Roasting redux: How Annalena roasts a chicken

Now, ragazzi, those of you who have been with Annalena from the first day (show of hands  ?) will be saying "she did this already. Did she lose her mind?"  Well, the latter may be true and it may have happened a long time ago.  Heaven knows that Annalena has had cause to lose her mind, more than once; however, with this in mind, situations change, and a couple of weeks ago, Annalena's amanuensis (look it up, carissimi), posted a picture of the dinner she and the Guyman were eating that day.  It was indeed the chicken above.  The response was, to be conservative, overwhelming.    It does go to show the old adage is true:  "never underestimate a roast chicken."

Did Annalena just make that up?  Well, it IS true.  If you want to see people happy, roast a chicken and serve it to them.  Period.

There are many roast chicken recipes out there, many of them very good.  To Annalena, this one is the best.  It is her version of the even better roast chicken you can get at Zuni Cafe' in San Francisco.  They roast it to order, so you wait for an hour, drinking superb martinis, eating glorious oysters on the half shell, and perhaps starting with an amazing Caesar salad (which is not Italian, by the way, but Mexican), and then the chicken, roasted in a wood oven, comes to the table, on a pile of amazing bread salad.  

You can come back after you book your tickets ragazzi. Seriously, when people have layovers in SF, Annalena tells them to get in a cab and go eat here.  You should too.

What is amazing about this chicken, is its simplicity.  Simplicity to the point that Annalena recalls a comment Julia Child once made, when confronted with cooking of this type.  She was NOT being complimentary when she said "that's not cooking, that's shopping!"  Well, yes, much of what we cook here on this blog is about shopping.  The cooking part isn't difficult, the learning to be discerning is.  So, be discerning.  Here's what you need.

You need a glorious, organic, free range, bird, that weighs from 3.5-4 pounds.  Much bigger than that, and the bird will not cook properly.  Much smaller than that, and the bird will burn.  Some have said that they can do this with bigger birds, cut in half.  Annalena does not recommend this.  She does insist, however, that you make sure  your bird is one that has been grown properly, so that you have a very good quality start.  You will also need salt, and a few sprigs of herbs.  Fresh ones.

That's your grocery list.  It's also your ingredient list.  Note what is absent:  oil, pepper, lemon, seasonings.  It's all about you and the bird, so again, GET A GOOD ONE. 

Now, what you do is first of all, get any bag of organs and innards out of the cavity.  Annalena is always surprised when she hears how many people forget this.  Then, if you see any obvious globs of fat, cut them away.  Then, wash your bird, dry it, and put it on a plate or tray which you have lined with paper.  

Get  a hefty teaspoon - just a teaspoon - of salt, and rub it all over the exterior of the bird.  No need to salt the interior.   Finally, get those herbs.  Look at your chicken and you  will see that there are two, obvious places, at the breast end, under which  you can slip herbs.  A bit harder to find, are the insert points near the thigh, but you'll find them.  Slip the herbs under these parts, and then put your bird in your refrigerator for overnight.  Go and wash your hands, your counter, your working utensils, everything. 

What you are now doing is, effectively, "brining" your bird without using water.  Those of you with a bit of chemistry will remember the principle of osmosis:  water at a lower salt concentration will pass to a source where the salt is at a higher concentration, in an attempt to create equilibrium  (yes, Annalena has just personified water molecules.  Deal with it).    And in the process, the salt will be pulled under the skin, and into the meat of the chicken.  You will have a well seasoned bird, and  you have just learned how little salt you need. 

Yes, you can certainly add other  spices here.  Do Annalena a favor and try salt only the first time.  You may never use another seasoning.  

When you are ready to make dinner,  preheat your oven, to 500 degrees.  No typo there, ragazzi, 500 degrees.    And - a very important step - choose your pan.  You must eliminate nonstick cookware, as the temperature is too high for the coating and will fill your kitchen with harmful gases (no joke, darlings).  The size of the pan matters too, because if it is too big, you will be creating a surface with a lot of liquid, which will burn and smoke up your house.  If your pan is too small, the liquids will overflow and fall to your oven floor, and you will have the same problem.  So, look for a pan that will be, as  Goldilocks once said , "just right."  If you don't have one, use a smaller one, and put everything on a baking sheet. 

But before you do this, put the pan on a burner, and heat it for about two-three minutes.  Take the bird, and pour any liquids that have accumulated in the cavity out.  Then, place it, breast side up, into the hot pan, and move it immediately to the oven.  Roast for thirty minutes. 

Now, protect your hands - because the pan is going to be VERY hot - and with a set of tongs, turn the chicken, breast side down.  Roast for another fifteen minutes.  Again, cover your hands,  and turn the bird breast side up.  If it is on the small side, roast for ten minutes, fifteen if it's a bit on the large size. 

Take out the pan (again, make sure you have something to protect your hands),  let it sit for 5-10 minutes, and then carve the bird into serving pieces.  Annalena uses poultry shears to cut the breast, and when you cut the legs away, if you are having trouble, let your knife "speak" to you.  If you run into a bone, move your knife.  It's not hard.  

When you are done, you may very well be astonished as to how much liquid you have in the pan.  Some of that is water, and other juices, but a lot of it, is chicken fat.  This will tell you how much fat there really is in a chicken.  Annalena pours this off, saves it, and discards it when she has a full jar.  IF you are so inclined, there will be brown bits in the pan.  Add a little wine or broth, off the heat, and keeping your hands protected(because the pan is still very hot), bring this to a boil, stirring to get the bits dissolved, and treat that as a pan sauce for your chicken.

Annalena has taught many of her acolytes how to make this chicken, and there has not been a one who did not say , at one point or another "are you sure this is going to work?" 200 or so of them later, Annalena is sure it will work.  Look at the picture. 

Annalena must also say that if you are cooking for a crowd, you can do two of these in  your oven at the same time.  More than that requires a professional oven, of the type we all wish for and do not have.  So, keep that in mind, ragazzi. 

"A chicken in every pot."  Well, turn that pot to a pan, and Annalena agrees