Despite the fact that the fine people at America’s Test Kitchen gave me the absolute worst recipe for New England Clam Chowder I have ever encountered, I still find myself very drawn to their recipes and cooking tips. (See the October 2009 “Disaster” post.)
On a recent episode of ATK, Skillet Sensations, Chris and the gang featured a skillet roasted chicken. B is a huge fan of chicken (he makes Wade Boggs look like a vegetarian, and that’s the ONLY Wade Boggs comparison we will be making, thank you very much. B is good people). I knew this recipe would be something he’d like to try.
And sure enough, I was right! I came home late one night last week after going to a Red Sox game with Sofia to find B asleep on the couch watching Lifetime. Much to my relief, he had actually fallen asleep while watching the chicken episode of America’s Test Kitchen, and TiVo had switched back to live TV after sitting idle for too long. (I am a frequent watcher of Grey’s Anatomy re-runs on Lifetime. B is in the clear.)
Before he fell asleep, he did see the chicken segment and suggested we give it a try. And so we did.
The recipe called for butchering a whole chicken by breaking it down into 8 pieces (2 legs, 2 thighs, and two breasts cut in half). I suggested that we buy a pre-butchered chicken since I don’t have a boning knife or poultry shears (and quite frankly, didn’t want to do the work). B thought there was no fun in that, and pointed out that it was a good reason to purchase a boning knife and poultry shears.
Well, unfortunately for B, he did not accompany me to the grocery store. Since it was just the two of us, I bought a package of bone-in split chicken breasts. Good enough.
The purpose of the skillet roasting is to get really browned, crispy skin while maintaining the juiciness of the meat. The ATK point of view is that oven roasting makes it difficult to get really crisp skin without drying out the meat. Their method calls for browning the skin in the skillet first, then kind of steaming/braising the chicken with chicken broth until the meat is almost fully cooked. Then, you reserve the broth and pan juices while you re-crisp the skin (since the steaming process zaps it of all its crispety goodness). You use the reserved liquid to make a pan gravy with shallots, fresh parsley and fresh chives.
The result? The skin looked deliciously crispy, but its appearance was deceiving – probably better than standard roast chicken, but not as good as promised. The meat, however, was perfectly cooked – very moist and flavorful. And the pan sauce was delicious. It will be my go-to gravy for future chickens (and maybe turkeys). I can envision a lot of tasty variations (like mushrooms, yum).
And it didn’t take too long to make. Not quite a 30 minute meal, but definitely under an hour. We made it on a weeknight, after work, so if you want mid-week roast chicken, this is definitely worth a shot.
The Wannabe Foodie legal team has advised me to not publish the exact recipe, but you can find it at www.americastestkitchen.com. You need to become a member in order to access the recipes, but membership is free, and you will not only get access to all the recipes from the TV show, but information on their equipment and taste testing too. It’s worth it.
No comments:
Post a Comment