A Jersey Girl in Portland

Jamie Oliver's Milk Roasted Chicken is The Best. Full Stop.

Sam Sifton, a food writer for the New York Times, had a great piece in the Sunday Magazine (4.23.17) about Jamie Oliver's chicken in milk. But don't let me blather on, read it for yourself.

The sentence that hooked me came in the second graph, "It is the sort of meal you might cook once a month for a good long while and reminisce about for years." Wow.

I must report that it was everything I hoped it would be. Very juicy chicken with complex & delicious gravy--perfect blend of smooth, unctuous reduced milk with hints of sage, cinnamon and garlic. My mouth waters just thinking about it.

If the link expired or you want to forge ahead, here is Jamie Oliver's Chicken In Milk; the abbreviated version (really, not shortened by much).

A whole chicken is well seasoned (1 Tbs + of salt) and seared in a dutch oven, in butter with enough olive oil to keep the butter honest. Once the chicken is browned all over (see below), pull the chicken and add five cloves of crushed garlic (skin and all), a cinnamon stick,15 leafs of fresh sage and the skin of two lemons. When fragrant, add 2.5 cups of milk. Return the chicken to the pot and bake (preheated to 375) uncovered for 1.5 hours, basing twice.

When you pull the chicken for the first baste, the milk should be frothy and fragrant. At the second bast (about one hour in) I partially covered the chicken as it was browning quickly. I have an oval dutch oven so I just cocked the lid to straddle the pan. 

My five pound chicken was done in 90 minutes.

Here is where Jamie and I part ways. He spoons the 'gravy' over cut-up portions of chicken.

NO!

I strained out the chunky solids -- which he described as 'ropy' --ewwww -- with a chinois, into a clean pan.

I brought the gravy up to a simmer and thickened it with cornstarch. I then added a dash of cream and a bit of salt.*  The resulting gravy was silky and lick-your-plate---drink-from-the-gravyboat delicious.

This recipe is a keeper. Just like Sam said.

I've milk roasted pork, and now milk roasted chicken but question is, "Will it work on a turkey?"

I'm going to have to try it.

Bye for now,

Cheers!

Nancy

 

*I didn't add it but a shot of brandy would not go amiss. 

For leftovers we had a bitchin' chicken salad (old school with mayo, HB eggs, celery, green onion, sage and lemon) and soup made from the bones, reishi, veggies, left over gravy and the last of the chicken.

 

My (version of) Khao Man Gai: Chicken fabulousness

akThere's a food cart run by an amazing woman named Nong Poonsukwattana called Nong's Khao Man Gai.  Her story is inspirational (came here with $100, got a job, opened a cart, opened a brick-and-mortar) It's a mini chain of two carts and a restaurant that serves Thai chicken and rice.

The chicken is damn near life changing.  Her method, simmering the chicken for 35 minutes in broth and water, creates a bird that is tender and moist, seasoned with ginger and garlic. Her Khao Man Gai rice is rich and juicy -- jasmine rice cooked in schmaltz. 

A year or so ago I read an Eater Portland story about her recipe and had to make it myself. Please look up the story -- it's worth a read.

But, this is my version.  Kind of a Michael Ruhlman,  Gabrielle Hamilton, Nong Poonsukwattana mash up. 

Chicken brined* (from Ruhlman) overnight with turmeric (this I borrowed from Ms Hamilton's famous fried chicken), garlic and ginger. Boiled for 45 minutes (if the chicken is 5-6 pounds) (technique from Ms Poonsukwattana) and pulled from the bone. 

Next... I remove the skin and bake it crispy, reduce the boiling stock, and serve it with....WHATEVER YOU WANT.  Tonight I sauteed some onion, asparagus and radicchio and served it in the chicken soup.

Process/Technique:

Here's the process for making the chicken. Make a brine that is 7.5 cups of water, 6 Tbsp of salt. Add 2 Tbsp minced garlic, 2 Tbsp peeled and minced ginger, and 1/2 teaspoon turmeric. Submerge the chicken (this will work with a chicken that is from 4-6 pounds), and refrigerate overnight. 

The next day, bring two quarts of water, two tablespoons salt and 1/2 tspn of turmeric to a boil. Strain the garlic and ginger from the brine. Add the brined chicken, ginger and garlic to the boiling water. Cut the heat so you have a slow bubbling and set a timer for 45 minutes.

Slowly cook the chicken at a scant boil for 45 minutes. When it's finished, remove it carefully. It's difficult to maneuver a greasy, hot chicken. Use a wooden spoon and tongs. Allow it to cool.

As soon as you can handle the chicken, remove the skin. (you'll want to preheat an oven to 375) Place the pieces of skin on a sheet tray (my mom would call it a jelly roll pan) or any pan with built up sides (not a cookie sheet). Bake for 15 minutes or until the skins is crispy. Set aside.

While dinking around with the chicken and skin, I reduce the yellow broth, adding the chicken bones as I debone the carcass. When it's reached maximum deliciousness, I stop simmering it, season it, strain it and serve it. 

Assemble the soup with the veggies on the bottom, bite size pieces of chicken on top of the veg and piping hot broth over all of it. The crispy skin is the crowning glory of the dish.

Tarting up the skin in this way was inspired by Nong's own Khao Man Gai.

An amazing meal and a quart or so of great chicken broth for the freezer and some damn tasty schmaltz from the crisped skin.

Cheers!

 

* No, I'm not brining chicken in Maldon. I just had it in the cupboard and thought it'd look good in the shot.

 

 

 

Syrup - the new shrub? Rhubarb, strawberry & ginger syrup

A Saturday off and a Market day. Oh bliss, oh joy!

Of course we went to the market. We brought home kale raab, the first asparagus of the season, clams from the coast (oysters too), and young garlic to make bucatini with clams and garlic.

And rhubarb.  And last season's frozen Hood Strawberries. Which made me want to cook.

I love working but it feels so good to be in the kitchen at home, cooking for an evening of good food, wine.  Maybe a fire in the fireplace*?

 

Time to make Syrup**!

Rhubarb, strawberry & ginger syrup

2 pounds rhubarb, trimmed (cut off the leafy bits) cut into 1/2 inch pieces (see photo)

6-8 oz strawberries

1-1/2 cups sugar (use raw or turbinado please)

2 'thumbs' of peeled ginger, rough chopped

1/2 cup water

Combine all ingredients and cook until soft.

Run through a Foley Food Mill and return to a clean pot.

Decision time. Do you want to can it, freeze it or refrigerate it? I'm canning this batch into little, 8 oz, jars to give away. In the cooler, it will last two weeks. Frozen, mebbe a year?!?

Live large and love big!

xoxo

Nancy

 * Happy Anniversary Sweetie (a day early)!

** A few words about the hed (title). I use syrups the same way I use a shrub -- but for so much more. Syrups make a great drink -- gin and strawberry with club soda.....Add syrup to sparking wine for a Rhubarb Mimosa (RuMosa). Top pancakes with it. Try doing that with a shrub!