Roasted Chicken - Zuni Cafe Style (recipe)

Jamie says I'm just making it up, but I swear I heard somewhere that every girl marrying a Jewish guy is supposed to know how to make a chicken. Is that crazy? Challah and latkes are next on my list, but I swear it was specifically a chicken that the soon-to-be-married are supposed to know how to cook.

Crazy or not, I decided to tackle a bird.  It helped that there was one taking up much valued real estate in our freezer from a raffle we won at the yurty-yurt wedding a few weeks ago.  It didn't take too long of a search to find a seemingly easy and scientifically intriguing recipe.  The very strict preparation schedule and the HIGH-HIGH-HIGH temperature requirement seemed to guarantee a golden-brown, crispy skin with incredibly not-dry meat underneath. 

DONE.

Tender sprigs of rosemary are tucked under the skin.

Oh my gosh, great news.  It works!  There isn't a sliver of resemblance to that dry, sawdusty roasted chicken of yore.  Jamie even tried a piece of the skin (shock!) because it looks so tasty to him.  We're BIG fans of this recipe and I'm an even bigger fan of all the stuff you get to do with a whole chicken after the first night:

Day2: Used leftover chicken breast + dark meat.  Mixed with some leftover pesto, a splash of vinegar, and a handful of parsley.  Piled it on top of crispy romaine lettuce and chomped away.

Day 3: Other leftover meat bits are used to supplement Hudson's meals, taking care to remove all those easily splintered bones.  We struggle to get him to eat regularly, but this chicken seems to do the trick.

Day 4: Took remaining carcass (gross word!) out of freezer and simmered it in cold water with chunks of celery, carrots, and onion.  Seasoned with whole peppercorns, celery salt, and a chunk of parmesiano reggiano.  Poured cooled broth into baggies to lay flat in the freezer in preparation for the inevitable H1N1 attack.

 Mmmmmm....

Zuni Cafe’s Roasted Chicken
Adapted from the cookbook from the Zuni Cafe, San Francisco

Serves 2 to 4

• One small chicken, 2 3/4 to 3 1/2-pounds  (get a small one or multiple small ones for bigger crowd) 
• 4 tender sprigs fresh thyme, marjoram, rosemary or sage, about 1/2 inch long 
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
  
• 3/4 to 1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
• A little water

Season the chicken: [1 to 3 days before serving; give a 3 1/4 to 3 1/2-pound chicken at least 2 days]Remove and discard the lump of fat inside the chicken. Rinse the chicken and pat very dry inside and out. Be thorough — a wet chicken will spend too much time steaming before it begins to turn golden brown.  I had a moment of revelation during this process about goldening (yes, I made up a word...again) meats.  DRY!

Approaching from the edge of the cavity, slide a finger under the skin of each of the breasts, making 2 little pockets. Now use the tip of your finger to gently loosen a pocket of skin on the outside of the thickest section of each thigh. Using your finger, shove an herb sprig into each of the 4 pockets.  Definitely do not know my chicken body parts and kinda "winged" this step.

Season the chicken liberally all over with salt and pepper. Season the thick sections a little more heavily than the skinny ankles and wings. Sprinkle a little of the salt just inside the cavity, on the backbone, but don’t otherwise worry about seasoning the inside. Twist and tuck the wing tips behind the shoulders. Cover loosely and refrigerate.

Prepare your oven and pan: [Day of, total time is 45 minutes to 1 hour]

Preheat the oven to 475°F. Choose a shallow flameproof roasting pan or dish barely larger than the chicken, or use a 10-inch skillet with an all-metal handle (I just used our largest pot).

Preheat the pan over medium heat. Wipe the chicken dry and set it breast side up in the pan. It should sizzle.  I definitely got confused about which side was the breast...stop laughing...and again, kinda made it up as I went.

Roast the chicken: Place the chicken in the pan in the center of the oven and listen and watch for it to start browning within 20 minutes. If it doesn’t, raise the temperature progressively until it does. The skin should blister, but if the chicken begins to char, or the fat is smoking, reduce temperature by 25 degrees. After about 30 minutes, turn the bird over — drying the bird and preheating the pan should keep the skin from sticking. Roast for another 10 to 20 minutes, depending on size, then flip back over to recrisp the breast skin, another 5 to 10 minutes.

Rest the chicken: Remove the chicken from the oven and turn off the heat. Lift the chicken from the roasting pan and set on a plate. Carefully pour the clear fat from the roasting pan, leaving the lean drippings behind. Add about a tablespoon of water to the hot pan and swirl it and use them in something else (stuffing, pasta dish, veggies, etc).  You can let the chicken rest while you finish your side dishes. The meat will become more tender and uniformly succulent as it cools. 

It was a hit with every member of the fam.