage, and been happy with the outcome, but wondered what would happen if instead of sage, I used a ton of dried Arbol peppers? Loosening the skin of the chicken requires a bit of patience and finesse -- if you start at the tail, you can do it pretty easily if you work index and middle fingers between skin and flesh, and gradually expand the opening, working around to the seam where the beast, leg, and wing meet. Then it is a question of getting peppers next to the flesh of the bird. The subcutaneous pepper insertion was a bit tricky -- unlike sage, the peppers are sharp, and want to rip the skin of the bird. Next time, I might try soaking the peppers in sherry to soften them. I used probably about 50 peppers-- most along the breast. Efforts to pepper the drumsticks were less successful. Then I salted the exterior of the bird, as per Judy's directions. I used maybe a bit more than the 3/4 tsp per pound she mandates. Then the bird went on a trivet on a plate in the fridge, with a clean dishtowel over. You want air to circulate, and ideally for the chicken not to drip on food you plan to eat in the interim.
At the long end of the 1-3 days of salting Zuni suggests, the bird went in the oven. According to Zuni, rather than greasing up the bird, you preheat the pan on the stove. In it went, at 475, then down to 450. After about 25 minutes, it got flipped breast-side-down, for another 15-20. I brought it out, and decided to put it in breast-side-up for a moment or two to crisp the skin. I let it rest while I dealt with the salad, and the drippings and then carved. The appearance is disconcerting. (Having given up on taking pictures of food I cook, am looking into hiring a courtroom sketch artist.) The peppers make the breast lumpy, and they must be removed before carving. I peeled the skin back, and took thin slices of breast, garnished with a little bit of skin. (Hello, Google!) Pouring off the fat, I deglazed the pan with cheap white wine, added some chicken stock, and cooked it down. The result was a little salty, so I mounted with more unsalted butter than usual.
It was good. The Zuni technique gives you flavorful flesh, and crisp skin. With this seasoning, the impression was like a more refined Buffalo wing. When I make this again, I think even more peppers and less salt would be better.
*The gnocchi w/ brown butter are really good. Thanks to LaD. As for the OB, watch out for Flinstone-sized shanks.
I am the founder of Hot Bird. I was just surfing and noticed your article. Have you ever had a Hot Bird? P.S. I am computer illiterate and do not know if I posted this correctly. Write back at [email protected]
Posted by: Mike Weinberger | Tuesday, 17 April 2007 at 08:41 PM