Mood is: ROAST CHICKEN
THIS MOOD IS NOT FOR THE VEGETARIAN COMMUNITY. IT IS FOR THE HOME CHEF WHO LIKES A ONE-POT DISH THAT KEEPS GIVING, STREGA NONA STYLE, AND IS MAYBE TIRED OF COMING UP WITH NEW DINNER IDEAS, AND IS ALSO CONSCIOUS OF SERVING MEALS WITH ADEQUATE PROTEIN. SHE IS ME. MY AFFINITY FOR THE HUMBLE ROAST CHICKEN HAS GROWN IN THE LAST FEW YEARS FROM A DISH THAT WAS NEVER (EVER) IN MY ROTATION, TO ONE THAT SEEMS TO ANSWER EVERY INQUIRY OF “ANY THOUGHTS ON DINNER?”
THAT IS A DIRECT QUOTE.
THE ORIGINAL RECIPE
My first attempt at a roast chicken followed Alison Roman’s method from Nothing Fancy, the result of which is seen on the cover and is truly perfect every time. So perfect and easy in fact, that I’ve successfully adapted the recipe to my own preferences numerous times since. Before we go there, the original recipe and my first chicken, here:
Ingredients
1 (3 1/2- to 4-pound) whole chicken
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup olive oil
1 ½ tablespoons fennel seeds, crushed in a mortar and pestle or spice mill, or chopped with a knife
1 bunch fresh oregano
1 ½ pounds small vine-ripened tomatoes (about 6), halved lengthwise
2 heads of garlic, halved crosswise (it's fine to leave the skin on)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar or white wine vinegar
4 to 6 (1-inch-thick) slices of good country bread, such as country loaf or sourdough, toasted (optional)
Directions
Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. (If you can do this in advance, please do.) Drizzle it with the olive oil and sprinkle with the fennel seeds.
Stuff the cavity with half the oregano and place in a large baking dish. Scatter the tomatoes, garlic, butter and remaining oregano around the chicken. Roast until the chicken is golden brown and completely cooked through, and the tomatoes are nice and jammy, 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Add the vinegar to the tomatoes and let the chicken rest in the baking dish for 10 minutes.
Place toast, if using, on serving platter and spoon the jammy tomatoes over or around the toast. Carve the chicken and place on top of the toast to catch the juices.
BRANCHING OUT
Beyond tomatoes, these are my favorite combinations of vegetables and aromatics to add to the chicken pot. Everything else with the method stays the same:
Little Potatoes & Leeks: Fingerling or baby potatoes, cut in half or quarters depending on size. Place below the chicken so they cook in all the juices. Leeks halved lengthwise and cut into 1-2” pieces, under and around chicken.
Fennel & Radicchio: Fennel bulbs quartered and placed under the bird. Radicchio quartered with the core intact so the leaves stay together, around the bird.
Shallots & Parsnip: You could use carrots here, too, but the parsnip is a little heartier and tends to hold a “bite” better.
THE NEXT DAY(S)
Hopefully you’ve made enough for leftovers. The possibilities here really feel endless, but my favorite ways to fully utilize the gift that is this meat pot are:
Chicken Stock / Chicken Soup: Add water to the pot, enough to cover the carcass, and simmer on low for a 2-4 hours until the meat has fallen off the bone. Strain the stock or pick out the bones and add more veggies to the pot (carrots, scallions, celery) until tender. Add egg noodles minutes before serving, or spoon over rice for HOMEMADE CHICKEN SOUP!
Chicken Pot Pie: Follow the same method for chicken soup, but use about 1/2 the amount of water and simmer just until the meat falls off the bone. Separate the solids from the liquid, reserving the solids and leaving the liquid in the pot. Add milk or cream to the pot to double the amount of liquid and season with S + P. Add back in the veg and meat, chopped and shredded, respectively. Simmer until the flavors meld and most of the water has boiled off (just taste it), then add to a pie crust of your choice (this is mine), and bake at 350º till golden brown and bubbly.
Now, maybe you don’t have any vegetables left after the first feeding. Maybe you can’t wait to get rid of the chicken carcass and have no desire to simmer broth. Maybe you don’t have room in the fridge to store a dutch oven, or the time to assemble pot pie. I get it! In any case, here is a perfectly acceptable and still very delicious way to consume just the leftover chicken bits:
Chicken Salad: Shred your remaining chicken into bite-size chunks. Put the chicken and a scant amount of mayo into a mixing bowl. Add just a little more mustard than you did mayo (I prefer whole grain or if you really want to level up, Händlmaier's Sweet Bavarian Mustard, sold locally at Morse’s), and some olive oil to make the whole thing mixable. Use a fork and mix until just combined. Add chopped castelvetrano olives, scallion, and maybe some fennel or celery if you have it. Spread over lettuce or a toasted piece of bread.
I will leave you with this: last year I fed four people at Thanksgiving with this chicken and no one missed the turkey.
MOOD IS: IS AN INDEPENDENT NEWSLETTER CONCEPTED AND WRITTEN BY ELIZABETH MCAVOY. EACH EDITION FEATURES A NEW MOOD.